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	<title>The Nervous Breakdown &#187; Richard Cox</title>
	<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com</link>
	<description>It's going to be okay.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:17:24 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Add Intensity, Subtract Limpness</title>
		<description><![CDATA[SAN FRANCISCO, CA-
The other day I was walking down Market Street, enjoying a rare day of calm winds and clear, sunny skies, when a stranger approached me. His hair was brown and coarse, like horsehair, which he clearly hadn’t washed in weeks. Maybe months. He was short and swarthy and wore a thick, bushy moustache [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/11/add-intensity-subtract-limpness/</link>
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		<title>He who controls the past, controls the future</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-


A while back I drove to Texas and attended a high school reunion. Events like these are surreal for most everyone, but as I approached Wichita Falls on a cold and still Friday evening, the intensity of it all was overwhelming—the color of the sky, the emptiness of the prairie, the quiet roar of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/10/he-who-controls-the-past-controls-the-future/</link>
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		<title>A Thousand Words: Emergence - From Simple Lessons Arise Unexpected Results</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
The first memory I have of my father is my earliest image of anything, a thunderous voice demanding I finish some long-forgotten meal. I was still in a high chair then, and the world was binary, black and white, yes or no. Mostly no. If you were uncertain about whether a particular action was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/09/a-thousand-words-emergence-from-simple-lessons-arise-unexpected-results/</link>
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		<title>You spin me right round (like a record baby)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
In fiction, one common and generic way to refer to well-drawn, realistic characters is to call them &#8220;round.&#8221; As in:
&#8220;&#8230;characters as described by the course of their development in a work of literature. Flat characters are two-dimensional in that they are relatively uncomplicated and do not change throughout the course of a work. By [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/08/you-spin-me-right-round-like-a-record-baby/</link>
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		<title>New Bananas Foster Cappuccino</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
I normally refuel my car at QuikTrip, a regional convenience store chain that differentiates itself from others with clean facilities and prompt, friendly customer service. I mean, I don&#8217;t really give a shit about the customer service because I always pay at the pump, but on the occasion that I do have to go [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/03/new-bananas-foster-cappuccino/</link>
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		<title>Richard à clef</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
Recently I wrote a novel. Well, I didn&#8217;t write the whole thing recently, but I did recently finish it, and by finish I mean I&#8217;m waiting to hear from my agent if he likes it or not. He&#8217;ll suggest changes and so will an eventual editor, so it&#8217;s not really &#8220;finished.&#8221;
In the meantime, I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2009/01/richard-a-clef/</link>
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		<title>The Customer is Irrelevant: Another Life in Retail</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
When I was 19 I took a job at Sears, Roebuck, and Co. The company was named after Richard Sears, Alvah Roebuck, and Bad Company (the English rock supergroup). If you&#8217;ve ever wondered who Roebuck was, I can tell you (according to Wikipedia) that the name came from Alvah Roebuck, who left the company [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2008/10/the-customer-is-irrelevant-another-life-in-retail/</link>
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		<title>No One Likes It When You Use Vulcan Logic</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
I remember quite clearly, when I was 10 or so, a television commercial for Tylenol. The message went something like this:
&#8220;Extra Strength Tylenol has more pain-relieving medicine than Regular Strength Bayer Aspirin.&#8221;
I was only 10 years old. I shouldn&#8217;t have even been paying attention to the commercials. I should have been playing with my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2008/08/no-one-likes-it-when-you-use-vulcan-logic/</link>
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		<title>Lemmings march blindly toward their deaths</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-

One thing I&#8217;m not too fond of is blind adherence. I think it&#8217;s a good idea to occasionally take a step back from whatever you&#8217;re doing and ask &#8220;Does this make sense?&#8221;

Curiosity can&#8217;t be a bad thing, at least not in most cases.
This is why I detest politics. I often get the feeling that [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/11/lemmings-march-blindly-toward-their-deaths/</link>
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		<title>Yes, I took a picture with Brandt Snedeker, but that&#8217;s beside the point: a golf blog</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-

The morning is soupy, humid and warm, and we all know the mercury will climb quickly. A ride on a bus and an uphill walk, rubbing elbows with an army of spectators, and then I see the sun breaking over the roof of the club house. Shadows stretch across the golf course, a man-made [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/08/yes-i-took-a-picture-with-brandt-snedeker-but-thats-beside-the-point-a-golf-blog/</link>
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		<title>You aren&#8217;t who you think you are. Are we too caught up in the romance of being human?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-

This morning, when I climbed into my car and tried to start the engine, nothing happened. Why? Because I didn&#8217;t have the keyfob in my pocket.
With this car it&#8217;s possible to make odd mistakes with the keyfob because there is no key attached to it&#8230;the little egg-shaped fob uses RF signals to talk to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/06/you-arent-who-you-think-you-are-are-we-too-caught-up-in-the-romance-of-being-human/</link>
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		<title>From This High Up, He Said, People Look Like Ants</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
Viewed from an altitude of 37,000 feet, the Earth looks a lot different than our everyday experience.

The majestic Rockies are a bumpy patch of acne. Mighty rivers look like static, crooked lines. Teeming cities become their smoggy, Google Earth counterparts.
We build our lives in these places, we take vacations to them, we photograph them [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/05/from-this-high-up-he-said-people-look-like-ants/</link>
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		<title>Does Time Really Fly When You&#8217;re Having Fun?  A Bit of Relativity in Your Daily Life</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
Let&#8217;s talk about relativity.
For every observer, things seem slightly different. From a physics point of view, you do not occupy the same location in space as anyone else, and you might be moving at different velocities, and so on.
This is why using astrology for anything other than entertainment seems silly to me. Constellations don&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/03/does-time-really-fly-when-youre-having-fun-a-bit-of-relativity-in-your-daily-life/</link>
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		<title>From Russia with Love: Why Enforcing Trust is Mission Impossible</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
Trust is an elusive thing.
It&#8217;s hard to know when to let down your guard with someone, to let them see who you really are. And when you&#8217;re hurt or betrayed by someone you love, it becomes that much harder to open up to someone else.
But what, exactly, defines betrayal?


In this particular case I&#8217;m talking [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/02/from-russia-with-love-why-enforcing-trust-is-mission-impossible/</link>
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		<title>Patriotism Doesn&#8217;t Mean a Bumper Sticker, and Why the State Department Should Issue a Dress Code to Americans Traveling Abroad</title>
		<description><![CDATA[TULSA, OK-
On September 11, 2001, there was a small American flag mounted on the wall above my desk at work. By that time it had been there for several years.
Wall decorations are not my forte, but anything that breaks the monotony of gray is a welcome thing. And I&#8217;ve also felt quite patriotic about the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://archives.thenervousbreakdown.com/rcox/2007/01/patriotism-doesnt-mean-a-bumper-sticker-and-why-the-state-department-should-issue-a-dress-code-to-americans-traveling-abroad/</link>
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