what might be a good goal? I hear their even good to eat

[freakersedge]

Its not like I am not enjoying aimlessness, after 11 months of unhealthiness, what could one do to have fun again? I mean good, american, wholsome, clean, fun. I am betting there still are such things and even people who like others to share while they themselves participate. Has the world become a desert of debachery while I was concentrating on killing a pesky bug, or can we only exist under the watchful eye of those who spend the other parts of their days writting long reports that need constant verification by more minions? If I come accross as clueless, I can only admit to attemting escape from the miasma that is everywhere in my life. Would you, could you, please, please, help me?

[Mister Jellyfish Mister]

Hi Freaker. I live in Sparks, NV and I'm just enjoying working on my BM projects in between family and work stuff. I admit that I've lost much of the "wholeness" and "spark" that I found on the playa last year, but it has alowed me to come closer to things and people that I really care about.

I keep re-learning what a little yoga in the morning can change your whole day.

Cheers to you on a lovely night at the foot of the Sierras.

[can't sit still]

Freakersedge, I understand just how you feel. Early on I had times when I never got out of bed because I couldn't think of any reason to. I to have fought bouts with acquired critters. Mostly parasitres and infections from places like Varanasi and Cairo and Pohkara.

If you want to escape from lethargy, find the right partner who brings out the life in you. Look in Cannon Beach OR. That's where I met the highest concentration of interesting people. Personally, I prefer kids. I've taken them EVERYWHERE. Everything is new and interesting to them.

For a start go to a hot spring,. They're invigorating and you always meet neat people. Then try an Irish festival or a Danish festival. The more people who you meet who are really doing something with their life,,,, the more it inspires you to do something with your life.

Next, go to a county fair like the Date Festival, go to the Pow Wow in Quartzite AZ. NOBODY has more interesting stories than mining exploration geoligists. Drive down Baja California. Go to the restaurant at the marina in La Paz BCS. The cruisers will volunteer to take you out sailing.
Then go over to Todos Santos BCS and check out the free beach camping. You'll meet some real characters there.

Check out Winterblast in Lake Havasu AZ. It's a pyrotechnicans convention all weekend. They send up thousands of shells,,,some of them 24 in. diameter. Check out the Grand Canyon in winter. It gets sugar frosted on top. Same with Yosemite.

Buy the book '1,000 places to see before you die"
I can give you a list of hundreds of things,,,but I can't give you motivation.
Dan

[freakersedge]

Hey Mister,

I know about you, the side of your house is right on a main artery right? I used to live on the same street, only in Reno. My first year was in 2001 at the festival and I was there for 10 days which I spent running a GPS check. I was able to see a lot of the party as an observer which has a downside most don't know, one can't participate and observe. I enjoyed it and spent the second year with other outsiders just to make sure they weren't gonna potato bomb or something at the event. Allow me to say that it was another kind of experience that was more theraputic than official. I spent the next year firefighting in Elko, then retired and explored what college folk were focusing on. a couple of folk I met were making clay dodads for gifting. Last year I was able to attend the before and after moop inspections, but not the event itself, my folks were having difficulties and I spent the time in Southern California with them. However, this year unless I take on a job, I will be free to attend.

My CB nick is gray ghost when anybody asks. My interest in the BM is mainly because its on a favorite desert of mine, and I was leaned on to provide a meeting room for the Friends of the Black Rock which i am still heavily involved with. Have you heard of us? You should join since its a Reno/Sparks organization. This may help you dignify your own involvement because with life we do go thu changes of taste. I find the ones that are important just get better. Like my own interest in writing if you get the drift. Naked bodies have never been a real strong interest of mine , and I have noticed that living with this much gravity, ones own body suffers a bit, so, like my nick says, I am just your basic hippy, wanna have a beer together sometime? I may help you as I help myself, I have heard this works at times.
freake :

[freakersedge]

Dan,

Thank you, even tho I have done my share of those
things. One of my more enjoyable summer days was spent innertubing down a river in Wisconsin I think it was drinking bubbly and sharing insights of events commonly shared. Another was spent in seeing how far out into the Mississippi one could walk before you had to use your hands to swim, not hold your drink. Not at those exotic places you mentioned but many accross america because intelligence for lack of a better word expresses itself very plainly and welcomes responses and sharings. Unlike the other side of the coin which glories in secrecy and nefarious plots. which by the way are our arch enemies and must be educated as often as possible. Which is easy because we can catch them unawares, so to speak.

Now at the beginning you suggested finding a companion, I have a pomerainian, would that count? He sleeps in the jeep when he isn't welcome and amazingly a lot of people don't understand lap dogs, and he isn't welcome. Isn't that odd, imagine, man has a species of animal that wants to be friends with us and some people can't grasp the concept? I do wish I could get him to eat pumpkin tho, his engine sure puts out some strong emissions.

