What I Wish I Knew: “You won’t regret doing things the right way, even if it costs more”
Studio Ghibli, the voice actor who created Siri, and 25 lessons from 42 years of running (Issue #303)
Yes, it’s Friday, and it’s also the final day of “What I Wish I Knew” week. Today, we’re sharing a few stories that didn’t quite fit any of our earlier themes (doing a good job; building a creative career; writing for other people; parenting).
First up: Trudy Horsting list of pointers for renovating your home (which are oddly applicable to making any life change). When you’re, say, gut-renovating your kitchen or installing new windows, “you will always question if you made the right decision,” she explains, and because you (most likely) won’t be an expert in construction or renovation yourself, you’ll need to trust your instincts. Horsting agonized over HVAC systems and ultimately went with the most basic option. She likely won’t know whether she’ll regret it for at least several years.
And, in a lesson that’s just as relevant to life and work as it is to HVAC systems, Horsting advises: You’ll never regret doing things the right way even if it costs more upfront. Whatever you’re building (or rebuilding), put in the time to make it last.
Three more from all of you:
- Peace N. reflects on what she wishes she’d known before becoming a dentist in Nigeria (first a dental consultant, actually): “In a country like mine that doesn’t care for its health sector, several dental and para dental groups go on strike almost yearly.”
- Logan Williamsen imparts a few lessons about starting out as a graphic designer (clients never know what they want, and they’ll almost always choose your first sketch).
- Lastly, one of the funniest (and most original) responses we saw? Andrew Knott’s What I Wish I Knew Before I Won a Duck Plushie the Size of a 10-Year-Old Child at a Theme Park. (He wishes he knew it would scare his labradoodle puppy when he brought it home 🙃)
Browse more stories on the “What I Wish I Knew” topic page — and if you have a story to share, tag it! Thanks for joining us this week, we’ll be back on Monday.
🎨 Also today…
- If Studio Ghibli directed Lord of the Rings this is what it would look like, via GPT 4o (and Jim the AI Whisperer). “The future of media is multiversal,” Jim writes. “Don’t want to see the live-action Snow White? Reanimate it as Studio Ghibli. Don’t appreciate Rachel Zegler? With one prompt, artificially recast her with any digital actor, or an avatar of the viewer.” Good for personalization, not great for building community or shared understanding.
- It is not thinking that distinguishes humans from animals, but our structured forms of play (e.g. video games), argues Dutch cultural theorist Johan Huizinga. (Logan Taylor)
- I loved this quote from an interview with the original voice of Siri, Susan Bennett, a voiceover actress contracted by ScanSoft (the company Apple acquired pre-Siri):
The process took about four months in total, and I recorded four hours a day, five days a week, reading crazy phrases and sentences that were created just to get all of the sound combinations in the language. So…I was reading weird things like “Cow hoist in the tub hut today,” “Say shist fresh issue today,” “Cathexis feffa tully sexual ease stump!” It was interesting, to say the least!!
Some practical wisdom
“When things get complicated, get back to the basics. Focus on form.” — Normi Coto, PhD, from 25 Lessons I Wish I Knew When I Started Running 42 Years Ago
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Edited and produced by Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis
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