Daniel Herr

A long-lost lesson from my travels

2013-07-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

A message from my past appeared today. A long-lost message and reminder of lessons learned. That knowledge and understanding underline the purpose. That the line between bold and naive is ever so thin. That senses are doorways to revelation, TV is a drug, and life is a maze and amazing all at the same time. Head tingling and hair raising at times reminds us that we are from and connected to this world as part of a collective conscious. Part of an experiment and one grand piece of art all at once. Death lurks for all of us in the shadows of time and as the reflection of life, but if we are tuned into the senses without drifting into psychosis, we can find that image of truth staring us right in the face.

For my most recent content, please visit my new blog at danherr.com

(I felt that this post belonged here with my posts and travels about New Zealand)

New Blog @ DanHerr.com

2012-02-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

I have launched my new blog at DanHerr.com. Please feel free to browse this or my new blog as I transition to WordPress.com's format.

AMS Presentation

2012-01-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

I have a presentation about Meteorology Jobs in Clean Energy to 150 students in New Orleans on the 21st of January. If you're interested, you can check it out here: http://dananimal.blogspot.com/p/ams-presentation.html

Hawaiian Sunset Wallpaper

2012-01-24T13:13:00.000-08:00

Sweet picture that my buddy Owen took on the Big Island of Hawaii when he came to visit from Honolulu and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Check out his blog at untamedskies.wordpress.com/

2012: The End?!...

2011-12-31T18:12:00.000-08:00

I have written a good many times about how we constantly have some endpoint in our heads as a culture. We have believed that the turn of the century might be the end of life as we know it, that God is going to rein down judgement and save us from this wretched place, or possibly that the Mayans knew some ancient astrological truth about the end of this world in a fiery death. Even if you haven't believed or don't believe any of these fatalistic theories, most people think there is a chance; you might not believe it, but in the back of your mind you think, "hunh, I don't know. Could be." For years upon years our movies, thoughts, and stories have fantasized about the end of the world by nuclear destruction, Godly force, epidemic, natural disasters, global warming, runaway-technological, and super villains. Even Mission Impossible 4 this year (2011) was still based upon saving the world from
nuclear self-destruction. In our culture we still bend our minds with the possibilities surrounding the end. Most everyone I have spoken with over the past few years is well aware that the Mayan Calendar hits the end of the long-count next year (2012). While I do not believe that the 21st of December of 2012 will have anything to do with apocalypse, the end of the world, or massive extraterrestrial events; I do believe it may still be a significant event; an inflection point if you will. One point often theorized about the end of the long-count Mayan Calendar is that it may represent a change in thought; and while I don't know that this was their intention, it could possibly benefit our world more than we can possible imagine. What better way to force a rethinking of your whole life than to force you to stare down the barrel of a gun. If only everyone could believe that is really was the end of the world, think of the possibilities for reawakening. Consider your life flashing before your eyes only to wake up with life renewed. All of a sudden the things that should be important to you are just that. While there will be much sentiment of immediate pleasure beforehand, the aftermath will push a view of the possibilities of the future and the desire to live that groundhog day and every subsequent one for all that it is worth. Only time will tell what 2012 brings and over the course of the next year there is much that can change. I can not know all that 2012 will bring, but here is to hoping that it is the inflection point in the curve where we realize as a whole that the future of everything depends upon our actions now and we need to stop wasting away the prosperity of the future for our immediate gratification today.

My New TV Show

2011-11-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

Title: My Not So Carbony Life (Ok, the name might need some work)

...But, I've had this idea for quite some time to create a documentary / TV series following and proving or showing the ability to live a sustainable, carbon neutral life and still be a normal, functioning, and involved member of society (ok, this is dry for a sec, hang with me).

The idea would be to build a house entirely with renewable energy and local materials or materials delivered without the use of fossil fuels.

The focus would be the demonstration of whether it is possible to
function with a similar lifestyle as what I (we) now have and to document the transition and thoughts in the process of changing (and the drama of course):

What is difficult about the transition and why?
How can people in general easily live more sustainable?
Is it possible to live carbon neutral?
Can you maintain the same lifestyle as before?
What are the lifestyle choices if any?

The key would be to find a sustainable number for carbon (and other gas) emissions of the planet based upon the future population (say 2050); or caveman-era standards (based upon hunting, gathering and having a fire). How much pollution / emission is sustainable for our future population requirements? What is the carbon elasticity of the planet? <- This answer is probably already out there somewhere (feel free to chime in here).

