Cycho Librarian

I’ve been thinking a lot about consumption lately, and not just because of the current state of the oil market. Two things on our recent vacation got me thinking about it. First, when having my usual very enjoyable intellectual discourse with my backwoods friends , the idea was put forward that essentially all that humans do is consume and that there’s not really anything we can do to stop our inevitable consumption of all the resources in the world short of ending the species. This really gave me pause. I still think that there’s more to humanity than just consumption, but I have to admit that there's something to this idea. Pretty much any example of what we do or what we need to survive comes back to some sort of consumption. On top of that, so much of our history was spent trying to figure out ways to make consumption easier, and then when it became easier so much of our society seemed to be aimed at making us consume more. This is where the state of the oil market comes into...

First, let me make one thing perfectly clear: I do not hate cars. I actually like cars quite a bit, and I still would love to someday own a BMW Z4. What I hate is what cars have become. It seems to me that the sort of pure enjoyment of a drive through the countryside, or pushing a high-performance vehicle to its limits just to see what it can do have been replaced by the car as necessity. I'd love to be able to keep that Z4 in the garage most of the week and just take it out for a spin when I feel like it. Unfortunately, in the pursuit of some mis-begotten "American Dream" of living in a single family detached house well away from the city center, suddenly the car has become perceived as an absolute necessity. In a city like Columbus, to do pretty much anything other than sit at home in front of the TV, you have to drive somewhere. Obviously I do my part to offset this a little by riding my bike to work whenever I can. Although even the simple act of riding a bike 5...

Well, between getting badly sick and ending up with pneumonia for the first time since I was a kid, and the maelstrom that is January I haven't posted for a while. Of course, the world continues on without me, even if I'm stuck in my house for a week staring at the mess I just coughed up which I can only assume is my lungs. A couple things have come up recently that I think are worth note. First, the mad rush to put out an "economic stimulus" package. This sort of thing always drives me crazy. The last time the government tried this after 2001 I didn't make enough money to qualify for a rebate in the first round, and in the second round I got a check for $12. That's right, twelve dollars. It probably cost the government twice that to do the calculations, cut me the check, and mail it to me. This time around I stand to get a bit more, my economic prospects having improved significantly since then. But is it any more of a good idea now than then? There...

A little bit of a cheater post today, but after watching local news provide 10 minutes of coverage for "Black Friday" including tips from the Columbus Police about how to not get mugged, this post from 23/6 was just too good to pass up. Apparently my local news missed FEMA's update on how to protect yourself on "Black Friday." Enjoy!

The New Oxford American Dictionary selects one word that was added to its pages each year as the "word of the year," and this year the word is " locavore ." A locavore is a person who consumes locally produced food. This all comes back to the idea that the less miles your food has to travel to get to your plate, the less of an impact it has on the environment and the better off everyone will be. Honestly, I think this is a great idea. I love it when I can get locally grown and produced food. Not only is it always fresher and better-tasting, it feels good to know that you're supporting the people who live near you. The environmental aspects are just icing. Following this idea through to its logical conclusion, shouldn't we try to accomplish the same thing with everything we consume? That is, why are we purchasing clothing made in China from fabric made in India from cotton grown in Georgia? Your clothes might have literally traveled all the way around t...