How dare you!?

Someone, you know who you are, recently suggested I should read the famous How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I must admit, I was mildly insulted. After my initial fury subsided, I understood that the person was just trying to help, albeit in a patronizing fashion. So now I must return the favor. I acquired my immense charm through various means. None of the means involved reading a book or attending a Tony Robbins seminar. I largely learned it by observing the behavior of others and not doing what I consider rude, insulting or generally intolerable. Except, of course in this small zone of my personality. Also, in my 27 years on this earth, I have been treated by quite a few people. Some have treated me well; others have treated me poorly. Now, here is the trick: don't treat people how you don't want to be treated. Or conversely, treat others how you'd like to be treated. I know that this is a revolutionary idea but bear with me.

Let's say that your friend needs a ride and asks you for the favor. I know what you are thinking, "I've never needed a ride so how could I possibly know how I would want to be treated." I have a solution: Imagine that one day you do need a ride. Imagine yourself asking someone for ride. Finally ask, "Would I want someone to do me a favor, or not?" Now, give other people the answer you would like. I have no idea where I get this stuff. (Matthew 7:12)

Let's face it, life is full of complex problems that cannot be solved by applying general principles taught by a higher authority. Only by reading books directly on point can you become a better person. Here is an example:

Victory!!!

With his win in the Grand Prix of Brazil, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen has won the Formula 1 Championship. The man once described by Red Bull driver David Coulthard as "dead from the feet up as far as personality" is the World Driving Championship. I am so excited that I cannot sufficiently express it. So let me just tell you how it happened.

Coming into the race, there were three drivers who had a mathematical shot at the title: Lewis Hamilton (Team McLaren Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (also Team McLaren Mercedes), and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari). Hamilton was is the lead and it was basically his championship to lose. He basically had to finish 5th or better and it was his. When you are in a McLaren Mercedes, you have no excuses. It and the Ferrari are far and away better than any other car. Fernando and Kimi were basically in the position that they had to win no matter what if their hopes were to be kept alive.

At the start of the race, Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari made sure that he gave his team mate Raikkonen the advantage. By the first turn it was Ferrari 1-2. This was the way the rest of the race went. Raikkonen got by Massa on the second pit stop to take the victory. Fernando (pictured below on the right) did his best but could not match the Ferraris' pace.


As I said, it was Hamilton's race to lose and lose it he did. Here he is being consoled by McLaren team principal Ron Dennis.
Right from the start Hamilton fought others where he didn't have to and ran off the track a couple of times. Then Hamilton suddenly he started to slow. I felt elation as an apparent clutch problem put him back to 18th. He fiddled with the electronics and eventually got it going again. He drove well and fought back hard but finished in 7th handing Raikkonen the championship.

It has been an amazing Formula 1 season: a down to the wire championship fight between 3 of the worlds' greatest drivers, a spying scandal that ended up in a $100 million fine against McLaren, and the dream season for the new Super Aguri team or as they are informally known, Super Best Friends.

While I was unable to jet down to Brazil for the weekend, I did go to the American Le Mans Series race in Monterey. It was incredibly exciting and the driving team of Allan McNish and Rinaldo (Dindo) Capello won the race. Even through 4 hours of racing the Audi R10 Diesel beat the Porsche RS Spyder driven by Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard by a margin of .41 seconds.


Here is a small video I shot with my digital camera. Here, Dumas is chasing Capello as the sun gets low in the sky.

Conversating

I make up words. That's just the kind of person I am. If I cannot find a word within my limited vocabulary to convey a thought or feeling, I create one. Now, I completely understand that making up a word doesn't help others to understand. In fact, it's probably more confusing to use a word they have never heard. I do not claim to be easily understood. Anyway, I made up a word the other night and I thought I would share it with you. There are five people who were privy to the creation of a highly fevered mind.

Conversating
"kän-v&r-'sA-ti[ng]
verb
To engage in a verbal contest in which the participants are neither edified nor entertained. This act is commonly the first and last interaction between two or more people. In rare instances, it can be done as a sort of game.

Converstating requires at least two parties, one of which is within the range of what most would call "normal." The other participant is a person utterly devoid of tact or social grace. This terrible condition is sometimes the result of a terrible trauma or, more commonly, being raised by wolves. This person is the sort that almost no one wants to be around. Those who choose to be around them possess a rare skill to look beyond extreme annoyance and see a real human being.

A person interacting with another who is conversating finds the experience confusing, uncomfortable, and tiresome. Some people do this as a game: half fun, half effort to mark your social territory. The entire point of coversating is to force your opponent into silence. This may be accomplished by intimidation, fear, frustration, shock, or pure unadulterated idiocy. You win when your opponent sits slack-jawed without any idea how to respond to the last comment. That silencing comment is referred to as a snam or, in Great Britain, a clagger.

There are many types of conversating. Here is one example:


Here is rare variant. I would call this reverse conversating. The obnoxious one ends up being speechless and annoyed:


Now, conversating is not an argument or a debate. An argument has a purpose to the contention. Two sides engage in an effort to convince one another. Conversating has no such point. You do it just to win, just to silence the over and demonstrate dominance. Conversating is a highly passive-aggressive activity.

I mentioned debates. Here is a particular interesting one. If I were in this situation, I would be making up words left and right: