If It Seems Too Good to be True ...

New Book: Release and Sale Coming!

My next book is almost ready for you. I'll make the official announcement in the next newsletter. And I'll give it a new-release price.

Watch This Space!

OCD Follow-Up

Remember last newsletter in which I told you I compulsively adjust the back of my shirt when driving? I asked if any of you had an OCD thing.

Subscriber Charlie M. wrote:

• I have an OCD thing as well. When riding my bicycle I can't get over the silly notion that the car speeding up behind me is driven by a man who is distracted by adjusting the back of his shirt. 

Good one, Charlie!

I Never Liked This Expression

You hear it a lot: "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."

First, it's not real clear. It could mean: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is true. Of course, it's supposed to mean: If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

It's kinda like "Spring forward, fall back." That's supposed to help us remember which way to turn the clocks, and many people say "Hey, wow, good mnemonic!" But in fact, the expression "Spring back, fall forward" also makes sense. Right?

So, I have a better mnemonic for you to remember whenever it's time to change your clocks. Here it is: "Daylight saving time sucks. I hate wasting time changing ten or more clocks and devices!" Say it with your teeth clenched.

But back to today's dumb expression. Yeah, maybe many things that seem too good to be true, aren't, but here are three things that seem to be too good to be true ... and are (are true, that is):

Libraries

For free, you can borrow books and read them. Doesn't that sound too good to be true?

Three cheers for Ben Franklin (inventor of the library)!

Crabs

Crabs and lobsters are great. My wife and I pick up a Dungeness crab from a boat in Eureka every Saturday when they're in season. Yum!

And the too-good part is that these animals have been considerate enough to put their skeletons on the outside of their bodies! Crack open a claw and you've got this big hunk of boneless meat.

Take that, chicken!

Sex!

Take a moment to think about how lucky we are that sexual reproduction is, like, super important for the survival of our species. It has such a great adaptive value that we evolved such that it feels really good. It didn't have to be that way.

Of course, before contraceptives were invented, it had some serious drawbacks, but not any longer. With a little care, it's too good to be true.

In books and movies (even in Contact Us), people get pregnant by accident, like, all the time. It's a good way to make the story interesting. I'll bet it happens less often in real life.

Conclusion

So, next time you hear the expression, "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is," think of those three things above.

I have to go now, can you guess why?

That's right, my wife and are going to have sex while eating crab in the library. Good luck getting that image out of your head!

Until next time,

Al