Last night my wife and I went out to a movie for the first time in a long time.  We brought Grandma over to look over little Squeebles, and mom and dad went out on town.

We went to see The Blind Side, which I highly recommend.  The underlying story is of a well-off couple with two kids who take “Big Mike” (a teenage kid from the “other side of town” with only the clothes on his body) under their wing, buy him clothes, send them to school, and he ends up getting a scholarship to play football at Old Miss.

I’m not much of a movie critic, and the the previous paragraph doesn’t do the storyline justice.  I recommend seeing it for yourself.

A long time ago I wrote about how I paid good money (and a lot of it) for a bottle of water, when there was a water fountain right next to the concession counter.

Well, I failed in frugality once again.

Last night I paid $8 for a “large” bag of popcorn.  I admit it, guilty.

I can’t believe I did that, but popcorn sounded really good at the time, and I figured we’d split it, which we did.

There’s no way that bag of popcorn was worth $8.  But I paid for it anyway, and apparently by the looks of the line at the counter, other people did too.  I suppose a product is worth what people will pay for it, but for something as cheap and easy as popcorn, it strikes me that so many people are willing to pay for it.

I was only slightly vindicated by putting $4 worth of free fake butter and salt on the popcorn.  If I’m gonna overpay for popcorn, I’m gonna load it up with all the free stuff I can.  Arteries be damned.

If you don’t watch television, you may not know Randy Pausch.  If that’s the case, let me introduce you.

Randy Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August of 2006.  One year later the cancer had moved into his liver and spleen, which meant the cancer was terminal.

As part of an ongoing lecture series, top professors are asked to impart some advice and knowledge upon the world as though it was their last chance to do so.

Randy gave his last lecture, entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” on September 18, 2007.  For him, however, it really was his last lecture, as he had been given three to six months to live.

Randy’s lecture inspired many, but even beyond his lecture, he truly influenced the world.

Randy passed away last Friday, July 25th at his home in Virginia, surrounded by his wife and three children.

With that, I offer you Randy’s Last Lecture:

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” -Randy Pausch.

Below, the Wall Street Journal’s Jeffrey Zaslow remembers a man who inspired so many with a lasting final lecture and a best-selling book.

Would you be proud of your final lecture?

Additional Resources:

Carnegie Mellon’s news story on Randy Pausch’s passing

Carnegie Mellon: In Memoriam, Randy Pausch

Buy the book: The Last Lecture