Art is life.

Part of this blog is dedicated to my hobby, modeling. Living simply (in a Motorhome or otherwise) doesn't mean giving up ones hobby. Whatever full timing rig i end up with will have to have a work bench in it for my model hobby. It's the simple things in life that keep us going. Art is as important, in my opinion, as saving the environment. We must create beauty as much we help to sustain and improve our environment.

As i prepare for summer and get through exams I will be working on the Lief Ericson star ship. This is an AMT kit from the 1960's that was recently reissued in 2011 ( i believe). It will be lit as it comes with 9 volt powered engine lights. This should be rather exciting. I also have purchased, from Paul at Paragrafix.biz, the photoetch upgrade kid. Paul does amazing work and offers a good range of upgrade kits for all of your science fiction needs. 

Speaking of science fiction. Another kit that I have I have a special project in mind for. Now, as whatever fulltiming rig I finally settle on there will be a remodel. I'm just that particular about my living arrangements. I'm sure much wood will be placed in the interior, but one thing I have wanted to do is upgrade lighting. 

The Lindburg Area 51 UFO space ship will be turned into a 12V LED lamp. Mostly I'm going to run a brass tube through the middle and wire in some strip lighting at the bottom. However, that will have to be done next year when I have more time.  I think this will make a wonderful lamp. I haven't even thought about the nuts and bolts of the project. That will come next year, and it will be loads of fun!

So hopefully I will be starting the Lief Ericson next week. There will be updates and maybe a good video or two about that. I may do a nice unboxing if I find the time.

Enjoy~

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." ~ Aristotle

Landlocked...again

I'm back to working on my thesis (ie: procrastination)...or really just my literature review. It's just a big research paper that is not interesting. Last month I spent time in 9 different states. If I take out Ohio in that equation I had a blast. Some of the company wasn't the best, but that will happen with any trip. Once this semester is over I'll be working in North Carolina. I'm extremely excited about this. I'll be one step closer to what I want in life. One step closer to proper freedom. If graduate school has taught me anything, it is that much of the info that college forces down your throat is useless. I'm not here to be a PHD. You couldn't pay me to do that type of degree. I refuse. I know I'll benefit from my maters degree. That is the only reason I'm putting up with being in college any longer. The world/life doesn't wait while you spend decades in school. I'm a firm advocate of education, but enough is enough. I suppose the last month of traveling has me a bit down now that I'm shackled to working on projects that I don't care about other than to get a grade. I suppose I am just more hands on than anything. Working on papers and meaningless research is uninteresting and unproductive. There are many areas of research that are extremely important. However, they aren't in my field and I don't want to be involved. What I want is to be out in the field. The front lines of environmental action. Back out on the road attempting not to have a HUGE eco-footprint.

I'm babbling. For the sake of boring everyone this will be short. I do need to actually work on my paper. I have a goal of draft one to be done by the end of the week. Not entirely sure that will happen.

I went rig hunting on the 30th with my Mum. I believe we both decided on a class C motorhome. I love my Jeep and want to keep it, and it won't really pull anything I can fully live in. Most fifth wheels will involve a HEAVY truck investment and are a bit to luxurious for my taste. So a class C with a slide out will be what i'm looking for. Once I get my hands on that the modifications will start. I'm fairly certain I can't leave anything original.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." -- Lao Tzu

Heating...finding new things.

No matter what rig i end up choosing there are some fundamentals that I will be in need of. One is heat. I love wood stoves, but didn't think that would be much of an option....until I found this.

Kimberly Stoves...huh...built for small spaces. This looks amazing and right up my alley!

Facing the Tempest: Ramblin' and On and On

Facing the Tempest: Ramblin' and On and On: Talk about a busy month. In 9 days I traversed the southern half of the eastern seaboard and a couple of northern states...9 states in all. ...

Ramblin' and On and On

Talk about a busy month. In 9 days I traversed the southern half of the eastern seaboard and a couple of northern states...9 states in all. Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of one state a day. Well thems the breaks when you have appointments. I can now say that I am officially certified as a Wilderness first aider. That is fairly exciting. I find it of great need to be prepared for things. What things? Anything really. I'm not a preper in the traditional sense. Most of those yahoos are just waiting for "the great revolution" or "the end times". I'll tell you, those scenario's will not play out like you think they will. I'm fairly certain of that. However, with climate change also comes, as most of you have seen, completely insane weather. Being prepared for some form of natural disaster is slightly more relevant than waiting for some half asserted revolution. Come on, look at this population...most of these fat lazy bastards are couch potato revolutionaries. They will take part in anything as long as they don't miss the new episode of CSI. Fucking pathetic. I digress, I like to be prepared. I found on these trips that I am in sore need of a good camp stove. I've been putting this off for FAR to long. I don't really do much multi-day back country camping. So when I do camp it tends to be in a more convenient location to just use a good cooking fire. So, in short, less gear to carry. However, with all the insane traveling I am starting to get into, and with my very specialized diet and dislike of going to restaurants, a cooking stove is on top of my list to buy.  I find it handy to be able to cook my cup of veggies or steam some rice in my own time. It's the little things that make traveling more fun. The more one travels the more one gets a good travel kit together.

