JW: i’ve finally broken the access/vba learning curve. i’m actually programming, like a madman. … (meanwhile I’m researching like crazy for a programming alternative)

BW: What do you mean “(meanwhile I’m researching like crazy for a programming alternative)”. For example, what would that be?

JW: I guess i meant an alternative to vba. Another language. not an alternative to the act of programming in general.

BW: Why is it I cringe every time you say VBA, maybe because it’s so Microsoft. Keep looking…

funny that i’m finally managing to do cool things with something i find so revolting. there seems to be a constructive pattern worth extracting here: that we excel under adverse conditions–and that being actively hyper-conscious of said adversity makes it easy to ignore (and trample) the sacred status quo.

since not all situations are inherently crappy, you too can fool yourself into perceiving them as crappy. this isn’t as masochistic as it sounds—all you need to do is raise your standards, or find something particularly ‘sensitive’ or ‘broken’ and make a lot of noise.

what i’ve learned is that though the strategy above works on many situations: work, school, hobbies, home improvement, self-improvement, physcial fitness, etc., it does not work on friendships. it seems painfully obvious written down, but people still raise their expectations of others and send out blistering criticisms in hopes of livening up a limp relationship.

*visual basic for applications – the programming language ’embedded’ in all microsoft office applications