The show would start by showing me (or whomever) here, today with my lifestyle:

Flights on the holidays (I'm on a plane travelling from Reno to Orange County as I write this)
Meat involved in meals every day
Car used daily to get around
Shopping and eating out on occasion

Show the transition stages as piece by piece every little bit of life is transitioned toward a more sustainable way while attempting to live a normal life:

Get to work using sustainable means (EV, walk? bike? Bus?)
Eat more sustainable foods (hint: just because you walked to your local Whole Foods and purchased "Organic" produce doesn't make your food sustainable)
Not eat as much meat, but still cook great meals (or have my amazing girlfriend cook them :)
Build a new house? / Find living arrangements that were build sustainably or could be.
Evaluate decisions for the year based upon your carbon quota (to be determined above)

This meal cost me X carbon credits, and if I do that every day for the year, I will be over my budget...
Can I afford the carbon cost of this new Electric Bike? How much does that leave me for the year?

In the end I would want this live experiment to show how easy or tough it will be to get us to a lifestyle that our grandchildren's children will be able to live on and on in their own right, because right now we may be sacrificing them at the alter for our luxury. Maybe we don't see it as luxury, because we are used to it, but the last thing I would want if for my great grandchildren to look back with disgust at how much we were wasting resources away that they would kill to have in their day. If we are over-indulging then the answer will either be crash and burn or find a balance first (or the more likely, crash and burn then try to find a balance). I'd rather try to find it first so we can land on our feet for once.

What do you say? This reality TV show sounds like something that needs to happen to me...

Fire Surrounding My Apartment

2011-11-18T14:28:00.001-08:00

To be honest, while there has been a "State of Emergency" claimed here, and a raging inferno that has destroyed more than 20 structures, we haven't been bad off at all; in fact mostly lucky. But, in case you're curious why Mer and I left our house early this morning, check out this picture:

Fire "Boundaries" as of 1:00pm, Fri 18-Nov-2011
Details at Reno.gov
View in Google Maps

If you're not up to speed on this whole thing: Woke up to a call from

my buddy Leland at 2:40am this morning (18-Nov-2011) saying, "Yo man, look out your window. There is a wildfire out of control less than a mile away from us and its getting pretty bad out here. I just drove up to check it out. You might think about packing some stuff to prepare to evacuate." Yeah, so there's that. Once we got out to the cars at about 3:00am it was like Dante's Peak: Orange glow over the trees to the East, ash flying everywhere, thick smoke, and extremely strong winds. We grabbed a few important items and headed out to our friends Matt and Chelsea's house (Thanks guys!).

Some houses haven't been so lucky (fortunately this isn't our place, I've been there once already)...

From the RGJ

Anyway, winds aren't supposed to die down until after 4pm this evening, so I hope everything is still intact when we get back (We were in the Evac Zone). There have been quite a few limbs flying and bushes rolling through the streets not to mention the dust storms. They'd been saying all day that it wasn't contained at all, now with more than 400 firefighters on it the claim is that they have "halted forward progress" of the fire.

NVZ450-191330- WESTERN NEVADA SIERRA FRONT- INCLUDING A PORTION OF THE HUMBOLDT TOIYABE NF 527 AM PST FRI NOV 18 2011

...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON...

...

20-FOOT WINDS....

... VALLEYS/SLOPE....VERY WINDY. SOUTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 40 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 65 MPH. RIDGE TOP....
....SOUTHWEST WINDS 30 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 90 MPH.

Custom Magazine Covers

2011-11-15T20:47:00.001-08:00

A few magazines covers that I created for my Dad's Birthday, Christmas, and Father's Day.

Selflessness - Playing for the Team

2011-11-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

[Originally written on 09-Feb-2009]

Coach Dan Herr and '08 Truckee JV Boys Basketball

Don’t think about winning, don’t think about the score…play for the moment…play in the now…the rest will follow

Every member of a team has a job, a role…you may not always like your role, but you have to play it. If you are in the game, you have a role, if you are the 6^th man, you have a role, if you are riding the bench you have a role (cheer the team on…help the coaches out). If you play your role, giving up the selfish ego, we will win as a team…and everyone likes winning

Its not about winning…its about being
in the moment..not being obsessed with the scoreboard…not concentrating on being a few points ahead of the other team…it playing your game, regardless of the performance of the other team. Its playing your game every time you step on the floor, and every time you walk off of it. It being a part of the moment, part of the experience…doing the best you physically and mentally can in the moment you are in.

