Hello, although this page has served me well in the past, I am moving the old content to a new blog http://christopherbeall.blogspot.com/, under my newest email address. Please look for me there. Thanks.

GREEN COMPANIES

Here is a sample of companies that are standing up and making a difference for our environment and our future. For the complete list, please follow the link below.

http://www.plentymag.com/magazine/the_plenty_20_1.php?page=5

A123 Systems

The dawn of the hybrid car—not to mention $4-per-gallon gasoline—shows the importance of fuel-saving batteries. At the head of the class is A123. This Watertown, Massachusetts, start-up has a $148 million venture capital war chest that fueled a nanotech breakthrough: a battery that charges faster, holds more power, and is safer than anything out now. A123 is already taking orders for lithium batteries that turn a Toyota Prius into a plug-in machine clocking 100 miles per gallon; and by 2010, they will power GM’s Chevy Volt.

Applied Materials

Even as big-money entrants crowd the solar field, Applied stands out as a likely winner. Already a Fortune 500 company producing computer chip–making equipment, Applied has repurposed its nanomanufacturing technology to create the largest thin-film solar cells in the world. Thin-film, which involves layering sunlight-reactive material to mold around a variety of bases, has sky-high potential because of its low cost and flexibility. As Applied works on increasing solar-film efficiency, this technology will likely play a starring role in the clean energy picture.

IBM

Big Blue has said it will spend $1 billion in its “Big Green” initiative to make its products more energy efficient (primarily in carbon-chomping corporate data centers). But IBM is also one of the key players in a movement that includes Fortune 500 companies, nimble start-ups, and electric utilities exploring ways to make the entire energy grid smarter. This means putting computer processors into every node so that companies can more accurately meter and charge for energy usage—creating incentives for efficiency unimaginable in the past.

Arup

Arup brings to life the cutting-edge eco-dreams of architecture’s stars. This inter­­national design and construction consultancy has worked on more than 1,000 green projects in the last ten years, with a portfolio spanning from the new Califor­nia Academy of Sciences and its living roof, by Renzo Piano, to the eco-city planned for Dongtan, China. Arup also advises clients about marine ecology, human health impacts, and noise pollution, as it brings the latest ideas in sustainabil­ity to the built environment.

Bon Appétit Management Company

You don’t need a neighborhood vegan café to boost your low-carbon diet.... more

HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL

This is a video by a University of California professor about the history of Climate Change. Pretty sweet!

FUTURE OF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY

This is a great video with insight into the technology based, global future of education. Its worth the time to watch.

MY BELIEFS

These are the results from my most recent Belief-O-Matic test.

Your Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our message boards.

1. Secular Humanism (100%)

2. Unitarian Universalism (93%)

3. Liberal Quakers (90%)

4. Theravada Buddhism (82%)

5. Jainism (75%)

6. Neo-Pagan (75%)

7. Nontheist (72%)

8. Orthodox Quaker (70%)

9. Mahayana Buddhism (66%)

10. Taoism (63%)

11. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (62%)

12. Bahá'í Faith (56%)

13. Seventh Day Adventist (55%)

14. New Age (53%)

15. Hinduism (46%)

16. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (44%)

17. Reform Judaism (44%)

18. Eastern Orthodox (38%)

19. Islam (38%)

20. Orthodox Judaism (38%)

21. Roman Catholic (38%)

22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (36%)

23. Sikhism (34%)

24. Jehovah's Witness (24%)

25. Scientology (20%)

26. New Thought (14%)

27. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (9%)

THE WORD "PREMISES"

Today in Ridiculous Word Origins

Thanks to Wikipedia, I now know how the word "premises", meaning a tract of land with its buildings and other other facilities, has a silly root. Wiki says:

"Premises are land and buildings together considered as a property. This usage arose from property owners finding the word in their title deeds, where it originally correctly meant "the aforementioned; what this document is about", from Latin prae-missus = "placed before".

Some people suppose that since "premises" looks like a plural, a single house or other piece of property must be a "premise"; but the word "premise" is reserved for use as a term in logic meaning something assumed or taken as given in making an argument."

Silly, no?

REVIVING

Here goes another attempt at getting this page off the ground.

