I Made a Mistake

I’ve actually made a lot of mistakes, and seemly continue to do so, and probably will until I’m very dead. The specific mistake I’m referring to is teenager-esqe arrogance. Somehow it carried through until just very recently. I don’t have the answers… I never did. I have a few ideas of what could be cool, and might work, but answers? The Truth? Nope. Education is a bitch. If you’re really learning, it’s a continual process of revelations of ignorance. Every bit of new information shames your long-held, uneducated beliefs. By the end, you get to that point where you can barely move, unable to speak, as the level of you unknowledge is fathomless. People come to you for answers, and all you can do is say, “I… I...

Book Going Offline, for now.

My first book, The Sharp Knife of Forced Simplicity, Volume 1: The Numinous Rebellion was published almost exactly three years ago. I’ve learned a lot in that time. I’ve learned how the publication process works – at least with a certain business model of publishing. I learned what it feels like to see your name attached to words, on a bookshelf in a stranger’s house. I’ve learned about the overwhelming importance of proper and thorough editing. I’ve learned how hard it is to get honest feedback from friends, and I’ve learned that there’s nothing more disappointing than a lukewarm reception. I’ve learned that, obviously, views change through the years. I’ve learned that inspiration comes in shades....

Permaculture Talent Show Poem

 [We apparently have to have a talent show for our Permaculture class. Being rather talentless, I was somewhat inspired to write a poem (in a poor imitation of Blake). I don't write poems often (or at all), and again, this is obviously the first draft of a rough idea... but here ya go!] Machinated man-made wretched wasteland wrestled my weary mind and turned my awkward feet towards freedom’s golden lands heavy, old, unfortunate man-made-man I came to find no freedom’s land left to find, only dunes of golden sands Distraught and downtrodden I sat my ass upon a rock and asked the bright burning solar light above, ‘Where may man find relief for his flock and enter in God’s sheltering love?’ Sun came down, hard and heated and spoke not,...

Inner Nature, Outer Nature

I wonder why the word “nature” is used to describe such radically different things. One definition includes all the trees, rocks, grass, water, animals, sands… those places and things which are least touched by mankind. But another definition is used to describe the inner behavior of our own selves – our inner nature, what we are compelled to do, those things structured into our own nature. I would like to reverse these definitions, just to see what happens. What happens when we talk about the nature (behavior) of nature – how the trees behave, what the grass is compelled to do, how the streams react to the rain on an emotional level. What is the attitude of the forest? What bias does the prairie hold? Does the soil desire something, or is it...

More Summer Reading

I finished Utopia by Sir Thomas More last night.   I really enjoyed it! Not so much for the practicality of it (it was written in the 1500′s, after all), but for the somewhat radical ideas put forth… and very interesting. For a man who’s drive is to create a new society, any and all ideas are welcome, and a classic like this should have been on my “consumed” list a long time ago.

CAT!

Say hello to Baseeka! Basica? Not sure how to spell it. She’s the new SLC mouse-eater/mascot!