calculated risks

1. You must always keep your options open.

2. Right and wrong are subjective: something can feel right but be very wrong, and something can seem totally wrong but be completely the right thing. It's irrelevant.

3. The number of steps you take down to get somewhere, you will have to climb back up later. Choose your shoes wisely.

4. Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk. At other times you will be too drunk to calculate the risk, so it is best to simply not take it.

5. Self-preservation may often be mistaken for self-punishment: make sure you understand the difference before you embark on either.

6. It is much easier to fold a sheet when you've got someone holding up the other end to help you.

7. A certain mug may be more symbolic than meets the eye.

8. Travelling on back-to-back weekends is exhausting for some, necessary for others.

9. There is no such thing as too much champagne. Too many cigarettes is a whole other story.

friendly fire

1. criticism from a stranger is never easy to hear

2. "remember, money is dirty"

3. if you are feeling like Mariah post-Glitter pre-breakdown, like Britney post-divorce pre-Circus, and like Lindsay post-parties pre-jail, you need to slow down

4. when writing in another language, choose your words very carefully

5. there is no such thing as friendly fire... unless you are frozen in a mass of ice, then fire is very friendly

6. disappointment is inevitable. decide how much you want to let it bother you

7. when asked to offer criticism to a stranger, remember no.1