There’s this annoying recurring series on — surprise! — National Public Radio called “This I Believe,” where people from the proverbial “all walks of life” talk about some belief central to their lives (e.g., Tony Hawk, “Do what you love“; Brian Grazer, “Disrupting my comfort zone“).

Yes, rather trite. I couldn’t possibly explain — in the length of a blog post — why I believe liberty is the best system for organizing human affairs, why Bob Dylan means so much to me, or why the New York Yankees are so evil. So here, I present some random, mostly trivial, beliefs of mine.

This I believe …

• It’s OK — wise, in fact — for a man to carry a change purse.
• There is a delicate balance between cheese and cracker.
• Don’t put ketchup on hot dogs.
• Don’t leave before the game is over.
• Don’t ask acquaintances how they’re doing — they just might tell.
• Write things down — memories are meant to be forgotten.
• Syrup should be served warm. Needless to say, there is a delicate balance between butter and syrup.
• Sleeping is superior to most of the activities that require being awake.
• There’s no need to see the new movie this weekend. It will be just as good, or just as bad, a month or a decade from now.
• Depend on the indifference of strangers. Expect the same in return.
• Give others the benefit of the doubt. Put the burden on them to prove they’re jerks. For politicians, flip that.
• Living now, in the United States of America, puts us ahead of 99.9 percent of the humans who have ever lived in material terms and in nearly every other regard. Just keep it in mind.
• Lying is a chore.
• It’s OK to sit on the floor while waiting in line.
• Bring something to read.
• If something’s not in its usual place, then it’s probably lost, so give up the search. If a thing doesn’t have a usual place, then it’s not really lost. It’s certainly not misplaced!
• Life is not short. Act accordingly.
• Wherever you go, there you are. So why put up with airport security?