This video supposedly gives you instant motivation to clean your desk. I tried the tools in the video and they, sadly, did not work for me. Did I do something wrong?

Phase one: Crazy person [lunatic]
Phase two: Group of crazy people [cult]
Phase three: A whole lot of crazy people [religion]

(Original source unknown)

A couple of nights ago I arrived in Malakoff. The first night, we were locked out of the house for two hours because of a faulty key, but it gave me a chance to make some videos on my laptop. I’ve been making videos for myself for a few months now, but what I didn’t realize was that, thanks to a really poorly designed program, none of my videos have actually been saved, because each just records over the last. Thanks, livecam. The annoying thing is that I have videos from when I first got the laptop so I know there’s a better program for recording them, but I have no recollection of what it’s called or how I found it. Argh.

Anyway, Saturday was really fun, but today brought another problem. GA took a bunch of us out on the boat for a spin, but got lost. Also, the rope connecting a raft to the boat (you know, so people can get dragged along… fun, right?) got stuck in the wheel (I’m sure there’s some fancier word for it, but I’m calling it a wheel). A tow boat came and brought the boat back. Then AB lost her earing while swimming, and for the past couple of hours people have been looking for it under the water.

Hm, you know, from that, it sounds like a really horrible trip but I’m actually having a great time. Even when things go wrong it’s still fun. I spent most of the day playing card games with GL and PL. We even made up some of our own, and they were pretty good.

Ah, problems. Everyone’s got them. But do we have these problems by choice, or are they forced upon us?

Some problems seem unavoidable. Money problems. Deformities or unhappiness with your appearance. Yet, people without these problems don’t end up leading problem-free lives… in fact, it’s almost as if they create problems, as if problems are essential to us as humans. Rich, attractive, healthy people have lots of problems. They’re going through a break up. They think their boyfriend or girlfriend might be cheating on them. They don’t like their friend’s friend. They can’t find the CD they want. It seems like the fewer unavoidable problems one has, the more shallow the problems they create are.

Although, one could see this phenomena not as humans creating problems for themselves, but as always striving and wanting to do better, which results in more problems as an unfortunate side effect. Once they’ve got their money and appearance taken care of, they move on to seeking that CD, or managing their relationships, or trying to get along better with people. This is a more positive view of human nature: always wanting to do the best we can and accepting that problems may arise out of that.

Which do you think it is, or is it something else entirely?

If the 60’s Had Twitter

Looks like a certain news source is trying to make their news look a little newer than it actually is. Either that, or Yahoo! has secretly discovered advanced technology that allows them to deliver news before it actually happens. Which do you think?

After my failed attempt to “create a vacuum,” I called in professional de-clutter-er Peter Walsh for some help… that is to say, I bought his book, “It’s All Too Much,” but that doesn’t sound nearly as prestigious or extravagant. Peter has been helping me indentify what’s really valuable in my life and what’s not worth keeping. On Saturday I started on de-clutter-izing my main bathroom and found that throwing things away was much easier with Peter backing me up and reassuring me that everything would be okay.

I threw away:
- An old, dirtied t-shirt
- A pig-shaped miniature… um, something or other
- An almost entirely full container of beta fish food (RIP ♥)
- Many other space-filling things

I am very happy with my progress. Whereas before when I wanted something I’d have to dig through a completely filled drawer to find it, everything is now neatly laid out for easy access. I’ve limited this drawer to a few essentials, like toothbrush, toothpaste, hair comb, and nail clippers.

While I thought I was holding on to useless junk (I recognized it for what it was, but could still not find the strength to throw it away before reading the book), I realized I was actually holding on to a lack of extra space.

There’s a lot more to do, of course, but I feel really accomplished.

I was out of town this weekend without Internet, and then I wanted to post some of my pictures from the trip, but unfortunately, I can’t find my camera where all of the pictures are stored. Talk about frustrating! I’ll find it soon enough, but by then the pictures will be outdated.

Here’s my war strategy: don’t go to war!