life
Will Faught
February 2023
Theodore Roosevelt on success.
Theodore Roosevelt in his speech The Strenuous Life on April 10, 1899: I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
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1 minute
Theodore Roosevelt on critics.
Theodore Roosevelt in his speech Citizenship in a Republic on April 23, 1910: It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
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1 minute
December 2022
The blurb for my old blog.
I found the blurb for my old Blogger blog: There’s a condition that afflicts many innocent, hard-working people around the world every day. Its victims suffer from light sensitivity, disorientation, lethargy, sleep deprivation, and depression. There is no cure, but some drugs temporarily alleviate its symptoms. Many people manage to live somewhat normal lives through proper treatment. I’m referring, of course, to waking up before 9:00 AM, which I had to do all this week and expect to continue doing until my body gives out.
1 minute
November 2022
A letter written by a father to his daughter about his most important truth.
Harry Browne, in a letter to his daughter on Christmas: It’s Christmas and I have the usual problem of deciding what to give you. I know you might enjoy many things — books, games, clothes. But I’m very selfish. I want to give you something that will stay with you for more than a few months or years. I want to give you a gift that might remind you of me every Christmas.
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1 minute
March 2019
February 2011
I woke up early this morning and found myself propped up on my elbow and spitting repeatedly on my pillow. I then realized that I had just been doing this in a dream. As far as I know, I’ve only sleepwalked once, but I’ve never heard of sleepspitting. Gross.
1 minute
That’s when I woke up this morning. I went to bed around 12:30 AM. My body is dumb. The upside is that I got quite a bit done this morning before work. I want to try getting up regularly two or three hours earlier than usual to see if that makes any lasting impact on my productivity. I’ve never been a morning person, so I won’t hold my breath.
1 minute
January 2011
Once again I’ve moved from Blogger to another blogging service, and once again Blogger has screwed me. I seem to be the only one who can’t export their posts from Blogger without getting an error. So, once again I’m starting a blog from scratch. I’m hoping I can write more regularly this time around. We’ll see.
1 minute
November 2010
Most of these are characters from Shakespeare plays. Pinch Nym Bottom Bumble Duncan Beadle Lennox Snare Cato Blunt Cinna Mortimer Juno Rook Percy Leonine Page Pander Porter Prium Snug Sprite Surrey Taurus Verges
1 minute
July 2010
I hiked Mailbox Peak with my friend Andrew and some of his friends a few weeks ago. I hadn’t been hiking in a long time and was really out of shape. It was three miles long and 3900 feet up to the summit. I was so tired by the time I got to the bottom I was hobbling with the help of my walking stick. The trail didn’t switch back and forth so much as plough straight up the mountainside with few places to rest.
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1 minute
June 2010
At some point Facebook decided to convert everyone’s profile information like Favorite Movies or Interests from free-form text to lists of Facebook pages. Now my profile doesn’t say I like the TV show Heroes, but instead says I like the TV show Official HEROES Page. Terrible. When they switched, they automatically matched up your profile’s text with existing pages and converted it for you. Unfortunately, the exact meaning of the text can be lost.
1 minute
May 2010
On one hand, my smartphone has a touch screen and fits in my pocket, and on the other, my laptop has a physical keyboard and a large screen. Apple’s iPad brings together the strengths of both, except for the superior typing provided by laptops. Somewhere between these two lies Apple’s iPad, which provides the immediacy, simplicity, and tactile interaction of a smartphone, and the size, complexity, and greater expressiveness of a laptop.
4 minutes
My Favorite Snow Crash Quotations
I’m rereading it again. Ah, so good. In fact, the squat franchise itself looks like nothing more than a low-slung base for the great aramid fiber pillars that thrust the billboard up into the trademark firmament. Marca Registrada, baby. When Hiro first saw this place, ten years ago, the monorail hadn’t been written yet; he and his buddies had to write car and motocycle software in order to get around. They would take their software out and race it in the black desert of the electronic night.
