Vacation-fueled ramblings
OSCON, LinuxTag and LinuxWorld SF were all great. The FSF licensing seminar at Stanford was awesome and it was very nice to connect with the community at each of these events. Unfortunately, all of these rather intense events at the end of a busy schedule has kind of burned me out. Badly in need of some mental space, I am taking a week off to try and catch my breath and regain some clarity.
So far it seems to be working. :) I have officially been on vacation for a bit less than 24 hours and it is already blissful - for the first time in months, I have had some guilt-free time to think.
What am I thinking about - mostly simplicity right now. I can't believe how complex my life has grown and how far this extra complexity has driven me from my ethical center. At a time in my life when I have enough maturity, money and freedom to live how I choose, at times I find that I do not follow my ideals.
Even worse, each increase in complexity leads to more complexity. Perhaps this is why my experiment with using a Zaurus as an organizer did not work out - it was yet another set of equipment to take on trips, to recharge, to setup, to backup, ad naseum.
There was a story that my mother would read to me as a wee tot that featured a man who was roasting a hotdog on a stick over a campfire. A traveling salesman approached the man and convinced him that the hotdog would taste better and be more hygenic if it were roasted on a metal spit. A few moments later came the suggestion that a gas stove would prevent ashes from flying onto the hotdog. As the parable wore on, the man kept buying more and more things until he was overwhelmed by his purchases. Eventually, distressed by the complexity of his life, he returned to roasting his hotdog by a campfire. I feel a lot like this right now.
Interestingly, having my parents move in with Mandy and I has been helpful. Other than the simple pleasure of being in the company of two of my best friends, we also get to have a few more hands to help keep the household running smoothly. While their health and energy is limited, they are both far better organized than either of us. That alone makes the household run more smoothly.
Also, my mum and I have been doing a bit of gardening. The grass and flowers are looking much greener now that someone (cough) has been watering them.
I have started up a compost pile that is going quite nicely and have started preparing a small patch in the back yard for a garden come next spring. Having something tangible and living to work on feels very nice.
The simple pleasure of having a compost heap to turn (though I am doing some interesting reading that says turning is not needed if you build the heap right) and maintain is something that I have not had in quite some time.
Compost heaps are alchemical magic. Give the Earth some scraps of food, a few dried leaves, some old newspapers, a couple of shovelfuls of dirt and a bit of time, and suddenly you have the best fertilizer nature can craft. I have only had this heap going for about two weeks and already it smells like rich clean earth and emits puffs of steam when I turn it over to incorporate new materials.
Combine this with a bird feeder in the backyard that is the hip new spot in the neighborhood for all of the fashionable young sparrows, and things are starting to get a bit more relaxing around the house.
Anyone actually follow the composting link above? :) If so, rest assured that I am not composting human waste yet. ;) I think that the neighbors and landlord might be someone uncomfortable with the idea. However, a composting toilet might solve the bathroom contention issues that have cropped up lately…
Anyhow, back to ramblings on simplicity. One of the first I-can't-sleep-but-damned-if-I-can-think-about-licensing-anymore internal dialogs that I had last week as I started to think about things other than work was about clothing. But that is another blog entry. :)
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Posted on Friday, August 29th, 2003 at 23:00
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