Category Archives for Life

Inbox Zero and Consumption Culture

Inbox Zero and GTD changed how I work. The tips of “Don’t constantly be reading incoming email” and “move email messages out of your inbox” are keys to how I succeed at managing what seems like a deluge of incoming email. It’s changed me, in some ways for the worse. I see inboxes everywhere now.

I’ve got a Netflix Instant queue filled with movies I’m never in the mood to watch. I feel bad that I have hundreds of unread articles in Pocket. I just unsubscribed to The Magazine because I couldn’t keep up to date with new issues. I even quit playing Words With Friends, because it was just another inbox.

That’s just the beginning. My Letterboxd watchlist has just over 400 movies added. My Downcast “Everything” playlist tells me I have 238 unplayed podcast episodes (a little over 100 hours). I just added up some 25 seasons of TV shows I’d like to watch, including Breaking Bad, Supernatural, Sopranos, and many others. The unread shelves in my Goodreads have 168 books. I’ve got a stack of video games that each deserve 40-50 hours of play time. Let’s not even talk about comic books, new music, board games, and Longform articles published online.

For a long time I felt almost crushed under the pressure of not having any time to consume all these things. Really, who has that kind of time? I’d need some 2,500 hours of free time to get through all my lists of unread/unwatched/unconsumed stuff. If I spent 2 hours a day, it would take me almost 3 and a half years.

Then I realized: then it’ll take 3 and a half years. It’s not going anywhere. Some of those movies and TV shows I’ll watch with my wife, some of the movies, books, or podcasts will be things I want to talk about with friends. Some of those books will get made into movies, some of the podcasts episodes will be worth skipping, some of the movies I won’t finish, and some of the video games won’t merit a second playthrough.

When I first got my Xbox 360, the game I played most was this puzzle game Hexic. You just spin these pieces around in the grid shaped game area. It dazzled me and I played for hours. I was the same way with Tetris. And nearly every other video game I can remember, I was constantly replaying it to master a top score or best time. I must have rewatched the original Star Wars trilogy every week of my childhood, and I can’t count the times I’ve seen some of the movies we watched as a family growing up (Romancing the Stone, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure come to mind). I think as a teenager I saw more reruns of Quantum Leap and Saved by the Bell than any single person should.

I think most people are like this. I think most people are daunted by the things they haven’t done/seen and comforted by the things they know best. I think most people would rather eat at the restaurant they know they like then try some place new, or eat at the same entree than try something they may not like. Sometimes its nostaliga that has us watch old movies we love instead of a new one or revisit vacation destinations than visit a new city. It takes a great deal of effort to try new things, step out of your comfort zone, and take a risk.

So I refuse to think of my Watchlists as Inboxes anymore. They are wishlists. They are a pantry. They are a rainy day toy box. No one ever feels pressure to use up all the flour and sugar in their pantry. Just use it as needed, since it’s not perishable. When Christmas is over, no one should ever feel pressured to buy up the rest of their Christmas list. It’s about enjoying what you have, not what you don’t. And some toys you keep stashed, in case kids can’t play outside. So that is my new philosophy. And I feel much better.

If only I could make a decision on what movie to watch next.

Goals for 2013

Follow up on my goals for 2012:

  • Read more novels. I only finished 5 books last year, 4 fiction and 1 non-fiction, plus a couple audiobooks. I’m currently in the middle of 2 fiction books, neither of which I have a head of steam to finish. 7 books is a lot fewer than I had originally hoped for myself.
  • Shoot more video. I uploaded 16 videos last year and I think all of them were of our dogs.
  • Lose some weight. In the first half of 2012 I lost 21 pounds (I know, right?). In the second half of 2012 I gained back 12 pounds (moving to a new house, vacation, Thanksgiving, Christmas). So overall still down 9 pounds. I should feel positive about it, but I’ve still got more work to do.
  • Stop drinking soda. I went for almost 10 months without drinking a single drop of soda. It wasn’t easy starting out and required a sizable change in routine. I gave up my workday afternoon Diet Mt. Dew, I ordered water every time we went out to eat, and we stopped stocking our fridge with soda. After 10 months, I felt like I had broken whatever habit or addiction I had to soft drinks. In the last couple months, I’ve felt free to enjoy sugary soda on occasion but I can’t drink much of it without my stomach getting upset. I think that’s a good thing.

