The Swanson Pyramid of Greatness

“I’ve been developing the ‘Swanson Pyramid of Greatness’ for years. It’s a perfectly calibrated recipe for maximum personal achievement.”

Words of wisdom from Ron Swanson, our hirsute hero. Now available on t-shirts, mugs, and posters. 

Enjoy this extended video presentation of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness from the season three premiere of Parks & Recreation. 

My First Coding Credential

Pi Day 2018

Here at PhilosFX, we celebrate Pi Day with numbers. Our last Pi Day celebration, billed as One for the Ages, was posted at (wait for it...) 

3/14/15 @ 9:26:53

And as if to prove the point, we did not mark Pi Day in 2016 or '17. Kinda tough to beat that particular alignment of digits! 

But today, something happened that reawakened this urge to call attention to our favorite irrational number. Today: 

• is not only the 10th annual Pi Day (first observed in the US on Mar 14, 2009), 
• and is not only the 139th anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein, but today 
• we also mourn the passing of theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking at the age of 76. 

Here is a look at our blog stats for this Pi day as compared with the measures taken three years ago and with our first Pi day seven years ago.

Welcome Fiji, the 198th country to visit PhilosFX!

For more information, see this post about PhilosFX's global reach and stretch! Soon, we'll have accepted flags from 200 countries from around the world. I am humbled, amazed, intrigued, and curious....

Trunkworthy's Fourth 20: Elvis Costello's 80 Best, Least Remembered Songs

Two of my favorite things: EC the Beloved Entertainer, and a movie about The Big Lebowski

Greetings and welcome to PhilosFX. Today we feature a list of songs numbered 61 to 80. These songs are the fourth set of 20 in Trunkworthy's ongoing Elvis Costello Song of the Week program. The program showcases forgotten gems from the more obscure recesses of Elvis Costello's gigantic catalog.

Feast thine eyes.

By now you see the story behind the photo at the top of this post. Song number 79 on this list is EC's "My Mood Swings," which appears on the soundtrack for the Coen Brothers' 1998 hit movie, The Big Lebowski. Just one of many hidden gems in the Costello oeuvre.

I've listed the songs in chronological order by the date they were shared on Trunkworthy. But of course, another way of looking at the list is to sort the songs chronologically by when they were produced. The songs in the fourth set of 20 cover a range of 38 years, from 1979 to 2017. Jorge & Kevin, current hosts at Trunkworthy, took almost 400 days to add these 20 songs.

I don't know about everyone else, but personally, I am really enjoying this program! I'm sure a few fellow Costellophiles will appreciate my attempt to collect and display all of Trunkworthy's sporadic offerings in one handy corner of the web. Elvis has over 600 songs in his repertoire. If you disregard the most popular (and theoretically overplayed) 50%, that still leaves an incredible 300 songs to explore.

Here's hoping Jorge & Kevin keep on going! As long as Elvis is recording, and Trunkworthy is spotlighting, I'll be collecting and displaying here on PhilosFX.

On to the Fifth Twenty!  

Looking for the Backstory?

• This adventure started HERE 
• The first 40 are commemorated HERE
• The Song of the Week reboot is described HERE
• The third 20 are chronicled HERE 

12 Beers of Christmas 2017!

I am so excited to share this year's 12 Beers of Christmas!

Mayhaps you recall the 12 glorious brews I unwrapped, one per day, this time last year? The gift was so enthusiastically received by yours truly that my Beer Elf generously opted to reprise the extravagant gesture.

And I am more than happy to share the excitement here on PhilosFX!

I love beer and I think this gift idea is wonderful. My brief introduction to last year's 12 Beers of Christmas explains when and how the gift is given, for those who'd like to follow along. If you know someone who loves beer, this is a great way to share the love!

Each beer is individually wrapped and marked with a number from 1 to 12

Beginning on December 26th, the First Day of Christmas, I will open one beer per night.

In addition to the wrapped beers, I also received a brochure with fun clues about each beer. Use a QR code reader and see if you can guess the beers. The excitement is mounting!

QR Codes to clues for beers 1 to 6

QR Codes to clues for beers 7 to 12

"On the first day of Christmas, my Beer Elf gave to me..."

Check back tomorrow night and find out about the very first of the beer I opened. Then check back daily to see all the beers of Christmas I enjoyed over twelve glorious and delightful days!

I can hardly wait to see what's next!

The 10 Happiest Cities in America

Erik Gordon, the owner of Carabiner Coffee, serves climbers from a vintage Volkswagen van at Castle Rock, just a 20-minute drive from Boulder. Happiness for many of the city’s residents arises from its small-town character and its close proximity to nearby mountains. PHOTOGRAPH BY MATTHIEU PALEY for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

According to new research by Dan Buettner and National Geographic, the 10 happiest cities in America are:

1. Boulder, Colorado
2. Santa Cruz, California
3. Charlottesville, Virginia
4. Fort Collins, Colorado
5. San Luis Obispo, California
6. San Jose, California 
7. Provo, Utah
8. Bridgeport, Connecticut
9. Barnstable Town, Massachusetts
10. Anchorage, Alaska

(You can find the list at NationalGeographic.com and in the cover story of the November issue of National Geographic magazine.)

I find "Happiness Research" fascinating. This blog is full of evidence of my interest in this topic. One thing I like about Buettner's approach is the distinction he draws between Positive Psychology (think mindfulness and gratitude journals), and more of a metrics-based approach.

Buettner, whose previous research has focused on longevity, admits that happiness is hard to define, let alone measure. One can, however, measure three things:

• life satisfaction, or how you evaluate your life as a whole; 
• positive affect, or your day-to-day, moment-to-moment happiness; and 
• purpose, or whether you feel you have meaning in your life.

Buettner calls these metrics Pride, Pleasure, and Purpose, and he says enduring happiness occurs when these three strands are braided together.

Read more about the happiest cities in America, according to new research, HERE