Speaking about grammar...

I admit that I don't have perfect grammar, but it's fun to highlight mistakes "in the wild" like this "in case of fire use" sign.

Stuff Manifesto

Why do I hold onto stuff in my life?

1. I worry that I will need it later, especially if I get rid of it (is this output-remorse or stuff guilt?)
2. I hold onto it by default. When faced with the decision to keep or get rid of something, it's easier to not make a choice. Therefore, by default, stuff stays! And since I don't always make an account of what I have, this could be referred to as "see no stuff."
3. It's not my stuff. I feel I can't decide on the fate of other-person stuff.

Solutions to this pack rat behavior include focusing on aspects such as to:

• Reduce input
• Increase output
• Done automatically
• Done intentionally
• Done in small increments, often
• Done in big infrequent gestures

Is there an acronym in "I(n)" "O(ut)" "A(uto)" "P(urpose)" "S(mall)" and "B(ig)"?

IOAPBS? IOAISB (Intentional instead of Purpose)

Types of stuff:

• Books and magazines
• Paper
• DVDs and video games
• Gadgets

Mental approaches and reminders include:

Enjoy and appreciate what you already have

Conserve and save the environment by reducing waste

Improve efficiency by reducing clutter

Improve effectiveness by focusing on what I need

In my day-to-day activities I can work on the above aspects and solutions by doing the following:

Remove myself from mailing lists to reduce spam

Reduce junk mail by signing up with the DMCA and registering with the Credit Bureaus to reduce free credit card offers (both done)

Reconsider a gadget purchase, fix whatever it replaces, or make room for "input" by increasing an equivalent "output"

Donate at work, call an agency, or give to friends and family (stuff, not junk).

Increase savings such that stuff is harder to obtain.

Focus on a small part of the house or room

Focus on only one type of item (pick up only paper, magazines, books, etc)

Read an apply favorite stuff-reducing author or set of ideas (Covey, Fly Lady, Get Stuff Done, etc)

That's it for now. Back to "do more, say less." Got any good organizational tips? Feel free to share in the comments!

Can't Wait for Will Wright's Spore

Creator of Sim City, Will Wright, has a life simulator coming out for the PC later this year called Spore. There's a free download with limited parts to create your very own creature while the full creator version is $10.

My other spore creations

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=NivKings

Creatures:
http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=usr-nivlong

Even Robin Williams gets in on the action!

Hey Mamma

Soon-to-be great grandma Esther Ramirez!

(email post)

update: this also made it to my picassa account under this blog's album

Made a Spore Avatar

Spore Creator is a kind of "pre-game" to the full EA game coming out this fall. It has some nice "community" features that let you save avatars such as this one and even upload YouTube videos.

The animated gifs aren't working when I load them to Blogger, I'll see if I can fix that.

http://picasaweb.google.com/reyes.alvinr/Spore/photo#5218237460185075906

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKx4mBxSY34

Update: Others have had the same problem with loading animated gifs to blogger but it's still a cool feature.

Just setup Windows live email with Gmail Imap.

I used about.com's guide (http://email.about.com/od/windowsmailtips/qt/et_get_gmail.htm) but the "fix" to wire up the IMAP folders correctly didn't seem to work.

It's probably because I tried to send an email before it was setup correctly. I wonder if this post (done via an email to go at blogger) will work correctly?

Update: I restarted windows live email and it seems to work now.