Whatcha' Consuming?

This research report (.pdf) and the graphic above goes a long way to help us understand how we're viewed by the people who compete for our ears and eyeballs. Well, and wallets, too, huh?

We're consumers. Spenders. Shoppers. Buyers. And we're not behaving like we're told.

The report and this article tell us that we've stopped buying CDs not because of piracy, but because so many ways to consume, spend, shop, and buy media entertainment are competing for our time, we're moving away from the old model, to the horrified gnashing of capped CEO teeth and rending of corporate garments.

TechnoBabe and I haven't bought a physical CD since we've been together. Lots of iTunage, but no crippled disks with a fixed playlist thereon. We spend the most on Amazon for books. We spend nothing on television, since we don't have one, and we spend $20/month on broadband, $10/month on Netflix, $8/month on Live 365 web radio.

What do you do with your entertainment time/budget?

Installing The Love Software

I found this on a blog called gurushabad:

"A customer called up the service section of a computer company. . .

"Customer: I heard you provide Love software. Customer Service Representative (CSR): Would you like to install Love software? Customer: Yes. But I'm not very technically skilled. Give me the instructions and I will try to install. What do I do first ? CSR: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart, sir?
Customer: Yes I have, but there are several programs running right now. Is it okay to install while they are running ?
CSR: What programs are running sir?
Customer: Let me see ... I have Past hurt.exe, low-esteem.exe, grudge.exe, and resentment.com running right now.

CSR: No problem. Love will automatically erase past-hurt.exe from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually overwrite low-esteem.exe with a module of its own called high-self-esteem.exe. However, you have to completely turn off grudge.exe and resentment.com. Those programs prevent love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off, sir?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how ?
CSR: My pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke forgiveness.exe. Do this as many times as necessary until grudge.exe and resentment.com have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, I'm done. Love has started installing itself automatically. Is that normal ?
CSR: Yes it is. You should receive a message that says it will reinstall for the life of your heart. Do you see that message?
Customer: Yes I do. Is it completely installed ?
CSR: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops ... I have an error message already. What should I do ?
CSR: What does the message say?
Customer: It says 'error--program not run on internal components.' What does that mean ?
CSR: Don't worry sir, that's a common problem. It means that the love program is set up to run on external hearts but has not yet been run on your heart. It is one of those complicated programming things, but in nontechnical terms it means you have to have love in your own machine before you can find it in others.
Customer: So what should I do ?
CSR: Can you find the directory called self-acceptance?
Customer: Yes, I have it.
CSR: Excellent, you are getting good at this.
Customer: Thank you.
CSR: You're welcome. Click on the following files and then copy them to the my-heart directory: forgive-self.doc, self-esteem.txt, realize-worth.txt, and goodness.doc. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching any faulty programming. Also, you need to delete nagging-doubt.exe from all directories, and then empty your recycle bin afterwards to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with really neat smiles. Smile.mpg is playing on my monitor right now and it shows that warmth.com, peace.exe, and contentment.com are copying themselves all over my heart !
CSR: Then love is installed and running. You should be able to handle it from here. One more thing before I go...
Customer: Yes ?
CSR: Love is a freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everybody you meet. They will in turn share it with other people and they will return some really neat modules back to you.
Customer: I will. Thank you for your help. Love is running well. But what if I run into problems, by the way?
CSR: Please repeat the whole process. You can always call us. We are open 24 hours a day. "
This is parallel to what I am working on right now. It was a pleasure to find this as I was surfing around the blogosphere.

Killing Us Softly

I saw this BlogAd, and immediately clicked it because I'm interested in the connection between food, mood, marketing, and (gasp!) politics. TechnoBabe and I have been losing weight steadily since the first of the year, and being physically closer - as in less of us between us - has been a delicious surprise, besides the personal validation of permanently changing our beliefs about food. I've also eliminated the high blood pressure, high cholesterol/triglycerides, and pre-diabetic conditions for which my exasperated doctor was prepared to medicate me. Nyah nyah... Obesity caused all of that, and when I dropped 30 lbs since November, all of that stopped happening. Who knew?

Anyway, I clicked on the ad and went here, where I was encouraged to support healthy, fresh. local food.

Cool.

But, cynic that I am, I decided to keep clicking. At the bottom of the site I found "Farm and Food Policy Project."

Okay, but tell me more.

I clicked that and noticed "Food And Society Home" in the sidebar.

So then I clicked "Who We Are", and was not surprised to find out who wanted us to demand more healthy fresh local food.

Kellogg.

You know, the people who bring us...Apple Jacks®, Cocoa Krispies™, Eggo®, Froot Loops®, Frosted Flakes®, Pop-Tarts®, Rice Krispies®, Special K®?




















So, if I understand this process correctly, the people who make the food that creates obesity which causes the 100 billion dollar tab every year... are exhorting us to write letters to Congress to make them support fresh local food.

