This falls under “Holy shit!” – I don’t know if it’s 100% what happened… but I certainly have my suspicions…. especially after playing with Google for a bit! Stupid brutal honesty.  *sigh* here goes:

1st of all, you should read, or at least Skim “A Sad Post” because that is what I’m talking about in this post.

So today I woke up in a fine mood. I went to brush my teeth, and as I reached inside my toiletries bag to grab the tube of toothpaste by feel, I grabbed something else.  The item I grabbed is a green bottle with the label Read the rest of this entry »

I generally try to keep things upbeat.  Even when I’m angry at someone.  But it’s rare that I am sad, and today I have been.  Right now, I’m more along the lines of indifferent, but there were tears coming out and that kind of stuff.  I keep things honest for you, so… here’s my underbelly. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m on day 5 of my cleanse.  I’ve lost 7 pounds already.  I’m going to be very much myself in this (and future posts), which means a little more crass humor, more puns, and more foul language.  Why?  Because I joke around, tell puns, and use (what some consider) offensive language in my daily communications.  I take on friends and clients that appreciate me for me, and since you’re reading my blog… we’re friend.  I guarantee you that the shit that I’m writing in THIS particular blog post is really awkward to tell a stranger (or even a friend), so… we’re friends, right?

Remember: I look for adventure, and I define adventure as “new experiences” -

Ok…. I mentioned a lot of this on my Monday night internet radio show (http://CouchSurfingRadio.com) – and maybe even in parts of my blog, but here’s the story: Read the rest of this entry »

The human body gets rid of toxins by excreting them one way or another… but since we live in such polluted environments, option B gets used more and more often, which is hiding the waste in fat and other cells in the body. Do I believe all that? Well, yeah…. Do I care? hmmm…. probably. Though, not too much. I mean, we all sit around in front of our radiation emitting devices, holding them up to our heads, while eating the shittiest food we can. Trust me, I”m no angel, and I’m no healthy hippy! I know many of them.

Since I do know a bunch of them, I am at least aware of what I am ingesting, and my environment… So, when I got back from a 3 week road trip, where my diet consisted mostly of Taco Bell, coffee, and other things you can get near the freeway Read the rest of this entry »

I was pretty flabbergasted to find out that I’ve had no car insurance since February.I’ve driven A LOT since then, and only found out at the tail end of a 4,000 mile trip.  I can type the whole thing out, but I recorded the entire thing, which is way funnier.  A word of caution, I curse a bit in this   In fact, it goes a little like this: Traveler’s Insurance can go fuck themselves!   Anyways… here’s the recording of me telling a friend the whole thing.

[media id=10]

Since then, I’ve gotten insurance with Flo… er… Progressive Insurance, but it cost me $1,450 instead of $990, as I did not have proof of previous insurance.

I’ve also paid the state of Georgia their $25 for their efforts in telling me that my registration will be suspended…. so now my registration is safe.  I did have to call in to speak to someone, as they have a lot of things that you can pay for to many different departments… the form says “You can pay online at” – but it doesn’t tell you what this falls under.  No biggie.

Now, I can bitch and moan about Traveler’s screwing me over, or my insurance broker not calling me to tell me they had a hick-up and couldn’t run the payment…. but in the end, everything is our own fault.  I should’ve had my mail checked more frequently.

To make sure this never happens again, I am checking out two services… if you’ve used ‘em, I’d love your feedback:  http://paytrust.com/ and EarthClassMail — here’s their video:

I want to write… daily… I want to write to you.  But, as one of the most frequent questions I get is “How do you pay for all your travels?” I have to do the occasional project.

It’s 4:30am on a Saturday, and I’m watching Julie/Julia (more on that later).  I have to pick Craig up at the airport at noon.  My day was awesome!  I jogged in the morning– which I discovered to be way easier for me than jogging in the afternoon, I’m not sure why.  I wore no shirt.  Oh yeah- I learned at the Longevity Conference that when you get sun, you get Vitamin D(3) – but your skin produces it, and it takes 12 hours to absorb into the skin, and the blood stream… so, if you go in the sun, don’t wash off with soap right away.  Use water, soap in the major area (groin and pits), and maybe strategic use of deodorant, otherwise you’re washing away all that vitamin D(3) which brings such calm and happiness.

