You can never have too many shoes.

Except that... you can.

I came across this picture one day somewhere. I don't even remember what it was for. Did it instill me with envy? Wonderment? Awe? Nope. I was filled with disgust. This is not an image of a store; this is someone's home. In what world does anyone possibly need this? I know, I know, it's not about "need", it's about "want". Seriously? I look at this and think, THIS is actually a disorder. My judgement call? My humble opinion? No. This is gross. This is an abuse. This is a disease. It's not cute, it's not enviable, it's sick. Plain sick. And bad for everyone.

Unfortunately, it is a disease that we are encouraged to have every day from every side. TV, magazines, billboards, ads everywhere tell us THIS is what we want. We DESERVE it. An article I read some time ago mentioned that walk-in closets are a fairly American concept. Many "average" Europeans do well with fewer and higher quality clothes. I personally have a serious love affair with boots, but I do not own 50 pairs. In fact, I've been holding on to a gift card with plans to buy what would be my 3rd pair, replacing another pair that are more utility than dress. I can't seem to pull the trigger on purchasing them. Surely there is something else more practical I can buy! Even my husband says, nearly daily, "Did you order your boots yet? Why not?" (I love him!) While the message out there is to have more buy more trash more, I'm cool with keeping things simple.

Why the American obsession with having more more more bigger bigger better? Why the walk-in closets that are bigger than some apartments? My husband and I like to dream of our own home, so we go to open houses on the weekends in our favorite little town. Most every place we look at has huge closets. Sure, I love them, but they make me laugh, because I know how empty ours would be. Room for all the towels and linens, for sure. Then what would be in the linen closets? We laugh. And yet there has been, as you have noticed, such a growing abundance of storage rental facilities. Seriously??? No, I can see the need for those when you are moving and need to stash your stuff for a month. Tops. But keeping a storage unit for months and months and years?? I don't get it. First, our garages are too full for our cars because we have too much stuff, and now we overflow into storage units. Why? Safety in stuff? Longevity through belongings? We moved from a one-bedroom to a larger 2-bedroom, and actually, we got RID of stuff. I have empty cupboards. It's a nice problem; I like it. I feel no need to stuff them to overflowing.

Gross and unnecessary consumerism should not be written off as a personal choice for some few sick people. It's dangerous and it's a drain on everyone's resources. It affects you, it affects me. We need to make better choices, we need to stop being slaves to the whims of ad agencies and big corporations who say buy more more more or you're a loser, and we need to instill better values in the next generation. I get the feeling they are going to look back on us and say, "What were you thinking???"

We weren't. But we can start now.

Hot Water on Demand

There are a lot of things I can live without. I hardly miss paper towels, I barely think twice about shampoo and conditioner, and never having to buy deodorant again is quite a pleasure. I have great substitutes for all these things. One thing I prefer to keep in my life, however, is hot showers. It's my downfall. I love me some nice hot steamy shower time. Recently, we had our old terrible dripping water heater replaced in our complex, and... let's just say the hot water wasn't greatly forthcoming after that. Turns out the whole works needed a new pump as well, and now everything is fine and dandy. Burn-worthy, actually.

This small experience gave me lots to think about, though. For a few days in there, I contemplated life under a lukewarm shower. I realized how much I took for granted the pure simple joy of hot water, and how grateful I would be when it came back. I thought how the new heater was probably so much more efficient than the last, and would save energy, but if we did not get it working right, then the gross waste of water would more than overshadow that benefit. I was so annoyed by something that people around the world don't even have.

Mostly, I thought that we really could apply this to things in everyday life everywhere. "You don't know what you got til it's gone" is more than just an AWESOME '80's song. It's true, I live in probably the most selfish and self-centered cities there is, but is it like this everywhere? Are we so used to having whatever we want that we don't really care about or respect anything? I watch people go through phones and iPods and all that stuff like it's nothing. It IS something. We really need to go back and realize what it is to live without something so we can appreciate those things again. We've really lost that somewhere along the way. Is it entitlement? I was reading some comments online after a question was posed,"Do you shower in the morning or before you go to bed?" Simple question, many answers, but I was stunned by the number of people who said, "Both!" ??! OK, if your two showers of 5 minutes or less rival my one of... well, slightly longer, but are we talking 2 full showers a day? I digress a bit, but it all falls under the same general area of not being aware of the world around us. Do we know how fortunate we are to HAVE water available to us at any time? Do we realize it might not always be that way if we aren't more careful? Do we know what a waste it is to flush clean water down the toilet, and how stupid it is? Are my future showers in jeopardy because some ass-clowns out there think they NEED and are entitled to 2 showers a day? Do these same people wash their towels and jeans after only one wearing, and do they use hot water to launder things?? So many questions. No answers.

My hot water is back. My showers were probably a touch shorter in the lukewarm days, but I try. I don't linger. I save water in other areas very well. But what's the point if not everybody is doing the same? We're in dangerous times, here. And I don't think enough people are aware of that. Sadly, they will not suffer alone or bring the crap down only on themselves; the rest of us will get pulled in too. We HAVE to get everyone's attention, and we have to do it soon.

Right vs. privilege. Time to re-learn what it is to do without sometimes.... suggestions?

What's so "alt" about Alt-Cars?

With high hopes and expectations in hand and mind, I gamely headed over to the Alt-Car Expo in Santa Monica last weekend. Nothing against the event itself... it was a nice gathering. But it was completely bogus.

 Pictured here is what we did NOT see at the Alt-Car Expo. THAT car, the Tango, is a true alt-car. Most of what was actually AT the Expo was more of the same by all the same companies. At a place where I expected to see mind-blowing MPG's, I saw mostly hybrids with 31-51mpg. Seriously??? Shit, my 1998 Hyundai Accent (white, 4-door, all manual but I loved it) regularly got 33mpg. I know it did. I kept track religiously. It was a matter of pride. So now the major players trot out cars bragging about 30-40mpg, and I'm supposed to be impressed???  Um, NOT. Show me 150mpg. Show me a car that runs on algae. Show me an electric car that charges itself by solar. THAT'S "alt". What they had was just another car show.

There were some cool things there. I test-drove the Nissan Leaf, which, while I still wouldn't buy it, was really fun. It had impressive features, it had great pick-up, and it was whisper-quiet. I got back in my car and nearly went deaf. So it felt, anyway! So yeah it was cool, but I still want my smartcar. Electric, preferably, but that probably won't be available here in the States for awhile. Boo.

TRUE alt is the smartcar (http://smartusa.com/index.aspx), the think ( http://thinkev.com/ ), the Aptera (http://aptera.com/). Where were they? I'm not fooled. You shouldn't be either. Demand more. I was at a talk by the creators of Fuel (http://thefuelfilm.com/), and they had arrived in their Prius that they had converted. It got 150mpg, and those gallons were algae bio-fuel, not petrol. Now THAT'S "alt" for sure.

Even the electric cars, which are seriously impressive, still run off the grid. They still suck coal power and nuclear. Unless you have a total solar set-up, you're still contributing. Sorry, but it's true. Unless you are riding a bike or walking, you're pretty much still contributing. Oh, by all means, you are doing better, but we're still not THERE. We can demand to be there. We really can.

And it's up to us, cuz ain't no one gonna do it for us.