The Lean Man

Nearly 7AM, and my work is not done‚ so let us continue.

Oh, Vitalik, what high-reaching intellect! Floating, dreamy, like a cloud in the sky, and I could never reach it.

But, did last night, I have a dream of you!—that you were professor, and I your eager student, who sat down to soak of your wisdom. And then, did you draw an equation on the board, math and calculus, and I froze, petrified.

For once, in high school, did I qualify for the AIME—a nerd test, for those unfamiliar—and I sat across from my smart friend, a bit of a mathematical whiz who works now at Jane Street, and when he wrote an answer, I peeked and did similar. And, I felt bad—and I got a 6, and he a 9, how poetic—and I realized, if I must cheat in the game, then I should better not play, at all.

Oh, to be honest, a man like George Washington!—led by firm integrity and courage, conviction and force of character. For he, too, is a hero, symbol of the Founding of our Nation, and his portrait upon the humble $1 bill—how fitting, and Napoleon could never compare.

For, like him, I wish simply to return to my farm, to sleep an eternal slumber, or at least one night—and did my friend text me, this morning, to tell me to sleep, and did I try! And I said, “for your sake, I shall,” and I lay in bed, awake, in full schizophrenic fever, conversations with ghosts and friends and people I have never met, and I wrote this piece.

But, let us wrap it up, and no piece is complete without moral delivery, so I shall say that I bless the foolish and the ignorant, for the purpose of intellect, in my mind, is to show it unnecessary—how before us, we had the answer all along.

To love!—to appreciate, to show friendship and kinship, to loathe and despise, and the rest—and if Steve said, “stay hungry, stay foolish!”, then, I say, “stay lean in your folly!”, because even in being a fool, shall you moderate yourself. Then, to be lean, is to be hungry, and to be a fool—is not a choice, so I capture in mine the same spirit, perhaps better, perhaps worse, but original, all-the-same.

And what do I title this?—but, I have no idea, perhaps “the lean man,” a nod to The Lean Startup, and a callback to lean intellectualism, just being more of a fool, more of a man, less profound, and more personal.

When will people realize I have no idea what I am doing?—anyways, today is chest day…