Ericast 155 - Unicorns on Velvet!

In an episode that has to be seen to be believed, you have the opportunity to see it... because this is the return of the Dweeb Thoughts video podcast on YouTube!

And it might be going back on hiatus for awhile because, man, doing the video side of this is a pain! A worthwhile pain to you, the dedicated Ericast listener (or "viewer") but a pain none-the-less.

Speaking of, 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) is the phone number for you to call in and share your thoughts.

In addition to talking about velvet paintings, we throw out a random topic that I've been pondering lately -- "complacency" and, more importantly, what its healthy alternative might be. As I try to explain at the end of the podcast, just because you "DO SOMETHING!" rather than sitting around indifferent doesn't necessarily mean that what you're doing is a good thing.

The "Ready, FIRE!, Aim" method isn't very good... but, I'd say, neither is the "Ready, Aim, Aim, Keep Aiming, Aim, Aim a little more..." alternative.

What do you think? Get off that complacent bottom of yours and call in with an observation or challenge: 206-339-3742 or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 154 - Mandatory Personal Growth

Based on an emlarson.com blog post of mine from a couple weeks back, we're talking this week about the idea of "mandatory personal growth" in the form of typical college undergraduate education.

Why? Because now that we (i.e. I and most of you, the Ericast listeners) aren't under that kind of "structure" or, I dare say, that kind of "pressure," do we have a tendency to stagnate or lose the drive and motivation to grow?

Sure, this has some concern when it comes to "branching out and doing new things"... but I'm even more interested in the loss of drive to pursue things that we process to value. Maybe I and my friends are just lazy?

Now that's a conversation starter! So start the conversation! 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Ericast 153 - Paisley Owl Wallpaper

No, not "wallpaper" like the kind you put on the background of your computer desktop screen. We're talking about genuine "dead trees glued to house walls" here. Having sorted through my entire life in photographic form (and having successfully encapsulated it into 22 hard-to-find plastic shoeboxes that are now stacked in the basement in two piles each five feet tall), this gem is too good to pass up:



Feel free to click that picture and zoom in on the owls in all their 1970s glory. (Or, technically, their 1960s glory? The wallpaper was probably put up in 1971 or maybe 1972 so I suppose the design itself is from a year or two prior to that...)

I miss that house.

And, as I mention in the podcast, it's not like anyone ever sets out to decorate something as "weird". At the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable.

I wish I could find a photo of the bathroom...

Do you have any similar "tacky decorating memories"? Share them by calling 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mailing them to me (eric) at ericast.com.

Don't forget, too, that you can add in your comments about religion, war, Glenn Beck, the social gospel, Goodnight Moon, or any other form of internet hug.