Definitely stole this from Caleb, who is spending the next few months getting rid of almost all his stuff. I have a huge amount of respect for him for doing this.

I am a firm believer that we need a lot less stuff. It’s why I like what Caleb is doing a whole lot. I feel like I am on a constant quest to have less stuff. It’s not easy to do. Every time I move, I try to throw away even more stuff. Every time I get tired of my cluttered room, things I didn’t need in the first place inevitably go in the trash or to Goodwill.

If I had it my way, I’d have one shelf for my books and music, a clear desk with my stereo and computer and nothing else. My general rule when buying physical stuff now is that, unless it’s something I’m going to use all the time, it’s not worth owning.

I’m kind of glad my family isn’t doing much for Christmas gifts this year. I already have plenty of stuff. If you haven’t started buying Christmas gifts yet (doubtless, unless you’re a dude like me), maybe you should consider buying non-physical goods, like iTunes gift certificates or a donation to charity.

Since it’s the day before Thanksgiving and I have no motivation to write, here’s the Muppets singing “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Enjoy and be thankful!

The fact that these nonscientific tests are sponsored by Volkswagen sour the deal a bit for me. But the theory is great: make people do good things by making them fun to do.

It’s hardly a revolutionary idea, but it’s one of the first times I’ve seen someone make a considerable effort to test it out.

But I have questions: Would it get annoying if all our trash cans and stair cases made noise? Would these ideas hold up over time? If the idea becomes commonplace, does it remain fun? What useful tasks do we do regularly that don’t lose their enjoyment factor?

I guess my point is that, yes, we need to find ways to encourage people to recycle and exercise, but I wonder if our nature as humans will “evolve” to resist such things once the fun wears off.

And then I wonder why it is some of us are more health- and earth-conscious and others are not. Perhaps we need to narrow that down and figure out what makes those people tick versus those that choose to be wasteful and slobby.

I stole this video from Merlin Mann, a recently-discovered hero.

John Cleese hits a lot of nails on their heads here. I love the idea of “tortoise enclosures.” When I’m being creative — while making websites, writing code, writing blog posts and magazine articles, whatever — my best tortoise enclosures are coffee houses and my headphones that I keep at the office that I use to ignore my boss. He hates those headphones and I love them for the same reason: I can ignore everything around me (namely, him) and get things done. He’ll probably read this blog post and scowl at me because both of us know that I’m good at what I do. I’m not being cocky, I swear.

On that note, I also like Cleese’s point about blind spots: how people who are bad at something often don’t know they are bad at it because they lack the intuition at that thing to tell good from bad. This is why we see really bad American Idol contestants and leaders who suck at leading, and talented workers who know better than to climb corporate ladders if they’re good at the job they’re already doing.

I’ve been excited about the effects of this recession. No, seriously. When the natural consequences of our irresponsibility arise, there is no choice but to adapt, learn from our mistakes and figure out how to be more responsible.

This video gives me hope for what might happen. The signs of hope seem small right now, but perhaps a few more years of this will help them to grow.

I especially love the part technology is playing in this. It’s amazing how it’s helping people work together to find ways to save money, spend it wisely and use the resources we have in the best way possible.

Sometimes I try to come up with ideas for how, as a web developer, I can play a larger part in promoting the responsibility of our culture. Do I build a directory for food co-ops? A wiki where people share tips on how they’ve saved on groceries or their gas bill? A Facebook application for ride-sharing?

Does anyone have any ideas for how the Internet, social networking or mobile technology would help you find ways to promote sustainability, local community and responsible living? Maybe we can do something together.

Does anyone else notice the issue here? She’s making the argument that homeschooled kids are normal while not being quite normal herself. I would flip the stats and say that about 80% of the homeschooled kids I’ve met are weird.

Also, she’s listing off “cool” people that were homeschooled, and names mostly historical figures instead of people we know that are alive today. Who knows if they were weird or awkward? Not me. Though I’ll bet Darwin was a weirdo. Plus, weren’t most people pre-1900 homeschooled in some form anyway? So using them as examples makes no sense.

I have a theory, though: the fact that homeschooled kids are weird usually (not always) has something to do with their parents, not the homeschooling itself. In other words, the kind of parents that prefer to homeschool are going to have weird kids whether or not they actually homeschool them, just by the environment they’re raised in.

There’s absolutely no way to prove that, of course. Just a theory.

Why? I mean, really? I’m entertained, but what causes any human to think, “Gee, I should try and get inside a giant balloon, then film it and post it on YouTube“?

It’s Manos: The Hands of Fate. Hands down.

Sadly, I couldn’t get my hands on a copy that wasn’t the MST3K-laced one, but hey. You do what you have to do in the name of bad art.

Completely devoid of comprehensible plot line, concise dialogue or half-decent acting, this is truly the worst of the worst, which loops it back around to being the best of the best. Highly recommended.

It’s been a long week, and I am too tired to act as excited as I really am that I get to see Bon Iver at The Wiltern tonight, then spend the weekend with some “family” I haven’t seen for a while.

Here’s hoping I don’t fall asleep behind the wheel on my ride to LA! Have a good weekend, friends.

I saw this movie last night and pretty much sat in the theater in wonder for two hours. Not only were the sounds these three guitar legends able to coax out of their instruments amazing, but it held up as a journey through many philosophies about creativity and artistic creation. Immediately upon leaving the theater I felt an intense urge to pick up a guitar, find my voice and play whatever comes out.

Talk about resetting the synapses. They make it look so easy, but I wonder sometimes if they are created special beings. Beings that can tap into a sense of focus and creative meandering and a freedom and confidence to put notes and words on paper and hope other people feel the same way they do about them.