On Hotels and Hostels

I am by no means a world traveler but I get around. I have been to at least a dozen countries and lots of places around the U.S. In my travels I am always looking to save money. In Europe and Mexico that translated into staying in hostels and various budget accommodations. Some were clean and comfortable, others not so much.
I can still remember the small 7 room motel me and a friend stayed in our first night in Mexico. The bathroom was on the other side of the courtyard and the beds were rock hard. But it was pretty clean- although in the morning we discovered ants all over our stuff. Of course we just laughed it off, because it was part of the "experience". In fact I have stayed in a lot of odd places in the name of savings and experience.
But I only attempt such daring sleeping arrangements when I am out of America. While visiting L.A. a few months back I was surprised to see a hostel on Hollywood Blvd. When searching for a hotel I hadn't even considered a hostel. Instead I had used my Priceline ninja skills to get a deal at a nearby Marriott. And to be honest even that was a little overpriced.
Now I am road triping across the U.S. with no real plan for each stop (which sidelines my Priceline skills). The cheap person in me refuses to pay more than I have too, so I have been trying my luck at less expensive options.
The last two nights my choices have been clean, cheap, and loud. No different from many of the places I have stayed overseas. However I have not been relishing in the "experience". To be honest, I have been a little scared. Part of it is being single and alone. Part of it is having a car full of my earthly possessions. But I believe the biggest issue are my own prejudices.
I somehow equate cheap with seedy. I imagine that the people here must be dangerous for some reason. That people that have less money to spend on a hotel are somehow dishonest. I question where I picked up these ideas. I know many honest and poor people. I know for a fact that my Grandpa stayed in similar hotels all his life. Despite logically knowing all this I can't stop myself from double locking my doors.
Perhaps this says more about my own fears then the hotels themselves?

Remembering President Bush

Matt Lauer just interviewed President George W. Bush. Remember him? He was president of the United States for 8 years. Kinda controversial... ring a bell? Well if it is a bit hard for you to remember don't feel bad. According to this article in Slate, despite President Bush's epically low approval ratings, the Bush legacy did not make an impact on the recent election.
Since he left office in 2008 President Bush has fallen off the American radar but this week he is back. First with an interview with Matt Lauer and later this week with the release of his memoir "Decision Points".
I "grew up" with the Bush presidency. Many of the events from the aughts define my generation. Everything else about President Bush aside, I am really interested to see if this will be a change in how he handles his public relations. I always felt that Bush suffered from an inability to explain his reasoning to the American people. I also felt that it was a mistake that he never admitted to making mistakes. So I am very interested to see if the memoir is an honest reflection or just a bid to establish the "right" storyline in history.
I haven't seen the entire interview but here is the first 8 minutes

Are You A Libertarian?

I grew up in a very conservative home. In high school and early college I was staunchly Republican. At least I thought I was Republican. Looking back I believe I picked Republican because it was closer to my values then Democrat. Then I discovered Libertarianism. I found myself constantly agreeing with them. Not necessarily their implementation but definitely their ideals.

Are you a Libertarian? Here are some tools to help you answer that question.

And the quiz:

So are you a Libertarian?

On Taxes

Recently a friend of mine offered up this link. From the Tax Foundation it helps you calculate your tax burden. It also gives you the added benefit of seeing how the Obama tax proposal would effect your taxes. Surprisingly I would actually pay less under the Obama plan. But to me that is little consolation.

Currently the federal government takes 18% of my income. Add my state taxes and I pay around 21% To me that is outrageous. Especially when I see most government programs and agencies as bloated and poorly managed.

I prefer a simplification of the tax code. A flat tax for everyone. I guess that is why this blog from CSM appealed to me.

Enjoy.

Extend the Bush Tax Cuts? It's the wrong question.

The Power of the Ant

Mankind loves to marvel at their accomplishments. We glory in our own creations. But in reality we are not the only things on this earth capable of wonderful and marvelous creations. Just check what these ants got up too. Note: No ants were harmed in the making of this video.

Short Video Goodness

Just found some really amazing short videos. Courtesy of Whitestone Pictures. I have loved all that I watched but recommend "Lest We Forget" and "Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man" (embedded below). I love watching talented people do great work like this.

Enjoy!

Heartless: The Story of the Tin Man from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Bronte Power

So I was going to publish a real nice long essay. Instead I ran into this gem and had to post it.

Marcee this ones for you!!

Motivation

As many of you know I am contemplating redirecting my life. That has lead to lots of lists and soul searching. The main issue I keep running up against is: Why do I dislike my current job? By truly understanding the underlying causes of my discontent I think I will be better equipped to not repeat the problem.