By the by, i do enjoy the life without borders, sleeping when I tire, not at the ring of a bell, but like you, have experienced directionlessness and addressed it to a point. I suppose we are all restless, no matter how good things are so perhaps what I seek is how does one theme the life and share it beyond libations and other common escape techniques so that others can be responsive? Could it be that escape has been demonized unfairly? There was one year that I shared some super8 skateboard scenes at a party and the next year, watched an infinately better record of nordic back country skiing. Is one-upmanship in everything? I suppose so but I am of the mind that it degrades our experience and our ability to relax and have fun.

freake

[can't sit still]

" how does one theme the life and share it beyond libations and other common escape techniques so that others can be responsive? Could it be that escape has been demonized unfairly?""

Next , you're going to ask,,,what's the meaning of life?
In the search for motivation, it helps to look at species motivation.
The best years of my life were spent showing the world to little kids. I taught them a million things and went a million places. It was very satisfying.
If life feels aimless, one has to latch on to something that has direction A growing child is [hopefully] an unstopable development. You can create, mold and direct. You've done something for that person and the species,,,and a lot for yourself [if you entered the situation completely selflessly]
Yes, escape has been unfairly demonized. Consumerism has no interest in personal growth. Personal growth isn't likely to infuse you while sitting in a cubicle.
The needs of you and your loved ones come first. The needs of the species usually come second. The needs of relentless consumerism are way down on the list.
Government and manufacturing push consumerism for greed and power.
They have to demonize escape to maximise productivity. What good is the horse that continues to throw the saddle??
Leave that saddle in the barn until you have a genuine need that necessitates donning it once more to pull in the filthy lucre to feed and clothe yourself.
Dan

[theCryptofishist]

There's all sorts of things you could do to make me happy. Bring me a bag lunch at work every day. Clean my house. And my cubicle. Take those old computers to the proper drop off place.

[blueniteowl]

I could do that for you Fishy.

Yes, I'm looking for a reason to come west. Any reason... any reason at all. Please, give me a reason.

[Atar]

Buy TV show Red Dwarf on DVD That ought to bring some joy into your life.

[can't sit still]

[quote="blueniteowl"

[size=9]Yes, I'm looking for a reason to come west. Any reason... any reason at all. Please, give me a reason.[/size][/quote]

Lost in thought isn't too specific for your current location.

Los Angeles city paid $710,000 to do a study on manpower. The end result ,,,, the workers here don't have the skills that the employers need.
You can always find work here. As far as a reason,,,you can water ski and snow ski comfortably on the same day. You can go to Venice beach and watch all of humanity pass by. You can go to the Sierras and see what inspired Ansel Adams.
The list goes on endlessly. That's why we put up with the negative factors.

Come on out. You buy lunch and I'll tell you about every county and city in the state.
Dan

[blueniteowl]

Wow, that's a nice offer.

Truth is that I'm in Minnesota, and actually just got back from visiting SF and Carson City on Monday.

I'm just pouting because I'm back home.

[freakersedge]

can't,

you speak of children as if there the salvation of the world, I look at everyone as if they already are. When I was young, it may have been with envy till I realized that I too was alive in this world. The only place I ever saw little children was at church and once in a while in my neighborhood, I know I have been deprived of what other adults take for granted, but does that make me want to be around them? Darn kids always invite me to play and there I are being the little engine that could, I suppose remedial kindergarten would do me a world of good.
What I liked about work was that I could. Five days a week. A few jobs I only could do four, and some six but those four were really work, and everybody needs to let their inhibitions work out, else we become the automotons, the 'nerver un-tight' that commercialism seeks.

One thing I learned in school was that history never was those who look backward, the what-if ers, its we who look forward. Oh and thank you for the sound advice, I seek lucre again and it will be the spirits way. I know Jesus never condemed anyone, that perfect guy. Out of all the people in that book his messages are the best and moden people think he just died for us?

freaker

[freakersedge]

Blueniter,

Hey, I was at the university in Minneapolis/St. Paul, 1970-75, Minnesotans rock! Oh oh, have I dated myself? One lecture i was invited to give, one of the critiquers said he was glad he didn't have to memorize any of that and it was on the I Ching culture. At least it meant he listened to it all, I didn't bore them. I must have had some good instructors there. So where in minnesota do you roost?

freaker

[Atar]

Yes, I'm looking for a reason to come west. Any reason... any reason at all. Please, give me a reason.

Lost in thought isn't too specific for your current location.

