blog.arithm

Genuine?  Green?  Actually, I’m pretty sure it stands for

GOOD GOD!  THE TOILET IS GROTESQUELY GUSHING GALLONS!

Yes, while I’m for saving the planet and all, I think that the makers of planet-friendly, biogegradable, flushable gDiapers should have a large warning on the box:  May cause toilet to explode at 3am.

Granted, it’s my fault for not reading the instructions.  But then again, I’m a guy.  A guy with a baby.  Like I’m going to read diaper instructions.  If not a warning, the gDiaper people should at least be guy-conscious/guy-friendly and include a picture on the box indicating that the included swizzle stick is for helping the diaper break apart in water; not for ramming vast quantities of diaper down the nether regions of the toilet.

A simple drawing of an angry diaper-prodding guy with a big slash through it would suffice.

Back about a year my wife and I moved back to the US in something of a hurry. Rather than move all of the stuff we had accumulated in Tokyo, we decided to take only essentials: Stuff to get us going again in the US, and items of sentimental value. This of course left a lot of things to get rid of, and eight years in a place is plenty of time to accumulate a lot of stuff.

We talked about disposing of much of it as soudai gomi, which roughly translates to “big trash”, but this bothered me. Ever since I was a kid I’ve had a problem with throwing things away. My mother referred to it as “pack-rat-ism”, but really I’m just intrinsically averse to the idea of taking stuff that once had value, labeling it useless, and forgetting about it. Rather than trash our stuff, my wife and I spent a couple of weeks scrambling around first selling and then giving away everything we had accumulated.

And we did a pretty good job. On our last night in the apartment I lugged a single old bookcase out to the curb — resplendent with official soudai gomi seals purchased from the city — to be picked up as big trash. The money we made selling other items paid for the shipping of our essentials back to the US. And I felt good knowing that the stuff that had served us well would go on providing value to others.

I also felt oddly relieved; lighter. Less stuff. It was as though old cobwebs had been dusted out from the corners of my mind. On the flight back to Boston I decided to see how much stuff I could eliminate from my life. Perhaps two items passed on for every new item in. There was certainly a lot of really old stuff in storage back in Boston that would have to go.

And so for the last year or so I have been selling and/or giving away items online. At first I used Ebay, but with it’s clumsy interface and emphasis on generating a profit or some such, I became frustrated fairly quickly. (Hey, I just want to pass on my stuff. ) Amazon’s Seller Account turned out to be far more simple and effective: I’ve sold everything from old cameras to tourists in New York City to classic computer books to geeks in Spain. I prefer to actually sell items that I, personally, still find valuable. (Or that were particularly expensive.)

Craigslist is awesome for giving stuff away, with the added advantage that folks will usually come over to pick said stuff up.  We’ve had desks, beds, and lawn mowers hauled away thanks to Craigslist.

Anyway, I decided to write this post after coming across Annie Leonard’s The Story of Stuff, an excellent, straightforward outline of the whole stuff problem, where it comes from, and where it will go if we continue to allow rabid consumerism to continue unchecked.  At the end of the twenty minute video she links to 10 Little and Big Things we can do to take action against the whole stuff problem.  Many of the actions we’ve seen before.  It’s the “big thing” in number 10, however, that I think is the most interesting and yet may seem to be the least most difficult.  Conversely, it is certainly the most simple.  And, really, it gets at the heart of the problem.

The solution?  Buy less.  In other words, stop “consuming”.  Step out of the linear materials economy.  Acquire.  Preserve.  Repair.  Pass on.  Share.

Note that this does not mean “go without”.  It means, where possible, stop feeding from the corporate-sponsored linear material economic machine.  Don’t consume, but acquire.

And share.  This is what I now realize we have been doing by passing along our belongings.  Selling one’s stuff online, or even offering it for free, adds to an ever-growing alternative material goods supply.

So simplify your life.  Sell your stuff.  Help out the planet just a little bit.  And maybe you’ll discover, as I have, that the less you own, the better you feel.

In a dramatic turn of international fiscal events, it would appear that well-off Chinese men are gearing up to acquire American mail order brides. (Ladies, consider the socialized health insurance!) A hacked version of Skype and some brute-force language translation make this potentially viable.