I worked in the afternoon.  I’m still processing photos from the Longevity Conference.  I shot over 3,000 photos there.  I worked barefoot and shirtless in the back yard.  Bentley loved it.  I got a ton of Vitamin D(3) – and a nice tan! – and I’m also down 5 pounds since last week (despite having had the munchies the other day, and having eaten a giant rice-krispies-treat egg, and massive quantities of this uber-rich chocolate cake with fudge layers in between!  I even had a talk with myself on my way to my friend’s house that I would not eat sugary stuff… *sigh*).

Today was my 2nd day of eating 100% raw.  I’m not trying to do a 30 day raw challenge like last year (though it wouldn’t hurt), I’m just trying to eat more healthy… and it’s working.  I’ve also been taking Magnesium, L-Argenine, Fish Oil (Omega 3′s supposed to help ADHD people, which I suspect I am…. you don’t need a richter scale to know that you’re in the middle of an earthquake, if you know what I mean), and… hmmm.. can’t remember the other one.

I’m making my 1st Coconut Kefir.  I’m almost nervous.  How will it turn out?  Will it taste good? Will it be poisonous?  It was really easy to prep– just chop open 2 coconuts, pour ‘em into a 1 quart pot, heat up to skin temperature, and pour in the starter pack.  Yup, I got a starter pack.. I don’t feel like poisoning anyone by playing with probiotics (the friendly bacteria that live in your digestive tract).

With Craig being in California, I’ve been using the blender on my own.  He is the smoothie king, but now, left to my own devices, I’ve gotten to do the typical Ori thing… experiment!  Yesterday’s smoothie was a total success.  Coconut,Avocado (really thickens things up– I added it last, and saw just how much!), cacco, macca, shilajit, strawberries, ataulfo mangoes, cayanne pepper, cinnamon, a tiny bit of OJ (because the Shilajit or Maca made things a bit bitter).  Before I left to Dallas, I had blended up all sorts of stuff including cucumber, and other stuff, and it was way too bitter, so I poured in a can of Red Bull, and that did the trick.

That brings me back to the movie that’s currently on pause, ’cause the urge to write was too strong… that, and it practically made me cry (ok… it made me cry a little… ’cause I can relate to it. *sigh* way to admit stuff publicly).

I started watching this movie with Kathryn in Dallas… but the internet was crapping out, so we blew it off and slept instead.  As I watch it now (as background material while I process through all these photos), I’m moved by it.

It’s about this girl who has a stressful and unrewarding job… heck, let’s just say it.  She has a shitty job! She’s at the place where people call to complain about medical problems after 9/11, and they’re all getting dicked around by the system, so they take it out on her.  She’s really passionate about cooking though, so she sets up a blog. In her blog, she tries to cook the entire Julia Child cook book in 1 year.

That’s the plot- I didn’t ruin anything for you.  I’m 1 hour 33 minutes into it.  It’s great seeing someone do what they’re passionate about.  There’s her interactions with her family, and with her husband…. a lot of it hits home.  Talks of “I never finished anything in my life!”  That seems to be something a lot of people feel, me included.  It also talks about the narcissistic nature of blogging!  I never thought of it. This blog, while it covers marketing, while it covers photography, adventure, travel, humor, and whatever else…. it’s about me – no matter what I might tell myself.

Guess I’m a narcissist, eh?  There’s worse things to be.  But, I think every blogger should watch this.

I was originally told that it was so-so, and a chick-flick… but it’s a lot of fun!  Julia Child’s character is so adorable! The story is actually pretty deep, and learning about Julia Child’s life is fascinating.  I can’t even tell you how it ends, because I haven’t gotten that far.

Damn it! I did it again! It’s titled “Just a quick note” and it’s another frigging novel!  I just like writing.  I feel like I’m telling a dear friend what’s on my mind, or the occasional useful information.

Just remind me to tell you in another blog post:  What’s going on with my photography.  What’s up with my art.  Whatever did happen with those fried pies in Oklahoma?  Tony Hsieh’s new book.  The latest movies I’ve seen (Slumdog Millionaire was really great). And… since it’s now 4:55 (now you know how much I can write in how little time) – I’m going to go back to processing photos and watching this movie.

I just didn’t want the site to collect too much dust… and I’m not very good at writing short/meaningless posts to “just write something”.