Los Angeles city paid $710,000 to do a study on manpower. The end result ,,,, the workers here don't have the skills that the employers need.
You can always find work here. As far as a reason,,,you can water ski and snow ski comfortably on the same day. You can go to Venice beach and watch all of humanity pass by. You can go to the Sierras and see what inspired Ansel Adams.
The list goes on endlessly. That's why we put up with the negative factors.

Come on out. You buy lunch and I'll tell you about every county and city in the state.
Dan

Is there any kind of page that shows current job offers overthere?

[blueniteowl]

So where in minnesota do you roost?

I'm currently in the northern suburbs but spend most of my time in Uptown and around Minneapolis.

Though I'm not sure this will mean much to you now as the area has changed dramatically since the seventies. Uptown is now the hip place to go and they've started packing it with expensive condos within the last two years. Which unfortuately is killing the culture that makes uptown so great. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to move soon enough.

[freakersedge]

Everywhere has changed especially the hip places. I used to go to a jazz bar downtown just to listen to the music and rarely did I ever see another white person there. Then there was that great little bistro on the Island, did they ever get rid of the abestos factory on the approach to NE Minneapolis? I had driven accross the bridge up river of the University walkover, and watched as they closed that area to traffic, did they ever replace that bridge? there were some great places in that area, like a rooming house with mirrored walls inside...? And then there was the Triangle Bar, does that place still exist? Did you ever go to that little bar between the University Towers Apartments and the railroad tracks? It had two complete bowling lanes inside. And I will never forget waiting for a bus in that town midwinter and watching it drive by without stopping because it was off schedule and was racing to catch up...no time to make money. Definitely my kind of people, even if frustrating at times. One winter I went on a skiing vacation and stayed on the mountain for five years. Life moves us, not the other way around.
freake

[robotland]

So where in minnesota do you roost?

I'm currently in the northern suburbs but spend most of my time in Uptown and around Minneapolis.

Though I'm not sure this will mean much to you now as the area has changed dramatically since the seventies. Uptown is now the hip place to go and they've started packing it with expensive condos within the last two years. Which unfortuately is killing the culture that makes uptown so great. Oh well, hopefully I'll be able to move soon enough.

I had the same kind of disconnect happen with Ann Arbor....Great town, just not the same one I lived in for seven years, ending about twenty years ago.
Is Sargeant Preston's still up by campus, right over the bridge? Damn, it's been a LONG time since I've been to the Twin Cities!

[blueniteowl]

Well, according to the yellow pages, Sargeant Preston's still exists. But I have never been there myself.

I don't actually hang out in Dinkytown or around the UofM often so I really don't know if any of that stuff exists any more Freaker. Sorry.

[can't sit still]

Atar wrote, "Is there any kind of page that shows current job offers overthere?":

Southern California is the 11th largest economy in the world,,,compared to other countries. We've got millions of illegals and probably 250,000 Aussies, Brits , etc, etc who have oversayed their visa. The police are forbidden from asking your residency status.

A large percentage of the illegals from Mexico are campesinos with little education. The average european can find work easily. It's more difficult since 9/11 but if you aren't too picky, you can always find something.
There are many job pages but you would normally need sponsorship to get a work visa.
Dan

[freakersedge]

Blue,

I am incredibly motor minded, when I move to a new town I park my car and ride the public transportation till I need to go somewhere they don't go, or I have a time schedule. So I learn the town, where things are, and the minds of the children there and consequently, the adult mind. As much as we are a transient society most people do like you, just hang out with friends and never explore the wonder of the place they live. The abestos factory was not a hot spot socially, it really was a place where abestos was made. You do know how dangerous this product is don't you? By the way, is Hennepin Park still there?
freaker

[freakersedge]

Can't Sit,

One year I chased down a product put out by a foreign university to a dealer in Los Angeles, have you ever heard of liquid tirechain? I saw it advertised in Sharper Image and was able to sell it on a one to one basis. It basically failed because it worked too well and it also ate up ones tires. You also had to spray more than one tire, that is, one in front and one in back, else you fishtailed and it only lasted about thirty miles, so you had to renew it. We had a system that did it for you at the touch of a button inside the vehicle but the way cars kept filling up the engine compartment, we were hard pressed at times to fit it in. hummm, oddly I was just trying to agree with you about the LA basin, its full of opportunity.
freaker

[can't sit still]

I've heard of it.
You couldn't treat the snow so you would have to treat the tire. I guess that would mean softening it up. I could see where that might damage the tire.

