Author: Michael D. Griffiths

Michael D. Griffiths is a man who likes to keep busy. He loves camping in the wilds of Arizona and all over the west, playing poker, and debating such topics as mysticism, creativity, anarchy, and punk rock. He was awarded first place in Withersin’s 666 writer’s contest. He has become the Marketing Manager for Sharestorm an online Promotion Company. He is on the staff of The Daily Discord, SFReader, and the Ervice. His Skinjumper Series has been chronicled in M-Brane magazine and has now been released in a new novel. The Living Dead Press has published his series, The Chronicles of Jack Primus and Eternal Aftermath. The first novel in his Warriors of Light series, Dalsala Den, has recently been released by Cyberwizard Publications. Find one of my most popular novels, Skinjumpers, here! https://amzn.to/2Gdu3Be

The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective People

I recently wrote a piece called The Seven Habits of Highly Annoying People and I felt I didn’t get enough pushback, so I figured I would take it up a notch, while bringing the topic closer to Steven Cove’s famous book. It could be fun to just reverse what he proposed, but I figured it would be superior to shoot for something more original.

There are many things which could make a person ineffective, but I’m trying to avoid wide concepts like being lazy, wasting time, or not having real goals. Each of these subjects could be a different article or a book. I’m going for a bit more specific and things one could improve without therapy, medications, and a life coach.

Procrastination

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, I waited to the last minute and everything turned out better.Part of the creative process is coming up with what you need but then thinking about it, reviewing it, and making changes before you present the completed project. None of this happens if you do something last minute. The one thing doing something important at the last minute accomplishes is a high chance you won’t be able to complete it at all.

No one is impressed by seeing you waiting to the final moment and cramming. If you are doing something for them, it just looks like you don’t really care and its almost worse than doing zero. Nothing says love more than wrapping some Circle K chocolate on the way home to your anniversary.

2. Unprepared

Sure, when I was twenty it was alright to be invited to a friend’s place and find a sink full of dirty dishes, no beer in the fridge, and the only thing to eat was a spilled bag of chips in the middle of the table we needed to use. However, we should get back to showing a little class or maybe just showing off. What are you waiting for, to turn eighty and have half as many friends? Put you best boot forward and try to wow people. Don’t wait until people show up and then ask them to help you move chairs like it is a privilege to be at your place, because if you haven’t prepared, it isn’t.

Face it, people don’t want to leave their home these days. Going over to your place might be more of an obligation than a prize, so don’t fuck it up and sweep the damn floors and have some soft fucking cheese for Yig’s sake.

Saying I’m a Martha Stewart fan would be like saying the Ramones liked long songs, but there was one thing she said about hosting events at your house I took to heart. She stated everything should be done before the day of the event. If you are shopping and cleaning right up to when people walk in you feel dirty, tired, and perhaps full of resentment because these people made you work so hard. I do not care if it is a BBQ, birthday party, or hosting a poker night, be an adult and have everything prepared in advance and there better be ice in that damn cooler.

3, Don’t Listen to Experts

If you think you already know everything, I’m surprised you’ve read this far. Why would you need to read this article, watch a YouTube video, or get a book on the subject.

In this world of micro specialization, unless you are sitting on the back of a yacht, I find it almost impossible to imagine there isn’t thousands or perhaps millions of people who knows more about a subject than you. Perhaps you know 90% more than a person, but they could still open your eyes to their take on that last 10%.

No one can do it better than you? Why? Do you have some magic powers you haven’t shared? Being someone who wants to start something from zero because they know better, is like people who want to write a book but don’t read.

4. Base Your Ethics on Magick and Superstition

Religions, I’m calling you out. You aren’t some sort of de facto concept the unbrainwashed need to consider.Face it, religions are all just larger cults. They engage in Magickal thinking. People were created with Magick. Magick controls our lives. There are Magickal Gods which take our Magickal souls to a Magickal place.

Can I sell you folks some Magic Beans?

If you are basing your ethics on religions which said slavery was acceptable, like the big three Abrahamic religions, then you’ve ground to a halt before you started. Quit being a cave man. The Earth is round and rotates around the sun and your sky daddy is about as real as a hydra, unless it is to All-Father snake Yig who, by the way, said your God is fake and he is the real creator of the universe.

Prove me wrong.

5. Distance yourself from the Natural

Remember what Froggy said in Repo Man? “The more you drive the stupider you get.” I think this goes for most technology, or at least unhealthier. Each machine or device we possess removes us further from the natural and probably does its best to keep your extra pounds on.

Once you could have quietly found a meditative state raking your leaves while getting some fresh air and maintaining upper body tone, Pah, where is the fun of doing anything which doesn’t create more pollution? Let’s get a loud ass leaf blower. It burns fossil fuels, wisps away the natural environment plants need to thrive, while making all my neighbors miserable. What a win, but I saved forty minutes. Now I can scroll Instagram for two hours!

If there is such a thing as Magick in this world, it is held in the bosom of nature. The further we remove ourselves from this interaction the more psychosis will develop. Healthy minds and bodies need to embrace the outdoors.

6. Base Your Beliefs on Emotions Instead of Facts

The world isn’t a wish factory. Just because you want something to be doesn’t mean you get it. Are you a billionaire? No, and if you somehow are, fuck off. Does wishing something was true make it so with anything else? Money, health issues, family relationships, employment, does it change just because you wish it so? Why would the rest of the world do so?

You don’t like GBLTQA+ so that makes it wrong.
You think immigrants in the US commit more crimes than MAGA supporters so it makes it so.
We can give the ultra-rich our Medicare money but your life will still get better soon.
We’ll lick them next time guys. Countries aren’t spiraling toward danger. Politics will solve these problems soon. Everything is just the same ol, same ol.
Animals and the environment are not in danger so let’s put in a pool, fly all over the globe, and shut down the EPA.

How can anyone expect things to work out when they turn a blind eye to what is real. You may not think its true but reality can give you a slap down no matter what you believe.

