No. 16: Brad Pitt's Sketchbook
(My List) Fifteen Things I Think Everyone Should Know
By Brad Pitt
October 2006, Volume 146, Issue 4
The Drug War
I'll agree that drugs are harmful, but we spend $40 billion a year on the drug war and $8 billion a year incarcerating people, 25 percent of whom are in there for drugs. If someone wants to do drugs, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else in a violent manner, as long as he or she isn't corrupting minors or driving un¬der the influence or endangering others, shouldn't a person have that right? I know the drug war is a can't-miss political issue that no one wants to touch. It's the big pink elephant no one wants to talk about. Think of all the other things we could do with the money.
For an interesting perspective on the whole issue, I recommend the book Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, by Peter McWilliams.
Adoption
There are ten million children who have lost their parents to AIDS. That number's going to double by 2010. Now that I have two adopted kids, I cannot imagine life without them. They're as much of my blood as any natural born, and I'm theirs. That's all I can say about it. I can't live without them. So: Anyone considering, that's my vote.
Carol's Daughter Hair Products
For white people who might be having a little trouble with black- person hair, Carol's Daughter is a fantastic hair product. We got it for Z. Now her hair has this beautiful luster. And it smells nice, too.
A New Paradigm
Nature consumes and then reuses; there is a cycle to things. But humans just consume. It's obviously time for a new paradigm. And the question is, Do we adopt it now, or do we wait until we're really in trouble? We're going to have to make the tough choices. Some people are going to have to lose money, but new people will begin making money. Industry and environment don't have to be at odds with each other; they can work harmoniously.
I recommend Addicted to Oil, Thomas Friedman's Discovery Channel program; Cradle to Cradle, a book by William McDonough and Michael Braungart; and Design Like You Give a Damn, a book by Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr.
The Perfect Mattress
Don't spend a lot of money on a big, giant mattress with double padding on both sides and all that. Just go out and buy a normal firm mattress. Then go buy the three-inch Tempur-Pedic pad, the memory foam, and put it on top. I'm telling you, take my tip. It's the perfect pressure. I take full credit for the discovery. You will sleep in bliss forever more . . . unless you've got a six-week-old.
Marriage
Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able.
Three Things I've Learned About Parenting
I try not to stifle them in any way. If it's not hurting anyone, I want them to be able to explore. Sometimes that means they're quite rambunctious. At night, before they go to bed, I feel it's really important to have that time to sit and talk to them. I really like that last minute before they fade off. And always give them a heads-up before you jerk them out of something. You need to tell them, like, "You have three more minutes." Someone told me that one. It's essential.
Building Green
America uses 25 percent of the world's oil; we produce 3 percent. Ev¬erybody knows that. What people don't know about is how inefficient our buildings are. Our buildings—our homes, offices, stores, businesses—use up 40 percent of all our energy. And they are responsi¬ble for 45 percent of the pollution in the air—meaning how we make the materials for buildings, how we produce our buildings, and then how our buildings operate. In a year, the average home is responsible for as much pollution as any car.
The Ultimate Diaper-Rash Cream
Shiloh is six weeks old now. She's got horrible diaper rash, poor thing. Same with Zahara when we picked her up in Ethiopia. She had such a bad rash, it looked almost disfiguring. We've tried everything—every cream, every salve, every natural product. We haven't found the magic ointment. Yet.
Burping Your Baby
Getting a burp out of your little thing when she needs it is probably the greatest satisfaction I've come across at this point in my life. It is truly one of life's most satisfying moments.
Valentino Rossi, European Moto Gp Champion
He's the fastest man on a thousand cc's. This guy is a magician. He's mesmerizing. He probably weighs a buck fifty, and he's the fastest man on two wheels. It's speed, but it's also balance: These are the guys who are laying the bikes on their sides and not going over. These are the guys who are riding on their knees and elbows. It's pure ballet, on the most powerful motorcycles in the world. Rossi has won the title for the last four years. He doesn't get rattled. He has a sort of innate sense of balance that's beyond mortal man. He's like Lance Armstrong on a motorcycle. Just poetry to watch.
Motorcycles
Yes, I have choppers. One is really low. There's a big tire in front of you, and you just feel like you're Slim Pickens on the rocket in Dr. Strangelove or something. And I have sport bikes. And I have dirt bikes. I've got a few builders who are artists in their own right. Their machines are art, like sculpture. I don't want to talk about it; I'll just say that I have a problem.
Jack White And The Raconteurs Jack White is something special.
The Jewish Museum in Berlin, By Daniel Libeskind
This is one of the greatest buildings of all time, the best example I know of the way surroundings can have such a profound effect on the individual. I hardly have adequate words to describe it. There are just so many feelings that you succumb to when you're walking through this building. First, everything's on a slant, so you're slightly off-kilter. There's this one room, forty feet tall, shaped like a trapezoid. It's an all-concrete room, and it's totally dark except for this one sliver of light that comes in. You suddenly get this oppressive feeling, this haunting—I'm lacking words. And then there's this beautiful garden that throws off your perspective and makes you feel like you're tipping over. I've been there three or four times now, and I'm just humbled every time. It rocks you in just that way that art can.
....And a Fourth Thing
Run's House on MTV. He is a patriarch I can get behind.
