Autograph Template: Fill & Download for Free

In my experience (based on acquaintances), they are interested in things that are rare and unique. This includes:Art - especially rare and valuable pieces that will appreciate in value. It’s a kick to have a famous painting or sculpture, or have something you own on loan to a museum.Rare historical items -For example, in 1994 Bill Gates bought a 500 year old manuscript that was written by Leonardo DaVinci for $30 million. It had previously been owned by business mogul Armand Hammer. Old classic cars are common as are rare books. Nothing like owning an autographed first edition of Moby Dick in your library. Or a 500 year old Bible.Memorabilia from their heroes - Everybody has someone they look up to, even wealthy people. It could be a sports figure, musician, actor, or a politician. Autographed books, clothes, footballs, photographs, old letters, or personal items owned by famous people. A friend of mine has a personal movie theater decked out with autographed memorabilia from the Godfather films. Another has tons of autographed rock and roll memorabilia, including photographs of him with the bands. I’ve also seen private collections that featured a gun or sword that was owned by a famous civil war General. Or something that once belonged to a Founding Father or former President.Bespoke items - quality items that are hand made, and/or made to their specifications. That includes clothes, jewelry, furniture, homes, golf clubs, yachts, and cars. Most high end auto manufacturers will invite high net worth individuals to “build their own” vehicle and pick it up at the factory. This includes custom paint jobs, as well as custom interior choices. Bentley and Rolls Royce offer hundreds of leather and trim options to suit any preference.Food/wine/cigars/alcohol - I wish I can show you some of the private wine cellars, scotch collections, cigar rooms, and kitchens I’ve been in. Your “set point” of what gets your taste buds going changes quickly when you become used to eating at the best restaurants in the world and you have a personal chef.Unique vacations and experiences - It’s not enough to have a destination vacation, it has to be something you’re friends haven’t done. Private islands, exclusive resorts, places that very few people get to go - even if they aren’t luxurious (like a trip to the South Pole).One of a kind homes - To top it off, your home is the showcase of it all. Anyone can have a big house. Having it custom designed and built to your specifications in a prime location with jaw dropping amenities is the must have. Many wealthy people absolutely obsess over every detail in their home - and it can’t be some cookie cutter template that sits in every other neighborhood. Tiles and marble from Italy, rare woods for the trim and accents. Hand made light fixtures. All the details, right down to the shower curtains.Owning something you’re passionate about - There is one last thing that separates the ultra-wealthy: Being able to own a competitive sports team. Auto racing teams, racing yachts, thoroughbred horses, basketball/football/baseball/soccer/rugby, you name it. My former boss Steve Ballmer bought the Clippers for $2 Billion - I love that guy, he’s been a huge basketball fan for years. I can’t even imagine what a huge kick that has been for him.The wealthy can buy any mass produced product, and all of their wealthy friends will have similar items. If you want to have something that you can show off and be proud of, it has to be one of kind. It makes for a bit of a surreal “keeping up with the Jones” experience to see it.

My favorite fake etymology is one of my own invention, and involves three languages: English, Hebrew, and a bit of Aramaic.For those unfamiliar, Hebrew and many other Semitic languages are based on a root (often consisting of three letters) and a structure (which is essentially a template inside which you can stick the letters of the root, Mad Libs style). By putting the two together one can create a plethora of nouns which all share a similar root and are therefore related, or take a root denoting a verb and use the structure to denote its tense, femininity/masculinity (yes, we have that in Hebrew), and whether we're dealing with the singular or the plural.So, for example, let's take the root sh-k-l (letters shin, koof, lamed), which refers to weights and weighing, and play around with it a bit using the structures:Sh-k-l + _a_a_ (structure of a past tense, singular male verb) = shakal, ‘he weighed’ (an object).Sh-k-l + Mi__a_ (a more generic structure this time, in this case signifying an abstract noun) = mishkal, weight.What's really cool is that the Israeli currency, the shekel, gets its name from the fact that the metal-based currencies used to be weighed, or order to ensure fair transactions. While we might use paper money and identical coins nowadays, it's fascinating that a piece of history is preserved in a single name.Let's move on to a different root, and to the punchline: the root a-f-h (letters aleph, fay, hay) refers to terms related to baking. Using the first structure from before we can create A(a)fah, ‘he baked’ (second letter in parentheses because it's not pronounced, as it's swallowed by the previous ‘ah’ sound), ma’afiyah (bakery), and ma’afim (multiple baked goods, the final hay was swallowed by the structure).Now, making use of an old Aramaic structure, the latter becomes ma’afin instead of ma’afim, is pronounced mah-ah-fin, and is a general term referring to baked goods.It should come as no surprise, then, that more than an entire millenium later, this word should make a comeback in the form of the muffin, which is as good of a baked good as any.The Wikipedia article for muffin attempts to give a plausible alternative etymological explanation but isn't quite sure:The name is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin; it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake, or possibly with some connection to the Old French moufflet meaning soft as said of bread.… and Google flat out gives up:Heck, you know what? I'm totally taking credit for this one. It's not a fake etymology; it's just misunderstood, you know? I'll be signing autographs tomorrow at noon.

For them it’s a performance. Each character has a profile for the actors to follow, just like the autographs that they have to duplicate. The actors are taught their parts and then rehearse…What’s impressive is that everyday is pretty much an improvisation session for each actor, using a character template to dictate their reactions.