If you haven’t heard of Tripp and Tyler, they are two of the funniest guys I’ve seen. They also happen to live in Atlanta, so that makes them even cooler. I saw two videos of “Things You Can’t Do When You’re Not…” by them, laughed hysterically, and had to share. Enjoy.

“Things You CAN’T Do When You’re NOT a Dog”

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[HT: @ProdigalJohn]

“Things You CAN’T Do When You’re NOT In a Pool”

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Update: Looks like this video has been removed from the internet. If you’re craving a video, check out how to give a great man-to-man hug instead.

Enjoy one of the best music videos ever.

And by best I mean hilariously awkward.

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It closely rivals the all-time classic Jesus is My Friend.

[HT: Abraham Piper]

Perhaps you’ve seen the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005. It’s worth 15 minutes of your time. My favorite part of the speech goes like this:

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

Read it or watch the video:

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Teeth were invented by God.
An adult has 32 permanent teeth.
Humans only get two sets of teeth in their lifetime
Your front teeth are also known as incisors.
The enamel on a tooth is the hardest thing in a human body.
Teeth are kept alive by blood and nerves.
In your lifetime, you will spend almost 38.5 days brushing your teeth.
A toothpick is the item most often choked on by Americans.
73% of people would rather go to the grocery store than floss.
You use molars to grind your food.
Money Magazine reports that the tooth fairy is currently paying around $2 per tooth.

And you really think about them when they are fighting their way through your baby’s gums, keeping her and you awake at night. But we love it.

Remember when the biggest worry for a middle school boy was how to impress the girl who sat beside him in homeroom? Or deciding what to wear in P.E. class so he didn’t look like he had chicken legs? Or making sure the trash ’stache was in full effect?

Now, for one boy at least, there is a lot more involved in being an adolescent. This morning, I read about David Sills, a 13-year-old quarterback, who received a scholarship offer and made a verbal commitment to play football at USC. Apparently, this kid is an unbelievable quarterback, and there are a couple of videos to prove it.

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He has a guy who’s known as the dreammaker nurturing him in the art of throwing a football and reading defenses. He’s being called the ‘next Tiger Woods’… yes, people are still brave enough to make that comparison.

Of course, he still has to prove he can play well in high school, and he has to graduate… middle school and high school.

I’m not as concerned with David Sills, in particular, but it brings the question: what position does this place a 13-year-old in? The videos, the media attention, the hype. That has to be a lot of pressure for any kid.

If we were to be honest, this is a good move for the family. If their son plays well, he becomes a media star, and he’s guaranteed a free college education. He’s also on a trajectory to be a professional athlete, and we all know they make ridiculous amounts of money. [Tiger Woods net worth is more than the GDP of some small country like the Federated States of Micronesia.]

But how young is too young to put in a child in the limelight? As a parent, I think about what my daughter will grow up to be and what role her mother and I will play in it.

I could go into my opinion of parents pushing children to play sports (or anything else), but instead, I want your thoughts.

Specifically, what do you think of a 13-year-old verbally committing to play college football? Oh, and would it be different if this was a 13-year-old medical student instead? Let’s talk about it.

I read about two inventions today that I had to share with you. Both solve real problems for those in the developing world who cannot afford solutions or do not have access to the technology we use to solve these problems.

• AdSpecs: These are glasses with oil-filled lenses that allow a person to adjust the amount of fluid in the lens which, in turn, allows them to set their glasses at the proper prescription to correct their vision without the need for an expensive eye exam or access to opticians. This is an initiative by Centre for Vision in the Developing World, and the goal is to be able to manufacture them at $1 a pair to provide vision care to those in the developing world.
  

  Photo from Centre for Vision in the Developing World

• JaipurKnee: This prosthetic knee was developed by a group of Stanford engineering students, and it costs only $20 to manufacture. $20 to make a prosthetic knee… that’s amazing. And it’s similar to titanium joints in that it doesn’t just swing one way. It actually functions similar to a knee. For $20. It’s being tested in India.
  

  Photo from Davies and Starr for Time Magazine

What are some neat inventions you’ve read about recently?

I used to be under the impression that birds flew instinctively. I mean, the wings and feathers? Birds fly. That’s what they do. You don’t have to teach a baby bird how to fly, right? I’m no orinthologist, so maybe it’s true that some birds just instinctively mount up on their wings? But the ones I saw did not suddenly start flying.

