I agree with you 100%. Life is about learning and pushing boundaries. If we stop learning, we're wasting our minds. If we stop exploring, we're wasting time. If we get too comfortable, we might as well be dead. Continue on pursuing something. In time you'll be on the right track. If you haven't felt lost in your life at some point in time, then you're not pushing your capabilities hard enough. The world never limits you. Only society makes those limits. I had a fortune cookie this weekend and it said "If you think you can do it, you're right. If you don't think can do it, you're right." At first I thought it was stupid but it took me a minute to figure the true meaning behind that. Now conquer away! You both deserve the best. :)
I'm glad you've come. I'm enjoying reading this discussion.
There's definitely a balance to be achieved here--a dream has to be viable in the "real world". However, it still seems to me that the only way to know whether or not it's viable is to try it. Sure, there are things you can do to make it more viable--have a good business plan, set tangible goals, etc. But then you have to jump. You have to try it out. If this doesn't work out for us, Dave will take a "real job" and we'll go back to the drawing board. But we'll try again. And again. And again, if we have to, until it works. Why? Because it's a dream, and there's something about a dream that gives you the motivation to keep pursuing it.
If it's such a good idea, the dream should pay off, and sooner than later. The "dream" should be flexible so it can adapt to actual demand for the type of business you're in (making it less dream-like and more real-like) yet keeping the hype of it, for others to see.
Hi, I discovered your post through Lifehacker. Thanks for the wakeup call. I don't have to sidetrack my dreams just because they are not 'safe' or 'stable'. Better to try and fail then never to try at all. Thanks for reminding me!
Thanks for the article, made me smile all the way. I've had heated arguments in the past with people who doubt following your dreams in the face of a 'safe' career with big house/car/etc.
Follow your dreams and you'll never know where you'll end up. :)
..thank you Sue. I did mention several times that my article was merely an appetizer to the full blown 16-page document, which would have been way too big to post here. I did a quick capsule review for WB readers, and if they wanted to know more, the article and complete documentation was available. I'm gald you liked the article...and I apologize for putting you off your breakfast.
Go read the entire article!! The references to real studies, published materials and all the rest is right there.
Grab a copy of "Nourishing Traditions" off the library shelf. There are more references (documented) in there than in just about anything else I've read. Then check the WAPF website, the Real Milk site and Dr. Mercola's website.
When you've finished with the 50,000 pages of fully documented material just on Mercola's site, the referenced materials on the others, and done a search through past issues of NEJM, JAMA and Lancet - THEN tell me Sally's article isn't justified let alone factual.
This article appears on the WAPF website. The site, as well as its articles (not just by Sally) are all fully documented there.
Just because she mentions a couple unpublished studies doesn't mean this is nonsense. Google search some of the references located on the sites themselves. THAT is where you will find the information you claim to look for.
Further - not doing your homework is only hurting you. Those of us that research everything to the "nth" degree have also read the ENTIRE article (which this is not), and studied the reference materials.
A quote from the post above:
"To sum up...as I say, the complete article by Sally Fallon goes into so much more detail, and also covers topics like natural and artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils and trans fats. I urge you to read it, then to look much more closely at the labels on all of your grocery store items."
Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma as well as his other book, The Botany of Desire are both fascinating reads that really open your eyes to food politics issues like the ones this article highlights. The latter is a little farther from the topic, but before I read the last chapter, on genetically modified potatoes, I had no idea how haphazard and how potentially dangerous it is to genetically modify foods.
Another good one is The Food Revolution -- not quite the eloquent read that Pollan's books are, but it's extremely well-researched, and packed with facts about factory farming conditions, food processing, and the environmental effects of the food industry. It's amazing how much information we don't have about what we eat unless we read books like these.
it's weird to me how albums have been thrown to the wayside. i usually have my itunes on shuffle so there is no continuity from one song to the next. there's a cohesiveness to an album -- an overarching mood that differs between an artist's albums. these days i often don't even know which album a song comes from, let alone what message that album is trying to convey.
Lets look at it more closely before we start worship them:
- using natural diapers means you need to wash them. And kids use a lot more of them (compated to classic paper pamers) since they do not have that large capacities in holding liquids. What is the total eco-banalce if you consider electricity, water and washing powder use?
- baking your own bread: I assume they use their home electric/gaz oven... what is the energy efficiency of heating up the whole oven to bake just one bread compared to a high-scale commercial one?
- microwave: I use it a lot for quick heating up liquids (soups, milk, tea, etc) - for economic reasons - microwave heats up only the liquids you put in, it does not heat up air, pans, metal parts - all of the energy is transmitted direclty into the soup... why should I start to use back my electric kitchen?
- speaking of me, I do not consider myslef environmentalist, but I bike to my work and with my kid to his kindergarden, I actually turn off light when leaving a room and use predominantly low enegy light-bulbs, I do not use pastic bags (do not use any bags... just a folding plastic box) - just because it all just makes sens to me (biking = faster, turning-off = cheaper, folding box = more handy). But I still live in a western country - with all its power consumption these all my small contributions are simply not worth mentioning when compared to how much enerty is needed to sustain our 'quality-of-life' (when all services are included into equation)! If someone wants to leave just footprints, and he or she means it, then should move out to Africa and try to live for $1 a day... are we willing/capable of doing this? I am not, and this is why I do not consider myself environmentalist.
right out of college, i took a "safe" job, doing it support for a company. i hated it, it was not what i wanted to be doing, it had no potential for growth, and it was not getting me any closer to what i wanted to do.
one day i was invited by a musical group i was friends with to go on tour with them, to do concert photography. this had always been a passion of mine, and i ended up leaving my day job and going on tour all across the united states for a month. when i returned, i started doing freelance photography and design work.
i miss the steady paycheck when i'm paying bills, but other than that i wouldn't have it any other way.
A follow-up from the reporter explains the article and also my own headline. I ask the question, will it be for sale to the public? and state that a marketing plan COULD be in place by 2008 to buy one. There is nothing untrue about any of this.
...the buy 2, get 1 free scheme was a failed idea. As you can see by looking at the very site you reference, Buy 1, Give 1 is a different idea that has no plans to be launched in 2007 but has not been discounted at all for 2008 and beyond. A direct quote from Negroponte sums this up..."Many commercial ventures have been considered and proposed that may surface in 2008 or beyond, one of which is 'buy 2 and get 1.' In addition, OLPC is launching OLPC Foundation later this month, specifically to accommodate the huge goodwill and charity that has surfaced around the idea of a $100 laptop."
There are NO plans to commercialise the $100 computer for retail sale, but no-one has ruled out the buy 1, give 1 idea. And the reason is simple. You're giving a needy child a free computer.
Indoor compost is actually quite common. I don't know how this couple is doing it, but it shouldn't smell if you do it right. It's usually done in a large plastic bin with a cover, usually under the sink.
Also, the article says she's a senior writer at Business Week, so I would assume that was a substantial shopping spree.
I recall my dad telling me that EVERYTHING would be on laser disc in the future. I told him that nothing the size of a record was going to replace the cassette tape, and I was kind of right.
I love iTunes as well, precisely because so much music on CDs is crap and I'd rather get just the good songs. Perhaps production will change in a revolutionary way. Maybe great songs will be produced that don't result in the creation of giant celebrity personalities. A distributed model, like grid computing. Lots of smaller and different artists collaborating across borders to create one or two hits that make it big.
Of course, the idea of having an ironic enjoyment of sucky music will have to pass, too.
...and as this is Wisebread, here's a link to free cereal for all you folks who think the article is complete bunk. Now, you can't say you don't get something for nothing here. I personally won't be applying though. But that's what's great about freedom of choice.
This is a bunch of BS mixed in with a few real facts. If you link to the article, you see a lot of my favorite sentence in pseudoscience: "Another unpublished experiment was carried out in the 1960s..."
It's an imperfect food system, for sure, but remember that back in the old days it wasn't at all uncommon for people in their 20's to have tumors and for people to get diseases like rickets and scurvy and other things that are _extremely_ rare in the western world.
