Wow, I've gotten quite behind on the ol' blog. I mean, I'm usually behind, but I'm also usually not doing a damned thing. But now I have tales of architecture and ghosts and bees and snow and a photo shoot and the cosmos and coincidences.
So, where to begin?
[meh, to be continued... the mead we had tonight made me SLEEPY!]
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
How will we change the world?
I attract coincidences, as I've recently mentioned. Something that comes out of a lot of my conversations is this admission that I, and also whoever I'm conversing with, has a sincere (albeit vaguely understood) desire to "change" or "save" the world.
And I used to get really excited: I want to do this, and I keep meeting other people who want to do this!!!1!!OM!G!! We can work together and do it! Yay!
And then my friend Anna diffused my glee, seemingly forever, with one word. She and I had been talking about such things, and then I had a great conversation with Charissa. The next time I saw Anna, I was all giddy: "Charissa wants to save the world, too!" And then Anna asked:
"How?"
I was stunned. It was like being excited to reach the edge of the flat world, only to discover there's more world. What, you mean I have to keep going?
I don't think that was a life-changing moment, but it did define certain distinctions in my conversations. I thought the answer was so obvious, until I actually had to come up with an answer. Now the coincidences I experience involve attracting answers to that question: How will we change the world?
Now, there are lots of ways we CAN change the world. Changing the world is, in fact, incredibly easy. But I don't want to change the world just for the sake of change. I want to change it because the world I live in is not, in my opinion, the best world for me to live in.
I still don't have an answer for how to change the world, but I have a far better idea than I did three years ago, or even three months ago.
Here are four people who have had a huge impact on me during this period:
Douglas Rushkoff, on how we can change the world of economics:
Ken Robinson, on how we can change the world of education:
David Platt, on how we can change Christianity (and I believe we can take this to any religion):
Daniel Quinn, on how to challenge our origins:
And I used to get really excited: I want to do this, and I keep meeting other people who want to do this!!!1!!OM!G!! We can work together and do it! Yay!
And then my friend Anna diffused my glee, seemingly forever, with one word. She and I had been talking about such things, and then I had a great conversation with Charissa. The next time I saw Anna, I was all giddy: "Charissa wants to save the world, too!" And then Anna asked:
"How?"
I was stunned. It was like being excited to reach the edge of the flat world, only to discover there's more world. What, you mean I have to keep going?
I don't think that was a life-changing moment, but it did define certain distinctions in my conversations. I thought the answer was so obvious, until I actually had to come up with an answer. Now the coincidences I experience involve attracting answers to that question: How will we change the world?
Now, there are lots of ways we CAN change the world. Changing the world is, in fact, incredibly easy. But I don't want to change the world just for the sake of change. I want to change it because the world I live in is not, in my opinion, the best world for me to live in.
I still don't have an answer for how to change the world, but I have a far better idea than I did three years ago, or even three months ago.
Here are four people who have had a huge impact on me during this period:
Douglas Rushkoff, on how we can change the world of economics:
Ken Robinson, on how we can change the world of education:
David Platt, on how we can change Christianity (and I believe we can take this to any religion):
Daniel Quinn, on how to challenge our origins:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Life... is good.
Looking at the time, I see that it is precisely two weeks since I got off the train in Tucson. This is hard to believe.
I came to town, spent the night at Age & Valerie's house. I got up the next morning, went to the laundromat, had lunch, went to the library (that's where the DQ blog was posted from), then Leslie and Charles drove me to Casa Grande. You've seen the blog from that weekend, too.
Then Kate & Matt drove me back to Tucson, and I have been here since then. Since ten. Days. Ago.
I have loved this past week and a half. Charles, Leslie and I have done some cool things. They hooked me up with the Rosetta Stone, so I'm learning French: "La fille et la femme mangent du riz." We have consumed much wine. We have sat in the hot tub, and the pool (because it's the freking desert, not Vermont where it's -32 degrees). We are learning about mehndi; its history, production, and application. We have talked about farming, and incorporating some communal living situation.
Their apartment is so chill, at the foothills of the Catalina mountains.
Other things: had brunch with Age, Valerie & Pam (who I'd not seen since she visited Seattle in 2008). There we talked about the political and motivational side of the potential collective. Who are our pioneers, Age asked. Is it even possible, Val asked. I talked to Bob, who pronounced that we could take the farmland and turn it into "Daniel Quinn's faggy little trapeze school." He and I argued about education for a while. I volunteered for an afternoon at Native Seeds SEARCH, and therefore got to spend some time with my great friend Dawna. All in all, I like where things are going, what conversations are happening.
On the downside, the money's going. Not quickly, thanks to Leslie and Charles's generosity, but finding work would offset whatever spending I am doing, not to mention leaving town will require some capital, when that time comes. Especially if Valerie is right, and Costa Rica is my next destination......
I came to town, spent the night at Age & Valerie's house. I got up the next morning, went to the laundromat, had lunch, went to the library (that's where the DQ blog was posted from), then Leslie and Charles drove me to Casa Grande. You've seen the blog from that weekend, too.
Then Kate & Matt drove me back to Tucson, and I have been here since then. Since ten. Days. Ago.
I have loved this past week and a half. Charles, Leslie and I have done some cool things. They hooked me up with the Rosetta Stone, so I'm learning French: "La fille et la femme mangent du riz." We have consumed much wine. We have sat in the hot tub, and the pool (because it's the freking desert, not Vermont where it's -32 degrees). We are learning about mehndi; its history, production, and application. We have talked about farming, and incorporating some communal living situation.
Their apartment is so chill, at the foothills of the Catalina mountains.
Other things: had brunch with Age, Valerie & Pam (who I'd not seen since she visited Seattle in 2008). There we talked about the political and motivational side of the potential collective. Who are our pioneers, Age asked. Is it even possible, Val asked. I talked to Bob, who pronounced that we could take the farmland and turn it into "Daniel Quinn's faggy little trapeze school." He and I argued about education for a while. I volunteered for an afternoon at Native Seeds SEARCH, and therefore got to spend some time with my great friend Dawna. All in all, I like where things are going, what conversations are happening.
On the downside, the money's going. Not quickly, thanks to Leslie and Charles's generosity, but finding work would offset whatever spending I am doing, not to mention leaving town will require some capital, when that time comes. Especially if Valerie is right, and Costa Rica is my next destination......
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