7. Spend your time watching other people make money

Every time you watch a movie, binge a television show, scroll through Facebook, or indulge in YouTube you are just watching someone making money, or at least trying to, while you erase a few hours of life and fail to burn off a few calories.

Video games are pretty much the same. Sure, they are fun but you are paying for their new car with the hours of your life, and when you are finally done, they are a bit richer and you are closer to death, a little poorer, and a tad more out of shape.

Some people try to create for themselves or maybe think of a new project which could make some positive change in their lives, while others just burn electricity watching other people live their lives instead of improving your own. Other’s experiences and imaginations aren’t yours. Shut of the glowing rectangle and make create your own scenes, situations, and adventures.

Thanks for listening and may all the magic snakes bless you.

Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

The Seven Habits of Highly Annoying People

Some people seek to avoid being annoying at all costs while others actively seek it out. Whether they mean to or not they turn social encounters into dumpster fires most people seek only to escape from. Their bravado is perceived by them getting their way, being assertive, and coming off as a real ‘go getter,’ while others slowly do all in their power to avoid any situation which brings them into the annoying person’s orbit.

So, if you want to be an annoying person whose abrasive habits win them a few small victories, but in the end costs them the love, friendship, and respect of the people who encounter you, read on and embrace these seven habits.

Make sure you are always right about everything…

And everybody must know it. Look at you, why would you ever be wrong about anything? There are 8,000,000,000 humans on Earth but how lucky it is for the people you meet to have the pleasure of basking within the glory of the 1 person who is always right.

Scholars, are probably hiding the truth if they disagree with you, or that didn’t see the same ten minute YouTube video you did. Experts, why would they know more than a person who learned a little about a subject five years ago while watching a biased network? People who read up on the subject, forget about it, they can’t pull together the loose strings of knowledge like you. Go get em’ tiger, knock them dead, and remember everyone loves dating someone who is always right.

2. Never be on time for events, meetings, or get togethers

Come on, they know your time is more important than theirs. No reason for you to slow down and attend something when it begins, let the party get started before you roll in, then all their eyes are on you. Sometimes things are slow to get going and you don’t have the time for it. Maybe they can’t start until you’re there, but there are probably a few tasks which need to be done early which you shouldn’t be bothered with.

3. Only think about yourself

You are obviously who the world revolves around and it’s mostly just here for you anyway. Empathy and caring about others is for wimps. What do you get out of it? Sure, living in a world of selfish people might make the planet a horrible place, but you only feel the pinch if you aren‘t number one. Nothing is off limits as long as it makes your life better and who deserves to have a better life than you?

So go ahead and be the guy talking loudly in public on your blue tooth, leave your door open so everyone must hear your podcast at the office, hit on your co-worker’s spouse. If someone complains, tell them they just needed to communicate with you and if they haven’t yet, its their fault. If that guy didn’t want me to speed and hit him on his bike, he should have told me first, his fault for not communicating.

4. Make sure you talk more than anyone else.

No one has more to say about a subject than you. Your take will amaze them and you haven’t even started talking about the errands you ran. Wait, I need to tell you about my third dream.

If someone else tries to talk usually the best thing is to talk right over them. Cut people off and do it quick or you might not get to talk as much. Also, always remember, once you have someone’s attention you should never stop talking. Hours may go by, but you haven’t even started talking about that show you watched four days ago. If you get someone on the phone, forget about it, the only reason to stop would be if one of your batteries die.

5. Make sure you always take more than you give.

Let’s face it other people are just to be used. They are just a tally of resources only people like you are clever enough to tap. Friend, family, lover, the important thing is what can they give me? Show you a new person and you’ll show me, no matter who they are, you can squeeze something out of them. Giving back isn’t really your style and its such a burden. Something you can fake if you must, but if it becomes a habit, it’ll be time to move on and find new host to leech from.

6. Lie whenever you feel like it.

Did you promise to do something for a friend or pay that person back? Who cares. You only said that because they were talking with you and it would have been weird to not go along, but they couldn’t really expect you to throw down for someone else could they? You have your own things to get done and besides, you need that money more than them anyway.

7. Remember only your hobbies and projects are important

Sure, almost everyone has a passion and is using some sort of medium to be creative, but what you are doing is the only important one. I’m not going to read your article, check out your YouTube channel, or go to her art show, my band is the only important thing happening and obviously it is the only worthy thing going on and anyone who doesn’t show up is a loser.

Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

WildernessPunk: Mule Creek

Been a rough week.

Years from now this will just be a crazy week we vaguely remember, except for the families of the people our president illegally murdered to help bury the largest protest the US had ever seen. For us now, we are living it. Should we be angry and fight against the polished shoes of fascism, or should we be clinging to our personal norm?

Still, what can we do daily? Does reminding our closest peeps what a shitshow our country is on Facebook each day matter? Is it preaching to a choir or just beating people on the head? “Guess what, the administration is evil.”

“Yeh bro, I think we know.”

No one hasn’t made up their mind by now. If you find someone, I’ll by them a beer and then Title-36 them.

Instead of planning to topple my regional headquarters of ICE, I’m prepping to take my boys up into the mountains surrounding Mule Creek New Mexico, so I guess I’m sticking to norms, unless going to Mule Creek isn’t normal. I suppose I’ll figure it out.

***

Yeah Mule Creek wasn’t too normal. Funny thing about the internet and maybe AI. I Youtube searched for Mule Creek New Mexico. First hit was the top 10 restaurants in Mule Creek. I stopped watched halfway through because A) I have already seen enough to satisfy any normal appetite and B) I knew it had to be non-sense and it was. You can’t even get a warm glass of water there. There were also videos about Obsidian Ridge. I saw no evidence of such or anything approaching a road or sign. So much for the innerwebs I guess. With AI it’s just a well of BS now.

Better news was finding a forest of tall ponderosa trees just begging to be camped under which I can get to from my doorstep in the scorching desert to a tent spot in less than 3 hours. So better than Flagstaff and with, even better, no Phoenix to drive through. After that we ran into forest fires and problems, but if I wanted to bum people I out would just get you to think about where our country is headed…oops.