This video does a lot to help me clarify things. It is mostly about how people are motivated (hint it isn't money!).

Essentially my job has a lot of purpose, occasional autonomy but I have no desire to obtain mastery over it. So I need to find a direction that will combine purpose, autonomy and mastery. Too easy...?

Missionary Moment

Check out this video from TED. In it Julia Sweeny describes a first discussion with two Mormon missionaries. First 5 minutes can easily be skipped.

Analysis:

It is obvious that Ms. Sweeny did research on the history and doctrine of the LDS church for this talk. Most missionaries don't start out with a long and drawn out description of such mundane facts. They focus more on the spiritual questions. Like the first question she discusses (and then comes back to). She is delveing into details for comedic effect--I get that.

I found her reaction to the first question a classic example of "when they are learned they think they are wise". Instead of addressing the question she pontificates (internally at least) about genderizing and anthropomorphizing God. It is only at the end of the video that she comes back to the real issues behind her reaction to the question. But interestingly she doesn't really resolve anything just leaves us hanging. Which, to me, says more about her own faith then anything else.

Barefoot Running

I grew up "country". My dog was never on a leash. Summer meant swimming in the local irrigation canal and going barefoot all day. Something about the feel of ground beneath my feet changed the way I experienced the season. Even now I still enjoy being barefoot. After spending all day with my feet encased in leather boots it is very liberating to wiggle my toes and shuffle around the house and sometimes my neighborhood.

Given this penchant I was really intrigued when I stumbled on the five-fingered shoes. I wondered if it was possible to run or walk in what essentially amounts to a foot glove? Well scientists are asking the same question and lucky for us they have money and labs to research that stuff. Unfortunately they haven't come up with any solid answers yet.

This article in the CSM does a nice breakdown on the phenonmenon and gives some good links and further reading material. The author makes a good case for running barefoot:

"It is counter-intuitive, but the truth is – and studies back this up – that the more you block out the feeling of impact in your feet, the more impact you are likely to put into your body, at the wrong time in your stride, by moving and landing differently than you would if you actually felt what you were doing.

Have you ever wondered why you have so much feeling on the bottom of your feet, so much information sensing capacity? Well, one of its purposes is to feel impact and make changes in your stride to reduce it through form and technique."

Honestly I just keep thinking of how amazing those African runners are at the Olympics and a lot of them train barefoot. There must be something we are missing.
So I want to give the shoe/glove a chance. Unfortunately the price tag ($169) makes my miser heart skip a beat. Maybe I will just take the cheap option and go barefoot. Well at least for the summer.

Eruptions in History

In honor of the awesomeness of Iceland's baby volcanoe raining on everyones parade I give you this article from the Christian Science Monitor.
Most interesting to LDS is the following:

"Tambora
April 10, 1815

The Tambora eruption was the largest in modern history. According to the Global Volcanism Program, it was the only eruption in at least 1,000 years to rate a VEI 7.

The eruption of Mt. Tambora in what is now Indonesia cast a veil of ash around the world, lowering global temperatures by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. The result was the "year without a summer" in 1816. A foot of snow fell in Quebec City, Quebec, in June. Crops failed worldwide in what historian John Post called "the last great subsistence crisis of the Western world."

The eruption is also tangentially credited with the invention of the bicycle, as the cost of maintaining horses rose, both because of the cost of oats and the death of many horses."


1816 was the same year that the Smith family was forced to move to New York due to the bad harvest. So a geological event half way around the world directly contributed to Joseph being in Palmayra.

Cool right?

Groove Your Bum

Does this count as shaking the baby??

Coach

i started to coach youth sports two years ago. I have coached soccer (indoor and outdoor), basketball and t-ball. It is a fun way for me to be involved with the community. Plus I think learning how to control twelve 4-5 year olds for an hour is a great exercise in patience. With my job it can sometimes be difficult to squeeze it all in. I am not a very technical coach but I am very enthusiastic.
Sometimes after a long practice or game i am left wondering what I was thinking signing up to be a coach. The kids run circles around me and i struggle to teach them just one thing about the sport.
Today's t-ball game was a prime example. Most of the kids spent more time kicking up dirt then paying attention and a few kept fighting over the ball. Completely spent, I was relieved when it was all over. The kids were all running off with their parents and I was stuffing helmets and bats into my bag. Then one of my cutest, sweetest little 4 year old girls ran up to me. I looked at her expecting that she had lost something. But instead she threw her arms around me and gave me the cutest little hug. When I pulled away too quickly she lifted her head and gave me a little kiss before running back to her parents.