Today's topic: Life-Work Balance

A great source for the history of the ideas behind Life-Work balance can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work-life_balance. It used to be that the average work week was 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, totaling 84 hours a week. In comparison, our 40 hour work week doesn't compare, esp. if you take into account that the work we do is much less labor intensive, and much safer. As it happens, American workers often end up working 50-70 hour weeks in the more competitive job markets. They do, however, usually end up with a substancial monetary compensation. One could argue that it is better to work 70 hours a week for 20 years than 40 hours a week for 40. The math is in their favor, but if I am not sure the sacrifice is worth it. I think youth is too important to waste on work. However, if I had to create the perfect work week, it would look like this:

The work week would be 3 days long, and you would work 10 hours a day, totally a 30-hour work week. You would get two breaks, one for lunch and one for dinner. It would make most sense, if you were going to be working this much, to either live really close, or to simply have a place at or near work where you could spend the night. This would save on transportation.

If you don't like this 3-day idea, the alternative would be a 4-day, 32-hour work week, where you would basically keep the same system we have now, but cut out a day. I really do believe that a lot of time gets wasted and most employees don't need to be working more than 30 hours a week. Adding in commute time, you shouldn't be spending more than 40 hours a week total.

With a work schedule like this, what would you do with all your free time?

TANNA UPDATE

(Photo: Village houses in Kumahau, South Tanna)

I've been getting a lot done here in Vila, but expect to be back on Tanna in the coming days... likely within the week, but the exact date of travel is uncertain.

As of now, I will stil be stationed on Tanna, but I have the freedom to move around and be involved in whatever projects are happening, or to start whatever projects my mind can dream up. I'm excited about this prospect, at least for the time being, because it allows me to be involved in (hopefully) some pretty far-reaching and effective projects, but, at the same time, allows me access to live (as much or as little as I choose) like the locals. Ideally, I'd like to have a home somewhere remote (like my village) where I live on par with their lifestyles, but to have a second home, of sorts, for work... which would be a 'model home', a stucture built either of all local materials, all modern materials, or a very efficient combination which could be used as a training model for builting on the island. Since it would be a work home, I would likely not be there much during the day, leaving it open to be used as a model often, AND because it would need to be centrally located near the business and politcal centers, it would maximize on the number of people on the island and in the province who would be able to see it. The two homes allows me to gain an appreciation and understanding for the living conditions and lifestyle of the more remote villagers, with my first home, and at the same time, allows me to infuse new ideas in design, technique, materials, and maintenance into their current understandings with the second 'model' home. These being separate, I can have both without them overlaping and thereby jeapardizing one or the other.

I am hoping to help identify other projects where "models" or "examples of success" or "improvement" could be identified and used to help train management and propogate successful methods. Some people are already working on things like this in agriculture, but it needs much help, and can easily be expanded to other sectors with equal success.

So, basically, for the time being I've gotten what I want, which is freedom to do, well, whatever I want in terms of projects. That is exciting. As usual, there is way more to do that I should commit to, so in the next few weeks, I will identify what my projects will be, gathering germaine details along the way, and then finally start work. Looking forward, I can see this being successful if it goes on for two years, but I can also see that if I spend 6 months to a year getting a handle on work on Tanna, and gaining the first hand experience of the people on the ground and their conditions, that I could move to Vila and make a bigger impact with that knowledge. Of course, that would be a good idea for me or anyone else really from PC. It doesn't seem to happen much, and so don't have high expectations for this coming to be. If it doesn't, I expect to be equally satisfied with my productivity on the ground in Tanna as I would be moving to Vila to work on administration, funding, and oversight (assessment of projects and project planning). There's so much to do, I'm just going to be glad to be able to work on one project that will help, but, being still young and ambitious, the more I can accomplish with the same amount of effort, the better. I will work towards that goal while keeping a healthy amount of time reserved for self-sustanance and self-enrichment as well.

So, that's basically it. I hope that settles some anxiety. I know that it has for me, and now I am simply filled with anticipation, and a readiness to begin that I expect the rest of my group is feeling with equal strength.

