Ash and I tried out Eastland Sushi today.

New parents: Never underestimate the power of the early dinner. When it's 6pm and you've got dinner fully out of the way, you can focus all your attention on baby (and other important life things, like blogging every day). And when you can focus all your attention on baby, life is simple. And when life is simple, life is better. Right? Right.

Not to mention, eating dinner is healthier for you in a slew of ways - allowing you to process your carbs before bed, nudging you to get to bed sooner and wake up sooner, optimizing your pre-sleep yoga session (especially when you're getting into the twists), and on and on and on.

There's a reason other cultures eat their biggest meal at lunch and only a smaller one at dinner. It's one of the many practices of modern American society that don't particularly jive with the life healthiest lived.

Back to the point.

As we finished our Sugar Daddy roll and our Walla Walla roll, with hot tea aiding our metabolism and bringing good vibes, we exchanged fortunes.

Hers was an unwelcome reminder of our mortality (Think, "all things will come to an end.") That is, unwelcome to her. I am of the mindset, like Seneca and other stoic philosophers, that keeping oneself not far from the acknowledgment of death helps one to build a more fulfilling life. I believe Steve Jobs had something salient to say here.

Mine stopped me in my tracks for its succinct power on so many levels:

The surest way to have nothing to give is to give nothing.

I've always tried to abide the spirit of this saying, but I'll be darned if I've ever seen it put so wonderfully.