More and more men are taking better care of their skin. It wasn’t that long ago that buying male exfoliating products was akin to sneaking into the adult section of the video store. A lot of guys did it but it wasn’t done in front of a crowd. Times they are a changin’ and the men’s section of the pharmacy keeps getting larger. There is now quite a large selection of moisturizers, exfoliating products, shaving creams etc…so much so that it can be hard to choose one.


If you’re a typical guy and just want to know which one I use, skipping all the details – it is  Biotherm Homme – and I think it works great, but it’s pricey. Now, how about some details on why you should add an exfoliator to your arsenal of anti aging products.

First – what the hell is exfoliating? You can think of it like pruning a shrub (something else I did this afternoon). At times you need to get in there and prune away all the dead material so that the shrub has room for new growth coming in. Same thing with your face. Exfoliating is scrubbing away the dead skin and other junk that gets caked on your face. I would suggest doing this about once a week.

Is there a wrong way to do it? Well the main thing is to not over do it. Like I said, maybe once or twice a week – not every day and you also want to not be too rough on your face. Wash your face first then do the exfoliating. Doing it too aggressively could damage the healthy skin, you just want to scrub off the junk – so take it easy.

Don’t forget to add or two staple ingredients for a great, young looking face. We repeat these two things over and over – one of our Mantras – lots of rest/sleep and lots of water. The two keys that are also the easiest to do.

Back to the exfoliating products, the one I mentioned at the begining Biotherm Homme I find works very well. It costs about $30.00 here in Canada. Pricey but it should last quite a while as it is not used every day. I’ll put an amazon link down at the bottom in case you’d rather order it online.

How about some other exfoliating products – well you could take some sand and mix it up with a touch of shampoo…just kidding. There are a lot on the market and I may try a less expensive one next time. One cheap idea if you have a strict budget is pumice soap. This stuff has some little granules in it that give your face a good scrub but it’s a little old fashioned and doesn’t do the job as well and  purpose made exfoliating products. Of course all the big companies have their own line now. Addidas, Nivea, O’Real. If you’re not too shy just ask the girl at the drugstore and if you are a little shy – try the stuff below…

We are going to start a health series here at The Big Desk. Aging gracefully has for a few years now been a preoccupation of mine. Like many men my age I’ve been on a hunt for some of the best anti aging products that I could find. There are so many products that have come onto the market in the past few years that’s it is getting quite complicated to sift through them all. We’ll select a handful of the best anti aging products and tell you why you should consider using them.


There has never been a time like this for men. A time when we can start taking strides about looking our best, aging gracefully and ask a sales rep in a pharmacie about a wrinkle cream without sounding ‘womanly’. The best anti aging products are now easier to find, have come down in price and is being more frequently and openly (thanks to blogs and men’s web sites) discussed. I’m not too shy to say that I’m concerned about wrinkles and looking like old show leather. This article won’t concern hair (as I have none) but we will discuss options to include in your lifestyle other than the latest creams. Water and sleep for example are probably the two key elements that will pull your strategy together. Without these two lynch-pins the rest of your efforts will not get you the best results – we’ll explain why.

There has been a lot of study over the past decade and it all seems to point to a collection of easy to implement strategies, some products and some lifestyle related. The best anti aging products are simply moisturizers, exfoliating products and a water filter while the lifestyle items are stress management, sleep, exercise, water/good food/wine consumption. We’ll cover all of these in more detail.

Moisturizers for Men

There are two moisturizers that I keep reading about, it seems every time there is a Top 10 list of moisturizers these products keep making the grade. The first is MenScience Advanced face lotion which is non-oily, absorbs into the skin quickly, is made from the best ingredients and as mentioned – is on just about every list I’ve seen. The next is Maxwell’s Apothecary. They’ve been around since 1911 and really know their stuff. Never animal tested, only natural ingredients, custom designed for men – when looking for the best anti aging products, Maxwell’s could practically be a one stop solution.

