On the way to work one morning, I saw this. Was he drunk? It’s possible, but the dead drunks I’ve seen were all flat on their backs. This chap, although asleep, looks in control. (Contrast with this: http://cochinblogger.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/first-the-man-takes-a-drink/) In fact, the way he is holding his head reminds one of Rodin’s famous sculpture, The Thinker, but 90 degrees askew. I was tempted to wake him up and ask what gives, but then decided that discretion was the better part of valor.

Powered by Zoundry Raven

1. Leg Dich in den Park.

2. Trink ein Bier vor vier.

3. Lade Deinen Freund/Deine Freundin/Deine Flamme auf ein Eis ein. (Dann gehen schon zwei nicht ins Büro!)

4. Schreib ein Manifest.

5. Übe Dein Instrument.

6. Triff Dich mit einem Arbeitslosen und frag ihn nach seinem Tagesablauf.

7. Höre Deine drei Lieblingsplatten, hintereinander, auf dem Bett liegend, ohne sonst irgendwas zu tun.

8. Lies den Idler und die Anleitung zum Müßiggang.

9. Geh zum Biobauern und kaufe Zutaten ein. Koche zuhause ein Festmahl. Lade jemanden ein, der es mit Dir teilt.

10. Geh mit einem Hund aus dem Tierheim spazieren.

11. Setze Dich unter einen Baum und warte auf die Erleuchtung oder auf Ameisen. Je nachdem, was zuerst kommt.

12. Besuche Deine Oma. Wenn Du keine Oma mehr hast, besuche eine andere Person, die viel Zeit alleine verbringt.

13. Mache eine Liste mit zehn überflüssigen Dingen in Deinem Haushalt. Stelle sie bei eBay ein, verschenke sie oder wirf sie weg.

14. Frühstücke ausgiebig in einem Café nahe Deiner Arbeitsstelle. Versetze Dich gedanklich in die Situation Deiner Kollegen, die in diesem Moment am arbeiten sind. Bestelle Kaffee nach und lies in Ruhe die Zeitung.

15. Treib mal wieder Sport, ohne auf Leistung zu achten. Strenge Dich nur so sehr an, dass es Dir Spaß macht.

16. Organisiere eine Nachbarschaftsparty. Lade alle ein, auch Deine vermeintlichen Feinde.

17. Besuche Deine alte Grundschule. Vielleicht triffst Du noch einen Lehrer, den Du kennst.

18. Verbringe den ganzen Tag im Freien ohne Handy und Computer.

19. Lerne mindestens drei neue Leute kennen und frag sie, was sie von ihrer Arbeit halten. Erklär ihnen, warum Du heute blau machst und wie gut es sich anfühlt.

20. Mal das Bild, komponiere das Lied, schreibe das Gedicht, das Du schon so lange im Kopf hast. Heute ist Zeit dazu.

21. Besuche ein Museum oder eine Touristenattraktion in Deiner Stadt.

22. Kauf Dir eine Einwegkamera und dokumentiere damit Deinen Faulenzertag.

23. Suche einen See in Deiner Nähe und gehe schwimmen, auch wenn das Wasser kalt ist.

24. Erledige etwas für einen lieben Menschen mit zu wenig Zeit.

25. Geh angeln.

26. Melde Deinen Fernseher ab und werde das Gerät los.

27. Tanze zu einer Musik, die Du sonst nicht ausstehen kannst. Höre erst auf, wenn Du beinahe umfällst.

28. Lächle wildfremde Menschen an, während Du an einem Grashalm kauend fröhlich durch die Straßen wanderst.

29. Organisiere einen Flashmob. Lass ihn zur Mittagszeit stattfinden, damit die Büromenschen ihre Pause sinnvoll nutzen können.

30. Bettle um Geld, bis Du genug für ein Steak zusammenhast. Wenn Du Vegetarier bist, geht auch ein Sojabratling.

31. Mache eine ausgiebige Weinprobe bei einem großen Händler. Kaufe erst, wenn Du betrunken bist, die beste Flasche für einen lieben Menschen.

32. Arbeite im Garten. Wenn Du keinen Garten hast, besorge Dir Topftomatensamen und Basilikum, und fang an, Dein Mittagessen in Deiner Wohnung zu züchten.

33. Ergänze diese Liste. Verlinke sie, um andere zu inspirieren.

1) They can sneak through towns unnoticed.
2) Anti-Ninja warning aren’t as bad as this. (US) (Don’t Copy That Floppy)
3) Or this one. (UK) (Knock Off Nigel)
4) When Ninja’s get caught, they commit sepukku. When Pirates are caught, they whine about how unfair it is, because they were idling.
5) Ninja’s don’t get bought up by a bigger ninja. Pirates do.

