From the New York Times' article about a charming Jersey tradition called a "beefsteak".
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Less is more
Well, maybe not so much in terms of blog entries, so sorry to the two and a half people that have been waiting for me to update......just been lazy really. Busy for a bit, but mostly just lazy.
I think that the phrase, "less is more" is going to make up part of my new year's resolution/philosophy. And yes, I am just now getting around to "resolving" but it's still January! Anyway...this phrase can be adapted to so many things in life and I believe it can help a person to focus on the things that matter while avoiding the extraneous baggage that weighs us down.
I think the most obvious interpretations for a new year's resolution with this theme is the whole "eat less, be healthier" goal. Of course less is more here - fewer calories, less laziness, etc. I think it can be taken to the next level to include things like: less ingredients in your food (i.e. avoiding the glut of processed food that we are exposed to), less distance that your food has to travel, and less waste that accompanies whatever food you buy - be it packaging or the food itself.
Another interpretation that I am going to try to focus on is less stuff. I spent a decent amount of time last year getting rid of stuff, but this year already I have bought a bunch. Not that any of it was pointless (it wasn't - I scored an awesome deal on a couch and used the rest of my year-end bonus on other apt. related things that were pretty much all on my wish/need list). But from here on out I am dedicating myself to living more simply, which means living with less. Honestly, the amount of stuff I still have stored away, piled up in closets, and stuffed into drawers is absolutely absurd. If I don't ever look at it, why do I need it? I've made a bit of headway on this effort already by simply packing up my CDs and getting them out of sight. And to top it off, I even THREW SOME AWAY. That's right - horrendously wasteful but you can't really recycle old CDs and they were mostly just burned mixes or the most random bands and I won't miss 'em. If I can, I'm going to be iTunes only from here on out.
A third goal for my "less is more" theme year is to create less waste, and concurrently recycle or reuse more. Many of these concepts tie together, because you can choose to be focused on the true cost when deciding whether or not you really need that new t-shirt or bag of chips or new release CD/DVD, etc. and find yourself meeting goals in more than one way. So by choosing to bring less stuff into my house, I've created less waste (packaging, gas expenditures, replacing something that doesn't really need to be replaced yet), and I've spent less money and possibly saved myself some needless calories, too. Thinking about the big picture more can absolutely enable me to spend/eat/waste less.
And hopefully all of these goals too will help me meet one more "less is more" objective. Paying off some of my debts so that I can have less concern for my financial situation (which is pretty pathetic right now given the fact that I've been raking in the "real world" paychecks for almost a year...). I've spent a bit more time on planning and working out ideas to achieve these goals, but it's all in the name of motivation and realistic preparation for something that I want to accomplish dearly.
And so...welcome back to my blog for the lovely year of 2008. I hope to be much much better at blogging...I always have things I want to share but am usually too lazy to make the effort of typing it all out - lame, I know. I resolve to be much MORE diligent in the days and weeks and months ahead. ;)
PS: I don't want to forget - I've talked to some folks already, but just an FYI if you would like to join the super fun times of the Apartment Therapy Cure for some spring cleaning and a fresh start, stay tuned. Things should be starting up over at their website on March 3rd. And before then, you can always browse the book - the local library has a few copies and amazon has a bunch of used ones available too (ha ha, remember, less waste, less money, less stuff!).
I think that the phrase, "less is more" is going to make up part of my new year's resolution/philosophy. And yes, I am just now getting around to "resolving" but it's still January! Anyway...this phrase can be adapted to so many things in life and I believe it can help a person to focus on the things that matter while avoiding the extraneous baggage that weighs us down.
I think the most obvious interpretations for a new year's resolution with this theme is the whole "eat less, be healthier" goal. Of course less is more here - fewer calories, less laziness, etc. I think it can be taken to the next level to include things like: less ingredients in your food (i.e. avoiding the glut of processed food that we are exposed to), less distance that your food has to travel, and less waste that accompanies whatever food you buy - be it packaging or the food itself.
Another interpretation that I am going to try to focus on is less stuff. I spent a decent amount of time last year getting rid of stuff, but this year already I have bought a bunch. Not that any of it was pointless (it wasn't - I scored an awesome deal on a couch and used the rest of my year-end bonus on other apt. related things that were pretty much all on my wish/need list). But from here on out I am dedicating myself to living more simply, which means living with less. Honestly, the amount of stuff I still have stored away, piled up in closets, and stuffed into drawers is absolutely absurd. If I don't ever look at it, why do I need it? I've made a bit of headway on this effort already by simply packing up my CDs and getting them out of sight. And to top it off, I even THREW SOME AWAY. That's right - horrendously wasteful but you can't really recycle old CDs and they were mostly just burned mixes or the most random bands and I won't miss 'em. If I can, I'm going to be iTunes only from here on out.
A third goal for my "less is more" theme year is to create less waste, and concurrently recycle or reuse more. Many of these concepts tie together, because you can choose to be focused on the true cost when deciding whether or not you really need that new t-shirt or bag of chips or new release CD/DVD, etc. and find yourself meeting goals in more than one way. So by choosing to bring less stuff into my house, I've created less waste (packaging, gas expenditures, replacing something that doesn't really need to be replaced yet), and I've spent less money and possibly saved myself some needless calories, too. Thinking about the big picture more can absolutely enable me to spend/eat/waste less.
And hopefully all of these goals too will help me meet one more "less is more" objective. Paying off some of my debts so that I can have less concern for my financial situation (which is pretty pathetic right now given the fact that I've been raking in the "real world" paychecks for almost a year...). I've spent a bit more time on planning and working out ideas to achieve these goals, but it's all in the name of motivation and realistic preparation for something that I want to accomplish dearly.
And so...welcome back to my blog for the lovely year of 2008. I hope to be much much better at blogging...I always have things I want to share but am usually too lazy to make the effort of typing it all out - lame, I know. I resolve to be much MORE diligent in the days and weeks and months ahead. ;)
PS: I don't want to forget - I've talked to some folks already, but just an FYI if you would like to join the super fun times of the Apartment Therapy Cure for some spring cleaning and a fresh start, stay tuned. Things should be starting up over at their website on March 3rd. And before then, you can always browse the book - the local library has a few copies and amazon has a bunch of used ones available too (ha ha, remember, less waste, less money, less stuff!).
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