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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.

1. 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.

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

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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.

1. 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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

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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.

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

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Here I sit, writing in Whole Foods. By choice, no, but this is the last of my children’s tutorial sessions this summer which happen to take place near a Whole Foods, so I’ll soak it in one last time as their summer draws to an end. I won’t be here again until next June. My kids will be one grade higher, and I’ll be one year closer to the fire. Such thoughts drag me toward more universal truths and icons which will outlast us all. Such as the flashy, victorious, confused and tormented but always hopeful… hero.

When you think of a hero what comes to mind? Do you think of a real person like some founding father or William Wallace or does your mind drift toward mythical personalities like Odysseus, Bilbo, or Spiderman? What about heroes living in our current moment? Is a nurse working in the ER in a third world country a hero to you or a mother who saves her child from a flood? I’m sure some people consider dedicated politicians, police officers, or soldiers returning from conflict zones real heroes.

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These last three characters are less likely to do it for me, which brings up the issue of how one person’s hero could be another’s villain, or at least an individual not deserving hero status. For example, I’m sure Thomas Jefferson is a hero to many. He helped found this country and worked on the development of the constitution. Yet to others he would be considered backwards and villainous because he enslaved other humans.

The first step in defining a hero might have to begin with what you consider a hero to be. No one thinks heroes must be perfect. Even in the stories of Jesus, he murders another child in the book of Enoch. So, what does a hero have to be/have?

Here are some heroic archetypes:

• Clever
• Intelligent
• Helps Others
• Strong
• Agile
• Seeks Innovative Solutions
• Fights for the Downtrodden
• Travels
• Combats Evil
• Fights Malign Monsters
• Gains wisdom and Strength Through Challenges
• The Apprentice Becomes the Master
• Becomes Famous
• Goes up Numerous Levels
• Helps Heal the Sick
• Fights Lost Causes
• Fulfills a Destiny

This list is just off the cuff, I’m not trying to go all Joesph Campbell on you. Once you figure out what characteristics a hero should have, the next step would be to decide what a hero needs to have in your eyes. Once you figure it out, then you could see what figures meet your expectations and then this would be a hero for you.

Then the next step would be decide what works best for you; real living examples, mythological archetypes/fictional heroes, or perhaps a bit of both.

I’ll pick one of each who does it for me.

William Wallace:

He was a real person defending his land from oppressive tyranny. William Wallace went into a keep which was part of his culture’s territory with two friends. They were just trying to take care of normal business but when they returned to his horses William found an Englishman, who was an enemy of his, cutting the tail of his horse as an insult. The Englishman called for Wallace’s death but met his own instead, while William and his two friends had to flee.

Finding their lord dead, 20 English soldiers chased after the three Scotsmen. During the chase William Wallace’s horse broke a leg and he was thrown from his steed. Drawing his Claymore, he stood to go down fighting, but soon it was the English who rushed at him which went down.

His two friends turned and thought, hell, we must help our brother and rushed back to assist their friend. Together William’s Claymore and his two allies won the day. After gutting the soldiers, they returned and claimed the keep for their own.

Score one for the good guys.

Sometimes fantasy stories hit strong because they dive deeper into the source of human needs and the archetypes of our existence can be represented symbolically. Fantasy stories, like the fairy tales of our ancestors, hit the deeper buried motivations of our species. They are closer to the human archetypes and touch on the core meaning of existence which flows through all humanity. In my opinion the universal archetypes are the closest humanity ever comes to interacting with gods or a uniting aspect of the multiverse.

Odysseus:

Case in point the story of Odysseus. Unlike other older myths such as Beowulf, Odysseus doesn’t always win just by being the strongest or able to fight well. Five avoided battles are equal to one win, when it comes to keeping yourself and your allies alive.

Odysseus understood the best way to survive a battle is not to have one. There are always other ways to win and drawing one’s sword should be the last option. Odysseus is the evolved man, emerging from a primitive, more beastlike state, into a human whose problems can be solved with our minds, and we can move past the battle of fang and claw.

Personal Hero

When it comes to picking the kind of hero you admire, most often we tend to pick a figure with talents we wish we had. Either they have obtained attributes we’re lacking or wish we possessed to a higher degree.

