March 5, 2010
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About Ethan I fell behind on my blog posting here recently for two reasons: first, I came down quite sick with a cold that became bronchitis. I’ve been much better this week, though a bit of a cough still lingers. Second, I’ve been immersed in two other challenging pieces of “creative writing”: a freelance writing résumé and an online dating profile.
These are both ultimately about marketing yourself in a light that’s simultaneously positive and accurate. Both require introspection, reflection on your past, and consideration of your future goals. And I finally got down on paper something I had realized about myself in the last year:
My greatest gift is a talent for Integration, in almost every sense of the word. I can do mathematical integration (an operation on functions in calculus), analytically or numerically. I can integrate mechanical devices, electronics, and computer hardware and software into unique experimental systems. I can integrate disparate writing fragments into a coherent text. I can integrate an array of ideas into a unified synthesis. And perhaps most importantly, I can integrate into groups of people, going from the newcomer to “a regular” or even to a leadership role exceptionally smoothly and quickly.
This probably won’t make it verbatim onto either a résumé (no obvious place for it) or an online dating profile (a bit too heavy really, and also might lead to too long a profile), but it’s certainly a useful and profound underlying principle.
March 1, 2010
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About Ethan I believe it takes a special talent to complicate one’s life enough to make “What is your name?” a non-trivial question. Aided by my parents’ choices forty years ago, I have risen successfully to meet this challenge.
A quick summary of this article: My legal first name is Mitchell, but my “given nickname”, the name my parents called me from birth, is Mickey. Several years ago I picked the name Ethan to serve strictly as a nom de public, a pseudonym. However, when I began using that pseudonym last fall, I found I liked Ethan better than I liked the Mickey. Now I am using the name Ethan in all my new ventures. I intend to legally add Ethan as a second middle name at some point. What should you call me? If I met you this year through my new ventures, call me Ethan. If you were a friend or acquaintance prior to this year, call me either for now. (Family will probably always use Mickey.)
Continue reading Name Confusion
Chris Heidel of Libra Fitness
I wrote a pair of guest blog posts for Chris Heidel at Libra Fitness. The second was published today.
My first post for them was a review of the movie “Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days”. While I am not diabetic, I am unquestionably headed there if I don’t change how I eat. Today’s post for Libra Fitness explains how I developed a sugar addiction, and details my current struggle to tame the sugar monkey on my back.
I told an acquaintance recently that I was trying to modify my diet. He misinterpreted that in the conventional way, assuming I was “on a diet”, and asked if I was using any particular one. I told him it was the “Don’t Eat an Entire Package of Cookies Every Day or So” Diet.
Does that work? Well, I was astonished to discover today that I’ve lost fifteen pounds in the last four weeks. I hadn’t been intentionally trying to lose any weight yet, only control my sugar consumption. (While that’s still an acceptable weight loss rate for someone with my weight and body type, I would never try to lose weight that fast intentionally.) I haven’t exercised, I haven’t restricted anything but a modest range of junk foods (primarily sweets), and I’ve never felt hungry. (Sugar cravings are of course very different from hunger.) Pretty amazing.
Libra Fitness