Suddenly I remembered why I coach.

Pandora

I have been a huge fan of Pandora radio since college. Long before the iPhone app really made it take off. In fact one of the main factors of me buying a iTouch was that I could stream Pandora. I have tried to turn lots of people on to it and so here I am attempting again!!

This is a decent video that describes Pandora. The cool part is seeing a songs musical genome get created. If you have been living under a rock and don't know what pandora is you need to check it out.

Love on the Train

So this video is a perfect metaphor for how I feel about my love life.

Once you watch it I think you will see what I mean.

Getting To Know You

My mother, who of course reads this blog (that is what mothers are for no?), told me that there is nothing personal in it. I think she came expecting pictures and antidotes of my life. Which is the type of blog she is used to reading. For me this blog is not about sharing or over-sharing about me; it is about sharing ideas and concepts that I find interesting.

That being said let me get a bit personal.

I have been with Harold for the last four years. We met at an auto auction and it was love at first sight. It has been a mutually beneficial relationship. Harry takes care of me and I take care of him. However for the last 8 months things have fallen apart. Harry needs more attention. He baffles me with his mood swings and temperamental-ness. I realized that despite the time together I do not know much about how he works. So I talked to some guy friends and last night we popped the hood and I finally really got to know Harry.

Harold is of course my 2001 Jeep Cherokee. You may laugh but, besides family, Harry has been my one constant in a period of vast change and learning. He is important to me. Yet despite that I know very little about how he works and what he needs to stay "happy". I have been content to ride along, not asking questions until a serious issue came up.

Now I know he is inanimate object that his anthropomorphism is all in my head. But I can't help but parallel how little I know about Harry with how little I tend to know about my friends. While I am all about creating deep and meaningful friendships, often to my torment, I don't often have them. I think that is because I never look under the hood.

I don't like to pry.

"Why did your parents get divorced?"

"Why don't you attend church anymore?"

"Why do you dislike that guy?"

Those are questions I would never ask. I let people tell me things on their own. If they don't tell me then I assume they don't want me to know. This probably looks like I am not concerned or curious about them. I see it as respecting their privacy. But this has resulted in me rooming with someone or being friends with them for years and never really learning about what makes them run.

Now I never thought this was a bad thing. But recently a good friend of mine, that I have known for over a year, completely surprised me. To the point that I wonder if I really understand this person. If I even want to maintain our close friendship. I have been surprised by friends before but this one really hit me different.

Maybe I need to change my behavior. Maybe before I get so emotionally invested in a person I should learn more about their personality. Their past, their dreams, their family life. Because I now feel faced with an emotionally frustrating decision.

But then would I start limiting myself to only certain types of people and therefore miss out on some of the wonderful and varied friendships I have?

I don't know the answer. But I wished I did.

Procrastination

You are probably reading these because you avoiding doing something productive or unpleaseant.

You are procrastinating.

Procrastination from Johnny Kelly on Vimeo.

Haven't Met You Yet

This is a late Valentines Day post.

To be honest I don't really have a problem with the holiday. I think it is actually a cute and fun way to celebrate the universal force that is love. I think a lot of singles stress over it because it reminds them that they don't have that life long valentine. They feel powerless to change that fact and resent that Valentines Day calls attention to it.

I think the song "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble is a good antidote for the "Poor-me-I-am-unloved-and-don't-have-a-valentines-sweetheart" blues.

Particularly I like this verse:

I Might Have To Wait /I'll Never Give Up
I Guess It's Half Timing /And The Other Half's Luck
Wherever You Are /Whenever It's Right
You Come Out Of Nowhere And Into My Life
And I Know That We Can Be So Amazing

And Baby Your Love Is Gonna Change Me

And Now I Can See Every Possibility

It really strikes a chord with me. Because I have a deep down in my soul faith that someday I will meet a guy and get married. It will all work out. I just have to be patient. Plus the beat to this song is so fun!

Watch the music video (can't get it to embed)

Dolls in Trees

You have to ask your self: WHY? Why would you ever do this?
"The Creepiest Place on the Planet"

Give it a Ponder....

Great advice... we should all give it a ponder!

Waste and the Living

Last Sunday while getting on the freeway I spotted a clean looking young man with a cardboard sign "Going Home Atlanta, GA". I couldn't help but imagine what led him to that point in his life. Did he have some tragic past? Was he incapable of holding down a job or getting a car? Did he chose this life or was he trapped by it?

