And then — I mean, really, as if cheese + nerdy scholarly fabulousness were not enough — there is a Moment.

Well, there is a tradition that there is a moment. And that’s enough for me. According to tradition, at midnight on the eve of Shavuot, the skies open. Just for this moment. And you are right there.

And it is because of this Moment that I make everyone I know read this (decidedly non-religious) text.

This is barely even slightly relevant, but what the hell.

Last night I had a fairly insane dream that I was back at SXSW and I was headed to some cafe with someone.

And then it turned out that Tim Ferris was going to be there to and I was all “Really? Do we have to?” because I am so not one of his Right People. And the friend I was with said we couldn’t get out of it and I was going blech blech blech because I am not very nice.

But then Tim-in-my-dream was very nice. And he asked me, “Given where your business is at right now, what do you think you and your duck need the most and is there any way that I could help you get it?”

So I said, “That’s a terrific question.” Because it was. And he said, ” Yeah, I know.”

And I said that I had to think about it. Because I had to think about it. And then I thought about it.

So I read about three nonfiction books a week, mostly biggification and self-work (what regular people call business and self-help). Rated on a scale of ducks: 1 duck = Stephen Covey (yawn) and 5 ducks = Malcolm Gladwell (do a little dance). Books worth reading are image-linked to independent bookstores. The book: The No Asshole [...]

You’ll get good stuff from his book if his macho “love me, love my tough love” approach doesn’t get on your nerves.

Despite the flaws, it’s still better than most business books and he’s really not as much of a jerk as he’d have you believe in the first half of the book.

Here’s the thing. If there is one thing you need to know while biggifying what you do, it’s this: it does not matter how great the thing you do is.

Obviously it’s better for the world if it is that great, but all that greatness doesn’t get you anywhere if you can’t present it in a way that’s accessible and memorable and sticks in people’s heads.

Guess what? The most common reaction– “Wow, could I be any more of an incompetent idiot?” — is wrong, and The Design of Everyday Things is here to help you make the mental move away from it. I’m pleased to report that once your brain has been introduced to the concepts in this book, you’re much more likely to realize, “Ooooh, it’s not me, it’s just bad design.”