On Thursday, Chris and I went over to Alison's for Thanksgiving. I was in the kitchen chatting with Alison, catching up. As we were talking, she noticed something had dripped from the sink onto the top of the cupboard door beneath. Without thinking, she took a cloth, sprayed something on it, and wiped off the mark.

It was a very familiar action - I have seen it repeated in countless kitchens - but it struck me because it's not something that would ever happen in my kitchen! (I share a house with three other single guys...)

But it got me thinking, because really, that's what it takes to keep things clean. Not massive bimonthly cleanups, but immediately fixing small messes. As an engineer/math-person/programmer, as a gen-x-er/slacker, and as someone who usually cares more about thoughts and ideas than things, cultivating a habit of maintenance, of looking after things from day to day, is one of my greatest challenges. Usually I don't even notice what the room I'm in looks like!

And while of course the same rule applies for many other practical things, I wonder how much thought we give to cultivating our selves - our personalities, virtues, character, thoughts. Do we spray and wipe immediately when we see a blob of turkey grease, or just leave it to sit and work its way in, until we learn to not to see the mess anymore?

Of course, you're wondering whether my house is currently spotless then, eh? No, unfortunately far from it. But my room is a whole lot less dusty and more organized, I can tell you that!

Ask me again in six weeks or so, and we'll see whether this is useless blabbing, or whether I've actually changed my behaviour. That's the theme for this year.

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As an aside - thanks to Tim Bray and his excellent blog (samples: less technical | more technical) for pointing me to shoutcast. I'm currently listening to "ambient psy chillout"—whatever that means! Sounds cool, though.