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⬅️ Previous capture (2023-12-28)
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flying under |
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hanging out and getting by in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.
PONY: Yamaha XT 250 SPIRIT LEGUME: peanut NEW YEARS RESOLUTION: 400x240 MULTIPLEXING: joy division multiple access
I am a designer that fell into manipulating computers. In previous lives I did After Effects and grip work, agency design work, and worked as an apprentice machinist.
My wife is an ambitious gardener and naturalist. She shares her work on her website:
I strive to carry these ideas throughout my work.
I'm not much of a writer, so rather that committing to producing a traditional gemlog, I've opted to record my monthly accomplishments and any small thoughts I've had in a more concise form:
The longest journey you will take in your life is from here [points to head] to here [points to heart].
When you stop thinking, you become controlled.
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-{ . . }- (______ , *────
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-{ . + . }- (______,────
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-{ . + . }- the only way
-{ + . + }- to win
_{_______}_ is not to play
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Growing and preserving our own food is important in taking ownership of our nutrition and the health of the planet. We farm with hand tools; cheaper and more fulfilling than a gym membership. We use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. We have joined a small local cooperative with a group of friends that supports one another in implementing alternative agricultural infrastructure.
My wife and I share a single small car, a rare decision for our butt-crack part of the world (where life without a car is impossible). This saves us a significant amount of money while causing only a mild inconvenience once or twice per year. Working from home, or structuring our lives so that we don't have to work (i.e. building someone else's dream) makes this an easy choice.
We bought a very modest house in a low-income area without a mortgage. 80% to 90% of our posessions are second-hand. Working hard and being thrifty comes with many sacrifices, but becoming free from monthly rent or loan payments makes it possible to dig deep and find more meaningful work and play.
We have no debts and we pay with cash wherever possible. When cash isn't an option, we try to write a check. The card networks that charge a percentage of each transaction are a parasite on society and we try not to support them. Even if the retail "price" is no different between cash and card, the cost of card transaction fees and "cash back" is accounted for by the ever-increasing price of everything. Letting one company record and analyze your entire purchase history is terrifying and I'm appalled that the general public doesn't realize this.
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news is the ,
new tobacco ,-~'
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We go to great lengths to avoid being tracked, marketed to, and information being sold. We started using dumb-phones, deleted Google, social media, and SaaS accounts, and self-host whatever we need. We choose open source software whenever possible and max-out our ad blockers when on the web. We subscribe to zero subscription services.
My current computer has a low-end Celeron CPU, with which I am able to accomplish all of my work by being selective about the software I use and create. I refurbish and recycle computers for anyone local who needs one, and I help them move away from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, SaaS, etc. to become more independent.
By aggressively pruning insignificant junk and opting for simple and open formats we were able to consolidate all of our important digital posessions onto a single small SD card. As encrypted backups these are easy to distribute and hide in multiple offsite locations, are easy to carry in a wallet, are cheap to make and replace, and require no internet connection.
Understand that the body
Is merely the foam of a wave,
The shadow of a shadow.
Snap the flower arrows of desire
And then, unseen,
Escape the king of death.
And travel on.