1. Ranting. Lots of things piss me off these days. Bureaucrats, the Republicans, lawyers, money people, our stupid short-sighted leaders regarding energy, transportation, and ethics...ooops, am I ranting about ranting here?
2. Telling stories about the old days. San Francisco when it was still a port, surfing in Santa Cruz before wetsuits, my 1950 Ford… It's all too easy when you get old(er) to bore people with the Good Old Days.
14 comments:
Lloyd, just the thing many of us want to hear. Tell us stories about the old days and modern days. You are definitely not boringly nostalgic! There is plenty to learn. Many like me are just running around in the conveyor belt of industrialized life. It is energizing and inspiring to listen to you. Someday you'll help us change!
Yes, It's very important (and wonderful) to hear that things were and can be different. Plus, beautiful stories are always good for the spirit. I say TELL MORE! Listening, with open ears, in another previous port town, Seattle.
Man tell me about it. Thankfully there is a natural medication for that.
I try not to rant or even tell stories about walking to school 20 miles uphill both ways in the snow but instead tell about my first car costing $20.50, insurance not required and gas was 19 cents a gallon.
What really sets me off is a twenty something condescendingly explaining how things work,the meaning of life and everything.
More medication and hanging out in the garden soothes the agitation away.
Older people are eyewitnesses to history, I have always enjoyed talking about the past with them, especially the ones that have actually had some experiences worth talking about. It's anything but boring.
Many young people mistakenly assume that because earlier generations had lesser knowledge in technology and science that they were somehow clueless. Nothing could be further from the truth. The average person today has a much larger body of acquired knowledge to draw upon but they are no smarter or wiser than more factually ignorant people from hundreds of years ago. Interestingly in that video Steve Jobs said that everything in the world around us is the doings of people who are no smarter than you or I. That's true but I always came at that concept from the reverse angle to remind people that the world is the way it is as a result of decisions made by many generations of folks and although we may be more knowledgeable in some areas we are certainly no smarter or wiser. To assume that we have the easy and correct answers to problems our forebears struggled with is hubris. That's the heart of the conservative argument and that's my rant for the day.
I would also love to hear your stories. I feel curmudgeonly myself at times (just shy of 40) but I also believe that if you are not angry or at least sad about the state of the human world, you're delusional. Folks like you who help showcase the good works of humans, and how the past can provide clues for a better future, are drastically undervalued and it would be a real shame if you censored yourself. If need be, set up another blog for your non-sheltery stuff. Let 'er rip!
curmudgeon |kərˈməjən|
noun
a bad-tempered or surly person.
Surly perhaps, bad-tempered unacceptable.......You I think (hope) not!
I on the other hand, sometimes carry my own soap box.
Keep the stories and observations coming... Please!
you must be my dad's age :)
1. Please don't rant. We need more positivity. Observations and suggestions about things that should change are great, but complaining and staying angry or irritable are a waste of precious time on earth.
2. Live in the now. Stories can be instructive, entertaining and comforting but don't get stuck in the past. Share what was and compare/contrast it with what is (hopefully finding something beneficial in both time periods).
I rant about you taking your book to China to have it made!
Way to help the economy Lloyd.
I love hearing about the GOD (good old days) of San Francisco. In 2002, when I was subletting a houseboat, the power went out for a few days during November rains. Many people headed to Cafe Trieste to have coffee, making for tables full of people who often don't mix. I heard tales of old Sausalito, the Tiburon(?)-to-SF commuter car ferry, and lots of comparing of notes about old-timers. It was great.
Ranting is a very good thing and telling stories about the old days, too... Look at Stéphane Hessel ! His 30-page essay ''Indignez-vous !'' (''Time for outrage'') tops the bestseller list, calling on readers to get angry.
But... who would ever have thought that a 93-year-old man could touch the heart of one million persons in so many countries (soon in China) ? Nobody could have foretold that a forgotten Resistance hero (who survived two concentration camps and helped to draft the universal declaration of human rights) would move consciences, just speaking of old days.
Hessel writes a peaceful appeal to citizens to take responsibility for the things in our society that don't work, and says : "I wish every one of you to find your own reason for indignation. It's precious." The book has provoked a heated debate about social justice and the power of protest. Some people answered the old man, through protests all over the world (we are the 99%, occupy LSX, indignados...) and I say : ''great !''. We need to get outraged !
To anonymous and critics of us printing books in China: Our 1-color books have been printed in the USA for 40 years. I would guess that at least 90% of all 4-color books are printed overseas. We tried to do thr right thing and did one 4-color book here and so far it has cost us $20,000 more. We cannot survive printing 4-color books here, much as we would like to. Anonymous: where is the computer made that you used to make this comment? Do you have a domestically made phone, radio -- anything electronic for that matter -- power tools, kitchen appliances. Take a look at the objects you use in your daily life; how many are not made in China?
Let me frist say,I have always enjoyed you blog Lloyd and
your books that I have looked at are very well made.
But,there are some reasons why I'm disapointed that you took your book to China.
The envorment,quality of product and jobs.
How well made is your product?
How long is the binding going to last or what about the paper and ink and cover?
It has been my experience that stuff made in China never lasts so I don't buy it.
Good luck
Hopefully that book will also be sold in China. A revolution is going on as ordinary people around the world discover new & different ways of getting things done. I've shown Lloyd's books to a lot of people who've argued with me about their potential for alternate energy, passive solar, finely-made, old-fashioned, unconventional, do-it-yourself, or recycled houses. "I couldn't possibly..." "it doesn't work..." they like to say.
But show them Lloyd's full-color photos of a beautiful house, and add that the owner has lived happily there (mortgage-free)for decades, and they get a dreamy look in their eyes and say, "That's what I want!". In addition to book form, these photos & stories are being circulated on the Net. People in other countries (like China) are being sold a "Western" bill of goods, and told that cookie-cutter is good, consumption is good, debt is good, and that they should tear down the old neighborhoods... As the world opens up, we recognize their knowledge (apparently China has been making paper for quite a while now ;) and they see that getting rid of the old ways isn't necessarily the Western way.
'Scuse me while I rant, Lloyd! LOL
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