Buy local gaining momentum

The buy local movement seems to be gaining momentum.

simple pleasures are the most reliable pleasures

Continuing on with the favorite activities theme, I was listening to the radio the other day and heard this intriguing sentence: "simple pleasures are the most reliable pleasures"

After thinking about it for a while it really makes sense. The everyday little pleasures are what make life enjoyable. Like the hot cup of tea in the morning, or reading an email from a friend, or listening to some new music that captivates us.

The big activities such as a vacation to a far away place are just too complex to take in and too infrequent to count on.
It gives us something to look forward to, but they are over with way too quickly and then we find ourselves with just some memories and photos to muse over.

The everyday simple pleasures we can count on day after day to carry us through.

10 Favorite Activities

I decided to come up with 10 of my most favorite and relaxing activities just for fun.

10 Favorite Activities

I decided to come up with 10 of my most favorite and relaxing activities just for fun. Nothing elaborate, just simple things that make you feel good.

1. A quiet walk in a beautiful location with scenery (beach, forest)
2. A cup of hot tea, drink slowly with nothing else to do
   
3. Reading a book sitting by the window
4. A nice hot shower
5. Cooking up a simple meal
6. Sitting by a fire and staring into the flames
7. Gardening
8. Lying on the grass staring into the sky watching the clouds on a warm breezy day
9. Watching a travel or nature documentary on the TV
10. Listening to peaceful music
    

The Most Complex Object in the Universe

I just read somewhere that the brain is the most complex object in the universe. Isn't that cool? I mean the most complex object in the universe is right here in our head, in our possession and we didn't even have to pay for it. That's pretty awe inspiring when you think about it. But, then when you think about the complexities of life, the brain would have to be pretty complex in order to deal with it. Just think about all the millions of processes the brain has to take care of in the body. This is just the physical stuff. Then there is the whole realm of the mind and consciousness.

Some scientist think that "neurobiological processes in the brain cause consciousness", though they are not exactly sure how that happens. Others think that consciousness is completely independent of the brain. Who knows what the real answer is. However, having the most complex object in the universe in our possession is quite a responsibility. How do you take care of it and maintain it? Where is the user's guide? I guess we'll just have to ask the brain.

Pinnacles National Monument

My family went camping at Pinnacles this past weekend. A stunningly beautiful place. It is located south of Hollister, CA. The hiking there is spectacular. We saw wild turkey, California Condor, who have made a remarkable comeback from extinction, and tarantulas. The fall is a good time to see these hairy spiders when they are trying to find mates.

The kids, and adults also, had fun walking through caves, though we didn't see any of the bats that nest there.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

I've recently starting listening to this book by Barbara Kingsolver. So far it is a pretty good listen. The audio book is narrated by Kingsolver, which makes it even better. She laments the state of food in the USA. The production, the marketing, and the consumption of it. The amount of petroleum used in food production and transportation is quite staggering.

And, the quality of our food is pretty dismal. The premise of the book is that Kingsolver and her family spend a year growing their own food and eating as locally as possible with a minimum use of petroleum products. I'm really looking forward to listening to the complete book.

Radio Paradise

One of the great joys of the Internet is all the internet radio stations available for one's listening pleasure. One of my favorites is Radio Paradise. They call themselves "Eclectic Online Rock Radio." There are many others also that give you more control on the type of music played such as Last.fm, slacker
and finetune.

Four Hour Work Week

Check out Tim Ferriss's book and blog by the same name: fourhourworkweek. Tim has figured out how to live the ideal lifestyle. The book is full of useful information and ideas. How to start an online business and outsource the work. He spends most of his time traveling the world and trying to come with new ideas on helping others.

Four Hour Work Week

Check out Tim Ferriss's book and blog by the same name: fourhourworkweek. Tim has figured out how to live the ideal lifestyle. The book is full of useful information and ideas. How to start an online business and outsource the work. He spends most of his time traveling the world and trying to come with new ideas on helping others.

The Internet Archive

Check out the Internet Archive. It is the repository of everything you can think of on the Internet. They got tons of live music mp3's (all legal to download), videos, books, lectures and the amazing Wayback Machine which has snapshots of webpages from the past. Some of which don't exist anymore.

It's an amazing site to explore. And, don't forget to listen to the lecture by the founder of the Internet Archive: Brewster Kahle.

The Internet Archive

Check out the Internet Archive. It is the repository of everything you can think of on the Internet. They got tons of live music mp3's (all legal to download), videos, books, lectures and the amazing Wayback Machine which has snapshots of webpages from the past. Some of which don't exist anymore.
It's an amazing site to explore.

Do Kindness Onto Others

Here is a great site and blog Charity Focus. Their main focus is to do as much kindness to others as possible. The founder, Nipun Metha, used to work in high tech until he got fed up with it and wanted to do something more fulfilling and meaningful.

Very inspiring people.

No Impact Man

One of my favorite blogs is noimpactman.
It's a very interesting experiment that he is doing living in an apartment in Manhattan.
No Impact Man (NIM) wants to minimize his impact on the planet as much as possible.

That means only eating food grown locally. No buying anything new. Getting around on a bicycle and no elevators; in New York city with tall buildings. He has a wife and a two year old child, which makes the experiment even more challenging. But so far they are managing beautifully. Check out the blog.

Blink

Currently, I'm listening to the audio book Blink. It has many interesting stories and anecdotes, but so far I haven't gotten anything useful out of it. It's a good way to pass some time and learn some interesting things about how the human mind works.

Audio Books

I'm a big fan of audio books. They are great in the car when you really can't do anything else. Once when I had a long commute to work audio books really saved me from the utter boredom of driving. They are also good when working out at the gym.

I used to subscribe to audible.com which has a great selection, but is a bit pricey. I've found some free sources of audio books. One is LibriVox. They have a pretty good selection which is always growing and the quality is really good.

Also, you may be able to download free audio books from your local library website. Here is one I use:
Califa Digital Library. There are probably other sites also.

Sometimes when you just don't feel like reading or are unable to then audio books are great.

Dharma Bums

Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums is one of my favorite books ever since I first discovered it many years ago. It' s spontaneous writing style is refreshing to read. It's full of fun and adventure and a healthy dose of speculation on the meaning of life.