Jako, że zaczęła się szkoła, mam teraz mało czasu na cokolwiek, a tym bardziej na prowadzenie bloga. Dlatego nowe wpisy będą się pojawiać najprawdopodobniej ok. dwóch razy w tygodniu :[

1. Jak już zapewne każdy wie, Valve uznało popularny program do idlowania za cheat i każdemu idlującemu usunęło wyidlowane itemki. Mi przykładowo zwinęli łuk Ale jest oczywiście druga strona medalu. Valve znacząco zwiększyło szansę na znalezienie itema :]

2. Zrozumiałem, że mam ogromne braki wiedzy o świecie HL i teraz będę nadrabiał. Od dziś, co jakiś czas będę pisał o ciekawych mapkach i modach do HL/Hl2. Gdy najdzie mnie wena twórcza postaram się również napisać jakiś dłuższy tekst dot. uniwersum HL.

3. Chcesz zbudować swój własny Portal Gun, ale nie wiesz jak? Przeczytaj ten tutorial i zabierz się do roboty. Jest tam opisane krok-po-kroku, jak się zabrać za budowanie tego cudeńka. Ja jestem na razie w fazie zbierania materiałów ;]

4. A teraz coś dla fanów TF2 i Portala. Przypinki z achievementami z TF2 i obrazkami informującymi o niebezpieczeństwie w Portalu. Podobno trzeba się pośpieszyć z zakupem, bo nie ma licencji na sprzedawanie owych przypinek.

RED LEADER:-http://www.redleader.co.uk/

Freelance web design company based in London. Go check ‘em out.

Cool sites they mentioned

trianglearts.org/

1965records.com

twistori.com/

THE IDLER: – http://idler.co.uk/

About

The Idler is a bi-annual, book-shaped magazine that campaigns against the work ethic.

It was founded in 1993 by Tom Hodgkinson and his friend Gavin Pretor-Pinney.

The title comes from a series of essays by Dr Johnson, published in 1758-9 in the Gentleman’s Magazine.

RICHARD SHED:- http://www.richardshed.com/

Richard Shed Studio practices in the fields of Product, Spatial and Interaction Design and Research.

The studio offers a conceptually innovative, creative approach paired with practical understanding of materials, processes and context.

Based in Shoreditch, East London, we have worked with a number of respected companies in the UK, Europe and the US.

Time will take your money, but money won’t buy time.”

- James Taylor, musician

Time: such a precious resource and a valued asset.  And once the amount of money you have is enough - once you cover your costs – then possession of  (more) time becomes paramount. What do very rich people do? They pay people to do the time-consuming things they don’t want to do (ironing, cleaning, sleeping with their spouse; they seem to keep shopping and sleeping with other people’s spouses for themselves. There’s no accounting for taste.)

I caught myself passing a useful tip to a friend the other day. It was this: when you go into an important meeting, ask the other person(s) how much time they have for this meeting. Then finish five minutes early. They will feel as though time has rushed by (which feels as though your company is really enjoyable), but they will also feel that you clearly respect them, because you respected their time.

What does this say, by implication? It says you treat someone ill when you waste their time and I fully endorse that. It also recognises that when you give your time freely (doing a favour, doing something properly, volunteering – going that extra mile), it is an act of generosity.

I thought I ought at least to try to back up my (possibly specious) idea, and so went a-hunting (s’OK – is more for me than for you; a case of “enlightened self-interest” in the odd writer-reader relationship we may or may not have).  “What did you find, Imp of Trickiness?” I hear you cry.

• Well, in 2002, 42% of Brits said they were as time-poor as cash-poor (source: Parceline Chronopost)
• By early 2005, a large US survey (salary.com) found that almost 40% of workers say they’d opt for more family time than a $5k bonus (this in a country with no NHS, remember)
• And by 2008, 67% of Americans said they valued free time over – wait for it – cash, a successful career, getting married, or having children (Reuters Life).

But there are some possible problems with these findings. How many people are going to tell a researcher that they value money over everything else? Honestly? And it can be easy to downplay the importance of money when it’s plentiful, but, heck, this is March 2009, for Pete’s sake. Financial fear is the fat, hairy monster stalking the land these days.  In late 2007, the amount of debt for every single adult in the UK was £33k. Thirty-three thousand pounds. Each word has hob-nailed boots on in that sentence.  Today, that figure is down to just £30,400 – that means taking everyone’s mortgages and sharing them out across every British adult. The average debt for households with mortgages is £101,000 (source: Credit Action). Arghhhhhhh.