1 minute
December 2009
I signed up for a LinkedIn account a while ago. I can’t remember how it happened. I know it wasn’t because all the cool kids were doing it. Maybe I did it just in case it turned into something big, and then I’d already be registered. Anyways, I never use it, but I periodically get ‘acquaintance’ requests (there’s nothing fun or friendly about them; the lame default message that everyone uses is something like “I would like to establish a connection with you”) from people I know in person, and occasionally from people I’ve never met.
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1 minute
September 2009
I’ve sometimes observed the following meanings for religious sayings: It’s god’s will: I think it’s fine; I want it to happen; leave things alone. Amen: I agree; I’m right. Apparently, when you have a personal thought, you can shroud it in divine invocations to make it sound more legitimate and unquestionable. It’s really quite fascinating when you consider the complexity of what’s being communicated and how it’s being interpreted.
1 minute
Just saw District 9 with Brian and Shay. It was great to see a sci-fi movie in the theaters (and I don’t mean the kind of sci-fi that Transformers is). Although there wasn’t much science in the movie. Still, fun to see aliens, and the parallels between how the humans treat the aliens and South Africa’s racial history were interesting to see. There were a few plot holes, I think, but it was still fun to watch.
1 minute
Bought My Holiday Flight Tickets
I figured that it would be cheaper to fly from the SEA airport in Seattle to SFO in San Francisco than to SMF in Sacramento, since there would probably be more flights on that route. I just checked and found to my surprise that SFO tickets are significantly more expensive. Maybe there’s more demand? Interesting. I wish one of these flight booking web sites would create a feature that would find the best ticket deal for me for a given holiday.
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1 minute
August 2009
I just know Herbal Essences is scamming me. The shampoo bottle empties faster than the conditioner bottle, but both are the same size. So I get more of the same shampoo, but then the conditioner runs out, so then I get more of the same conditioner. Around and around. Curse you, evil cleansing company! Must you torment me so?
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1 minute
There was a gunshot about a block from my building after midnight about a week ago. A few minutes afterward, several police cruisers arrived with lights flashing. It seemed to happen in front of some kind of bar or restaurant that I could see from my bedroom window. What the hell’s going on? Chill out, people!
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1 minute
I discovered a web site that’s great for learning how to shop for products I’ve never bought before in a short period of time. When I shop, I want to buy something I know will satisfy my needs for the foreseeable future. I don’t want to have to buy another one because it broke or a newer one came out that I want instead. I want to do the comparison shopping and deal seeking just once.
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2 minutes
I met my friend Chris from work at a piano bar in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle a few weeks ago. It was around 9 or 10 p.m. and I had never been to that part of town at night before. Let me tell you, that is one shady place. There are a lot of homeless people there. It doesn’t feel comfortable to linger outside. I parked my car a few blocks from the bar.
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2 minutes
July 2009
It was 105 degrees today in Seattle! It’s almost midnight, and it’s eighty-three degrees now. No one in Washington has air conditioning. These people are completely unprepared for the elements. This place is known for a single element—rain—and people don’t use umbrellas. I’m sitting on my bed, under my only ceiling fan, with my only desk fan two feet away and pointed straight at me. I meant to actually do something with my time tonight, but it was just too hot.
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1 minute
I just realized my shirt was inside out all day today. The tag is plain as day, and highlighted with a colored border. Kind of like a target, so people could conclude from a distance that I’m an idiot. The seams were also inside out. I don’t know how I could miss all that. Come on, Will!
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1 minute
I went on a vacation in Nicaragua in May with my friend Heather. I began writing about it a while ago, but then moved on to other things. I’ll post what I have, but won’t write more. Nicaragua, in case you don’t know, is in Central America, south of Honduras and north of Costa Rica, sandwiched between the Pacific and the Caribbean. Heather invited me to go with her about a month and a half before we went.
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5 minutes
About a month ago, I participated in six sessions with a personal trainer at a gym in Bellevue. It had been a long time since I had seriously exercised, and so I had didn’t have good running shoes or workout clothes. My trainer recommended I go to an athletic store in the Green Lake neighborhood to get some shoes. I found some great ones there, and while I was there I decided to look for some new exercise shorts.
