Dear Friends,
I met this morning with a number of leadership figures at UC Davis, including a campus expert on network and computer security. The conversation drifted to talk of AI, like so many of these conversations, and the computer security expert talked about some bracing realizations that she had made at a conference yesterday. She always brings insights to such conversations, likely in part because of everything that she learns at conferences.
I don’t get to travel as much as I once did, so I admitted my envy when it comes to all the conferences she gets to attend. She responded that, understandably, she sometimes finds such conference presentations tedious.
At this point in the conversation, I would like to say that I quoted Socrates: “He who is not contented with what he has would not be contented with what he would like to have.” Instead, I nodded and we moved on. I can locate significant relevant wisdom if I have a few minutes to conduct research, but like most of us in the age of Google, I don’t seek to keep all such quotations in my head. As productivity guru David Allen says, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”
Instead of quoting Socrates, I shared a New York Times article that I have assigned my writing students this summer: “My Secret to Creative Rejuvenation? Conferences.” This May 21 Julia Cho piece favors conferences over vacations for their likelihood to refresh and inspire the attendees.
Cho says, “Vacations provide an escape; the best conferences give me momentum. For a little while, I forget about my aging parents, my daughter’s looming college search and my own midlife malaise. I think about possibilities instead of obligations.”
I like Cho’s emphasis on “momentum,” a favorable state that is not typically provided by a few hours on the beach, whether that’s during a beach trip to Coronado or an easeful retirement in an area near the shore, as pleasant as those prospects would be.
People who attend conferences, and perhaps people who attend pub quizzes, like to stay intellectually engaged, believing, with Stephen Covey, that “Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you.”
Reflecting on a question I posed to my new advanced writing students yesterday: Should intellectually engaged individuals focus more on the process, or on the final product, often referred to in business as ‘deliverables’?” I don’t have many “products” that resulted from my 24 years hosting an interview show on local radio station KDVS, for example, but I am grateful for the experience, for all the people I got to meet on the telephone or in 14 Lower Freeborn Hall at UC Davis.
Likewise, most teams who participate in a trivia contest don’t win a prize, but what we gain from the experience ends up being more valuable than a gift card. In his recent book How to Know a Person, David Brooks explores the ways that shared experiences create a common ground among friends or colleagues, thus building a sense of camaraderie. More than would be the case with a job interview, activities like playing charades or participating in a pub quiz can inspire a new friend or potential employee’s authentic reactions and behaviors, thus providing the group insights into a person’s true nature.
Any of us who get to spend time frolicking with our friends in a brewery are lucky indeed. Recognizing this is a sure way to nudge ourselves towards contentment. As the Buddha says, “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
I hope you can join us on a warm evening for a pub quiz at Sudwerk. Bring your team to the beautiful outdoor patio where we have room for everyone. The jollity and the misters will be on high. As Saint Augustine allegedly said, “Good times and crazy friends make the best memories.” Tonight some will want to play indoors.
In addition to topics raised above, tonight’s pub quiz will feature questions on famous stages, the dogs of authentication, Elton John, Oscar winners, groups of friends, straw men, the work of detectives, bar greetings, newspapermen, skin concerns, all-time leaders, talking animals, warm climes, The Beatles, taxes, famous settings, relieved winners, free birds, Texas stories, brain plays, unlikely musicals, beer capitals, mom roles, notable Mississippians, multiple foxes, current events, books and authors, and Shakespeare. Sometimes a question is substituted at the last minute because of the day’s news.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. Thanks especially to new subscriber Sophie! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the scintillating Mavens who carefully take note of casual adjectives, and others who support the Pub Quiz on Patreon (where I am also sometimes sharing drafts of poems). I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of supporters. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Find here three pub quiz questions from last week:
- Countries with the Greatest Remittances. Which country in 2023 received $125 billion from people working outside the country almost twice as much as the $67 billion received from people working from outside of Mexico?
- Operettas About Mammals. Die Fledermaus is a famous operetta composed by Johann Strauss II that premiered in 1874 in Vienna. The word “Fledermaus” is German for what kind of mammal?
- Pop Culture – Music. Less than three minutes long, Elvis’s 40th and final Top Ten hit on the Billboard US charts had a two-word title. The second word in the title is “love.” What is the first?