Let’s circle back to what a normal person is expected to do when your government is evil. In my eyes it’s always been pretty fucking evil, the curtain is just pulled back now. Some people say tRump has riled up hatred, really? We never had hatred before. Have you heard of the KKK, indigenous genocide, how about slavery? Please, we must face the facts, about one in three people are, well sorta, fukin evil. Either that or so easily misled and brainwashed, it has made them follow an evil paradigm.

How do we fix this? Can We? Education and travel usually work well, but I’m sure you noticed the Make America Evil Again gang is doing everything they can to condemn education.

Still, is converting the misled what we should be doing? It might seem fun, but it is a lot of work and mostly doesn’t work. When you are sitting in your home it’s hard to engage with what you could do to combat the growing fascism in the USA. Should I turn down the thermostat, paint a sign, or write my congressman? Screw it, I’m making a sandwich.

But again, is this what we should be doing? Am I still allowed to post a pic of my cat when our county is behaving in an evil manner and destroying lives right in front of us? I bet you think the Germans living under Hitler should have been doing more than talking about the weather. Should I fight back or is my mental health and my family’s where I should focus my efforts?

Am I asking too many questions while providing no answers?

I guess it comes down to making sure we remember what the decent parts of life are. The world could be looked at as a swirling cauldron of hate and misery, but it is also full of hope, love, and beauty. There would be no reason to fight if there was only the shitstorm.

Sometimes living well is the best revenge. Show people your choices led to a fulfilled life and assisted you in raising healthy children. Lead by example and remember Talk – Action = Zero.

Things we can do to help save the World, our County, and our Sanity:

Research how much energy/waste your habits and hobbies cost and act accordingly
Buy less and boycott billionaire brands
Compost and grow a garden
Dumpster dive and reuse instead of buying new
Support local
Do your best to waste as little food as possible
Tackle political issues in a one on one manner in person
Pretend your cell can’t get online
Wake up at 6am each day
Avoid the internet and social media
Determine your sleep needs and then stick to it
Point out evil when you see it
Live like a Warrior fighting for their future
Don’t embrace hate
See beyond the binary talking heads of politics to the real issue
Do everything and anything you can which isn’t plugged in
Fuck AI

Just a few ideas. What do you think? Did I miss something important to you?

See you behind the dumpster while I’m loading discarded pallets.

Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

WildernessPunk: Punk Rock Prep

There are a lot of depressed, worried, and surprised people these days and they come from both sides of the aisle. The left obviously sees the dark storm clouds of fascist doom encroaching and the right lives from one triggered explosion of worry to the next. Electing their president hasn’t calmed their worries. Let’s face the faces, they wouldn’t have elected him in the first place if they didn’t believe the country was heading toward destruction. tRump’s presence and power proves their manic clinging toward the cementing of their belief that fear mongering should be the guiding force within their lives.

But I have not brought my laptop out of my tattered backpack here, on the edge of the Verde River, in central Arizona, to discuss politics (well perhaps a little) what I want to delve into is Punk Rock.

Punk Rock is certainly one of those things which is difficult to paint one color. Are punks straight edge or drunks, loyal or promiscuous, politically active or miscreates? They are all these things and often none of them. I think Punk originally evolved in a rebellion against established norms which forced creativity to run through accepted channels in which only the smallest of trickles of people were allowed by large corporations to succeed and produce. Punks instead choose to do as they liked themselves and even if your cassette tape was only heard by fifty people in your scene it was enough because it still fucking rocked hard and everyone treasured it more than some top forty crap with a stylized cover.

Good, now that’s out of the way I can get to my point. As people around me panic and dwell in a dark place ruminating over the news and distressed because they feel the government is bad and turned against them, I personally remain unchanged because I’ve usually hated and had little, if no, trust in the government since I was thirteen.

Yes, sure, the government has programs to help the needy (Too many hungry mouths start rebellions) and roads are nicer when they are pothole free. Although I consider myself an anarchist at heart, I understand how constructing a framework of monitoring and control often helps more than it harms. Until you are on the other side of our guns and boy howdy do we have a lot of guns.

Still at a government’s core there are powerful people seeking more power and rich people seeking more riches. Yes, not everyone is a scoundrel, but most of them are. They want to tell you how to live the life they think you should be living. They want you to produce in the appropriate manner. Most politicians come from a background in Law. Laws to make sure you stay within the lines. Try to color outside the lines and you could enter the largest prison system to have ever existed on Earth.

But let me steer this back to my point. Instead of gasping as we plunge toward fascism, I sort of look up from my book and nod, “Hmm, it was always there, just a little more noticeable now than in the last few years.”

The government of the USA has never shied away from being evil. To get my undies in a bunch over something which has always been this way is like getting mad shit stinks.

Could you tell me a time our country wasn’t committing acts of evil?

Here’s a quick overview:

1776-1880 The United Staes committed genocide against the indigenous populations
1776-1851 Slavery was legal in the USA
1898 The United States steals land from Mexico
1945-Present The United States helped Underdevelope countries in order to steal their resources and have the poor provide cheap labor ruining indigenous farming and plunging nations into poverty.

I could go on but to list every war we’ve used to dominate other cultures would take pages.

Again, my point, and perhaps this is just me personally, but I feel listening to Punk Rock and my own research into the history of governmental fascism and control has left me underwhelmed when I see it happening now. What do people expect? We have more people and less resources. We have an environment which is crumbling and each year will be harder to produce as much as the one proceeding it. Add to this the largest wealth gap in history. Elmo Musk had the purchasing power of 30,000,000 families. How many restaurants will he support, how many shoes will he buy? Are you surprised the economy is tanking and businesses are closing when one man hordes the buying capital of 100,000,000 people?

Listen I get it. We always think the years we are alive must be more important and we are experiencing things no one ever has before, but that’s just narcissistic bullshit. Go buy an orange for 40 cents which even the king of England might get to try once in his life five hundred years ago. Face it you still have it better than 99.999999% of all humanity had unless you are one of those people your tax dollars paid to send to El Salvador.

