Go to church!

Two bags in the fore of Four Mile Run Creek are evidence of a new fervor that is shaking, quaking, and remaking religious conventions. Is it time to redefine church?

Monday, 8:16 pm, is not the typical time to go to church. But then again, I’ve never been a typical churchgoer.

That’s why when I headed to Four Mile Run Creek just past quarter after eight, I knew I would be attending the best hour of “church” in my life.

Instead of sitting in a pew, playing add the gospel numbers on the wall, count the light fixtures on the ceiling, or repeat the Mortal Combat blood code to keep from being swallowed up by boredom, today, I spent my hour of church outside picking up trash.

Today’s post is a shout-out to my friend Jeff, who, in high school, dreamt of a society that would come together once a week and split the responsibilities necessary for day-to-day living. As Jeff saw it this could be the equivalent of going to church. One task the group could do, for example, would be to lift up a huge heavy object. This heavy object would then spend the rest of the week acquiescing to gravity while generating electricity for the community on its slow downward descent. Thus the whole group would have partnered in maintaining a clean, self-sustaining, source of energy.

Though, I am definitely not part of a utopian society, nor doing anything revolutionary, my hour of “church” was more productive and more conducive to the way I value spirituality. Today, I got to listen to a Spanish podcast, instead of a priest droning on. And after the hour, I walked away with one full-trash bag of recyclables and one full bag of trash, instead of sitting idly in mass.

The idea of church is glorious. Coming together as a community to rally around good morals, ethics, and peace is always a beautiful thing. Though my hour of church did not take place in a traditional setting, I would argue that my service was just as relevant as any other.

Since religion is entirely dogmatic, based on unproven or unprovable principles, it is entirely up to the individual to be a believer of any given faith. Armed with the power of choice and reason, it makes the most sense to believe in what corresponds to your personal quest for life, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness. Alas, loyal readers…GO TO CHURCH!

His Holiness graces DC

"Look at the Capitol...This exceptional building indicates democracy...This is right from the beginning..." ~ His Holiness

At 9:30 am Saturday, July 9, the Dalai Lama spoke to a crowd of peace-loving schmendricks on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

I awoke without aid of the alarm clock at six-fifty, rested and eager for the Tibetan peacelord himself. Thanking the universe for gifting me with an injection of ebullience, I set off on a solo-mission for insight and inspiration.

After a bus and metro ride I arrived at my destination at 8 am. The West Lawn of the Capitol Building was about half-full. I grabbed a seat in the grass and then busied myself with my vocab note cards. Thirty minutes later, the magic happened. Two middle-aged women ambled up and stood in a spot next to me, a space that was only big enough for a lamb and a hobbit.

I offered to scoot over a touch and in return they offered me a spot on their blanket. It was like instant friendship and completely in line with the essence of the day. We started talking, and before you know it the guy next to me was brought into the conversation too. I learned about their travels to Boston, India, and Japan. One of the women was raised a Catholic, but had recently started meditating and meshing eastern religion with the traditional western canon.

It made for great conversation, the woman and the rest of us opened up to one another. The emotional surge of being in a place where I was surrounded by people seeking out answers for faith, peace, and direction was akin to the one I felt immersed in the crowd at Grant Park, Chicago, during Obama’s election night.

"Once you understand yourself, communication with others becomes easy." ~ His Holiness

Taking in the spirit of the day, I befriended fellow peace seekers in a quest for merriment, insight, and anecdotes of wonder.

When the Dalai Lama spoke, he made a lot of good points. He illustrated how formality can become a barrier to communication, how by truly knowing our realities we have the ability to shape them in the direction we’d like, and how being comfortable with ourselves allows us to reach out to others.

What struck me more than anything else about the day was the way His Holiness and the people around me gave me this ability to lucidly look inside myself. I see this chain of events that has led me to Arlington, Virginia, a place where I believe I have found the right woman to love. I’m building skills for that right job, and I’m spending every free moment I have to explore the world the best I know how.

As I’m trying to lead a life that is full, true, and where my happiness buds in concert with the happiness of others, I found the morning with His Holiness to be a great lift. I wish you, good reader, the best of luck on your own journey.

Here were some of my favorite quotes from the Dalai Llama:

“Once you understand yourself communication with others becomes easy.”

“Everybody has an equal right to happiness. The mistake people make is trying to find happiness from outside themselves.”

