Author: Chad Kohalyk
-
Danshari — thinking about “stuff”
When people find out about our efforts at minimalist living, bearing in mind our Japanese background, many ask us about Marie Kondo and her “life-changing magic of tidying up.” The KonMari Method is the latest in decluttering techniques. It seems pretty effective for many people, but we have not read any of her books. We…
-
Site refresh and newsletter launch
The site has been refreshed to a more traditional blog layout that exposes a bit more content. I like the idea of a super-minimalist site that focuses entirely on the writing on the page, but I have nearly 500 posts, many that are still valuable as part of this interconnected web of thinking I call…
-
“Area CIS white Man applauds diversity”
I got cornered at the park during lunch today to offer a “Random Area Man” soundbite about our mayor’s attendance at the Sugarplum Ball, a cool little event put on by my pals at the Okanagan Young Professionals. Watch the whole segment: This is a complete non-controversy. I reverse-interviewed the journalist who said she had…
-
Working through Ramadan: the inverse edition
For Muslims working in non-Muslim work environments, observing Ramadan is an epic feat of self-discipline. Working through Ramadan is an excellent piece on the Slack blog that I recommend for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. For Muslims, there are some tips on toughing it out with a 9 to 5 schedule, how to prioritize your focus…
-
Quarterly review: FY16Q2
Each quarter I do a quick roundup of the book and film reviews that I do on Goodreads and Letterboxd. These reviews are too short and too off-the-cuff to be included with the more in depth reviews I do on this site. Below are the highlights of the quarter. Books This month I technically completed…
-
6 months meat-free
On December 28th 2015 — about to consume yet another holiday family dinner of turkey and ham with all the trimmings — I decided to stop eating meat. It has been six months and I have kept to that promise. It has not been very difficult actually, but I should be sure to give full…
-
Questioning “normal consumption” — find out what you actually need!
One of the first things we did when starting our downsizing program was stopped using our credit cards. We had to figure out what our real expenses were each month to get our spending under control, and the cards did not help. In fact, they were a hindrance. Take a look at some stats from…
-
The Seven revenue models
Consider the following chart showing how the Revenue per User flows for each of the major mobile platforms: The chart belongs to a presentation where Horace Dediu looks at the future of online services. (Disclaimer: I have not been to the event, nor have I seen the presentation.) At first glance, my first impression was:…
-
500
This weekend I passed 500 read books on Goodreads. I started using the site Dec 27th 2009 and added a bunch of read books in early 2010. Since then I have logged 295 reads, averaging about 46 a year. My 500th book was Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana aka. “Bhante G”. I…
-
Why NOT Uber?
What do people really want when they say they want Uber to come to their community? Once they learn about all the scandals, lawsuits, riots and demonstrations, the many lists of reasons not to use Uber, most people come away with a nuanced opinion. But typically, at first blush, many people have a very positive…