There’s something very reassuring and uplifting about seeing all these people in this video take a moment to just have a bit of pointless, joyful fun. It is uncomplicated and wonderful.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

“Hey, America! Shut your gaping pie holes and take this ca$h! Go buy a Blu-Ray player or some other worthless shit! Don’t stop to ask WHY the economy’s in the toilet, just consume! Go buy $600 worth of donut holes, or Cherry Pop Tarts, or Moon Pies or whatever you miserable fat fuckers eat! Burn it! I don’t care! Eat your check and fucking choke to death! IGNORE ME AND THINK ABOUT THE FREE MONEY!!! IT’S FREE AND IT’S MONEY!!! BUY SOME SEX FROM A WHORE OR BETTER YET, JUST GO FUCK YOURSELF!!!”

-Love,

W.

The kit in question is designed to help me collect a full 24-hours worth of pee, and then facilitate the shipping of this pee to a laboratory that will give it a full spectrum analysis.

That’s HOT.
Yes. I know.

I think that the Jug O’Pee is supposed to be returned via FedEx, which pleases me greatly. I’ve had nothing but terrible experiences with FedEx over the last couple of years, and I find it delightful that this service will be compelled to tote a big ol’ carton of my urine from coast to coast. It couldn’t happen to a nicer company.

from Heretic Spire, a Damn Lie – Since You Asked

I really do believe that people are basically agreeable, if not outright good, though sometimes I feel like life assails that position. It’s nice to come across an article that supports rather than challenges that position.

Read it, and be reminded that people choose to do the right thing all the time, even when it might involve some personal sacrifice.

Thanks for the find, Jeff H.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA]

Well, if you haven’t read the whole book here’s a talk Pollan gave that covers a lot of good ground about “so what.”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-t-7lTw6mA]

awesome.

from the article ‘Triple-A Failure’ in the New York Times
On the plus side, Moody’s noted, 94 percent of those borrowers with adjustable-rate loans said their mortgages were for primary residences. “That was a comfort feeling,” Robinson said. Historically, people have been slow to abandon their primary homes. When you get into a crunch, she added, “You’ll give up your ski chalet first.”

I know this was meant to be a little bit of hyperbole, but to some extent I have to think it reflects some of they psycho behavior that led up to this mess. A package of subprime loans… and we’re talking about choices regarding primary homes, as if any notable group of these people have other properties? Certainly there’s a factor at play when it comes to attachment – the credit card companies have been making a lot of credit available to unemployed college students for years based on their psychological profile and view of keeping a good credit score as a sign of success. But suggesting that there’s some other similarly sized investment in most of the above borrower’s lives that they could prioritize lower is just… stupid.

This is just a tragic story, and such an interesting subject. In reading it I got to thinking about my conflicting impulses when I consider “what if?” and it made me wonder why I had some of the more sympathetic reactions.

After all, if a family member had assaulted me, would I be as sympathetic? If they’d endangered my life in some other way – say, tampering with medication I took – would I be as inclined to simply feel for them? What about if they’d endangered my livelihood somehow, like say abusing some resources I had professionally, or using my name and risking my reputation?

It’s so odd once we involve money in the equation. Chances are we’d all advise our sister to call the cops if her long-time boyfriend punched her and gave her a black eye, but would we do the same if he took out a credit card in her name and ran up debt she might be held responsible for? Chances are we’d scoff at excuses like “he’d had a bad day,” or “he’d been drinking” but “he couldn’t get credit in his own name” or “he’d been making all the payments on the account” might incline us to pause.

The reality is that the credit has the potential to be significantly more damaging to her life in the long term than a black eye ever could. Somehow we’re more quick to say that someone who’d physically abuse you doesn’t deserve your love, but fiscal abuse is indirect enough that we are less quick to make that claim.

I don’t know what’s right in this kind of situation, but it’s certainly food for thought.

I don’t mind, I read till I reach my destination

Sometimes a newspaper, sometimes a book

the amount of money I save, that shit is off the hook!

I’m just an average everyday normal guy

When I go to the clubs I wait in LINE, motherfucker!