Saw this time lapse video of the spread of rising unemployment in the USA. I'm not sure that shopping is going to turn this thing around.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Médicins sans Frontières - Haitian earthquake
Many organizations are coming forward with requests to help the victims of the Haitian earthquake. This is my preferred charity...please donate if you can.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A few notes about 2009...
I have mixed feelings about 2009. In some ways it feels like a lost year. It went by really quickly and I feel like I'm in the same place that I was last year...only with more clutter and less money.
Good things happened, but bad stuff happened, for sure. Let's get that out of the way first.
On the personal level, some of my friends died, some of my friends' parents died, I got ripped off by an evil businessman, I had family issues, I was often sleep-deprived due to a noisy downstairs neighbor, and my workplace was a tempest.
On the larger front, lots of people suffered financial hardships this year while others ran off with the money and got away with it. The war in Afghanistan got bigger. Services got cut everywhere while prices kept going up, and the "change we could believe in" from 2008 turned out to be barely noticeable nuances brought to us by the same people who gave us the last 10-15 years.
But now here's a few good things from 2009.
* Creative Commons music and netlabels are really flourishing. Take a look at Phlow Magazine's advent calendar (with guest music curators) for 2009 and sample the vast amount of good music that's coming out on the 'net. You really don't need radio anymore.
* My city (San Francisco) implemented a law that requires you to separate your trash from your compostable food waste with separate bins. I found this practice really easy to adjust to (though messy!) and along with recycling plastic, paper, and cans every week, I feel less wasteful. It was really easy to do.
* Several people that I know found their groove this year. They finally pursued their creative dreams and started doing what they felt passionate about, and it worked for them financially and psychologically. Kudos... I raise my glass to you.
* iPhone apps! Thank you for the second year in a row to the developers who made cool applications for iPhone...I can conjugate verbs in French, look up bus/train schedules, play word games, read Facebook and Twitter updates, tune my guitar, monitor my calorie intake, manage my project database, discover new music on Last.fm or Pandora, check news around the world, and of course send email, find maps, and all the usual wonderful stuff from the same little device.
* Farmer's markets -- they're nothing new, but in 2009, they started popping up in more neighborhoods and more towns than previously, and it's been a wonderful thing to go back to the basics and buy real food when it's in season from local growers.
These are just a few things I can remember that made 2009 look better than 1999 for me.
So here's to 2010, whatever may lie ahead. Onwards!
Good things happened, but bad stuff happened, for sure. Let's get that out of the way first.
On the personal level, some of my friends died, some of my friends' parents died, I got ripped off by an evil businessman, I had family issues, I was often sleep-deprived due to a noisy downstairs neighbor, and my workplace was a tempest.
On the larger front, lots of people suffered financial hardships this year while others ran off with the money and got away with it. The war in Afghanistan got bigger. Services got cut everywhere while prices kept going up, and the "change we could believe in" from 2008 turned out to be barely noticeable nuances brought to us by the same people who gave us the last 10-15 years.
But now here's a few good things from 2009.
* Creative Commons music and netlabels are really flourishing. Take a look at Phlow Magazine's advent calendar (with guest music curators) for 2009 and sample the vast amount of good music that's coming out on the 'net. You really don't need radio anymore.
* My city (San Francisco) implemented a law that requires you to separate your trash from your compostable food waste with separate bins. I found this practice really easy to adjust to (though messy!) and along with recycling plastic, paper, and cans every week, I feel less wasteful. It was really easy to do.
* Several people that I know found their groove this year. They finally pursued their creative dreams and started doing what they felt passionate about, and it worked for them financially and psychologically. Kudos... I raise my glass to you.
* iPhone apps! Thank you for the second year in a row to the developers who made cool applications for iPhone...I can conjugate verbs in French, look up bus/train schedules, play word games, read Facebook and Twitter updates, tune my guitar, monitor my calorie intake, manage my project database, discover new music on Last.fm or Pandora, check news around the world, and of course send email, find maps, and all the usual wonderful stuff from the same little device.
* Farmer's markets -- they're nothing new, but in 2009, they started popping up in more neighborhoods and more towns than previously, and it's been a wonderful thing to go back to the basics and buy real food when it's in season from local growers.
These are just a few things I can remember that made 2009 look better than 1999 for me.
