Seven Deadly Sins Project Part #1: This Project Is Spelled With A Capital Vice

When it rains, it pours. What also happens when it rains? Well, first off, not a lot of people think, “This is perfect weather for going to go house plant shopping.” If there is an economic crisis while it’s raining, even fewer people head towards the greenhouse. In essence, when it rains, it pours and people stay inside and I get bored at work. I had some free time on my hands during the rain earlier this week, and you know what they say about idle hands. I needed something to do, so I tried to remember the Seven Deadly Sins, or the Cardinal Sins, or the Capital Vices. I found it easier to remember them if I wrote them down. Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Pride, Envy, Sloth. It actually took me an hour or so to remember them all. The paper on which I wrote them down was long and narrow, so it kind of looked like a shopping list.

“I need 4 cans of Wrath, a box of Envy, a big ol’ jug of Gluttony, and three pounds of sliced Lust. Some garden fresh Sloth sounds nice. Oh yeah, I can’t forget the shaved Greed and crushed Pride.”

Having this shopping list got me thinking about our American / Capitalist culture and how it seems that the entertainment for the masses these days focuses on as many of these sins as possible, as often as possible, all at once. The penultimate example I can think of is the MTV show, “My Super Sweet 16,” which is second only to live coverage of the House of Representatives on CSPAN. But there is no room here to rant about stupid television shows that I do not watch on purpose, or politics. There is room for a little statistic taking, though. Here’s my idea.

1) I will have a small black notebook and a pen on my person, at all times. The first seven pages of this notebook will contain my shopping list of deadly sins.

2) I will record a slash for each sin I commit as I feel I commit them. I have asked a few “watch-gods” to catch me if I miss one or two.

3) I will make records of my favorite instances of sin and post them on this website periodically.

4) At the end of two weeks, I will find an average daily rate of sin. With this info I will spend the next two weeks sinning less than average (hopefully by half, or more), and the following weeks sinning more than average (hopefully twice as often, or more) and find out which lifestyle is more fun.

There it is, the Seven Deadly Sins Project. I welcome anyone who is willing to join me in sinning up a storm in the name of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Obsquatchiness.