Or, in these new-fangled days of extraordinary rendition – sorry, I mean quantitative easing (silly me. I get confused with our government’s brilliantly Orwellian lexicon) and 0.5% interest rates, perhaps we should just get philosophical and take the view that debt is just a state of mind?

So, in times of recession, do people want more time or more money? I’ve just been chatting to a chum about his job aspirations. There’s a wonderful and worthy job going, but he needs enough cash to allow him and his full-time working wife to live in the city and also pay for their young daughter to go to nursery. It’s a bleeder of a trap: they both need to be working so that their skills don’t go stale, but the childcare takes a large part of their income. So he can’t take a worthy job (at more than twice the national average) ‘cos he can’t afford it, even though it would benefit both society-at-large and his family (because he would be a personally and professionally satisfied human being). However, with credit crunches, perhaps, come opportunities. If only some b*gger will take them….

If employers wake up to the fact that staff want time – perhaps more than they want money – perhaps we could all be a bit happier. There are lots of jobs where your performance should  not be defined by clocking on and off for your 40 hours every week (obviously, if you’re in charge of the hourly chimes of Big Ben, you’re kind of time-bound). And after all, employment ought to be a fair exchange of your skills for money;  time doesn’t have to be part of the equation. It’s only one way of counting the amount of work done (and it’s definitely no way of measuring the standard).

You see, if my mate could agree other kinds of performance standards with this worthy employer (swapping 40 hours for 35, perhaps, and quite probably having achieved the same outcomes), he could perhaps -

• have a day less working
• spend 3 out of 7 days a week with his child
• save 20% of their childcare costs
• and have the great new job!

(If you’re interested in more of this, it looks as tho’ the latest book from the now dangerously-productive Idler stable might be of use: The Idle Parent, just out.)

Good God. I’ve spent enough of our time on this now. Far too many words for an Imp on a Friday afternoon. Go! Be gone! Enjoy your time!

The Idler have a new campaign: Do Less in 2009.

The gist of it is to do less of everything, for the environment and for ourselves. Less work, less earning and spending, less shopping.  Less doing will leave more time for being.

“The era which privileged the busy high achiever is coming to an end” says Tom Hodgkinson. “That system has been found wanting, and there is a new world out there, a world of more fun, more freedom, more time for reflection and contemplation, community and cooking, making and mending.”

In true Idler style, the campaign will advance with an ambitious schedule of nothing at all, although you may be able to buy a t-shirt.

I got an invite to join twitter by a friend of mine today.

For those of you not in the know twitter is the latest online “social networking” site that (rather pretentiously) calls itself a  “micro-blogging service” that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

Twitter is the latest trend in communication and is starting to be used by all sorts of people (even Barack Obama has an account!).

You won’t find me on there though.

Why?

Because twitter is the latest step in the ever-increasing pace of life, of the tsunami of information we have to keep up with.

Just 10 years ago, we would phone someone or write a letter to keep in touch. Mobile phones were only just becoming common place and texting was in its infancy, even email was only just starting to walk.

10 years before that is was landline phone or letter. To keep in touch with world you would read a daily paper or watch the news at 10.

Do we really need this constant barrage of information? I think not. Yes, I write this journal, yes I have a mobile phone and email. But do I constantly check it? No! I don’t even know where my mobile is right now and often go out and forget to take it with me. Does my world end? Nope!

Now we are obsessed with being constantly “on” and are constantly bombarded with information. We feel the ever increase need to be always be “in touch” with everyone and everything.

It is like we are no one unless we are telling everyone what we are doing every second of the day. We are turning into a bunch of egomaniacs!

Twitter is the latest symptom of this. Where will we go next?!

Does it really matter what someone is up to at that very second? If it is that is that important can’t they call you or drop you text?!

Can’t you wait to find that out? Do you need the constant banal updates?!

We get so much information all we have time to do is process it. Information is pointless if we don’t have the time to act on it, all it does is make us stressed and worried and feel out of control…

We don’t need all this information, in fact I would argue that it is bad for us, physically, psychologically and socially.

Relax, chill out, delete your twitter account, close your web browser, go and buy a newspaper.  Phone a friend and have a proper chat. Why not arrange to pop round for a cup of tea? Too far away? Why not write them a letter and let them now what you are up to? Or even an email (it comes to something when an email seems a “slow” form of communication doesn’t it?!)

I prefer the quieter life:

The little retreat is to hide

Among wooded hills;

The great retreat is to vanish

In the capital.