“Look at the Capitol…This exceptional building indicates democracy…This is right from the beginning.

Shedding light on Arlington's best kept secret

If Nikola Tesla and Aldo Leopald could maneuver a Vulcan mind meld the result might be half as noteworthy as the W&OD trail at twilight.

“…An agent that softens or smoothes the skin,” were the final words I scribbled down on my 103^rd note card before realizing that my window of opportunity was closing quickly. Last night, I witnessed Arlington’s best kept secret, and if I was lucky enough tonight, I would be able to catch it on camera.

Bolting out of the Tiki hut, I made for the W&OD trail, an old railroad line converted into a bike and running path in 1988. It’s this trail that makes you feel like you’re in Jurassic Park, and if you have a significant other, it’s this trail where you will probably want to sing your lungs out to her beneath the enormous trees looming overhead and the plush, green foliage girdled round.

But even more cosmically connected to this trail is the best kept secret of Arlington – the fireflies. If you go out on this trail at twilight you can see hundreds of them, popping and bursting with light, randomly infusing their bioluminescence upon a three-dimensional canvas. There’s simply nothing like it.

Though I tried my best to capture it on film, there’s no comparison to witnessing the miracle in the flesh. Scores of fireflies flash on and off. Some dot the trees, others hug the shrubs and some dance through the air. It’s like the feeling of neurons firing, or the birth of electricity without wires.

Poor people are pushovers; we need another Robin Hood

We need one part hacker, one part wiki-leak, one part Jack Bauer to go rogue on our traditional thought process.

(Pic from http://
www.robinhood.ltd.uk/)


Riding out my typical Sunday malaise, I thumbed through the Post and found more evidence of the creeping suspicion I’ve been harboring since my onset into the real world. People that play by the rules get ruled.

Executive compensation at the nation’s largest firms has roughly quadrupled in real terms since the 1970s, even as pay for 90 percent of America has stalled, according to an article in the Post. The United States is now just behind Cameroon and Ivory Coast and just ahead of Uganda and Jamaica in economic equality. The point is, conditions are getting shittier for a lot of us, while they’re getting cushier for the already luxed.

For the vast majority, there doesn’t seem to be much we can do to improve our stations in life. You can look for a job that has probably been, or will be exported to India or China (their citizenry will do the same work for a fraction of the cost), find a position in a propped up, non-competitive industry (like I am doing with AmeriCorps), or go back to school and hope to get into that upper echelon, or top 10 percent of income earners who are fortunate enough to have real gains in income.

The thing is people do find ways to grow their incomes and their mobility. My friend Robin has started her own online bead store to supplement her income. I have pre-recession friends that have held onto their jobs and are saving wisely. And jobs are out there, they’re just not going as far in terms of social welfare as they once did.

Far more impeding to income acquisition than available jobs, is the moral framework that guides our everyday lives. If we could just ditch our moral compasses, and amass riches a lot more people would have greater incomes. Yet a lot of good people play by the rules because they find value in that.

But along those lines, I think it is getting easier every day to put our morals aside. The bailout, the Supreme Court decision allowing limitless campaign contributions, and the widening gap in income distribution, points to an invincibility of individuals with wealth. Those with wealth can permeate the political and justice system, impugning the natural rights of good people in the States and abroad.

I think in the past it was easier to fight injustice. You could go to war against a belligerent state. But I think today, states are no longer unified players and war doesn’t serve the same purpose it once did. Multinational corporations, not sovereign nations, have invaded every corner of the globe, exuding their influence to the willing and unwilling. These are the real belligerents that have no borders to contain them.

Yet the people who comprise their staffs and workforces are varying shades of good and evil. The drones are just trying to get by. Upper management is doing everything it can to widen its market share and profit margin. If Walmart doesn’t invade, some other entity will.

I think we need a comic book hero who defies laws and operates on a higher level of justice. We need a modern day Robin Hood who is part hacker, part wiki-leaks, and part Jack Bauer to go rogue on today’s conventional thought process.

When fashion meets the great outdoors...

Just four miles away from her Philly abode, a waterfall at Fairmount Park provides Fashion Industry Management Major Jordin Bert a moment of respite from the everyday churn of civilization.


