“We Are Just Fine.” Resolutions. Random Thoughts. Baroque.
My travel schedule changed again so I am posting this take from Mexico City. Yes, Mexico and this city sometimes get a bad rap. Most of us know the coastal cities of Mexico but Mexico City offers up great people, a massive arts culture, and fantastic restaurants. There are many areas at the top of the list to experience…start with Roma, Condesa, and Polanco.
- Quote of the Week: “One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist … Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” – Stephen Hawking
We are reminded of imperfection daily. Famine and natural disasters, as well as racial, political, religious and territorial unrest are unfortunately far from perfect. There will always be differing opinions on the definition of perfection.
Stephen Hawking’s quote is interesting, and while I do not understand the quote, it does make sense at a level way above my pay grade. I assume Hawking felt like living in an imperfect world gives us motivation to think outside the box, to create, to learn, and to strive to be a better human. Hawking passed away back in 2018, with his warning about humanity striving for perfection. Eight years ago Hawking warned us about artificial intelligence (A.I.). He warned about the effects A.I. would have on education, on our workforce, and most importantly he called for a ban on the development of A.I. agents for military use. Just before Hawking died, he was quoted in WIRED: “I feel like the genie is out of the bottle. I fear that A.I. may replace humans altogether.”
While Hawking’s concern about striving for perfection is eyebrow raising, we can always have a contrarian view. Nate Bargatze provides his assessment of how we really are doing:
Thank you to all of you who responded to the last Question of the Week regarding your New Year resolutions. Here are a few of the responses:
- My NYR is to recover well from this knee replacement and get the other knee done and recover well from that one too! Lol
- Cut back on ultra-processed foods🍔😊
- My word last year: self-love. Yes I did follow through.
- For the month of January: no meat, no alcohol, no bread, no rice, no chocolate. Year number 16, with alcohol and meat from the start, bread and chocolate added four years ago, and rice this year.
- I’ve been setting New Year’s Goals (which I now call “Intentions”), since 1987! I have saved all of them, having become a firm believer in mapping out emotional, physical, spiritual, recreational, and mental ways to improve and grow. I’d estimate that I achieve about 65-80% of them each year. It’s fun to look back over the years to note how some goals morph and some have stayed the same. This past year, I had written six pages of intentions, advancing in many of the categories. I review them every quarter to modify as needed. One that I am most proud of is the significant progress — though still far to go– in being more direct, honest, and clear in my communication, setting boundaries, and expressing challenging emotions.
Here is this week’s Question of the Week: Who wins tomorrow night’s college football national championship? Indiana or Miami, and why?
Things I Am Thinking For Mid-January 2026:
- Is the uprising in Iran enough to topple the Iranian regime?
- Can the United States purchase Greenland? Or more importantly can the Chinese buy Greenland?
- I am looking forward to the Winter Olympics with the opening ceremony being held at Milan’s San Siro stadium. February 6 is only three weeks away. Two nights later is the Super Bowl with halftime entertainment by Bad Bunny, which will be an opportunity to go get food and drink away from the TV. 🙂
- 1,424 days. The Russia – Ukraine war continues with no end in sight. So damn sad.
- Does the United States really need Venezuela’s oil or is the command and control of Venezuela’s oil a strategy to keep China away from the reserves?
- Headline of the Week: Core Ultra X9 388H “Panther Lake” iGPU Doubles AMD “Strix Point” Performance in Cyberpunk 2077 Does anyone want to chime in on what that headline is referring to?
- Does the Trump Administration’s proposal for a 10% cap on credit card rates push consumer debt to record levels?
- My last few days in Mexico City included some discussion surrounding the United States military and Mexico’s drug cartels. The overall feedback I received is that while Mexicans would support the demolition of the cartel network, U.S. ground forces in Mexico would be frowned upon. Here is one opinion on the effectiveness of Tier 1 forces (Seal Team 6, Delta Force, etc.) dealing with the cartels:
- Pure Talent. My interest in music is widespread, obviously leaning toward the grunge of the 1990s, classic rock of the 1980s, and the soul funk sounds of the 1970s. I know very little about orchestras and how they train as an ensemble to create and play incredible music. Boston Baroque is the oldest period instrument orchestra in North America. Established in 1973, they present concerts of the Baroque and Classical repertoire on period instruments. Whoever they are and whatever they play equals Pure Talent.