- Kanzan

Tomorrow you will here my thoughts on other social networking online. Brace yourself…

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When we get stressed or flustered we have a tendency of holding our breath or breathing shallowly from the top 3rd of our lungs. This often causes the side effects of panting, tight shoulders and that high pitched voice you get when you are nervous.

Breath is the most important thing in life.

You can survive around 18 days without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without breath (the time it takes for your brain to be starved of oxygen).

When you get stressed out or flustered and stop breathing it starves your brain and muscles of oxygen, meaning you will not be able to think as clearly or be as physically or mentally relaxed as you need to be to act in an unflustered way.

So you start to get more stressed and flustered, meaning you tense up more and breathe less and it is all a vicious downward cycle!

The very best way to break this cycle is to, when you notice yourself getting flustered, stop and take some deep breaths.

Practice when you are not stressed or flustered and it will soon become second nature.

You need to take a full diaphragmatic breath. So move your attention to you centre (see Part 1 to find out how to do this), imagine you are breathing from there (like you nose is in your belly button. As you breath in your want your belly to expand, then the lower sides of your rib cage (your “floating” ribs) then your chest and finally you will feel the back of your shoulders expand. When breathing out, it is the reverse process.

You want to breath in slowly for the count of 7, hold for a second and then breathe out even slower, to the count of 11. And then repeat, but never hold it for a second after the out breath, when your lungs are empty.

It is best to practice lying down to begin with.

If you are feeling all adventurous, you can add a little psychological command to the breath to get your mind in the right place. When you breathe in, focus on the word “relaxed” or “calm” or whatever word seems appropriate to you. On the out breath you can focus on the word “stress” (or whatever seems appropriate), so as you breath in you are breathing in relaxation and breathing out (expelling, getting rid of) stress.

Next I will talk about the power of posture and how when theses three (centring, breathing and posture) are combined you will be well on your way to being a true Slow Person in a Fast Environment!

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I know an Ode is meant to be a lyrical poem telling you how much I like something. But I am rubbish at poetry (I bang out the odd haiku, but that is about it), so I am going to stick to prose.

I had this idea to do an infrequent series of “odes” to things I find particularly Slow. Things that, if we did it more, would slow us all down.

And, inspired by travelling around London on the Tube I thought I would start with public transport.

Which is in an odd one for me. I have a love hate relationship with public transport. At rush hour, it is hell on toast. All that pushing and shoving and shuffling along, and being stuck with your head in someone else’s armpit.

I also have “issues” with public transport (especially buses) mainly because I don’t understand it, I have never been able to figure out those timetable things, I dunno what bus to get to go where, how to pay, when to get off, that sort of thing. So new journeys on any public transport system are often fraught with stress for me as I am panicking about whether I am on the right bus/train/tube/plane, when I need to get off. That sort of thing.

But there are other times, when I know what I am doing, or don’t mind if I am on the wrong bus/train/tube/plane (when it is all a bit of an adventure! Working out how to get around a city you haven’t been to before, for example), outside of rush hour when travelling on public transport is just great.

It is cheap, easy and like having your own chauffer (sort off) you get to gaze out of the window, people watch, nap, drink coffee. All those things that are hard to do when you are driving.

I find something incredibly relaxing about a journey on public transport, you are getting to where your need to go, but once your journey has started you have nothing to do until you get there. It is Idling on the move!

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My office is a total pigsty.

I haven’t tidied it for weeks and the big pile of paper at the end of my desk that has all my notes, bills and important paperwork in has just collapsed like a demolished building all over my desk and the floor. Dylan my little Jack Russell puppy thinks this great and is doing a very good impression of a shredder. Which would be OK if he wasn’t shredding things I really need.

My filing system of putting everything under “S” for “Stuff” really isn’t working. I really need to develop a better system…

You see, Disorganisation and mess really is the anathema to an Idler. It causes more work than necessary, creates stress and panic and a total waste of energy.

Being Slow or being an Idler (some people argue that they are 2 different things, but that is a subject for another post) requires a certain amount of self-discipline. It is, after all, about taking responsibility for your life, rather than letting someone else telling you what you should do.

The Slow Life is not about being lazy or slothful or ignoring things that need to be done, it is about doing things in the most appropriate way (for you) using the exact amount of energy and the right pace. In fact I would argue that being “fast” is really being lazy and slothful as you are being dragged along with the frantic pace of things rather than making a stand.