Oh yeah- I need to post my last 3 episodes of CouchSurfingRadio.

Yup, never enough to do.

When Microsoft decided to enter the portable mp3 player race, I thought they were insane… now that I have one, I know they were!  Here’s the story (Scroll to the bottom to see a video- I’m even wearing my BurningMan goggles):

During SXSW Interactive, I left the press lounge (all you can eat Zone bars, all you can drink coffee… electricity, silence) to go shoot my next panel, and there’s KBJ (@KateBuckJr).  She’s talking to some people, and she (tosses me under a truck) says “Oh! You guys need to interview….”(grabs my by shoulder, yanks me in front of some dude, and some girl who’s running camera) “Ori… he’s a designer!”

“Uhhhhh….?”

“So.. what do you know about  Microsoft Website Spark?”

“Uhhhh….”  Kate was nowhere to be seen Read the rest of this entry »

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/CouchsurfingRadio-Couchcast-number-10-Hippyband-sxsw-pet-mountain-lions.mp3[/podcast]

All sorts of crazy, but you definitely want to catch the replay!  There’s a ton of awesome SXSW insider info on how to party for free, mingle with the stars, and all sorts of great reasons to go into town… with or without a badge.

My guest, Chase, talks about his pet mountain lion.

I tell jokes.

There’s a lot more– just listen, it’s fun!

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/CouchsurfingRadio-Couchcast-number-10-Hippyband-sxsw-pet-mountain-lions.mp3[/podcast]

I even include some music in this one– let me know what you think of it.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

My first broadcast from a cell phone, and the longest I’ve been on an iphone. I recorded this on the drive to Mardi Gras with Jason Moffatt and Randy Primm.

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number8-February-15-2010-riding-to-Mardi-gras-with-Jason-Moffatt-and-the-road-bandit.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

The themes are collaboration, networking and… well, you should listen and find out!  Some decent marketing ideas in there too, so take notes

I’m generally not a fan of holidays, except for Halloween, ’cause everone dresses up.  Valentine’s Day is the most opressive holiday of the year.  As a single person, you are reminded by everyone and everything that you are in fact alone… you do not have someone to spend all your money on getting them chocolate and a teddy bear.  You are lonely, and there’s probably something wrong with you. I call this holiday “Singles Awareness Day” (SAD).

If you do have a significant other, than you’re supposed to go spend all the money on getting them chocolate and flowers and a teddy bear.

Why not just do nice stuff for your significant other any random time of the year…. to be nice, or because you like them?  I’ve made the following image- feel free to share it with your friends-  it conveys the message

Hope you have a great day, regardless of whether you have someone to spend it with or not.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

What did I do in Dallas?

Billboard climbing

Art fair

warehouse party

consulting

met new people

got a speaking and mc gigs for next month

played poker (learned to play poker actually)

There was more… and that’s why you need to listen to Episode 7.  You can hear what the listeners who got their consulting thought, and check out a funny conversation with Jason Moffatt.  That reminds me– this is the first episode to have the word “shit” in it.  I was wondering how long the G rating would last

[podcast]http://www.couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number7-February-08-2010-Jason-moffatt-dallas-adventures-art.mp3[/podcast]

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

Just when I think “Gosh.. I gotta really work my brain to come up with something to blog about today,” scammer Dominic Holland from Viralee sends me a legal threat. I shall share it, and of course provide feedback… in RED! ’cause that’s what they do in the American school system to ruin kids’ dreams and hopes, and I want to crush Dominic Holland’s hopes of scamming people. And now… the letter: Read the rest of this entry »

[podcast]http://www.Couchsurfingori.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-Couchcast-number4-January-18-2009-Viralee-is-a-scam.mp3[/podcast]
Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

It seems the show just keeps getting better. The topics are pretty diverse- bankrupcy, falling for scams, fighting back, photography, facial expressions, PR, Peter Shankman, various jokes, and more!

Have a listen, leave a comment!  You can download this, and take it with you.

Viralee is a scam

As a business owner, or just someone trying to get a message out, you recognize that there’s a benefit to having large amounts of Facebook Fans.  Scammer Dominic Holland of Viralee realizes that you think that, and is willing to steal your money.

