shoebox approach

The Shoebox Approach

Jaron Summers

When it comes to organizing our lives, we use the modified shoebox method around our household.

We scribble Bills on the end of a shoebox—we stuff all our bills into it. We have shoeboxes for everything but our shoes. Footwear we put in apple boxes. I don’t know why.

And, when it comes to the computer, we throw all our stuff on the hard disk. We pretend to organize things in files and folders, but we don’t. When we want to find a letter, we use the search button that comes with Windows XP.

Just last week I cursored upon a letter I had written to a CEO, threatening him with a nationwide boycott if he didn’t send me a free Mercedes. It was in a subfolder called “How to Achieve your Dreams.” And that was tucked away within another folder called, “My Cons” And that was yet sequestered within another folder called “German Cars.”

I digress.

This column is about organizing ... specifically the humor columns that I have inflicted on you over the years. Oh, and thank you for reading them and passing them onto your friends.

I divided my hilarious columns into what for me were obvious groups. (Travel, giggle food, bittersweet, war, and info and my novels.)

So much for springcleaning.

It dawned on me that the best way for anyone to access any of my writing would be to simply type in a word in the search engine on my website.

Enter what you want: Taliban, sex, Kate, Amazon, money, etc. Bingo, my search engine finds those pertinent columns (plus a short overview).

As that Australian Crocodile hunter yells as he steps on a hissing cobra, “Cracky, this is great sport!”

Search Engines may be a superior way to organize and access knowledge (at least my knowledge) compared to what Aristotle dreamed up. Turns out he was wrong about many things—the earth revolves around the sun, Stupid.

In fairness to Aristotle, he did hatch a plan (to classify items in categories) that was a trifle superior to my six: travel, giggle food, bittersweet, war, and info and my novels.

In spite of his forays into epistemology, the Old Greek still figured our brains were refrigerators.

Type “refrigerator” in my search engine to see what I am talking about. Or I can do it for you, here.) Speaking in fridge terms, I bet Aristotle would have agreed that computers, the internet and Atomz were cool.

Atomz is the dynamic search engine on my website—you can incorporate it on your website so people can access anything you have written.

Click here to see how Atomz works. Then click on the Atomz logo if you want to go to its website and obtain the program and its use for free, thereby avoiding spring cleaning on your website—

And by the way, if you’re looking for a website name (mine is www.jaronbs.com), and want to buy one for $7.95, check out www.powerpipe.com.

Full Disclosure. I don’t have any financial interest in Powerpipe or Atomz—simply don’t make any money out of them.

I'm too busy figuring out ways to out-organize Aristotle with shoeboxes.

Cheers,

jaron, Playing In Cyberspace (PIC)

PS -- Someday maybe we'll use virtual shoeboxes to store all our information in. For example, here's a thriller I wrote -- and you can read it in cyberspace. (hint: you can also buy it in cyberspace. While Aristotle would have been shocked by my novel, he would have loved cyberspace.)