Me…I’m not saying I like what I see happening, that I won’t fight against it, or I won’t try to help my family and friends survive through it. Let’s just say my shock meter is staying at a comfortable zero. I would never have to say I saw this coming because I knew it was already here.

Dak is asked to hunt down renegade clones. His main problem, he’s dating one.

WildernessPunk: Propaganda, Falsehoods, and Lies

I’m not setting out to write some whiny article about why I’m mad about being lied to or to point out how the United States’ government currently has a foundation built on falsehoods. Instead, I’d like to dive into why some people tend to believe all sorts of nonsense they are told, as long as it is spewed by the right pairs of lips, while others hesitate to make important decisions and use logic and critical thinking to attempt to ensure the choices they make are as sound as possible.

I think many people have experienced situations where a speaker is obviously spouting lies and spattering people with his toxic imagination. You, the listener, find these lies painfully easy to disregard as falsehoods, but crowds of people are cheering and discussing the fabrications as facts later.

So why does it happen? Why do some people swallow the nonsense with vapid glee, while others walk away scratching their head wondering how even a single individual could believe such inaccurate ramblings?

Reasons why people might believe obvious falsehoods

They respect the liar
They were raised in religious environments where impossible fables are accepted as facts
Lack of education
Apathy
Failure to research things they find important
The lie reinforces what they already believe
The lie reinforces what they want to believe
Failure to develop critical thinking skills
Not reading
Emotions and beliefs are seen as more important than facts
The lies reinforce types of hate which they feel elevate their self-worth by making them feel superior to others
The lies might help them make money or get a mate
They suffer from one or more forms of mental illness

With these causes in mind, we have a chance to understand why someone might believe statements which others find laughable dribble. Another aspect of lying which benefits the liar is engaging in a consistent approach. Could you imagine Barak Obama talking about hope and elevating the American people and then suddenly switching gears and diving into how he must flush his toilet twelve times? Yet when tRump discusses such ridiculous notions, it doesn’t mess with his flow of speech because it is just as worthless and stupid as the thing he said before it and what he will ramble on about afterward.

This would also occur in some places like churches. If someone just told you about how a divine being rained fire down from the heavens to kill hundreds of innocent people, and you believed it was true, why wouldn’t you believe this divine power was also concerned which bathrooms humans used? Since neither make any logical or coherent sense, they become equalized in their embrace of irrationality.

I discussed why people might accept lies, but while some open their mouths to be fed obvious gobbledygook by the shovelful, others discard such fabrications with ease. I could make a list of why this might be, but much of it will simply be the opposite of what I outlined above. Things such as having an open mind, engaging in critical thinking, and being well read are good starters.

All this is fine and good, but I think there is one attribute which stands miles above the others and this is the strength to accept you could be wrong about a subject and possess the ability to change one’s mind.

Think about how much better life would be for all of us if people could put their pride aside and not always assume they are correct on every issue. The jails and prisons would certainly have less inmates if the false sense of pride could have been removed from many people.

“I’m not going to stand for being disrespected!” Why because working at Jiffy Lube makes you infallible? “I’m perfect and can never be wrong!” Why because you got Cs in high school? Why is it so many people are bursting with pride over nothing more than being the 9,786,456,236^th person to work hard during their life or make a family? “I haven’t read a book in five years and get most of my news from Facebook, but it’s inconceivable I could be wrong about anything.”

Where do such thoughts come from? Why do many of the people who have done the least have the most swollen pride? Perhaps all they have is the feeling I don’t take crap from anyone. Still not taking gruff isn’t the same thing as believing one is always correct, but at times they do appear related. Many have often stated the more educated in a subject you are, the more you realize what you don’t know. Perhaps the inverse is also true. The less you know about a subject the more certain you are right about what you know about it.

You can see this often during man on the street interviews where people tell you they are against things such as Critical Race Theory, but then are unable to define what CRT is.

So how can we solve this? I’d tell people to have an open mind, be able to admit you are wrong, and be open to changing one’s opinion. The problem is the people who can’t do these things won’t be reading this or anything like it.

The only real answer is for each free thinker to do their best to help a few people evolve to stronger ways of thinking as we travel on our paths through life. Most who need this advice will resist you, but you might help a handful of people along the way and one can hope they will pass these values onto their offspring and over time humanity has a chance to improve.

Remember less than two hundred years ago half the population thought slavery was acceptable. Some races and even woman weren’t allowed to vote until very recently. Every year the percentage of people rejecting primitive religions is increasing. Humanism is winning, but these things take time and there will always be backsliding and with the weakened environment creating more economic hardships for individuals and families, we might see a lot of two steps back.

As the environment collapses, the mega rich grab a larger percentage of family’s income, and fascists fight to control the people easily influenced with hate, the free thinkers have a hard road ahead of them, but this has never stopped the real heroes, and if you can put away your pride and admit you might be wrong about a subject, one of these heroes is you.

You can grab a Taste of my fiction here Can Dak be a detective and Anarchist at the same time?

WildernessPunk: Predictions

Alright, you alright?

Looks like before the crumbling environment takes us with it, the fascists are having a go so they can milk the cream out of this dying cow and enjoy the last drops before the flies start buzzing. Yet, whether you are pro tRump, or think he ushers in totalitarianism like an 80 IQ Hitler, this article will apply to you, although with a different implication.

During the 2024 election cycle the cult of tRump was fond of using their magical thinking to state Biden and the democrats raised inflation, let in a massive amount of immigrants, and did other actions which made it harder for US citizens to survive.

What I am going to do in this article is to create a baseline of data regarding some hot topics and two years from now we will compare the next administration and see where they measure up in the future compared to where we were in July of 2023. It might be harder to get accurate data in the future, but I will try my best.

Then, just for fun, we’ll compare a few current stats to some pre-covid tRump figures from 2019.

