Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with simplify

How can I become more of a closet dirty hippie?

cmoj — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:19:49 -0800

I don't wear deodorant, wash my hair, or run in shoes. What else can I stop doing? A couple years ago now, upon becoming much more conscious of my diet, I discovered that deodorant is unnecessary, and in fact perpetuates a cycle in which you stink when you don't wear it because you've been wearing it. When I gave it up for good, I smelled a little for a short adjustment period (two days or so) and then I was fine.

Maybe six months ago, I stumbled upon something about the "curly girl" or "no poo" thing. I read about it some and stopped using shampoo. Same deal. I found (and confirmed through reading) that you need the shampoo only because you've been using shampoo. And again, after another adjustment period, my hair is not stinky or greasy and is much healthier. If I actually get some kind of crap in my hair, I wash it with only the amount of conditioner necessary. Whenever either of these two subjects come up I invariably get smelled, confirming that I'm socially acceptable.

Not long after that, I started reading about running barefoot. About how there has never been any evidence that running shoes do anything to prevent injury and, in fact, increases the risk of all kinds of injuries. I'd already been using Nike Frees and I've always tended to go barefoot when there's no reason to wear shoes, so my transition has been fairly smooth. A plantar wart cleared up promptly, my stamina immediately improved, and it just feels like how it's supposed to be. Also, I have to admit that I like people's reactions when they see someone running around town barefoot.

So, what else do most people just assume is absolutely necessary that isn't? Bonus for things that perpetuate their own cycle like the examples I've mentioned.

Oh, and I've read some about curtailing the use of soap, but, like my examples, it only works if the body part concerned is normal and healthy, which my skin is not (acne).

Man is a complicating creature, which only simplifies under duress.

degrees_of_freedom — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:28:17 -0800

Please help me identify the author and exact text of a quote. To paraphrase, "Man is a complicating creature, which only simplifies under duress." My google searches are dry... you're my only hope!

I don't want my life to sit around gathering dust.

miss lynnster — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:43:19 -0800

Simplifying life and purging my junk. I'm exhausted and I haven't even started. How to make it easier, less painful, and maybe even profitable? So, I live in a huge 1440 square foot place right now. In the future, I don't plan to. But I own lots of junk. Generations of collected things (large & small) as well as a zillion books that followed me home from thrift stores. I own some treasured stuff, but also a lot of stuff I never give a second look to, which bothers me. I'm looking to move in six months or so and I'd like to streamline my load considerably, hopefully gradually and without having a nervous breakdown or regrets (In my former life I was a sentimental pack rat who would clutch Bing Crosby 78s and scream, "But... I may need this someday!" I've gotten better over the years but it's still stressful).

I'd like to be zen about it, but right now all I see is how much work it's going to be. I don't even know where to start. Should I sell things on ebay? Craigslist? Is it not worth the hassle & I should just throw my belongings on the side of the road? I could use some money but I'm really not sure how much to even ask for things or how to go about it methodically. I've never really done this before. I have a big ol' back injury so I'm also trying to figure out how to do this without working so hard I put my back out from stress or lifting crap.

Soooo... what has your experience been? What works? What doesn't? I need all of the advice & help I can get.

Thanks in advance. :)

What are the best rules, formulas and tricks in math?

dropkick — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 09:01:25 -0800

MeFites: Share with me your favorite math tricks, truisms and formulas that clarified and simplified math problems and made life easier in high school and college. It can be about algebra, fractions, ratios and proportions, percentages - what have you. If it relates to business math, all the better, since that's what I'm currently taking. Thank you!

Easy ways to make life easier

0xFCAF — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 18:09:49 -0800

What are some cheap and effective ways to make your life easier? I only buy one kind of socks (other than the two pair of dress socks I own). This means I don't have to match them up when doing laundry, never stress about where the extra one in a pair went, and getting dressed is easier in the morning.

I also switched to using plastic cups for pretty much all beverages. Since most of the time I was running the dishwasher it was just full of glasses, I end up doing the dishes far less often. As a bonus, they stack up nicely so I don't have a small army of dirty glasses on my desk.

What other things can I do to eliminate annoying/tedious parts of my day? Bonus points for cheap/free ideas

Thinning the herd: how do I trim down my design portfolio and sample pile?

whatnot — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 09:31:12 -0800

Fellow graphic designers: I need help thinning out my collection of samples and portfolio materials. What should I keep? please hope. I've got about 12 years worth of samples at this point, which takes up two big plastic bins, and an overstuffed drawer in my filing cabinet. I'd love to get it down to just the file drawer, but I'm not sure what to get rid of. I'm planning to build my freelance work back up again, so I'm a little wary of tossing out too many samples.

Just to give you some idea, I've got 5-10 samples of booklets and other "printed on paper" stuff, and one sample each of screenprinted items like shirts and giveaway items. Plus, lots of clippings and covers from my years of working at an alt weekly. I only have about 20 percent of this stuff on disk, which, again, makes me wary of throwing away what might be the only copy of something I've made.

So, my question is, what criteria should I use to thin out this collection? Stick to more recent stuff? One or two of each type of project? Scan things and ditch the hard copies? Thanks in advance.

simplifying ratios and fractions

lunkfish — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 03:35:33 -0800

Is there a mathematical technique for simplifying ratios/fractions? This sounds searchable I know, but I can't find anything. If you've got 4/12, you can see that it simplifies to 1/3, but is there a way you could work out that 168/504 simplifies to 1/3 with pen and paper?

I think finding the lowest prime number they can be divided by would be one way but I don't know a way to work this out.

If anyone has some good links for maths and physics questions involving ratios/fractions that would be cool.

Combine "Contact Us" and "Locations"

letitrain — Thu, 26 May 2005 11:28:01 -0800

I'm paring down categories on a website and I'm looking for a single phrase that can be used to replace "Contact Us" and "Locations." The info on each page is too similar, so I'd like to create a single page with contact info and location maps. It's for a medical practice with two offices. Limitation: around 12-15 letters maximum, to match the other categories and stay within the limitations of the menu. Thanks!

How do I simplify EPS vector drawings?

shoos — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:36:50 -0800

Simplifying eps vector drawings. I'm looking for a way to eliminate overlapping paths in complex line drawings. Almost all of the lines are made up of multiple independent, straight paths sitting precisely on top of each other. To shrink the file size and make editing easier I'd like to get rid of this redundancy. Is converting to raster then back to vector the best solution? I'm using Adobe Creative Suite, btw.

Recommendations for books explaining evolution?

Sangermaine — Sun, 16 Jan 2005 14:12:31 -0800

My father, though a very iintelligent and respected lawyer, says he often has trouble accepting the idea of macro-evolution, because he says to him the idea is too vast to take in. Can anyone suggest some books on the topic that can explain evolution better than my feeble attempts?