Which figure nails this for you? If you could create your perfect hero, what would it look like?

If I might digress a moment, this is one of the reasons playing a game like Dungeons and Dragons can become so interesting. Instead of being locked into one worldview, this game lets you explore your ethics and morals from multiple points of view. Hell, you can even play the evil guy. I’m not sure what else in life gives you such an opportunity other than writing.

Have you ever explored your own hero? What heroic things have you done for yourself and others. Does something stand out the second you read this. For me it could be me charging a mountain lion, who was trying to hunt down my baby son, with only a sword in my hand.

It ran away.

What would the perfect hero be? I think it must be close to what our ideal vision of ourselves would be. So obviously it would be different for each of us. Some might see the hero as a rich character while this would only be mildly important for others. Strong, clever, quick? Yes please. Charismatic… a must.

Would a female hero be different? I would think so. Perhaps more nurturing and a need to protect others could become more important. Also, they should be able to do that scorpion kick thing.

Feel free to tell me your version of your own blend of hero. I’ll be here sharpening my dice.

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If you feel like it, consider looking up my Cyberpunk novel. Detective Dak is asked to hunt down all the clones in New Cluster but is in love with one of them.

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No, it isn’t a typo. Invironment is a new term to encapsulate a few different ideas you’ve probably heard before and perhaps a few you haven’t. The concept goes something like this, “Nature and culture have grown less distinct and are now part of the same whole. Our species has arrived at a point in human evolution we are close to only letting nature exist where we allow it to do so.”

Some aspects of this theory can strike one as negative or disheartening, such as thinking of national forests as just larger Central Parks surrounded by urbanization and highways. Other aspects might spur on ideas for betterment and hope, such as rooftop gardens and replacing vacant lots with small areas where some wildlife can still exist.

But is the concept a useful one?

If it helps people wrap their heads around humans, other animals, and plants all belonging to the same interrelated system which needs to cooperate to keep our planet healthy, I believe it is. The theory points out that long gone are the days when people can pretend there is a huge world out there and we can barely scratch the surface of the endless wilderness existing beyond our cities. Yes, those days are indeed gone, very long gone. One could easily point out the effect over-harvesting their farmlands by the Sumerians had upon the hundred generations which followed them. Some archaeologists speculate their poor farming practices caused salt to leech into the fields and rendered them lifeless over 5,000 years ago. Currently, the Sumerians, who invented agriculture and the use of wheat, have left their ancestors required to import 1.4 billion dollars of wheat into their country because of this ecological disaster which happened thousands of years before the founding of Athens.

Since humans control how the world is divided and destroyed, we also need to accept the responsibility of managing the Earth and its resources, unless you want to ask a giraffe to do it.

Invironmentalism also asks us to act now, today, and more next weekend. Instead of thinking a politician or scientist will somehow come up with a plan to fix everything, the rain forests will regrow themselves, and cities will magically shrink and create new wetlands, humans should be working with what we have and what we could have in the future.

This might involve hard choices and rethinking your own personal environment. Should you rake up all those leaves which will decompose and provide nutrients to future plants, homes to insects, and replace a natural ground cover with a lawn? I guess it’s okay if you want to go to sleep knowing you did your part to make the earth just a little more dead. We all need to look in the mirror and say to ourselves, “Am I even really trying to be an environmentalist or am I just another criminal putting my needs, social standing, and comfort above the health of my planet and future generations?”

A lot of people claim to be Environmentalists, and I’m certainly not there myself, but the only true Environmentalists I see are the homeless. They might not be perfect, but they are certainly better than you and I. I’m going to toss up a quick list, more to get the point across more than to provide a complete spectrum of non-environmental practices. This is more of a ‘get you to double think,’ your lifestyle.

If you do/have any of these things, you really don’t care about the environment more than yourself and aren’t an environmentalist.