Prediction Categories:

Inflation

Unemployment

Immigration Numbers

Median Income

GDP

Violent Crime

Tax Rate

Hate Crimes

Off the cuff, I will predict all these figures will increase, except immigration numbers. The GDP and Median Income will decrease. All the noise about improving the economy were just empty words used to help tRump and the Republicans win. As soon as they gain control, the rich will grab a higher percentage of profits while they throw their followers under the bus. This will feed the fires of their indignation and lead to a big jump in violence.

Just for some preemptive perspective I will now compare the stats of my categories near the end of the last two administrations. Again, I use pre-covid stats to keep it fair so let us review how 2019 compared to 2023.

Note: When possible, I will be taking the stats from July in each of the respective years.

2019 2023

Inflation 1.7 3.2

Unemployment 3.7 3.5

Immigration 2893 2748

Illegal Im. 50,000 120,000

Median Income 31,133 37,585

GDP 21,521.4 27,356.4

Violent Crime 19 per 100,000 22 per 100,000 (2022)

Tax Rate 40.8 40.8

Hate Crimes 8,812 13,857

These are some interesting stats to look at. Obviously, Biden was not knocking it out of the White House parking lot here. Some surprises were more legal immigrants during tRump. Some bad news for Democrats would be the increase in Violent and Hate Crimes, perhaps some people were more inclined to commit crimes when their leader is not in office, but this is just armchair conjecture. Looking over some of the statistics sites I realized there could be some delay so if I want data from July of 2026 I might have to wait a few months or even a year, This means I cannot guarantee when the second half of this article will come out but hopefully you can still afford your WIFI by then.

You can grab a little of my fiction here

WildernessPunk: The Adult Quiz

What does it take to be an adult? If you think it only means being older than 18 then you probably aren’t one. I’m sure everyone has their own answer and definition. People with different backgrounds and ages would list off various requirements. This is not touching on how other cultures might view this transition.

In this article, I’ll be focusing primarily on the cultures within the United States and sticking to the outlooks of the people currently living here in this year of the Current Era 2024. Obviously, what made someone an adult in 1200 CE or 12000 BCE would be so different from what we view today we would be hard pressed to draw many parallels.

Instead of going over the outs and ins of being an adult, I’m going to jump into the quiz. Before I start there is going to be something on this list which will anger almost everyone who reads it. Perhaps some will think I give too many points for certain things. Maybe there will be things I haven’t included which you think I should. In general, I am giving more weight to accomplishments over experiences. Going to Europe on vacation may help someone feel more confident and self-reliant, but I went to Europe as a child, and it didn’t suddenly make me an adult.

Something I’d rather not glorify is doing jail time. In many ways this might force you to grow up fast but I’m going to exclude this one. If you feel it is needed for you, give yourself 10 points for spending a few nights in jail, 50 per year in jail and a 100 for each year of hard time.

The instructions are simple. Just read through the categories and give yourself the indicated points for each of these things you have done. There will be a grading matrix at the end.

Finally, the Point Reduction section is optional but if you are comparing with another make sure you are each making the same decisions.

The Wildernesspunk Adult Quiz

Life Milestones

200 Points for being in a successful happy marriage
50 Per extra marriage
20 Points for each divorce
20 Points for each year you have taken care a child, for every child under 18, in your home
10 Points per year, for each child you split custody with
10 Points for being a step parent of a child who lives with you per year per child
20 points for being a step parent for a child no longer living at home
20 points for every year you have not lived with your parents
10 points for every year you have lived outside your parent’s home without having roommates
100 points if you own your home
20 points per car you have paid off and still own
10 points per year of your longest employment with a single company
Bonus 10 points per 10,000$ you are currently making a year
150 Point for getting a PHD
100 points for getting your Master’s Degree
50 points for a Bachelors
100 points for surviving being homeless
100 Points for quitting each drug you were once addicted to
1 point per hundred miles for the longest road trip you took without your parents (One way)
2 points per night for the longest camping trip you have ever been on
1 Point per 100 miles for the longest distance you have been away from home when you are not living with your parents

Creative Milestones

10 points per year for the longest band/orchestra you have been a member of
5 points for each additional band/orchestra you were in which lasted longer than a year
20 points for each real art show you have displayed in
20 points for each published novel
10 Points for each self-published novel
20 points for running of some type of creative group which has lasted longer than a year
10 points for being a member of a creative group which lasts longer than a year
20 Points for any serious acting/dance performance you have participated in
10 Points for any creative project you were a part of per year
10 Points for every thousand dollars you have made through a creative project

10 Points for each sports team you have been a member of (after high school) for longer than a year
10 Points for every thousand dollars you have made through playing a sport
1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by building something yourself
1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by growing your own food
1 Point for every 100$ you have saved by repairing something you paid for
10 Points per book for the average number of books you read a year

Responsibility Milestones

100 Points for each tour in the military
200 per tour if you were involved in armed conflict
100 Points for helping a loved one through a serious health problem
100 Points for helping a loved one through a serious mental illness or disability
100 Points per year for helping a person with a disability in your home
20 points for each year you have helped a child with college/professional school
10 Points per hundred dollars you spend a month to support children who live outside of your home
10 points per year you have been a successful pet owner
10 Points per 10 miles you commute to work or run errands without driving
10 Points for every hundred pounds less of a cardon footprint you create under 3000 pounds
10 points for every month you went for the last year without ordering a product online

Point Reductions

– 10 points per hour for each hour on average you play video games each week
– 10 points per 100$ your parents pay for you in any manner each month
– 50 Points if you do not recycle
– 10 Points for each use of a restaurant over two on an average week
– 10 Points for each time you had to move over the last ten years

Grading System

Under 0 = Can you at least take your own trash out of the basement

1 – 300 = You have got to stop hanging out with the high school kids

301 – 600 = Don’t worry you’ll met a nice partner one day

601 – 1000 = Sorry I’m too busy to help you move again

1001 – 1400 = This is a nice place you have

1401 – 1800 = Cool Library, my friend

1801 – 2200 = So I’m looking for people interested in buying some land

2201 – 2600 = Can you give me some advice

2601 – 3000 = I’m proud of you

3000+ = Who’s a rock star

If you feel inclined you can check out one of my novels here and I guarantee Dak lives and exciting life.

