WildernessPunk

I Get Interviewed

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

7 Ways to Shoot Comedy Videos with Sparse Money and Talent

Author’s Note:

I know this isn’t WildernessPunk in the Classic sense. But These videos were a fun part of my existence before my life crashed into WildernessPunk in 2016. It took 3 years for us to shoot one again, but now things are better. My life is about a 100 times better. My kids live with me full time and yes, we have started up our videos again, much to the disappointment of You Tube and the general public, so sit back and enjoy…

Before you and I start down this road, let me state I am certainly not the most qualified or popular guy working with a team to shoot comedy videos for the web. However, if you aren’t either, this discussion could be more useful to you than to some internet celeb who has already quit his day job. Also, a lot of the technics my team and I will discuss would help in any sort of smaller video project such as a book promotion video or a ‘How To’ piece.

7. Focus more on Ideas than Dialog

Face it, we aren’t working with Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep here. Most of your crew might have a hard time remembering a long series of lines, and even if they can, they could have a hard time saying them naturally. Sure if you found some good one liners keep those in your head, but if you focus on the outline of the joke and go through it with your own words and voice it will come out better than forcing yourself through 6 takes to get some cardboard line out which might not have fit your character anyway.

6. Let your Props Create a Joke Instead of the Other Way Around.

We may need to acquire and make props, but instead of thinking about what you don’t have and then using time and money to bring it to a shoot, look around at your house, the local area, and your team’s homes. Most of us have odd items laying around. How can they be used to spark your creativity and make their way into a video? Can a Viking drinking horn become an 1830s hearing aid? Perhaps the hair you just brushed off your dog could be a fake mustache.

5. Be Creative with Scenery

Instead of filming a bunch of scenes in your living room try to never shoot in the same place twice. The world is full of chaotic and interesting places and most of them are free. Don’t worry about getting the A+ places into your videos either, since they are more likely places some people may have seen. I also say a B- place no one has found beats an A+ place everyone knows about which is full of people when you arrive.

4. Give Your Friends and Allies Small Roles

People will either want to be part of your team or be camera shy, but we are shooting for something in the middle. Get a pal or two to fill in a brief role. Maybe a non-speaking part works for some folks. Others might like the idea of speaking off camera better. They don’t need to have a reoccurring character, but an extra…er, extra in every video is going to help more than many would think. Also, you could use our trick and put them behind a mask or in a costume and just run after you growling.

3. Keep the Same Characters

Of course, you can always do what you wish, but this isn’t Saturday Night Live and many of us don’t have a wide span of acting skills. Also, with the glut of millions of videos and people competing with you, it might be better to focus on a certain theme or thread. Since getting well known is beyond difficult, in my opinion, you increase the chance to have a following by having running characters and some sort concept. With the pure chaos of the internet already in effect, creating more yourself could just get you completely lost in the entropy.

2. Use Voice Overs

Voice overs are a lot easier to get right than remembering a paragraph of dialog and nailing it. They can be great for adding extra jokes or connecting the plot to the footage. Voice overs also tie in odd ideas and help them make sense within your tale.

1. Write to People’s Strengths

Face it, if ‘acting’, and I use the term loosely, is someone’s 5^th most important project, they probably have more on screen weaknesses than strengths. Common issues could include not remembering lines, stiff acting, not talking loud enough, and the list continues.

Focusing on their weaknesses isn’t going to help things, so focus on what they can do whenever possible. Could the guy who can’t remember lines be good with expressions? Is the soft talker great with voice overs? What about the guy who falls down a lot but can’t pronounce things? Use what you have going for you and try to ignore the rest. If this isn’t someone’s career or life passion, they aren’t going to be good at everything.

The Takeaway

We find ourselves living in a time where more people than ever can be in videos, bands, write novels, and other creative pursuits. This means there is more competition than ever before. If you are going into making comedies or really any other creative project, it might be better to look at it as a hobby with perks more than a profession or a revenue earner. If you are just going at it to have fun, then you will be happy when you achieve such a goal. If you are trying to compete against the endless masses, become famous, or turn a buck, well, good luck, but don’t come around me to spill your sour grapes, because my friends and I just made some wine.

Here are a couple of our Videos. Like, Subscribe, and Share but only if your love Freedom!

We just re-released this one. Please help it get some love.

WildernessPunk Quarantine

Friday the 13^th

It evolved slowly, much as a virus does, this split goal of mine. Could I prep for the incoming C-Virus in manner which of course would help keep me and mine safe, but also perform a test of sorts. While I protect my kids, lover, family, and friends from at least being contaminated by me, I would also try to quarantine myself and my boys to the best of our abilities. I heard the signs of sickness appear within 6-8 days. So 8 to go just to be safe.

Backgrounds and Baselines

I couldn’t start before Friday the 13^th because the kids were still in school.
I’m not a doomsday prepper, but I keep backup 2 weeks of food and water on hand.
My Lady and I did 3 trips to the store before we began.
I’m pulling the quarantine trigger at 2:25 when I pick my oldest son up as school.

