The Best is the Enemy of the Pretty Damn Good

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There is a true saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that the good is the enemy of the best.  This aphorism meant, back in the old days, that if someone could get away with doing a merely good job, he or she would not deliver their very best.

Today, it is a greater temptation to want to postpone doing anything at all, until one has the time to do a perfect job.  So, they just don't do anything, since they have a good excuse to not do it, and in the case of many things that are cumulative, where a little effort by a vast number of people adds up to something significant, the lack of any effort means that the individual contributions simply aren't there, to add up.

Education.  I was just talking to a friend, saying that much of the prejudice and the bigotry out there is fueled by ignorance.  The best lesson one can give is, of course, example.  But these days, it is really worth the effort to say something.  It is futile to wait until you have an enormous platform.  Just saying something to the people around you is a good start, and often all you need to do.  Just to your kid.  To your spouse.  To the mailman.  I don't know: you decide.  Maybe it's a blog, like this one.  People are actually reading this; I'm up to something like 40,ooo views (unfortunately, most of the views are of posts that have pictures in them), so some of my points are being made.

Starting a Blog.  My wife wants to make a blog for herself, but she's waiting until she has the time to do it properly.  Chances are, she'll never get around to it.

Recycling.  Some people just don't do it because they can't get organized to do it systematically.  Now, in theory, doing a sporadic job of recycling can result in you never getting organized.  But from where the rest of us sit, doing a sporadic job is good!  Do it!  Get the flat white paper to where it can be shredded, and recycled.  Get the bottles out to the recycling center.  Stop there, if you must.  If you drink beer from cans, recycle the cans!  If every beer drinker recycled his or her cans, the world would be a better place.  But even if one hundredth of them recycled, the world would be, well, pretty good.

Volunteering.  I'm getting bold about talking about volunteering because my wife drove me to get involved with the local community radio station, so I'm the token Classical Music person for the station, which means that we have a little less than two hours a week of classical music, because I also play a lot of other stuff.  Choose something you would enjoy, like shelving at the local library, especially if you're old and decrepit.  Or even young, and decrepit.  It is a good opportunity to be around young people, which is a refreshing thing to do.

Reading.  If you're reading this, getting started with reading is probably not a problem for you.  But we must encourage people to read, one person, and one book at a time.  Get to the local bookstore, which will almost invariably have recycled books from libraries for sale for a dollar or two.  Choose carefully; this is where your inside knowledge of the person is invaluable.  Young people, for example, might respond better to a book that comes with materials, such as teach yourself how to juggle, which comes with a set of juggling balls, or build your own Liverpool Cathedral (cut-out cathedral pieces), or dinosaur, or whatever.  Or even a beginning Origami book.  Or throw them straight into a thriller, why not?

I'll stop here.  But here's a few more:  Playing the piano: it is better to have played the piano badly, than never to have played at all.  Camping at a State of Federal Park.  In ten years, who knows whether we will have a single wild bird out there?  If bees are dying, what will be next?  Get out and enjoy!  Bridge!  Have you ever wanted to learn the game of Bridge?  Be careful; I'm told it's addictive.  Riding a bicycle?  Another addictive pastime.  If you're too old to balance on a traditional bike, there are pedal tricycles, which I have not tried, but which look like they might be fun.  Cooking.  My wife and I recently taught ourselves how to make Egg Foo Young.  It is easy (there are just a couple of unusual ingredients: Oyster Sauce, and Bean Sprouts), and wowed our friends.

Arch.  [pictures to be added next year.  We just have a little colored text to begin with.]