On top of getting my WFA certification I nailed an internship in North Carolina at the Carl Sandburg Home National Park. This stokes my souls fires. You see, I'm one of those crazy artist types that also an idealist. I want the work I do to mean something. That's one reason I am an environmentalist. Part of my inspiration for my music and other art is the natural world. This is the same for many people in many professions. I put my effort, professionally, into helping the environment, saving it from the uneducated and immoral louts of the world. I suppose having strong ideals about the world plays into wanting to live small. It's a blessing and a curse having such a wide eyed view of the world. One foot in front of the other. I am getting where I want to be professionally, spiritually, emotionally, and any other ally that you can think of in small strides. A person should not be afraid to see whats around the next corner.

I know many people who are timid to traveling or even moving. Some are uncomfortably attached to their families. To me that is rather unhealthy. Other folks don't like to get taken out of their comfort zone. I find that comfort zone hampers personal growth. I don't necessarily enjoy the feeling, but embrace it. Stepping into the unknown helps me to grow into that mighty oak i yearn to become. New experiences is like a hit of protein powder before a solid work out.

I've rambled enough in a fairly non-focused way. I'm going to be productive away from the internet.


Be strong.
Be steady.
Be true.

*Brought to you by Rollins Band - Blues Jam*

Fuel the fires within..

This is a subject I will not talk about very often, but it's on my mind as i sit here and watch the Vegan Black Metal Chef. I've had a very weird eating history. I was a fat kid. I was in that first real wave of obese U.S. citizens that came up in the 80's and 90's. My situation was not a biological problem. My environment shaped my body. I spent much time outdoors, and you'd think that I would get plenty of exercise by that fact alone. I ran around so much it was unreal. However, due to my Mum trying to raise me Vegetarian and everyone else giving me food I became a human garbage disposal. I was lucky enough to be a budding picky eater. It wasn't as evident in my youth as it is now, but I never got a taste for Soda Pop (thankfully). I never got a taste for some of the nastier things. I did have a nasty fast food habit. My body is responsive more than some to the things i put into it. At my peak I weighed in at over 300 pounds...probably well over. I was miserable. It took a ton of bad health habits and poor food to send me over the edge my first year in college and I got sick. That sickness put me down for a couple of years. During that time I began to read, and due to my lack of ability to eat much I began to watch the food network like a mad man (I haven't watched television in nearly 7 years).

I'm a late bloomer, but at this point my mind really began to open. I've never been dumb. Though, for a long time I was a very "learn by mistake" person. As my consciousness expanded I began to learn things about myself. I changed my diet and I got on the mend. I haven't eaten beef since I was 19. That was the first big decision I made. The process of knowing oneself is a life long journey. In the area I grew up in, making the choice to not eat cow is HUGE. Maybe not to my Mum, but to everyone else it is. That was the first of the big decisions I've made. Maybe one day i'll talk about my faith choices...that one still gets to the yokels. Anyway, as my diet changed to what I wanted it to be I felt better. My Mum honestly believes that cooking is bad for a person. I don't believe that. I do think most people cook in a very unhealthy manner. Just walk into any given city in the United States and the obesity rate will completely blow your mind. I know it blows my mind. Going out to eat (assuming you can find a place that doesn't serve FDA approved toxic waste) is rather horrifying. Serving portions are blowing away HUGE in the middle of this country. I've found from my travels that coastal areas tend to give a bit less food per meal (with higher prices...go figure).

So...i've picked up a few things about health over the years and made choices. I'm gluten free, beef free, milk free (I still eat cheese and yogurt). I'm not vegetarian or vegan. I eat chicken and fish, but i'm VERY picky about where my meat comes from. I don't want antibiotics and steroids pumped into my meat. Not good for the animal and not good for me. The largest choice was going gluten free. There are extenuating circumstances behind that choice, but it's a choir. A labor of love, if you will. It makes me feel great. I work out for the same reason...it makes me feel good.

I don't understand people who eat trash. People who put drinks into their system that can DEGREASE AN ENGINE. My body matters to me. I don't want to be on 23432 different medicines when i'm 50 because I ate 12 pounds of salt a year on top of mounds of buttered bacon. My body is a temple. My body is like any other bio system. If you put toxic waste into the natural cycle it will eventually stop that system. I've witnessed to many people in my family or associated with my family (family = biological and friend based) not care that much about their health. It's just down right sad and scary. So in a sense i've become a picky eater because I only want high quality fuel for my body. I enjoy staying healthy. I can't lie and say i don't get worried that i'll get fat again. Anyone who has lost over 160 pounds will tell you that they never want to go back. I am such a different person in some respects. In others i'm just more enhanced.