We have developed and must maintain a trust with each other. When we turn the ball over on a possession down the floor…when one player bobbles the ball and loses it out of bounds, we must remember that we have the confidence in each and every member of this team…we will get right back out there and pass them the ball again.

Do the best job that you possibly can with task that you are given…if you are running a lane, make it the best darn filled lane around, run it as wide as possible. If a shot is taken, make the best box-out you physically can in the moment…don’t think about the end of the game…don’t think about the beginning of the game…don’t think about half…and don’t complain with the refs for calls that are made…live in the moment, work as hard as you can, put you best effort forward…and enjoy every second of it…before you know it, it will be now and no longer then. Then will always happen…live in the now before its gone.

``Now is the Law of the Jungle---as old and true as the sky;

And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back---

For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.''

Downside Up - Flip the Script

2011-11-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Smarter Life Future: Complex Everything or One Thing Full of Complex

2011-10-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Does it really make sense to make each and every one of our devices smarter? Will that really work? Or is the real idea to model every possession as it is; lifeless and simple then track, store and analyze everything about it.

I’m imagining a world with plural realities. Not in the typical/cliché dreamers sense of alternative universes, secondary planets with other life, or alternate realities; but a plural reality in digital form: a photocopy of everything that does exist in a modeled reality with the ability to be computed, analyzed, measure, calculated, sampled, and backed up.

We may or may not have the ability to do something like this now; but the options we have going forward are twofold.

In my opinion we will continue as a race and species to want more information about everything in our surroundings at a moment’s notice; not that the information will be shoved in our face, over populated, and in front of us when we don’t want it; but when we do, to be able to recall, find out, or disseminate (with electronics’ assistance of course) any tid-bit of information about something we have come in contact with instantaneously.

While we may or may-not recognize the information we might want available (or individually not actually be curious), it would be useful for a number of reasons to be able to obtain, for instance, what did that note at home on the wall say? How much life do I have left in that light bulb? Did I turn the oven off? Will this box fit in that space way up there? What is the temperature outside? How long has that food been in the fridge/freezer? When was the last time I used that book? Where is that old yearbook? How much water have I been using when I brush my teeth? What do I spend on electricity for my TV?

There are millions upon millions of little bits of information that it could be very useful to know if we needed / wanted / thought about it. In fact there are many life-saving and/or safely features and alarms that we could develop and have in place if all of this information was logged, statistically analyzed, and fed back at a moment’s notice to allow for management decisions (I should throw that old food away, turn off the water while I brush my teeth, and get a replacement light bulb). While down the line it might be a little more automated with a Fridge letting you know, “I went ahead and purged that milk that had gone sour and ordered a new gallon for you, it will be here tomorrow.” Or even the simple, “It’s pretty cold out so I dusted off your old jacket and started your car for you with the heat on this morning.”

We can move toward these ends by either developing smarter furniture, cars, appliances, and every little do-dad around us, or we can find a way to model and analyze all that exists to get the information from objects that will remain simple and dumb.

Personal Reflections when Steve Jobs Passed

2011-10-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

We are all going to be dead a really long time and we only have this short while to be so free and interact with the world so willingly.

Why, if this is the case, would we do anything other than make the most of every moment, pursue our dreams and visions that are our own to the fullest, and listen, love and live with intensity, integrity, and ingenuity; experiencing what is, dreaming of what can be; and making what will be with the now.

Fundamental Change

2011-09-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

Change... How hackneyed, overdone, overused, rhetoricized, Obama-ized, falsely sold, over-promised and under-delivered.

I won't get into politics as the leaders of our government are in offices with responsibilities far beyond conception of most of us, with unreasonable expectations set by us, and millions if moat billions of voices to answer to. And for full disclosure I believe that the Obama administration is doing the best job that they know how to given the situation and set of circumstances that all by the eldest and wisest of us have not seen. But I digress to the point...