WildernessPunk: So Great It Doesn’t Work

Does more advanced technology make your life better than the generation who died before they could enjoy it? Do you think you have it better than your grandfather or mother? “My grandfather may have owned a nice house on 2 acres of land, but I get to play Halo on my Xbox XII with my seven roommates.”

What is more important and what really does make a life better and more enjoyed? Don’t get me wrong, technological advancements can make your life superior. What we tend to think of as simple things like running water, electricity, trash pick up, and heating/cooling, aren’t so simple at all. Go back five hundred years and the richest king in Europe would still have none of these (maybe trash pick up). Go back a hundred years and maybe they existed but I bet your great grandparents didn’t have them.

When you think about it, we could have stopped there. Health and happiness would be possible and this would give us the free time to expand our minds and work on projects other than hauling water up a hill for seven hours. But like humans are apt to do, little advances kept happening. Common things like washing machines, garbage disposals, and microwaves went from being coveted to expected. Records became CDs which became Ipods and transferred to streaming. Phones went from something you needed an operator’s help with to a computer in your pocket.

As technology improved it took up more of our lives. Where once someone was saving an hour of labor by using a washing machine soon those hours or more would be spent staring at the original rectangle, television. I’d be willing to bet my next five tax returns that for the average number of folks in the country, technology takes up more time than it saves.

If I were to ask you what your baseline technology needs are? What would you say?

As mentioned before, water, electricity, trash pick up, and heating and cooling would probably make it on there. That would be my to go to, I have lived with less, often for years. But I’m asking you.

Are the following unneeded luxuries or part of your baseline needs:

Television with DVDs Only
Washing Machine
Microwave
Land Line
Garbage Disposal
Stereo
Streaming Networks
Horticultural Drip Systems
Exercise Equipment
Alea
Computer
Laptop
Cell Phone
Blue Tooth
Video Game Consoles
Adjustable Lighting
Online Shopping
Room to Room music controls
Digital Controls for all electronic devices

This is so high tech it doesn’t Work

I would like to discuss something else before we close. Let’s start with a personal event I’m still dealing with as these words group together. In the new place we moved into apparently a previous owner decided he should put in a drip system all over every part of the back yard. Sure, he could carry buckets to his plants or water them with a hose, but that might conserve water, he could enjoy the very plants he’s watering, or the work could help him burn off a few pounds and we wouldn’t want that.

So now, this advanced technology has of course broken down to the point we have to shut off the water to the whole house or have a water bill which would cost more than a Whole Foods shopping spree. So the technology is so advanced nothing works.

It used to be a replacing a car stereo was a simple endeavor. Hell, I even did it alone once. My CD player died recently and I was informed, due to the dashboard computer system in my car I have never personally given any attention to or used, it would cost 2,000$ to replace. Again, wow this technology is so good it will never work again, nice job. (My solution was the buy a 50$ boombox and just play the CDs on that.)

When I was a kid, my turntable broke and I fixed it with a rubber band I used for my braces. Try doing that with an Alexa. My wife got a new job and wasn’t able to access her paychecks for months because they only put the money into some weird bank system which she tried to set up a few times and it failed. Wow it was so high tech she could work a job for 60 hours a week and not get paid for months, that’s some really impressive technology. So advanced no one can use it. Smart.

I bet if I asked you might have a few stories you could add to this list.

What would happen, if a hacker shut off the grid or the web goes down. I guess we won’t have phones, television, or music or at least most people won’t. Personally, I still have 500 DVDs, so if the grid ever goes down, I’m going to open up a solar energy movie house, so if you guys want to see some classic horror movies you had better start saving your canned goods now because it will be one can per showing. Just like in A Boy and His Dog. Hey, do I have that movie? I’d better get it before the grid goes down or none of us will ever see it again.

But don’t worry you’ll be able to find me by the sound of my blasting cassette tapes.

Alex Bone

If you like cyberpunk dystopia tales, please take a second to look over my Skinjumper novel.

WildernessPunk: Bad Luck

Wednesday the 17^th 2024 11:10 am

Almost eight years ago, wow, eight years, I set off on my exploration of reality and myself when I started WildernessPunk. One of my first posts was called Road Ripping. In it, I reveled in my new found freedom and set off with my father, in a rented jeep, to travel from Flagstaff Arizona to Montana, seeing parts in between, as well as going to Yellowstone with my brother and his family. In early August of 2016, I took my father to a secret campsite located west of Montecillo in the aspens where one could overlook the canyonlands descending into the deserts to the west.

We didn’t stay there long because we were bound for Moab and the Arches, but I did find my bear spear I had made many years before and had stashed there.

Do you think I’ll be able to find it again? Because that is our final goal. Not finding the spear, but returning to that site.

Strange to think eight years ago, I hadn’t seen my boys for months and now they never leave my side and will be coming with me to explore this mystic wonderland in the high forest of Utah.

I have been on many road trips and gone camping a lot since the day I last left my footprints there, but this is the most adventurous pushing the limit trip I have made with my boys in many years. No sidekicks besides them, we’re flying solo, just the AZ AB boys.

Currently I sit at the closed bar near where they’re getting one last tutoring session in before we roll and begin our road trip. We won’t be heading up to Montana like last time, but I’ll be starting from further south and making a few stops on the way before revisiting my old sight.

Will others be parked there having discovered my beautiful camp? Will there be anything left after eight years? I guess I’ll find out in a few days. 30 minutes to go.

Thursday the 18^th 2024 6:50 pm

Soooo… I have suffered through a rash of bad luck so unexpected and odd it has become comical.

