Comments on: Life’s Simple Pleasures

By: Simmons

Simmons — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:29:32 +0000

I write poetry with a pencil (or pen, whatever), but write prose on my computer. But I like to write out outlines, ideas, website wireframes, etc., too.

By: jd

jd — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:27:15 +0000

You will have to share some simplification tips on your blog sometime DC.

Thanks for the thoughtful response Simmons. I will have to read the two poets you mentioned. You must do your writing with a pencil or do you have a sketching talent I didn’t know about?

By: Simmons

Simmons — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:10:16 +0000

Okay, I found it necessary to create two lists. The first we might call my broader, “general good” list, and the second my personal list.

General Good:

1. Environmentalism
2. A viable democratic system of checks and balances
3. Music
4. Literature
5. Craft-brewed beer
6. Mixed-use neighborhoods
7. Photography

Of course, there are others necessary in this list, including:

8. Electricty
9. The imagination of children
10. Good teachers and mentors
11. Compassion and tolerance
12. College football
13. The Sonoran desert

Personal:

1. Canon EOS Rebel XT, various lenses and supporting equipment, including batteries and memory cards
2. Laptop computer with DVD, video, music (and earplugs/headphones), and viable Internet connection
3. Notebook paper and mechanical pencil with refills
4. Craft-brewed beer (you see my priorities on both lists, eh?)
5. The poetry of Mary Oliver and A.R. Ammons
6. Tagless cotton t-shirts
7. Some form of transportation—if I continue to live in Tucson, then it would have to be a car; if I lived where there was decent mass transit, then a mountain bike

And in addition to the given of shelter, let’s include the given of family, good fortune, good health.

Thanks, JD, for getting us thinking about this.

By: DC

DC — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 04:33:30 +0000

Until a few years ago, my life was extremely complicated. I made a conscientious decision to simplify. Happiness that lasts comes from within.

It’d be really dull to do without books and films, though!

By: jd

jd — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:28:08 +0000

Perhaps you could knit a phone Kell.

DC, I impressed you had to stretch to come up with 7. You must already live a simple life.

Popeye, wonderful list. Certainly less materialistic than mine.

By: Popeye

Popeye — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:22:38 +0000

1. iPod
2. motorcycle
3. a good pen
4. my Treo
5. decent red wine
6. a real big laugh every four days
7. an occasional touch on the shoulder

By: DC

DC — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:53:37 +0000

JD, I struggled with this list. Technically, I could do without all 7 but life wouldn’t be as fun:

1. a Toshiba notebook (loaded with eBooks, Movies and Music);
2. a sturdy hybrid bike;
3. a tall bottle of Bulgari’s au thè blanc;
4. a classical guitar;
5. a Nikon DSLR (mine is only a compact D40);
6. an espresso machine;
7. a vial of Formosan soil (because I have to meet the quota of 7).

By: Kelley

Kelley — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:49:15 +0000

I’m ready for a smaller footprint and have started clearing out the house room by room. After years of always getting a bigger house with each new assignment, I’m ready to start downsizing.

And I’d trade the phone for a knitting project.

By: Simmons

Simmons — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 20:33:23 +0000

That is tough; I’ll have to think about this and report back on my blog….

By: jd

jd — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 04:09:28 +0000

It’s a good start Camden, but you’ll have to narrow it down further to get to 7. Which book? What are you going to play your 1 video game on?

When is the garage sale?