We all signed on for "change" because we believe
as a people of this time that we do not like the way that things are going any more, i.e. Change... But we never really defined what it is or was that we wanted as our goal... Unfortunately in our typical mindset as wealthy American (whether we do or do not realize or accept that individually; just as a spoiled kid will not admit af first that he is well off because of lack of frame of reference) we just pointed out the problem like an infant without the ability to speak... Whaaaah! = I'm unhappy. And just like that SNL skit, "Fix It!" We said, "Fix It, Fiiixxx It!" without fully understanding the root of the problem ourselves... We're beating our head against the wall and complaining that our head hurts. "Fix It", and right back to banging our head we go.

Anyway, we all know this, more or less by now, but what we

... Lifestyle design

I fundamentally believe in supporting, promoting, and working in the culmination of art and engineering, functionality and beauty, creativity and purposeful design. Art as more than sensually stimulating and engineering as elegance... I believe in architecture of life, not just buildings, but land and city-scapes. Not simply non living structures, but making useful templates for the activities we do, the clothes we wear, the shoes we run in, and the cars we drive in. Functional design from life's beginning for the manner in whIch we conduct ourselves... Not to live in a utopian controlled dreamworld society, but to be educated and informed about how the things we do, buy, and way that we interact effect our long-term quality of life, life expectancy, and health. We have the ability to track these things, to begin making more informed decisions, but we need instant feedback without the hasstle of the dialup connection and the clunky personal computer

Planning lifestyle architecture.

The Law of Reversed Effort

2011-08-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

There is a Law of Reversed Effort. The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.

Proficiency and the results of proficiency come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity, of letting go as a person in order that the immanent and transcendent Unknown Quantity may take hold.

We cannot make ourselves understand; the most we can do is to foster a state of mind, in which understanding may come to us.

--Aldous Huxley (posted to iJourney.org on Nov 22nd 1999)

You go... go now...

2011-08-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

I believe in inspiration through action, creativity and analysis in design, and experience by jumping into the fire. What about you?

Life as a science experiment

2011-07-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

One vivid point came to me while meditating this evening on boiling humans and life actions down to their most basic elements; and no I don't mean that table of symbols you were forcing into your head in high school chemistry class. I mean the fundamental basis of actions, motives, colors, directions, plants, animals, worlds, and black wholes, yeses and no, light as well as dark. What is the binary bit that grows into the complexity of the human brain start as? As a yes or no? As a black of white?
We are an experience based decision engine...
Even the things we are forced to memorize and learn are an experience; an experience repeated over and over until it has been deemed a significant, unique pattern by our brain. You cant just break us down to chemistry; carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen and say that these elements are the basis of decision making... T is far more basic than that. Those elements are only a finite differentiation in an infinite realm of possible atoms where new ones exist and will continue to be invented by time because they must. Are we a study of everything is either one or it is many? That is putting it Much in terms defined by is, still we must boil it down...Because the fundamental defining science of his experiment we call life is the balancing of the equation of inequality. Fundamentally we live in a world where everything from time to space to color, to darkness and light is all part of defining if differentiation exists in and from nothingness. We have all heard that there is a yin for every yan, but this is even more fundamental.
There is an infinite array of colors just as there is an infinite frame of time, it all just depends on how you divide it, what you determine as the frame in which to make reality different.
We could not exist without plants, nor could plants exist without the animal kingdom to re-fertilize, transport, and on every scale imaginable act with some relationship of co-dependence. A balancing act and a definition of differentiation: the ability to grow and move or not move; the ability to process air from one side of the equation or the other; the ability to create or destroy; to eat or be eaten.
It may seem silly and simple at first but to fundamentally consider all of existence to be part of differentiating what is different and how many different ways can some thing or non thing be different opens up a world of possibilities.
As a claim to disarm my view, you might say, these two thing you claim to have as opposites are not opposite in all of their feature. This black is not opposite and 100% different from red; surely everyone knows that white is opposite black. Well yes, maybe from black's point of view. But I say to you that that entirely depends on your perspective. I you are blue, black may be just as far from you as red, whereas white may be entirely too far away from you to balance black.
I believe differentiation is the basis of our thoughts and even existence from to formation of the youngest life-form, brain, mountain, or cosmos to the eldest and wisest with all those recorded differentiating experiences; each more complex than the last. That baby in his cradle is enthralled by the bright colors hanging above him as he first differentiates this color from that, this shape from that, and the changes in their appearance as his changes in time come in contact with their physically different location.

A Blast from my own Past

2011-06-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

I recently found a couple letters that I wrote to myself in 5th, 8th, and 11th grades...Girls I had a crush on, life goals: All-in-all I'm surprisingly on track with my goals at the age of 11...

Letter to myself from 5th-grade (Mrs. Rumball):
"Dear Daniel,
I am you 7 years ago in the 5th Grade. Are you looking forward to Collage. ~~How~~ Who are your friends, Whats you're favorite food? My friends are Erin, Trever, Daniel, Andy, Kyle. My favorite food is Pizza. I am looking forward to 6th Grade. I want to be
a constructor, Arcatect, or a Enginear. Don't be a Skator or a Gangster."

Letter to myself from 8th-grade:
"REMEMBER THIS: JUMBO!!
When I read this I probobly won't remember it. I want to find a new seorce of energy. I want to be an Engeneere. I can't spell well. I am in HONers Science, Algebra 1,2 (I 97.2% passed the CBE), Spanish 2, (I passed the CBE 92%), I got the highest score in my class on CBE in Algebra 1,2 and second highest in Spanish. I'm also in honers English.
Top 5 -
K.R.
M.T.
R.C.
M.F.

go to a god collage. You can Do IT!!!

Daniel Herr
(I hope I write better by now)"

Letter to myself from the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards 2002 in Grandlibachen:
"6-21-02
Daniel-
These are the goals you set for yourself your summer at RYLA. Have you completed them by now. Hope senior year was great. Where you gonna go to school? What are you going to do? Anyway here are the goals you set:

Complete Eagle Scout (If you havent by now, too late!)
Become more social + express things openly. Remember, Vulnerability -> Love + Trust
Live + Be happy doing it. Hope is necessary. People really do care about you. Remember RYLA "Fo Sure"
Stay in contact with people, be open
Be selected into the college of my choice
Earn Gold Star in JROTC again!!!
Conduct all JROTC staff orderly, timely, and with good, no great, communication.
Go to Hawaii for band. Did you go? Was it fun?
Graduate, definitly a goal that will be met. The year is almost over. GOOD LUCK
Goof off once in a while. Its fun.

How were the rest of your camps last summer? Where they Valuable? How did "We The People" go? Did you make nationals or anything? How was basketball? What about soccer, did you play? How'd you do? What's your final GPA? What're you highest ACT + SAT scores? Are you, Andy, and David going to Disneyland? Did you Try out for Honor Band? Have you Stayed in contact with Vanessa? EM? Cabin 3 boyz? Spice Boyz? O you remember. Dustin? Sary? Jay? Mario? Larson? Jake (Truckee)? Casey? Brett? Yo-Han? Harp? Toya (Hug High)? Becky (Yeah!)? Gittin Sick of Rope Courses?

Hope all is well, stay chill
Live a little!
Hope your vocab + spelling have gotten better
Do some speech contests
Don't be afraid to be adventurous
Start Playing some Guitar

Best of Luck,

Danny Boy

P.S. Hope nothing bad happened at school this year. Or even in the nation. Don't rush into infatuation."

Some Thoughts @ age 26 (12-June-2011)

Obviously spelling and grammar have been huge issues for me growing up :). And what 5th-grader wouldn't say, "My favorite food is Pizza." It was the top of my priority list as a Junior in High School, and the only regret that I have to-date, I did not finish my Eagle Scout. All-in-all it's super encouraging that I said that I wanted to find a new source of energy and that I wanted to be an Engineer. I currently have a degree in Civil Engineering, from the college of my choice (after re-applying a time or two and transferring) and am running a business focusing on the construction of renewable energy systems.

What now future me? MBA? Masters of Science? New business ventures? All I know right now is I have a wonderful girlfriend that I have been trying to date since my sophomore year of high school, I feel like I am making serious headway in the business development world, I've been accepted to start my MBA this fall, and I'm most of the way toward completing my 30-by-30 list... here's what's left (I've added some):

BASE Jump
Whitewater Kayak a Class 5 (I have the kayak now, just need to practice)
Study with Monks and/or Buddhists in Japan or the like
Shoot a sniper rifle and hit a long-range target
Own a hand gun and a rifle
Live without a telephone, computer, or television for at least a month - I've done the Television deal only...
Compete in a dirt bike race
Get my motorcycle license
Fly an airplane
Live by/on a tropical beach
Longboard to work
Learn a martial art
Patent something
Complete a masters in field of interest (MBA, MS, ...)
Wingsuits
Climbing in Utah
Visit Alaska
Backpack Europe
Kite Boarding
Extended backpacking trips - Week+
Start a company and grow to Fortune 500 level - might take a little longer...
Enlightenment - probably more of a lifelong goal than a by 30 thing.

