In no particular order, places, projects, experiences i gotta do, and sooner rather than later so i don't someday become a cranky old man. Sources of deep satisfaction.
In 2001, my fiance (now ex) and i stayed in a small one called Suncatcher. The feel of these places is so different from conventional housing. The walls are earthy, not cardboardy. Every year i consider going to one of the workshops but timing doens't work out or money is tight.
After i build, or help build, one, i'll want to do another two or three, to apply some creativity and make technical improvements to whatever extent i can.
I'm unlikely to be a farmer of any kind, hah, not after reading Wilson Harrell's book where he describes Farmers and Buccaneers, and i'm clearly a buccaneer type. I need to see the Big Picture, be in touch with many aspects of these things.
Maybe get a degree in Sustainable Something at U of Mich., which had a wonderful lecture series in 1998/99 on Sustainable Everything - sustainable agriculture, sustainable business, sustainable cities, sustainable capitalism, etc. They had Dennis Archer, who was then the mayor of Detroit, Paul Hawken, ecologist Jane Lubchenko who was heading the AAAS, and others. I asked Jane what we artists can do - she recommended capturing the beauties of nature in our works. I don't recall her exact words, but the idea is that people need to connect more with life, the outdoors, the natural world, and need to see clearly what's at stake when we're talking about pollution, destruction of wetlands, and so forth.
That was an excellent lecture series. ((web page to link to??)) It was recorded on video. Remind me to order it.
I have great interest but not much yet in the way of practical know-how to apply, so further education seems a good idea. No idea today how or when that will happen.
This "Gottado" item needs sharpening, clarification, but whatever exactly it turns out to be, i just gotta do it.
The closest i ever got was at the end of 1997, when i had a great idea for an image. It required a special effect. I hacked POV-Ray to do this, a typo made it render weird. Certain objects came out solid washed-out white. It took me up to the submission deadline to discover i had a * where a + should be. Duh.
I have been involved at times with the development of POV-Ray. In 1999 I added color dispersion which allows for making the color fringes you sometimes see when looking through glass. Sometimes i answer questions in the POV-Ray forum, which can lead to web pages like this. So, i make test renderings, which don't take long, but the artsy ones suitable for entry to IRTC need more time than i usually have, so far. If Donald Trump sends me a million dollars, that will no longer be a problem!
Q: What is mind?
A: It doesn't matter.
Q: What is matter?
A: Never mind.
To have time to really study ideas in physics and metaphysics - quantum theory, curved spacetime, consciousness, and all that. Especially space-time: exactly what is it? Does the question even make sense - what kind of answer could it have? Physicist A.O Barut in 1981 wrote an essay, "What is an Electron?" (I have not actually read it yet - seems to be hard to find.) Even if we don't know exactly, can we speculate what *kind* of answer that question could have? One of my goals is to have a lifestyle that allows time to read up on such matters, write my own thoughts, and gain some insight. Other than someday writing a book or giving presentations at, say, the Theosophical Society, this is of no practical use. Too much contemplation may lead to a broader range of topics. For sure, one must go beyond physics and science of all types, and consult the metaphysical literature. Way too much contemplation - like described at the start of this essay, probably should be avoided.
The work of David Hestenes, A.O. Barut and others on the nature of fundamental particles interests me. Zitterbewugnung and all that. In past years I've had time to dig into this, but it's been pushes aside for more practical things. This area of physics is a difficult one to study; the equations are decades old. It's not a math problem, or a comparison of theory and experiement. It is all about understanding physical reality in a way consistent with the math. Really, this is outside of strict science, metaphysics rather than physics.
last updated 2007-Feb-17