I Am Not Hamlet

When I am called, as to my astonishment I sometimes am, a devotee of "simplicity" (since I live supposedly as a "simple farmer"), I am obliged to reply that I gave up the simple life when I left New York City in 1964 and came here [his farm in Kentucky--sfm].  In New York, I lived as a passive consumer, supplying nearly all my needs by purchase, whereas here I supply many of my needs from this place by my work (and pleasure) and am responsible besides for the care of the place.                                                                     --Wendell Berry, "Imagination in Place"

Christmas isn't about gifts, kids, it's about Jesus; remember that as you unwrap your 400 gifts this morning. My own cognitive dissonance. God help me!

Some in our society bemoan the low literacy rates--heck, the apparent lower interest in the the enterprise of reading itself. We've got rising obesity and diabetes among the young, along with who knows what other "conditions" psychiatrists and psychologists have yet to "diagnose." Children don't play outside as much (this is a battle in my own house), many appear to be regularly incurious about the world. What to be done? What to be done, frets the English teacher. Why not, starting with the president all the way down to mayors, tell parents and children not to buy video game systems, hold off for a while on buying that movie or TV show on DVD, let the cable bill lapse for a month or two; don't add another song to the ipod for a month. Instead, buy a new board game, plan several trips to a park, go to the library and borrow some books to read aloud. Notice I did not say that the government should ban video games, DVDs, cable TV and such. That wou...

I had mentioned this briefly before that my family, more specifically, my wife and I are going to practice a month of buying only essential items--food, toiletries, petroleum for our oil addiction, etc. The object is to curb our consumption. Now, I should say that we are probably well below the average American when it comes to consumer spending. But, even so, we could still squirrel away money. Do I really need that book from Amazon? I have a stack of at least eleven that I need to read, not counting the three listed over on the left there. The idea is to practice restraint and self-discipline (isn't that redundant?) with regard to the wallet. How successful will we be? When exactly are we starting? Questions that will be answered soon, cricket. I did try a spending fast during a Lent two or three years ago; I found my thoughts frequently fixated on things to buy during those 40 days. Maybe it'll be easier with a spouse. Or maybe it'll turn me into a liar--will ...