Completed to date from list:

Skydiving
Live in another country
Ski New Zealand
Learn to Surf
Coach High School Basketball
Become a Free Mason
Scooba / Snorkle a major Reef
Heli-Ski / Board
Go somewhere not knowing when you'll be back
Date a model
Date a girl worth taking home
Live off the land - no stores
Go somewhere you wish you could forget

Graphic Design & Artwork

2011-03-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

Here is some of my fun work from the last 5 years

Click on the Image above to see my

flash physics Snowflake Animation over Lake Tahoe

Also, if you haven't yet, check out my PicasaWeb Photobooks.

In the News with CEC

2011-02-01T13:46:00.001-08:00

I made it in the news last week :)

Sunset drawing I painted with sketchbook

2010-12-26T19:38:00.001-08:00

Life in real life the world around

2010-12-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

Many people will say this country has issues and most I'll treat it as some unquantifiable, incomprehensible force that controls other people, but somehow does not affect them. The fact that this country has issues deep rooted is termed a problem for the scholars of yesteryears and something our forefathers would be ashamed of.

But what really is this problem? It's definitely not something beyond our capabilities if we just care to take a few moments to give them notice. It's one of those tasks like listening to the stories of our grandparents... It's something you've always said you should do, but you keep pushing it off year after year assuming the time will come at some point. Or even that vacation, or even more that epic adventure you always said you'd have... That time to get away from everything and buy a one-way ticket to the other side of the world. Or even just that sports event of your kids'... It's just one game, he'll live. I'll. Make it next time.
Next thing you know those aspirations of your youth are not but dreams suppressed and hidden away as we call them former immature and childish ambitions.
But deep down we are all rooted as children, with the same raw desires we had at 8 years old

[add proof that we are eight years old at heart... Mer's campaign]

If we only took the time to feed our ambitions with the understanding that we are happy where we are with what we have, we would feel peaceful, no longer restless... Contented, but accomplished

...

But instead of content we feel frustrated and unhappy with allthatwe have. Pointing fingers at the ones in charge claiming they sold us down this awful river of consumerism and worldly destruction. Saying damn you politicians. Damn you government

But the root of the problem is, we have no frame of reference. The majority of the population has no idea what is really beyond these borders. Sure we see movies, films, and tv specials detailing what many have seen, but as with all our passive entertainment we absorb through the boob-tube, it fail to elevate in the mind above the level of emotional entertainment, after which we resume our regularly scheduled programming.

We think today that see, watching, and viewing is experiencing... But no it very well is not! What you experience in life is not "just like I saw in that movie"... Movies are no more Sierra nevadas than is the reflection off of lake Tahoe. Sure with the proper setup it may appear with our most prominent sense ever so impossible to distinguish the two... But there is no replacing the physical presence of the mountains, the textures they encompass, the cool breeze sweeping across the lake, the refreshing smells of the healthy high altitude, pine and fir fresh air hinted with mountain mint. There is no replacing experiencing snow for the first time. There is no image that truly gives the feeling of surmounting an alpine peak. There is no substitute for True and real experience.

It is high time our county, our people got out and experienced the reality of life in this country and the next. It is high time we see what there is to see, learn what we have and don't have, and know truly what a blessing and honor it is to be a part of this wonderful world and a citizen of the most amazing country in the world.

This, I believe, my generation is out to demonstrate...

Blue Blaze

2010-11-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

My family has a term we referring to as "Blue Blazing" when we take a random scenic tour away from the direct route of A to B. Blue Blazing is a commitment to live life in the slow lane from time to time. To focus on quality instead of quantity in life.

The "Blue Blaze" term originates from backpacking and is the name of the scenic way around or bypass on the Appellation Trail from Maine to Georgia on the East Coast. Growing up it was taking the long way around just because, seeing what's out there and around the corner. Being impulsive and experiencing the beauty and wonder that we waltz right by without the slightest acknowledgment our entire lives. Blue Blazing is the reason I exist, the reason my parents met, the reason they chose quality over quantity in life.

