New Concepts in living design.

I came across these websites this morning and became inspired as to the thinking that people are doing in bringing about sustainable living. I feel lucky to be moving into a condo that has solar panels allowing for a 2.0KW energy supply!

Compact house for

your backyard

Under the sea!

The Key to a Healthy Life

How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs.

For the last 4 decades, the question of how to manipulate the serotonergic system with drugs has been an important area of research in biological psychiatry, and this research has led to advances in the treatment of depression.

Another reason for pursuing nonpharmacologic methods of increasing serotonin arises from the increasing recognition that happiness and well-being are important, both as factors protecting against mental and physical disorders and in their own right.

If you continue the article you'll see that most of the information is common sense (less the medical jargon)....but now with scientific backing ;)


via Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Internet with a purpose

I've finally taken some time to see what this 'stumbleupon' is all about and all i can say is....WOW! i've been on it for 2 hours straight and have come across some very interesting pages. the timing of this couldn't have been better as i was going through a little bit of a depressive state by losing my faith in humanity. when i look out at nature (the natural world before man has a chance to reinterpret it) i see everything as it's supposed to be. it makes sense to me.

going through some of the webpages it has allowed me to see the diverse nature of man! this has instilled hope in me that man can pull together to align ourselves with the universe once more (and this includes me). here are some samples of what i've come across...

Wind Power Anywhere







5 Scientific Theories



Glass Butterflies






Nouveau sculpture




Cute Animal Tickling

Impressive Chameleon

Medical Silver Bullet

It's been a long time...

It's been awhile since the last post and I have some ideas that I should share. The more I learn the more I see that the world is broken down into two parts. The first is the natural world. This world is what the earth has come to produce life on. This system has lasted over millions of years and has enabled life to persevere through some rather adverse conditions. The other world is man's world. This system has only been developed over the last couple of thousand years and is entirely designed through man's mind. The environmental problems that we are experiencing are caused by these two worlds colliding into one another.

In order to fix most of the problems that we are witnessing (e.g., pollution, forest depletion, climate change, water conservation, etc.) these two systems must align.

The natural world (the world that is governed by the laws and behavior of nature) is a cyclical system.

Man's world is linear system. Man's mind thinks linearly. Take a moment to consider how you view your life. You're on a course right? You're getting from point A to point B?

The natural world does not think in those terms. Because the planet has sustained itself for such an amazing amount of time (relative to our notion of time), it works itself in cycles. Take the water cycle for example.

This system can renew and refresh itself time and time again.

Now take a traditional model that man uses quite often say in the world of business.

The problem as I see it is that we are so focused on 'moving forward' that we tend to overlook patterns all over the place that reflect more of the former way of operating. That is, cyclical.

Yes our lives certainly seem linear. We are born, live a little while, then die. Point A to point B.

But take into consideration that you are not the first human being nor will you be the last (well, hopefully lol). Our lives are here because of many before us. What we consider to be the 'economy' is a representation (or a misrepresentation) of how we should be living our lives. We base everything on the principles of what an economy should be. Our food, water, shelter, health care, transportation, etc., all depend on the economy. However, because we do not model it based upon the natural world, we often suffer to some extreme extents.

I'll continue more but for now I'm sleepy. More to come tomorrow.

Ramblings...

This Tuesday last, a council meeting was had in the council chambers of Newport Beach, Ca. Several students from Newport Harbor High School stood up and spoke before the council members to voice their concern and conscious affliction with what is going on off the coast of Orange County. There was no question that more education and public outreach was/is needed.

Urgency on the matter of pollution comes from the slow, yet progressive, overuse of natural resources. Not to mention, the change in chemical composition of this planet. We now live in a time, meaning right now as you're reading this, that the slow settle of elements this planet has formed is now being redistributed at a pace that is faster than the normal adaptive behavior that animals on this planet can convert from/to. Homo sapiens (for whom most of the current redistribution is generated from) are the only species known to this planet that currently is at a level of intelligence to understand and alter it's behavioral patterns to avoid accelerating collapses of interrelated ecosystems found throughout different areas of the globe.

Weather patterns are (/have been) formed as a mode of transportation for the distribution of nutrients and other essential additives. We are changing this pattern.

With higher levels of consciousness comes enhanced sensations which the spirit experiences. These experiences will influence the collective argument from which a decision would be based on.

...what influences your decisions?

UN halts Burma aid after seizure (Cyclone Nargis)

The World Food Programme has halted aid shipments to Burma after two plane-loads of food were impounded on arrival by the military authorities.

How incredible is this.

Here's something to know about the country-Several human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have reported on human rights abuses by the military government. They have claimed that there is no independent judiciary in Burma. The military government restricts Internet access through software-based censorship that limits the material citizens can access on-line. Forced labor, human trafficking, and child labor are common.


Basically the country is run by a rogue military regime. So corrupt as to not allow their citizens some of the most fundamental of human rights. All the food that has been sent as of 5/9/2008 is sitting in a warehouse rotting as the Burmese (Myanmar) people starve and freeze to death. The military is hesitant to allow anyone in their backyard, hence the resistance to allow any foreigners in.

For more info go here and here.

Dylan and a bottle of Chianti

What to talk about? ...problems going on in the world...troubles at every turn...things going to shit. Where do we draw the line? That all illusive line between what's right for the world and what's right for our world, my world. How is it that we actually separate this? The "I" from the "we". I saw this video on TED talks where a woman had to experience and witness her own stroke to understand the meaning of our existence. If you're of the faint hearted or one of those individuals who can't bear dealing with reality then please turn away as this might be a bit too much for you. All the bullshit that we pour into our lives in order to feel special or unique works directly against that that truly makes us special. It's not about our accomplishments. It's not about wealth or material accumulation. It's not about status. It's about the everyday grind and practice and discipline of showing our naked selves to each other. Naked in the sense of allowing our spirit to transcend this physical, material body that we attach so much artificial and synthetic meaning to. Why do we do this?

Why do we allow our ego to be in the driver's seat? The only place our ego belongs to is in those moments where we make an ass of ourselves and can laugh about it. But instead we play this game as if there's actually a prize or trophy to be won. What happens after every championship game? You look towards improving the next season! There is no end! I am the beginning AND the end. I am the end AND the beginning.

We live in the present because it's the only space for truth. The past and the future are always up for interpretation from multiple upon multiple points of views. What we do while in the presence of others is what gives us the opportunity to show what we're made of. And what we're made of is from the same material that brought all of us into existence.