• Drive when you could have walked or ridden a bike
• Fail to make a garden in your yard if you can do so
• Have a lawn on your yard
• Order from Amazon more than once a month
• Fail to make a compost pile
• Order delivery more than twice a month
• Throw more than 10% of your food into the landfill
• Remove native plants from your yard

The list could obviously continue, but I’m sure you get the idea. Environmental choices aren’t easy and might not make you popular. Things like letting your ‘weeds’ grow might not make your neighbor happy but is ten times better for the environment than his gravel covered, dead yard, which does its fair share to increase global warming. The important thing about Invironment is the concept that, even though things are tough, we humans, animals, plants are in this all together. If technology has given us the ability to destroy so much of what is precious on our planet it’s time to use technology to save animals.

Can we recycle junk which would have produced greenhouse gases in a landfill and instead use it for bird houses? Will my compost pile help some of the little mammals and insects survive in the food desert of my expanding city? We need to embrace the idea of helping animals and plants survive within our cities and industrial areas, because when 2 billion more people are going to be city dwellers by 2050, we’re going to have cities covering a lot more of our planet.

Lastly, our modern farms are really another example of food deserts. We removed all other forms of plants, drained the earth of almost all its nutrients and must replace it with industrial fertilizer. Animals have a hard time surviving on this monolithic landscape and when things like insects try to eat a little of the growth because we have destroyed everything else in the area they used to eat, their reward is being poisoned by the insecticide we spray over the crops.

Again, I’ll end on a positive note. Think of things not as a disaster but as an opportunity for you to be a great citizen of the earth every day. How can you grow your own food? Can you convert an empty lot or the ground around abandoned buildings into community gardens? Can you use something to build homes for urban animals instead of tossing it into the landfill? Will you fix your gear, recycle it, or scavenge supplies instead of buying them new? And overall, the best thing you can do to help is consume less and dispose of as little of your waste as possible.

Maybe one more thing. The next time your see a homeless person thank him or her for being ten times the environmentalist you will ever be.

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Author’s Note:

Hi folks. I was interviewed this week in regards to my experience being an author. It will later be published @Two Blue Stockings, but I figured I’d also throw it on here, just for fun. It is a little gloomy in regards to giving a spark of inspiration to new authors, but if you want un-realism watch a Disney Special or listen to a Trump Speech.

Enjoy

Author Interview

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?  

Doing what readers want is for authors with large audiences. I have been reviewing other author’s novels for over ten years now and there are perhaps writing trends such as dialog over description, but human taste varies and trying to find a key which would open the interest of the swirling masses of people seems a fool’s quest.

I use an approach to writing which Robert E Howard spoke of. I write like the characters are standing over my shoulders and telling me their story. In a sense writing the novel is similar to reading a book to me.

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

This is harder for me to answer for I have read dozens of indie books which have impressed me, but no one has even heard a hint of. If pressed I would pick Escapology by, Ren Waron. This is an amazing novel. Waron’s writing style is beyond compare. She paints a vibrate world that both compels you and wants you to flee screaming. Her prose is colorful and yet dark. The characters are strong and move together to interact in a cyberpunk setting of malice and cynicism

What advice do you have for writers?

Volunteer and get involved with other writers and publishers. In life, you get what you put in. If you support other authors, they might end up supporting you. Being involved in a writing community makes it more fun and people will also be more open to publishing a person they know. In this world of the infinitive internet quality is better than quantity. If you think your twitter account with 3000 followers will get you more sales than being in a book club, in most cases I would say you are very wrong. Going at the publishing business cold is rough and the author will just find themselves another of the millions of people with a laptop who thinks everyone’s heads need to snap to attention because they wrote a book.

Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

In the sense it relaxes me and helps my mental health, yes. I focus on the Jungian archetypes which appear throughout most cultures and religions. Figures like the grey-haired leader, the trickster, the young adult in danger, and the wise woman appear throughout history. I feel these images and ideas strike a chord with people. Then the idea is to turn the concepts on their head and deal out a few surprises to the reader. However, I do have a blog where I have several hundred spiritual/motivational poems. You can get to that here. Mystic Archetypes

What is your favorite childhood book? 

I enjoyed fairy tales and legends as a child. My grandmother read most of the Grimm Fairy Tales to me. My favorite book was D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths.

Where do you get your ideas? 

I am a storyteller. If I am not writing fiction, I am keeping the oral tradition alive by recounting the adventures of myself, and friends both known and unknown. For me, the ideas are already there. Some of my novels share complex magical systems I have used through multiple series. I also have novels which veer in a totally different direction. I never experience writer’s block, the only thing which blocks me is lack of time.

