Self-indulgence is only one of many advantages associated with having a blog of my own. In a rare attempt to avoid drawing further attention to myself, I’ll not list the others. At least, not now. As regular readers know by now, I’m a lifelong educator. In fact, the most common insult hurled my way by [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, November 23, 2011
When I was young, I fell in the love with the girl next door. Well, maybe it wasn’t love. But she was lovely and it felt like love, to my young heart. It wasn’t about sex, although she was sexy. Color me smitten. Fast-forward a few years, and I fall again. I’m older, perhaps more [...]
Continue reading...Saturday, November 5, 2011
There are various ways to ready oneself for the trip down the peak-oil curve, as well as for climate chaos. Most importantly, as I’ve indicated many times, is psychological readiness. If you are mentally prepared for a future radically different from the past you’ve known, you’re well on your way to thriving in the years [...]
Continue reading...Thursday, September 29, 2011
My recent foray to Wisconsin and Michigan had me staying five different homes, hence sleeping in five different beds and eating at many different tables. It was quite an exciting adventure, spent with wide-awake people, and I hope to repeat the experience as many times as the industrial economy allows. I’ve embedded one of the [...]
Continue reading...Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Late last week I was interviewed by KMO for the C-REALM radio show. The resulting podcast runs about an hour, and it’s posted here (go directly to podcast here). All comments welcome, all the time. My monthly essay for Transition Voice, barely modified from an earlier essay in this space, was posted here today.
Continue reading...Saturday, February 26, 2011
by Ed’s Apprentice Everybody thinks about his or her purpose in life. I figure going into their twenties most people think that purpose is pretty significant. However, getting out of their twenties — and I’ll be there soon — I think most people are at least beginning to accept that their purpose might have to [...]
Continue reading...Friday, February 11, 2011
I wrote an entire book on the life of the mind, if you can imagine that. A significant portion of the book was dedicated to the importance of a liberal education, and I’ve written about that topic in this space, too: Liberal teaching means putting everything I know, and everything I am, at risk in [...]
Continue reading...Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I presented in Austin, Texas, 9 January 2011 under the title, Durable Living: Preparing for Climate Change and Energy Decline. Free and open to the public, the event was sponsored by Design~Build~Live and Crude Awakening Austin, and attended by about 30 people. I was shooting video of this presentation, but my camera failed 15 minutes [...]
Continue reading...Thursday, December 30, 2010
by Danny Showalter I remember the presidential election between Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale. My Pop hated Mondale. That was 1984, and I was seven. I’ll come back to that after a brief digression. I grew up in rural Indiana. Shortly before I was born, my father, my mother, my aunt and my uncle, went [...]
Continue reading...Thursday, December 23, 2010
A Christmas card from one of the in-laws was unintentionally soaked in irony. I’ll skip the rant about celebrating Christ and mass, the two components of Christ’s mass (i.e., Christmas) in which I don’t believe, much less celebrate. And, too, I”ll forgo the equally tempting rant about a religious holiday that promotes conspicuous consumption in [...]
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Friday, December 23, 2011
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