NEW YEARS AND NEW ADVENTURES

Oh, Pioneer

It's a new year, it's time to plan new adventures!  I hope to do more of what scares me, and I am not a hero. I am full of fears, so it will be a battle every time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SHALLOW TIDINGS

The year's almost over, and I have accomplished about 30% of the goals I set out for myself, and that cup, 30% full, is sweetness itself. 

Do you ever like to do an personal evaluation just take a look back at the year? Not with a eye towards self-criticism, but picking and choosing out all the good parts to take with you moving forward. I prefer to self-evaluate that way. There are mistakes of course, but a painful lesson will stay with you regardless, while those little happier moments may pale by comparison. Those moments, small and fine, have to be forcefully recalled into your consciousness. 

On another front, I've been slowly adding to my blogroll, as part of a subversive plan to promote calm and that elusive sense of zen that like to brag about at parties. So, you might want to check out Zen Habits and The Minimalists, two blogs that I can only describe through plagiarism, to quote a woman describing The Little Prince, a post has everything you need and nothing you do not. 

I hope you are good to yourself and others this holiday season! I have nothing but good thoughts and wishes for all of you.

FUN LINKS

A New Yorker Faces His Phobia, One Stoke at a Time

A man overcoming his fear of water, which is included because I found it touching. A delicate scratching on the heart. I don't like open water, things like the ocean. Even the deep end of the pool. And it is infinitely hard to act in the face of your fear. So hearing that this man has conquered his fear scratches my the heart.

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. 

Chilly Travel Wardrobe

It's winter. It's time to update that travel wardrobe.

How to Buy Less and Stop Overspending

Winter sales seem to be a justification for spending more. What I've noticed is that when I spend, the act of buying something often leaves me more unsatisfied than before. That's why I've included this.

When Is One Ready to Get Married?

This is a great website, just in general, for all those larger life questions - such as when to get married. Unfortunately, some of the answers are painful. The one about having children especially so. To have children demands that you will have to take abuse, because children will take their anger out on those with whom they feel the most secure, whose love is unconditional. As the parent, you have to be able to see beyond the horrible things a child will say, and recognize the pain and insecurity feeding those words. That is a painful reality.

The Six Questions You Need To Be Asking At Interviews 

We Can't Trust Uber

I don't know if there is a viable alternative to using Uber. And I've had nothing but positive experiences with drivers, so it's sad that the people running the company care so little for passengers.

Tortoise Fitted with a Lego Wheelchair

Just because.

SUSTAINABLE GIFTS: ESPEROS BAGS

Esperos Everyday Tote

Esperos Bags

With every online sale, ESPEROS donates approximately $10 per bag. The money from each sale is donated in partnership with non-profits such as Pencils of Promise to help provide education to children in need.

Esperos Classic Backpack

Market Tote

SWITZERLAND PART THREE: EVERYTHING THAT WENT WRONG

Whenever I read travel posts, they alway seem bursting with positive energy. No one ever has bad travel stories. They always come back with a tremendous good time and a bucket full of memories and matching photos to boot. With that in mind, I decided to start a different trend, not to complain, but to share everything ranging from not great to downright horrific. Because I have no image to maintain and I work for free.

At some point during the trip, I decided I couldn't stand any of the people I had traveled with, and further decided to embark on an aggravated walk out into the night, alone, and there, in the twilight, I came across this river above, with the man silhouetted in the corner, a man who I assumed was contemplating his own death. Death, a friend informed me later, is a recurring theme in Switzerland because of the social pressure to always conform. I had no idea. Your house and lawn must always be in perfect order, you lawn perfectly coiffed. You always have to behave in such and such a way, and so on. So there is in Swiss society, an underlying current of despair, and possibly I picked up on that.

Now, why then does this picture look markedly different than any of the others I have shown so far. Possibly it's because while I highly recommend staying in Central Zurich, or possibly the Northern suburbs, or any place bordering the central river, that isn't where I stayed. I stayed in the post-apocalyptic industrial wasteland known as West Zurich. There is stuff to be done there. There is a bar or two. There are business offices. There are train track you can lie down on if the idea of leaping into the river doesn't appeal.  The hotel where I stayed, the name of which will go unmentioned*, was a touch older than most. Or this is what I hope explains some of the curiosities.

For instance, each room, regardless of the number of occupants, only had one key. A single key. You have no idea how inconvenient that is until you cannot leave the side of the holder of the room key and you become some sort of international siamese twins for the duration of your trip. I highly do not recommend it. Second, my single key hung off some sort of object that was large and solid enough to be a weapon and seemed to serve no other purpose than to add bulk to my pants.