I was particularly intrigued by the “How to add the foreign woman?” link which, once automatically translated, reveals the touching story of “Qin Xiaomei and joes” wherein Qin Xiaomei and/or joes gushes “We like Jiubie reunion of lovers, the two sides across the ocean, the talk of Tongtongkuaikuai miss each other’s feelings.”

Poetry electric.

It’s enough to make me as well want to marry Qin Xiaomei and/or joes.

Ample kahones,
On a little angry man?
Small kahones still.

2007 was the first year I wrote out goals for myself. Its been eye opening to review them and see the progress, or lack thereof. In general I’ve managed to complete about 50% of my goals. Of course, I doubt I would have achieved 10% if I hadn’t had them plugged into my PDA phone where I could review them (semi-)regularly.

Though my list of goals were pretty clear and easy to follow-up on, I notice that they weren’t completely “SMART”. While all were Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Realistic, for none of them did I require a time frame. This year I plan to get really smart, with a capital “T”, about both my goals and the steps I take to achieve them.

Blogging these goals of course adds a bit of additional pressure: They are out in the “public spotlight” so to speak. I’d learned from long back that the more public one’s intentions, the more likely they are to materialize.

And so… without further ado, here’s the 20,000 foot view of what I hope to achieve this year, in order of priority.

Get A Life

Yes, sad but true. I have no life. Working on different businesses remotely from home has turned me into something of a troll. Time to make a few changes.

Fortunately I’m at a point now where I don’t have to accept opportunities presented to me but can, instead, create opportunities themselves. This has become increasingly clear over the last year. I’ve got a few ideas cooking on the back burner; the trick will be to identify what is truly important to me, and important for the long term. I don’t really need or want to work for money anymore. I’d like to work, instead, for purpose.

Make More Time for Fun

This is part of getting a life. A more serious way of putting this would be: Control my time. Seriously control my time.

Work has evolved into a habit, and a bad one. My tendency towards workaholism is made tragic by the fact that I’ve always worked obsessively on businesses that, at the end of the day, were not truly a passion. My strategy to change this is twofold:

1. Identify my true passion and weave it into daily life until it becomes daily routine. Make work a joy. Make it fun.
2. Joyous or not, clearly delineate work from private time. Plan it. Honor it. Discover joys outside that which I have identified as my life’s work.

Write & Teach

These are two things that I’ve discovered, over that years, that I am naturally quite good at.. and which I’ve been avoiding for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure why. Perhaps I’ve been avoiding myself.

I had originally listed this as lowest priority but now realize that this is a part of who I am that has needed additional attention for a long time.

Get Back In Shape

Everyone sets this as a New Year’s Resolution. And often its the first resolution to get dropped. That said, I think I know exactly how do get back in shape, at least in a way that will work for me. I’ve done it once before.

First step will be to train for and complete the Boston Marathon. This will have a huge impact on my overall health. After that I’d really like to get into some other kind of sport. Perhaps professional curling.

At any rate, its time to prioritize health over workaholism.

Secure Passive Cash Flow

Last year I vowed to get my finances in order and, much to my surprise, I’ve managed to do just that. Now that I know what they look like, this year I want them to work for me. If I can start to get money to work for me (rather than the other way around), then the above will be that much easier.

Invest Consciously

One’s money is an indirect (or often direct) extension of oneself. From long back, thanks to advice from my folks and others, I have been investing in stocks and a few funds. Financially this has been fine.. the only problem is that I don’t really know where that money is going.

This year I’d like to do a lot of research and realign my investments to be morally synergistic with my personal philosophies.

Buy A House

Given the current US housing market, we would be insane to pass up the potential for investing in a home.

Wheels are already in motion; deadline set. For a variety of reasons, we really need to get this figured out by April. More information soon.

Back To School

Not sure about this one, but I have an inkling that it’s time to go back for a more advanced degree. And not just a bidness degree. Perhaps one in professional curling. This I hope to get underway from August.

And there you have it. I’ll be checking back in on each of these topics at least once every month to review progress and to help keep things generally grooving along. We expect some significant life changes this year. It will be interesting to see how strong my New Year’s resolve actually is!