Archive for the 'Life' Category
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Pedal energy

We should see about getting one of these. Alupa is concerned about the armogeddeon. So after the bomb, or after our google histories put us all on big brother’s list and we can’t use the banking system anymore, or just generally after we run out of natural resources and the grids collapse, we should move to the country and form a real self-sustaining cooperative, with this jobbie keeping us juiced up. We can take turns : )

Mycelium Yourcelium

Can Mycologist Paul Stamets save the world with mycelium fungus? He thinks so. Pretty interesting stuff, but you have to make it past the first 9 minutes to get to the goods.

Learning from the virtual you

There is no doubt that the internets have entangled themselves into our lives. NPR has a fascinating interview with Jeremy Bailenson of Standford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab about how a person’s virtual persona (ala Second Life type virtual realities) affects their everyday life from gaining confidence to losing weight.

NPR’s Learning from the virtual you audio clip

I don’t have experience with Second Life version of me other than my Nintendo Wii mii, which looks a lot like Mr. Garrison crossed with Elton John crossed with David Cross - let me tell you, that is great for my self esteem :} I do think the internet has affected me in other ways, some for the better, some for the worse. The most apparent thing that sticks out to me is that I don’t read the same as I did 10 years ago. I tend to skim looking for bullet points and quick understanding rather than ruminating on points and trying to really understand the nut of a passage. Obviously, this is not a good thing. On the positive side, the internet has truly influence my position on intellectual property by observing remarkable people share their hard work for free. That truly amazes me in many, many ways, but I’ll digress from that for now.

My question to all of you is how has the internet changed/enriched/affected you?

David Sedaris

Article about starting and quitting smoking.

Email Inbox

For those of you that have problems keeping your inbox clean and would like to be dickhaus’d, this video talks about methods of getting things done with your email. You can skip the first 10-11 minutes, it is fluff. Alupa, you know about fluffing, right?

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day.

Here is a nice stop raping the Earth video from Rocketboom!

Maybe the government should step in and start a “packaging tax” to stop the gratuitous package that companies are forcing upon us customers. If company’s can’t clean up their own act, then it is time for some good old fashion regulation through taxation. Who’s with me?

Green Food

Food riots!

NYTimes Eat

This about sums it up.

So I’m a nerd.  We know this.  I sent out the first chapter of the Tao Te Ching today to people at work.  Why?  I’m not sure, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

My email:

<<So on this last day of drops, how about a little Tao Te Ching?

1. The Way
The Way that can be experienced is not true;
The world that can be constructed is not true.
The Way manifests all that happens and may happen;
The world represents all that exists and may exist.

To experience without intention is to sense the world;
To experience with intention is to anticipate the world.
These two experiences are indistinguishable;
Their construction differs but their effect is the same.

Beyond the gate of experience flows the Way,
Which is ever greater and more subtle than the world.

More confounding wisdom here:  http://www.chinapage.com/gnl.html>>

The response I got from our office manager, and for the record I really like her:

<<Ok.  That requires too much thought.  Not good for me this a.m.  Maybe some time when I’ve had a Dr. Pepper (ha-ha).
But, I do know one Way, and one Truth, and one who is greater….

John 14:6 of the King James Bible says:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.>>

Heaven forbid we need to think about our belief structure/faith, alas.

K-Stop

If you would like to wager on the K-Stop baby’s due date and weight, then go to the google calendar B-Stop set up, and enter the weight you predict in the date you predict. Also enter your name. So an entry might read 8 lb 2 oz Jaime. First come first serve on the dates; one person per date. Entering a weight and date is a promise that you’re betting five bucks on each of the two things. The closest weight gets half the money, the closest date gets the other half, all less 10% of the total which goes to baby’s piggy bank. Or maybe we could buy it a couple of Wheatfields stocks or something. Whatever mom and dad want.

If you need to be hooked up in the calendar or if you’d just like me to place your entry for you, just let me or Brett know.

Ready, set, GO!

Here is the calendar in all it Google glory. You’ll need to tab forward to August. Holly’s due date is August 9.

Favorite smells

As I was taking a walk just now, I passed a house whose air smelled like fresh laundry. I love that smell. So it got me thinking about other smells that I love. Here’s my list-I’d love to read yours.

In no particular order…
1. Fresh laundry (dryer sheet smell) in the air
2. Sizzling fajitas as they come out of the kitchen ( I love this one so much, I never order fajitas because the smell alone is satisfying)
3. Cut grass (cliched, I know, but still sensational (pun intended))
4. Espresso brewing
5. I’m sure I have a fifth favorite, but will need to ponder