Over the years, I have come to be interested in 3 main areas - health, money and dreams. Not in a superficial way like being a money grubbing, steroid using myth chaser. I mean in a way that lets you earn a buck without killing yourself or others in the process. Blending ideals with practicality. So for work, I chose energy efficiency consulting. I figured that I was paying $10 a month for electricity (and $50 a month for heat when I lived in the midwest) so through consulting I could show others how fun and easy it was to keep extra cash in the pocket just by wasting less. A side benefit of wasting less is that lower air pollution from power plants and manufacturing plants, fewer political demands on resource rich countries, reduced blackouts, etc.

Related to this is gasoline, recycling, buying clutter, creating debt, buying on impulse, eating junk and getting sick, doctors and toxic meds vs natural remedies and exercise, etc. It's very liberating to pay less and keep more of your money.

Everybody knows something that others don't. The more we share, the more we learn, the less vulnerable we are to politics, economics and all the other things many of us think control us.

We are taught to spend, not to save. We are taught to follow, not to think.

I love to travel. For day to day commuting I use a folding bicycle for a few blocks till I get to the train. No car. For medium trips I like Amtrak. The sights, the sounds, the relaxation and the fuel sipping nature of public transit. The bike gives me a little sweat-free exercise on the way to and from places, connects me to the world and is way more convenient than parking. And it uses no gas and kills no soldiers per gallon. But for long distances I do fly or drive the Prius hybrid.

I like movies that were made between 1930 and 1980 the most. Most new ones lack something. I just like 20th century history and media I guess. Yesterday's momentus events like World War II, the Great Depression, the inventions of electricity, phones, TV just seem more interesting to look back on today than todays inventions seem in the present. And years from now, I will probably look back at todays inventions and situations in the same nostalgic way. But it just seems like so much more growth and leaps in improved life took place in the 20th century than now. At least in the USA. I don't like today's political assault on science and history. It might be an effective way to take advantage of people's ignorance and apathy for political or business gain, but it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. In the context of some political decisions as well as personal spending habits and attitudes towards health, learning, infrastructure and environmental and natural resource issues from colliding populations, "long term" solutions are being ignored for "short term" bandaids because math, science and history are just too much to think about to some. Besides, you can get more votes and sell more stuff from commercials if the "news" broadcasts push emotional buttons but don't offer solutions.

But I like modern music that has no words, but is just "music". You know, kinda like classical music but modern - electronic but melodic and tropical sounding. But I don't like pop culture or "pop" music or top-40 because most of it is sugary and manufactured from market studies.

I do like a touch of the brainless sometimes. Jerry Springer on occasion and John Waters all the time. The retardation of America is kinda funny when it's not sad. It reminds me of my home town Detroit Michigan and its plastic suburbs, trailer parks and ghettos. I just shake my head and laugh until I realize the things on the show really are happening outside the TV studio.

Dark humor is great. Not sick to the point its diseased; (usually). Just dark. Why? because ideas should take your mind to the next level. I like to explore limits through humor. It makes me think. And its equally fun to watch others react to really over the top humor as well. When its clean fun, its just fun. When its sick, dark or warped, its funny too, but in a different way. Its sort of like watching somebody vomit. You feel sorry for them, but in many ways the sounds and contortions of throwing up are quite funny. Especially in public.

Then there's always the comedy that is high quality, thought provoking and easy to understand and process like Carol Burnett, Absolutely Fabulous, Benny Hill and Black Entertainment Television (BET) network's Comedy Jam. Sitcoms like "Friends" however, are just painfully boring.

I like normal things too - like sunsets and ice cream. But the sunset has to be over water so you can get the full effect and the ice cream has to be Italian gellato :)