(Picture: Mount Yasur erupting on the south-eastern side of Tanna, Dec 31st 2006. Photo taken from Middlebush)

The Peace Corps Experience is something that I have only just begun, but to share a little of what has happened up until this point, I will try to remember the details and tell them with as much accuracy as my memory allows.

I arrived in Vanuatu on September 23, 2006. After nearly 30 hours of trying to sleep prostrate on cool, ceramic airport tiles, and vertically crammed into seats designed for the men and women of below-average high and weight. At six foot, the high problem was managable on some of the planes, unconfortable on most. I mainly feel sorry for anyone taller who might venture to fly today, as the accommidations were invented before their kith and kin had access, or reason to fly. I'm slender, but endowed with shoulders that protrude into the adjoining seats on both sides, making my interaction with neighbors a little tricky. I always try to get an aisle seat, not only because now you have unlimited access to walk about the plane unincumbered, but that way too my shoulders had a place to rest other than on the shoulder of the unfortunate passenger sitting next to me.

On arriving, we are greeted by the staff and a few current PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers), who hand us an open green-coconut, throw a lei over our necks, and take a picture of us. For the next three months, we would be asked to undergo the most well-intentioned drudgery. This was our training period, a time when we were to be turned from pedantic office-dwelling socialites into dirt-loving, bush knife-weilding machines that could hack our way through the toughest jungle to find small children to teach english, science, and math. Hu-ah! We're the Marines of International Volunteers. Well, that's what our imaginations were dreaming about when the plane landed at the beginning of the Vanuatu spring (or rain and hurricane season as we came to know it). We soon found that training was more a routine where we were waiting to get somewhere, waiting to do something (sometimes anything), or eventually engaged in some sort of perfunctory activity that often involved as little interest from the trainer as from the trainee. After a short time, one by one, we were each lost in a vapid and mindless scholasticism that made every moment of freedom a blessing from the god of sand beaches and sunburns.

To be fair, we came to love and adore our trainers and staff. It would take too long to go into all the great stories and moments that we each shared and cherish, but it would also be negligent to ignore the fact that we, as trainees, were slipping. Our trainers anticipated this as best they could, and stuggled mightily to counter the effects of the island fever that we all felt in our own way. In the end, you can only do your best, plan your worst, and hope for the best. So, after several months droned by, pockmarked with moments of brilliance, hilarity, comaradarie, and relaxation (losing only one of our group in the process) we became official Peace Corps Volunteers, dun da da Daaaa!

Now, we have all shipped off (some literally) to our assigned homes and work places. They vary from the posh (or fas) to the rustic. An apartment near Vila is on the nice side; with electricity, running water, a gas stove, and proximity to nearly any modern convenience you could want. The rustic and rural areas can be found on ANY island, but each has it's own problems. Some volunteers live close to a town, but live in a fully kastom, or traditional house of sticks and leaves. Others get nicer accomodations which usualy include a varied combination of cement and tin, sometimes even with masonite on the inside, and doors and windows varying in quality and age. Some of these nicer accomodations are offset by the problem of proximity or accessability. For example, you might be assigned to work at a secondary school that is well established and where you have flush toilets, cement walls, and electricity once in a while when they run a generator. However, it might be a $200 flight, a $75 boat ride, and another 2 hour walk to get from your site to the nearest store, post office, bank, or semi-permanent hospital facility. So, it can be a trade off. We each have our own set of difficulties, and sometimes things that seem like a bonus, end up causing problems (say for instance, you have a solar panel and therefore electricity, but no one else does; it might cause tension and integration problems).

So, in the meantime, we are all meeting people, getting used to the accomidations or changes in lifestyle, and getting ready to start working in the next few weeks and months. It is an exciting time, but also an incredibly stressful time, as we don't yet feel settled, and haven't yet started work. For those of us who are ready to get to work, we're feeling the heat of patience breathing down our necks, which is making me sweat as much or more than this tropical sun.

For now, things are going, and are heading in positive directions. I'm happy with my progress, and am hoping (and praying) that everything is going as well or better for the rest of our group.

Mormon

So here's a brief summary of my experiences with the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. One might say this is my Testimony of the Church*.

