If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever travel alone, I would have immediately said, “No way. That can’t be safe, it must be lonely, and I’d get so bored.” Before I started traveling, I was scared of even the idea of eating dinner alone!
Then I started to realize solo travel is not something people do just because they can’t find a friend to go with — it’s because they got tired of waiting for the perfect companion and just go. Then, as they find out there are many personal benefits to it, it typically becomes the preferred mode of travel. …
Kristin Addis is a former investment banker who sold all of her belongings and bid California goodbye in favor of traveling solo through Asia while searching for off-the-beaten path adventures. … You can find more of her musings at Be My Travel Muse.
This is everything I own: A MacBook Pro, an iPad, an unlocked iPhone, seven shirts, two pairs of jeans, two jackets, one coat, one sweater, two pairs of shoes, a suitcase, a backpack, some gym shorts, bathroom stuff, socks and underwear. That’s it. Everything I own can be easily packed into a small suitcase and moved within 30 minutes. There is nothing that I want that I don’t already own. And this is despite owning a six-figure internet business. …
‘A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.’ ~Henry David Thoreau
… what would happen if I uncluttered my life.
A life uncluttered by most of the things people fill their lives with, and left with space for what really matters. A life that isn’t constant busy-ness and rushing, but contemplation and creation, connection with people I love and time for nature and activity.
That doesn’t mean I have zero clutter and zero complications: I’m a part of the world, not a secluded monk. I have possessions, electronics, distractions, and occasional busy-ness. I just would reduce it to make space for things of more importance. …
That’s from a Gymnastics friend of mine, Tony Retrosi.
He’s preaching to the converted in my case. 🙂
One point in that post hit home more than any other:
• Your attention is your most valuable possession. Give it as a gift to the people you love most, not a bunch of clowns on the Internet. Give it to the work that matters most, not distractions. …
The architect stole design elements from ships to make this home as efficient as possible. The kitchen does double duty as a home- and work-station, and it’s naturally lit with a wall full of windows. …
The cottage, designed for year-round use, is small enough to be powered solely by solar panels. A central cast-iron, wood burning stove heats the home. Plus, building costs were relatively low (about $42,000 including all interior furnishings) thanks to the cabin’s small size and smart design.
In fact, you can buy this cottage—or one like it—for about $18,500 …
Steve Jobs, more than other one person, disrupted and reinvented the personal computer industry, animated motion pictures, music sales, retail stores, mobile phones and tablet computing.
–1976. STEVE JOBS and STEVE WOZNIAK form Apple Computers and build their first personal computer . . . in Jobs’ parents’ garage.
–1977. Apple releases the Apple Two, which becomes the first widely-used personal computer in the world.
–1984. Apple launches the Macintosh, a desktop computer with the screen built in.
–1986. Jobs buys Pixar Animation Studios for $10 MILLION. In 1995 they release “Toy Story”
–1998. Apple releases the iMac. It becomes the fastest-selling personal computer ever.
–2001. Apple introduces their first retail store and releases the iPod.
–2003. Apple launches the iTunes music store. This began the transition away from illegal digital music downloading and toward people LEGALLY listening to music again.
–2007. Apple introduces the iPhone
–2010. Apple introduces the iPad
–2011. Apple . . . the company Jobs started in his parents’ garage . . . is briefly the world’s most valuable company.
Featuring: Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart & Bernt Balchen, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Pablo Picasso. The commercial ends with an image of a young girl, Shaan Sahota, opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.
The version narated by Steve Jobs is very good too.
Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them,
glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things. They push the human race forward.
While some may see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
If you value freedom, including religious freedom, you should support the separation of Church & State.
The government should have no involvement in your religion as they should have no involvement in your sex life. So long as you abide by the secular laws of the land.
If your religious practice breaks the law, you go to jail. If you cannot live with that, you must leave the nation. Immigrate to a theocracy, perhaps.
Some American Christians are intolerant.
The kind constantly quoting the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of fealty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942.
The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the words “under God” were added.
Here’s the original version (1892) of the start of the pledge:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I got on to this topic after seeing right wing Americans irritated and hateful over this incident from Jan 2013.
Rick McCharles 