What we put into our bodies is purely our choice. If you fill your body with junk, what does that say about who you are? Do you eat fast food daily because "I don't have time for anything else". There is no excuse...none. My health comes first. One of the basic natural traits is personal safety. Eating properly, whatever that is for you, is just as important as breathing clean air or sleeping enough.

I think you get the point.

Stoking the Fires!

There are moments in life where the present situation is unenjoyable, but is needed to get down the road where you want to be. Always try to find the silver lining. It's like taking that pungent medicine that tastes so foul. It may taste like a rotting shoe. In the end it helps, but it isn't something that you want to do again. That's the way I feel about grad school. There is something to be said about to much schooling. I've just about hit that point. To much book work. To little real world. I'd say they couldn't pay me to stay in academia...but they kinda are paying me for the next 17 months (to my luck).

I try and live in the moment. Take in life as it comes at me. Enjoy the rays and cherish every morsel. I've said it before, and it bares repeating, but people plan to much to die in this country. Good to have a backup plan, but not good to live for retirement. So not to get stuck in the repeating record again. Just saying to enjoy whats in front of you and try new things as they come.

Which is a nice intersection into my next thought. Becoming mature and "growing up" is fine and dandy. It's something that should naturally come with experience, age, and consequently wisdom. Our society, that being in the United States, just LOVES to squash childlike tendency and imagination. To dream nearly makes someone weird. Those who do keep their dreams and spread their wonder across the land are considered "weird" or "nonconformists". I raise my cup to those who do what they want. Keeping that childhood dreaming going is rather easy for some and next to impossible for others. I've never lost it. I find amazement in most things. Nature. People. Which are part of nature. The key is to find that which inspires the imagination. Stokes the fire of curiosity. And curiosity is the one thing that I've never had a deficiency of.

In my childhood, past the age of 3 or so, I never traveled. My Mother is practically scared of her own shadow. She did take me hiking quite a bit. That could be one reason that the forest is one of my happy spots. A zen type of atmosphere, if you will. I dreamed of traveling off into the sunset and exploring anything and everything. I love to explore. To poke around and find what there is to find. To get my fingers into the soil. To climb the tree and see what is across the horizon.

I've never lost that will do explore. Less of a will and more of a deep seeded need. Thankfully, I have the skill to describe my thoughts and experiences through words. I suppose my youth has led me down the road of wanting to live a more nomadic life style. In this day and age we have many options on how to go about this. I'd always wanted to just live anywhere and everywhere, but i do remember the moment, some years ago, when i discovered the wonderful world of the motorhome. It was like some grand epiphany. I was rooting around in my Aunt's book collection (she has one of the most extensive garden book collection i've ever seen) and found a gem called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Homes-Handmade-Houses-Wheels/dp/089104129X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1361648284&sr=8-1&keywords=rolling+homes">"Rolling Homes" by Jane Lidz</a>. You want to talk about an obsession made real. I can flip through this book for hours on end. It may have been on of the first books on the subject. This was literary coal for my internal fires. Books do this to me, but this one in particular was very high BTU. You know, if you look back at your life (any one of you reading) you can find defining moments. This book became a defining moment. I wanted to live in one of these rolling homes. Most motorhomes are full of prefab floppy poor quality material. Weight is an issue for gas and tire reasons, but that doesn't mean you can't make it "home". I've always loved cruising yachts for that reason. The woodwork is more homey. One can do this to a motorhome if you know how. In some case people don't care. Just look through "Rolling Homes" and tell me there isn't a personal touch in every one of those.

My brain gets thinking about how exactly I want to handle my "Rolling Home". Do I want an RV, travel trailer, or tiny home on a railer (trust me these are distinct).

or

or

Home is where you lay your pillow and find comfort. I hope to find a place one day that I can dock and find comfort.

Nature

O Nature! I do not aspire
To be the highest in thy choir, -
To be a meteor in thy sky,
Or comet that may range on high;
Only a zephyr that may blow
Among the reeds by the river low;
Give me thy most privy place
Where to run my airy race.

In some withdrawn, unpublic mead
Let me sigh upon a reed,
Or in the woods, with leafy din,
Whisper the still evening in:
Some still work give me to do, -
Only - be it near to you!

For I'd rather be thy child
And pupil, in the forest wild,
Than be the king of men elsewhere,
And most sovereign slave of care;
To have one moment of thy dawn,
Than share the city's year forlorn.

"Henry David Thoreau"

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett