Someone asked me why I don’t write about freedom as much as I used to. Every time I pick up a pen or put fingers to keyboard I’m writing about freedom. I just don’t write as much about politics any more. Or techniques of anti-politics. But it’s all about freedom. —– People also come around once in a while, hoping to learn new techniques for alternate ID so they can live their way around “enhanced” government drivers licenses, e-verify for employment, facial recognition systems, and such. I have nothing for them. Not that there aren’t ways. I’ve said it before;…
7 CommentsLiving Freedom Posts
Because I didn’t think I was my best shiny-souled self when last I blogged, I sat down yesterday at the library to noodle something “lite” but good for you. Anyhow, I tried. No sooner had I taken care of a few bits of online housekeeping than I flew into rebellion against all acts of duty. I couldn’t blog. I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t bear the noise of the library. I couldn’t face the prospect of going home and cleaning my car (which I had to do because I was scheduled to drive a friend to the hospital and I’m…
17 CommentsRandom action produces random results. The last two weeks have been busy-busy, with little time for reflection. It’s been the kind of busy-ness that leaves you (meaning me) tired and depleted but barely able to point to any accomplishment. At the end of the day, I ask myself what I did and can recall a lot of activity, signifying nothing. In the last week, I even attended two Dreaded Social Events. One of them was actually a hoot; but that sort of thing saps all my creative and spiritual juices, sometimes for days afterward. Oh, I also managed a smattering…
8 CommentsI aim to get back here tomorrow or Monday with some seriously random thoughts. But this has been a go-go-go sort of week, with little time to stop and cogitate, let alone write. So I’ll leave the thinking to someone else today. Here’s another of those in-depth and thoughtful articles from Ammo.com, this one on the distinction between freedom and liberty — and how those differences shaped history. A sample: To better understand what freedom and liberty mean, it’s helpful to look at the respective etymologies of these words, digging into their histories and how they developed. Freedom comes from…
12 CommentsWhen I went to less-frequent blogging I warned that you’ll never know what you’re going to get; it’s whatever the week brings. The following falls well into the “whatever” category. —– I was dead. It didn’t much matter, even to me, how, when, or why I died. I was simply done with that phase of my life and ready to move on. But move … how? Where? The afterlife I’d landed in was from no religion known to mankind. There were no harp-slinging angels. On the other hand, there were also no politicians being dangled by pitchfork-wielding demons over vats…
16 CommentsThree weeks ago, (if you answered the Friday Freedom Question) you wrote the first lines of your autobiography. Now, if you’re willing, write the last words of your story. Very Brief Rulz: These can be the last words/lines/paragraphs of your autobiography or of a biography someone else writes about you after you’re gone. Writing “[He/she/they] lived happily ever after” would be cheating. As before, I’ll join in when I’ve thought about the question some more. I think this one’s going to be harder than the first line.
18 CommentsI wrote moments ago about two glorious vintage sewing machines I got within the last few years for almost nothing. Like most of my scrounged or bargained purchases, they bring me only happiness. But occasionally … You may remember this door. I scrounged it out of a landfill four years ago this week. Well, finally I’m at the point of having a place to install it. But I think I’ve learned to hate it. Several summers ago, I spent hours — OMG HOURS! — outside stripping and scraping and sanding. When I stopped, it was still … shall we say,…
6 CommentsI’ve been reconditioning two old sewing machines this week. Not that “reconditioning” requires any skill. These are 1950s vintage — the apogee, the ne plus ultra of sewing machine tech and quality. These were machines designed to last until the heat death of the universe. “Reconditioning” has mostly meant degreasing, blowing out cobwebs, oiling, and educating myself. Each machine already ran as well as the day it was made. I discovered that each needed only one small part to make it fully operational. Given the ubiquity of these old machines, both parts were available for a few dollars on eBay,…
14 CommentsA historical guide to FOIA. Oil platform workers rescue a dog in a mindbendingly unbelievable place and take wonderful care of it. (H/T MtK) This dog rescue, on the other hand, evokes Stephen King. (Also H/T MtK) And since we’ve already added a creepy factor to our “lite” links, consider this: Dentistry is much less scientific than we’ve learned to think. Well, we now know the cause of Catholic priests diddling little boys and girls. The “swinging 60s” are to blame, pronounces ex-pope Benedict. And that’s not even the most bizarre of his pronouncements. Some background on unicorns — both…
9 CommentsI’m pleased (and rather surprised) to announce that Kit Perez and I have just signed a contract for an audiobook edition of Basics of Resistance. Tantor Media (Wikipedia entry, Tantor website) approached us and made us a nice, clean offer we had no desire to refuse. The bad news is that this will be a download edition only, no CD or DVD. The good news is that Tantor is big time in the audiobook field. In addition to reaching our usual market of individual buyers, Tantor goes deep into the library market. And if the download version is a success,…
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