Top Eight

2007-02-14T11:28:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (2/12)
1. Edward H. Guthrie (1921-2007)
2. movie moments
3. Vanderbilt baseball
4. free hands
5. Anson Potter
6. Pandora
7. mom's companion
8. our T-Town drop-in

Bottom Four
1. breaking the news
2. Midtown Houston
3. bad fans
4. irresponsible time management

2007-01-29T12:08:00.000-08:00

so I guess I missed a week or three, but I'm picking it back up at a good time.

Top Eight (1/29)
1. spaghetti dinner
2. "A Place in the Sun"
3. clean sheets
3. house guests
4. soul resonance
5. ribs & rhubarb
6. 502*
7. "do you have a sister?"
8. practice

Bottom Four
1. the pig truck
2. predictive txt
3. test day fever
4. Mt. Juliet

2007-01-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (1/1)
1. bowling
2. Fiesta Bowl
3. jigsaw puzzles
4. the ultimate dream job
5. dating spectating
6. divestment
7. NYE countdown
8. bushwackers

Bottom Four
1. text congestion
2. ill-timed naps
3. denial
4. holiday decease

2006-12-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (12/25)
1. higher standards
2. a fine garment
3. city sidewalks, busy sidewalks
4. Persian persuasion
5. music swapping
6. Chico Marx
7. JoJo's disposition
8. slap bets

Bottom Four
1. second-hand smoke
2. putting it "that way"
3. Graceland Too, Pt. II
4. the mortality perspective

2006-12-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (12/18)
1. buffalo sauce
2. Grace Christmas service
3. trimming
4. Trombone Shorty
5. indie movies
6. my two front teeth
7. good humor
8. "why not?"

Bottom Four
1. regrettable impulsivity
2. icing the cake
3. playing dumb
4. "why bother?"

2006-12-11T08:15:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (12/11)
1. getting back on my game
2. hoaxes
3. good answers to great questions
4. merriment
5. creative outlets
6. slow days, busy nights
7. ice
8. learning

Bottom Four
1. party fouls
2. the settling in of unsettlement
3. distance
4. the touchdown maker

2006-11-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (11/27)
1. childhood
2. the two newest Guthries
3. coming downstairs to say hello
4. White Rock Lake
5. the QB situation
6. pigs on a blanket
7. cakes on the griddle
8. family bonding

Bottom Four
1. family business
2. driving
3. protracted dilemma
4. the Darko Principle

2006-11-21T05:48:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (11/20)
1. the spur of the moment
2. Sneak King
3. my ruby shoes
4. -8.9
5. Sunday gatherings
6. Memorial Magic
7. rinkside seats
8. the ones who hang out

Bottom Four
1. tire damage
2. Lee bus tragedy (I saw this)
3. crowding
4. CD scratches

2006-11-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (11/13)
1. Cumberland County connections
2. my job at West Town Mall
3. trail magic
4. house changes
5. collective shrink
6. -7.1
7. firestarting
8. the ones who come around

Bottom Four
1. the inopportune
2. hiker etiquette
3. stink
4. lapses

2006-10-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

Top Eight (10/30)
1. hoping
2. sweaters
3. taxiing
4. reservations
5. taking classes at Blair
6. breakfast
7. waves
8. the ones who reached out

Bottom Four
1. disconnections
2. all the wrong moves
3. political ads (UT > UPENN)
4. change

2006-10-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Top Eight (10/23)
1. discount soup
2. Keeping it Together with Guster
3. weakness by faith
4. extension
5. Game 7
6. YouTube
7. Sunday chats
8. the ones who came home

Bottom Four
1. losing count
2. sexual assault on Melrose
3. immaturity
4. opportunity cost

2006-10-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

Top Eight (10/16)
1. everyone wins in football!
2. grocery walks
3. The Eraser by Thom Yorke
4. Hillsboro HS homecoming
5. my homecoming date
6. paying off my car
7. jalepeno hiccups
8. my longest run in... years

