Once upon a time, in another life, I wanted to be a writer…
I also wanted to be an archeologist…
And a linguist…
And a toy repair expert…
And a tree doctor…

So what did I grow up and become? I became network engineer, a husband, and a father. I can almost hear you all chuckling and rolling your eyes. Most of us go through something similar along the winding road to adulthood. We all collect passions, interests, and experiences that we willfully or begrudgingly pack away out of necessity or loss of interest.

This is part of life.

It is part of the tax that we pay to survive in the modern world…
and it is utter bullshit.

Now I’m not sitting here in my first world ivory tower bemoaning my existence as a well fed and nominally safe white man. However I am saying that the world we live in wasn’t built for us (people). Over the last two hundred years or so the world has steadily trained us that to be good citizens we must be productive citizens. To spend our idle time on frivolous pursuits such as art, music, or reading for the purpose of entertainment is seen as a waste of time. The modern world has been designed to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of us to maximize profits of other people…
So that THEY can spend time on ‘frivolous’ pursuits. This is what is utter bullshit.

We are not machines. We are not designed to be eminently logical and efficient. Our lives aren’t meant to be spent chasing the 9’s. “luminous beings are we…” Our minds are built to wander, to wonder, to question and to quest. We are explorers. We are problem solvers. We are philosophers, musicians, artists and architects. We are sentient bundles of fear, anxiety, love, and pain trapped in an amazing machine of meat and bone hurtling through the universe on an equally amazing tiny speck of a rock. We were not meant to be shackled to our desks and chairs. we were not meant to be confined to our small towns by smaller minds.

And I refuse to continue pretending we are.

Once upon a time, in another life, I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know what kind of writer, but I knew the world didn’t make sense and that when I put pen to paper…
turned thought into action…
for that moment in that place the world was slightly more sane.

So welcome to where I plan to spread out a bit. I’m a collector of information, hobbies, and yes… cameras.. I will be thinking. I will be writing. I will be sharing photos, diagrams, links, and thoughts. It will be messy. I /WILL/ get things wrong. I’ll probably piss a few people off.
and hopefully…
Maybe…
If I’m lucky…
I’ll drag a few of you out into the wilderness with me….

-Andrew