I study what a lot of the marketers are doing.  I use some of these things for myself, and many of these strategies work for my clients as well.  If you have a business, and need more traffic, then getting more fans is a good way of dong it.  Facebook allows you to buy targeted ads that will get you fans (good ad design, writing good copy, using the right images… all still necessary), but Viralee actually claims to sell you the actual fans… not just an ad to bring them over.

I tried them out at $99 (They’ve raised their price to $117 this week), which was supposed to get me 1,000 new fans on Facebook. The blog post I read about the Viralee scammers (back when it was unknown that they were scammers) said that they get the results within 5 days.  I got nothing within a week, so I wrote the main scammer, Dominic, to see what’s up.

Dominic replied: Read the rest of this entry »

Wave hello to the drone that's spying on you

Grrr…. Houston Police has been lying to the press about restricted airspace (and god knows what else), in order to test out their new secret drones.

Channel 2 in Houston had the balls to check with the FAA, and investigate/film anyways. These drones can fly ofor 15-24 hours, look into your house, car, etc… and of course, be equipped with various other sensors.

Will they be giving speeding tickets? Will they be spying on you? I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled about this.

I think that if enough of our rights are violated, and we’re spied upon, someone will fight back… destroy these things (using something like uni-directions EMPs), and waste tons of tax dollars that you paid.

It may be entertaining to watch what they’re watching though

The following video is brilliant. Channel 2, you’ve earned my respect.

They want to get inside

Yes, you’re sitting there blogging, or adding pictures to your site, when all of a sudden your entire website disappears.  Uhhh… Hello? What happened?  Time to call your admin (unless you’re the admin– in my case, I am), or your host.  What happened?

Well, it turns out that there’s been some phishing scams, spam bots, and a panda-porn site… all running from your account.  Who knew? Well,  your host did…. that’s why they shut you down.

Just the other day, I was uploading my podcasts for CouchSurfingRadio, when I screwed up, and had to go figure out which directory I accidentally uploaded the file to.  There was a new directory from that day!  I didn’t remember making a .files directory.  Worse than that, was when I looked inside, there were hundreds of .html files that were laced with keywords.. (They had filenames that were just filled with words that people look up– celebrity names, product names, etc…  and the inside of each was laced with the same thing… just spam keywords).

The file count was getting higher!  Someone was uploading while I watched.  I deleted all the files, and they kept coming.  I checked the folder permissions, and it was limited access to just me. What a nightmare, someone got in as me!  I did not want to have to get another refund on hacker domains, or go through getting my site re-activated!

I quickly changed my password.  They were still there.  They were getting in as me somehow. How can you avoid this happening to you? Read the rest of this entry »

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Make sure you catch tonight’s show! It’s at 11pm EST, on CouchSurfing Radio.

Good news: Tonight I will be less distracted! Through the magic of technology, a lovely assistant

I”m already getting momentum.  Peter Shankman agreed to do next week’s, Tony Hsieh is doing the show in May.  If you don’t know who they are, google them…. but both shows, you’ll definitely want to catch!

I haven’t really been preparing. Life goes on… but I did leave you guys with that cliff hanger, so I’ll have to tell the entire guitar story…

If you have questions you’d like answered, you can start sending them to me through the contact form, or facebook.

See you tonight!

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

Have you ever felt you were destined to be on TV or Radio?  Yeah… me either.  But I sure was told it often that I should have my own show.  At least for 10 yearas now.  So… here it is

I present to you CouchSurfingRadio, my latest creation. Right now it will be on Monday nights at 11pm EST, with replays available for your downloading pleasure (so you can hear it again and again… have it on as you clean, drive, work, jog, poop, etc..).

The show will cover many topics, but most of them will be what I often blog about: adventures, travel, incredible people and places, marketing, life lessons, motivation, design, jokes, and of course, my odd perspectives on everything.

Here is the very first episode.

[podcast]http://www.CouchSurfingOri.com/couchsurfing-radio/couchsurfing-couchcasts/Couchsurfingradio-couchcast-number1-december28-2009.mp3[/podcast]
Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

It’s a great story… the forming of this radio show:  I felt like putting on a radio show, I tweeted and facebooked that in 2 hours I’ll be putting on a radio show, and then I put on my radio show.  Exciting, huh?  There was more to it than that, of course. I didn’t figure out how to log-in to the host number until (literally) 3 minutes before showtime. I was a distracted spaz.  I didn’t know how to read the questions that were coming in through the show’s chat-room, through twitter, and through skype. So.. yeah.. I was all over the place.