At the end of my freshman year of college, my friend Eric Stull baptized me in a ceremony at his church. He was, and is, Mormon... as they are generally called. As part of this baptism, I officially became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, in the same way that if I had gone through a membership class at a Methodist, or Anglican Church. So 'officially' I became (and continue to be) an official Mormon by the statistical records. My reasoning for being baptized in this way may not make sense to many at first, but if you bear with me, I will try my best to explain why it made sense in my case, and also why a year after my baptism, I stopped attending service at that Church and eventually made my way back to a Non-Denominational Church which I had a previous affiliation with. Lets start at the beginning.

I have always had a serious drive to investigate problems. When I was a small boy, I called this investigation "sciencing" something. For example, I used to have a collection of junk. Doesn't every kid have such a cool collection? This junk consisted in broken machines or machine parts; vacuums, cameras, VCRs, lights, car parts, etc. I liked to take them apart to see how they worked, and then, if possible, put them back together. So, if my mom one day caught me taking apart our old Atari gaming system, I would simply look up from the pile of parts and plastics to very seriously reply that I was "sciencing", or trying to figure out how it worked. Usually it was a pretty simple and safe affair. There were a couple times when "sciencing" in the realm of electricity, or with the use of my chemistry set almost ended me, but those details will be left for some later confession. This drive to investigate to the depths of a subject stayed with me as I've grown and new interests have taken priority.

After I spent middle school investing in my hobbies of the time film, baseball, martial arts, and space exploration, I came to a place where I began looking to problems of right and wrong. These were a little more complicated than dealing with how best to use a video camera, or how best to throw my sparring opponent across the room without seriously hurting him/her. As happens when people begin this ethical exploration, I turned to religion and philosophy as my primary tools, because most scientific tools do not allow you to explore the impossible. As science explores the natural realm, so philosophy and religion explore both the natural and beyond into the endless possibilities of the super-natural. My reading lead me to become part of a Nondenominational Church during High School, but as I graduated, I felt a great depth of emptiness on the area of knowledge about God, life, ethics, and religion. I began an intense exploration into other belief systems (i.e. religions). Most of this included simply reading of sacred scriptures, and taking classes that explored religion and philosophy in detail. Enter stage right my friends Katie, Eric, and Karen.

These were some of the Mormon friends that I knew from High School, and with whom I still had a fairly regular contact. I had known Eric for about 6 years, and Katie and Karen for 3-4. They had invited me to come and learn about their Church and being open to learning, I went. If you have any Mormon friends, you know kind of how this all works. There is a system that is repeated worldwide for sharing and encouraging people to explore the claims of their faith. Taking on the challenge, I met with a couple of nice boys from Utah, going through the Missionary classes that they gave where they talked to you about their history, and faith in brevity, and eventually ask you to be baptized as a member. Ideally, you get one lesson a week for six weeks (if I remember right) and then you are asked to pray and get baptized. Unfortunately for my Missionary friends, I took over a year to go through the lessons because I really wanted to read and pray about this before making any hasty decisions. After my final lesson, they asked me if I wanted to be baptized, and I turned them down. After a year of prayer, reading, research, and reflection, I did not feel that the Mormon claim to history and God was legitimate. Here is very roughly how it played out in my mind.

Pros of the Church

1. Religious Fervor: My original attraction to the LDS Church came from their passion for things religious. I had that same passion. God was good and I wanted to know as much about that as I could. At first, my friends and those who I made at the church made the same impression on me.

2. Organization: Knowing only a church that was fraught with doctrinal and organizational chaos, I was very relieved to find a church that was managed the way I felt lives should be. That is, it should have a set of eternal core truths that all else in the church is based off of, without contradiction, but with enough flexibility to change with the changing times. This leads to my next point of interest…

3. Doctrine: It is nice to be able to have a church that, in essence, has an answer to any question. This allows for a depth of study that is easily accessible, and allows for clarity at all levels as to how to act ‘rightly’ in any situation. ‘Righteousness’ becomes attainable.

4. Community: Beyond all else, one of the things that the LDS Church does well is create a cocoon of community where you feel welcomed and taken care of. You can really belong to something beyond yourself that is clear and attainable. This is what a church needs to be to care for its members (parts). It also creates a world beyond our day-to-day ‘world’ where life really is different, giving a taste of heaven in a world filled with hate, greed, and suffering.

All of these qualities were/are an encouragement to those who continue to explore the Church, and are blessings that members point out as some of the many things that separate them from, well, everyone else. These where my points of interest, and the things that encouraged me to seriously, fervently, and honestly explore the Church, its story, and doctrines. This exploration was not just a mental exercise, as everyone who I have talked to about it in the Church has alluded to. It was also a spiritual exercise. I used prayers of all types; long, short, persistent, humble, silent, sacrificial, specific, in conjunction with a fast (done more than a dozen times), and even prayers in the English of the KJV (King James Version of the Bible). I got no feelings that lead me to believe that the Church was the One True church beyond all others. If anything else, the more I prayed, the more I felt that it wasn’t. I continued to turn down offers from the Missionaries to be baptized. My friend Karen was at her greatest influence in my life at this point, and we had many conversations about why I should be baptized. She encouraged me to be baptized, and told me that afterwards all of my doubts would finally be settled. The argument was that the spirit would show me the Truth; that the Church was True, and that alone I was simply afraid of the truth, being comfortable in my knowledge and judgment on life. I disagreed but got stuck on this idea of having a final conclusion to my exploration. If I got baptized, I would have gone as far as one can go into the Mormon experience, becoming in essence once of them. Either the Spirit would slap me upside the head finally, and I would know what a fool I’d been, or I would have a final justification for my rejection of these beliefs. I was however a little weary that I could even get baptized if I didn’t believe the basic tenets of the church; that it is the One True church, that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and that there was a Prophet alive today who received revelation from God. Strangely enough though, this was not a problem with the Missionaries or Leaders of the Church who I had to interview with. They were all quite confident that the Spirit would alleviate any doubts that I had once I was baptized. So, having no fear of water, and being ready to settle the matter, I set a date and made the plunge.

After a year of continued exploration, I gave up the pursuit. I received an answer, my Testimony by the spirit, and that testimony rejected the claims of the Church. Beyond the spiritual exploration, my efforts in studying and comparing the Mormon scriptures (with both themselves, and the Protestant Bible) along with a non-biased study of Mormon history encouraged me in this conclusion. Now, as the nice Elders who I talked to yesterday said, “Did I read much anti-Mormon literature? Is that why you stopped believing?” The answer to the first is yes. I did read some anti-Mormon literature. It is hard to read about anything in detail without running across their critiques. There are two kinds of critiques, the first being the general rant of a hate-filled (most often) ex-member who feels betrayed, used, and abused by the church in general, or by particular members. These are easy enough to find online. I read a few of these, but honestly cannot stomach incoherent rambling for very long. The critiques that I prefer usually come in book form, or can be found in online journals. One book that does a balanced job of exploring the Mormon story is named, Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, by Richard N. Ostling and Joan k. Ostling. If you want to have a thorough, unbiased exploration into the history and claims of the church, this is a good place to start, and covers most of the controversy on both sides. Now, about the Second question.

Did I stop believing in the Church because of anti-Mormon literature? I’d have to say that I stopped going more because of my exploration into Mormon literature that into the anti-Mormon. I spent time pouring over the writings of the prophets, which were studied each week at Church. I also read over half of the BOM, which I can tell you is more that nearly every single Mormon that I have talked to. Lastly, I read current publications of the Church and Prophet, while exploring Church histories and my copy of the Missionary Reference Library (all 5 books). What I discovered was a long history of bravery and honesty on the part of many members, from the pioneer days all the way down to the Sisters and Elders who are scattered over the globe today. I’ve met Elders on nearly every trip I’ve taken overseas, with their unmistakable black slacks, white shirts, ties, and nametags. Always in pairs. On more than one occasion I have almost mistaken a Baptist for a Mormon, but as they approach, the nametag is the final giveaway. However, as I read Mormon literature, it quickly becomes apparent that although their prophets claim divine revelation, their revelation is neither divine, nor consistent. I feel that I could go on and on and on with examples, and anyone who has read this far likely knows enough about common Mormon controversies that I need not list them here. If you have not explored this subject with your heart, mind, and soul, I would encourage you to do so now. It is a matter of eternal importance. If you trust that I am honest, and made my inquiries honestly, and if you are firm in your belief of the church, then you should have no fear in taking my challenge to read a book about the Church that is not written by a member. What have you to lose? All you can gain is a greater understanding of the Church, and a better sense of an outsiders view on the Church, both of which would be powerful tools to have for a lifetime of sharing the Truth about the Church (which of course is one of the things commanded of us in life, to clear away chaos and lies, for truth and order). So, what do you say? If you need help getting started, the book Mormon America mention above is a good place to start. If you don't want to leave the comfort of your computer, there is a website that (though probably categorized as anti-Mormon) has taken some History and otherwise books and made them available online. This can be found at Utah Lighthouse Ministries. They break things down into manageable portions, but also allow for thorough exploration as well.