Exfoliating

It’s not just a female thing. It’s important to exfoliate if you want to look your best. Exfoliating is simply removing dead skin from your face. The product you will use has a bit of grit in it to help rub off the skin and trust me – it feels great. A couple products we can easily recommend are Nivea and Clinique, both have a terrific line of men’s face care products. They aren’t exactly cheap but you do not need to do this every day, I only exfoliate a couple times a week. Give it a try, you’ll see an immediate improvement.

Pur or Brita On-Tap Filter

The last of our best anti aging products is a water filter. Water and sleep along with a good diet are far more important than any creams of exfoliators you’ll use. You need to have clean water. There are so many contaminates in the water today and it is so easy to improve this situation. An inexpensive on tap purifier will be a trouble free way of consuming cleaner water everyday. If you’ve ever read a book by Andrew Weil you’ll know how important this step is. Trust us – clean your water.

Sleep

Your body needs to be at it’s optimum if you want to be keeping as young and fit as you can. Sleeping well keeps all of your hormones in balance. Balance is really what we’re after. When you short change your sleep then all of your systems get out of whack. It’s like walking uphill all day long. Like any athlete, you want to get an edge where you can find it. Sleeping at least 7 hours a night will give you an edge in the fight against aging quickly.

Wine Consumption

Resveratrol – If you don’t know about this stuff you soon will. Over the past few years resveratrol has been shown in studies to be about the most potent chemical compound for fighting a pile of aging related diseases. The risk of  Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s has been reduced but this can be tricky to prove. One thing that seems easier to digest is its effects on the heart. Resveratrol is found primarily in red wine and the French drink the stuff more than anyone else. Guess who has amongst the lowest rates of heart ailments and obesety – the French. Many are calling it an anti aging wonder drug. More studies are being done but some already (like Harvard) are proving the positive effects of this stuff. And it shows little to no side effects. Of course we’re not recommending you have 2 bottles of wine a night but id you enjoy the stuff try to make it a regular part of your diet. Some pills and supplements are coming to market but I would wait until more studies are done on these. Stick to the natural stuff when you can.

Rock and Roll Origin: 1951

A  great advance in American civil liberties, as well as a revolution in music, took place as a result of the introduction of rock and roll in 1951. Alan Freed, a disc jockey in Cleveland, used the term to undermine the segregation of popular music into black and white. African-American popular music of the day, known as rhythm and blues, was increasingly influential, but radio stations and the record industry insisted on having white performers for white audiences. The only way a song composed and performed by blacks could reach a wider audience was for it to be remade by a white group.

Freed was able to get around the prohibition against Afro-American music on his radio station by coining a the new all-encompassing term, Rock and Roll. He wouldn’t fight to play the forbidden rhythm and blues; instead, he would treat his audiences to what he called rock and roll. And while that term did not end music segregation overnight, it eventually made segregation impossible, as both black and white performers took up the phrase and together developed the new rock and roll.  By the mid-1960s the triumph of rock and roll was so complete that the name of the genre, now performed by musicians of all races all over the world, shrank to rock.

Freed did not actually invent rock and roll; he just gave it a new definition. Freed probably picked up rock and roll from the lyrics of a 1948 rhythm-and-blues hit called “Good Rockin’ Tonight.” Before that, both rock and roll had sexual meanings in jazz and blues, as in “My Man Rocks Me with One Steady Roll,” recorded by Trixie Smith in 1922, which inspired Bill Haley’s famous “Rock Around the Clock” in 1954.  From Answers.com

I’m hoping to put together a representative list of the evolution of Rock and Roll. From it’s embryonic stage right through to the end of the Twentieth Century – The Era of Rock. (we are not complete yet – hope you can come back over the next few weeks as I piece this together).  For each year I’ll try and include at least 1 song from Billboard’s Top 10  (except for the early fifties where the record industry was still dominated by white crooners) and for a few years I’ll select 1 other song that represents the times. I’ll try to not take the easy way out and just select the biggest hit or the biggest band but select something that defines the age – with a slant towards the very early days of important bands/performers. * Chart numbers come from Billboard’s Top 100 – Thanks to Longbored Surfer for compiling these in a great format.