Incidentally, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on one of those time management systems. I have spent a fortune on them in the past and found them often much more hassle and work than they need to be. In my experience all you need is

• A diary – I like paper ones, but if you want to use an electrical one that’s fine. Moleskine do a very nice range. Or you can get the Idlers Diary from their website. Just something to jot important notes, reminders and appointments.
• An IN tray to put all the stuff in you get through the post
• A place to file stuff – sorted into relevant sections: Bank, Bills, etc. Whatever suites you best.
• A time you allot to sit down and sort it. As often as you want. But probably no longer than every month, because bills do need to be paid on time
• And finally – a bit of discipline to actually do it (which is actually the easy bit once you are all sorted)

Anyway, I better go and tidy up.

Have a good weekend.

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The Slow Coach is celebrating Saint Monday and will be back tomorrow to discuss Slowing Down, Idling and The Slow Movement.

A quick event plug, should you be looking for something to do in Harvard Square this evening. Hermenaut founder, former Boston Globe “Ideas” section columnist, writer, intellectual flaneur, Jamaica Plain native and general all-around bon homme Joshua Glenn is celebrating the release of the new book he’s co-authored with Mark Kingwell, The Idler’s Glossary. It’s a handy compendium that began life as a piece for the UK publication that is the Bible of the life supine, The Idler. It had a spectral afterlife in the depths of the Hermenaut website for a number of years, and is now full-on, stand-alone book.

When I first read the Idler piece in a copy that I borrowed from the Hermenaut offices, it was a fantastic and much-needed vindication of my itinerant and indecisive life in the early 2000s. Personally, it should be required reading as a counter-balance to a world yammering to normalize the capitalist work ethic as a desireable way of life.

The Idler’s Glossary has received some well-deserved attention from the likes of the New York Times Book Review blog, The Washington Post, Boing Boing, and of course, Brainiac. More coverage here, here, and here. So what am I saying? Go if you have a chance, I’ll see you there. You’ll find me restfully seated in the chair near the window of the second floor lounge. Details below.

WHAT: Release party to celebrate “The Idler’s Glossary”

WHO: Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based author, editor, and former Globe columnist and blogger. Introduction by the philosopher Mark Kingwell; design and illustrations by the cartoonist Seth.

WHEN: Thursday, October 23. 5 pm to 8 pm. FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

WHERE: The offices of The Harvard Advocate, 21 South Street (off JFK), in Harvard Square.

WHY: Wine and beer. No, I mean, because this gorgeous little book is an excellent holiday gift for that quitter, dawdler, or dreamer in your life.

Hope to see you there!

Well, hello. How are you? Stressed? Worried? Concerned about the state of the economy and how it will effect you?

Thought so. Even I am a bit worried. Although, without seeming to sound smug, I saw this coming a long time ago and did expect a crash (not that I actually prepared for it. So who is the bigger fool?). We had created a society based solely on debt. We had all been suckered into it, or had no choice (you have to live somewhere, which means you probably had to accept that huge mortgage, as it was the only way you could afford that massively overpriced house!)

But I am not here to analyse, find blame or say “I told you so” (even though I didn’t), as the rest of the media of the world seem to be doing a very good job of doing that.

What I am wondering is; is the end of the world as we know it? Only time will tell. But I guess only one thing is certain, that is everything is going to change. We cannot, as a society, continue the way we were going, which means we, as individuals are going to have to change our lifestyles, manage our expectations and “downsize”. We have got used to the abundant, the immediate and the easy. Now we are going to have to go back some steps.

Some people (maybe you) will be thinking this is going to be really hard, and you are stressed and worried about how you are going to manage.

But I actually see it as an unprecedented opportunity to start incorporating the slow philosophy into your life.

A lot of work I do is with helping people who had been forced into the situation where thy have had to suddenly slow down and don’t know how to cope. People who’s lifestyles have suddenly changed; maybe through illness, redundancy, relocation, loss of a spouse etc. And I am guessing that there is a lot more people now who are in that bracket.

(Incidentally, I also work with a lot of people who just want to slow down. They are unhappy with their frantic lives and are sure there must be another way to live. It is not all doom and gloom here at Tortoise HQ)

So, over the next few entries here at the Notes from a Deckchair, I am going to give you a framework to help you start slowing down, and reducing.

