I’ve decided to leave Facebook for a while. I have not and will not delete my account I will just stop using it. Possibly checking it very occasionally.

Minimalism way of life will lead you to a lot of things you never thought about. What you once accepted as the norm you will now question the how and why of. Where you invest your time, energy and money are decisions you will start placing much more thought into.

Few days ago  I noticed that Facebook was sitting at the top of the list of most visited sites in my browser, I spent 20-30 minutes on Facebook, 5-7 days a week, browsing updates and occasionally setting up social engagements via wall posts and messages. I finally realised that to be at the top of that list I must be spending hours and hours of my life there. Those hours turn into days and I daren’t think how many of those add up into weeks or even months since I joined in 2006.

My time is valuable to me and to my family. The more I thought about what I was getting out of Facebook, and what I was giving back on Facebook, I realized it was a one sided conversation. I was passively bobbing along in the tide of updates, not connecting, not sharing and spending time keeping up with people I would never call on the phone or invite over for dinner.

I want more from my friends than status updates. I want to give my friends more than status updates.

The very conservative 30 minutes a day, or roughly 3 hours a week, or over 6 days a year, I spent on Facebook can now be used for better connections…… so many things I can do!

So if you need to contact me please use email or phone!

Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.

Henry David Thoreau

Image via Wikipedia

I have blogged before about my challenge to 100 things. While I still own more than 100 items…if you take off the equations my work stuff, items I jointly owned with my wife….I am getting very close!

A minimalist lifestyle is the one that is free of complications, clutter,confusion and distraction. Its where you have taken your life and streamlined it to make it the most efficient it can possibly be. It is also more of a process than a destination, minimalism is something that you will need to continually work on as many other factors in life are constantly going to try and complicate things for you. Why ? because the rest of the world has not stumbled onto this way of thinking yet. The vast majority still believe that if something is more complex and complicated then it must be better, rather we as minimalists prefer to look for elegant simplicity as the deciding factor of quality.

Minimalist living, in simplest terms, is to live with as less as possible, mentally and physically until you achieve peace of mind. The concept is simple but achieving it is hard. Just look at the the room where you are now or at the desk you are sitting on: how many items does it contain? Is your desk surrounded by papers, notebooks, books, pens and pencils?

What about your closets, living rooms and bedrooms? How much joy does all this clutter bring you? What clutters you physically also disables you mentally.

While I am no expert at living minimally, it is something that I practice. I know how it is when I started and I believe will free you of the excess baggage that nothing else can bring.

What should be your first step? Get rid of excess. Go through your closets and pick out all the things that you don’t need any more. Donate all clothes to a charity of choice. I promise you, this might seem tiring but at the end of it all, you will feel ecstatic for not only helping yourself, but helping others. I will be writing about how to make this process a bit easier.

What was once considered ‘cheap’ (with a negative connotation) is now expressed as ‘minimal’ and ‘smart’ thanks to this economy.

10 Things I do not own

Television,  DVD player,  Stereo system, remote controls,  Entertainment center or TV stand ( No need for it when you don’t have a TV), Car (Ok I live in Venice…quite easy), Bookcase, Coffee Maker, BBQ, Magazine Rack, Video Games………

5 Minimalist Quotes I love

1. “In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple.”

2. “If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”

3. “If you want to be given everything, give everything up.”

4. “If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.”

5. “When there is no desire, all things are at peace.”

Related articles

• Minimalist Living (lowercaseliving.wordpress.com)
• A Practical Guide to a Minimalist Home (stopandbreathe.com)
• My Favorite Minimalistic Living Blog/site

This is all that matters now
And that was all that happened anyhow
You can look back but don’t stare
Maybe I can love you out of there

And when I went away what I forgot to say
Was all I had to say:
Eight letters, three words, one meaning

And outside forces didn’t make it easy
So I thought I’d go before you leave me
Self-preservation was no explanation for anything

(Gary Barlow)

When you walk in the winter fog, there seems to be no division between water and embankment, life and death, love and hate. You feel that you can walk through walls, through sky, through time.

My Venice is the Venice of winter, the Venice of Cannaregio, the Venice of fog. Walking down the Fte Nove  in la nebbia, wearing rubber boots against the high water, it is hard to tell where terra firma leaves off and sky and water begin. The city seems to hang in the air like a mirage. Sounds bounce off the waters and deceive you with their closeness or farness. Figures appear and disappear around corners. The past beckons. It is quite possible to believe that it can take you and never give you back.

Related articles

• The peaceful pleasures of Venice in winter (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Frittelle…Fritoe, or fritters, are the most famous dolci or sweets of  Venice during the Carnival Season.

Frittelle begin showing up in pastry shops, Cafes and  bakeries, mid Januaryand  during the weeks leading up to il Carnevale di Venezia. When Carnival is over, frittelle disappear from the store windows almost as quickly as tourists in masks.

Frittelle come in a variety of styles, both filled and unfilled, the available choices usually include:

Frittelle veneziane. No filling, but with raisins and pine nuts mixed into the fairly heavy dough. After frying, the frittelle are rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con crema chantilly. Filled with a light vanilla-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con cioccolata. Filled with a mild chocolate-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

Frittelle con zabaione. Filled with a Marsala-flavored pastry cream and rolled in granulated sugar.

The most famous and renowned places were to get the Frittelle and my vote

• Pasticceria Tonolo: Contrada San pantalon in Dorsoduro 10/10
• Pasticceria Didovitch: Campo Santa Marina     9/10
• Pasticceria Bonifacio Calle degli Albanesi San Marco 4/10 (uncooked)
• Panifico Fornareto Calle del Forner Cannaregio  8/10
• Coffe Pasticceria Pitteri Strada Nuova Cannaregio  9/10 but poor Cappuccino!
• Dal Mas  Cannaregio Rio Terà Lista de Spagna, 150  8/10
• Rosa Salva  (5/10)

The worst Frittelle (IMHO)

• Majer (San Giacomo dell’Orio) : just one word Terrible!!!

This year prices are around 1.00 and 1.30 Euro each  but I have seen also a few outrageous 1.50

In cases where every thing is understood, and measured, and reduced to rule, love is out of the question.
William Godwin

William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was a British journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism.

Related articles

• The Conservative Anarchist (lewrockwell.com)
• Utilitarianism: What The Heck is It? (socyberty.com)
• 65 reviews of Anarchism (rateitall.com)

Everything is open
Nothing is set in stone

…..

You’re driftwood floating underwater
Breaking into pieces, pieces, pieces
Just driftwood, hollow and of no use
Waterfalls will find you, bind you, grind you

…..

So I’m sorry that you’ve turned to driftwood
But you’ve been drifting for a long, long time

The Video by Travis is here

While searching for traces of the Templars,  I  found today in Venice the following inscription at La Maddalena church “Amor Vincit Omnia”

Twilight, darkened day
Twilight, lost my way
Twilight, night and day
Twilight, can’t find my way
U2