1951

As mentioned above Rock and Roll became mainstream when white performers started recording Rhythm and Blues tunes. But if you want to know where rock really started we need to look just a few years before the likes of Elvis and Bill Haley. The Swallows are a great example of the birth of rock and roll..

As we are trying to track the evolution of Rock music we need to look at the innovators and Rock is pretty much defined by the electric guitar. We must pay homage to The Great pioneer in solid body electric guitars as well as an early innovator in multi-track recordings – Les Paul. We see both in this 1940′s jazz standard that made it to # 3 on the charts in 1951. A little piece of trivia is that How High the Moon was the first song the Beatles played at the Cavern Club.

1952

Regarded as the first ever rock and roll concert, the Moondog Coronation Ball finished before it got a chance to start. With a capacity of about 10 000 the Cleveland Arena was unable to handle the over 20 000 people that tried to get in. The police shut it down in the early stages of the show.

Bill Haley came onto the scene hand in hand with the birth of rock and roll. With his first rock and roll recordings beginning in 1951 we led the way. Here is Rocking Chair on the Moon from 1952.

1953

Somebody who doesn’t get enough mainstream credit as a progenitor of rock and roll is Ella Mae Morse. She’s simply fantastic.

Another fella playing what could be called rock and roll all the way back into the forties was Antione ‘Fats’ Domino. Here’s what Elvis had to say about the origins of Rock and the suggestion that his recoding of That’s Alright Mama was rock and roll’s first record. “A lot of people seem to think I started this business,” Elvis explained, “but rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let’s face it; I can’t sing it like Fats Domino can. I know that.”

As rock continues to search for its big ‘crossover’ star ( a killer app to use today’s jargon) Bill Haley releases more great music like Crazy Man, Crazy and R & B musicians do what they’ve always been doing. Listen to this once and you’ll never forget it – the incomparable Ray Charles

1954

Although, as mentioned above, Alan Freed is credited with coining the term Rock and Roll it would be more accurate to say that he ‘popularized’ it. Rock ‘n Roll had been playing by guys like the Trenier brothers going back to the 40′s. The Treniers are also the first rock and roll performers to appear on National TV (with Martin and Lewis in 1954). By Milt Trenier’s account they also had an influence on Bill Haley (who went on to influence the country).

1955

Rock and Roll begins to make an appearance on Billboard’s Top 10 with Rock Around The Clock finishing at #2.

1956

1956 is the year that Rock and Roll made its grand entrance into mainstream culture thanks to a man with an ear for talent named Sam Philips. Philips understood the need for the killer app – a white guy doing black music. But where on earth could he find the perfect crossover talent? Well he walked right into Mr. Philips studios – Sun Records – back in 1954. It took a couple of years of working, promoting but by the end of 56 record companies were fighting to sign him. RCA won the fight and when they released his records in early 56 there was no stopping the Rock and Roll freight train that was Elvis Presley. 5 of top 15 songs on Billboard’s Charts had his name on them. The following year he owned 4 of the top 16. It’s time for Perry Como, Pat Boone and the crooners to make way for Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Diamonds, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry and more…

Bill Haley becomes the first International Rock Star with his trips to Europe, Australia, South America. Here’s the band in London doing their UK #4 hit Rip it Up

1957

1959

The Isley Brothers – The only ones to Chart in 6 separate decades.

1961

1973

1981

The early eighties saw the emergence of New Wave. Bands like the Smiths, OMD, XTC, Simple Minds all had strong, memerable sounds but none could keep up, arguably no band ever,  with changing times like U2. 25 years later they still produce relevant music. To put things in perspective, 25 years in the other direction, Elvis had his first hit.

