Alphaville wrote:so you’re REALLY into the gardening stuff since way back eh?
Yup, although I've gone through different phases. When I was more interested in ornamental gardening, I was addicted to the garden porn magazines. Actually, even now that I am into permaculture, I still regard gardening as art as much as science or craft. Great hobby for a generalist.
Frita wrote:I admire people who come by this naturally or learn the skill early on. (Fortunately, I married such a person.) As a recovering idealist, I still struggle to go with the flow. My reaction is more, “FU, I will do my own thing.”
classical_Liberal wrote:I find myself naturally doing the opposite of "going with the flow". For instance, if I'm surrounded by politically charged group conversation, I tend to take the side of the not present/underrepresented group. Not because I necessarily think that model is right, it's just I think it needs to be known there is some validity in their thought processes. Although the older I get the more I just keep my mouth shut. So maybe I'm teachable. Do you find going with the flow is more of a natural state for you, or something you had to work on to do better? If the latter, how'd you work on it?
Eh, "go with the flow" was not quite the right metaphor. Obviously, I can be quite contrary. I think I meant something like being aware of flows and waste, but not on some crusade to change the behavior of others. For instance, let's say I needed a ride somewhere and somebody who was heading in that direction on an outlet mall shopping spree offered to give me a lift. Ride-sharing still saves overall energy, and money for me as the hitch-hiker, over using separate vehicles, regardless of whether or not I am in favor of outlet mall shopping sprees. In the world of the future things may get tighter, and there won't be as much of a waste stream to exploit, but IMO it's still better to save what you can today.
Literally everything you become aware of is grist for your mill-if you think it is. If you say of each new fact that's presented to you, "Oh, well, there's nothing I can do with that, then obviously there truly is nothing you can do with that. You have to say instead, "This is something I can make use of- if not this second, then someday."
The discard operator is a spider ( a hell of a nice spider, of course) sitting in the center of his web. When he feels a twitch from some distant strand, he doesn't say, "That has nothing to do with me." He says, "Company's here!" and he gloms onto a juicy housefly."
"Discards: Your Way to Wealth" - Mike Lebda and Dan Quinn- 1977
Circling back a round to the original topic of this thread, middle-aged divorced or otherwise made available men are kind of like Free Box items which come along more often than the city bus. So, you guys who are married better be super nice to your wives, or you might wind up (temporarily) in the clutches of a rascally dumpster-diver like me