Funny that you should mention tire chains. I recently totaled my car and crashed my truck on glare ice in Oregon,,,all at one time. After I crashed, the sand truck came by.

lA is full of opportunity, true. The unwritten rule is; the nicest place to live is the worst place to make a living. The best place to make a living is the worst place to live. One has to make the money where the wages and prices are high and spend the money where the wages and prices are low.
Dan

[freakersedge]

can't sit,

There are times I wish I still had the product to sell, but it was expensive. Truckers used to spray their tires with clorox if you want a cheap substitute, but you will replace your tires and a lot faster. My biggest roadblock was that the road geredarmes frowned on its use because of the thirty mile limit. Also, they spend their days on the road and they couldn't use it because of the drawbacks.

freaker

[freakersedge]

Can't Sit,

Sorry to hear about your car troubles, my primary goal was to help people avoid such tragic events. I commuted 8 miles to work and thirty miles would last me a long time, but it didn't. I found you had to apply the stuff as needed. Once, I was caught in a traffic jam because few drivers could negotiate a snow covered hill, I applied the stuff, and just crept up the hill in my Miata while fourwheelers were spinning in place. that really intimidates people, you know? I was in Tonopah later that trip and it snowed while I slept in a Motel and I had to leave town before they inacted the chain only rule rather than sell the product to them. That was where I learned you had to spray both front and rear tires, over 30 miles an hour you had serious front wiggle. Luckily I drove out of the snow else I would have never got to where I was going.

freaker

[blueniteowl]

By the way, is Hennepin Park still there?

There are no parks that I know of with that name. Where was it around town? Are you thinking of the Gateway right in front of the Hennepin Ave bridge?

And, while it's true that I haven't really explored the cities as much as I could. I think I've experienced a decent amount. And, perhaps you should know that I hadn't even been born when you previously inhabitated the cities. So perhaps that is also why I have no idea what you are talking about because these places no longer exist, and I haven't had the opportunity to discover that they had existed.

I'm sure that the asbestos factory was torn down long ago. And if it was located in north east, than perhaps it's the same factory that has now been linked to high rates of cancer in certain neighborhoods. A little while back it was discovered that the asbestos had contaminated the soil of the neighborhoods. And I just remember that they (don't really remember if it was the city or who) ended up scraping off a good portion of the the top soils of these yards to try and control the contamination.

[freakersedge]

Blue,

Of course I realized, but the process of making new friends is the ability to find some common ground and do some laughing together, not all of life is a mela-drama, so why make it such? I mean, don't we remember more fondly the times and people we laughed with than those who treated us with disrespect?

Hennepin Park used to be on the west edge of downtown Minneapolis east of Hennepin avenue, It had two lakes in the middle and tennis courts on the east side. It was a block south of the Catholic Cathedral? It was accross the freeway from the Walker Arts center? I once delivered a Pizza to a hugh old house that was just South of the Walker Arts Center, that was one time I figured that somebody had sent me to the local haunted house, but the occupants paid for the Pizza order...

On the subject of the abestos factory, there were portions of it covered in plastic sheeting in 1975, so I have no doubt there was trouble with its emmissions. It was just plain bad luck that it was so close to homes, or perhaps stupidity? However, one good point, we are making hugh strides in providing people who suffer from breathing disorders with lifestyle saving medications.

freaker

[blueniteowl]

not all of life is a mela-drama, so why make it such? I mean, don't we remember more fondly the times and people we laughed with than those who treated us with disrespect?

I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you mean by this. I had no intention to create drama, and many people on here could tell you that I am one of the least dramatic people that they know. I was just getting the impression that you thought I didn't know my town very well because of these comments;

most people do like you, just hang out with friends and never explore the wonder of the place they live. The abestos factory was not a hot spot socially, it really was a place where abestos was made. You do know how dangerous this product is don't you?

and felt that you were perhaps talking down to me. I was just trying to let you know that I have a limited knowledge of the area that you once knew.

OH, you mean Loring Park. Yes, it's still there and still surrounded by cool old brick buildings. I actually lived a few blocks south east of there for two years. But, from what I hear it's not a place to walk around in at night unless you want your shoes stolen by homeless drag queen.

[freakersedge]

well, I wasn't talking down to you, it was just a chance to wax elloquently, and see? You had a chance to teach me something that I had forgotten.

I spent a lot of time around that park in those buildings and was once walking accross with my wifey where we chanced upon a gay guy who engaged us in a pleasant conversation. He told us, because at that time, the place had a reputation of being a muggers paradise that he had two loves, one was s**king D**k, and kicking butt, which would you like to do? Since I was escorted by little wifey who was all of 5'4", I wasn't required to answer. Then a few years later after she and I seperated, I met another guy who asked me if I would play whip him... in the same neighborhood. Neither one flabbergasted me more than my surveyor boss who told me he hated me and would do everything to see that I didn't work for him just because I thought differently than him. At my retirement party he admitted that he didn't know I was old enough to retire, and I told him that was the problem.

Freaker