Ryan Martinsen

It appears that my average post count per year is about 103. My last post, nearly 2 months ago, was about doing less. I wasn’t really thinking that I’d blog less when I wrote that post. It just sort of happened that way. At least it was a funny post to have be at the top for 2 months, yeah?

Today I walked a little over 7 miles. I had no destination. I was bored so I started walking. I kept thinking I’d turn back soon or decide on a destination and go there, but I didn’t. I just walked. I eventually found a pizza place and, as is the tendency in pizza places, bought and then ate pizza. I also drank some cream soda. It was pretty good.

Perhaps next Saturday I will do more. Maybe even more miles (though I’d prefer they not be in the city).

I’ve now been reading, or walking and listening (to an audiobook), in Central Park for hours and hours. I’m writing this on my iPhone. Isn’t technology grand?

And yet, at the same time, it isn’t grand.

One of the books I’ve been reading is called The Power of Less by Leo Babauta. The book was gifted to me by a very good friend. I don’t intend to review the book, as I haven’t finished it, and because others are much better at book reviews than I am; however, the book is perfect in its timing, or rather, my decision to read it at this particular time was perfect, though I certainly don’t intend to suggest I am anything close to perfection, nor are my decisions.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about doing less. Don’t get me wrong, I have no intention of being less productive–this isn’t about being lazy–rather, it’s about accomplishing more with less, however trite that may sound.

Anyway, I’m at a park, enjoying a beautiful sunset, reading.

More about less I’m a future post.

Five and a half, really, but five sounded better for a title.

My alarm sounded at 1:30 AM. An hour and a half wasn’t enough sleep, that was obvious, but I figured I would do better with at least a little sleep. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week I woke up at 4 AM, hoping it would prepare me for today. Perhaps it did, but not enough. I reset my alarm for 1:40. When that went off I reset it to 1:50, and 10 minutes later to 2:00. That was it, I had slept as much as I was able. Now was the moment.

I knew that if I sat down on the couch I would be tempted to lay down, then to get a blanket, eventually leading to the demise of my plan to read for 24 hours straight. Several times this week, however, I stayed awake at 4 AM by listening to audiobooks (Ender’s Shadow and then Mistborn: The Final Empire). I even laid on the couch while listening. The books were interesting enough to keep me awake, despite wanting, desperately, to sleep. I knew that it would be harder with less sleep. But knowledge does not always translate into action. Can you really know if you don’t do what you know?

If you didn’t catch the hint already, I fell asleep. I think I lasted about 20 minutes on the couch before I drifted off. I was awakened at 4 AM by my roommate’s return from a dance and made a half-hearted attempt to stay awake, but once again drifted off into the world of make-believe, or rather, a world of make-believe, for there are many. Sleep is one such world, reading is another. I find it fitting that at least I was in one of these worlds instead of, say, scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush, though that might have kept me awake.

It’s now almost 9 AM. Since awaking on the couch I’ve been listening to Mistborn. I will now commence reading a real book, perhaps The Alchemist? I’m not sure after that. The Power of Less? Lord of the Rings? A Narnia book in Spanish? High Performance MySQL? No, most definitely not that.

I will read until 2 AM, longer if I can. I’ll be posting updates on here and twitter throughout the day.

Patriotism is something innately due our country in return for the many riches and opportunities it affords us. Taxes are statutory entitlements the people grant to the government in return for certain constitutionally mandated obligations.

“Country” is not synonymous with “government.” Country is a diverse union consisting of the citizenry – we the people. Country is the basis and the process from which innovation abounds, dreams are realized, and goods are produced.

Government is merely an autocratic bureaucracy that attempts to regulate and control the actions of the country. Government produces no goods and no products. It only consumes resources and redistributes them.
– A friend of mine

Food for thought.

I have signed up for Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon.

This means that, as the “24 hour” part of the read-a-thon’s name implies, I will read for a solid 24 hour period starting at 2 AM EST on April 18th, 2009 and end at 2 AM the following morning (that’s how a 24 hour period of time works).

Yes, I expect to stop reading for those pesky survival habits like eating and using the restroom; however, I have no intention of letting a single moment pass without the words of some book or another stimulating my brain. This will be accomplished through audiobooks. I will read until it’s not possible to read, at which point I will switch to an audiobook and carry on until I can read again. This way I can start out reading at home, walk to Central Park or something, and resume reading there.

I can’t wait!

Any suggestions for books?

A few quotes I’ve collected over the last few weeks on twitter, or just had lying around, or whatever.

My Goal of the Day: Fully listen to my critics, even if they may not know exactly what they’re critical of.
– Malcolm Gladwell

I don’t think I mentioned it, but I ran into Malcolm Gladwell in the lobby of the office building I work in. I always feel a little bad in interrupting someone who probably gets interrupted a lot, but if I actually care about who they are I will usually interrupt anyway. Some may see that as backwards, but whatever. I don’t try to become their friend. I just say hi, express my appreciation for their work, and go on my merry way.

The following advice, given by the deceitful Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood in C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, describes a common malady afflicting many of us today: “Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient’s soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbours whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary.”
– Michael J. Teh quoting The Screwtape Letters

I posted this quote back in November of 2007 and I’ve already said everything I have to say about it (for now).

“To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee.”
– William H. Walton

Which would be pretty terrible, especially if you had no allergic reaction to the bee. I choose a grudge-free life.

Also, that would be quite the persistent, death-resistant bee.

Few concepts have more potential to mislead us than the idea that choice, or agency, is an ultimate goal.
– Dallin H. Oaks, “Weightier Matters,” Ensign, Jan 2001, 13

Choice, or agency, is a condition of life. This should not be confused with the ability to act on choices without undesired consequences. That’s called freedom.

If your knees aren’t green by the end of the day, you need to seriously rethink your life.
– Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes)

And in the spirit of Calvin & Hobbes, here’s a semi-sad reminder (if you love Calvin & Hobbes) about saving things for your children instead of throwing them away. I’m really just putting it here because I like Calvin & Hobbes, I’m sentimental, and I wanted an excuse to post it.

I started reading Perelandra by C.S. Lewis today. In the second chapter the character Ransom says something I find extremely interesting.

Haven’t you noticed how in our own little war here on earth, there are different phases, and while any one phase is going on people get into the habit of thinking and behaving as if it was going to be permanent? But really the thing is changing under your hands all the time, and neither your assets nor your dangers this year are the same as the year before.
– Perelanda, C.S. Lewis

Then, I read this post, How far away is your emergency? by Seth Godin, and marveled (mainly because I wanted to use the word) that Godin illustrates exactly the point Lewis was talking about.

It’s amazing that people have so much time to fret about today’s emergency but almost no time at all to avoid tomorrow’s.

A glimpse at the TV and internets shows one talking head after another angsting about today’s economy. These are the same people who needed to devote entire hours to mindless trivia nine months ago when they could have done an enormous amount of education about avoiding this mess in the first place.

…

They say the best time to look for a job is when you don’t need one. And the best time to invest in a new Purple Cow is when you’re still milking the old one. Move your emergency back in time and you’ll be amazed at how far your money goes.
– Seth Godin

It’s important to remember that our present circumstances are not permanent. Tomorrow’s emergencies will be different from today’s and we ought to keep that in mind so as not to be surprised and, more importantly, so that we’ll be prepared when the changes occur.

I just noticed that I only posted on the first and last days of this month. Whoops.