These thoughts were revisited by the article "Is it possible to live a life without money?" in The Guardian (UK based periodical). The author describes how she decided to become, for lack of a better word, a hobo. She squats in empty houses, eats food from garbage, and "skips" clothes, furniture, bicycles and anything she needs. She found that she didn't need money to survive.

"In my first two months as a squatter and a scavenger I spent 54p – less than a penny a day. Ten pence had gone on a sheet of photocopying and the other 44p had bought me a KitKat at my lowest ebb in the first week. It was extraordinary how quickly it had become routine to get through a day without cash." (although later she does find ways to make money off of others waste).

She survives on the fringe not because money is useless but because people are wasteful. We throw out perfectly good furniture, food, and clothes. We throw these things out because we have lost the talent or initiative to reuse. With the hard economic times many people are rediscovering repurposing. Such things as the youtube videos "Depression Cooking", where Clara teaches you how to cook like its the 1930s, are gaining in popularity. Just check out this article from the NYT on canning.

Overall the whole article is very interesting, if a bit preachy at times. I especially disliked how "free and easy" she seemed to find her life of leeching. Granted she is only using that which others choose not to use but I still feel like it is a bit of a cheat. This feeling was only re-enforced by the articles post script:

"Extracted from Free: Adventures on the Margins of a Wasteful Society by Katharine Hibbert, published by Ebury Press on 14 January at £11.99."

Because it feels a bit hypocritical for someone to extol the virtues of living without money, in a bid to make money.

Best Bread

In my bid to learn new skills I have taken on baking. I am limited on my time and resources-not to mention kitchen supplies. Thus I try to find things that are easy and foolproof (trying to build confidence). I can honestly say I have found the best bread recipe. The Grant Loaf is super simple and came out fantastic the first time. It only takes an hour to go from ingredients to full loaf. (Sorry the picture is so bad it is from my phone)

Here is the recipe:

5 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

1 packet or 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

2 ½ cups tepid water

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well with your hand. Mix in yeast.

Use your hand to make a hollow in the center of the flour. Add the honey and water to the hollow.

Mix the flour into the liquid with your hand, then mix well for one minute, moving the dough from the sides of the bowl into the center. Mix one more minute until the dough feels very slippery and elastic and comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

Lift the dough into a large loaf pan and smooth the surface with a plastic spatula. Cover loosely with a clean, damp dish towel. Leave in a warm spot for 30 to 40 minutes or until the dough rises to within ½ inch of the top of the pan.

While dough rises, heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake loaf for 35 to 40 minutes.

To test doneness, remove the pan from the oven and remove the loaf from the pan. Tap the loaf underneath. A hollow sound indicates the loaf is done.

Transfer to a wire rack until cold

Best eaten within four days or freeze for up to one month.

Enjoy!

More on China

To go along with the previous post with George Friedman discussing China I offer this article: "China: the world's next economic crash". It is an opinion piece from The Christian Science Monitor. Some favored points:

"Yet however fast the economy is growing, China’s policies are unsustainable. First, the central government will be hard pressed to find the money to continue the spending spree. Budget deficits are going up fast, a constraint on additional expenditures. More important, Beijing’s regulators are concerned that the state banks, the primary source of stimulus funds, are overextending themselves and accumulating bad loans. "

and

"Finally, stimulus spending, as time goes on, becomes less effective in creating growth. The country already has one empty new city – Ordos in Inner Mongolia – and thousands of vacant facilities, especially shopping malls. New factories are underutilized."

Buying For Your Goals

This year I found myself creating a category in my budget entitled "Goals". I spent quite a lot on things that were supposed to help me create better habits. However the things I bought didn't really help. I read this article in June but only when I was reviewing my budget did the real truth of it hit home.

It is a great read and good to keep in the back of your mind when making any purchase.

"Buying Something To Force Yourself Into a New Behavior Doesn't Work: New Rules for a New Routine"

America's Domination in the 21st Century

Just bought this guys book. Looks pretty interesting. I really agree with what he says about China and Russia. I also like the point at the end about Canada.

"Lost" -1 Obama- 0

This February marks the return of the ABC hit drama/sci-fi show "Lost". I was a fan from day one and can't tell you how exciting the final season has made me (it is the little things really). Now I watch episodes online the day after they air. So I had no idea that the State of the Union address had been a threat to the season premiere. If I had known I would have reacted badly.
Obviously I am in the majority here. The CSM article puts it thus:

"when Feb. 2 popped up as a possible date, Facebook and Twitter fan groups revolted. One group, “Americans Against the State of the Union Address on the same night as LOST,” got huge traffic, as did the Twitter hashmark #NoStateOfUnionFeb2."

