I have made three attempts to complete Acquisitions. The first two attempts failed simply because of absent-mindedness and a general lack of discipline. I would forget to bring my log book with me and say to myself, "Oh, I'll record that one when I get back. I won't forget." But of course, I did forget and acquired a few more things along the way, until I wasn't sure that I could accurately remember all of the crap I had collected. It's pretty amazing just much stuff you consume in an average day if you really log everything: notes, receipts, paper coffee cups, etc.

Which leads to the cause of the third failure, banality. On my third try just a few weeks ago I was meticulous about recording everything as soon as I got it. However I looked at the list after 4 days or so, and it was so boring and mundane I just didn't want to submit it. It was truly a life measured out with coffee spoons. Did I really want to show this to other people? I was embarassed. So, I stopped recording my acquisitions.

A few days ago it occurred to me that maybe this was a very narrow interpretation of the task.

"Collect everything you acquire in a seven day period. Examine, evaluate, explain."

I suppose it could mean only material goods, but what about information, feelings, or diseases?

I think for my fifth attempt I will try to track every piece of information that I consciously seek out and acquire: books, television, radio, blog postings, newspaper articles; and see what insight this offers. The information we are exposed to influences our thoughts and opinions and therefore might be more interesting to examine than the material things we collect.