It will be hard work, but it will be interesting, life changing and most importantly, it will be fun! I promise…

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IDLER: “…He is not a man who slouches about with his hands in his pockets. On the contrary, his most startling characteristic is that he is always intensely busy…”

I had the rare privilege last week of attending a meeting of the Royal Society of the Indolent. The three full members in attendance – philosopher Mark Kingwell, journalist Joshua Glenn, and cartoonist Seth – expressed disappointment that so many of us had come to the meeting, while a lot of others had been properly indolent and stayed home on the rainy evening. Nevertheless the three of them languidly soldiered on, doing nothing on our behalf, sitting onstage, gazing into space, sipping at their drinks, crossing and uncrossing their legs…

Don’t worry, the whole evening wasn’t like this. This event, another in Pages Books’ This is Not a Reading Series, served as the launch of the three men’s joint venture: The Idler’s Glossary, published by Biblioasis. And although there was a hazy overtone of leisure hanging over the meeting, there was a little purpose too.

Because we’ve lost the true sense of the word “idle.” Look at the initial quotation: does that sound like an “idler” to you? Likely it doesn’t, because we now equate “idleness” with “laziness.” As Glenn remarked, the genuine idler is a person who doesn’t engage in productivity simply for the sake of being productive. Kingwell amplified this further, explaining that an idler can be (and usually is) extremely busy, but seeks an independent value not directly related to what he calls “the norms of work.” Idleness is when a person does something for the sheer love and enjoyment of it, and not because he or she is “supposed to.”

On one thing, all three gentlemen were in strong agreement, that our current emphasis on “productivity” is the wrong way of doing things. Even our “leisure time” is constructed only so that we can recharge and get back on the job after our weekend or vacation. It is not, in fact, true leisure at all, but something at which we work rather hard. Everything drives us toward “productive work,” and there is no sense of doing a thing for the love of it. Even human beings are now mere “human resources” – cannon fodder for the relentless work machine.

Yet the concept of genuine “idleness”  has been with us through the ages, in every philosophy and religion in history. Every state of real meditation, every disengagement from the accumulation of things simply to possess them, every valuation of a human being for their own sake rather than as a means to an end – all of this expresses what true “idleness” embodies.

The very structure of The Idler’s Glossary expresses the ideal of idling. After the definition of each word (BENCHER: Slang term, from the 1930s, for someone who visits opium dens, but – oddly enough – only to observe, not smoke. Also used as a synonym for “bench warmer.”), there is a “see also” direction for the reader (See: EPICUREAN, LOTUS-EATER). So it’s possible to amble from Bencher to Epicurean to Sybarite to Luxury, enjoying the process of learning the definitions while avoiding the grim, purposeful A to Z reading from the beginning to the end of the book. Even if Kingwell’s long introduction must be read that way, it’s all philosophical, and he loves thinking about philosophy for its own sake, so it’s okay.

Do I want to read this book? I’d love to. So you do as you please while I put my feet up and flip it open randomly: FUTZ: Yiddish for “fart around.” See: FART AROUND, FIDDLE AROUND.

By the way. Sorry this article is a week late. I would have finished it earlier except, well, I recently joined the Royal Society of the Indolent and…you know… *

==================

* final helpful explanation of my tardiness suggested by my friend and fellow blogger, MEC

Hi,

Welcome to the “Notes from a Deckchair”, or “The Deckchair Diaries”, depending what you want to call it. Where I, your intrepid Slow Coach, will let you know all about my goings on in my endevour to create a slow life. It will (hopefully) be packed with hints, tips an suggestions about how you can slow your life down or “Idle-ize” yourself. As well as all the stuff I have (or haven’t) been up to.

See you again soon

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PS. I am still getting the hang of all this (although I have used blogs etc in my previous incarnation, I haven’t used wordpress), so please bear (or is that bare, I am never sure?) with me…