To me the CSM seems to be arguing that America would rather be "Lost" then face the realities of our nation. I disagree. I think that people are fed up with the government interfering and taking control of things. I think they understand that the State of the Union moving is purely political and that the speech itself rarely results in anything. Should everything shift to accommodate such an event? I don't think so, and neither do they.

The GYM

I hate going to the gym in January. It is always so full of people! All those new year resolutions and good intentions. Often half the people there don't even know what they are doing. Which is probably why they get discouraged after awhile and clear out by mid-February.

So if you find yourself in this predicament here are a few articles/tools that might help with your work out goals. Best part? A lot of these are gym free!

SimpleFit

How to Design Your Own Fail Safe Exercise Program

The Simple Fitness Rules

Stories I Missed

Good article from the Christian Science Monitor on the stories you may have missed during 2009. Of course I haven't been following the news very closely so all of these were a surprise to me.

Favorite bit of news:

"In October, the United Nations named Tinker Bell, the forest fairy from “Peter Pan,” as its “Ambassador of Green.”

article here

My Resolutions (and more on goal setting)

It was brought to my attention that I did not commit publicly to my goals. I did that on purpose because I have tried to keep this blog fairly non-personal. Upon further consideration though I have decided to go ahead and publish my goals.
This month I am focusing on eating healthy and exercise. Specifically 1470-1800 calories per day (which is subdivided into carbs, fat and protein allotments) and 3 days a week of cardio and 3 days of strength training. I am using SparkPeople (and their awesome App) to keep track. The goal is to lose 3lbs per month for the next 6 months.

I am also going to have meaningful prayer every morning immediately after I wake up and just before bed. Additionally I will read scriptures every day after work for at least ten minutes. For the prayer and scriptures I am using a trigger method (see last post and this article).

My other goals include:
Paint a picture
Learn about horses and rodeos
Write a novel
Scrapbook 1/2 my life
Start the 52 photo project
Be able to swim 2 miles (perhaps in a Spudman)
Travel-Visit Vancouver and Mexico
I know that most of those are vague and do not meet the SMART criteria for goal setting (if you haven't heard about Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely goal criteria you should check out the article). But I have decided to plan for each as the month comes up. This keeps it all manageable.

I also know that I am cheating by adding habits on top of my weight loss goal. I rationalize this because both are really things I have been doing I am just trying to routinize them, make them firm.

So now I have committed publicly...well as publicly as this blogs readership of 3 can be!

A New Approach to Resolutions

New Years is always a time when I spend a lot of time reevaluating my life and making a multitude of goals. On average I would say that I actually follow through with 10% of those goals. This fact has often frustrated me. So as I stand at the dawn of a new decade I have decided to take a new approach.

This approach is based on a couple of articles I have recently read.

The first was "The Definitive Guide to Sticking to Your New Year's Resolutions" from Leo Babauta at ZenHabits. Leo breaks down why resolutions fail and then offers his method of keeping resolutions. My two favorite points are "we try to do too many resolutions at once, and that spreads our focus and energies" and "resolutions are often vague...don't contain a concrete action plan". His solution called the 6 Changes Method requires 6 habits and 2 months per habit. He encourages you to take it slow and make the change gradually and easy. A very tortoise "slow and steady" approach.

The next article "Blame It on the Brain" from the Wall Street Journal. Illustrated how scientific studies have shown that willpower is "an extremely limited mental resource" they compare it to a muscle that can reach failure. Below are some excerpts from the facinating article:

"...several dozen undergraduates were divided into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad.

Here's where the results get weird. The students with seven digits to remember were nearly twice as likely to choose the cake as students given two digits. The reason, according to Prof. Shiv, is that those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain—they were a "cognitive load"—making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert."

"Given its limitations, New Year's resolutions are exactly the wrong way to change our behavior. It makes no sense to try to quit smoking and lose weight at the same time, or to clean the apartment and give up wine in the same month. Instead, we should respect the feebleness of self-control, and spread our resolutions out over the entire year."

These two articles have convinced me that I a have been trying to "run faster than I am able". I am going to focus on one main goal/new habit each month, instead of the laundry list of resolutions from years past. Picking just one thing has been difficult. There is so much I want to do now! But I am confident that narrowing my focus will lead to greater success. I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

*I really encourage reading both articles. Both have great insights on goal setting and habit forming.