1983

I had to include this clip not only because in ’83 The Police were the biggest band in the world but because I’m in this clip, if only for a second (44 sec. mark with a black t-shirt, enjoying the show with my old friend Nita). This charted in 1984 at #85

1984

Bruce Springsteen regained his status of the new King of Rock n Roll with his massive Born in the USA album. I was lucky enough to see him in concert and this tune is a perfect example of what can be expected at one of his performances – one of the best I have ever seen!

I’ve been writing more now than ever and wouldn’t you know it, my own site gets left behind.

I’m always trying to work out a good balance on how many sites to operate. It’s not always easy and being a serial entrepeneur I’m always coming up with new ideas. Often I take steps towards implementing then then realize that I’m spreading myself to thin and end up culling a few. Going back a couple years I had a Lot of websites and found that I was missing some focus. I was like a meandering stream. I made the decision that I was going to only focus on 2 sites, the Bookshop Blog and The Hockey Writers and the rest I would cull, all of them except for here as I wanted to keep one space for more personal stuff. So I took out the big virtual machete and hacked away. The 2 aforementioned blogs have since regained direction and grown by leaps and bounds. They’ve become so strong that I now envision a day where they will be able to support me working on the full time. So that’s the lesson, stay lean, stay focused and if you’re trying to run 10 sites get out the hatchet, pick your two best and Bang – cut the others loose.

Other items…on the Hockey site we’ve decided to double the amount of writers participating on the site. Thankfully Rick Gethin has agreed to do more. I don’t think I could manage the whole thing on my own, it’s getting too big. That will hopefully put us at 70 writers by the time the season starts. Should be a big year for us and since we are starting a CPM advertising model for the first time it could be lucrative as well. I’m still not sure what percentage of ad space inventory we’ll be able to fill (or rather the agency will fill) or what type of payout we can expect. I think this format will suit our site better than Click Through as sports readers don’t tend to be to click happy.

We’ve also done a writers push on the Bookshop blog trying to add more writers but even though we pay per post I still find it harder to have them stick around. Funny the guys working for free on the hockey site stick for a year or more but the guys being paid on the book site typically leave after a couple months. Maybe starting the payouts wasn’t the best idea.

One other challenge that I am currently participating in is The Keyword Academy Summer Push. We’ve all split off into groups of 10 to 20 members and selected a Publishing target. I’m part of the 500K group meaning that we have pledged to publish 500 000 words on our various sites over a three month period. These words will count against that so I may just babble on all day. Ideally the posts should be keyword targeted (as taught in the academy) but you also get untargeted long tail hits as well. I’ve mentioned before on this site that I’m very much enjoying being a part of the Keyword Academy. I think it has brought a lot of focus to my websites, helped me create goals and draw up a clearer picture of not only where I want my sites to go but how to get there, how long it will take and most importantly, how to do it. With my sites currently experiencing a monthly revenue increase of 5% I can feel that, although it won’t happen overnight, it will happen. By happening I mean my working on websites full time and leaving the nine to five behind. Like many guys I’ve always craved freedom and associate personal happiness with personal liberty. Taking deliberate steps in that direction is cathartic.

I picked up Thesis to play around with. I think I should start sprucing up this place.

You’ve heard me go on about them before. Well, things keep getting better and better over at The Keyword Academy. This past week they have added to their, or rather our, toolbox. Two more tools to help me get to where I want to be in the Online Marketing game. Now this isn’t a blog about making money online, in fact it’s not really a blog about anything per say. It’s just me sharing some thoughts. The guys at The Keyword Academy have decided to create a Team. The Team is made up of people that are willing to put in the effort and be willing to get trained in order to hit a target of $1000 a month in online earnings. The actual target is flexible (as in my case where my expectations are greater than that), it’s more of a marketing number than a concrete one. So I’m reading the email about the idea of joining the Team to really propel my earnings (commensurate with workload of course – that’s part of the Academy philosophy) and waiting for the price-bomb to drop. These things always seem to cost $97.00 don’t they? To my surprise there is no cost – zero. It’s a part of your existing membership they say. You simply need to agree to try and follow th guidelines. So it takes me about five seconds to think about it. Free coaching from a couple of guys that know their way around. Perfect.

