On the Rediscovery of Music

For various reasons for the past few years I've not listened to a lot of music. Instead it's been an almost steady tuning in to NPR and all that they have had to say. I've read books after hearing interesting interviews of authors with Terry Gross. She's a great interviewer. Such a good listener and not stuck with needing to ask the next thing on her list. She lets the conversation grow organically. She responds with follow up questions after interest is piqued.

Lately, I have had a huge reawakening to music and lyrics. They speak to me so much now.

So many things are speaking to me these days. It's as if I've been walking through fog, going through the routines of life, such as they are, and now I see things more clearly. Everything is sharper. Everything is more beautiful. Everything is more powerfully moving.

I feel free...

Hello, After Several Years Absence!

Well, hello!

How goes it?

I've been gone a long time, haven't I?

We have long ago finished our life experiment of ONLY buying, borrowing, used things. We often get new things without even thinking twice about it these days.

It's not that The Compact wasn't a good idea. It was. But, we can afford to get what we want when we want it, and we are still thoughtful about our purchases.

The lessons learned from going more than a year with only getting used things, or borrowing what we needed, still remain. My husband, kids and I don't NEED much. We don't WANT much. But, when we do, we get. I notice that when the kids get things they really want, they are profoundly grateful. We are comfortable in our life, but don't take a lot for granted.

So, a success, I think.

In other news, what the hell about this Trump guy?! Right?! How in the world has this happened--that he is the Republican frontrunner?

We Don't Buy It was always about more than the rejection of buying new things. It has always been about the ideas, social mores, stuck patterns of behavior that we weren't buying. And, so it is now.

I think I'll start writing here again regularly. I've missed it.

Do you write? Do you work out ideas? Do you share what you know? It's nice, isn't it? It's a release and a philosophical exercise. It's an exploration. It's a conversation--even if none of you ever respond. I know someone somewhere is reading. I know some may agree with what I say. I know some may vehemently disagree. And, it doesn't really matter if you chime in or not. It might be fun if you do, this can be so one sided, but it's not required for this to be a worthwhile pursuit.

So, hello again!

What the...

Hello. Long time, no talk.  Been busy with life and putting funny little comments on Facebook. Having a really difficult time getting it together for here.  Or, more accurately, ignoring this blog completely at this point.

I just moseyed over here to check it out, as if someone else might have contributed, and I see ads. Do you see ads? I see them on the left hand side towards the bottom, at the bottom, and at the top.

I didn't put them there. I didn't ask for them to be there. I get no money from them being there--they're just there. How long have they been there? When did Blogger decide it would put things on people's blogs without their consent or notification?

Can there be no ad-free space anywhere? Is that simply not allowed? On a blog that espouses simple living and trying to reduce, reuse and recycle and NOT buying a bunch of crap, can't that be a single space that doesn't try to convince people to go out and buy stuff?

Outrage! Outrage, I tell you!

I will get to the bottom of this and report back. Or, I'll get sidetracked by life and not report back. Either way, know that I am appalled at this abomination on my blog.

Wayne LaPierre Called Me

Wayne LaPierre just phoned me and I listened to his automated message.  Wayne is the CEO of the NRA which is WTF.

They really, really,  really called the wrong person.

As I read it, (and I always notice that no one else seems to read it this way, even though this is how it is written) the second amendment that Mr. LaPierre is so all fired up about protecting (get it?  I put a gun joke in there...) states, *ahem, throat clearing*:



A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Did you catch that?  Do you see the first part of that?  The conditional part?  The part that is almost universally ignored?  A WELL REGULATED MILITIA, BEING NECESSARY TO THE SECURITY OF A FREE STATE...  Do you see that part?  That's the condition upon which we are allowed to have guns in this country.  In order to ensure our security, through a well regulated militia (do you hear that Michigan militias--hey!  Do you guys still exist?), the right to bear arms shall not be infringed.

So, if I want to bear arms in something other than a well regulated militia, that right may be infringed, because that's not the right that the second amendment protects.  I might have to have regulations that our society deems reasonable for me to pack heat.

Does anyone else read it this way, because I believe that's how it's written?  And how do I know that's how it's written?!  Because I read the words that they so carefully chose, and I understand English, it being my mother tongue.

The first part is a condition, people!