They Lied to You: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too...

2010-10-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

Why my generation will succeed. My generation are the first ones to actually care about what our grandparents have to say. My generation is full of doers... We are sick of what has always been talked about and ready for it to happen. Our parents looked to freedom, to break free from the machine, to be individuals and to tell the world "screw you I don't have to listen to you, I can do what i want." we grew up in a world where we were constantly told by our parents and society that we were special. In our own way and at our own unique time we all found out that we weren't. Whether it was failing at school or sports or simply realizing that every movie and tv show we grew up with tried to feed us the same message... That we were different, special, and joe schmo would rise above the pack, be the next hero, live above the matrix... We stepped outside our bubble and realized we had been lied to. Our reaction wasn't one of hatred, but rather of disappointment we were familiar with and should have expected. We came out feeling like a kid who just learned about Santa's relationship with his parents; we didn't want to believe it, and we kept trying not to, but there was no escaping the truth. We could no longer accept the rainbows and butterflies world we were told to believe in. One by one we realized we couldn't escape the reality our parents tried to get away from their entire lives.
We as a generation found ourselves in a place that was, and is, very real; a place there was no escaping, and a place we were not too fond of. My generation is composed of realists, the first ones to understand that the great depression was not necessarily a once in a millennia hap and circumstance; we understand instead that we need to listen and learn from our elders... That instead of the generations before us that feel like they have already made their choices in life and the future is not their responsibility, we believe, nay we know it is ours. It is my generations responsibility to take back the world we believed in as a kid, throw away the veil we have been fed, and make this place, our only place, a home worth living in.
We are not content sitting around and watching much longer. Bit by bit we are taking this world by the horns and often forcing the reins to skip a whole generation. We are powerful and smart workers, but we understand what we don't know and are willing to admit it. There are many many skills that we don't know yet, but we are becoming ever more conscious that we do not want to be a skills-devoid community, generation, or country. We take control not for the sake of having command, but for the sake of re-bridging the old time realists and the new age that technology is capable of. Using the wealth of experience our grandparents have the keys to, a retooling with technology, analyzing and reiterating until we get it right.
Don't feel threatened by my generation, we have no contention with you. We will not always be right, but what allows us to succeed is something with had to grow up with... The ability to adapt to our surroundings, learn from the resources we have available, and make decisive moves with what information is available. We grew up with technology, with it constantly changing, with new software requirements every year, new computers twice as powerful every eighteen months of our life. We were born with the first computers. We are the wave of transformation, the bridge between the old and the new, the technology savvy for our elders and the historical link to our posterity.
When mom and dad need to know how to use the stereo system to watch Legends of the Fall late on Friday night, who do they call? Us. When kids are looking up to the LeBron's and Duane's of the world, what generation is that? Ours. When you look at the most recent additions to the Fortune lists of richest and most powerful people, who is it? Us. When you look at who is driving the movement for re-skilling, urban gardening, and sustainable futures; again my generation is driving the bus, running the companies, creating the jobs that did not exist when we were in the career center in High School.
There is a market change happening right now, right under your nose, and it will not stop at any individual's will. We are not a collective that needs centralized leadership, but rather with real-time communication feedback and a willingness to work toward each others goals, making them our own, there is no telling the tally we will amount, the real change we will envelop, and new face we will give this world when it is our time to return to dust.

The building of a my Modus Operandi

2010-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

In an effort to explain what I know and believe in business, to put forward what is at heart the fore of what I want my company to do, I define the following in speaking for we the people of of the company:
"We are not hired sales men; we are Engineers. We are not here to sell the latest fad; we believe in designed solutions. We will not sell you what is not right for you; we hold ourselves to a higher standard, a strict code of ethics, and a belief in a brighter and better land. We believe in providing solutions to our community of friends, not sales to unfamiliar constituents. We believe our customers should become our friends, not pathways to dollar bills. We believe a company’s method of operating, their Modus Operandi, should not simply be the way business has always been done, but the way it should be done. Not a status quo, but a constant aspiration for improvement and betterment of our business, our community, and our environment. We believe in the “Why” behind what we do, the future of generations untold, the prosperity of the planet as a whole, and ultimately, we believe in helping you."

Offgrid Artisan

2010-08-27T11:15:00.000-07:00