I’d like to invite you guys into The Team. They still have some spots left. Just click on the link above to learn more about the academy. So I’m thinking, man I love being part of a site that keeps piling it on, adding free stuff to our arsenal of tools with no extra cost. Now about a day or so goes by and what happens? They announce the launch of yet another tool and yes, this one is free for existing members. Keep in mind you can try all this out for only $1 a month. That’s how I started. I was curious, paid my dollar but quickly signed up full time after seeing the tools that they offer (along with the intelligent and encouraging discussions in the forum). This latest tool is just a simple productivity tool, one that you could put together in your own spreadsheet but they are finding ways to incorporate the data into our profiles for a little extra encouragement.

All this to say that I’m very pleased with how things are going over there and can leave you with one final thought to ponder if you’re considering strengthening your online earnings (by working hard, not looking for make a million gimmicks) – my earnings keep improving. Each month my earnings have grown, that’s the bottom line. Remember it’s only $1 to have full access to all the tools we use at The Keyword Academy.

If you have decided to go for a glass desk then you will want to purchase one that is both stylish as well as functional. Glass desks come in many styles and sizes nowadays and deciding on one will ultimately depend on what exactly you want and what kind of price range you can afford. The main thing is that no matter what style you are going for, glass desks are modern looking household accessories. Wooden or metal desks cannot match the modern, professional look of a glass desk. Most people do not consider glass desks for their office, for the simple reason that many people do not even know that they exist or they may look at them as being a bit unusual.


Purchasing a glass desk is not very difficult nowadays. Most furniture retailers such as IKEA sell them in their stores. If you are not able to find a retailer that sells them, then trying the internet may be a good idea. There are any numbers if websites that sell such furniture. If buying online is not your thing then at least you will be able to get see what it looks like and get the dimensions and prices. The important thing to remember when buying something like a glass desk online is that make sure they have good transportation facilities so that you get it in one piece.

The next question is what type of glass desk do you want? Color wise they come in several different colors such as blue and dark black. There are also the simple transparent varieties. Green tinted glass desks are also quite popular. Of course when it comes to color it basically comes down to your taste. You will be able to find complete workstations for your computer or just a simple one panel glass desk. Corner desk models are also available for people who need to put things within easy reach. These types of desks are popular with photographers and designers.

One of the biggest questions people have about glass desks is about their strength and durability. There is a misconception out there that they are not very strong. This is not true. Even the cheapest models are made with hard or tempered glass and can be moved around easily without fear of breaking it. You will be able to put any kind of equipment on it, same as you would do with a wooden or metal desk

Last but not least the next question is affordability. The next common misconception is that they cost a fortune. This is not true and in fact can cost less compared to a wooden or metal desk. In some cases a lot less. But if you still want the charm that only a wooden desk can give, then getting a combination wood and glass desk may be the right thing for you. The cheapest glass desks go for around 50 dollars and a more expensive one can cost around 200 dollars.

Review of the Z Line Galaxy glass desk

Well the site is called The Big Desk isn’t it? Of course that was meant to represent taking responsibility for the direction and quality
of your life. It’s the guy at the big desk that has the final say as far as decisions go and in matters of your life, that would be you.
But today I wanted to write about something a little less dramatic, I’m going to write about a desk, a few desks actually – ya, real
desks.
When I think to my youth about what associations I could possible have with a desk three images rise to the surface and they all

