Monday, April 26, 2010

Working LIfe

Personally, I have nothing against work, particularly when performed, quietly and unobtrusively, by someone else. I just don't happen to think it's an appropriate subject for an "ethic."
-Barbara Ehrenreich

Might just be that it's Monday, and it's raining, but this whole work malarkey is a bit of a bum deal in my eyes and I don't even work all that hard! Looking into ways to get self-employed...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

If the lights went out

The recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull and subsequent grounding of flights in the UK and other parts of Europe has led many to comment on the fragility of our existence in the face of natural phenomena. It's an interesting premise. Despite what we like to think, we have very little control over what goes on here on Earth. A while back, Discover Magazine did an article on ways the world could end, a little extreme, but a reminder of how fragile our existence is here.
Coming back to less apocalyptic thinking, many have commented on how the disruptions caused by the volcanic ash have been, in a way, beneficial. The CO2 emissions saved by grounding flights has vastly overshadowed the amount produced by the volcano. (200 million tonnes saved from flights vs. the 15 thousand tonnes pumped out a day from Eyjafjallajökull). Also, it's served as a wake up call to the wonder of cheap air travel. I fly a lot, but don't particularly like to. I'd very much like to travel at a slower pace, but the convenience and low cost of air travel has repeatedly pulled me away from other forms of transport. (Although 24 hours on a train from one end of Thailand to the other did remove a lot of the glamour of over-land travel for me).
On a more personal level, I'm using this to further justify my recent bushcraft interest. Just this weekend I managed to start a fire with my firesteel. Had to promptly extinguish the fire as open fires apparently aren't allowed in the area, but we got another fire going (using a lighter this time) in my hobo stove on our balcony. It had a slightly less than bushcrafty purpose: we made s'mores. Still, I feel as though greater independence from things that I cannot produce myself can only be beneficial, especially when coronal mass ejection could knock out our power grids with little or no warning.
Guess I'd better make sure all my batteries are fully charged. 

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Trip into Seoul

Hongdae Art Market
 GeoCat, Hongdae

Courtney and I went into Hongdae yesterday so she could buy some more canvases. We also had a nice wander around. Hongdae always makes me feel better about Korea. There's a lot more Korean diversity in this area, as well as lots and lots of funky coffee shops and little indie clothing retailers. Always good to wander around in on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Some Life Lessons

Courtney and I were chatting about how much we've learned over the past few months. We started to write down some of these as Life Lessons:

1) If you play a lot, you'll win a lot... & lose a lot.
Even if you're good at something, there'll still be times when you suck at it. Just don't get discouraged.

2) You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.
You can't take back the things you say or do, so be mindful of your words and actions.

3) You're more likely to regret what you didn't do than what you did do.

4) Don't worry about what people might be thinking about you because, really, they're too busy worrying about what others might be thinking of them.

5) A big front has a big back.
If something is difficult to do, it usually has a be reward to it, which can be hard to see at times.

6) Just show up.
Often just being there will show you what you need to do, plus you gotta be in it to win it!

7) It'll take longer and cost more than you think.
Just bare this in mind if doing something crazy. Like trying to get Korean visas for an American and a Brit while in Thailand before your visa there runs out...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Books!

Having discovered that Amazon will deliver to South Korea I bought a few lengthy tomes, all about bushcraft. One by the chubby legend of the bush himself: Ray Mears, one by the much recommended Mors Kochanski, an interesting looking primitive living book by the McPhersons and the popular Food for Free, which I had no idea would be as tiny as it was!
I've had a little flick through them all. I'm looking forward to giving them a proper looking over and then trying out some of the projects in there. Seeing as Spring appears to have finally begin, it should be a good time to get out and start practicing some of this stuff.