Ongoing Process

I so know what you mean

Chris — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:16:44 +0000

Acceptance Speech

Chris — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:05:23 +0000

If you haven’t seen this yet, you really need to.

Celebration

Chris — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:03:36 +0000

There are literally people cheering in the streets of Burlington, Vermont.

God, I love this town.

I voted!

Chris — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:19:13 +0000

I have just voted for, among other things, who I would like to be the next president of the United States of America. I voted for Barack Obama. I don’t believe that he’s quite the avatar of shining hope that he’s made out to be, but I do believe he’s probably the best candidate to cross the ballot in my lifetime. Certainly the best since I’ve been of voting age. So here’s hoping they don’t manage to rig another election and that America is finally ready to try to do something different.

We could make this the start of something really good. So let’s do that.

Facebook “friends”?

Chris — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:21:09 +0000

I now have 30 friends on Facebook, which is rather remarkable considering my socialization habits in conjunction with my tendency to befriend non-’Net people.

The trouble is, of those exactly 4 are people that I actually speak to on a regular basis. Another 4 are friends that I don’t talk to much but like to keep up with. Another 11 aren’t exactly friends, but are people that have been in my life that it’s nice to know about. The other 11, over a third of the total, are people that I’ve had some degree of contact with at some point in time (many from long, long ago and some I had literally forgotten had ever existed) who have somehow found me and sent a friend invitation that felt rude to refuse.

Is it rude to refuse? Is it even more rude to change your mind and punt them after the fact?

Star Wars Alternate Ending

Chris — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:48:24 +0000

Too Amazing

Chris — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:39:40 +0000

OK, I don’t totally approve of this as I don’t endorse messing with random people who didn’t ask for it. But it’s just too completely awesome to quibble about ethical details.

On my way home from work…

Living in nature, Part 2

Chris — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:05:50 +0000

I figured out that there’s a term for what it is that I’m wanting to learn about living in nature: bushcraft. And it turns out that possibly the best bushcraft school in the country is right here in New England.

Jack Mountain

"We’re a bushcraft school and traditional Maine guide service based on a riverside homestead in Masardis, Maine. Unlike the large, national outdoor schools, our focus isn’t on traveling through the wilderness as an outsider or tourist using high-tech gear as an umbilical cord back to town. Instead we teach traditional bushcraft skills and nature lore that immerse you into the bush without a buffer, through which you learn that you’re an active part of the natural world, not an observer."

Very interesting…

They’re made out of Meat

Chris — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 23:33:59 +0000

This is a priceless sci-fi short from Terry Bisson.

They’re made out of Meat

Living in nature

Chris — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:41:37 +0000

I’ve had recurring impulses to learn some nature skills for a while now, but when I thought about actually doing it, it never felt right. This morning I think I finally pinned it down.

In our culture, we’re accustomed to such things falling under "wilderness survival". Implicit in this is that nature is "wild" and needs to be "survived". It’s as if the non-human world were an enemy that must be out-maneuvered or defeated. This is, of course, our attitude towards nature in general, so it’s no real surprise.

On the other hand, one could think about living in nature. This is an entirely different perspective. Here, nature is known to be inherently life-sustaining. Of course, one needs to know how to go about it (illness and death being as natural as anything else).

There, then, I think is the answer to my seemingly conflicting impulses. I was assuming I was feeling a call towards wilderness survival, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I was feeling drawn towards living in nature.

Now, if I can just figure out how to learn such things…