Yes I know.

The title of this blog is indeed a strange title to most people, if not a downright foolish idea. Rather than assail you with why I chose it, I’ll stick to other more palatable topics. I can however say this much – I guess it boils down to how much I really love New England and the fact that I descend from two Mayflower families.

Enough about that.

I am a 41 year old father, my son is two and awesome, who decided to return to school in my late 30’s. At first I only intended to take a few classes and get a certificate in Computer Aided Manufacturing. After some time it became evident that a certificate wasn’t going to be enough to offer me a substantial career change. I also managed to fall completely in love with school. This wasn’t very difficult as I’ve always been a very open minded person and considered myself a bit of “Google PhD” type. Which is completely logical if you knew me as a kid when I considered myself a “Encyclopedia Brittanica PhD” type. To the best of my calculation I spent over 2000 hours reading the encyclopedia as a kid. But then high school came around and I found girls and rock n’ roll. College wasn’t really an option for me at that time. Fortunately I always maintained a love of reading and learning.

Today my declared program is Automation Engineering. I chose it because I love to make things. I have to make things. There is nothing like seeing a material in its raw state transform into a useful finished product that in fact may outlive its creator. I have made well over 1000 wood household items. My goal is to own a “boutique” electric guitar company specializing in original, affordable, custom electric guitars, amplifiers, and eventually violins.

If I had to narrow down my reading interests to a few areas it would be 1980’s William Gibson science fiction (He did coin the term cyberspace in the novel Neuromancer), any Buddhist texts – (Dalai Lama, Krishnamurti, Thich Nhat Hanh), any 19th Century Russian writers, any Kerouac (don’t thumb your nose at me!) or fast forward to today and it would be a lot of technical material relating to automation engineering, woodworking, and electric guitars. I also read a TON of news.

In Tips for Realizing Your Creative Potential the tip to Avoid Self Destructive Behavior struck me in a way I can’t quite define. It seems so obvious but at the same time so important. A logical thinker may say any form of intoxication would inhibit ones creativity and perhaps create work that is less than cohesive or tending towards abstract. Yet in history so many writers, musicians, and artists have at least dabbled in various forms self destructive behavior without great detriment. But conversely do any of these behaviors bring out something that was not already present within the greater? I believe not – I see the mind as a vast space capable of far more than the confinements of our humanity permit us to know. We have more potential than we realize, but we don’t know what we don’t know. If only we could truly unleash our abilities we could evolve to something greater without a tendency to be destructive on ourselves or others.

After reading the Demystify Writing Misconceptions about how Sue Lorch did not enjoy writing but was considered to be an accomplished writer, I couldn’t help but feel there is hope for my secret ambition to write at least two novels in my life. It is not that I hate writing – I feel that I’m a bit freeform in my approach, hence the Jack Kerouac.

In the section Writing is a Lonely Craft Best Conducted by Introverts I couldn’t help but feel the idea a bit outdated. It would seem if someone locks themselves away from the world for a substantial amount of time they would only detract from the experience, wisdom, and memory from which they could draw on for inspiration. It seems an old fashioned notion that a writer would sit alone in a dimly lit room, perhaps smoking a pipe and drinking port or brandy, while they toil away with a quill pen by candlelight, all while wearing a plaid jacket of course. I can’t help but feel the time in which we live is drawing more on amalgamating our experiences, technological achievements, needs, and errors into a focused path forward for society. In other words, most of our recent technologies amplify our experiences as opposed to creating them – GoPro would be nothing without skydivers, race car drivers, and other extreme sports types.

That being said I see no difference between pen on paper and the blog. The important thing is that meaning is transmitted and received. I’m sure da Vinci would agree!