Appalachian Afternoon

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. Perhaps I have found another calling...

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The Tree

The Tree by Bobby Coggins

If this tree could speak, what would it tell us?

Would it remember generations who climbed and played on it?
Would it remember the parades that marched by, year after year?
Would it remember the rains, the storms, the lightning and the snow?
Would it remember other trees that are no longer here?

Or would it remain silent, knowing that spoke loudest of all?

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Winter Reading Project

It has been a tradition for me the past few years to undertake a reading project for the long cold months of winter, usually a series of history books or a long Science Fiction or series of Historical Fiction novels. 

This year, I am currently undecided which of two book series to tackle, Will and Ariel Durant's "The Story of Civilization" (pictured above) or the Encyclopedia "Great Book of the Western World". 
I already own The Story of Civilization, having purchased them over a period of years at yard sales, used book stores and discarded book sales from regional libraries. (For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why a library would get rid of these books).
I have read bits and pieces of both before, but to tackle the whole series of either at once seems like more than I can chew. 

Right now, I'm reading my way through the Honorverse series of Science Fiction books...so I'll have a couple of weeks to make up my mind.

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A Morning West of the Balsams

This is in my hay field looking south. I took over 100 photos there this morning as the fog rolled down the valley before sunrise as I listened to the birds greet the dawn. The swallows were too fast to get a clear photo of [see below], but there are always other mornings.

I lived away from the mountains for a few years, and was homesick the entire time. Something about this place sings to my soul...

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End of the Year and Taking Stock

It used to be (at least for me) that the end of the year meant taking things a little slower, looking back on the past year and making plans about making plans for the new year.

This year it is very different (save 2006...but that is a story for another time).

Everything seems shoe horned into the last couple of months. I have a project that I have been dreaming about for the past three plus years. I have been trying to gather a crew of people I can count on to participate and work toward a common goal of making the government in North Carolina accountable for it's actions. That goal is now in sight, and will be officially "online" in a little over four weeks.

I don't mind telling you that I am nervous. Not about the people on the left who may try to tear it down (that is to be expected), nor about the people I thought were sympathetic to my goals. I am worried about success. Success is a strange animal, and it tends to change people in unexpected ways. I hope that it doesn't throw me a curve ball I can't handle.

These are some of the things on my mind as I continue to be extremely busy in front of my computer for twelve hours and more everyday as I try to work out all the bugs, build graphics and discussion groups and provide tools for those who will share my dream of doing what has never, ever worked in North Carolina to any large degree. But if I told you that, I'd give the game away, wouldn't I?

It has been a wild ride and the next year promises to have more packed into it than the previous ten.

I am so glad that many of my colleagues in the Republican Party are finally embracing the Internet, and to a certain extent, the Social Media networks, and to a lesser degree, the Web 2.0 technologies. Some of their models are wrong, but failure is an important teacher...and has taught me well.

If you read any books this next few weeks, I would suggest that you read the following in the order presented below. This is part of the model I have been working under for the past decade (for the older books). The lessons in these books must be absorbed by conservatives (whether we agree with them or not) if we are to be successful and reverse the political and moral decline of America:

1. Future Shock (Wikipedia) (Orson Welles Documentary parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
2. The Third Wave (Wikipedia) This one is pretty solid.
3. Powershift (article at The Logic of Success) This one will blow your mind.
4. Creating a New Civilization (a simple, succinct review)

Alvin Toffler is interviewed by Newt Gingrich on Book TV. The interview has been taken down in the past few months, try this one where the couple appear on Charlie Rose, which begins at the 20 minute mark. Alvin and Heidi Toffler wrote the above books over a 35 year period. I do not agree with a lot of their politics...but I will say that much of their work has withstood the test of time. That is why I ask you to begin with a nearly 40 year old book of theirs because you won't believe it was written so long ago. I also hope that you get a kick out of some the odd ideas, too...like changing one's race, Michael Jackson aside.

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Post Election Comment

The circular firing squads are having a field day, and the ghost firing squads even more fun.

Individual snipers and snipers with groupies are also on the hunt.

None of them realize that the venue has been moved, and they are hunting the wrong game, with the wrong ammo...and the wrong class of weaponry.

Anyone who dares point it out becomes a target of all of the above.

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Back in the Groove

Whenever I feel out of sorts, I grab my camera and step out of my office and lose myself for an hour or two and always come back refreshed. I need to do that more often this fall.

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Happy Birthday Thunder Pig!!!

On May 14, 2008, I logged onto a public terminal in the Jackson County library and created this blog on a whim. I had been thinking about doing it for months, as I read other blogs from around the country, and listened to Ken Bagwell on Heads Up America (the 1350 WZNN incarnation). I noticed that there were no blogs covering western North Carolina from a conservative perspective. There was no one that posted on a regular basis, or would last long if they did.

We were, and still are eat up with progressives, and those who are slouching toward it.

Here is my very first post, and I think I have lived up to my original vision, nor have I gotten around to posting that short, horrid bio I had promised.


Then and Now comparisons:

Then...I had a 28.8k dial-up telephone connection that clocked a reliable 19 to 21k, Now....I have Verizon DSL with around 3Mbps download and 768k upload speed. Note to self...update this post with the results of my latest speed test when I get home tonight. (I'm still giddy over that). Here are my stats for my current location:



Then...My computer had a 6GB Hard Drive and 256MB RAM and a 1.44MB Floppy Drive and a CD-ROM drive (no burner).
Now....My desktop has a 80GB Hard Drive and 512MB RAM two combo CD-DVD Burners. I can run multiple monitors when the need arises.

Then...My portable memory needs were met with a stack of 1.44MB floppies that I carried around to use in public terminals to save my work, and to save webpages for later viewing.
Now....I have portable Hard Drives that I use, depending on the purpose. I have an ultra portable 60GB WD Passport, a bulky 80 GB Seagate, and my everyday workhorse 320 GB WD Passport that has my life on it. Sadly, it is not backed up, so I am living on the verge of information disaster.

Then...I had a no-name 2.1MP digital camera with with I took pictures, and silent movies. I once lost it at work while weed-eating, and found it three weeks later (after several rains), dried it off for a week, and it was as good as new. In fact, I still have it as one of my backup cameras.


Now....I have a Kodak EasyShare Z710 that takes excellent 7MP photos and movies with sound. [flickr] [youtube]

Then...I had a dream of uniting conservatives in western North Carolina into a coherent online community with efficient sharing of information, and a pool of writers and citizen journalists armed with audio, video, and photo recording equipment to document the actions of local and state governments...and having that information posted in a timely manner so people could act as appropriate to their conscience.
Now....I still have that dream, although I now fully understand the Rear Admiral Grace Hopper quote:

"The most damaging thing in the language is--'It's always been done this way.'

I have learned that conservatives are like cats...they cannot be herded in a new direction easily.


Then...We had a Republican President and a Republican Congress...I paid $2.25 a gallon for fuel.
Now....We have a Republican President, and a democrat Congress, and I pay $4.49 a gallon for fuel.

Chart courtesy: Gas Buddy
Why Diesel Prices are higher than gasoline.

Where will I be in 3 more years, provided I survive?

I have no clue. I hope that we will be thinking about which conservative will be the best to replace McCain with in 2012.

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I've Been Thinking

About where things are headed...

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