I’m not sure how old I was, but my great-grandfather had a small tree in the front yard with birds nesting in it. I vividly remember running down the side of the house and seeing the baby bird fall to the ground. It hopped a couple of times, stretched it wings, and chirped. Then, a second young bird hit the ground. I kept my distance so I wouldn’t scare them off, but I could not figure out what was happening and why birds were suddenly falling on the ground.

A few days later, the birds were gone and the nest was empty. I would not realize it until later, but the birds were learning to fly by being pushed out of the nest by their mother. Of course, there was no flying that day. They were all just slowly crashing to the ground.

I learned that it often takes multiple times of being pushed out of the nest for some birds to learn to really fly. Not just flap their wings and break their fall, not just fly a clumsy circle back to the nest, but to really soar. Birds have to develop their wings, and it takes getting pushed or jumping out of the nest to fully develop them.

I’m not a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut, but he did say one of the best lines I’ve read in a while:

We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

That’s how it is with birds and with us. If you are too scared to step off the cliff, too scared to jump out of the nest, or too stubborn to let someone push you out of the nest, you will never fully develop your wings, your talent, your skills, your purpose.

God created an amazing world, full of adventure and possibility. What’s holding you back from fully developing your talents, living out your purpose, and making an impact in your community? What type of wings do you need to develop?

The neat thing is that he’s there to pick you up when you don’t quite have the wings to fly.

Which cliff do you need to jump off? I have a bunch. Let’s start jumping.

[Image from keithhull]

When a disaster strikes, especially one of the proportions as the Haiti earthquake, the question is always asked: what’s the best way to help? My friends who work for non-profits all have similar responses, summed up like this:

Make sure the organization you’re helping has a plan. When millions of people are affected, emotions run high and you want to help quickly. Make sure you are giving your time and money to those who are on the ground, helping people. Don’t be afraid to call and ask the organization how they are helping before you give them your money. My friend said it best: pity is not a plan.

Read blogs and news reports from those close to the situation and people you trust to find out what the needs are and what your options are. A good resource to check the fiscal responsibility of organizations is Charity Navigator. A four star rating is what you’re looking for. It doesn’t take a long time to do your research, and it is worth it to maximize your effort.

Help smaller/local organizations or local chapters of larger organizations. Churches and missions in your area are probably mobilizing people to help those affected by the disaster. Your local chapters of larger organizations have people you can speak to. Call them, and find out how you can help.

And while you’re at it, find out what other efforts they are doing to fight homelessness, poverty, and tragedy in your local community and how you can help. Don’t let large-scale disasters overshadow the pain of those in your local community.

Help Haiti

There are a number of ways you can help Haiti. Here are three faith-based organizations I trust and have 4-star ratings on Charity Navigator.

1. Compassion International Disaster Relief: Make an online donation and give Haiti your Facebook/Twitter profile pic to raise awareness.
2. Samaritan’s Purse: Franklin Graham’s international relief organization.
3. World Vision: They have people on the ground in Haiti right now.

What other advice do you have? What efforts are you involved in? Let us know in the comments.

*Update: My friend Kevin at No Debt Plan also has an outstanding article on safe ways to help Haiti.

Tonight, we’ll say goodbye to another year and begin not only a new year but a new decade. Reflecting on the first decade of this century has been, well, fun for me.

From 19 to 29, sleeping on friends’ sofas to owning my own home, single and unfit to be a parent to married with a baby girl, weighing 175 lbs. to… hmmm… ok maybe it hasn’t all been fun to think about.

As I thought about the last 10 years, I started making a ‘best of’ list. It’s my superlatives of entertainment for my twentysomethings, the things I consider the best I’ve experienced in the last 10 years.

And of course, lists such as these are so subjective. Yours may differ greatly, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Here we go…

Books

• Best Book on Leadership for Twentysomethings: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin. It’s such an easy read, and Seth will change the way you think about those around you and your role in your ‘tribe.’
• Best Book to Change Your View of God: Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist by John Piper and Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. Desiring God wasn’t written in the last 10 years, but I read it in the last 10 years. It’s pretty heavy, but it will change the way you view joy and God’s glory in the world. Simply Christian is almost a modern day version of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.
• Best Fiction Book: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. I’m still finishing this one up, but the story is captivating, especially if you’re a man. They are making it into a movie soon.
• Best Book about a Dead President: John Adams by David McCullough and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. I love reading about dead presidents. [You may also want to get the John Adams mini-series if you like Presidential history.]
• Best Non-fiction Book: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. This book is about a serial killer, so be warned. It’s also about the 1904 World’s Fair. It gives you really good insight into that time in history with a crazy story interwoven into it.

