How much time did Microsoft steal from me this weekend? Hard to say. On Saturday night, after four hours I disconnected from the Internet. Another two hours were wasted on Sunday morning. Four more on Sunday afternoon. I think society as a whole needs a serious pushback against this kind of thing. NO new computer sales. NO new versions of Microsoft. When the company's stock drops low enough, they'll figure out how to "update" in a more respectful way, making sure no "update" can ever run while a computer is in use.
Business
Wal-Mart begins phasing out those obnoxious "self-checkout" machines. Cheers. Now all they need to do is hire some fully human cashiers--nice quiet math-oriented types who appreciate people who focus on getting the numbers right. And keep those prices rolling back--the way to market "healthier choices" is, once we get bans on open-air spraying and applying any chemicals to food, to sell apples, oranges, and bananas for a dime, candy, chips, and soda for a quarter.
Cleaning, Spring
Whether you're tempted to be a tosser--like a big blundering bus of a woman I know who, among other things, once hauled the cabinet that contained our parents' real gold wedding rings off to the landfill--or a, not a hoarder, that's people who save sandwich crusts or try to keep all the stray animals in town in one filthy shelter-like room, a curator, like me: this article is worth reading. If for nothing else, for the footnote at the end.
My advice to everyone is the same: Don't "declutter." Do, of course, share worldly goods you no longer need with people who do need them. Children's clothes that are still in good condition, dress-up clothes that are worn once in a lifetime, tools of a trade you no longer ply, will give you sooo much more nostalgic pleasure when you see someone else using and loving them, rather than letting them gather dust in a closet. But don't just toss anything, even a book you didn't enjoy reading, in order to make your house look like a hotel! Houses that look like hotels are horrid! If you don't know someone who needs it, embrace the responsibility of keeping it for the person you will eventually meet who does.
(Old shoes and underwear are an exception. You might be able to recycle parts of them into something else but, generally, nobody else is ever going to want them. Burn them. If you burn a pair of old worn-out broken-down shoes and next week a friend loses everything in an earthquake and needs shoes, be a real friend and buy person a new pair.)
Health
Gene Weingarten's book explained this before Elaine Aron's book did: If you can feel two separate fingertips touching your back, when the fingers are touching each other, you're Highly Sensory-Perceptive. Can you feel two separate pins, stuck to a ruler 2mm apart?
Seriously. When in a supermarket, until we get a glyphosate ban, stay away from that "produce" section:
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‘Our research shows that younger non-smokers who eat a higher quantity of healthy foods than the general population are more likely to develop lung cancer,’ said Jorge Nieva, MD, a medical oncologist and lung cancer specialist with USC Norris and lead investigator of the study.
‘Our research shows that younger non-smokers who eat a higher quantity of healthy foods than the general population are more likely to develop lung cancer,’ said Jorge Nieva, MD, a medical oncologist and lung cancer specialist with USC Norris and lead investigator of the study.
Researchers believe the explanation may lie in environmental exposure, particularly pesticides used in agriculture. According to Nieva, commercially produced (non-organic) fruits, vegetables and whole grains are more likely to carry higher levels of pesticide residue compared to dairy, meat and many processed foods.”
The full study is here, and so is the question nobody in mainstream media seems to want to ask.
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Also:
Movies
Looks like Chicken Ten Thousand growing up in Greece.
Music
Frederic Chopin.
Pink Floyd
Leonard Cohen.
I didn't do a lot of dancing at the desk this weekend; the Professional Bad Neighbor drove by and sprayed my hedge on Friday night, and instead of budding and blooming a section of the hedge cast dead leaves on the ground, and I coughed a lot and lost some blood and puffed up to 50% more than my actual waistline so that even shapeless house gowns felt too tight, and I took a lot of unintentional naps, and I said to myself, "This is Tangible Evidence that the alleged son of the alleged marriage in Tennessee is not a fit guardian for this lost soul. This ought to put him behind bars where he belongs." But also, on a happier note, I was reading some new e-books and one of them contained its own playlist of lively contemporary music, which I decided not to reproduce here. People should read the book.
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