Expand Your Mind: More People Stories
by Miki Saxon
Before I get to today’s lineup I need to respond to an email question from a reader. “Joan” first assured me that she didn’t mind, but was wondering why so many of my posts played off articles in the NY Times and Business Week when there were so many sources available.
Simply, there is only so much I can read in the time I have available; I’ve read BW for decades and although I don’t like it as much now as I did in years long past, it still offers varied overviews on a large variety of subjects. As to the NYT, I like newspapers and these days it offers as much veracity and breath as I’m going to find. Enough, in fact, that I plan to keep it when it goes to paid subscriptions next year. (I also get my local paper, but it’s highly focused locally and on the region.)
As I’ve said in the past, I like stories about people, especially when they do the unexpected or the unexpected does them; today we have both.
First up, two with a horticultural bent. One tells the story of twins who have been traveling the East Coast sleeping in trees, while the other gives you a look at a book store in Humboldt County, CA, a place known for Giant Sequoias and pot, whose address was hijacked by pot growers as a return when mailing their product. (Hat tip to Gen, owner of North Coast Gardening, for sending me the link.)
You know all those articles you keep seeing about how Americans new frugality is a sea change and not a temporary reaction to past layoffs and current insecurity? Don’t bet on it as this story about Wall Street spending shows.
This next article highlights the importance of dying on your own terms. It resonates with me, because it focuses on dying at home (which I plan to do). You may not appreciate the subject, but death is something with which we all end up dealing—usually multiple times during our lives. It’s one of those things that is best thought about long before it’s necessary.
Finally, have you looked in your attic lately? I never had one, which may be one reason I can’t pass up a garage sale. An English couple clearing out their parents’ attic found an old Chinese vase; it just sold at auction for 69.5 million dollars (plus the 20% VAT). That’s enough inspiration to make you want to clean out your elderly relatives’ attics.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/
