Archive for April, 2010
Friday, April 30th, 2010
Reading for bliss
Last night I resumed a practice that has gone dormant and forgotten for years of my life: reading for pleasure. It is such an amazing, mood-realigning activity. I get sucked in by the story, and resurface for air hours later, not knowing the time, mind abuzz with the peculiar characters and plot twists. I feel [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Ideas, Episode I: Documentaries & Community
This is the first installment in a series of posts about ideas I have. I would love to do them myself, and may, but you could take them and run with them as well. They will be ideas about all sorts of different things, mostly about how we can provide inexpensive health & happiness for [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
Today is better than bad.
When you pay attention to the news, a lot of it is really depressing. But there are a lot of hopeful stories as well, and I like to observe those days when I feel the day’s news is more good than bad. Those days make me happy. Today is one of those days. Secretary of [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
One Looming Thing
One practice that unquestionably causes happiness is completing tasks that are hanging over your head. When I was at my last job, failing to do that was my biggest cause of anxiety. Leo Babauta has a post today on Zen Habits on the topic, where he advocates having a One Thing to-do list. Just having [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Contradance College
I just got back from a fabulous weekend at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA). One of the most memorable events for me was Julia Nickles’ discussion called “Calling All College Students“, the purpose of which was to connect with college-age festival-goers and find out some of the issues they face related to the festival. [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
Collaboration
(Scene: Harvard Square, in front of Au Bon Pain. A white-haired man playing hurdy-gurdy stands facing the street. Another man, younger but scruffier, is sitting with his back to the street ten feet further up the sidewalk, with a guitar plugged into amps and CDs on racks around him. The hurdy-gurdy man is playing vigorously, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
Reimagining society
In brief: go read society, reimagined by Leo Babauta on mnmlist.com. It’s a great vision for how we might redesign our society to be more focused on people and community and less on money and consuming.
Everett Bogue has an article following up on Babauta’s post, which is great, but as usual for Bogue, it’s very [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
How I turned a crappy morning into a peaceful afternoon
I woke up this morning to one of my hosts expressing anger that I have been eating their food. It’s really a matter of miscommunication, and I hope to resolve it soon. Then I checked my emails, and there was one from a friend on an emotional topic that required a thoughtful response. What these [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
How to succeed in life without really trying
Some people are just lucky; they always get the big breaks, and they don’t have to work very hard for opportunities to just fall into their lap.
At least, that’s how it seems sometimes, especially when you’re feeling depressed and down on yourself. In reality, everyone who gets offered a cool job or a prestigious opportunity [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by Alex
Monday, April 19th, 2010
Easter and Passover
Wouldn’t it be great to have a place on the internet where there was an easy visualization of when Easter and Passover fell each year? Many people plan events for the springtime, and such conflicts are a always a concern. Well, now there is! You can find it here, or by clicking “Projects” from the [...]