Killing us softly, indeed. Like cigarette manufacturers creating dummy foundations telling us to plant trees. Domination through diversion.

During our journey out of food addiction, we killed all the myths we carried about food. You know, what a "meal" is, what a "diet" is, what "full" is, what "exercise" is, etc. The surprise was learning that our bodies slyly anticipate a rapid, but predictable, drop in calories, and by adopting a random pattern of eating, with random selections, but ever-smaller portions, the body's starvation-response mechanism can be fooled. We do not count calories or fat grams or carbs. We eat no refined sweeteners or refined grains. We cook together, and I'm talkin' in and out of the kitchen ;-)

Oh, and the television? We don't have one. We have no idea what the next swell new processed food product is, or the next cereal to be made from some candy bar.

We're off that teat.

Thanks for letting me share...

On Acceptance

"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing or situation -- some fact of my life -- unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.

Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my (insert life challenge), I could not stay (insert spiritual result); unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening.

JamesEagle here, joining the Technobabe's blogging adventure, with some thoughts about Acceptance. The opening words are part of every Recovery program. Not a bad concept to consider regardless of how your spiritual journey's going.

For instance, I wanted to change the order of profiles in the sidebar, because this is TechnoBabe's place, and when I joined the blogging team, Blogger put my name first. When I worked the HTML to generate our pictures as links to our profiles,

all the
type
on the blog
crashed over
to
the left side
like this.

So I accepted, for the moment, that this is the way it is, and will get back to it later. (Now updated :-)

I've been thinking lately about the convergence of depression and acceptance, or any other major emotional condition and acceptance. We will posit as a general stipulation that biochemistry plays a part in emotional balance, and nobody knows that more than I, a professional M.D. (Manic Depressive)

Furthermore, which comes first, the biochemistry or the attitude of grateful acceptance? We know that the physical act of smiling generates the endorphins of positive feeling no matter what condition our condition's in, even profound depression. So can acceptance play a part in regulating our emotional balance?

Is happiness a cause or a result? Dependent on external validation or generated within and expressed externally? Can happy be a verb, instead of an adjective?

Is acceptance snarling, resentful rejecting of (insert whatever) but outwardly acknowledging we cannot control it?

Or is acceptance simply letting something be as it is, without a single feeling about it beyond detached observation?

Thanks for letting me share...

Working On My Rough Spots

Medium grade sandpaper following the contours and removing some of the rough spots.

Sometimes there is so much that needs to be removed that it takes longer to do the job.

Sometimes it takes so much energy and focus that the job has to be put aside until there is energy and enthusiasm to begin again using different tools.

After much time and diligent labor, it is finally at the point that a fine sandpaper can be used, and it takes less effort to remove the unwanted component. There is definition as well as signs of accomplishment. But this is not complete. Much work still to be done. Much has been achieved.

I have been working on things within myself and for myself, clearing away the things that are not healthy and learning to stay in the moment. I have been attending meetings and listening and absorbing and reading and in my own way praying and learning to believe. I have come to believe that I am worth it.

Is Life Like A Box Of Chocolates?

Life isn't like a box of chocolates .

It's more like a jar of jalapenos.

What you do today,
might burn your ass tomorrow.

Office Etiquette Part I

Now that I work in an office with about fifty other people, I am reminded occasionally of some of the reasons I wanted to work from my home. I was self employed for a few years and returned to the open workplace about seven months ago.

The atmosphere at my new place of employment is fairly casual and for the most part is accommodating to each one of us employed there.

One of the things I like about the place is that there are all ages and all nationalities. There are about six men at the office, so they are doted upon by all the women and we all get along very well.

I am allergic to a few things and I don't use any cosmetics that have a fragrance.I keep a box of tissues close by wherever I am; office, home, car.

There is a woman who was hired about three months ago. I don't interact with her at the job except passing in the halls. This woman wears a very strong perfume. Two times when she stood in a close proximity to where I was working I started sneezing, and itchy watery eyes were the next symptom. Since that day, I have heard a few people say something about the strong perfume smell throughout the office but I haven't heard of anyone else who may have the same allergy problem.

This young woman is in the process of getting a divorce, losing weight, and is now a single working mom. She is very attractive and is aware she is good looking but she gets along with everyone and is good at her job. I have to give her kudos for starting over and for her positive attitude.

I don't know if I should be the one to talk to her about my problem with her perfume.
This is apparently my problem and no one else's that I know of, and I really don't want to start a war or endure ongoing antagonism. But clearly I will be doing something soon.