What does not come across in photographs, is how expensive this country is. And everything is expensive. Burger King is expensive. BK was also, to my regret, not very good. In fact, I didn't enjoy most of the food there, and this is part of the reason why I declined to list any restaurants. This was somewhat surprising. I went to a restaurant in the northern suburbs, I tried one of the most established restaurants in town. I even tried the restaurant in the hotel lobby. Crap, crap, and crap. All of it, including a desperate budget foray into Burger King.

Finally, I want to point out that it rained almost the entire time. No one takes pictures in the rain really, unless you want to get all artistic about it. Mostly because it's impractical, I have some pictures with fat drops of water on the lens running right down the middle, and that pretty much ruined the whole shot. But those will never appear anywhere, because those are more popularly known as "bad pictures." 

So here you go, pictures from my moody nighttime wander through some deserted industrial parts. Sometimes I would see people, and I just pretended I was invisible and moved on. In some ways, I quite enjoy moody nighttime meanderings. You're finally alone with your thoughts. You pick up on sounds, moods, contrasting objects. In hindsight, it's not too bad. 

*Because as long as you don't stay in West Zurich, your chances of staying here are significantly less.

THE HOLSTEE MANIFESTO POSTER

Holstee

 Oh my my my, I said. My my. This should be myne. Get it here.

STYLE MINIMALISM: ALL YOU NEED

According to The Pocket Stylist, all you need is... by stractstyle featuring a lined jacket

As December begins, it's time for all the shallow posts I've been hoarding all year long. Here's a nice template to have to cull your wardrobe down.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...AND THOUGHTS

I wish you nothing but good thoughts this time of year, and came across this quote. It sets off sparks, don't you think?

Stay strong. Reach far. Rise above the fray.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FICTION AND NON-FICTION

The Luminaries and Man's Search for Meaning

Fiction: The Luminaries

Yes, the Booker prize winner of 2013. How boring! How uncreative! Why don't I just name drop whatever book Jonathan Franzen's just written? But here's the thing: it's a 700 page long gripper of a novel. I took it on flight with me and couldn't keep my hands off it. The language has a strong regional texture, and at 700 pages, it actually manages to stop your attention from wandering off into the distance. That is rare for me. I haven't had that kind of experience since Gone Girl. I don't expect Booker Prize winners to be gripping. I expect something more intellectual, a little lesson in structure and technique. Not that these weren't there, it's just so much more.

A sexist aside: I read a lot of male authors, and this is a shameful fact. So when I see a female author who has so much richness on offer, even at a slightly daunting 700 or so pages, I want to spread the word.

Non-Fiction: Man's Search for Meaning

I read this once, a long time ago when I was feeling a little lost and looking for signs from the universe, or how to read them. I wouldn't say this changed my life, that would be slightly dramatic and a lie. It's more a humble read from a humble man. It resets the mind and puts matters back into perspective where they belong. This is one of a few books that I would read again, to make sure that, as the title suggests, I look over at where I am, and that there is purpose and meaning built into the process. 

If you have excess time over Thanksgiving, and trust me not to mislead you, have a look at these. 

MEDITATION THROUGH PEER PRESSURE

Buddhist Stupa

My idea of discipline is eating half a bar of chocolate, waiting half an hour, and then eating the other half. It is of no surprise to anyone that I have been trying and failing to develop a meditation practice for the better part of a year now. 

There's a lot of information out there right now about how to turn your home into a temple, steps you can take to help you develop your home practice, and if you're looking for something of that nature, then this post is not for you. Because that kind of self-practice takes a degree of discipline that is in severely short supply.  I need to hold some discipline in reserve for my many other vices.

What I think is the easiest way to cultivate a practice is to go out of your home and find a meditation center* or a group of people who meditate together. What I look for is the meditative energy that can be found there, that I can draw into my own practice. I would otherwise hate to mention "energies" or "crystals" or, God forbid, "auras" but sometimes, the term just applies. I find it infinitely easier to drag myself to a separate place to meditate in the company of strangers than in my home. 

When doing something difficult, there is always that initial hump that has to be overcome before you can build sufficient momentum to get going. Going to a separate location is the equivalent of getting over that hump. 

Here is a concept that was explained to me by someone much wiser to demonstrate what meditation can do for you:

Your thoughts are key. Your thoughts are the bridge between your internal and external self. Thoughts are the messenger of what is not right in the mind.   

Externally, your thoughts lead to words, which lead to actions, leading to your habits, and eventually to your character, nature, and personality.  Thoughts --> actions --> habits --> character, nature, personality

Internally, thoughts lead to your awareness, which creates your experiences, and then your emotions and feelings.  Thoughts --> awareness --> experiences --> emotions and feelings 

Through meditation, you become aware of the content of your thoughts, and can eventually learn to direct which thoughts you want to grow, and which you want to fade away.  Whatever you pay attention to will grow, and what you ignore will fade away.

*Yes, these things exist.