Some of you loyal readers may know the sis. She’s part artistic genius, part social butterfly, and only part of a gas fill-up away. However, the Philadelphia fashionista is absolutely no part nature girl. So when she openly accepted to go to Fairmount Park I didn’t put much effort in dissuading her from being chic. Instead I learned that “a 100-percent cotton maxi is comfortable and good for all occasions,” including an arboreal amble.

So adorned in a pink dress and carrying a gold Marc Jacobs purse underarm, Jordin and I did something that we’ve never done in all 22 years of our shared siblingdom – we took a hike together! And literally 30 seconds after we got out of the car, two middle aged women complimented her on the dress and her figure. Not surprised, as big brother I’ve been there through the cat calls and the free deserts in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, her composed put-offs to guys in Glen Ellyn, and the free courtside tickets offered to her from a Chicago Bull.

Pues, off we went on our hike through Fairmount Park.

There were shoes in trees…

There were ducks…

There were pebble checkerboards???

With my mom’s suggestion we stopped at the Valley Green Inn, a place straight out of a Hans Christian Andersen story, with its origins hailing from the late sixteen hundreds. Nestled in the woods, along a small babbling brook, the establishment attracted ceremonial party goers, bikers, joggers, equestrians and other eco-yahoos alike.

Serving as a refuge from deluge, my sister and I grabbed a couple of strawberry margaritas, and listened to the rain fall down around us. Wide-eyed over the lobster spring rolls and content with the basket of French fries, we chilled like the Swedish monarchy and took in some sights before heading onward.

Then came the awesome. During our great walk through Fairmount Park, en route to nowhere, we spotted a group of people swinging on a rope and falling into the brook.

After snapping a couple pictures of these adventure-wonks, Jordin most accurately noted that, “we probably looked like a couple of creepers,” and we should keep w

alking. So we did, but not before I got her to promise that we would return to that spot the next day to give it a whirl.

We also came to a spot with rocks naturally poised for river hopscotch. It brought me back to the last time I remember playing “Can’t Touch the Ground” in the basement of Drew Goltermann in the second grade.

Along the way, Jordin surprised me like crazy. She spent exorbitant amounts of time trying to catch a chipmunk on camera, chased after a butterfly, determined that she wants to make one of the nature photos her facebook profile, and declared “I’m glad that you’re here so that you can get me to do this stuff.”

Era of Good Stealings - Internet black market is music for the soul

Apple provides access to college lectures through iTunesU. This image is a screenshot of David Brady, Associate Professor of Sociology at Duke University, giving a lecture on "Markets, Trade, and Globalization."

It is almost uniformly part of the human condition to love a great deal. I know of the occasional bizzaro-being who refuses to take advantage of living social or groupon, because he claims they are low-class, or the schmendrick who actually pays a higher gas price at neighboring gas stations because he claims the quality of gas is better at the more expensive station. But with irrational beings aside, finding that good bargain can be a source of tremendous joy and reward.

Today’s post is how the great deal goes beyond just market goods. It’s about the whole experience of acquiring new things or new experiences for a price that feels too good to be true.

My roommate told me about Zamzar last week. With Zamzar, users can copy the hyperlink of a YouTube music video and convert it into an mp3 file. It’s pretty user friendly and very fast. Where LimeWire was illegal and not good for downloading anything on the fringe, Zamzar appears to be legal and gives its users access to the almost anything their hearts’ desire. I could do a whole song and dance about how good music is the magic that makes millions of moods morph from melancholy to merriment, but we all know this, so instead, I’m going to highly recommend using Zamzar and I’m going to plow into a different subject.

Zamzar revolutionizes the realm of downloading music by providing the option for an internet user to copy and paste a music video hyperlink into a box on its site. Zamzar then converts this hyperlink into an mp3 and emails you the converted file.

The internet is nearing the height of perfection. Right now there is access to almost any sort of media for free, if you have the know-how. Movies, tv series, books, language acquisition software, podcasts, college lecture series, etc. are all out there to be obtained through varying shades of legality. To me it feels like there is a ticking clock for this reality and pretty soon some powerful IT tycoon will influence lawmakers to clamp down on the glorious freedoms that are afforded to us. So enjoy web while the getting’s good.

