The World is Black

The world is black and white.

You either believe god created the world, or you believe in evolution, right?

Some folks (religious and not) are fond of arguing against evolution. But even if they could 'prove it' false, it gives no further evidence to the claim that god created the world. This is faulty logic: that proving one thing is false automatically proves the other is true: if NOT A, THEN B.

This is a false dichotomy. A dividing of an idea into two opposing sides and assuming they are incompatible.

We do this a lot, humans. We take a complex idea and boil it down to choice of either 'this' Or 'that'.

I am all for exploring the existence of a higher power; as humans, we cant help it. I am all for exploring the theory of evolution; to me the theory makes sense, but its not without its problems. I do insist that we keep the two separate topics, with their own merits.

Next topic, but I plan on coming back to this and discussing further.... Look for an update.
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So here's a question for you. I read a billboard the other day, advertising nothing. No logos, no tag lines, no phone numbers, no offers. Nothing. Here it is.

THINK! Its not illegal....... YET.

So, black and white world, is this poster of billboard a Conservative, or a Liberal?

I could argue that the author is a conservative, and is trying to convey the message that Government is too far reaching, and limiting our civil rights, creating too many laws, etc.

I could that the author is a liberal, and warning of BIG BROTHER mentality, of an over-reaching current of restrictive compliance, of 'tea party' yes-man ideals.

But then, I would be busy labeling, and placing my own judgment based on my beliefs and ideals about the world in general.

And I don't like to do that..............

Mileage

Whew. I don't have the years, but I've got the mileage of that truck.

Been busy. With work stuff mostly. Transitions transitions. Life changes, things come and go.
At my current company for 21 years, and soon it will be no more.

Me? I've been great. I have multiple opportunities with several options coming my way.

Don't know for sure where I'll land. Could be, somewhere north, like Madison. Could be somewhere south, like Paddock Lake, WI. Big Corp America kinda feels the same all over. So maybe this time, I pick the one that gives me the most time and freedom. Screw the money, what do I need it for?

Time, Miles. You can't buy em back.

Some days when I am on a conference call, and enduring yet again someone talking more than they are listening, or I am in a marketing meeting where we are trying to figure out what shade of gold to spray paint our turds this week, I think of this quote from Ed Abbey. That's him, above in the photo.

The only truly tragic part of this quote is that he was wrong about one thing: he didn't out-live them, he died way too soon at the age of 62. But it sure as hell didn't mean he didn't LIVE.



Quote:
Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast… a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards.”

-Edward Abbey

13 pounds

I am headed to the Superior Hiking Trail this weekend. I'll be gone for 9 days or so.

In my attempt to be a minimalist, I got my base pack weight down to 13 pounds. Thats without food or water.

Water will add about 4 pounds (which will vary based on drinking and usage), and food about 1 and a half pounds per day, unless I want to go less and run out to retrieve more.

So my total weight is around 20-24 pounds for 5 days.

Interestingly, for some reason I can't help but pack my car with about 5 extra of this and that and god knows what else. I know I won't use half of what I'm taking, but when I like something I tend to like a back up. SO while I am at a minimum, my car sure isn't. Oh well, I got the space, so I fill it up, fill it up. One other thing that I am carrying that I'm sure many purist hikers would scoff at:

An Umbrella.

Yes, an Umbrella, a pocket size small fold up that weighs 8 ounces. I know it sounds silly, but think about it. If its raining and the rain HITS you, it wicks away heat; more rain, more wicking. And on..... I don't mind being wet, but I don't like being wet and cold. The umbrella puts that impact well over my head. Like a moving miniature shelter.

If its sunny and hot, the umbrella has it place too. I've never tried it, so it should prove interesting.


See you in about 9 days!

Pattern Makers 3 - Not Really

OK, so I got distracted a bit for the past several weeks, and I have never completed this post. Read below, and let it ruminate.

I'll update more on it later.

I am kinda busy right now with just getting back from a 3 day kayak trip, and I am planning a hiking trip in MN on the Superior Hiking Trail. I leave Friday, and I'll be back a week later.

Life sure gets busy sometimes.

Pattern Makers 2

Read Below for instructions. What do you see in this picture of a certain section of Mars?

Potential answers.

I see:

1) The second coming of Jesus Christ;

2) A face of a Man;

3) Proof that aliens are trying to contact us;

4) A sand dune that when viewed from a certain angle has the appearance of a human face.

Pattern Makers

I am going to write something here and I'll add to it every couple days.

This action was spurred on by some random dreams I was having last night, which in turn were spurred on by a conversation with a friend earlier last evening.

What do you see in these pictures? These are shots taken of a certain section of Mars from space.

A Words Worth of Thoreau

A friend of mine sent this Wordsworth poem (below) to me recently, and it reminds me of a few passages in Henry David Thoreau's "Walden". Thoreau talks about experiencing life as opposed to learning it in a book; of majoring in "Navigation" for four years of college when you would get more from merely sailing out the harbor.

Another way to put it would be that there are two kinds of boys: One who study the stars, and one would be an astronaut. BOTH are needed, but more importantly, we need to be BOTH.

So which one are you lately?

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Tables Turned:

Up! up! my friend, and quit your books,
Or surely you'll grow double.
Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble. . . .

Books! 'tis a dull and endless trifle:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it. . . .

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Misshapes the beauteous forms of things--
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art,
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.

--William Wordsworth