|Friday Web Round-up

Adventure

• Wallpaper (Adventure Journal)
• Pooping In The Outdoors: A Flow Chart (Semi-Rad)
• Best Adventure Photographers (Enthusio)
• Top 8 Tech Tools to Stay Light, Fast & Connected (Jimmy Chin)
• Three months breaking ice (Three Mystic Apes)

Environment (Nature + Sustainability) 

• Marianne Thieme — Party for the Animals (Adventist Activism)
• PH278x: Human Health and Global Environmental Change (HarvardX)
• Fracking is draining water resources, especially in the West (John Platt, Mother Nature Network)
• New Concerns About Plastic Pollution in Great Lakes ‘Garbage Patch’ (Lisa Borre, National Geographic)
• Introducing “$20 Million & Change” and Patagonia Works – A Holding Company for the Environment (Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia)
• Grafting for a Tree Makeover (Lee Reich, Mother Earth News)
• A Road Built Out Of Solar Panels, To Charge Our Cars (And Everything Else) (Fast Company)
• Researcher decodes prairie dog language, discovers they've been talking about us (Stephen Messenger, Treehugger)

Health

• Yoga To Handle Life’s Curve Balls (Prana)
• To Be Healthier, Happier, And More Productive, Stand Up From Your Desk Right Now (Fast Company)
• True Story: From Oil Exec to Career Yogi (Brenda Blanco, Elephant)
• Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets (Philip J Tuso, MD; Mohamed H Ismail, MD; Benjamin P Ha, MD; Carole Bartolotto, MA, RD, The Permanente Journal)

Finances

• Debt and mental health issues go hand in hand (Denver Post)
• And Then We Saved (blog) 

Humor

• 21 Kids Who Sold Out Their Parents (BuzzFeed)

MORE

• Religious Ethics
• General Social Ethics

|Web Round-up

Adventure + Travel + World

• YogaSlackers: Stumbling Toward Samadhi (Yoga Slackers, Prana) 
• Afghan Cycles (Sarah Menzies, Kick Starter) 
• The End of Wend (Brian Kevin, World Hum) 
• The Dream is Still Alive in Modern America (Hussin Brothers, Matador Network) 

Lifestyle

• Living With Less. A Lot Less. (Graham Hill, NY Times) 
• Family Remodels Tiny Home
• Managed expectations in the post-employment economy (Sarah Kendzior, Aljazeera) 
• Photos of Children From Around the World With Their Most Prized Possessions (Amanda Gorence, Feature Shoot) 
• Photos: Life in Mexico's Fast Lane (Maddie Oatman, Mother Jones) 

Relationships

• The Fart That (Almost) Altered My Destiny (Anna, HaHas for HooHas) 

Animals 

• Humpback Whale Rescue (video) 
• Tumblr of the Week: Peregrine 

Health

• 22 Things Happy People Do Differently (Successify!)
• Keep A Breast & prAna (Prana) 
• We Love Boobies: Keep A Breast (Prana) 

SEE ALSO:

• List--Christian Social Ethics
• List--General Ethics & Activism

|Online Reading

These are some blogs that my lady-friend appreciates:

• Sarah Bessey
• Rachel Held Evans
• Rage Against the Minivan
• Offbeat Families
• The Run a Muck (new, haven't read it for more than a few days)

She occasionally shares quality posts with me, such as these two:

• 15 Reasons I Left Church
• 15 Reasons I Returned to Church

Somewhat-kind-of-but-not-really related posts/links here on Pack Light (about family, not spirituality):

• Frugal family living
• Frugal family travel

|Happiness

Who doesn't want to be happy? True, there is more to life than being happy. Much more. But I think most of us, if given the choice, are in favor of being happy.

Here are "10 Things Happy People Do Differently" (Psychology Today). Prana offers this list of suggestions, which seem to get at "happiness" from a number of directions. The Mayo Clinic gives their recommendations. And WebMD has a thought list as well. And what about the economics of happiness?

We all know we'd be happier if we didn't compare ourselves to others (the birth of envy), but it's so hard to quit. And we're told that buying experiences and spending money to build relationships make us happier than buying things for ourselves:

• Buying New Experiences, Not Things, Tied to Happiness (Psych Central, 2012)
• Get Happy Spending Money…Just Not on Yourself or Buying Stuff (Life Edited, 2012)
• For Happiness, Spend Money On Experiences (NPR, 2009)

Finally, don't forget that happiness kills.

|Badassity + Frugality = MMM

Thanks, Sarah & Rob, for introducing me to the Mr. Money Mustache blog. "This is a blog about money. We’re going to cover a lot of ground and make plenty of amusing side trips into lifestyle and culture issues..." (first post).

These are two good posts to start with:

• Straight-Line Progress Tracker (23 Jan 2013)
• MMM Family Spending in 2012 (21 Jan 2013)

|Family Travel

These families really know how to travel:

• The World's Greatest Traveler: A 1988 Mercedes That Has Been to 172 Countries (Outside Magazine, 7 Jan 2013)
• 7-million-mile Family Shares Travel Secrets (Thom Patterson, CNN, 16 July 2012)
• 10 Nomadic Families Traveling the World, 7 Continents: How They Afford It (The Nomadic Family, 6 Oct 2011)

BONUS: The ultimate frequent flyer: Air passenger who bought 'unlimited' American Airlines ticket 20 years ago clocks up 38 MILLION miles (Chris Parsons, Mail Online, 10 May 2012)

#50 Rob Bell: Nooma, Rich

|Debt

Yahoo! Finance brings us collection of strategies and advice from a handful of regular peeps:

Debt Busters! (Blake Ellis, 22 Oct 2010)

|Frugality

Dedicated to Travis:

• http://zenhabits.net/2007/08/the-cheapskate-guide-50-tips-for-frugal-living/
• http://www.debtfreeadventure.com/
• http://www.frugalvillage.com/
• http://www.frugal-living-tips.com/
• http://www.frugalsimplicity.com/
• http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm
• http://moneyning.com/frugal-living/
• http://www.budget101.com/
• http://www.betterbudgeting.com/
• http://www.wisebread.com/topic/frugal-living
• http://frugalliving.about.com/

Of course he would want me to include Dave Ramsey (even though Dave supported the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which will cost the US between 2 and 3 trillion dollars, interventions that are being paid for with borrowed money). And I have to include Crown Financial Ministries because of Larry Burkett, God rest his soul.

Bonus reading.

|Thursday Potpourri

These caught my attention today:

• Lord, Save us from Your Followers (documentary)
• Living an Incarnational Life (sermon recommended by Loren Seibold)
• Back to God's Calling (letter/article)
• The Voice of the Martyrs (ministry)
  
• Dave Ramsey & Crown Financial Ministries (financial advisors)
• Intro to U.S. Econ Problems (article)

|Personal and National Finances

Yahoo shares 7 Counterintuitive ways to be smart about your money. My favorites are "Don't Spend Time Learning How to Invest" and "Don't Buy What is Cheapest." Really, they are.

On the macro level, a new documentary is out, I.O.U.S.A, that looks at the national debt. It aims to be a non-partisan analysis of the debt issue--current debt trends, our general ignorance, and likely (bad) consequences. Here's the trailer:



Check out the official movie site.

And here's an article for documentary watchers.

Free Stuff

Yes, a lot of this article is not new, but overall I appreciated the brief attempt.

Fabulous Freebies (Kiplinger.com, Erin Burt, 1 August '07)

Free music, shipping, PC protection, media, credit reports, email, ATMs, money for school, college courses, furniture, money, kids' meals, budgeting, phone calls and financial advice.

Wasabe.com was new to me.