The feedback thus far has been great though!

For next episode, I will have a surprise guest, someone to filter the questions/chat for me, and segments… so, some kind of structure.

Take a listen, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show (Leave a comment below please)

Movie Poster for Avatar by James Cameron

I wanted to see it opening night. I wanted to be there at the Imax 3d, and to tell you the truth… I thought I’d also eat some shrooms before going. I have not been excited about a movie in years. Not like I was about this one. One thing that made me so excited (other than the obvious- seeing the trailer) was this article about James Cameron, and how long he’s been thinking of this movie. That article not only made me want to see the movie more (and be able to get other people more excited about it), but it also added James Cameron to that extremely small group of heroes I have…. currently it’s just him and Sir Richard Branson. Why? ’cause he knows how to pursue his dreams, and he goes scuba diving above undetonated watermines from World War II.

You know how I said I wanted to see it opening night? Yeah.. well.. that didn’t happen. They were sold out. My parents got to see it on Christmas on Imax 3d… I argued with them for a while that it would be worth the 40 minute drive, and line-waiting to see something so epic on Imax. They thanked me for arguing, and winning. I mention them, ’cause they saw it on Christmas — right after I posted that awesome Chinese Food On Christmas post. But as for me.. I didn’t get to go, ’cause I’m not in Florida. The same friends I invited to go on opening night had made it out another night… and from the time they got their tickets to the time I tried to get mine.. sold out again.

I wasn’t worried! I mean, it’s playing in Imax 3d until February, and I work whenever… so I can really catch the 3pm showing every weekday between now and February, and probably not have anyone interrupt my viewing experience, as I memorize the different scripts. While I had thought of that, I really just wanted to see the movie. Tonight was that glorious night. I’m couchsurfing with Craig & Suzanne, and they leave on a New Year’s snowboarding trip tomorrow morning… leaving me with their St. Bernard & Golden Retriever (who like Craig & Sue eat raw). Craig said “We leave in 30 minutes” – I didn’t bother asking where. I love random trips. In the car, Sue had brought up showtimes, so I instantly knew. We saw it at the Alamo Draft House — which is an Austin tradition. You watch a movie, and they bring you dinner and booze.

The only remaining seats were in the very front. This took away from the movie a little bit, but here is my review, and where I see things going (keep reading, ’cause I tell you how to make your own Pandora-like worlds and creatures). Read the rest of this entry »

Gary Vaynerchuk and Kate Buck Jr. 2 REAL social media experts

Caution! There’s some cursing in here! Now you can’t complain that I didn’t warn you. This is a hillarious clip about what is going on in the world. There’s thousands (actually – there are 15,740 social media experts on Twitter, according to Mashable).  I’ve had my clients send me copies of their social media strategies (I helped with) get praised (Tito’s Vodka for example), and others just tell me thanks… ’cause business is doing better because they’re on social media.  But Social Media has become a buzz word. It’s gotten to the point where people have heard the terms, but don’t know what they mean… just that they need them (reminds me of Dilbert’s boss).  “I need some SEO!”  “I need an Opt-In!” “I need to tweet!” — you probably do, but that doesn’t mean that the guy who bought $80 worth of books at Amazon (Free shipping after $30, how can you go wrong?) justifies the $5,000 he’s charging.

Don’tbe intimidated by language and terms.  You can totally google them, or I can Google that for you! There are so many tutorials and courses out there.  Many of them are good content actually, but just like Law, you want to make sure you have the latest and greatest… A technique may be in a book that no longer works… or that works with consequences.

There definitely are social media experts out there.  For example, one of my close friends and one of my couches,.  Meet Kate Buck Jr. a REAL Social Media Expert. Kate can get you tweeted for, Facebooked for, and your customers dealt, educated, and cared for through Social Media. She actually has it down to a science how to get you more followers (that interact with you, not just follow-bots), and what time of what day gets the best retweets  or reaction.  She’s got many of “the gurus” as clients.  Why? ‘Cause she knows her shit, and to them reputation is more imporant, as is their free time. I know a few awesome people in social media. But don’t go putting “Social Media Expert” on your profile if you have less than 2000 followers. Anyways— screw it… I’ll get off my soap-box– enjoy this hilarious clip, and leave a comment if this seems familiar at all

One last thing… you can hire an expert… but remember- no one’s a guru… we’re all born crapping ourselves (We’re all human).

