a culture of extravagance

I haven’t posted on here in a while. It’s not you, it’s me. Really.So, I did go on that hiking trip to Sipsey. It was great, give or take a herd of boy scouts. There were wild boars, massive thunderstorms, lots of waterfalls, assorted greenery, and absolutely no cell phone coverage.Which was great, because I was really stressed out about an issue which has since been resolved (mostly) – more stressed out than I’ve been about anything in recent memory. And when I was hiking, I didn’t think about it.

I did manage to read “A Language Older Than Words” by Derrick Jensen. If you take any recommendation of mine, read this book. It awoke things in me that have been long since buried – both good and bad. And it was a nice reminder that really, we are just animals who have forgotten how to communicate with each other.

Reading this on the heels of finishing “How Are We to Live?: Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest” by Peter Singer was equally amazing. There is so much that I take for granted, and so much that other people don’t have. Just a little of what I have can make so much of a difference for someone else. I give a little bit with Food Not Bombs (which is mostly a time investment), but that is really just chump change compared to what is needed elsewhere.

It used to be that “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig was my “ohmygod” book…the one I would recommend if I was asked, the one that I just *got* instantly. The two books above have taken Zen’s place. What does it say that they are both non-fiction? (Very readable non-fiction, I must add).

So – as long as I’m recommending things, Emily and I saw “Darwin’s Nightmare” at workplay a few weeks ago. An absolutely amazing film, and utterly depressing story of what happens when artificial species are introduced into an ecosystem, and then proceed to completely devestate the local ecosystem and the lives of the people in the surrounding region. Blame whitey, but in this one little instance, it’s a problem caused by the European whitey, and not by the US. (For once.)

As chance would have it, I am in Nashville at Opryland for a linux conference. I was warned that Opryland was the Land of Glitz And Glamour and Excess, but those warnings were not sufficient. This place is…crazy. 8 acres, all indoors. This afternoon there was a thunderstorm outside, the thunder and lightning and rain visible through the glass roof covering the whole spectacle. I’m having an okay time (learning a lot now that the actual sessions have started) – but I can’t help but feel dreadfully out of place here.