When you’re lost in the wild, and you’re scared as a child, And death looks you bang in the eye.  And you’re sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle to cock your revolver and . . . die. But the code of a man, says: “Fight all you can,” and self-dissolution is barred. In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . . It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.

You’re sick of the game! “Well, now, that’s a shame.” You’re young and you’re brave and you’re bright. “You’ve had a raw deal!” I know — but don’t squel. Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight. It’s the plugging away that will win you the day, so don’t be a piker, old pard! Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit: It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.

It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten — and die. It’s easy to crawfish and crawl; But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight, why, that’s the best game of them all! And though you come out of each grueling bout all broken and beaten and scarred, just have one more try — it’s dead easy to die, it’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

There is nothing more powerful than persistence. You may hit a plateau here and there, but notice it and jerk yourself into glory. Where do you want to be in regards to your generation? Among everyone else, or do you want to be lifted like an aeroplane with tremedous progress.

“It was a publicity stunt that will never be attempted again. The ‘Crash at Crush‘ was the intentional head-on crash of two Katy locomotives on Sept. 15, 1896, at a point just south of West, in Central Texas. The results were not what the railroad officials had planned.”

Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy Trail)

A highly promoted crash that that went horribly wrong. This train wreck makes me think of the time I went to the Katy Trail with some friends of mine. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.

The Tuesday of Spring Break 2009 a band of us left for the Katy Trail and it went horribly wrong. A storm was brewing and there was an urgency to get moving. I threw everything in my pack, strapped up and headed to the pick up point. Once I get there I get word that our driver is delayed by a flat tire. “Sure no problem. He’ll be here soon.” Three hours later at 4:00 pm we finally loaded five bikes into the van and two on a bike rack, and headed off to Sedalia, Missouri.

Everything is going great driving down 50 Hwy listening to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” when all of a sudden the driver looks back and see’s both bikes on the bike rack bounce like a baby down the highway as other cars swerve to keep from hitting them. We stop immediately on the highway get our bikes shoved and secured in the van and continue with a relief that no major damage occurred to the bikes.

Suddenly Sedalia, Missouri. “ALL HAIL THE KATY TRAIL,” roared when we started on the Katy Trail. A sign of a horse on a tall pole telling us to “get off our high horse” stopped us not even a mile down the road. At that spot there was a box advertising “rattlers.” Thinking I would see some snakes on a this trip I peek my head in and sure enough there were rattlers, Baby Rattlers. We leave with a sense that someone is laughing at us from their dining room window. Getting back on our “high horse” we continue and stop again for a photo op. and realize we need to burn some rubber on the trail to make it to Pilot Grove, our half way point to Rocheport.

Now it’s dark. We cannot see the road and actually run into some fallen tree’s slowing us down even more. We finally make it to Pilot Grove thinking there is an inn to protect us from the coming storm. NOTHING! Closest place to stay the night is another 10 miles down a pitch black trail in Booneville, Missouri. We were lucky enough to get a cab that would pick us and our bikes up and take us to a Motel 8 in Booneville. It took us two trips to get all seven of us in a cozy two bed, one cot room.

The next morning the storm was in full force. Looking longingly at the road ahead, we wait. Thinking that the storm has subsided we quickly pack everything up and break for the road. Not even two seconds go by when the rain pelts us back into the Motel 8. So we decide to stay another night to dry our shoes and wring out our clothes.

We had a great time checking out the local places of Booneville. It was 2:00pm before we were able to get out of Motel 8. By that time we were a little hungry and went into town to see what was open. The only thing we found open was a local bar. This was a great chance to meet the locals. We ate at a little Italian restaurant that opened. The next big thing that beckoned our call was the casino in town that could have easily been occupied by half of the town. I have never enjoyed casino’s and never will. Pizza and beer for dinner and card games topped the night off.

Determined to make it to Rocheport, Missouri we get back on the trail the next day. “ALL HAIL THE KATY TRAIL,” we cried. Checking our energy and time two miles into the soggy trail we knew we could not make it the 11 miles to Rocheport and the 50 miles back to Sedalia by the end of the day.

Tired, drained, and most of all soar we all arrived in Sedalia by 6:00pm. A final “ALL HAIL THE KATY TRAIL,” victory call gave us a sigh of relief. We made it back to Kansas City with a new respect with each other and ourselves.

This may not be a train wreck, but I really enjoy when things go wrong and picking out of that the good times.

Lewis Carroll

(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought –
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Basically, the studies main points are as follows:

1. Our appearance to others is highly important
2. Imagining the judgment from others on that appearance
3. Our development is structured on that judgment

You can use this for any situation you so choose; Monsterous kids, compulsively eating out, or even dwindeling finances. Pick a part of your life you would like to improve and put a mirror in front.

One day energy will be at our finger tips. I see a grid of energy for all of us to use. Wires will be a thing of the past. This isn’t something new. Tesla dreamed of this way before the world needed it. This grid will one day power all our vehicles so there will be no need to hit the gas station for anything more than conveniant snacks. There is nothing revolutionary about this idea, but the way WE make this possible will change the world. Think about it. We are already using the sun as energy and that is over 90 million miles away. That is energy for everyone.

The Wright brothers first heavier-than-air human flight was in 1903 and in one human lifetime we broke the sound barrier. Just imagine what we will see in our lifetime. There will be pencil’s that record our every document for easy transfer of data over the net that will cost no more than our mechanical pencil’s today. The feel of a physical book that we all know and love will be preserved so when a reader earmarks a page from a library they can have that same page documented, cut up into the important details that the reader needs, and sent to their email before they put down the book. What else is next? I help create them. I am engaged in the process. Mainly, I can’t wait.

“As above, so below.” – Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus

I live in the joy in everyday that is to come. I love the little moments that bring me happyness in a single day. I relish in the fact that I have experienced them with you. What shall we do today?

Thank you Carl Sagan

Propaganda is a part of our everyday life. Thank you to those psychologists that follow the wild cards out there that live in complete dissonance to the everyday world.

Because we were poor!

Thank you.

See if you can get this book at your local library. If they don’t have it. Request it immediately. How to increase your context. While you are waiting for that book sign up for a fresh Mint dot com account.

Design is easy. Good design is easy. Great design is even easier.

“Good artists copy; great artists steal.” – Pablo Picasso

Design isn’t just about how things look or how things work. Anyone that adds design on top of a finished product to make it better cannot have a great design. It must be thought out and refactored from the starting process.

Now good design should also be innovative. There are certain requirements of functionality that everyone should take when they design.

• [Skrien]
  • Completeness
  • Usability
  • Robustness
  • Efficiency

Or as I like to call it “The Cure” Not to be confused with the artist whose famed for “Friday I’m in Love” title along with many others.

Those that are able to adapt best to their surrounding will always come out on top. I felt for a while that I was missing something that I wasn’t in the right place at the right time for some reason. The reason was “me.” Once I found this out I did some refactoring.

• [Skrien]
  • Scalability – able to grow with any size in any situation
  • Readability
  • Reusablility
  • Simplicity
  • Maintainability – along with that is should be easy to fix.
  • Extensibility

In order not to become another cargo cult there should another basic understanding.

Picasso’s quote was  more than likely stolen from:

“Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal.
the good poet welds his theft into a whole of feeling which is unique, utterly different than that from which it is torn.” -T.S. Elliott

Design should be a part of your everyday life. This may take some trial and error, but it will be well worth it if you start now.