(Today’s post was inspired by Ben Yoskovitz, whose invitation to post about this at his Instigator Blog was sent to me by my friend Dennis. Thanks, Bud – I owe you a cookie at the next Board Meeting.)

No doubt by now you’ve probably read several “What I Learned…” posts, replete with all sorts of wonderful life lessons, entrepreneurial lessons, marketing lessons, etc. However, as I started to write my own list, I realized that while I did indeed learn many of the same things (and I truly appreciate the lessons – honest!), I have to admit the most interesting and memorable things I’ve learned are, well, let’s just say they’re a bit offbeat, to say the least.

Now I realize that some may see this posting as gratuitous self-promotion, designed to take advantage of readers by constantly referring back to my own blog. Well, maybe so, but since my thoughts were already posted once, I’d rather point you to them than repeat myself. (I really hate – I mean really hate – repeating myself. Darn.)

But what the heck, it’s my blog and I’ll post if I want to, so here goes.

1. One of the best ways to innovate is to… fail! (And to the chorus of “I knew that!” from readers, let me just acknowledge right up front that I’m late to this particular train.) It really makes sense, though, doesn’t it? After all, discovering how NOT to do something can be just a valuable as figuring out how. Who would you rather have working for you: someone who says, “I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m not giving up!” or, “I tried that and it didn’t work, so I gave up.” (And by the way, this isn’t just a business lesson either – it’s good for life!)
2. Are you looking for a truly great source for words that are either out of use, or obscure, or both? If you ever wanted to know what galamatious (gal-i-may’shi-us, n.) means and how to use it for fun and profit, then this was the place. I say ‘was’ because alas, since I first learned of the Phrontistery, it appears to have gone out of use as well and is no longer answering its link (it’s now redirected to some unrelated index page). Too bad.
3. Speaking of elegant language, I learned that while Bob Sutton may be a Stanford Professor, a prolific author, and an all-around nice guy, he seems to be most well-known for his ongoing discussion of um, er, assholes. I’ve been following this meme since first reading his blog in June, and it’s amazing how it resonates in the blogosphere! Thanks, Bob, for having the guts, the out-and-out courage to articulate something we all feel (at least for those of us who aren’t, well, you know.) For those of you who are… well, let me say this: you’re outnumbered, and one day we’ll be coming for you.
4. If you’ve ever had one of those days when you wished you could just blow up everything, then this one is for you. I learned that there is definitely more than one way to skin this particular cat, so to speak. Out of my 109 posts so far (including this one), this is still my favorite. (And now you just learned something about me.)
5. Rejoice! The energy crisis is no more. I learned that a Dublin, Ireland company named Steorn has rewritten the Laws of Thermodynamics, invented free unlimited energy for the masses, and challenged the scientific community to prove them wrong. Film at 11.
6. I learned how to make a million dollars. Now if I could only learn how to keep it.
7. While researching my 100th post, I learned several great things, including: a) one in 18 people have a third nipple; b) how to cause people to run screaming from an elevator; c) that teddy bears kill more people every year than grizzly bears; and most importantly, d) 100 tips on being an effective evil overlord (particularly useful if you’re interested in #4, above)
8. And, while it’s not exactly a lesson learned, in case you missed the announcement in Sweden, I made a contribution to science that I feel certain will stand the test of time.

BUT (and that’s a BIG but!) by far the best lesson learned this year is how much fun blogging really is! I mean, how much easier can it be to meet so many new and interesting people? Thanks, Ben, for the invitation to jump out there and make a splash!