Die SPEZI war für Pat Franz natürlich ein willkommener Anlass uns zu besuchen. Die SPEZI war allerdings nur ein kleiner Teil des Terracycle Gesamtprogramms. Der Besuch von Pat hatte grundsätzlich drei Ziele. Der erste Punkt war, den europäischen Markt kennen zu lernen. Und es ist natürlich etwas ganz anderes, wenn man etwas aus zweiter Hand erzählt bekommt, oder wenn man selbst vor Ort ist. Die SPEZI war, was das betraf, natürlich auch eine perfekte Gelegenheit, alle europäischen Hersteller an einem Ort vereint zu sehen. Pat ist begeistert vom Entwicklungsstand der europäischen Liege- und Dreiradhersteller und es werden sicher einige seiner Eindrücke von seinem Besuch bei uns in seine zukünftige Entwicklungsarbeit einfließen. Die nächste Aufgabe war herauszufinden, welches Zubehör aus dem bestehenden Terracycle Programm, passen auf die hiesigen Liege- und Dreiräder. Da es nun schon ein ziemlich großes Sortiment gibt, war das natürlich eine ziemlich komplexe Angelegenheit. Die beste Herangehensweise erschien uns, im Anschluss an die Messe einige unserer Händler zu besuchen und dort die aerodynamische Heckverkleidung und die Fastback Taschen und Trinksysteme an verschiedenen Rädern auszuprobieren. Die Kettenleitrollen hatte Pat noch auf der SPEZI ziemlich umfassend abgearbeitet und für die Accessory Mounts ist auch klar, dass sie an jeden Vorbau oder Umwerferrohr dranpassen. Dazu sind wir zu den Radgebern nach Mainz (www.die-radgeber.de), zu Pedalkraft nach Bietigheim-Bissingen (www.pedalkraft.de) und zu Mainvelo in Frankfurt (www.mainvelo.de) gefahren. Pat hatte dabei auch gleich die Gelegenheit, sich einen Bike Shop bei uns anzuschauen. Er hat sich alle gewonnenen Daten notiert und wird daraus in nächster Zeit eine Kompatibilitätstabelle erstellen, schweres Wort, also eine Übersicht in der drin steht, welches Zubehör an welches Liege- oder Dreirad passt. Und dann war uns selbst wichtig, noch mehr über die Technik, die Materialien und die Montage zu erfahren. Ein ziemlich großes Programm für eine Woche inklusive SPEZI. Mit Sicherheit gibt es noch einiges, was wir noch abarbeiten hätten können, aber wir haben ziemlich viel geschafft in der kurzen Zeit und das wird uns zugute kommen, wenn wir euch ab sofort zu den einzelnen Zubehörteilen von Terracycle beraten.

Pat misst die Rohrlängen für die aerodynamische Heckverkleidung am Trice Q bei uns aus

Montage der aerodynamischen Heckverkleidung am Trice Q

Befestigen der Lycra Bezugsstoffs am Sitzgestell

Trice Q mit aerodynamischer Heckverkleidung bei Sonnenuntergang

Fastback Gepäcktasche an einer Street Machine Gte montiert

Es handelt sich um ein Modell für Hartschalensitze

Und so sieht die Befestigung am BodyLink-Sitz von HP Velotechnik aus

Montage der aerodynamischen Heckverkleidung an der Street Machine Gte

Der Lowrider kann, muss aber nicht montiert sein

Der Lycra Bezugsstoff wird mit Haken, die an Klettbändern befestigt sind, eingehakt

So sieht die fertige Bespannung aus, aber keine Angst unsere Farben sind silber/schwarz

Pat mit Andreas von den Radgebern in Mainz

Pat probiert die Fastback Rahmentasche an einem AZUB Liegerad aus

Fastback Rahmentasche am GrassHopper

Fastback Rahmentasche am Challenge Mistral

Fastback Gepäcktasche am Challenge Mistral

Pat mit Gabi und Friedrich von Pedalkraft

Tom Hodgkinson writing in The Ecologist:

“One way to avoid environmental catastrophe would be not to end poverty but to end wealth. It is wealth, not poverty, that makes the problems… This is why I would recommend that every family and individual try to earn and spend less money, not more. Use your imagination to to live well on less each year. This way you will consume less and so create less pressure on the world’s resources. Ending global wealth may be the only way out of our predicaments.”

Sums up our position perfectly.

The other day I was rooting through an old copy of the Idler in search of a Tom Hodgkinson quote I was after, which I didn’t find. I did find this though, in the editorial to Idler 36, written in 2005:

“The injection of money and capital into societies inevitably causes more problems than it solves. Which is why today’s money-worshippers such as Geldof, Curtis and Bono are barking up the wrong tree when they say they want to make poverty history. It is not poverty that is the problem; peasant cultures have lower levels of stress and higher levels of freedomand fun than hard-work, rich cultures. No, wealth is is the problem and the only effective campaign would be Make Wealth History.”

So there you go. We kind of knew we weren’t the only ones to think of it, and that’s now at least four people who got their first.

Tom Hodgkinson, by the way, though prone to slightly rose-tinted views of peasant culture, has two fine books out that are actually far more important than their ‘humour section’ classification might suggest – How to be Idle and How to be Free.

American readers should also note that How to be Free has just been launched in a US edition called The Freedom Manifesto.

‘How much is enough?’ is a question usually posed with a sigh and a shrug. It belongs in the same category as ‘how long is a piece of string?’ – it’s an abstraction, best dealt with in general terms. And it’s mobile. Everyone has their own idea of how much money or stuff they need, but then their wages go up and lo and behold, so does their concept of enough.