Merry Christmas everyone.  Whether you believe in Jesus, or (like me) not, it doesn’t matter. I still wish you an amazing day today.

In our world of instant gratification, rushing everywhere, and a trend towards isolation – though, on the internet talking more briefly to many more -  it is great to have a day where your job is probably closed down.  I hope you spend this time with people that inspire you. Family if you got ‘em…. Life is short, and some strange crap can happen. If you’re not talking, you should try to. If you are talking, go for a hug.

Instead of a short e-mail, or an e-card, why not send them a video? Get a hug today– family if they’re close enough, random strangers if they are near, friends, or of course, the person who’s couch you’re surfing on.

I hope you share dreams, and smiles.  I hope you take some time to reflect upon your life, your year, and what you want to get out of this experience we call life.

I hope of course that you get some great food… doesn’t even have to be home made… in fact, there’s many chinese food places that I know are open!

Whatever you do… remember, you’re alive, eating, and are at least healthy enough to read this blog-post… that means that you’re luckier than 97% of the world’s population.  Spend this day wisely…. invest it in yourself, and your friends and family if you have them.

May you reach your dreams, may you be inspired

Ori “Couch Surfing Ori” Bengal

Cahir, Lots of sheet music, and a voltran-lookings-sword

I will still carry more than I want.  But I want to rent out my place.  Last time I tried to rent it out, I met Angela, who is the deepest relationship I’ve had in my life (so far)…. but that’s another story.

To rent it out, I need to empty it.  By most people’s standards, that means packing and storing everything.  I’m sick of stuff… It kind of weighs me down.  I can’t leave permanently, ’cause there’s the stuff there… well.. I’m not going to rant about it, as I already did that.

Here’s a video that Read the rest of this entry »

dolphins getting slaughtered in japan

Do you like Dolphins? Some say they are more intelligent than we are.  Thousands of them get caught for your entertainment- they sell to theme parks for $150,000 (well up to that) per dolphin, while the other 23,000 get sold off as whale meat… despite being highly highly toxic.

Where do I know this information?  I just saw a most disturbing documentary — a must see most disturbing documentary – called “The Cove”.  It is beautifully done, an adventure, suspenseful, and moving.  The footage is epic, the soundtrack is haunting.  The story they uncover is really disturbing.

The only way to change the world is to take action, get the word out, and do what you can.  With thousands of subscribers and visitors, I’m hoping that this blog post gets people to watch the movie, and become aware… then take what action they can to make a difference.

http://www.takepart.com/thecove is where you can go to find out some things that you can do.  I suppose you can buy the DVD and support the cause.  But I highly recommend you go to your local video store (or web-based video shipping service), and watch this movie ASAP.  Please comment if you’ve seen it, and let me know what you thought of it.

CouchSurfingOri surrounded by STUFF at Cathedral of Junk in Austin, TX

Stuff!  We all have it! The thing is that it means different things to different people.  Some people think that we are nothing more than what stuff we’ve accumulated.

Have you ever been to soeone’s house that looks like a museum? Shelves upon shelves of little crystal figurines, and nice china, and walls of DVDs, and shelves full of books, and tons of walk-in closets, etc… ?

I wonder if they actually enjoy their stuff.  I wonder if they eat on that fine china… I wonder if they watch every movie.. I wonder if they read all their books.

You see, I have a lot of stuff too.  We all do!  But, do we actually use it after the first few weeks?  It’s a shiny object, and my marketer friends probably made the ad that made you want it…. but after you spent your money, or were gifted it, you probably got bored with it.  Clearly, there’s exceptions– computers, cell phones, televisions, but even those gather dust after we find a shiny new model.  The Ipod got replaced by the Ipod Nano, which got replaced by the Iphone / Touch – which got replaced by the Iphone 3G, which got replaced by the Iphone 3GS.

What’s my point?  I just realized that a lot of my stuff I have because people think I should have it.  What do I mean? I guess I should tell you my big plans first.

(If you’re in a hurry, just scroll to the video at the bottom) Read the rest of this entry »