Bottom Four
1. car salesmen
2. extension talks
3. my slump
4. cookie thieves

2006-10-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

Top Eight (10/9)
1. healthy choices
2. Cadillac's back, Jack
3. autumn air
4. coming home
5. home repairs
6. Darth Vader
7. the return of joy to my life
8. Out of Sight

Bottom Four
1. improper elimination
2. Auburn's first loss
3. cube fever
4. cross-corporate (mis)communication

2006-10-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

Top Eight (10/03)
1. John Prine
2. all the right moves
3. May Lake/Mount Hoffman
4. all the rest of Yosemite
5. SPG QT
6. retirement party planning
7. self-entertainment at work
8. Drew Donnelly

Bottom Four
1. camping equipment issues
2. bodily noises in the conference room
3. post-camping laundry
4. headaches

2006-10-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Top Eight (9/25)
1. easy weekends
2. Mat Kearney on Grey's Anatomy
3. my "scam"
4. go-karting
5. one last week "Jamming" with AQ
6. Hillsboro/Green Hills
7. crisp air
8. Mark Roberts' wonderful toys

Bottom Four
1. TSA in the Nashville airport
2. home problems
3. the Bucs' offense
4. PBR

2006-09-18T11:08:00.000-07:00

Weekly Top Eight (9/18)
1. sunny San Jose
2. good exercise
3. my real-life Borat
4. LSU 3, Auburn 7
5. night out with the Bama Boys (Joe, Jared, Mike)
6. 4-for-4 in window seats
7. planning ahead
8. a mind for the Spirit

Bottom Four
1. protein style
2. poor Chinese
3. my lack of social grace
4. sore & burned

2006-09-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Weekly Top 8 (9/4)
1. August in Minnesota
2. September in Tennessee
3. crappy postcards
4. football season
5. Ken Burns' Baseball
6. grillmates
7. cousins
8. Proverb 31, adapted

Bottom Four
1. random hostility (oops)
2. the new lease
3. close quarters
4. attribution errors

2006-09-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

The Weekly Top Eight/Bottom Four is a mental exercise inspired by "Bob's Irritability Scale." In HOD 1000, Dr. Bob Innes used "Bob's Irritability Scale" to gauge personal happiness. The "scale" is based on how many things charm you versus how many things irritate you. If more things charm you than irritate you, then you're probably a happy person. Of course this scale should only be used for general purposes; it's not necessary to actually count EVERY thing that irritates and charms you. Even taking the time to perform such a tedious task would doubtlessly leave you irritated no matter how charmed you were before.

So, ever since that lecture, I’ve taken the time every Monday to reflect back on eight things or thoughts that charmed me that week, and four things that irritated me. This has many benefits. For one, it’s just good to be grateful. This set-up forces me to express twice as much gratitude as disgust. Second, it affects my conscious thoughts during the week as I find myself looking for things to put on that week’s Top Eight. I spend a decent portion of my week seeking charm, and I feel I’m a better person for it.

When I have so many things to chose from that it’s hard to limit it to eight items, those are usually the weeks I also have trouble thinking of four things that irritated me. Oh yeah. That’s when I know it was a good week. But even when it’s the other way around, I take as long as it takes to come up with eight, and try to focus my troubles on no more than four. By the time I’m done, I realize things aren’t so bad after all. And it’s always easy to just look back at the good weeks and hope for a better tomorrow.

As I’ve said, this isn’t an entirely creative idea I had (Professor Bob helped), and considering the benefits I’ve found in it, I encourage you to take the time to make a Top Eight/Bottom Four of your own.

So, that’s the story behind the Weekly Top Eight/Bottom Four, and here is it's new home. These lists are not intended for humor or entertainment, but to encourage you to think about the charms in your own life and to give you a peak at what’s going on in mine. They also make great conversation starters.