Posts Tagged ‘lifestyle’

Social media makes us approachable

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
Social Media Image

Photo credit Matt Hamm

I have been thinking a lot lately about how social media has changed how we communicate. But not in the way you might think. It is obvious that sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have changed the game, but not only have these platforms made everyone connected in simple, straight forward and immediate way, I think they have also made the majority of people more accessible and approachable. Of course this has some obvious downsides like spam and stalkers, but now our worlds are much smaller and people who would have otherwise been unable to be contacted can now be located and contacted in less than a minute. Obviously, this has downsides too, but I’m focusing on the positive aspects. In a way, it has leveled the playing field for everyone since there are all […]

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Ultra marathons and barefoot trail running

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek and Tarahumara runner
Photo credit: not sure, I think here

My new interest. Well, an interest maybe, but that’s about where it ends. I do run, but typically only 3 miles at a time. Hardly even a 5K, never mind an ultra marathon. Though I do love the idea of being able to run long distance, it is just so raw and primal and is truly the way we were meant to get around. But is it really possible for anyone to run 100 miles at a time?

I’ve been reading the book Born to Run and it’s just amazing. I’d heard of Dean Karnazes and ultra marathoning in the past, but sort of just figured he was some super human guy and there were only a few crazies out there who did this sort of running. But after flying through the first half of this book in just a few days, I’m wondering if it really is true that anyone is capable of running great distances. Not only does the book thus far tell the interesting story of the Tarahumara natives of Mexico who regularly run distances of 100+ miles, but there are a few profiles of other some interesting people who actually do this sort of running regularly too.

The most I’ve ever run at a time is when I did a half marathon three years ago, and that took 3 months of training to be able to complete. And for me that was tough, as I’ve never been a runner and never found running that enjoyable. But maybe there is something to it, a technique that most people just can’t figure out. I know that since I’ve started running semi regularly, I’ve been able to adjust my technique to a point where I can do it a bit easier, though conditioning is still my issue.

Maybe I’ll try it barefoot or with sandals like the Tarahumara. I’ll get on it right after my calf heals from when I pulled it running last week…

Being too busy and how to unwind in 24 hours

Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Life moves too fast

Photo credit: clobs

Sometimes life just gets too busy. Work, eat, bills, sleep, exercise, relax (for a moment) work, run errands. It just seems to go on and on. Even for someone like me who tries to keep their life simple, it doesn’t always work. When I am home I seem to keep myself too busy, and fall behind on all the things I want to do. Making an hour to just sit with a book never seems to happen, no matter how little is on my plate.

Quite honestly, as my girlfriend has correctly pointed out to me, I think a lot of my time disappears into the Internets. Keeping up with my RSS feeds, following Tweeters, checking the news, the weather, brainstorming ideas for my website, following links that follow links… You get […]

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How to eat local – local eating resources

Friday, June 26th, 2009
local organic produce

Photo credit: Kenn Wilson

…By only eating foods produced in their community, region or country, adherents, known as locavores, aim to reduce pollution and support ethical farming practices.

With more and more people defecting from supermarket to farmer’s market, a number of websites have appeared to help users find local food in their own communities…

Here are some great resources about local eating:

Thanks to Matador Life for this info, See the full article here

The Next American Dream explored

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
The American Dream

What is the American Dream?Photo by hellochris.

The other morning on the way to work I was listening to NPR and they were having an interesting discussion about the American Dream. What they were considering was the idea that the American Dream is now outdated in the face of current events and the current state of the economy. It was an interesting discussion and one which I am glad that I caught. And I have to say that I am happy that people are looking for the Next American Dream rather than the old one. I have thought for a long time that the pursuit of the American Dream is making people unhappy, and this conversation really was able to help me put my finger on why.

According the the discussion, there are (or were) four pillars of the […]

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How to find the job you love

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

Disclaimer: I should preface this article by saying that I do not currently have the job I love. This is really an article based on my thoughts, and one that can hopefully one day help me.

The situation

Perfect hit - bullseye

Perfect hit – Photo credit cloud_nine

The situation I seem to perpetually be in is one where my job is tolerable and pays decently with decent benefits, however I know that it is not the right place for me to be. In today’s economy, conventional wisdom seems to say you should stick with something that is decent, however I don’t necessarily agree with that. Sure, people are out of work and some would do anything for a job, but does that mean I have to tolerate something I don’t enjoy? I’m not talking about walking out on a job, I’m […]

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Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

Friday, January 2nd, 2009

I am not big on resolutions, as most of them seem to just fade in time. But from time to time I re-assess my life and try to make some positive changes. For this New Year, this is what I thought to myself this morning:

I will learn to speak my mind, follow my heart, and live how I wish to live. I will be healthier and be more moderate with my vices.

Pretty simple, right?

Though I enjoy my life, and am generally pretty healthy, I could really do a lot to positively improve myself as well. There are many days where I wonder how I’ve gotten to this point and what I can change to improve. Most of these thoughts center on my own growth, as well as my career choices.

I talk a lot about diet, travel, and other things like that. […]

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Meat – to eat or not?

Sunday, September 14th, 2008

I follow Tina over at Think Simple Now, and the other day she posted a rather interesting (and detailed) article about meat eating and vegetarianism, titled eating our way to death literally. It even evoked enough passion for me to comment! In short, my belief is that as a whole we all eat too much meat, and being vegan or vegetarian is noble and something I’ve always been interested in. However I believe we have evolved as meat eaters, but the true problem is modern society and commercial agriculture. I think eating free range artificial growth hormone free meat in moderation is a good thing, and also I believe that we all need to eat more vegetables — organic veggies. We don’t need artificial hormones in our meat, nor do be we need synthetic chemicals on our vegetables.

This?
or
This?

organic vegetablesPhoto by thebittenword.com

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