Off Again

I've decided to commence blogging. I like sharing interesting things I've discovered. I'll catch you up on what's been happenin' and where I am now. I haven't given up on the cheap mobile life however. Here's a quote from Venkatesh Rao.

"Nomadism is, in a way, the most accessible pattern of mindful living. Ownership and community life change from being stock concepts (defined by things you accumulate) to flow concepts ( defined by things you pass through and that pass through you). Identity starts to anchor to what you are doing rather than what you have."

After returning home from my brief respite in Tucson I immediately took to brainstorming ideas to avoid the drudge of the conventional career path. Two opportunities presented themselves. A friend of my dad's offered to house me and give me a job in Nashville building a house. This would allow me to save up thousands in tax free money. Also, I applied and was accepted to a permaculture apprenticeship in French Lick, IN. This doesn't really pay but gives a medium to express my interests. 

Either of these wouldn't start till March, so I had an interval at home working at Dominos. During this time I read several awesome books and watched a few good movies. Here are some of my favorites:

Crossing the Rubicon by Michael Ruppert; this is an incredibly thorough investigative report of the events of 9/11 by journalist and former CIA detective Michael Ruppert. 

Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse; a lot of the things we do are games we play. We get in trouble when we forget we're playing a game and take it too seriously. Infinite games are the most fun because the purpose of the game is the continuation of play and there are no winners or losers.

The Myth of the Machine by Lewis Mumford; genius from the first half of the twentieth century. Traces the impacts of technology and mechanical thinking on the story of human cultural procession. 

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeves; set in a cyberpunk future, cities are mobile and cross the barren earth looking for small towns to gobble up and scavenge for parts. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams; hilarious and complex plot. Well written with clever dialogue. Many interesting scientific anecdotes. 

Movies:

Never Let Me Go; based on the book, clones are raised at a school for future organ donations to dying originals. 

Sunshine; astronauts travel to reignite the dying sun.

The Square; documents the ongoing revolution in Egypt.

I also worked for a while installing flooring until I discovered my boss was an ogre and had to escape before I was eaten. 

Erwan Le Corre has a novel approach to exercise as functional natural movement. http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/fitness-survive-wild#mobify-bubble

Another insanely cool guy in sort of the same camp is Ido Portal.

Both of my above options would last for eight months. I chose the apprenticeship and that's where I am now. Permaculture is a systematic approach to growing food. It focuses on ecological design principles to incorporate all elements of an active biotic community; plants, animals, soil, et cetera. I'll be living and working here for the next eight months. The Hoosier National Forest is next door. Food is great. Lately it's been a lot of sweet potatoes, potatoes, kale, beans, lentils, and tea. The work's hard and messy, but never ceases to be fun and interesting. The people are really authentic and compassionate, conversational and weird.  

I'll probably keep this up weekly like before; giving updates and morsels that feed my insatiable curiosity.