alternatetheory

excessive

Photo_11.jpg
Originally uploaded by hellbender

again with the aquarium.

yes, well. ok.

gratuitous

Photo_11.jpg
Originally uploaded by hellbender

gratuitous baby bloggin. jellyfish at the atl. aquarium.

stove and its support structure

Photo_12.jpg
Originally uploaded by hellbender

i figure 5 is the pretty much the bare minimum of degrees or qualities of burning material required for a good and easy fire.

1 bucket paper
1 bucket wood chips (not saw dust, but chips, high surface area - a large hand full of these wrapped in a page of newspaper makes EXCELLENT firestarter)
1 bin 1" boards, split to approx. 1" wide
1 crate small hickory limbs, under 3"
2-3 armloads hickory rounds.

note also, cast iron kettle on heating vent (for humidity), stainless kettle (for tea), granite slab (for heat battery for:) water bottles.

one failed attempt at lighting.

Photo_12.jpg
Originally uploaded by hellbender

this beautifull idea-thing, gah. it sucks.

draws .4amp, lights the whole place, advertised as a nine hour battery life, and it lies, lies, lies. might be fine for an occasional camping trip or something but for us, no workie.

central problem - it cannot be on and charging at the same time. so it is not a plug-in light. it is plug in OR light.

secondary problem - it's not a 9hr battery. its NEVER been on for 9 hrs, and sometimes, it just shuts off, apparently dead. crap!

tertiary problem - it was $40. so back to the store it goes. unless you want to buy it from me?



yeah so, buy a socket on a plug. and a cf bulb. problem solved, i know, but we live half (at least) outside, so this seemed like a pretty good idea, but no no no, it's coleman brand (crap) and made all of plastic (crap) so, crap back to the store.

stove doors

stove doors
Originally uploaded by hellbender

the beautifull wood stove. found at the worlds largest yard sale (hwy 127), for $50. delivered!

note the three doors. main door (with adjustable vent), ash door, and rheostat door. the rheostat door works by a knob, to control the air flow to the fire - i was dubious when i saw it, but, amazingly, it works. the ash door serves a dual function as the supercharger when the fire is just getting going - feeding huge amoutns of air from beneath. the main door is just what it says, with a nifty hinged drop-down partition immediately inside to allow large wood in, while blocking smoke from escaping.

perhaps the niftiest of nifties about the stove are those three little vents in the main door - they act like three tiney camera obscura, throwing flickering images of flame UPSIDE-DOWN on the wall, and on the mirror (seen in the upper right corner) and from there onto the ceiling. it was kinda creepy the first time we saw, lying down to sleep, a triplet of identical flames licking sideways on the ceiling, but its become soothing with more assurance in the safety of the stove.

up next - coal??

femtoceleb

too much empty time and sobriety and bradleys inspiration runs dry.

too little sobriety and clarity runs dry (I've never really run out of time)

things to do:
dismantle the roof
reinvent my door.
invent some road
communicate with elders and peers
show off


not vital stuff, but then, when I walk into my house, it's warm. there's water, and power. so what do we need? what's left?

just money, the stuff to keep the cars running, and all the unnecesary crap it allows us to do.

let me tell you about burning hickory, by the way. long, slow and sweet. from a tree that fell between thr time we first saw the land and when we bought it. made a mess. I'm cleaning it up. heating my house. creating soil amendments (wood ash).

and carbon loadoing the atmosphere, but since you brought it up, let's look at that.
- I'm heating a total of 260something sq.ft.
- only when needed (6-10 hrs/day?)
-to an interior temp of... 50 degrees? still no thermom, and its hard to tell in sweaters.
-no transmission loss, no toxic extraction (a bit of fuel, oil, and wear on the chainsaw), no transport (maybe a few calories)

yeah. so. nasty truth is I'm also trying to make myself feel better since I'm probably gonna start burning coal soon, extracted from our very own plateau. cumberland county baby.

but again. let's look at it. essentially,its the difference between coal for home heat and coal to run your blender. therews no heat loss in the transform (since I'm using the heat), no friction in the turbine, no line loss - the fuel is used in its mist efficient possible manner. of which the waste contributes directly to global warming, air pollution and smog (not really a problem around here). so yeah. not exactly perect.

but there the central problem with sustainability. what I'm doing is perfectly sustainable. but not times seven billion.

hell, you're probably sustainble too! congratulations! we all win/lose together.

I mostly try to keep busy, to stave off insight. I've had about all the profundity I can stomach, thanks. you are here to keep that fire burning. governments are an evolved trait, to enable more human biomass. the self-fulfilling velocity of atrocity - when politics have gotten so bleak no one, but no one wants to talk about it, then what force can stop it? americans now might deserve some sympathy from the world - its not easy dragged behind this evil machine. try to slow it, drag yr heels and yr foots ripped off. and as steerable as the moon. it sucks to be an american these days. all things considered, it doesn't amount to much, but to watch close up the shitlies coming out of our still-pretendin to be riteous world policeman, in my fuckin name.

I mean come the fuck on

description of the mall shooter so far - depressed, history of drug use, maybe some emotional problems. so far could describe anyone I know, at many points in their lives.

then, dumped, lost his job at mcdonalds, and decides to say fuck it in the biggest loudest way possible. and then they call him a coward? because what, he was too "scared" to face a meaningless useless life like the rest of the "brave" citizenry?!?

I should really go to bed now, before I get too honest, while my "brave" desire to stay out of gitmo is still keeping me from telling you what I really think.

and I haven't even read any chomsky lately. whoo- one of these days imna hafta get a real head of steam on....

long tail as fuck

its a good thing I'm not in it for the money.


I'm in it for the whuffie, the kudos, the props, the karma, the fucking principle of being content, not just invisible eyeball.


and if I never find my niche, my market, my people, my golden ticket or my purpose, at least I have a universal resource locator that points to something I did.



yeah I know, rugged individualist like whoa, plz wipe the cowboy greasepaint off yr persona, but wtvr. i take this opportunity to spend someof my bonus points for living in a tent, cash in some credibility and say read between the lines, somebody update me on the new language standard that can actually express the contradictions herein. I am a difficult obstinate pansyassed communitarian utopian agrarian net-citizen with a thing for the best and worst and end of humanity, and really no interest in humanity at all. I can relate better to the mall shooter than gwb (his angsty picture looks like friends I've had), and look forward to a future where innacuracy is impossible.


where am I going withthis? what I'm trying to say is, I can't sleep. this is what it is. remind me to giveyou my reductionist analysis of psychedelia. turn over and try again mumble snuffle yawn sigh

fickle mickle me

so yesteray i got up and got craploads done, and feel craploads better.

conclusion therein - my self esteem is tied closely to my sense of meaning, because it is only when i feel usefull that i feel meaningfull.

probably the primary reason i cant make it in the city - nothing you do ever has much point. at least here, when i'm struggling to survive, at least there's that. the accomplishment of surviving, as opposed to the accomplishment of not being forced a down a rung on the economic ladder.

also, according tohr 1955, i'm a fuckin terrorist.

i knew they'd figure that out before long.