I agree with you 100%. Life is about learning and pushing boundaries. If we stop learning, we're wasting our minds. If we stop exploring, we're wasting time. If we get too comfortable, we might as well be dead. Continue on pursuing something. In time you'll be on the right track. If you haven't felt lost in your life at some point in time, then you're not pushing your capabilities hard enough. The world never limits you. Only society makes those limits. I had a fortune cookie this weekend and it said "If you think you can do it, you're right. If you don't think can do it, you're right." At first I thought it was stupid but it took me a minute to figure the true meaning behind that. Now conquer away! You both deserve the best. :)
One thing leads to another. Here's a link to a how-to guide on building a startup I found today:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16493/How-To-Build-A-Bulletproof-Startup
I'm glad you've come. I'm enjoying reading this discussion.
There's definitely a balance to be achieved here--a dream has to be viable in the "real world". However, it still seems to me that the only way to know whether or not it's viable is to try it. Sure, there are things you can do to make it more viable--have a good business plan, set tangible goals, etc. But then you have to jump. You have to try it out. If this doesn't work out for us, Dave will take a "real job" and we'll go back to the drawing board. But we'll try again. And again. And again, if we have to, until it works. Why? Because it's a dream, and there's something about a dream that gives you the motivation to keep pursuing it.
If it's such a good idea, the dream should pay off, and sooner than later. The "dream" should be flexible so it can adapt to actual demand for the type of business you're in (making it less dream-like and more real-like) yet keeping the hype of it, for others to see.
Hi, I discovered your post through Lifehacker. Thanks for the wakeup call. I don't have to sidetrack my dreams just because they are not 'safe' or 'stable'. Better to try and fail then never to try at all. Thanks for reminding me!
Thanks for the article, made me smile all the way. I've had heated arguments in the past with people who doubt following your dreams in the face of a 'safe' career with big house/car/etc.
Follow your dreams and you'll never know where you'll end up. :)
..thank you Sue. I did mention several times that my article was merely an appetizer to the full blown 16-page document, which would have been way too big to post here. I did a quick capsule review for WB readers, and if they wanted to know more, the article and complete documentation was available. I'm gald you liked the article...and I apologize for putting you off your breakfast.
Go read the entire article!! The references to real studies, published materials and all the rest is right there.
Grab a copy of "Nourishing Traditions" off the library shelf. There are more references (documented) in there than in just about anything else I've read. Then check the WAPF website, the Real Milk site and Dr. Mercola's website.
www.westonaprice.org
www.realmilk.com
www.mercola.com
When you've finished with the 50,000 pages of fully documented material just on Mercola's site, the referenced materials on the others, and done a search through past issues of NEJM, JAMA and Lancet - THEN tell me Sally's article isn't justified let alone factual.
This article appears on the WAPF website. The site, as well as its articles (not just by Sally) are all fully documented there.
Just because she mentions a couple unpublished studies doesn't mean this is nonsense. Google search some of the references located on the sites themselves. THAT is where you will find the information you claim to look for.
Further - not doing your homework is only hurting you. Those of us that research everything to the "nth" degree have also read the ENTIRE article (which this is not), and studied the reference materials.
A quote from the post above:
"To sum up...as I say, the complete article by Sally Fallon goes into so much more detail, and also covers topics like natural and artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils and trans fats. I urge you to read it, then to look much more closely at the labels on all of your grocery store items."
Enjoy your soy.
Sue
Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma as well as his other book, The Botany of Desire are both fascinating reads that really open your eyes to food politics issues like the ones this article highlights. The latter is a little farther from the topic, but before I read the last chapter, on genetically modified potatoes, I had no idea how haphazard and how potentially dangerous it is to genetically modify foods.
Another good one is The Food Revolution -- not quite the eloquent read that Pollan's books are, but it's extremely well-researched, and packed with facts about factory farming conditions, food processing, and the environmental effects of the food industry. It's amazing how much information we don't have about what we eat unless we read books like these.
it's weird to me how albums have been thrown to the wayside. i usually have my itunes on shuffle so there is no continuity from one song to the next. there's a cohesiveness to an album -- an overarching mood that differs between an artist's albums. these days i often don't even know which album a song comes from, let alone what message that album is trying to convey.
Good on you - you know what you want and that is half the battle.
Wow - somebody go ahead and shoot me now.
Lets look at it more closely before we start worship them:
- using natural diapers means you need to wash them. And kids use a lot more of them (compated to classic paper pamers) since they do not have that large capacities in holding liquids. What is the total eco-banalce if you consider electricity, water and washing powder use?