have a similar tone. A desk to me represents authority while I’m sure for others a desk may represent menial work, office work or
school work. I’ll share my desk associations and if you have any, silly as it may be, then by all means share with us.
Desk association number one may be the same for any child of an executive. I have some (by now rather vague) recollections of
going to my father’s place of work when I was quite young. He was a commercial real estate executive and I recall that when I
went for a visit he had what seemed to be a huge, marvelous office and there he sat, behind what seemed like some kind of
imperial desk. No doubt it was closer to an average office with a typical business desk but to an impressionable young lad the desk
just exuded power. He had a secretary and a few co-workers that seemed to (from my innocent vantage point) be at the ready for
his every command. Like a General behind the desk that would steer history he would wave the mighty pen like it was a saber.
These are the dim recollections of a middle aged guy thinking back forty years in time. But I do still carry that image of Dad sitting
behing the power desk.
The second recollection of a desk also has to do with being in charge but in a comical way. The great American Sit-Com MASH was launched when I was begining grade school. I was a big fan of Hawkeye Pearce and the idea of going to work in a bathrobe. Funnily enough I can do that today (work from home). One of the things that stuck to me from that show was that it didn’t matter how bright you were, in regards to being in command. It matter where you sat. Henry Blake was no rocket scientist but he’s the guy that sat behind the desk. Remember the desk flying through the air strung up to a helicopter? Whether they like it or not the Doctors all had to listen to Henry. It’s the big cheese that gets the fancy desk. Coincedentally about fifteen years later my father purchased a desk to use at home and it was quite similar to Henry’s desk.
The third desk memory goes back to grade school. I have a memory of having something to do that required me to sit beside the teacher. At her desk looking towards the class you could sense the power. The desk felt like a throne, a place where orders were dictated from. It’s a weird memory, a little cloudy, but the essence of being the one in control – the one behind the desk – was pretty palpable. It was easy to see why the teacher enjoyed her position. The desk itself of course was nothing to spectacular, but the vibe that it gave off was magical.
Of course as inocence leaves so does the illusions that the desk itself holds some kind of power. I sit in front of my computer desk writing this and feel no sense of command. It is now only a functional piece of office equipment. But at least it’s my desk…and I like it.

If I have only written 1 article in the past couple of weeks does that mean that I am going nowhere with trying to make a living online? Probably. But thanks to my 2 supersites I’ve actually published about 60 articles in the past couple weeks. Takl about leverage. Still – I need to be doing a lot more of my own writing. I wrote one at The Bookshop Blog yesterday so this here makes 2 in 2 days – we’re cookin’ with gas now!

I have to tell you that I was once again inspired by a fella at the Keyword Academy forum. His name is Fraser and is where I’d like to be in a few years. There was a discussion about how much you need to write in order to make a living via publishing on the Internet. Is it 3 posts per day, is it 10? Fraser suggests that you really need to focus on 1 post per day. If you sit idle for 3 or 4 days it becomes very easy to stop writing altogether and this is exactly what’s happened to me. Frankly, The Keyword Academy remains my best source of actionable, real life inspired place for solid info on Internet Marketing. I can’t recommend it enough.

Of course I won’t be posting here every day; as you might know I have a few sites going, plus Hubpages plus something called Post Runner (again, over at TKA). But much of it will be here. I’ve spent the better part of the last hour trying to decide if I should convert this site into something more specific, pick a topic and stick to it. Again Fraser (did I mention his forum posts are probably worth the Academy’s subsrciption price on their own) suggeasts that a site can be all over the place and still do well. I like that idea and will keep The Big Desk as a free for all, a place where I can write about family, travel, Internet publishing and life in general (as the heading says).

One article a day, minimum – every day – for ever and ever….Seriously, I’ll probably do at least three a day, now to find some topics. My next batch of articles will make use of yet one more of Fraser’s plans. A topic tree, where the top article is a Main, strong keyword with a gang of heavy keywords acting as branches followed up with even more ‘leaves’ which would be very long tail keywords with almost no competition. OK – off to find the topic for them….

As we move forward as a society the interest in eco friendly homes will continue to rise. This article will both show you some extreme ideas on what the leading edge of this movement is doing as well as offer some practical tips on how your community can move towards more eco friendly homes.