Music

• My Favorite Albums of the Decade (in no particular order): For brevity’s sake, I will only list 7. There are hundreds that could make this list… just so you know.
  1. The Crane Wife by The Decemberists: Colin Meloy can tell a story in a song better than anyone I’ve ever heard.
  2. Parachutes by Coldplay: This album shows just how good songwriters these guys really are.
  3. (Untitled) by Sigur Rós: I used to go to sleep to this almost every night.
  4. Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams: This record is so sad and so beautiful. It makes you think a lot about life when you listen to it, seriously.
  5. She Must and Shall Go Free by Derek Webb: A one-way theological symposium with a little reckless abandon thrown in. I love the songs on this record.
  6. Time (the revelator) by Gillian Welch: I listened to this record over and over in my early 20s. Gillian Welch, what a voice.
  7. O by Damien Rice: With few instruments and an amazing voice, Damien Rice put out a masterpiece with this record.
• Band of the Decade: Coldplay. Sometimes when a band is so popular and radio plays them over and over, you forget how good they are. I don’t think any band came close to being as big as Coldplay over the past decade.

Movies

• Best Movie with No English Speakers: The Return. This Russian film is about a father and his sons. If you’re into foreign films, this one is good to check out.
• Best Movie that I Fell Asleep During (Twice): Stay. I still have yet to see this one all the way through.
• The Movie I Enjoyed but Told My Friends I Hated: The Break-Up. I know, I know…
• Best Comic Book Movie: Batman Begins and The Dark Night. It was a tie. And, did you notice there were a lot of comic book movies in this decade?
• Almost My Favorite Movie of the Decade: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I couldn’t pick a favorite, so I went with an ‘almost’ favorite. Others that could have made it are: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, O Brother Where Art Thou, Man on Wire and many others.

What do you think? What are some of your favorites that I didn’t mention?

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links.

Alan Lakein said, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” That’s a great way to say it. When we sit down and think about our lives, what we want and need to do, how we’re going to get it done and when, we bring the future into the present and increase our opportunity for success.

A new year is coming up in a few days, and I am committed to making 2010 the “Year of the Plan.“ Let’s write it down and get it done.

Since my personality is the opposite of planner, I need some tools to help. Writing it down on a calendar may work for you, but for me, I’ll just ignore the calendar and go on with my life.

I plan to use the following tools to help structure my 2010:

• OpenOffice Calc: Calc is the free alternative to Microsoft Excel. You can use Excel if you it; they’re virtually the same. I use it to make a planning spreadsheet for the year. I have 4 tabs in the spreadsheet :
  • Projects - This is a full list of personal projects to be completed in 2010. I list the project and month I would like to take on the project. The list mostly includes weekend projects such as re-organizing my tool shed, recording music, and decorating for holidays. This will help when adding projects to the calendar.
  • Goals - I make a list of personal goals and when to have them completed. This is very similar to the projects tab but includes things like losing weight, personal finance goals, books to read, etc.
  • Monthly Budget - I’m using the personal monthly budget Excel template and modifying it to fit my needs, but it’s pretty easy to make your own if you can do basic functions in Excel.
  • Annual Time Block - This is a spreadsheet put together by Michael Hyatt. I love it, and it should be very useful in planning time for important things before others plan my time for me.
• Google Calendar: I use Google calendar for one thing: reminders. The calendar has an option to email you a reminder [or multiple reminders] when an event is coming up. Dates bills are due, birthdays, projects and items from my annual time block, etc. are listed in the calendar. I’ll get email reminders at the time I specified to make sure I stay on top of things.
• Daily Wisdom 2010 Planner: I got this planner unexpectedly as a Christmas gift. I’ll use it to write down important items for those times when I’m offline, then add them to my Google calender or spreadsheet later. It also has great quotes and Bible verses for me to digest along the way.
• Moleskine Notebooks: I love love these notebooks. I plan to carry one everywhere and use it for journaling, note-taking, idea-making, and even doodling in 2010.

There you have it. My simple, geeky approach to planning and getting organized to make things happen in 2010.

What tools do you use? What advice can you give to those of us making 2010 the “Year of the Plan?”

[Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links.]