My goals for 2013:

  • Lose some more weight. I dropped 9 pounds in 2012 and I know I can lose at least another 11. That’s my goal.
  • Cook with appliances. And I don’t mean gadgets. We have a food processor, blender, and stand mixer in our kitchen cupboards that could really expand not only what food we cook but how well it’s prepared. This will also force me to open up the recipe book, try some new things, and challenge myself in the kitchen. I’d like to be a better chef this time next year.
  • Become a better home owner. By the end of this year, I need to organize my tools in the garage, hang some ceiling fans, figure out a system for mowing and maintaining the lawn, and a dozen other things around the house. Right now I have no good place to put the charger for my cordless drill. I want to figure this out this year.
  • Use my iPad more, especially for reading. I bought this super awesome thing and don’t seem to use it much. I know several people whose iPad is their constant companion and it makes me feel a little guilty for wanting to upgrade. What I have is still plenty serviceable and I should get more use out of it. I’m going to start with using it for reading novels and playing some strategy board games.

Favorite Discoveries of 2012

With the year coming to an end, here’s my list of the favorite things I discovered in 2012.

  • Pinboard.in Easy site for bookmarks. Fast, reliable, and searchable, it’s become the best place to keep Internet stuff I want to remember later.
  • The Hunger Games.  I read all three books early in the year before the movie, which was pretty awesome, was in theaters.
  • Gimme bar. Automatically creates a fully searchable backup of my Instagram, Pinboard, & Twitter history, plus it has a bookmarklet so I can grab anything from inside my browser and keep it. It’s like Pinterest for introverts. And all my content is backed up in Dropbox.
  • Letterpress. Free to play iOS word game. I’m getting better at it.
  • Hi-Chew Fruit Chews. Found these at the Japan showcase in Epcot in Walt Disney World. They are like a soft chew Starburst that comes in awesome flavors like melon, banana, and peach.
  • Dark Sky. a weather app of iOS that tells you if it’s raining at your exact location. I check it pretty much every day before I leave the house.
  • Brenthaven bags. I was issued one when I started my new job and I don’t think I’ll ever own a different laptop bag.
  • Yogurt Mountain. My new favorite frozen yogurt place. They have marshmallow cream and nutella in squeeze bottles.
  • Taco Bell churros. Finally. And it’s about time, Taco Bell.

Elvis’ Favorite Fried Chicken

I’ve had this recipe posted on the Google Official Blog bookmarked for ages but I’ve never tried it. The portions are “Google-sized” and call for 3 gallons of buttermilk and 30 chickens. I need to do the math and adjust down to a smaller yield, but if this fried chicken was good enough for The King, it was worth sharing.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Elvis Loved
*Google-sized portions; read all the way through to get the total amounts needed*

1/2 c thyme
1/4 c oregano
1/4 c basil
1/2 c onion powder
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c dry mustard
1/2 c paprika
1/4 c chili powder
1/2 c celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c coriander
1/2 c cumin
1/3 c kosher salt
1/4 c cayenne pepper
1/2 c ground black pepper
1/4 c ground white pepper

3 gals. buttermilk
3 cases organic free range chicken (roughly 30 chickens, divided into 1.5- to 2-lb. sections)

Mix these amounts of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk until it’s thoroughly mixed.

Pour the batter over the chickens and marinate for up to five days – keep refrigerated, of course.

For frying
Now mix another 4x the above dry ingredients, and add:
2 lbs. cornstarch
8 qts. all-purpose organic whole wheat flour

Dredge the marinated chicken pieces in the dry herbs/flour/cornstarch mixture mix.
Fry the dredged chicken in a large skillet with hot peanut oil @ 375 degrees. Once chicken has reached a golden brown color, finish cooking it in the oven.