But, I’m writing about the question today because two books I’ve been reading recently have both managed to put a pretty precise figure on it. According to John Naish in his book ‘Enough‘, you will be content if you stay “on or slightly above the median-earning level of your country and avoid competing socially in materialistic terms.” That makes ‘enough’ around £355 a week.

So now you know.

Meanwhile in ‘The Selfish Capitalist‘, Oliver James declares that to meet all your basic living requirements in the UK would “require an annual income of only £15,000″.

I can concur. Not so long ago I lived perfectly happily on these sorts of numbers. So is that really enough? That depends on what you value most, and whether you actually want enough. If you like time more than money, for example, that’s enough. If you like cars and holidays, then clearly no, it isn’t. But it can be, and that’s the important thing. It’s there for those that want it, and some people take it.

Ronald Sider wanted to give more away, and so developed a formula to work out what him and his family would keep from what he earned. Starting with the American official poverty line for a family of four, which was some $18,000 at the time, he gives away an increasing percentage for every thousand dollars he earns over that figure.

John Wesley worked out that he could live on £28 a year. (This was the 1720s mind you)  At the time he earned £30, so he gave the remaining two. By the end of his life he was earning £1,400 a year as a successful author, but he still lived on £28.

The management guru Charles Handy sits down with his wife at the beginning of the year and they work out how much they need, add 20% for luck, and take just enough speaking engagements to match that amount.

Tom Hodgkinson of the Idler is a big advocate of enough. He argues that all work should be divided into ten three and a half hour shifts each week, and we could choose to work as many of those as we needed. At some points in our life we would work all ten, at other times five or six.

Of course the point in all this is that enough is where you choose to find it. It has certain parameters – a floor, and no ceiling – you probably do have enough, but whether you recognise it or not depends whether you look up or down.

The idler is, contrary to most dullards’ ideas, not a pathetic slacker with his bum potted in the couch nervily flicking channels of thought of “Should I, Should I not.” He’s, to paraphrase Henry Miller, deliciously detached from the constraints of civilization but fully engaged in daily life.

He is mixing the mandarin and the demotic. Seeking emancipation rather than freedom. And as Henry Miller wrote: “From the time you wake up until the moment you go to bed it’s all a lie, all a sham and a swindle.” And he is fucking dead on, smack dab on the erogenous zone that we all wish we could feel.

I love how Miller (yes, him again, because he is to my slowpoke mind, the American flâneur) wrote this about being idle, or better yet, at the pulse of life: “A beautiful nap this afternoon that put velvet between my vertebrae.” Ahhh.

Work is the opposite of creation, which is simply play, or as Amis writes, literature is “reason at play.” And I play , every day, at least, at being omnipotent, creating a tiny world of words where others can also play.

Writers are the great tricksters, the idlers who always find time to have a thought solidify into a word and a word sensuously couple with a thought, and only when I am writing can I create this place where the rituals are my own, not someone else’s artifice in the “monkey world of human values.”

I abhor the Protestant work ethic that values hard work at another’s expense over the salvation of your own soul. I prefer a pagan work ethic, which is: let the civilized build there new worlds while you hide out in the wilds, making a conscious living with few possession beyond love, honesty, truth, and beauty, purposefully sitting still while everything around you goes to rack and ruin, because when civilization is busy destroying itself on the illusion of progress, you can actually go about living without the need of a backdrop because the heart needs no sounding board to beat.

And I certainly want to do more of this: “Listen to the sound of your own psychic bowel.” I really have to read the Self. I think he and I might share the same vintage.

Now I shall end with Samuel Beckett: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Ah yes, the mob who considers themselves above the idler may want to seriously consider their paltry place in this ever-changing world. What they think of as success was brewed out of failure, and as heady as they get, the quicker they’ll get addicted to the spirit of the self, megalomaniacs drowning in their own vomit.

Only if you fail can you succeed. Those who simply succeed are riding a nonexistent wave to a desert island. I’d rather ride the turbulent wave of failure that comes crashing down on the bounty of solitude. And I think that solitude, considered by many as failure, is the triumph of humanity. I want to live apart but be in deeper with life than the six-foot hole we all end up in.

a set of rules, conventions, or standards…

All good books are alike in that they are truer
than if they had really happened
and after you are finished reading one
you will feel that all that happened
to you and afterwards it all belongs to you;
the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse,
and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. 
~ Ernest Hemingway ~

The solution was not according to the book but it served the purpose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When was the last time you read a really good book…or any book at all?

No matter how busy you may think you are,
you must find time for reading,
or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.
~ Atwood H. Townsend