3 bar cans

Saturday the 14^th

Fortifying our choice, three social engagements we were involved with fell like dominos in graveyard. Digging in, the boys and I plant chili peppers, broccoli and tomatoes. They won’t be providing food any time soon, but just in chase this lasts longer, I’ll have more things to add to my rows of lettuce growing in the front.

Sunday the 15^th

Some plans can’t be broken, and my sweet lady heads off to the little artist town of Bisbee, with her best friend. This leaves me alone with two boys, I’m sure this will be easy. Oh did they just take all the blankets, pillows, and sheets off the bed to make a mound of blankets in the middle of the room to jump into?

3 Bar Quarintine fun

Monday the 16^th

Yep that was a lot of laundry to wash. Going through our food a little but no issues yet. Hell, I still even have snacks for the boys, but if I run out, will they turn on me?

Saint Patrick’s Day

Can you say stir crazy? Not me, but the boys. I decide a germ free desert hike should help things and I have a full tank of gas. My lady is due back today. She’s a nurse, so I know she takes these things seriously.

Desert Kids

Kinda weird to have such a non-social holiday, but I’m happy to see my lady back safe and happy.

Wednesday the 18^th

The CDC states the average incubation for the C-Virus is 5.5 days and one can be considered in the clear if they fail to develop systems within 12 days of potential exposure. So with me and the boys having roughly the same level of exposure now, odds are, if none of us show signs by tomorrow, we’ll be clear…just in time for me to go to the grocery store before we take off.

Thursday the 19^th

The local Safeway turns out to be a strange and haunted place at 7am. Masked individuals mix with wild eyed shoppers. All of us amazed to see an absence of most of the things we’re accustomed to in this country. No prepared meat, the vegetables were nearly gone. Pasta and cans gone. Although I did get the last four cans of chili the store had to offer. Normal cheese, nope, but fancy cheese yep. I guess we’ll have a little luxury while camping.

3 bar east

5 hours later, I’m pulling up to the site, but after my new ride’s first off-road test, I have to pull the plug 200 yards short of my goal. The road itself has become a wash and a series of boulders leave me thinking perhaps having my little family allowed more privacy is better than bottoming out and cracking my oil pan on a rock. I have better ways to spend my afternoon.

I meet a new friend after lugging my gear uphill and my boys are happy to burn off the energy of six days of isolation.

Friday the 20^th

It has been a week since the schools have closed and I have done my best to keep the boys safe. Sure hope the plague doesn’t show up here. Ha ha, just kidding, ah… no I’m not.

A little about this area, the wonder we call 3-Bar. The usual sounds of the waterfall crashing into the wading pool is, this time, a torrent of raging foam as the snow run off mixes with the results of the recent rains.

3 bar waterfall

Another phenomenon I’ve rarely experienced has also occurred. All around us springs of clear water have opened out of the ground. Within just a few feet of our camp, I count five. Every hillside has pools and moving water like the entire mountainside has become huge sponges leaking water. Not the type of thing you see too often in the desert.

Saturday the 21^st

It appears reasonable to assume the two older hermits I am sharing this campout with have avoided the C-Virus as well, so this trip has taken social distancing to the a new extreme. “Don’t let anyone within 6 miles of you.”

Kids fire

Self-isolation is an unusual thing for some, but just a normal day for others. It’s odd to see the stranger as an ‘enemy,’ but this is what they could become if they are the one to spread a virus to you which could damage your lungs or risk your parent’s lives.

In the end, the hoarding and lack of food could become more of a concern than the virus itself, at least for some of us. The virus has in some ways done us a favor by exposing the frail deck of cards our lives sit at the top of. Few of us can live off the land or have the means to support our needs for food. We all depend on a huge web of supply to insure we have goods on the selves. It is the virus threatening us this time. But the next time could be gasoline or the power grind. All it takes is one dirty bomb to kill a city for generations.

Things like my garden help, but are not a solution. Hoarding can help, but we’re still playing within the rules of this house of cards. Cans don’t multiply if left alone in the dark. So what is the solution? There are too many of us to all buy 40 acres and become farmers. Things like this virus could lower those numbers, but no one wants to see their loved ones perish before their time.

3 bar mountian mount

However back to the now, we have to get over this C-Virus hurdle first. Part of me wonders how effective I’m being for my family. Sure I’ve keep my boys clear enough to be about 92% certain none of us have the virus, FOR NOW. How much use is this in the long term? Our lying president says it is due to last until perhaps August and since he downplays everything which makes him look bad… So am I going to all this trouble for my boys, saying, “Hey we quarantined ourselves long enough to be sure we don’t have it, just to get it later from the ice cream man?” I’m being careful now, but will I get sloppy in May and just have us all get it anyway?

We’ve been told to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection. So I guess we’re doing our part, but again will this matter if the lack of food becomes the real problem? Perhaps I’ll have to head up here again and try to live off the land. It might work as long as I can still get gas. Hopefully the cell towers will work too so I can get these guys out here again as well. I’m probably catastrophizing, but I guess we’ll see. And remember if I’m not, you heard it here first. Be safe out there and kick this Virus in the ass!!

