Fiscal Responsibility – Negligence of Updates

I put forth a resolution a while ago on 43Things not to buy frivolous stuff for an entire year. I made this goal on 1 January 2008 and I’m still going strong. Sadly, though my updates have been sporadic at best.

An interesting quote from the site:

“The rain does not fall only on one roof.”
- Cameroon proverb

We, as Americans and Westerners, spend a lot of time complaining over the prices of things but we don’t have it even a tenth as bad as people in other parts of the world. As I’ve looked at the news over the past few weeks, it’s really brought that home for me even more so than it had before. I can only hope that we all find a way together to economically sustain our global population with regard to necessities like food, shelter, and medical care without destroying our ability to live on the planet in the process.

Terra is more than four billion years old. Short of a planetesimal, it’s not likely to go anywhere. It’s had floods, fires, famine, meteors, asteroids, Tsunamis, and all other sorts of things happen to it in the history of its existence. It’s supported numerous species and watched the memory of their passing sink into the barely understood past. It’s highly improbably that we’d destroy the Earth. It’s infinitely more probable that we, through our efforts, would destroy ourselves.

It’s a shame we don’t have any viable extra-planetary options.

The Greatest Gift a Friend Can Give

One of the greatest gifts you could possibly give me, aside from something you’ve made, is a piece of literature. I hold such items in the highest regard because, in giving it, you honestly had to have made at least a cursory examination of my temperament, personality, and personal beliefs in order to choose what you gave me. Equal to that is the fact that you’re giving me an opportunity to expand my intellectual and social knowledge in exposing me to new music, books, and other such works of art.

Fancy gifts intending to show up or impress almost never work unless there was some honest thought into whether it was something in line with my views. I’ve turned down gold and have made my opposition to things like diamonds (despite being born in April and as an Aries) about as well known as my own true name. So to get a personally thought of and/or hand made gift is something that really touches me in ways I could never express enough.

A friend of mine has recently done just that. My friend Zoukplouf has written a book and sent me a copy as a personal gift. It’s completely in French and, but for a few stumbling words and phrases, is unreadable to me but now I am even more determined to learn now that I’ve personalized the language in a way that is positive. I give myself one year as a goal to get to at least third grade reading level in French. I want to be able to read his book without having to bug everyone around me for help.

Whether he knows it or not, he’s my gateway through which I’ve become truly enthusiastic about learning French beyond a means of communication with friends.

In appreciation for his gift, I’m making him more than the hat I’d originally intended on making. I’m going to figure out a way to split the Painted Desert Multicolor yarn I have so I can make him a matching hat and (hopefully) fingerless gloves. Pictures will be posted as items are completed both here and on my Art blog.