So, what now is my outlook on the Church? God is Just but Merciful, and will sow and reap where he wills. I believe that this will include some in the Church, but I also believe it will include persons outside of it. The doctrine relating to salvation is one of the hardest, and most divisive through the history of all religious faiths. Please understand that any discussion about it will be slow, frustrating, and very incomplete no matter the time and effort put forth.

I hope that this is not viewed as anti-Mormon, as I continue to have great respect for many Individuals in the Church and the work that they do. I cannot however, deny my testimony about the Church as a whole, and would find myself to be a liar to deny it.

Be Blessed in your Search for truth, and may God answer your prayers with clarity and understanding.

* At any point that ‘the Church’ is used in this discussion, I mean ‘the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints’, but prefer the abbreviation for the sake of my fingers and your patience.

How Fickle

It amazes me how little humanity progresses, and how little it has learned from it's few thousand years of affluence. This can clearly be seen in a case study of the object of our eyes. When explored, what is it that is catching to the eye, or desirable? The transfixed eye finds its subject to be a combination of color, motion, and shine.

Colorful objects, seen in our modern advertisements, books, and cartoons, but also found in simple pleasures like flower arrangements, seasonal folliage changes, and rainbows.

Moving objects have been a mainstay of entertainment for as long as it has existed. Carnivals, parades, tricks, games, machines, and gadgets are all fascinating because of their movements. There is no denying that they are more than movement, but the eye finds these things intriguing (and consequently the person) simply by the motion involved.

Shine is a quality so prized among humans that our most expensive and sought after objects are desired because they are the shiniest objects around. Don't believe me? Think fame and fortune, wealth and power, treasure and plunder. First to the mind are our precious metals (gold, silver) and precious stones (diamonds, sapphire). Why is that? What do our precious natural resources do for us? We can't eat them. We can't use them to keep us warm. They can't be used as a flotation device. So what then are they good for? Until this recent technological age, where practical uses for these materials were invented, the desire for such objects was a matter of pride only.

If we take these three qualities, color, motion, and shine, we can break down the majesty and appeal of our visual euphoria into what seems a rather bland, fickle, and childish sense of wonder. Are your visual cravings nothing more than the next shiny, colorful, machine? Are our movies and entertainment more exciting with more motion, and flash? Does color emphasize our advertisements? Sure. And why not, if that is what is catchy to the eye. But how fickle. How disappointing that our optical spectacles and auspicious images are so often so simple. Are there other ways in which our experiences are motivated by asinine and feeble impulses? What are they, and what is their instigation?

Learn, Think, Act.

Winter

December is the worst month for Marylanders. This is when we are pushed to finish in a few weeks the aggregate of chores and work that we have been unable to complete all year. Drivers and shoppers go crazy as black Friday instigates the worst driving of the year. Early snow showers and ice storms make things infinitely worse. Yet, there is always a 'last day of summer' deep in the December calendar, a day the temperature peeks in the 70s or 80s, leading children out of their jackets and mittens out into the feilds. However, like the bulbs which poked their heads through the soft fall leaves, we recede into our warm, protected beds until the spring rains come to rouse us. Then there are the holidays (holy-days), when we get a much needed end of the year break to recooperate, reflect, and rethink our plans and aspirations for the coming year. Even though very little changes between Dec 31 and Jan 1, our perceptions and beliefs, shared by many in our modern culture make the change real and significant. This is strange, yes? Why is it that a fairly arbirtary distinction, demarcating one year from the next, makes such a significant impact on our lives?