I almost lost this video.

Another inspirational reminder to keep at it.  I think that all too often we are afraid.  There are many things to be afraid of. the unknown, failure, judegement… eff all of those things.  Push on and go be great.  Life it too short to not start now.

Stand against something, fight for something, but dont give up!

This morning I was brought to tears on my way into work. I was listening to DemocracyNow on KSER 90.7 FM.

They were covering the May Day protests and the occupy movement in general. I am so proud.

Here is a list of things that I have stumbled upon through random chance, personal suggestion or some sort of fleeting fancy.  Enjoy them if you wish and as always, suggestions are welcome.
Maybe I can justify this as some way of sharing my experiences with the community???? I will update as my adventures unfold.
*Note: I make no apologies for shameless pop music

Movements:
Occupy

Music:
The Black Crows – hard to handle
Heartbeat by Childish Gambino*
master p on atari – mochipet
the coup – we are the ones
doe paoro – born whole
buffalo springfield – stop children whats that sound.
jenna j – domino*
Bingo Players – Cry (just a little)*
guns are drawn – roots
Nero – Me and You
Lady GaGa – Christmas Tree
Gui Boratto – Soledad
Yael Naim – New Soul
Star Anna
Middle Class Rut – New Low
Calvin Haris – Bounce
– Life’s a gas
GOTYE – Somebody that I used to know (wildly popular, but whatever)

Books:
My Father’s Dragon
Sex at Dawn
The Mezzanine

Online:
xkcd
foamy the squirrel
pedestretarian

Movies (that, oddly, make me cry):
Scott Pilgrim
Fifth Element
Donnie Darko
Princess Bride

Place:
Dutch Mother’s (never been)
Community Restaurant (NYC, my dream is to open the seattle equivalent)
A la Mode Pies
Makeda

Things Past:
Silencer (early online game by won.net)
Adobe Pagemaker

quick thought, If I ever open a breakfast diner, I want to put random family photos in the menu.

that is all…

I really need to post. I actually really need to make a pie, but for some reason I have been really stagnant lately. That is besides the point though. I came across two interesting and unimportant things just now and they will make a decent post.

1) I think I just turned 30. I realized a while back that the age I feel is often different than my annual age. The first time I remember noticing this was when I was 17. Then I was 19, then 23, 26 and now 30 although I think I am bouncing back and forth on the 30 thing.

2) I think there exists a community of people who like to be alone. Isn’t that a cool concept? I know not everyone is this way, but sometimes I just really like being alone. Also, sometimes I stumble upon an abundace of time to myself, regardless of my preferece. Think about what it would be like if someone organized a community around this concept. I am talking about a community of people who really understand the value of being alone. While browsing the community section of Craigslist  I came across something that I think qualifies.  It was a short post but very cool. I like the way they described how it feels to be alone. At the bottom of the post, there was a link to what appeared to be a community of people who are good at being alone. It got me thinking (I really like thinking and community, so this was a very exciting moment, thanks CL). This also reminds me of a very cool video that a friend shared with me a while back. How to be alone

I have also been shaping my concept of community in general and I like what I am coming up with. It is very different than what I originally thought. I dont feel like I can quite describe it yet though.

Happy Valentines Day Everyone! (That’s like 3 people, but whatever)

I just spent a great evening with my mom.  We did what we do best which is just talking and having fun.  We always have very inspiring and productive conversations.  I love my mom. :-)

Such a great evening has inspired me to write my own take on the Valentine Dilemma.  See the XKCD post that inspired this here.

<to be continued> (But the quick version is that you can fight the consumerist holiday by giving things which are more valuable than anything that can be purchased.  Give honestly, love and thoughtfulness.  Work to reconnect with those you miss, help get a wayward friendship back on track, or just remind someone that you appreciate having them in your life.)

Look at this beautiful Pie! Much thanks to Pat for directing this my way. I am told that it is a “wild pie” made of local hand gathered ingredients. It sounds very delicious.

I just made two crusts at once.  It was quite fun and I had a chance to zone out and ponder some community/life concepts.  The ideas are still not sticking together into anything useable yet (like a crust that doesn’t have enough water ;-).  Two floating thoughts that I rather like are 1) buy a decent video camera and start recording converstaionts with people about random community concepts.  It is abundantly clear that I don’t really have any idea what to make of this world.  Chronicaling this exploration might be very interesting.  Number b. I was thinking that I could actually sell crusts.  I wouldn’t mind spending a Saturday or Sunday making crusts. Meh, we will see what comes out of these two ideas.

I also want to add three sections to the blog.  I need a wishlist, a queue for blog topics, and a howto/tutorial section to show my process.  Maybe that will happen some day, but not today.  The sun is out and I have 4 balls of dough to deliver (also a lot of real work to do).

The thought of “real work” actually reminded me of something else that came up in my ponderings.  This was the true reason that I was inspired to post today (glad I remembered).  I know that money can’t buy happiness.  We are (I was, I don’t know about everyone else) exposed to this concept quite frequently as we grow up.  “Can’t buy me love” comes to mind right now, and then there is always  (think up some other examples yourself… do it… now ;-).  I was always kind of on the fence though.  Is it true, or is this just a necessary propaganda in order to keep the masses content? After a violent explosion of epiphanies I have decided that, for me, the answer is an overwhelming and undeniable YES.  Yes it is true.  All of the things that make me happiest are free.  Free is an interesting term that I can’t really do justice to right now.  The quickest way to sum it up is that I mean free, as in beer. The things that make me happiest do not have any monetary value attached to them.  This isn’t to say that economic status doesn’t play into one’s acess or ability to enjoy such things.  There are cost’s associated with the greatest things in life, yes, but you can’t charge someone for a particularly beautiful sunset. I believe thatt any attempt to capitalize on these undefined qualities of our world will absolutely fail.  How can you charge someone for moments of personal growth, or for witnessing beautiful scenes or crying for the pain of the earth.  I think that these things, these… experiences are stumbled upon.  You can’t just spoon feed them to people.  “Have too much money? Take our third world tours.  We promise that you will reflect on the global community.  You will be deeply saddened by all of your wealth.  Self loathing and life changing events can be yours today!”

What is going to be the fallout from this realization? I feel like my 9-5 is putting me in debt.  I am taking out a loan on life experience which has an enormous interest rate.  I don’t now… we will see what happens I guess.

What I do know is that if it all came crashing down I would be standing in a pile of rubble and ashes witha smile on my face.  I know that sounds dark, but that really isn’t what I intend.

– Brandon