Blog Moratorium

Hey there - Just reminding you all that we'll take a break from blogging the next three weeks. As of Monday, December 15th, you should have three posts and one comment since our last blog check on November 17th.

You won't need to post again until we return from winter break.

No TV???

When the Chicago area was inundated with rain one weekend months ago, our roof leaked and water dripped onto our TV, ruining it. Since then, we have gone without television in our house. I know what you may be thinking--how are we able to live??? But I've found that the essential things I want from TV can be gotten in other ways--I get news from the web, I catch episodes of my favorite shows online and rent DVDs, I listen to Bears games on WBBM. I've found that much of what I used to watch on TV I hardly miss, and I often wonder how I ever had time to watch so much TV. Much of what Thoreau suggests in Walden seems like it couldn't possibly work, but what if we tried it? How much of what we consider "essential" would become irrelevant?

Do we embrace simplicity at NT?

In class today we’ll map out a “typical” New Trier student’s day in order to explore the question posed in the title of this blog post. As you read Thoreau the next week or so, look closely at his ideas on simplifying life and getting in touch with the true necessities and juxtapose his ideas against your typical day at school. Do any of his thoughts resonate with you?

You may also want to set up a time (middle of the day, perhaps?) to complete one of your Transcendentalism maxims so you can accurately evaluate HDT’s ideas in light of how they apply to your life in a typical school day.

And lastly, here’s a Times article on Americans trying to simplify their lives: New York Times.

Can you see yourselves doing this someday?