Found at Environmental Health Perspectives: "While many people enjoy wearing perfumes and using scented products, there is a growing outcry from some people who claim that exposure to certain fragrances, including perfumes and scented products, adversely impacts their health. They report symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty with concentration, and allergy-like symptoms. It has been shown that many asthmatic patients have adverse reactions to perfumes and other fragrances, and some researchers hypothesize that exposure to fragrance may actually cause asthma."
...and...
"As information continues to surface on the issue of indoor air pollution, it appears that fragrances may represent part of the problem. Some researchers believe that exposure to the types of chemicals found in many scented products may contribute to the development and exacerbation of sick building syndrome, a health condition allegedly caused by indoor air pollution. The chemicals in perfumes, colognes, and deodorants worn by employees add to the chemical mixtures in indoor air, as do fragrances in cleaning products."
...and...
"Unfortunately, a lot of people don't realize that this is a serious issue, because it sounds so trivial. There's a huge population who do get sick from these products. In order to help solve the problem, people should use less-toxic, unscented products and be considerate of those who are affected by fragrance sensitivity."

My thoughts exactly. People who have been working in an office environment for many years are aware of things like this and are aware of their part in good office etiquette.

Efficient, Energy Saving Technology

This is a great post on The Alternative Consumer:

"History Channel and Invent Now have announced the winner of their 2007 Modern Marvels Invent Now Challenge: Michael Sykes and his Enertia Building System.

The Enertia Building System technology turns a piece of wood into a thermal battery. Wood is no longer just a structural component, or just a decorative trim or paneling- it becomes a solar energy storing device, and when the house is properly configured and sited it can heat and cool itself. With this technology the more wood the better, so the invention is especially applicable to solid wood homes. Enertia Building Systems has developed a line of solid Gluelam wall homes to maximize the energy-storing potential of the wood, and to offer the mainstream appearance necessary to attract traditional housing buyers. Because Enertia® homes ‘sequester carbon’ in their massive wood walls, as well reduce carbon pollution from the burning of fossil fuels, they caught the attention of the Modern Marvels’ judges - who were looking for breakthrough inventions with global potential.

In the Enertia Building System, solid Energy-Engineered wood walls replace siding, framing, insulation, and paneling. An air flow and access channel, or Envelope, runs around the building, just inside the walls - creating a miniature biosphere. Here solar heated air circulates, pumping and boosting geothermal energy from beneath the house, storing it in the massive wood walls. Thermal inertia causes the house to “float” between the cycles of night and day, and even between the seasons. "

KEY COMPONENTS:

* solid wood walls - store energy during the day and release energy at night
* thermal inertia - geo-thermal principles create heat/or cooling from the earth and employs lag-in time principles to heat and cool the home
* heat pump house - solar energy gathered during the day is used for night-time heat making the house itself a “heat pump”
* envelope - a heat path just beneath the structure’s wood skin channels heat in winter and also creates a cooling system in the summer. It can also create oxygenated air via plants and give access for upgrading systems, wiring etc.
* floating - energy stored from sunny days can be stored in the structure’s mass for long periods of time to either heat or cool the home.
* radiant heating and cooling - radiant walls and floors hold heat or cool
This sort of energy saving house is the kind of thing I am so interested in. Why aren's houses being built like this throughout the world now? Maybe it is already too late to start saving the planet???

Cheers to Dr Seuss

Click to enlarge.

The Ripple Effect

Darling Tisha! over at Serenity Quest featured a great blogger today; in fact, she asked him to be a guest blogger. Tisha! finds such interesting people out there in the blogosphere. She has a big heart and is witty and generous and well spoken. Her blog is one I want to read every day for the variety and humor and sometimes she poses poignant questions for the rest of us. Hmmmm. Sometimes even heart wrenching.

Her guest blogger is Steve who writes his own blog called Ripple Central. Great name for a really cool blog. Can you guess what the ripple refers to? Yep, one little kindness can cause another and another and on and on. A good deed can start a warming trend!!!

The description on the Ripple Central blog says:

"The Ripple Effect is a shift in perspective that leads to greater connections, better business and stronger community.

Just like stones thrown into a pond, simple actions create ripples in the lives of all the people you touch and sometimes people you have never even met.

Now is the time to make a real difference in your life, workplace or world. Begin to maximize the power of your connections and relationships today, and start to Ripple!"

Start with Tisha!'s blog at Serenity Quest and read the great post by Steve and then visit his blog too!

Let's start a great ripple!

Anticipation Without Expectation

Looking forward to something is a good thing; however, living in the present moment is the best place to be.

Energy is powerful. Not just physical energy. The energy we put out to the universe when we send good wishes to someone. There are probably numerous names for the type of force I describe as energy. I believe that when I am in synch the energy flows and thus I am right where I need to be doing the right things with the right people.

Having expectations sets me up for disappointment. Usually in myself. Being in acceptance and enjoying the moment keeps me in reality.

I am learning some really great things at this time of my life. And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks! I say HAH!!!

Hello

Feeling loved and encouraged. How about you?