3 bar river

Thanks for Listening

3 bar damn it

You can check out my own grim vision of a future where we lose control here!

bone tunnel

WildernessPunk: Self Control or The Next Time I See Them I’m Gonna…

There are times in everyone’s life when one is tempted to allow oneself to become overloaded with frustrations. There are many people who don’t cling to positive values, but instead embrace negative paradigms such as racism, narcissism, hate, and greed and I’m not just talking about our president. In 2017 I wrote a WildernessPunk article which reviews this situation entitled 1 in 3 which outlines how reasonable people can expect their logic and goodwill to be thwarted by, on average, every third person they encounter. ( http://bit.ly/2PQolKq ) But this article is not focused on others. Together we’re going to look inward and review how sane people attempt to progress within an insane world.

1 in 3

First off, if you believe everything you experience is normal and reasonable, you are dead wrong. Our current lifestyle is the result of billions of random occurrences which have floated together to create our current understanding of reality so we should be careful before we choose to get on some big high horse fighting to prove what we think is right. Just a simple example to set the stage: Cars. We all think of them as A+ normal even though we have only enjoyed being able to work more than two miles from where we live, get ambulance drives, and allow the elderly to have a chance to meet their needs independently for about .000025% of our existence. I’m not trying to go off on a tangent, I only seek to remind people the things we take for granted are here only through random chaos and our current normal will be almost unimaginable by your children’s grandchildren. I bring this up to point out most arguments we engage in couldn’t have happened a hundred years ago and probably won’t be applicable a hundred years from now, so it probably isn’t too important, and despite what people try to tell you, their opinion will most likely be proved wrong.

Back to the idea of self-control. I think we’ve all gotten so frustrated we feel like we might lose our cool and let anger take over the discourse. Most of us have lost this control, some more than others. While a smaller percentage let their own anger and self-righteousness rule their lives. Only they are right and everyone else is wrong.

The above is obvious, let’s look deeper. What about all those times you have felt the anger, perhaps quite justified, rise up, but you still kept yourself under control and behaved civilly. You might have verbally gutted someone like a fish or let your actions do so, but you did it all without a snarl or raising your voice. Where does this ability come from and why do we, or at least some of us, possess it?

Looking back to more basic times we could see the advantage of a hunter and gatherer becoming quick to anger. It would protect them and theirs. Still, if you are part of a tribe which needed to be strong to insure everyone remained fed and another tribe doesn’t steal your daughters, becoming quick to anger with your own tribal members could have dire consequences.

Lillies 8.19.jpg

We could theorize having self-control is an advanced social and evolutionary trait. It helps humans live side by side and keeps things from being an explosion of violent chaos on every street corner. In the USA violent crime has lessened in direct relationship to our improving technology and more people receiving a higher education. There could be a correlation to this or maybe there’s simply less human interaction because a greater percentage of people just malinger at home allowing Netflix and video games to steal their health and lives one sedentary evening at a time.

On a personal level, I do feel more advanced when I let logic, dignity, and facts fight my battles instead of violence, screaming, and curses. I view people who jump to anger and violence as more primitive. They don’t have the intelligence to rise above the base animal state of fight, flight, or freeze. In other words, they use the reptile part of their brain to solve conflicts. Yeah, let’s not be like them.

King Kong

Others could argue that turning our backs on our aggression is what allows us to become sheep for the state, but this does appear to be true currently for the under educated rural workers who are easily brainwashed into being foot soldiers by the ultra-rich, while the cities tend to focus on more equitable goals and strive to live in greater fairness and harmony.

Could it be higher population centers foster the need for greater control? If you lived in New York City and had to fight everyone who pissed you off, you’d never make it to work. While in smaller ponds, people are more likely to share more values, so an outside idea will be looked at with hostility and they would try to wipe it off the map before it could contaminate their homogeneity.

Some of these questions might remain unanswered and are up to you to decide for yourself. In the real world we have choices to make. Are you going to risk a huge fine or maybe jail time yelling at some Police Officer and cursing about how unfair the system is? Or will you suck it up for ten minutes and have the best possible long term outcome? Who really wins—the cop who thinks he’s dominated you with his power or you who proved smart enough to manipulate him and the outcome? This is the old Loki/Thor debate.

loki-red

Having self-control is obviously the better end game because it gives you options. Hell, you can always choose to throw a punch if you like. Sometimes it is also appropriate to meet violence with violence when we have no choice. Letting some meat head kick your ass isn’t helping your day get better. However being the one starting with anger usually means you’re the loser who is in the wrong and can’t come up with anything reasonable to say.

Yes anger is energy and a tool we all possess, but we need to control it and not let it control us. A modern individual should have more options than fight, flight, or freeze and as we move into a more crowded world we need to continue to evolve our ability to use self-control or soon we might not have a world to call our own.

Thanks for Listening

You can check out my own grim vision of a future where we lose control here!

banosword

WildernessPunk: End game

Sunday August 11, 2:50pm

As I sit here, with whirling daggers twirling through my stomach, I wait for the arrival of a Police Officer to try to assist me in getting my children. After 3 years and 124 Days, I’m finally been awarded custody of my children despite being falsely accused of a crime I didn’t commit and having them taken from me for almost two years and only getting limited visitation later.