The new side mirror, which cost a full 8 Bennies to repair, jiggles loose and smashes into the fast lane of 1-10 after only traveling 40 miles. I’m then forced to drive through the rugged traffic of the 5^th largest city in the US (Pheonix) with no passenger side mirror and only minimal rear view mirror use due to all my gear. The kids helped me push on for another 170 miles through 85 mile an hour madness and we manage to arrive safely to the wrong address, because we were given the wrong address. I correct this and we head to the other side of I-17.

Finding my Bear Spear in 2016

The night goes great, although the next morning I’m asked to help move two sofas, a heavy drill press, and a saw table. Nothing like giving yourself a chance to throw out your back before some camping. After driving another six hours, through parts of the Painted Desert, Navajo Nation, and Monument Valley we arrive at the hotel I unfortunately paid for in advance. The pool and ice machine are down, minus five points from the idea that booking things online is a good idea.

So instead of lounging poolside, I’m writing in our dinged up room. I’m not trying to bellyache and bitch, but sometimes so many things go poorly, it becomes amusing or perhaps a tad challenging.

But alike usual the good points outweigh the bad.

We get to see Kurt’s new place, all five acres of his river side paradise.
Before I can finish my first beer, we have already recrafted a new side view mirror. Booming!
A hike through the forest during off and on rain reveals the grandeur of the area and I’m happy I was able to pitch in some to help him get more organized.
We see a big toad.

Today I got to take the kids to an old school A and W soda stand in the dry town of Blanding. Blanding gives me a little PTSD because I had some bad luck there too, but we push through and then enjoy relaxing as we prep for the real deal, camping in the mountains on the edge of the Canyonlands.

Will my string of ill luck continue or will the arrival of my college buddy turn it all around? I suppose I’ll soon see.

Saturday the 20^th 2024 7:50 am

Up in the mountains loving the beauty, but strangely the ill luck continues. Now I’m not trying to moan and bitch or complain, I’m just noting how an odd string of ill luck has followed us. Not enough to ruin our good times, but when you’re taking care of other people besides yourself and have greater responsibilities such things take a higher toil.

I suppose this is interesting to note. If I was by myself, I’d probably not notice half these things, but when you are a caregiver and have an audience, these events can strike a harder chord and slow one down.

So I’ll start with saying, I don’t think I will ever reserve a hotel online, which I haven’t already been to, ever again. It was supposed to be a chance for my boys and I to have some downtime and gear up between camping. Instead, we get there and

Their pool is down
Their ice machine is down
I get bitten by insects all night

They did have electricity though and we manage to enjoy a few movies. At least Stratton was happy because we saw two movies with boob-

7:32 pm

Oops lost my power where was I? Saying I recharged our things…

Again, I’m not trying to be a whiner, I’m just going to point out the how this strange string of ill luck continued to plague our team of adventurers, it didn’t keep us from having a great time, but it had passed through the comical into the downright odd.

I had only purchased dry goods in Tucson thinking I would get my meat and veggies in Monticello so they’d be fresh for camp and oops. All the food there was the opposite of fresh. The lettuce was rotting on the selves, and I kid you not, they were selling grey hamburger. Why they even put it out there instead of tossing it in the trash, I’ll never understand. A sad aspect of modern man. One can drive through cows for hours but somehow the people living around them have rotten men while the folks in the city who haven’t seen a cow for months have food ten times as fresh.

I’m not sure if this counts as bad luck, but sadly the Flagon Wagon did not have the strength to get us to the top of the ridge, due to the rugged shape of the road, so we had to camp at a lower spot instead of the campground I had made. I did hike up find and then retrieve my decade old spear, however. Oh yeah.

The opposite of ill luck was being joined by one of the first people I had met when I moved to AZ in 85, Rick. Rick is a truly Stalwart man, Not only is he a jack of all trades, but he’d help you through anything both good and trying without a complaint or needing to be asked, with a smile on his face the whole time. Also, he a Cochise Brother. If you know, you know.

However, our string of bad luck appeared to be contagious. My ground-score camp stove stopped functioning and then so did his. Having a better vehicle than I, Rick attempted to race back into town and buy a new one, but upon arrival, the entire passage into town was blocked by the Poineer Day, or as he calls it the Pie and Beer Day, parade and he had to turn around or be trapped for hours.

Making do, we cooked over the fire on a grill. Rick gave me a tarp since it was raining every two hours and I had left mine behind. But besides our more limited food options our ill luck wasn’t affecting us and we hiked, gathering rocks in the stream Bobby found, saw lots of cool animals, played half a dozen games, and had a great time.

It did end too quickly and we decided to leave when Rick did, because with all the bad luck happening, I didn’t want to end up being trapped alone there with two kids. I made it back to Tucson safely, after being stuck in a 4 hour traffic jam in Pheonix where they kept 3 lanes of the highway shut down even though there was no construction taking place on a Sunday when about a 100,000 people were returning to the city from the cooler north. I won’t discuss how stupid this is other than saying the people responsible should be taken out into the desert, beaten, and then forced to walk back into town barefoot.

What is the moral of the odd turn this adventure had? I think it would be, when ill luck, or if that is too much of a magical thinking concept for you, a string of unfortunate events strikes one, it can prove your character. Someone might complain, become grumpy, and let it ruin their good time. I’d rather consider it a way to challenge one who is living a modern life which, for many of us, is far too easy.

Speaking of pioneer days. Were our ancestors using camp stoves, refreshing in hotels, getting into traffic jams, or upset they couldn’t buy fresh meat on their way into the woods? Every single problem we had is something which could only have occurred in the last hundred years if that. Our idea of challenges is only losing a few layers of our insanely luxurious lifestyles and bringing us back to a more basic state.

Ill luck for them would be broken bones, running out of food, or becoming sick and none of those things happened to us. Our bad luck was only stripping away a few decades of opulence. Did I really care? No, it just makes for a better challenge and hopefully a good story. I also hope you enjoyed it and thanks for listening.

If you feel inclined you can check out one of my novels here and I guarantee Dak lives and exciting life.

