Bike Thief

We have all had bikes stolen, its just a fact of life. Urban entities accept bike theft with a hardened, passing sigh and start the long walk home, leaving just a twisted, razed lock behind as warning to the other cyclists. I lost one about a year ago and I swore "If I ever find the guy who stole my bike... I am going to kill him. Kill him ... and eat him."

Here is an elegant solution to the bike theft problem, an exploding lock! Just as banks insert exploding ink packs into bags of cash, the lock would spray a marking ink all over the culprit and bike when cut, notifying authorities or anyone else that this is a bike thief/stolen bike. You probably wouldn't get your bike back, but at least it would be a pain in the ass for the thief, which is really all you can do. After all, It isn't a matter of - how can I keep my bike from being stolen, its HOW LONG can I keep my bike from being stolen.

the Pen

OK, back to minimalism. The disposable pen is one of those everyday things we take totally for granted and give no thought whatsoever to a low arc toss into the wastebin. Recently the BIC company announced the sale of their 100 billionth disposable pen. First introduced after the final days of WWII, the early pens replaced fountain tips which were very messy. The appeal of the disposable pen became universal and the entire world quickly adopted it as the new standard in writing instrument, no more ink bottles or spills to clean up, just a simple plastic tube with an ink barrel that no one gave a shit about and threw away when no longer useful. This success inspired BIC - and many other company's, to reconsider the needs of daily life and quickly produced disposable razors and lighters, setting off a "disposable revolution" of sorts.

100 billion pens. Every single one destined to be thrown into the trash.

I went looking for a refillable pen after this announcement and I have to admit, I had a hard time finding an alternative. Ball point pens are hardy creatures, reliable and dependable with few faults. I got quality ballpoints and reloaded them with new ink barrels, but admittedly after three or so refills I just dropped them in a drawer. I decided to go for the old school fountain pen because they have a quality that inspires good penmanship. There were a lot of options I found, but these pens are more for symbolism, given as gifts to bankers and the like who would use it to authorize a big money deal - not for daily use. I found a good many prohibitively expensive pens and few modestly priced calligraphy type pens, but they both had the same disposable ink cartridge that held a limited reservoir of ink.

In the end I went with a pen that I found kicking around the house. Years ago I picked up a set of drafting pens from somewhere and they turned out to be the perfect pen. Large ink reservoir that can be easily refilled from a bottle and since it was designed for production work they are easy to clean and maintain. I am still apprehensive about throwing it heedlessly into a backpack, but for daily use it has totally replaced ballpoint pens in my life. Frankly, with computers there is little use for pens, so why even bother with disposables?

Moral: If its made to be thrown away, how much can it be worth?

I'm Poor

I recently caught myself doing something that I hate other people for doing. It hard to explain, but basically I was pretending like I was rich. This is a consequence of a credit based society, we all like to pretend that we have a lot more money than we actually do. This is everywhere I go, Gucci bags on the bus, Dolce Gabbana shades in line at the social security office. I succumbed in the form of a fancy stereo that, admittedly I got off the craigslist, but to hear me talk about it you'd think it was built to my exacting specifications by eastern european watchmakers. A stereo had somehow magically lifted me out of my station and made it so that I could talk with my social betters as peers - as equals, at least on matters of media playback. I found myself scoffing at those who would accept a tinny treble or blown out bass. That was when the mailman brought the bills and grounded me.

America is a class based society, but there is nothing shameful about being poor. In my opinion the only really shameful thing is living beyond your means and you don't have to be poor for that. Noted idiot Sean Combs was recently in the news because he was forced to ground his personal jet and fly on a commercial aircraft. Funny that he never thought to "Plane-pool" with other strapped celebrities. As for the rest of us, we get used to being a little colder and a little sicker for a little longer. We get good at waiting for things. Disappointment becomes parenthetical and has the breadth of a breath. While Wall Street booms, we flip burgers and sweep up for minimum wage. Now that its tanked, our circumstances are very much the same. 

So why the front? Why break the bank on a Chanel handbag and have no money it? Why pull the Benz up to the Drive thru and order off the dollar menu? These are rhetorical device, we all know why. Its the aspiration for a better life, the outward sign of the inward wish. No person of means will respect anyone because they have on the same coat. Burberry's famously killed their patterned ballcap when local louts started wearing them. This kind of retaliation against class trespassing isn't limited to the rich, I still would not feel comfortable wearing an old school rap "Africa Necklace." Time bears out all trends and rights itself, which is one of the reasons I try to choose minimalism.

As for pretending to be rich, well I will try a little harder to represent myself as I am. Instead of a fancy logo on my shirt I might just print my credit score.