W Pirates

I’ve felt a building apprehension since the Judge came to the understanding the boys will be better off with me. It is a hard choice to take the children from their community, school, and mother, but rough situations require rough choices and the Judge made the right one. I have no option in the matter. If I want my boys to have a good and normal chance at life, they need to be with me. Letting them remain where they are, and not caring, would be an act of neglect on my part bordering on evil.

Will I get my children today at 3pm as court ordered? Will there be a scene? Will I be stuck in Flagstaff like the last time I was up here doing this? Will she even answer the door? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’m going to go back to wringing my hands and trying to read my book.

w. Lizard

Three Hours Later…

Well hmm, that was much easier than I thought it would be. Still, I’m more than willing to trade adventurous trips to the wilderness to do the delicate dance of riding the legal system in order to have things safe and simple for my boys.

Yet, despite my triumph, I will remain in Flagtown for a while longer so I can do a different dance, the paperwork shuffle. Groan. Oh boy can’t wait.

Um…er 14 hours 26 minutes and 8 seconds later

What might be the only thing more annoying than being forced to call the police in order to enforce your rights? Gee, I don’t know, going to a bunch government and other agencies in one day. At least I managed to complete 100% of my assorted buecratic and oh so manic tasks.

W Tombstone

August 13^th

My eldest gets a much needed haircut and his first, which for an 8 year old is pretty sad. I’m wasn’t able to legally get him one before and perhaps not now, but I don’t give a damn. Somethings decent people just have to do.

August 14^th

My eldest son starts school in Tucson.

August 22^nd

I get the boys locked in for preschool and/or daycare whenever the need arises.

w art

August 25^th

While I get the kids, she gets cuffs on her hands and goes to jail. Can we say Karma?

So yes, good people. Sorry to be so ecocentric this time around, but since having falsehoods torpedo my life and create the situation where WildernessPunk was born I’ve been reporting on this journey/quest. Sometimes tearing everything away is what gives one a fresher look at the world and in this case, being homeless, broke, and lonely for my children did stir a passion, a passion to rebuild, but in a different way than before. Do things right, not only for me and my radiant lady, but so I can have a strong foundation for my boys.

And now, things has come full curcle in multiple ways and most importantly, I’ll be guiding and protecting my boys as best I can while they grow. It just took 40 months, but like most good things in life, you need to battle for what you want and feel is right.

Thanks for listening and I’ll get back to the usual ranting next time.

W Mud

You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

W Shark

WildernessPunk: Three Years

As the third year anniversary of WildernessPunk draws near, I’ve already communicated my thoughts on how both the country and myself have changed over the last three years. So instead of reiterating myself, I’m going to look back in a different manner.

17 - 1.jpg

This will be my 70^th WildernessPunk post. This comes to roughly a new post every two weeks or so. It would have been a better ratio if I haven’t hit that dry spell the second half of 2018. Why did that happen anyway? Oh yeah, I think I was too happy or something.

Along the way, I invented numerous new terms and definitions. Some of them were even used in more than one article. So to aid me in having them all in one place and perhaps have them easier to reference for archaeologists wondering how our generation destroyed the planet despite having all the knowledge to avoid doing so… I give you the WildernessPunk terms, the First Three Years.

Oh yeah, and they are in roughly chronological order, with the various WP defs in front. Enjoy, laugh, contemplate, or throw something at me the next time we meet, as you see fit.

Wilderness Punk. This is the concept one could embrace nature, enter it, live off the land or at least with it, but somehow maintain a cyber presence, a writing presence, and perhaps thrive while doing so.

WildernessPunk II: The idea one can survive without most of the mundane expectations of the day. It focuses on helping the environment by using less processes and items which destroys the land and instead living closer to it. Getting more involved with nature, while using less of what kills it.

WildernessPunk III is not something just meant to be mine, but rather an exploration of the topic of how nature meshes or could integrate into the lives of people so involved in a world controlled by technology.

WildernessPunk IV is the concept of moving past accepted norms in the pursuit of engineering a life which minimizes our environmental impact on our planet.

True Environment is a place existing the way it would whether humans lived on our planet or not. It is an area where humans have not altered the environment away from its natural state.

Animal state: Includes, sex drive, violence, selfishness, but also some of the better things in life like nurturing your offspring, mating, enjoying a good meal.

Cultural World View. CWV is, in as few words as possible, the way a person puts together their world. They create a framework of what is normal, right and wrong, fun and boring. It is a belief system. Opinions can be shared, many of us agree on certain issues, but like the whirling ball of chaos we all are, rare will we find a person who agrees on all our beliefs. Hell, if I get over 50% I know I’ve found a friend.

Humanocentric: Whether for good or for ill, our lives circle around the importance of our own species.

Earth Balance: The balance between the positive impact and the negative damage one commits against the True Environment.

825 Job: The normal office grind employment.

Negative Environmental Impact: The amount you tip your Earth Balance into the negative.

ShitIdoit: When evil combines with dumb.

Self-actualize. We can step back and analyze our life and experiences. With luck and knowledge, we make new and stronger choices.

half-shack

This is why getting stricter with what food we allow to go to waste is the Number One Thing we can all do in this country to combat Climate Change.