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2 minutes
I just finished watching the extended versions of the Lord Of The Rings films. I’ve had these versions for several years now, and I thought I’d seen them all, but watching them now, so many of the extended scenes felt new to me. Strange. I can’t decide if it’s because I forgot them, or because I hadn’t watched them yet, which would be quite an oversight for a fan like me.
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1 minute
Apple redeemed itself with its awesome store in Bellevue. My MacBook’s hard drive went bad, and I took it into the store to see about getting it repaired. It turns out the hard drive model was known to have problems, and was covered under a special warranty. The tech at the Genius Bar replaced it for me for free in about ten minutes, and that was that. Nice.
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1 minute
June 2009
I sent the following to sjobs@apple.com: Mr. Jobs, I am dissatisfied with my experience of activating my iPhone 3GS. Activation was delayed for four days. Then, iTunes gave me a vague error saying my phone couldn’t be activated without explaining why. Then, I received an e-mail with a phone number to call. I tried calling it numerous times without being connected to a person in a reasonable amount of time. I once waited on hold for about twenty-five minutes.
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2 minutes
I took my car into a Toyota dealership a couple weeks ago to have my left headlight’s wiring replaced and my AC recharged. In their inspection, they found many other things that needed fixing, some large, some small, and quoted me a $4,000 price to do it all. I’ve never dealt with car repairs before (having a father who’s the best mechanic around), so I called my dad to see if they were overcharging.
1 minute
My sleep schedule was shifted back by about three hours for a couple weeks following my Nicaragua trip. I woke up wide awake at about 6 a.m. and I felt sleepy at about 11 p.m. I’m now back to my regular night owl hours. I’ve traveled to other time zones before, but this was unprecedented. I think my trip caused it, but I don’t know how. I was amazed at how easy it was to get out of bed when I woke up wide awake.
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1 minute
I really like the song “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. The sound grew on me, and now I love it. I especially enjoy the lyrics. The wording is colorful and rich and paints vivid pictures using few words. It’s delightfully dark. Here’s an excerpt: I want to hold them like they do in Texas plays Fold them, let them hit me, raise it, baby, stay with me (I love it) Luck and intuition play the cards with spades to start And after he’s been hooked I’ll play the one that’s on his heart
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1 minute
What’s the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything? Google knows.
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1 minute
May 2009
The cleverest title I’ve ever seen was “My Title Is Clever.” I remember thinking, “Huh, that’s clever,” and then, “Whoa!”
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My place in Microsoft is within the Developer Division (DevDiv), which makes tools for programmers. Among various things, DevDiv produces a free set of tools called the .NET Framework, and the .NET Framework provides a technology called XAML (pronounced zammel). XAML is a software language that allows programmers to write down complex operations in simple text, and then it performs those operations for them. It’s what I work on. My division recently released a preview version of the next planned release of our Visual Studio product.
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1 minute
It’s amusing that Republican politicians throw around the word “liberal” like it’s a dirty word, an unthinkable state of affairs, rather than the counterpart to their own extremism on the opposite end of the political spectrum. As if the word itself makes their argument for them. They’re just so scandalized by it. I never hear the word “conservative” used this way.
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1 minute
I went to the Mariners vs. Giants game on Friday. I don’t usually enjoy baseball games in person or on TV, but a friend invited me, and I thought I’d give it another shot. The innings went surprisingly fast. I missed a lot of the game because I was chatting or drinking my beer. There was a funny Giants fan wearing a bandana a few seats away from us who stood periodically to silently taunt the Mariners fans behind him.
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2 minutes
I was driving in slow traffic in December when a driver wasn’t watching where he was going, and his car hit the car in front of him, and it hit my car. My neck was jerked back from the impact, from which I have suffered and continue to suffer whiplash. I was in a similar accident a few years ago in San Luis Obispo, where a driver hit me from behind at a stop light on a rainy night.
