See? It's not like we're the first ones suggesting this.

Some people have called the Five Day Weekend a crazy concept. Crazy great, maybe. But crazy? What's so nuts about wanting to refocus our lives and devote our time to the things we really take joy in doing?

Allow us to give you some perspective on crazy.

Believe it or not, we actually weren't the first to promote a Five Day Weekend. And while we admit that our concept is a tiny bit radical, the earlier proposal puts us to shame in thinking a few miles outside the box.

In 1989, author Peter M. Rinaldo penned The Five-Day Weekend: A Proposal for Calendar and Work-Schedule Change. This obviously wasn't a mass-market hit, so it took us a while to track down a copy of Rinaldo's hot-pink manifesto.

Here's a summary snippet from his intro:

"Specifically, the book proposes a change in the length of the week from seven to five days, so that there would be 72 five-day weeks per year, grouped in twelve months of six weeks each (plus five holiday days)."

But wait, there's more. We haven't gotten to the workweek yet.

"This calendar change would be accompanied by the shift in the work schedule alluded to in the title of this book — five days of work followed by a five-day weekend. While one employee was enjoying the long weekend, a 'job partner' would be doing the same job."

Now sure, we could scoff. But who are we to say that he's not right? Several of our critics have said that five days off and two days on every week would leave society standing still most of the week. We disagree, but Mr. Rinaldo's proposal does seem more aimed at that concern.

(Oh, and he's not the first to propose doing away with the seven-day week. Check out our interactive timeline to learn about other failed attempts at calendar change.)

It seems strange to us that ideas like ours and Mr. Rinaldo's are seen as being on the lunatic fringe, especially when our 16-hour workweek pales in comparison to the four-hour workweek being promised by a certain New York Times best-seller.

How a longer weekend could save the planet — a modest proposal.

We mentioned a while back that we had ordered a copy of "Workers of the World, Relax," a small book put out by the founder of Canada's Work Less Party. It's a slim, intellectually challenging book that supports a shorter workweek.

(Of course, author Conrad Schmidt only asks for a mere three-day weekend. C'mon, you've gotta aim high, buddy.)

Anyway, what's interesting about this book is its overarching theory that working less could help save the environment.

Now, we have to admit, our motivation in promoting a Five Day Weekend is to get people relaxing and spending more time out enjoying life. But that's not to say there aren't a few other benefits.

Here's Schmidt's thesis statement on how to save the world:

"A great beginning would be to reduce the industrial workweek. We would consume less, produce less, work less, pollute less and live more. Providing that the remaining work be distributed among more people, an industrial slow-down could have the additional benefit of reducing unemployment. This is a simpel concept that has not garnered much attention."

Well amen to that.

To be honest, reading the book is kinda rough sledding, so we won't expand on his whole theory on this blog. You can feel free to pick up a copy yourself if you want to learn more.

But hey, if nothing else, you've got another good argument for more time off. If you work at a hemp clothing store or on a Greenpeace anti-whaling boat, you might really get some traction with this.

And remember, if a three-day weekend could improve the planet, just think what the 5 Day Weekend could do.

Realizing the Five Day Weekend dream, one step at a time.

Greetings again from The Friends of the Five Day Weekend. (That's the name we used to register this site, and we've kind of grown into it....so there you go, instant identity.)

Since we made our first few posts, we've been scrambling around trying to get at least somewhat organized. We've got some meaty stuff in the works -- a full Web site, even -- but more on that later.

For now, we just wanted to pass on some Web sites and news bits that seem in sync with our lofty goal:

• Shutdown Day -- We of the Five Day don't hate computers (we're using one right now), but we definitely think that our culture's addiction to being online 24/7 is a major barrier to actually getting out and enjoying life. So see if you can rise to the challenge this Saturday and spend a day afk.

• The Work Less Party -- Apparently there's a Canadian group that not only is advocating a shorter work week, but also using the same "Work less, live more" mantra as us. Who knew? Given, they're only pushing for a 32-hour work week, but they make many of the same points that we've been using to rally our cause. Huzzah! We ordered a copy of their book (shown above) to add to our growing library.

• Motivational speaker Marsha Egan has developed a 12-step program for e-mail addicts. We have no idea what the steps are, but we like that they're delivered to you daily ... by e-mail!

• The folks over at I-am-bored.com have put together a random excuse maker, which you're welcome to try to use for an extra day off work. Of course, we can't vouch for the effectiveness of excuses like "I have to revive my filthy portfolio" or "I have to rock my husky banjo."

Well, we hope these tidbits get you in the Five Day Weekend mindset. Stay tuned for more.