Smart Travel: Whether it is on foot, rolling with the bicycle, or to a lesser degree, public transportation, there are many ways we can leave the car parked and perform tasks, both fun and obligatory, without turning the key in our automobiles.

The Strive: Whether personal or natural, the search to find the techniques and methods which will allow us to complete our goals.

Oh you made it this far, wow. Here’s a band new one.

Americaned: A person taught to accept the USA’s reality and the manner it teaches a person how they are expected to live.

And here is a short list of dysfunctional Environmentalists just for fun.

End Game Recyclers: These are the folks who separate their trash, bring it to the curb, and then hop in their car to go buy a new set of lawn furniture.

Privileged Purchasers: These people feel they are ahead of the pack because their new custom made home has an energy efficient dishwasher and since they have solar power, the average person could never hope to be as cool to the environment as they are.

Cherry Picker: These are the people who pick an item or two, usually something easier for them or what they want to do anyway, then elevate themselves above anyone who falls short in this category. Sure, every positive thing you do helps, but helping the environment does not stop because you bike commute or have become a vegetarian.

Power Shoppers: Folks who might do some of the above, but then consume and consume. They buy new things while the old items get tossed into the landfill. They recycle their plastic, but purchase so many groceries they produce five time more trash than they can recycle.

wildernesspunk-1

Thanks for you time and let me know what you think, if you can.

You can grab some of my fiction here, and I can promise you these people are on the Hero’s path.

beer Shades

WildernessPunk: June

June 3^rd, My Son’s Birthday

Those eight or so of you who have followed WildernessPunk since it’s inception almost three years ago will remember it started as more of a journal of my adventures mixing wilderness and technology. This involved making enough capital with the latter to live within the former. Although my intentions were close to noble, I hadn’t exactly volunteered for this assignment. It had been forced upon me when evil actions caused me to lose my job, my residence, and my ability to see my young sons.

After recently tackling the truth behind environmentalism, which proved to be an unpleasant subject, I thought I’d return to a more relaxed exploration of nature, because hell, it’s June. Yet, there are other reasons I’ve fallen into this introspection.

zzz

The first several episodes of WildernessPunk were all written within the wilds of Walnut Canyon, which is located ten miles east of Flagstaff. While writing these words, I find myself, almost three years later, back within the embracing lands of Walnut Canyon once more. Also, with a bit of a strange, but not unexpected twist, I am spending the night due to further inappropriate acts by the previously mentioned evil. But it’s a beautiful day and a large cloud just plunged me into shade, so like a good WildernessPunker, I’m going to turn my turds into ale.

It does feel odd to be back where this all started. How have I changed? How has this country changed? Three years ago, I would have had a hard time imagining my life would be so much better. Yet, I also would never had imagined the disaster our government has become. On the upside, Trump has proved every nihilistic punk rock song correct.

And damn, I hate to say it, but it is a lot easier to camp with a car than a mountain bike.

Looking out over this rich forest, it seems hard to believe we have humans actively fighting for the destruction of our globe. But we have to remember there have always been humans willing to put greed before all else. They just have greater abilities to annihilate now.

10,000 years ago, Blak might have been able to convince a few members of his tribe to go attack another village while they’re sleeping, but he could do little damage to the environment itself. A 1,000 years ago, a king might be able to slaughter thousands and destroy crops, but besides overgrazing, he could do little to hurt the planet before time ended him.

During our current times, there has been an increase in the ease and damage a person can inflict on our world. A man can sit in an air conditioned office and order a 100,000 acres destroyed with the click of a mouse. Whoa, hey Boneman, I thought this was supposed to be the light hearted June romp?

June 3rd

zzzz Right right, happy happy, summer summer, June June. I feel I’ve reached a moment of reflection. Here I am halfway between when my avalanche of crap started and the beginning of WildernessPunk three years ago. Strange to think where I was three summers ago. I had only a few backpacks worth of stuff, was sober and on probation. Ha, and now I’m the one who’s sent cops over to the nasty one’s house twice today.

Yet here I sit, in Dark Skies (My favorite bar this side of the Rockies). I was supposed to have had my children yesterday and should already be relaxing by the pool in Tucson. Instead I’m supposed to suffer these mild 70 degree days, camp out, and see my old buddies. Are there sixteen new beers of tap? I guess she showed me.

June 4th

A day, six cops, and one Judge injunction later and I’m still here in Flagstaff. Is this the end game of my three year struggle? Will the evil one flip the whole situation with my boys by denying me the time I’m due with them this summer? A cliffhanger feeling mixes with supreme annoyances. Will unforgiving narcissism win out over justice, goodness, and hell unexpected bells, I even have the forces of law on my side.

I’ve hatched plans and organized a few plots. Self-centered villains with no regard for anyone but themselves, might have their strengths, but we’ll see where the last Ace falls.

