DUDE, REIN-O!

I have been burning a lot of incense lately.  During my trip to Cancun in June, I bought a small statue of a fat little man in a sombrero that read “Viva Mexico”.  I wasn’t really sure what it was supposed to do, but he had a hole at his mouth and a few drilled into the top of his cover.  Now the fat man is sitting on a shelf, smoking a long stick of Satya “Sunrise”.

I think the first time I smelled burning incense was when I was at Threshold Music store when I was 15 years old.  That is when I developed my taste for independent, used record stores.  I remember riding a few miles on my bike to the shop, and browsing many of the rare heavy metal albums, while checking out the T-Shirts and other merchandise.  When I developed enough courage, I ventured my way upstairs…to the guitar shop.

In college, burning incense was the cheapest way to “clean” my room in the fraternity house.  On thursday nights, I would gather up all the loose clothes off the floor and throw them behind the closet curtain, collect all the beer cans and empty the ashtray.  Then I made sure the mood lights were working, put some easy tunes on the stereo, light a stick of incense, and await the party.

Lately I’ve been relaxing at the house, watching football, working on the truck, and just contemplating.  The fat man in the sombrero is silently smoking away, setting the tone for a peaceful household.

My friend sent me this:

It shows that Colorado is the leanest state. This is no surprise to me. Ever since I moved here, I have watched my waistline get smaller, even though I found myself eating more and more. Vanessa says I eat a lot. The problem is that I eat a decent sized portion and get full, but then I am hungry again 1/2 hour later. I can’t keep up with it, and I just keep on buying new belts every 6 months.

I have decided that I need to put some effort into this website.

Stay tuned.

My friend was telling me about peak oil. It is the concept that we have surpassed the highest daily extraction rate of petroleum, and that as each day progresses, less petroleum will be produced until we eventually run out. The daily human consumption rate, however, will continue to grow infintely until that day. No form of “alternative” fuel source known of today will ever meet that demand.

It is quite an unbelieveable horror story at first, but eventually I have come to the conclusion that it is a very possible situation. I feel the urge to increase my own levels of learning about my environment and myself. Without fossil fuels, we will be forced to rely on our local surroundings and personal skills to survive and provide well being for our families.
Communities will break into smaller pieces, and become more independant each day. Trips to far away villages will be taken by horseback, but that luxury will be reserved for only those select enough to own such a rare animals these days.
Hunting, fishing, gardening, gathering, building, and most of all, communicating, will be essential skills for those of us who wish to survive in this era.

Why, then, are we wasting our time with our X Boxes, iPods, Myspace, Brad and Angelina, Jay-Z and Kobe, the NFL, and Hillary and Obama?

Why are we not learning and practicing these primitive survival skills that we will ultimately need?

Too much time has been wasted already…

Just when the climate started to get mild after the brutal winter, Aspen woke up to a raging storm this morning. It took me 90 minutes to drive to town. When I got here I turned my truck around at the parking lot, threw it in reverse, and floored it. When my truck came to a stop, I got out. Ajax reported 10 inches…so instead of riding fresh powder, I grabbed my lunchbox and went to work.

The first and last time I had a subscription to Netflix was when Sammy and I moved to Rancho Cucamunga from Thanksgiving, 2005 to New Years Day, 2006.  I really didn’t know a lot of people in Southern California, but I made the best of my free time on weekends to romp around all over the region.  However, during the week I just chilled out and watched movies.  A few that I remember are Blade Runner, Akira, Back to the Future, Batman, and the History of the Chicago Bears. 

 When we moved back to Denver, I had the subscription for almost another year before its lost the war with TV On Demand.

 Now, as Fredo Corleone is praying Hail Mary for the 400th time in my lifetime, I think the time has come to start viewing some different movies again.