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3 minutes
April 2009
ITunes Smart Playlist For Unrated Songs
I had never tried to make a smart playlist in iTunes until I recently moved everything to my new iMac. I wanted to make a playlist of unrated songs, but it wasn’t clear how to make a condition saying the rating must be zero stars. The iTunes help was useless, and so was everything I found online. “Just make a condition saying the rating must equal zero stars. Easy.” Not so!
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1 minute
During a speech made by President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations, in which he called Israel a racist nation, several national representatives walked out of the audience in protest. I imagined myself there, and feeling compelled to walk out to symbolize my repudiation of what was being said. However, I’d actually want to hear the rest of the speech. Not because I agree with what was said, but you have to admit, it really grabs your attention: a whole country—racist!
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1 minute
Dear Mr. Faught, Thank you for contacting AARP about our membership solicitations. Please accept our apology for any aggravation these mailings may have caused. It’s my pleasure to honor your request. I’ve removed your name from our solicitation lists, and regret that mailings prepared before today’s date cannot be recalled. It will take approximately 4-6 weeks for this process to take full effect. If you should receive solicitations after that time, please call us toll-free at 1-888-OUR-AARP (1-888-687-2277) and a Member Service Associate will be happy to assist you.
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4 minutes
March 2009
A week ago I called Sam Bent, another software engineer at Microsoft, twice for help. The first time went fine, but the second time I had his full name in my head when I dialed the phone, and I opened with, “Hi, Sam Bent.” It didn’t sound like, “Hi, Sam Bent?” as if I was checking if it was him. It sounded like I had used his full name like a first name.
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2 minutes
I was anchoring my bookcase to the wall when I heard these strange sounds coming from behind me. I walked a little toward the sounds, trying to pinpoint their source. I looked up at the window, saw streaks and dots, and realized that it was raining. I hadn’t realized it until then, but I had never heard the rain in my apartment before. Strange, since I live in Seattle.
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1 minute
This recliner has been with my family for as long as I can remember. Sadly, I no longer have a place for it and it must go, finally passing from us to parts unknown. I’m sad to see it go. It feels like a piece of my past will be lost. I wish we could all have museums of our lives, so we could keep all the things that mean something to us when we have no where else to put them.
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1 minute
February 2009
I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you to all who made me feel so special! My parents and Nick flew to Seattle to be with me on the weekend before my birthday. I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good host, as I didn’t know the area very well, and wasn’t very prepared for them. Furthermore, I got lost driving the five blocks to their hotel and almost drove the wrong way down Mercer.
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2 minutes
Former eBay CEO Running For Governor Best quotation: “This would be a great idea if California were eBay.” Arizona Super Bowl Viewers Shown Pornography Best quotation: “That was the only part of the Super Bowl that I understood.”
1 minute
On my flight home for Thanksgiving, I sat a seat over from a cute girl named Rae who was around my age. We eventually chatted, and I learned she studied art history at the University of Washington, she was from California, and she was going home for the holiday too. I was gauging our conversation and toying with the idea of asking for her number, but I chickened out and figured I could find her online later.
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3 minutes
January 2009
That’s F.E. for Furniture Era, the period in which I finally have something to sit and eat on. It’s been a long time coming. I recently went to the closest Ashley Furniture store and furnished almost my entire apartment: couch, love seat, chair, ottoman, end tables, coffee table, dining table, chairs, bed frame, dresser, and night stand. It’s all going to be delivered tomorrow morning. I can’t wait! I hope nothing is delivered damaged or otherwise has to be returned.
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1 minute
I finally posted online pictures of moving into my new apartment. When I took these, my boxes had just been delivered, so nothing was yet unpacked. My apartment looks sparse even now because I still don’t have any new furniture, but it looks a little more lived in with the boxes unpacked. My living room. The entire apartment building is five years old, so everything feels new and seems in good condition.
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4 minutes
I went shopping at the Costco in Seattle for the first time today. They didn’t give me any bags or boxes in which to carry my stuff, so I had to carry a few items at a time from my car to my apartment. On my first trip, I put together an armload of provisions, and thought I could add to it a two-pack of Clearasil facial cleanser, but it was too much.
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2 minutes