Creativity | Unexpected Leisure

July 29, 2012May 6, 2013

On the Duty of Fiscal Disobedience

OWS stated implicitly and explicitly that Washington, DC though full of sound and fury, signifies nothing. The nationâ€™s true political center of gravity is no longer Washington, but Wall Street. Read more [...]

November 24, 2011

A Minimalist Thanksgiving

You're not trying to feed the whole block, so don't try. Overindulgence sounds like fun until you actually do it. Make enough for nibbling afterward plus some leftovers. You want to enjoy yourselves. Read more [...]

October 23, 2011

The True Message of Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street is telling the powers that be, "We can make a better society than you can, and here's how to do it!" Read more [...]

September 26, 2011

Audit Your Benefits

Do you have a Costco or BJ's membership? Gas card? Discount card for a local supermarket like Safeway or Stop 'N Shop? Auto club? Professional organization? Do you have a small business? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it might be a good idea for you to sit down with each of these items and see if there is some perk you could use. Read more [...]

August 23, 2011August 23, 2011

Singing for Fun and Subversion

Making music is one of those things that is probably more fundamentally human than most of us realize. Think about it. Every human culture in every geographic space, and in every time period for which we have evidence one way or the other, humans are a music-making species. Read more [...]

July 4, 2011

This Way Out

One of the most pernicious things we hear in the media every day is that the economy cannot survive without mega-sized financial and other corporate institutions, which is one reason they are allegedly "too big to fail." We have no other choice. Smile and know your place. Read more [...]

April 23, 2011

A Garden in a Swimming Pool

Dennis and Danielle McClung took a foreclosed home in Mesa, Arizona that had an empty, dilapidated swimming pool in the back yard. Rather than restore it as a regular pool, they turned it into a combination garden greenhouse and fish pond that now provides nearly all of the food they need for their family of four. Read more [...]

February 20, 2011

The Age of the Generalist?

Some conversations with a few friends recently has prompted me to give this some thought with respect to the unemployment crisis. Our modern society has more and narrower specializations than at any time in history. That argues that because of our highly specialized job descriptions, losing that job to overseas outsourcing or other cause means that more people have to adapt because the few jobs that are left don't make the best use of one's specialty. It's downright uncivilized. Read more [...]

January 11, 2011January 20, 2011

Enjoying LIfe, Even if You Arenâ€™t Making a Living

There are quite a few articles out there on the long-term effects of being unemployed; how it starts to mess with your mind and sap confidence and joy.Â As the period of joblessness grows ever longer Read more [...]

January 6, 2011January 8, 2011

What Makes People Happy?

At the end of the day, this is what it's all about.Â This TED talk by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi about what makes us happy, and how to get into the state of "flow" where a feeling of ecstasy Read more [...]