So here's to 2010, whatever may lie ahead. Onwards!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My genetic destiny...
Recently I had my cholesterol tested for the first time in about four years. I actually figured that it was just fine, and that I should just test it to confirm that. But to my surprise, it was higher than expected and higher than it should be. So I went to my doctor.
I like my doctor. I don't see her that often, but what I like about her is that she's not like most doctors -- she doesn't hand you pharmaceutical samples or give you prescription drugs without a real medical necessity, and she has a pretty good sense (usually) about the underlying cause of any affliction. She generally prescribes holistic practices like yoga and self-help things that make sense. So I figured it was OK to see her about the cholesterol.
As I expected, she talked to me about what the numbers really mean and how I was in a "watch" zone but not a critical one. She prescribed to me two things: a MUFA diet and an interval exercise regime. This was fine by me: I already ate (though not consistently) most of the foods in the MUFA plan, and I already go to the gym, but due to my workload and other pursuits, I'd been slacking off and also replacing some of my gym visits with red wine.
The problem is: I already live a much healthier lifestyle than most Americans. I seldom go places in my car -- I usually walk or take the bus. I don't eat much meat and I already don't eat gluten or fast food. I've gone to a gym for years, but not as diligently as I used to go. And although I'm not as pencil thin as I was when I was younger, I'm not overweight, either. So why is my cholesterol coming out so high? I guess it's my genetic destiny....
My father has many of the major afflictions that plague the modern world-- heart disease, diabetes, and now Alzheimer's. And I gambled that I would not end up like him because I don't live on bacon and hamburgers (like he did). I've made regular exercise a part of my life for years, plus I take herbal supplements, use both eastern and western medicine, and lead a different life--but now I'm beginning to wonder if my genetic destiny isn't catching up with me. After all, I know people who weigh much more than I do, eat worse than I do, and exercise less -- and their cholesterol is just fine!
Of course, in the meanwhile, I'm reading what I can about the subject and about diet and disease -- not for the first time, but again -- and last month, I started cutting the amount of sugar, wine, and cheese in my diet and started the MUFA regime more stringently. I also started going to the gym again--religiously--every other day. So far I've lost six pounds and I have a lot more energy. But what about my cholesterol? Stay tuned -- I think I'll check it again in about 2-3 months.
I like my doctor. I don't see her that often, but what I like about her is that she's not like most doctors -- she doesn't hand you pharmaceutical samples or give you prescription drugs without a real medical necessity, and she has a pretty good sense (usually) about the underlying cause of any affliction. She generally prescribes holistic practices like yoga and self-help things that make sense. So I figured it was OK to see her about the cholesterol.
As I expected, she talked to me about what the numbers really mean and how I was in a "watch" zone but not a critical one. She prescribed to me two things: a MUFA diet and an interval exercise regime. This was fine by me: I already ate (though not consistently) most of the foods in the MUFA plan, and I already go to the gym, but due to my workload and other pursuits, I'd been slacking off and also replacing some of my gym visits with red wine.
The problem is: I already live a much healthier lifestyle than most Americans. I seldom go places in my car -- I usually walk or take the bus. I don't eat much meat and I already don't eat gluten or fast food. I've gone to a gym for years, but not as diligently as I used to go. And although I'm not as pencil thin as I was when I was younger, I'm not overweight, either. So why is my cholesterol coming out so high? I guess it's my genetic destiny....
My father has many of the major afflictions that plague the modern world-- heart disease, diabetes, and now Alzheimer's. And I gambled that I would not end up like him because I don't live on bacon and hamburgers (like he did). I've made regular exercise a part of my life for years, plus I take herbal supplements, use both eastern and western medicine, and lead a different life--but now I'm beginning to wonder if my genetic destiny isn't catching up with me. After all, I know people who weigh much more than I do, eat worse than I do, and exercise less -- and their cholesterol is just fine!
Of course, in the meanwhile, I'm reading what I can about the subject and about diet and disease -- not for the first time, but again -- and last month, I started cutting the amount of sugar, wine, and cheese in my diet and started the MUFA regime more stringently. I also started going to the gym again--religiously--every other day. So far I've lost six pounds and I have a lot more energy. But what about my cholesterol? Stay tuned -- I think I'll check it again in about 2-3 months.
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