WildernessPunk: Heat Gave

A few days ago, I did an odd thing, an activity most people my age and living in this desert city would think half crazed. I had to drop off my vehicle, ‘The Flagon Wagon,’ at the mechanic which was roughly five miles downhill from my place, ‘The Bone Manor.’

This was more of an upscale place which would drive you back to your place if you needed them to. My wonderful wife would have certainly gone with me or picked me up as well.

For some reason, to be honest I wasn’t completely sure at the time, but I made no arrangement to schedule a ride or be picked up.

Was I trying to test myself? Perhaps I wanted to embrace the heat of Tucson on the hottest day of the summer. Maybe I wanted to see what it’s like for the sad homeless who can’t escape this town even when the heat radiates into a furnace where every hot breath entering your lungs brings you closer to heat stroke.

Most likely, it was a mix of all three.

Also, since I wasn’t going to have my car for a while, I stopped at a store and filled up my backpack, you know, just to make it easier.

I walked by dozens of homeless on my travels. A hard 90 minutes for me, but a long agonizing day for them. Yet even those 90 minutes came to call on me. The heat blasted off the pavement and baked me as I put some grit into my step. Soon I realized my usual powerwalking might get me in trouble and I had to slow my pace. Stay more in line with the tortoise, the chuckwalla, and the indigent. Each of us slowly moving through the waves of heat with only scraps of shade provided by the occasional cactus and gnarled mesquite tree.

How is it we can drive by the homeless on our way to the store, with money stuffed plastic and riding comfortably in airconditioned machines worth more than any ten of them consume in a year, without it crushing our spirit? Maybe some of us pass the blame onto those without housing. It is their fault, laziness, maligned lifestyles, and unusually hard luck has taken them down. Perhaps a few of us think they are getting what they deserve-reaping what they have sown.

Some people try to help. A donated dollar here and there. Donating time or money to agencies. Others even assist the homeless as a profession. Knowing these agencies, which our taxes pays for, helps reduce our obligations. “Someone will take care of them.” Whatever helps us rationalize the guilt as we cruise past them to buy more food and comforts or work at a place which helps insure we never end up like the poor bastards we zoom by.

My boys and I hand out Rice Krispy Treats when we get the chance. Nobody has ever turned one down.

It makes sense to see the homeless here in Tucson during the winter. If you lived in a colder region, why wouldn’t you try to migrate here? Why remain in a place which could kill you when you can enjoy mild days and survivable nights? But why are people still here now? This time of year, the heat can kill. Anyplace would be better than here.

Why can’t they escape?

Maybe they don’t want to.

A dozen species of mammals and hundreds of types of reptiles and birds remain in the southwest throughout the summer. The desert has been their home long before our hairy little ancestors discovered fire. Why should humans be different?

Shouldn’t we try to escape if we can? Like I said in the last article, only the ultra rich and some of the homeless poor are free to move as they please. Whether it is having the capital to do well… anything, or the questionable advantage of having no strings or ties to anything which could make us free.

I wouldn’t stay in northern Alaska over the winter if I was homeless, so why do they remain here? I pass by another cluster of homeless men. They ask me for a smoke but when I say I don’t have one they leave it at that. Perhaps they think I am one of them, but probably not. I’m too pale and don’t have the dusty sun scarred faces these men possess.

Like the half-arsed anthropologist I am, I continue, just dipping into the daylong blaze they consider life. Yet even this exposure thanks its toil. My ten mile a day bike rides in Flagstaff have become well prepared dinners and luxuries here in Tucson. It’s easy to say, I’ve never had it as good as I do now. I can eat well and possess the supplies to prepare for something like this which is a good thing for my older body begins to feel the pressure of my pack as I move through the building heat.

It’s supposed to reach a 112 today. Not as bad as some places but hotter than most. People talk about humidity and I know it can make situations more deadly, but there is still something about this ‘Dry Heat.’ There is a certain lifelessness here. Every plant you see is either dead or slowly dying. Fingers and feet turn dry and crack. Tempers flare and hot vehicles cover parking lots full of stains which the rains won’t wash away for weeks.

Before I reached the final nine lanes of traffic I must cross, I sense a tugging twinge. I feel the same as I did twenty or thirty years ago, but my body gives me a little indication it’s less happy about my trek. Just a little whisper of a quickened breath and shift in my shoulder. I’ve been trapped in the summer desert before and only escaped through careful strides and thoughtful rests.

Waiting for the light brings some relief but I’m sweating so much under my Stetson, I have to wipe my eyes clean every minute. After crossing, its uphill for about a mile all the while the cars rip by on the blacktop which pounds into me with its reflective heat.

What might the drivers think of me? Do they see me as a lonely man out in the impossible heat with all his possessions crammed into my heavy backpack. This was me eight years ago, but I bet it would surprise them if they discovered I now live in a house probably nicer than most of them.

Letting them move as they will, I’m forced to slow my pace as the heat takes its toll. I know a shady place to rest once the hill levels off and I’m almost back to my air conditioned haven. Businesses dot my side of the road. Dentists, real estate agents, and spas line up like kids waiting for the bus. Would they give me a glass of water if I asked? How often do they look out over their cold drinks to see tired men shamble by?

Pressing on, I reach the crest after the heat has almost beaten me and enjoy a seat in the shade. Close now. Perhaps half a mile to go. What if this shade was the best I could hope for? What if there were so many of us there was no room left in the shade?

The number of homeless will only continue to rise in this country and around the world as resources dwindle and the price of limited housing grows ever higher. Perhaps one day there will be more homeless than homed as the mega rich horde half of the world’s incomes and buy up all the land they can.

I’ll tell you what you see when you look out your window at the sunburned man on the side of the road. You’re seeing the future and baby for most people it’s going to be a nightmare we couldn’t wrap our heads around.

Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing everything I can every moment to prep for this with my family and friends or relax by being part of the last generation to enjoy a cold one before they are gone.

What do you think?

Thanks for listening feel free to add your take below

If you like cyberpunk dystopia tales, please take a second to look over my Skinjumper novel.