...if you haven't already.  Related to the conversation.

NYT article on Freegans.  Am I a Freegan this year?

Manufactured Landscapes.  Did you know that shipbreaking existed?  See it on the "big" screen at the Forum in NYC.

Fix and I are going on vacation.  That is, I am going on vacation but Fix is not coming with me.  I decided a long time ago that the project would be too hard to maintain with 20 friends in a country I've never been to and where I don't speak the language.  My trip will have an unexpected Fix-related component, though: I'm visiting a city that recently banned all outdoor advertising.  I think it's such an extreme and curious measure - I'm really excited to be going right now.

I won't go crazy buying stuff, I can't afford to.  We'll see if the break gives me the renewed enthusiasm I need for the rest of the year. 

When I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, they invariably ask, "how is Fix going?"  It's going all right, insofar as I've been reasonably adherent to my rules.  The first three months were easy: I didn't really feel like I needed to buy anything and I was creative and enthusiastic about finding solutions.   I learned a few things about cooking and mending, and the money I saved was awesome - I ended up with enough for a weekend trip to San Francisco. 

Recently though, I've been going through something of an adolescent stage, resenting the rules and wanting stuff.  I've had more than a few moments of "I hate this #(&%&$ project, why did I ever come up with it anyway?"  A friend and I discussed the possibility of quitting - after all it is an experiment and some experiments fail.   Maybe it's the change of seasons: the new summer dresses look so lovely and I've started researching possibilities for a new bike.  So far, I've managed to stay with it.  I don't want to give up right when it feels hard, and there is so much more I want to learn about, even though I feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of information on topics I'd like to look into. 

Overall, I break the food rule the most: I've been getting busier and rarely seem to have the time or materials on hand to cook.   I've bought only a few new things, and as I suspected, the ones that give me the least pause are items for artmaking/career.  And what have I learned?  I've learned that wanting-buying-consuming is very personal and deeply psychological: we each have a different schema wherein certain desires are ok and others aren't, even with material things.  The most important insights I've had have been about myself - what I crave, when, how, etc.  I've mentioned some of these in previous posts, and it's still too early too compile them into some kind of profile.  Stay tuned.