When it comes to exercise, if you can’t feel the burn, you’re doing something wrong.

I know when I’ve had a good workout because I’m in pain afterwards. That soreness you feel is the result of tiny tears in your muscles. When you rest afterwards, your body heals itself by building new muscle cells to repair those tears. As a result, these new muscle cells are bigger and stronger than before.

Obligatory quote:

We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.

If you want to get a good workout, you have to push yourself to the limit.

Sometimes if you make a mistake in front of someone, the best thing you can do is laugh.

I touched on this before, but this time I have a story A while ago, I was dancing with this woman (we’ll call her Beth) at a swing event. The song being played had a rhythm that was difficult to match with the footwork. At first, we wondered if we should wait until the next song. I told her, “Well, shall we?”. Bethy said, “Sure, why not? The worst that can happen is we’ll laugh“.

That’s awesome advice. You can’t imagine the number of times I laugh while I swing dance. Rather than get annoyed about every mistake you make, laugh and have a good time. It’s a lot more fun that way

Police get a bad rap and there’s no good reason for it.

I think that being a police officer is one of the most honorable jobs in the workforce. It requires courage, energy, and 100% of your attention. Which is why I get a little mad when an isolated event brings the entire justice system into question.

After the whole “don’t tase me bro!” incident in September, a lot of stories started surfacing about taser abuse. I remember hearing people say “what’s wrong with American police” or “that’s why I hate police officers”. Unfortunately, you’re always going to find a few bad apples. The key is to not forget about all the good ones.

Who knew? Customer service actually makes a difference.

Everyone says it: “the customer always comes first”. But you never think about that until you experience the good and bad sides of customer service first hand. When I lived in Rochester, the Wegman’s grocery store pushed the importance of customer service. It was nice… every time I paid for my items, the staff smiled, asked me if I found everything alright, and wished me a good day.

Even though that’s so minor, the difference is obvious. Now that I live in Boston, the employees at Shaw’s don’t talk to you half the time and don’t wish you a good day. I’m not complaining, but if you ever start a business, remember that even the small things like a smile can make a difference

No matter how you look at it, a lot of medical research will always be a double-edged sword.

A few months back I was talking to my brother about my frustration with laws regarding stem cell research. My opinion was that this research could be doing so much more if it weren’t for the fact that we have laws restricting what people can do. If these laws had existed years ago, medicine would never be where it is now.

Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword. By allowing certain experiments, we endanger people’s lives which is obviously unethical. Where and how do we make the call between the risks of new, experimental research (endangering lives) and the rewards that they bring (saving lives)?

Did you ever realize you start singing the lyrics to a song without actually thinking about what it is you’re saying?

That sort of thing used to happen to me all the time. I’d be listening to music, tapping my feet, enjoying the rhythm, yet I had no idea what they were actually singing I never really thought about it until someone mentioned it to me several years ago.

A lot of musicians are really storytellers. Their rhythm is great, but at the same time, the story they’re telling needs to be good too. I now try to listen to the lyrics as well as enjoy the beat whenever I hear a song.

It’s funny how different we can be when we’re off on our own.

Over the past several years, I’ve lived in Rochester, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Boston, MA; and Herndon, VA. In each place, I went there not knowing anyone. What I find most interesting about being on your own is how different you can be.

Back at home in New Jersey I have a personality that people know me by and acting outside of that personality can seem out of place. But when you go somewhere new where no one knows you, you’re more likely to do and try things that you normally wouldn’t. When my brother went to Ireland and Australia, there’s a different side of him I don’t normally see.

Being off on your own can let you break out of your shell. It’s the new you

If you’re in a bar or other social place and meeting someone for the first time, don’t talk about work.

Random topics are, by far, the best conversation icebreaker when meeting someone. Don’t talk about work, the weather, where you’re from, or any of that basic stuff. That’s boring conversation that usually goes nowhere.

For example, a while ago someone next to me in a restaurant was eating salad. I turned to her and asked, “What do you think? Is it alright for a guy to order a salad when he’s out with other guys?” I had a story about how I got slammed for doing just that. It’s a funny topic, but it’s a great icebreaker and skips over the boring stuff!

I enjoy taking things apart, as long as they’re not valuable

If you ever have a device that you’re going to throw out, such as a laptop, printer, radio, etc., you should try taking it apart and having a look inside. I don’t know how half the devices I use work. It’s all kind of just this black magic, but once you take a look inside you might be surprised what you find.

I remember the first time I took apart a cell phone. It’s interesting to see the actual screen inside the phone and how it’s composed of multiple layers or how the keypad interacts with the underlying circuit board. I would recommend doing this on a device that’s destroyed or being thrown out… I guarantee you’ll learn something if you do.

Following my recent post on patent reform, there needs to be a crackdown on scalpers and a reform in scalping in general.

Scalping tickets is such a huge business. Back in October, I read a story about tickets for pop star Miley Cyrus being sold out minutes within their release. Who bought so many of those tickets? Scalpers. Tickets sold at $65 were being re-sold in the aftermarket for $200-$250. Understandably, it’s hard to crack down on these scalpers without a nationwide law and with the use of the Internet.

However, you have to think that something’s wrong here. It seems like the wrong people are benefiting from public events only because they have the technology or connections to beat your average parent to the punch.