The avant garde, leading edge type eco homes, those houses that are verging on bizarre may not realistically be something that you can implement, it’s not likely that you’ll be constructing your own rammed earth foundation, but they help to publicize technological possibilities. It is very similar to a space voyage. It’s not likely that you’ll be going into orbit any time soon but the gadgets and discoveries made do make it into real world settings. It is these extreme, radical ideas that push the envelope. Eventually the radical becomes mainstream and with that, here’s hoping that we all end up living in eco friendly homes.

I’d like to start off with the king of eco living, in my opinion the best of the best in the realm of self-sustaining habitats – Earthships. Earthships were conceived by super-builder Michael Reynolds. He has built up an entire community of these amazing, fully self-sustainable, totally eco friendly homes near Taos, New Mexico. Here is a video showcasing his designs.

Imagine that – An eco friendly home completely off the grid, no municipal energy used.  The Earthships take care of each major factor that is central to a self-sustained home. Intelligent use of water, on-site waste management, on-site power and finally personal comfort. If we didn’t have the comfort then all the rest would be pointless. After over thirty years of self-education and trial and error, Michael Reynolds seems to have found the ideal eco friendly home construction model. But he is not the only one working towards greener homes. Here are a few more pioneers.

Give it up for the hobbit. No seriously, here is a very different example of an eco friendly home by Simon Dale of Wales. His house, though not built to the extreme specifications of an Earthship still offers a lot in the way of energy savings. The same characteristic of building into the ground is evident as is the collection of solar power, intelligent use of water and building from recycled materials. Simon’s website gives a lot of details into how he went about building this unique home. We think it is truly a work of art. If you have some land in the country this may be a great idea for you. You can contact Simon for some more info.

Not all eco friendly homes need to be built into the earth. We have plenty of examples of modern homes that have made great use of some of the latest green architectural trends. Let’s take a look at a couple. First up is the Living Green home. This home features a lot of glass. This provides two functions, it both helps a great deal with energy costs – allowing the sun to do a lot of the heating – and gives the place a very modern, airy look. This passive heating, along with a thermal water heater drives the energy costs down considerably. Also like the Earthship this house uses a grey water system, using shower water to irrigate plants. This concept I am sure will be one of the avant garde items mentioned at the beginning of this article that will likely become an everyday feature found in most homes of the future. Unlike the previous two examples, this home is not built from recycled materials but is factory built. Building this way greatly reduces the waste found on most traditional construction sites.

One of the leaders of the underground architecture movement was Malcolm Wells. I sadly say was as Mr. Wells passed away last November. Below I’ll share a few images of his beautiful designs. I urge you to check MalcomWells.com for much more information on the man – he will be missed quite a bit but his drawings and ideas live on.

“In 1964, after 10 years spent spreading corporate asphalt on America in the name of architecture, I woke up one day to the fact that the earth’s surface was made for living plants, not industrial plants. I’ve been an underground architect ever since. I live on Cape Cod, and I’m writing this in the dry, sunny silence of the Underground Art Gallery.”

And finally to wrap this up a terrific video showing many different eco friendly homes, some leaning towards the traditional and some that are way out there..hope you enjoyed this sneak peak into green homes.

Resources:

• http://ecohomeresource.com/
• eco friendly home ideas
• MalcolmWells.com

Just a quick note to share a post by David Risley, on time management. Right now this is my biggest enemy and starting tomorrow I plan on fighting back. Here’s a glimpse into what I might be doing during any typical two hour span

• checking email
• checking @twitter messages
• checking stats & adsense
• playing a very uninteresting Facebook game
• reading The Keyword Academy forum posts
• playing online poker (my favorite late night pastime)
• reading other blogs
• reading posts on my own blogs by my content providers
• going over comments on my other sites
• last but not least – getting some work done, link building

I just downloaded Evernote as suggested by David. Tomorrow I clean out my inbox and start putting the first nine items on the back-burner and start working! It’s amazing that my blogs have any traffic consider how much time wasting I do! I’m feeling pretty crappy right about now (embarrassed a little is probably more accurate). How about next post I tell you how awesome I did.