June 5^th

Flagstaff Police Department and I found no leads and after a three days search. On the third day of trying, grandma let the boys in blues into her home. But the inner door to the attic was locked. Ms. Gaslight hadn’t answered the door when the cops knocked on it for five minutes. Once the Officer left, I found the fortitude to talk to my former mother-in-law for an hour (Yuck) and the evil one appeared behind us in a dark hallway. It felt like something out of a horror movie to just have someone show up within a police searched house. I called the cops and got my kids. We’re currently safe in Tucson and I’m going to court next Tuesday.

Thanks for letting me indulge in my own voice for a while, because in the end, isn’t our own voice all we really have? I feel this recent development brings the beginning of WildernessPunk full circle and solves what lay in the center of my life being torpedoed three years ago. A new chapter, or in this case, a new book, is about to begin. The first page beckons…

Life always remains a battle, we fight against the ills, so we have a chance to enjoy our rewards. More often than not, life’s bounty is best enjoyed with others. Family, friends, animals, and nature. As many before me, I have persevered, obtained my goals, and learned more than a little along the way.

May the joy find you and let your battles be true

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You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

WildernessPunk: Time – Health = Eco-Overload

What am I talking about this time, gentle readers? For those of you who know WildernessPunk you are familiar with its style of looking at important issues from a different perspective. While most people out there have their steadfast side of an argument where they hammer against those with a different view, WildernessPunk likes to tackle an issue sideways, which is easier because no one can see you coming.

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So let’s consider industrialization for a moment. Much of it has been for the greater good. The invention of the cotton gin and vaccinations, yep, they sure make life better. But what about those innovations which improve on something we’re already capable of doing? For example, we washed clothes before we had washing machines, we cleaned dishes before we had dishwashers, hell, we even got from one place to another before we had vehicles, so why did we invent them?

To save time.

One could argue it makes our lives easier and improves the quality of our existence, but let’s focus on time, and not just because it’s in the title. You’ll see why shortly.

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Let’s just hone in on something easier to wrap our heads around than the complex use of fossil fueled vehicles. I’ll pick on washing machines. Alright, in the past, or the present if you live in the other 80% of the world, when your clothes got dirty you washed them yourself. This might seem like more of a pain, but was it?

Positive benefits from washing clothes by hand

A person got exercise
You were aware of the resources used
You were more likely to recycle the grey water
Little or no carbon waste was created
You might get some fresh air and observe nature
No noise pollution
You didn’t have to waste capital on purchasing and repairing the machine
More space within your dwelling
Clothes got cleaner

Negative consequences of using a washing machine

Creates pollution during each use
Uses resources and creates pollution mining the metals to create it, during its construction, and through transportation
Takes capital to purchase and maintain
User gets much less exercise
More water is wasted and can’t be reused
Takes up space
Does not clean clothes as well as hand washing

I find it interesting how quickly these changes become mainstream. Modern washing machines appeared in 1907 and just over a 100 years later, many people can’t imagine wearing clothes which aren’t washed by machines. How did an unneeded luxury become a necessity? Perhaps more importantly, how does this effect our interaction with the environment?

Do you need a washing machine… No

Do you need to use a washing machine to clean your clothes… No

Are you a true environmentalist if you use a washing machine… No

Did I just piss you off? Well perhaps it’s time to put your money where you mouth is, or in this case back into your pocket with all the cash you’d be saving. Or another alternative is to just not call yourself an environmentalist and get on with your life. The upside is at least you won’t be a hypocrite. And in case you’re wondering… I did blow off using a washing machine for 10 years and look at my biceps, wow.

Moving away from the WM for a minute, I think we all need to reevaluate our intentions. What are your values? If you are crying out about climate change as you toss your clothes in the dryer, crank up the television, while you order something from Amazon, before you drive to the store, YOU ARE NOT AN ENVIRONMENTALIST, I don’t care what memes you post, what music you listen to, or how many piercings you have.

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Things which were luxuries are now demanded and if you don’t use them you’re a freak. Well perhaps it is time to, as Hendrix said, wave our freak flag high. Here is just a quick list of luxuries you can not have and still be an environmentalist.

Unrequired Luxuries

Washing Machines
Dishwashers
Imported foods
Beef and Lamb
Video Games
Driving to places less than two miles away (If not further)
Daily showering
Hygienic products
Pets
Lawns

This list could certainly go on and I’m not saying you can’t have some of these things, but if you claim to be an Environmentalist at all or care about Climate Change, you need to relabel these items as luxuries and not as the necessities we think of them as.

One final note. In 2018 one in four people in the USA was considered obese. We think we have saved time with all these labor saving inventions, but what we have really done is sacrifice our environment and our bodies for the privileges of spending more money to get tasks done. So yeah we might be saving time, but you could very well be paying for this time on the backside of your life by dying earlier because you lead a more unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle. All the while the environment is also paying the price because of the greater amounts of industrial waste you continually create. Oh yeah, and you’re paying for the privilege of polluting more and being less healthy. And if you spend money at a fitness business and drive yourself there, because you don’t think you have the time to do your own calorie burning tasks by hand, you just lost more time, used more resources, and created more pollution, while decreasing your cash flow.

I’m not trying to be the ultra-downer. I’m just trying to bring up the idea that if you need to exercise to stay in shape, perhaps you can do tasks which help the environment, instead of hurting it, and save yourself money instead of wasting it. It is a long road toward being an environmentalist, but we all just got one step closer.

