Journal
- June 04, 2010
- NOAM CHOMPSKY
Reading a hilarious blog post the other day by an academician trying to argue that research has been dumbed down by Google, I had to give pause. So many conclusions in our modern world are drawn with such finality that one can easily forget that 10,000 years ago we had a habit of squatting to shit behind a tree. As though best practices are the devils work. We, here, think about what we do, find the BEST way, people proudly proclaim.
But underneath the studied lives of formal education (whether primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary), the world just hums. A carpenter comes upon a problem that resembles one he’s solved many times, but is slightly different. He toe-nails a planed bough of pine in place to hold a load. A reporter, full of personal biases, does her best to make her writing compulsively readable because without an audience, why write? Facts are included, facts are excluded and the reader is left with some homework, but not academic homework.
No, the reader is left with spiritual homework. Because the last thing a child learns in this world is that you can’t really trust anyone, but you will have to trust everyone. The house you live in, unless you built it yourself, must be trusted to hold your physical weight day after day. All a reporter can tell you is that an American citizen was shot four times in the face by an Israeli IDF commando. But the world is demanding, and readership counts towards your bottom line, so you dress up the facts a little bit, try to describe the environment aboard the ship. The motor idling, the sun about to rise, and commandos drop down from the sky and begin spraying paintballs, and perhaps real munitions.
Academics have solved the problem with accreditation. Construction with permitting and inspections. But what happens when the accrediting group is corrupt? How easy would it be to pay off your local building inspector? The point here is that trust breaks down all over the world, all the time. Journalism, carpentry and edcuation are only three examples. When the cards are down, all you have is yourself. But, the relationships most resilient in the face of corruption are those that we nurture year over year, the people geographically and emotionally closest to you.
Yup, you guessed it. This whole post, and my general distates for academics is just another manifesto for living a fierce localist life. As far as I can tell in my own amateur investigations, evil is not in the details. Evil is in the thoughtless pursuit of efficiency, growth, profits, love, technology, popularity, power, art, and the list goes on.
Try writing a brief sentence about why you want to do something before you do it. We could all save each other a lot of grief. I’ll start. “I want as many stories about the Freedom Flotilla because I would … um … like to be more knowledgeable about world events?” Hmm. Not sure that one stands up to much scrutiny. Time to go cultivate the garden and tend to the chickens.
- This post is in the Trials of America chapter and has 0 comment(s).
- May 20, 2010
- OBSERVATIONS
Taking photographs is hard.
I need more sleep.
Avatar is fantasy, not science fiction.
- This post is in the Observations chapter and has 0 comment(s).
- March 31, 2010
- MISS BROODY
Just put one of our chickens out in the stable. She had been getting all broody on some eggs recently, and while we did not go into chicken ownership thinking we would try to hatch eggs, it just seems natural now. That and Emma met a neighbor that has had a lot of success mixing chicken breeds.
So with any luck, in three weeks we should have some fluffy little chicks running around!
Also, we had another MMA student stop by today as we were on our way out to Blue Hill who is interested in helping out on the farm. She grew up on a horse farm and is intrigued by the variety of animals we have. Seems like I ought to put up some flyers and try to get MMA work parties going on the farm. That would be one awesome way to get things done. Cook up some country ribs on the grill and get to work…yes, that’d do.
- This post is in the Timberwyck chapter and has 0 comment(s).
- March 24, 2010
- TERMS FOR FAILURE
Coming back from a talk on Habitat for Humanity and cranking up Face to Face got me thinking about the oft mentioned issue of coming to terms with failure. As someone who has suffered through a number of failures (who hasn’t?), I think it’s worth noting that in order to come to terms with failure, you have to have terms for failure.
Failure is important. It helps us grow and learn. But in order to grow and learn from failure, you cannot have any misgivings about your attempt. Namely, you have to have terms upon which failure is okay.
- This post is in the Trials of America chapter and has 0 comment(s).
- March 21, 2010
- SOCIAL FARMING
Busy day. Between church (and pot luck), beekeeper’s association meeting (and pot luck), and chatting with the neighbors, we did a lot of “social farming” today. I also can’t remember being less hungry before dinner, especially after double digging another flower garden in front of the house.
I will continue to promise photos of the new animals, but in the meantime, let me just tell you how amazing the energy the farm gives off is. I had a great day catching up with some wonderful people. Do not get me wrong. We learned how to make bee’s wax lotion, and chatted up some great friends. But after our busy day of church and pot lucks, I was just feeling drained. I also had something of a headache (very well could have been the sherry at the church pot luck).
By the time we pulled into the driveway at about 4 today, I couldn’t imagine doing anything. I just wanted to take a shower and curl up for a nap.
But the flower bed was calling. As I got out of the car I realized I had left a bunch of sod all piled up next to a hole I was working on yesterday. With rain threatening tonight and a week will other plans for farm work coming up, I realized I had to do something with it.
So I trudged out of the car, grabbed the mattock, a shovel and the dirt rake, and went to work. I felt really low on energy as I was stumping an old ceder bush we had removed last year. But once that little bastard started wiggling like a loose tooth in the maw of the earth, I began to feel the motivation coming back. I set to work grading a small patch where Emma, struggling with finding outdoor work she can do whilst pregnant, took to laying paving stones in a section leading the bulkhead.
I kept on ripping up sod with the mattock and digging up the ground about the depth of the sod so I could turn it upside down and bury it. I was on a roll. Especially with Emma making the new pathway look good, I was having a great time. Such a great time that when I stepped on a rusty nail, after an initial, “fuck,-do-I-have-my-tetanus-booster? moment (answer: no, going to the clinic tomorrow), I really did not care. I set up my tools and Emma proposed dropping some of our fertilized eggs (thank you, Captain) off at the neighbors who have a broody chicken.
When we arrived, they invited us to sit down with tea and beer to chat. I was brought up to speed on the bureaucratic hoops I needed to jump through for hunting next year, and we chatted for more than an hour and half about chickens, pigs, and life in general.
I can’t imagine a better Sunday. Oh, and Saturday was pretty much just as perfect too. Ah, life on the farm.
By the by, the lotion recipe is fall-off-a-log easy:
Rosemary West Hand Cream 5 oz. Beeswax 1 + 1/3 cup water 2 tsp borax 16 oz. mineral (or almond) oil 1. Dissolve wax in oil @ 158 degrees (F) 2. Dissolve borax in water @ 158 degrees (F) 3. Combine mixture while stirring and pour into containers while still hot Note: Start the wax dissolving way ahead and cut into small cubes, it takes a while. Spread on whatever needs moisturizing.- This post is in the Timberwyck chapter and has 0 comment(s).