- baking your own bread: I assume they use their home electric/gaz oven... what is the energy efficiency of heating up the whole oven to bake just one bread compared to a high-scale commercial one?
- microwave: I use it a lot for quick heating up liquids (soups, milk, tea, etc) - for economic reasons - microwave heats up only the liquids you put in, it does not heat up air, pans, metal parts - all of the energy is transmitted direclty into the soup... why should I start to use back my electric kitchen?
- speaking of me, I do not consider myslef environmentalist, but I bike to my work and with my kid to his kindergarden, I actually turn off light when leaving a room and use predominantly low enegy light-bulbs, I do not use pastic bags (do not use any bags... just a folding plastic box) - just because it all just makes sens to me (biking = faster, turning-off = cheaper, folding box = more handy). But I still live in a western country - with all its power consumption these all my small contributions are simply not worth mentioning when compared to how much enerty is needed to sustain our 'quality-of-life' (when all services are included into equation)! If someone wants to leave just footprints, and he or she means it, then should move out to Africa and try to live for $1 a day... are we willing/capable of doing this? I am not, and this is why I do not consider myself environmentalist.
...feed the lawn. Something to do with the sugars/carbs. The beer also helps break down the thatch more quickly.
right out of college, i took a "safe" job, doing it support for a company. i hated it, it was not what i wanted to be doing, it had no potential for growth, and it was not getting me any closer to what i wanted to do.
one day i was invited by a musical group i was friends with to go on tour with them, to do concert photography. this had always been a passion of mine, and i ended up leaving my day job and going on tour all across the united states for a month. when i returned, i started doing freelance photography and design work.
i miss the steady paycheck when i'm paying bills, but other than that i wouldn't have it any other way.
What does the beer do?
I seem to have lost my apetite.
Thanks!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2007/01/taken_in_good_faith.shtml
A follow-up from the reporter explains the article and also my own headline. I ask the question, will it be for sale to the public? and state that a marketing plan COULD be in place by 2008 to buy one. There is nothing untrue about any of this.
...the buy 2, get 1 free scheme was a failed idea. As you can see by looking at the very site you reference, Buy 1, Give 1 is a different idea that has no plans to be launched in 2007 but has not been discounted at all for 2008 and beyond. A direct quote from Negroponte sums this up..."Many commercial ventures have been considered and proposed that may surface in 2008 or beyond, one of which is 'buy 2 and get 1.' In addition, OLPC is launching OLPC Foundation later this month, specifically to accommodate the huge goodwill and charity that has surfaced around the idea of a $100 laptop."
There are NO plans to commercialise the $100 computer for retail sale, but no-one has ruled out the buy 1, give 1 idea. And the reason is simple. You're giving a needy child a free computer.
Indoor compost is actually quite common. I don't know how this couple is doing it, but it shouldn't smell if you do it right. It's usually done in a large plastic bin with a cover, usually under the sink.
Also, the article says she's a senior writer at Business Week, so I would assume that was a substantial shopping spree.
That is incredible. I will definitely try it this spring.
While looking at their site and wiki, I stumbled across this:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/How_can_I_get_one%3F#Buy_2_Get_1
The OLPC project has no plans to do this. What a shame.
I recall my dad telling me that EVERYTHING would be on laser disc in the future. I told him that nothing the size of a record was going to replace the cassette tape, and I was kind of right.
I love iTunes as well, precisely because so much music on CDs is crap and I'd rather get just the good songs. Perhaps production will change in a revolutionary way. Maybe great songs will be produced that don't result in the creation of giant celebrity personalities. A distributed model, like grid computing. Lots of smaller and different artists collaborating across borders to create one or two hits that make it big.
Of course, the idea of having an ironic enjoyment of sucky music will have to pass, too.
...and as this is Wisebread, here's a link to free cereal for all you folks who think the article is complete bunk. Now, you can't say you don't get something for nothing here. I personally won't be applying though. But that's what's great about freedom of choice.
This is a bunch of BS mixed in with a few real facts. If you link to the article, you see a lot of my favorite sentence in pseudoscience: "Another unpublished experiment was carried out in the 1960s..."
It's an imperfect food system, for sure, but remember that back in the old days it wasn't at all uncommon for people in their 20's to have tumors and for people to get diseases like rickets and scurvy and other things that are _extremely_ rare in the western world.