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You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem… He’s dating one.

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WildernessPunk: Why are the Kids Inside?

What provides you with your inner strength? If I asked you this, you might list off the things which inspire and create the cornerstones of your life. Perhaps goals, projects, jobs, friends, and family would make the list. If you dug deeper you might move out of your normal lane and list more rugged skills like camping, hunting, bicycling, and hiking which provide you with a stronger inner core through stepping outside of your comfort zone. Some people take it up and notch and increase their positive self-regard by extreme acts such as sky diving, swimming with sharks, or trying to find a decent date.

Sure we can all list a few things we currently do or have in our lives which help maintain our self-esteem, but what about things which set the stage for who we are? What events fortified the foundations for who you became? What trails, which ended both well and badly, created the fortitude within you which helped establish the adult you are now?

Have you noticed how things which happened to us when we are younger are the most potent? How many of you reading this still listen to the same type of music you liked in your late teens? You are more likely to remember your first date or kiss than your 3,000^th. Hopefully I am talking about kisses and not my 3000^th date. That could indicate a problem.

Number of Television Watched

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Personally, I believe surviving challenges as a child set us up for success and a positive self-regard as an adult. I’m not suggesting you let your preteen be chased by a bunch of deviant Taliban predators. The task should meet the skill level or… maybe surpass it by a few degrees. Challenge brings out the best in us and of course children are challenged in school, in social situations, and through various competitions. But this isn’t what I’m talking about.

First off, sports don’t count. It is a group being told what to do by adults set within a formatted framework of rules. Sorry, but saying, “Golly, Billy sure kicked a ball a lot tonight,” just isn’t what I’m talking about here. Again, most of school is just following rules like a billion other kids. Do this, learn this, follow these math and science rules of thumb… And unless the social situations end up leading to violence, this isn’t what I’m discussing either.

What I’m talking about is an unexpected and unsupervised test of one’s metal. I’m not sure what it is about natural challenges, but they often seem the most potent. Sure being chased through the city by murderous addicts would be intense and coming through it in one piece could help establish positive self-regard, but still cities, have police, distractions, rival gangs, hell you might be able to escape by just running up to a random door.

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Perhaps it is a throwback to our roots as a species, but facing an obstacle out in the wilderness is a whole different situation. Here are some reasons this could be.

Reasons why Wilderness Challenges are more Potent

There are usually few or no other humans present
Nature doesn’t give a shit, it can’t be reasoned with, and doesn’t quit
Often solutions are long ordeals and not quick fixes
The items you have are all you get unless you make yourself more
The skills everyone present possesses become more important
Simple things like fire, water, or a knife can save you
Lack of getting these simple things can mean your doom
Nature is the great equalizer, being rich or poor, black or white, straight or gay, conservative or liberal doesn’t matter to the bear, the sun, or the blizzard

Let’s get back to character building and childhood. If you are chased by addicts you can blame them, but you can’t blame nature. When it challenges you, you can only blame yourself if you fail. Conversely, if you triumph, no one can take it away from you. Cheating is difficult, and hell, even cheating is something you could be proud of when faced with a true challenge.

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So how important is it to have respect for your own skills and abilities? How much do earlier childhood victories help shape who you are? I feel that knowing you can overcome obstacles, even smaller ones, independently, and owning the experience of winning out against adversity as a youth, can set the stage for believing you can do so again as an adult. If you have never been individually challenged, how would you know whether you could persevere?

Again these do not have to be huge tasks. I don’t recommend dropping your eight year old off in the artic, but knowing at an early age you have what it takes to kick it into high gear, problem solve, hang tough, and keep yourself and others safe gives children the positive self-regard which will help them make it through their much harder adult life.

But what if they aren’t challenged. How will they react to a random issue when they have no back up? Will they be lost? Could they feel they are ill prepared to tackle an issue which isn’t solved by a cell phone?

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“Kids are very nervous today—they have a lot of anxiety,” says child development specialist Rebecca Weingarten. “We need to promote constructive failure,” says Weingarten. “Kids can’t be afraid to face the normal repercussions associated with taking risks.”

Another study from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta shows that free play actually changes the way the neurons in the front of the brain connect in a positive way.

So we know free play is good, but how does this translate to daily activities?

“It means no adults, no restrictions and no added rules during playtime,” says Thomas Dittl, a kindergarten teacher who is a big advocate of free play. “When you give kids room to explore and learn on their own, amazing things happen. I’ve seen this happen time and time again with my kindergarten students. They figure things out on their own. They learn how to share. They invent new ways of doing things. Even at a young age, it’s setting them up for future success.” https://bit.ly/2KRNiiG

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So we know adventure is good for the brain and body. I’m not advocating forcing your kids to do things, but they should at least have the opportunity to gain the esteem boost which comes with self-reliance and risk. In the end it will make them healthier inside and out.

Alright now, just for fun, I’m going to make a quick list of a few of the things I did or had happen to me before I entered High School. I hope my mom isn’t reading this.