Also at the moment, companies are vying for internet users and making life wonderful for us. It feels like we are being led through this incredible courtship phase where companies are bending over backwards trying to make things convenient for us. If you look at iTunes, Google, YouTube, and Facebook, it seems that we are at the apex of convenience. Sure these sites are trying to be as convenient as possible to lure us into habitual use, before they turn on us with small fees (New York Times) or unrelenting ads (Pandora). But by and large we are in the era of good stealings for the internet.

Outside of personal relationships, the internet is the single most powerful tool available for building happiness. It offers access to skills that provide job mobility, free access to media, and what often gets overlooked is that since the internet provides access to so many free things, it is serving as an active agent to drive down prices of media goods that aren’t free. For example, newspapers have to keep the cost of their print product low to compete with the freeness of the web.

So even in an economy where 75 percent of individuals are working part time, with a median income of $19,000 there’s a booming black market for free media which internet users can tap into.

Farewell for now, but in the meantime:

- Get Zamzar

- Peruse iTunes U and start learning something valuable for free

- Podcast your life

- Go to your library and see if you can view periodicals/magazines online for free through their eCatalogs

The Happiness Bubble

Taking in the view from "Old Rag" of the Shenandoah Mountains, I realized that happiness can be a tangible thing that can be augmented for perpetuity.



Are really good things too good to be true? I was listening to a Planet Money podcast about how the price of gold has continued to soar way higher than ever deemed reasonable. Much like the overinflated stocks from the dot.com boom, gold is poised for a collapse. Or is it? More importantly, do all good things have to lose their acceleration or level out?In my quest to reach the true pursuit of happiness, I’m trying to fathom what exactly creates happiness and if I can pinpoint that, can I pinpoint a way to continually get happier and happier? After packing in a Memorial Day weekend with things that have made me exceedingly happy, I’m looking to use the experience I gained this weekend to turn leisure into an opportunity for growing my level happiness.

Here are the factors that I think are most significant in building happiness and below I will get into why they are important

- Feeling connected to a loved one

- Sharing new places with a loved one/friends/family

- Sharing common experiences with friends

- Achieving a goal

- Experiencing the natural world

- Being able to accomplish all of these things while maintaining your other values or your visions for the future

Love is a six pound milkshake from Chick 'n Ruth’s Delly Annapolis, a bike ride to Quiet Waters, sun block lips, the view from Old Rag. It’s connection with another individual that you crave with your entirety, sometimes not knowing why, and sometimes knowing fiercely that only your goofball could find joy in the way you intuit life, bound through leisure, and dig deeper into the enigma of existence itself. It’s that connection that I believe is the single most important thing to feeling happy or fulfilled.

That connection can exist anywhere, but it’s ubiquitous in places that have meaning. And its stark in new landscapes. That is why traveling with those you care about is so important in feeling fulfilled and happy. Even if it’s just getting in the car to go to a new or meaningful sanctuary just an hour away. Thank you Ileana, for your brilliant adventure streak.

Yes, car trips that spew carbon into the air are worth it to find happiness. Just think about purchasing carbon credits, so when you or someone else uses energy in the future, that energy can be clean and counter your GHG emissions today.

At the base of the 8.2 mile hike up Old Rag, a waterfall rushing with possibility charms the beautiful, Ileana Vink.





Anyway, connection is vital into shaping who we are. It’s getting a voice mail from a friend who has made it his personal prerogative to get in touch with you, who then sends you the two books Getting More and Strengths Finder to help you carve out your next steps in the future. Tack ska du ha Hector.

Friendships are perpetually changing and invaluably crucial, as I came to realize over cantaloupe hookah with my friend Dan who is leaving DC and heading back to Chicago. After talking about everything from Pan Americano to confidence building to the job scramble, we came to a consensus that achieving small goals regularly is the way to the way to feel damn good about being alive. At the same time we came to an understanding that it is important to not lose what you have. Though we can hardly ever hitta tiden att prata svenska, its still important to never lose Swedish because it has become part of who we are.

In a sense that’s what I think the secret to building happiness is. If you can maintain your baseline of what gets you going and then build little by little on top of that baseline, your happiness can augment ad infinitum and never pop. That’s another reason why jobs are so important in the long run, because they allow you to build on your baseline. Money becomes a tool for adventure, and also the job itself can be a tool to improve happiness or at least keep it at a constant level while the money earned therein can be used to grow happiness.

I don’t what will happen to gold, but hopefully happiness can be a bubble, that when crafted intentionally will grow for perpetuity.