Good Quote

man tools

There's No Place Like Here: Liberty Tool from Etsy on Vimeo.

A song by Fleet Foxes

called Helplessness Blues

I was raised up believing
I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes
Unique in each way you can see

And now after some thinking
I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery
Serving something beyond me

But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

What's my name, what's my station
Oh just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night
That would do such injustice to you

Or bow down and be grateful
And say "Sure take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls
And determine my future for me

And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see

If I know only one thing
It's that every thing that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable
Often I barely can speak

Yeah I'm tongue tied and dizzy
And I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues?
Why should I wait for anyone else?

And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself

If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm raw
If i had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

And you would wait tables
And soon run the store

Gold hair in the sunlight
My light in the dawn
If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

If I had an orchard
I'd work till I'm sore

Someday I'll be
Like the man on the screen

"The Dumbest Generation"

The Dumbest Generation

I want to recommend a book called "The Dumbest Generation" by Mark Bauerlein. It is essentially about the decline in reading among teenagers and young adults, and the subsequent decline in, well, smartness.

The author spends a lot of time talking about where exactly the shift away from books is moving/has moved -- towards visual media, the internet, social networking, and any number of related distractions.  One of the most interesting arguments is that these media, especially social networking among teenagers, creates what he calls "a generational cocoon," a sort of perpetual adolescence. They spend so much time invested in it that they lose connection with older generations, with a world that exists outside of and beyond themselves, and ultimately with what really matters.  In the end, it stunts their growth. In his words: "the minds of the young plateau at 18" (pg. 10).

For those like myself, a christian, does it make you wonder? If these things are true, as he suggests, that modern culture--and teenagers especially--are becoming so entrenched in a system of multitasking and noise, flashing images and brilliant, blinding distraction, to the point that sitting in silence and reading a book is aggravating and impossible -- well, what affect does that have on a faith that requires silence, that demands being quiet before God and listening, reading and studying?

He spends most of the end of the book discussing why, exactly, being "intelligent" actually matters, why spending time reading, being quiet, being able to follow a argument from Point A to Point B without getting lost in the middle has merit. And it was at that point that I really saw a connection to Christianity, to the need for thought and understanding as compliments--foundations--to faith. Even though the book is targeted towards society in general, there were a surprising number of moments where it was as if he were talking to the Church.

Here's one such example that I think more Christians need to take into consideration:

  Insularity is unhealthy. It gives insiders false pictures of the world and overconfidence in their opinions. It consoles them on all sides with compliant reflection. But the comforts of belonging don't prepare them to leave the group, to enter the marketplace of ideas and defeat adversaries with the weapons of the intellect, not the devices of group standing, party membership, accreditation, and inside information. However intelligent they are, people who think and act within their niche avoid the irritating presence of ideological foes, but they also forgo one of the preconditions of learning: hearing the other side. Hearing them, that is, in earnest and positive versions, not through the lens of people who don't endorse them. They develop their own positions, tautly and intricately, but can't imagine others'. Again, in the words of John Stuart Mill: "They have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently from them." A paradoxical effect sets in. The more secure they feel, the more limited their horizons and the more parochial their outlook.

    --Mark Bauerlein, The Dumbest Generation, pg. 221-22

Louis Vuitton

Another video on shoes.

guess who said it?

"Every human being is born to be a creator.  During a lifetime each is able to create far more than he or she consumes.  When in any nation the aggregate of individual creativity is greater than the aggregate of individual consumption, the wealth of that nation increases.  The cause of wealth of nations is human creativity."

"......those who wish to liberate human beings from poverty within their nation should look to its primary resource, the minds and spirits of the citizens at the bottom of society.  The cause of wealth of nations is the empowerment of such persons.  To empower people is the indispensable first step toward rapid economic development."

".....Everywhere on earth human beings are capable of creativity.  But the systems that liberate that creativity are not so universal.  Whether a system of political economy liberates human creativity or inhibits it is the crucial factor."


    -- you tell me who wrote this

for quality of life

Mr. Happy Man from Matt Morris Films on Vimeo.

CAN YOU SPOT IT?

If you pay close attention to the video their is something that stands out. By this I mean something that shouldn't be there. Can you spot it?

Corning Incorporated, is an American company that since the mid 1800's has been innovative and stayed ahead of consumer demand. Today it is one of the worlds most successful businesses Every american should be aware of and supportive of. Through two world wars and many rocky roads this company has accomplished amazing feats and provides us with some of todays greatest technologies. You can read their Wikipedia or more extensively a book that tells the history and details of where the company has been. Awesome book if you want to know about glass and everything related because it has so many applications.

Workspace

Bert Monroy, Digital Painter and Illustrator | by Bert Monroy

 A ninth-generation shipwright, Sueshiro Sano has been making exquisite wooden products since he was in elementary school. But in 2008, drawing inspiration and technique from a lifetime of shipbuilding, the woodworker produced his first bike constructed entirely of mahogany, including frame, fork, seat, seat post, handlebars/stem combination and even rims.

choosing quantity not quality

Making shoes.... and then repairing only the shoes worth repairing

whenever I find something of interest I like to look into these things. So I'm going to have a separate blog for the informational side of thing. You can find that blog here: http://onewhodabblesinknowledge.blogspot.com/ I guess my first bit of information will be on this video on shoe repair and shoe making in general.  Cobbling is the main thing I will cover but as you may know one thing always leads to another. We'll see