My early childhood adventures/risks/challenges

Faced off against a vicious dog, armed with a pipe, on a ledge above an abandoned junk yard. Age 5
Escaped from several feet of quicksand. Age 7
Saved my brother after he fell through a fishing hole in the ice. Age 8
Found and excavated an old trash midden Age 9
Explored and mapped out all the woods I could reach between the highway and river where I grow up. Age 10
Kept my brother from being swept over a waterfall. Age 11
Chased off 2 buglers with a baseball bat Age 11 (They robbed my neighbors that night)
Saved friend who was about to be swept under in an ice covered river and then made sure he didn’t get hypothermia. Age 12
Explored an abandoned three story house. Age 13

I’m not trying to brag, but I can look back with pride and mark my earlier years by accomplishments and not by what level I reached in the Halo game my mom bought me.

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You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak is placed in charge of the anti-clone task force. His main problem…. He’s dating one.

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WildernessPunk: The Recycle Life Cycle

A few thoughts before I dive in. First, I know we all get hit over the head with the three Rs. The second is, since I’ve already covered Reduce and Reuse in the last few articles, we can fast forward to Recycle. Still bored… don’t worry I’m going to WildernessPunk this and get to the core of this issue. Recycle is the last of the our list of six ideas we can all accomplish to lower our Negative Environmental Impact (NEI)

Here’s a quick review of those six ideas

Minimizing Food Waste
Commuting by Bicycle, Walking, Buses
Use Energy Wisely such as high efficiency devices and keeping them unplugged
Consume less
Eating for a Climate Stable Planet
Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

Yep, yep Recycle. All of us do it, or at least I hope so. But are we recycling enough? More likely, we’re trying to recycle too much. Too much, one might think recycling is one area where more would always be better. We might like to think the Recycle fairies find some use for all the items we imagine we’re keeping out of the landfill.

But what happens to the items we put into our recycle bins which can’t be Recycled? Could we be creating more problems by trying to Recycle to much? What happens to things which can’t be Recycled when they arrive at the recycling department?

So are we doing more harm than good by Recycling more than we should? Chances are… yes. So let’s dig in and hash all this out so we can be good WildernessPunkers, shall we.

First off, what we can Recycle will of course vary from country to country, state to state, and town to town. So um, we’ll just focus on where I live. It might not be exact, but at least it will help educate us on a general system which should be close to accurate for most of us.

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Like always, let’s strive to keep this simple and make a few lists. The first will be what we can recycle and the second will be things you might think are okay, but are not.

Commonly Recycled Goods

Cans, but make sure things like soup cans are clean
Plastic, water bottles, other drink bottles, clamshell fruit or take-out containers, rigid plastic like detergent bottles
Paper, junk mail (plastic windows on envelopes are fine), newspapers, office paper, shredded paper in clear plastic bags, and cardboard
Plastic bottle lids, but only if the bottle is dry and they are screwed back on
Plastic lunch containers, if they are clean
Cardboard cereal and pasta boxes
Aluminum foil, pie pans etc, but only if free of food
Milk containers, again as long as they are clean and dry
Shampoo bottles if clean and dry
Cardboard, but condense and remove tape
Glass jars, label can stay on but loose the lid

Items which cannot be Recycled

Plastic containers which have not been cleaned and dried
Styrofoam
Plastic straws
Juice bags
Plastic bags
Prescription bottles
Batteries
To go coffee and soda cups
Bubble Wrap
Pet food bags
Election Signs
Yard Waste
Hazardous waste, not in curbside, but some companies can help
Smaller items

Yes, I know some of this is a bit tedious, but if you really care about saving the Earth and stepping up to knock down your NEI, then this is good to know. Putting items into the recycle bin which can’t be recycled is much worse than tossing it into the landfill. It can break down the machines and cause whole truckloads to be contaminated and thrown into the landfill.

Also in case you were wondering…

“When done thoughtfully, recycling is cost-effective. Less energy is required to make products from recycled materials than to produce them from raw materials.” Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star

And just for a fact teaser here are a few stats.

There’s a reason people say to recycle paper and save the trees. According to Waste Management, recycling 500 average phone books could save between 17 and 31 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 4,077 kilowatt hours of energy and landfill space. https://bit.ly/2JcL7JX

So I’m going to leave this here. Over the past few months, I’ve done what I’ve set out to do and covered, in a brutally realistic manner, what each household in the USA could, doesn’t, and should accomplish to lower our NEI as individuals and as a country. Of course more could be done and a greater insight gleaned with continued work, but more often than not, a simpler approach is more likely to succeed than an exhaustive data explosion.

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On a person note, I’m not sure about all of you, but I know I’ve learned a lot by collecting this information. We often suffer from accepted delusions and I hope I’ve helped pop a few erroneous thought bubbles.

I would also like to state, I’m pleased to have completed this process. Not only because of the positive benefits of sharing, but also because of some of the darker places my research brought me too. We have a long way to go, but as my uncle’s show used to say, “Knowledge is Power.”

And come on America, we got this. We’ve stepped up before and we can do it again, especially when this might be the most important thing our species has done in 10,000 years.

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You can check out some of my fiction here, where Detective Dak has to decide between is lover and his job, but will either choice be able to save them?