What does literary success look like to you?

I have published novels and at one time this was much more than I imagined I would ever get. I have some comedy vids on YouTube I wrote. I have a blog, WildernessPunk, which explores environmental and psychological issues from a fact-based perspective which is mixed into wilderness exploration and survival. I think enjoying myself and making a few people happy is great with me.

Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

James Silke wrote the Gath of Baal, Death Dealer books. I found it a powerful series of novels. He wrote, “The night was as dark as a buried stick.” I like the image.

A few links;

Dalsala Den  https://amzn.to/2KVUf7H

Skinjumpers https://amzn.to/3hwr47y

You can check out my main blog here. https://michaeldgriffiths.wordpress.com/

Thanks for making it this far.

MDG

“Whether a man is a criminal or a public servant is purely a matter of perspective”

Tom Robbins, 1990

Hello dear readers of the glowing light, I’m not talking about me, I mean your magic rectangle. I’m just here to address the vampire in the room. A year has passed since Trump has occupied the White House. Some people are still backing him, while others are inclined to think he’s the worse disaster to hit the USA since the Vietnam War.

Put your opinions aside for a moment and let’s look at the positives Trump has done for us. Don’t get too excited Conservatives (Like there are any reading this…) because I not talking about policies or steering the country, as much as what he has helped us understand about ourselves from an anthropological or perhaps philosophical perspective.

Starting with the simple observations, no need to make this complicated, we can all agree Trump has had a wild year. Where most Presidents strive for dignity and leadership, every 48 hours Trump gets away with more questionable behavior  than Nixon resigned for. The Presidency is a reality television show and if there is no scandal for a few days, Trump with think one up.

He’s done much to alienate himself from women, foreign countries, GBLTQ folks, law enforcement, immigrants, Muslims, and journalists to name a few. Yet out of these various stunts and actions, the common thread moving through his Presidency is his racism. I’m not going to argue about his racism here or give details. Remember I’m keeping this simple. He’s a racist, moving forward. It you disagree, you are the 1 in 3 and I’ll get to you shortly.

So, despite him being a racist and all the other violations of human rights and just common decency he’s trampled  his approval rating hovers around 33% or 1 in 3. Okay this will be important…1 in 3. The fact is, after doing almost everything he could do to turn caring people off, we know 33% of U.S. adults still support him, and this is where Trump has done us a favor.

 

If you still like Trump, there are only 3 things you can be:

• Ignorant
• An Asshole
• All of the above

Am I being too harsh? Nope. If you support a racist, you are either raised so poorly and became isolated from experience and education to a point where you have to be just plain stupid enough to belief this is acceptable behavior or you’re a selfish hate driven scumbag. Or if you think things like your tax returns are more important than human rights you are an asshole. See I told you I’d keep this simple.

And here’s where I thank Trump for his favor. He has finally allowed us to see the true percentage of stupid people and/or assholes in the USA. Good to know. So, if I walk out my door, I need to keep in mind 1 in 3 people in my path are stupid or assholes and most likely both.

Obviously, this ratio is greatly dependent on the situation. If I’m seeing TWIGS and some other local bands play at Club Congress, the ratio might be more like 1 in 20. However, if I went to some Church of the Latter-Day Saints morning mass, I’d find things closer to 19 in 20. Also places like Bisbee and Seattle would have a very different ratio than say Jacksonville.

Overall though 1 in 3. I’ve thought about what the true numbers of stupid asshole versus the rest of us might be throughout my entire life. In high school it would have been higher. In my free floater early college years much lower, but hey now we know. I mean, we really know. No ifs, waits, or bullshit.

When you are combing your hair and getting ready to head out on a Saturday night, as you walk into a job interview, or are meeting your daughter’s new boyfriend… keep in mind you have a 1 in 3 chance to run face to face with someone who cares more about themselves than human decency.

So watch your back out there. And again, thanks Trump, we couldn’t have figured it out without you.

 

You can grab some of my fiction here, which I promise has nothing to do with this, Hell, my hero is a cop, go figure.