Atom FeedArchive of March 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Following The Island Dream
This a brief story about Roger Lextrait: The King of Palmyra Island. I'm sure I could never spend 8 years on an island mostly by myself, but I certainly know I could enjoy several months there. This is the rare case of a man who actually just followed his dream. So cool.(This is another case of toting around a link for ages before reading and commenting it. Lamer.) March 21, 2008 @ 04:26 am | Category: Brainwork
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
House Downsizing
A couple of weeks back I came across a link to We’re downsizing our home on Unclutterer. It the neighborhood arms race of every bigger McMansions, it's nice to read about somebody bucking the trend and downsizing.Excluding the numerous and relatively small apartments I've lived in, I've had three houses. And although each has been larger than the previous —950 sq. ft., 1350 sq. ft. and now 1850 sq. ft., the three of them combined don't equal the size of some of the houses being built these days. Ironically, my first and smallest house (back in Illinois) was and still is my favorite. It was a 2 bedroom raised ranch on a moderate lot, but it had a 400 sq. ft. deck that ran full length along the backside. And although I had neighbors on one side, the other side and behind was a 200 acre conservation area that was never to be developed.
My second house was a rather pedestrian 3 bedroom ranch on a decent sized lot. And my current home is an old (1935) house with a lot of warm oak charm and cold drafts. Ideally some day I would love to have a house like my first, on the size lot of the second, with the wood charm of the third. Maybe someday, but for now something that small wouldn't work for us and the kids. And as time goes by and I do more work on my current house it's harder to see leaving it behind. But someday I likely will if for no other reason, to escape the suffocating New York state taxes. But I find it hard to imagine moving into anything much larger that what I already have. It just encourages you to accumulate more crap and it cost more to heat and maintain. Thus sign me up for downsizing in the future. March 18, 2008 @ 12:49 pm | Category: Brainwork
Friday, March 14, 2008
Band-Aid and brand protection
I'm so sick of advertising and the ever increasing need to protect your "brand". This mini-rant was set off by a Band-Aid ad while I was at the doctor's office this morning. Surely we all know the old reliable and "cute" Band-Aid song. But it caught my attention when I learned that "I am stuck on Band-Aid BRAND, because Band-Aid's stuck on me." Stop. When the hell did they decide to "update" a piece of my childhood memories by sticking "brand" in there. Yes, we know Band-Aid is a brand. But frankly, and sorry for them it a generic term for all "adhesive bandages". Just as "Kleenex" is a brand, but also just a generic term for "tissue". See what happens when your advertising is so successful that it become ubiquitous? March 14, 2008 @ 12:44 pm | Category: BrainworkWednesday, March 12, 2008
Twitter In Plain English
From the Twitter Blog comes this very cool and simple explanation of Twitter In Plain English. Not an original work, but from the apparently pretty cool folks at Common Craft.If you don't know what Twitter is (because you've been hiding under a rock or something) or you "don't get it", it's worth the the 2-1/2 minutes to watch it. March 12, 2008 @ 12:43 pm | Category: Brainwork
Monday, March 10, 2008
Lost
LostWhere am I going, what am I now?
What is coming, where does it go?
Direction, purpose, unknown
Holding on to what little I've got
Looking for someone to help me through
Turned the wrong way too many times
I'm so afraid, I can't find the path
Who can hold me, show me what's right
Gone wrong in so many ways
Can it change? Will it change?
Lost is deep thought, is the cause lost?
Why am I here? Where can I go?
My Direction and purpose are unknown
Ca I give what I've got or do I have what you want?
Am I in a fog of hopeless cause?
Or will it rise so I can't hide?
Direction uncertain, purpose unknown
Blowing in the jet stream of a nuclear age
A number in memory in a computer bank
Being crushed by the weight of the technological race
Somehow I wonder, will it ever change?
What will I become in this modern craze?
9/30/1983 March 10, 2008 @ 12:54 pm | Category: Writing
