"... And I'd be so mad I'd want to bite the mountaintops and would come in the shack and kick the cupboard and hurt my toe. But let the mind beware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious."
J. Kerouac "The Dharma Bums"

Stoke 3

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-- Robert A. Heinlen

...

"'cuz you got your purse and I got my hat and we might never make it back..."

Stoke 2

"Now I dream of the soft touch of women, the songs of birds, the smell
of soil crumbling between my fingers, and the brilliant green of plants
that I diligently nurture. I am looking for land to buy, and I will
sow it with deer and wild pigs and birds and cottonwoods and sycamores
and build a pond and the ducks will come and fish will rise in the early
evening light and take the insects into their jaws. There will be paths
through this forest and you and I will lose ourselves in the soft curves
and folds of the ground. We will come to the waters edge and lie on the
grass and there will be a small, unobtrusive sign that says --
THIS IS THE REAL WORLD, MUCHACHOS, AND WE ARE ALL IN IT. -- B.Traven"


Charles Browden
Blood Orchid

Stoke 1

Everyday above ground is a gift

Breaking Free

"Once you put the plow in the land you can't lose sight of what you are doing..."

http://matadornetwork.com/breaking-free/

...

"cause the lesson that surfing teaches you is that you go surfing when there is surf or you go powder skiing when there is powder snow. You don't go next Tuesday at 2 o'clock, otherwise you become a loser with an attitude like that"

-- Yvon Chouinard

"... see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers, Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, at least new fancy cars, certain hair oils and deodorants and general junk you finally always see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a system of work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume, I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad, making young girls happy and old girls happier..."

-- Quote attributed to Gary Snyder from Jack Kerouac's "The Dharma Bums"

Get Busy

Less screwface, More neutral: In NYC the scowl is an unconscious defense mechanism. Sporting a goofy grin can be an invitation for involvement. Sometimes though the negativity can turn your mood sour. I am going neutral.

Appreciate more, envy less: What good are accomplishments if you don't enjoy them.

Do Something / Go somewhere that lets me forget about shirts and shoes.

Research less:

I have a bad habit of becoming very interested in something only to research it to death and never actually try / practise it. You only get better at something by doing it

“It is what it is”: E

xcept when you can make it better. Excuses and rationalizations can be a part of life, they are also lame. The less lazy I am the less I will need them

Grateful part 2

Sunrises more than sunsets.
Walk rather than drive.
Two stairs at a time.
Experiences not possessions.
Action over inertia.
Easier said than done...

Grateful

The trick is to remember everyday...

Dark side of the lens

Nothing else in the world excites, captivates, and terrifies me like the ocean. The combination of the unknown under the surface and the raw power it holds makes me nervously want to toss myself in and open my eyes as wide as they can go.


"If there’s no future in it, this is a present worth remembering." -- Mickey Smith

Sometimes motivation tastes like Gatorade or smells like a pair of new Nike's...

... Montaigne was fond of an ancient drinking game where the members took turns holding up a painting of a corpse inside a coffin and cheered "Drink and be merry for when you’re dead you will look like this."

I like how nobody gets hurt.

magnificent creature

The Only Band that Mattered

Montauk

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