“Sell out, and you’re really buying into someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.”

Selling out is usually more a matter of buying in. Sell out, and you’re really buying into someone else’s system of values, rules and rewards.…

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.

To invent your own life’s meaning is not easy, but it’s still allowed, and I think you’ll be happier for the trouble.… – Bill Watterson

Charter City: iii Citadel

“The Citadel Community will house between 3,500 and 7,000 patriotic American families who agree that being prepared for the emergencies of life and being proficient with the American icon of Liberty — the Rifle — are prudent measures. There will be no HOA. There will be no recycling police and no local ordinance enforcers from City Hall.”

“Each household will provide ONE able-bodied Patriot (aged 13 or older) who shall muster one Saturday per month for Martial/Support Training for neighborhood-level training & musters, as set forth by the Militia Commanders of the Community.”

Just Solve the Problem Month

“What I know to be true is that there are a number of “problems” out there that need to be solved, that need one single thing to push them from “impossible” to “solved”, or, at least, “1.0″. And that thing that it needs is a lot of human thinking. Often rote, often boring, but necessary, to slam that thing out.” – Jason Scott

An inspirational read proclaiming November 2012 as “SOLVE THE FILE FORMAT PROBLEM MONTH.”.

Everything Was Breakin’

Neal Conan: “You had solar panels (on your sailboat) for electricity.”

Matt Rutherford: “I did, but they broke.”

Neal: “They broke?”

Matt: “One by one.”

Neal: “I think you had a Kindle for reading books.”

Matt: “I did. It broke in a storm.”

If there’s a better betrayal of the weakness of our modern, connected, age – it is this story. The tools we are so entranced by are quite fragile and weak. A stark contrast to the relentlessness of our own will to survive.

Paying for Freedom

“I would pay for a service that never sells a single piece of my life. For a service that cares about my emotions and not ad impressions. For a service that is committed to putting me first and not the advertiser. For a service that emphasizes and never blurs the sanctity of my privacy. For a service that fosters real friendships with real friends and not the consumption of information. For a service that respects my time and never dares to distract me. For a service that humbly gets the fuck out of the way, becomes invisible and allows for humanity to prosper. For a service that isn’t a service at all, but a beautiful supplementation to life.” – Youssef Sarhan