Sun baby, take me away

Via my new favorite newsbyte site, Geeks are Sexy, is this article on people who've made their billions from their solar power technology companies. As more and more of popular media are actually starting to take alternative energy and fuel efficiency seriously, solar power is making a major comeback, and it's all very exciting. I'm actually hoping gas prices continue to rise, because I believe that is the only way the masses will actually push for better fuel efficiency in car technology as well as fuel alternatives.

Another way, of course, is for big-name companies to set the bar and literally make the change they want to see. Take Google's conversion of their Googleplex so that a third of the building is powered by solar energy. Yay Google!

What is happening to our country?

In the midst of family dramas and school finals, I browse sites like reddit and wonder what everything is coming to. There are political rants, ravings, polls, and smear campaigns all over the web, and yet it somehow feels so pointless. I ignore the latest Clinton/Obama verbal battle in favor of an animated gif of a cat being run over by an RC car. The now-old joke of Clinton bringing up Obama's kindergarten "essay" is hilarious, and yet so sad. Where is the intellectual debate? Everything I've seen concerning the major candidates just sounds petty.

Oh well. I am "one of those" Kucinich and Ron Paul supporters, and I hope beyond hope they pull out ahead. They are labeled as crazy and out there, but to me they seem like the sanest candidates in a cage of lunatics. I like that they are unafraid to depart from the norm, and I like their integrity and substance, compared to the other cookie-cutter candidates.

Maybe, it is as simple as the fact that as a minority (in so many more ways than ethnically), I am deeply compelled to listen more closely to other minorities.

What is happening to America?

Unconventional Ideas

I've found this website, Unconventional Ideas, that just about sums up the way I look at life, and at my own future in particular. My first thought at stumbling upon this site was, "That's not a very well designed site." And my second thought after reading a couple of the essays was, "This is just like that Paul Graham essay a friend sent me a few months ago!"

The essays in the site are all very digestible, written in the "to the people, by the people" way that reminds me of a close friend or relative giving frank advice. And the site is filled with insightful and peppy quotes, many of which I've "collected" at one time or another (I am a packrat and collector of all things, quotes included).

A tidbit from one of the essays, entitled "Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop In: A Simple Living Primer":

Forming lasting relationships, giving service to causes in which you deeply believe, or pursuing hobbies with passion--each could give you infinitely more satisfaction than spending your energy hoarding possessions. Clear out the clutter. Free yourself for the things you really love to do, or always wanted to try.

How much more leisure time would you have if you owned less stuff which require regular repairs, maintenance and upgrades? Consider Henry David Thoreau’s insight that the "cost of a thing is the amount of...life which is required to be exchanged for it immediately or in the long run." Do you really want to obligate your future leisure time with caring for a lot of possessions? Would you rather be doing something else? Is it possible that too much baggage could keep you from doing some of the things you've always wanted to do? Could selling off a bunch of unused stuff help to make those dreams a reality?

And on a completely unrelated note, one of my absolute favorite Daily Show clips:

DDD