Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Blue Light Special

Monday was a big day for Entropy, in the realm of home improvement, or more appropriately, home completion. As mentioned in the previous post, our two year old home is not yet complete in the way of trim and landscaping.

Kmart, last week, had a 75% off special for trees. I guess these are the trees no one wanted from the spring. I know pretty much nothing about horticulture (or is it silviculture?) when it comes to trees, so I just went down to K-mart and go a bunch of trees. I didn't even know what they were till I got home and googled images of them. Some of the trees weren't even labeled so I still don't know what they are.

For all I know, the trees are sick, or are inappropriate for this climate zone. And I know that the soil out here may be good for agriculture, but it's not the most hospitable for trees. But what the heck, for $20 for a 10 foot tree, I'll take the chance. So in the ground 20 K-mart trees went. I post this entry mostly for my own records. I'm gonna try to outline what these trees are and where they are planted so that in five years, when someone asks "what's that tree?" I'll search my blog and know.

Here is a *hideous* 2 minute MS Paint layout of the new trees. Yikes! I really need to do it up in cadd or something. And I guess it was 22 trees. Anyway here it is and below will be the key.



1,2,3,4 - Either willow oaks or willowleaf oaks... might be the same thing, Quercos phellos

5, 6 - are... dammit, I forgot!!!

7, 8 -- again, don't remember

9 - Autumn Purple Ash

10 - Autumn Purple Ash

11 - Showbiz rose tree

12,13 - some kind of crabapple tree

14 - whip raywood ash

15 - not sure

16 - not sure

17, 20 - fantasy maple

18, 19 -

21 -

22 -

I can't remember anything!!! Hopefully some have tags on them that I'll go look at when I water today...

Wasted day & drilling wells

What is a wasted day? I often feel that I have wasted a day, but upon closer inspection, I did do something productive on that day. Perhaps I feel the day is wasted because I wasn't doing something I felt was more important.

This may seem like a menial inner conflict, but it's important because this perception easily sets a tone for the following day or even the week. Two examples are this past Sunday and Monday.
On Sunday, I spent most of the day moving some water well drilling equipment from Mountainaire to Santa Fe. The machines are older and slow moving on the road (at times going a whopping 20mph), so it really did take all day.

At the end of the day, I mourned the day, for I felt it was a waste, monkey-wrenching on equipment and driving for 5 hours in a hot, stuffy cab. However, in really thinking about it, this was an important day for Career. In addition to the construction venture, I want to carry on the water well drilling legacy my father began with his brother. The construction venture, in addition to general contracting, will drill water wells, with my father as qualifying party for the company and me becoming a qualifying party in the future.

Thus the move was important for two reasons. First, it needed to be done for two wells I'll be drilling with my dad in the next couple months. Second, it motivated me to pursue the well drilling venture.

Yesterday (Monday), I spent the entire day planting trees. 20 of them. I'll create another blog entry about that, but anyway, i sort of felt it was a lost Monday as I have much paperwork, bill paying, website (business) updates, and business planning to do. However, I do realize it was an important day for Entropy. We've been living out here for two and a half years. There are many aspects of the home that are incomplete, landscaping being a big part. These 20 trees made a big impact in progressing the landscaping agenda and bringing us a step closer to a complete home.

In all, these two days weren't wastes at all.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Work Ethic

I started to read Total Recall by Sara Paretsky, and in the prologue, I found something speaking to work ethic. As usual, and as it should be, a mind pursuit positively affects one of the other life categories, here being entropy and career. Read the AG Anthology blog entry about it, but here's what I've taken from it:

I need to create a work ethic. I've always had a tremendous work ethic. Showing up to work and working hard. That was when I had a clearly defined job to do. Now, my work is entrepreneurial and of a creative development nature. If a day goes by with me not doing anything work related, nobody notices, but it does negatively affect my progress. It requires a new type of work ethic.

This is a challenge. How do I make sure that every work day, I get up and advance my career? I have my home office, but it often turns into a place to escape the kids and check out youtube. I've gone so far as to consider renting an office in town so that I can 'go to work.' I'd hate to waste that money if I can create a work environment in my home.

Check out the entropy page to see what I'm trying to establish insofar as scheduling my life is concerned. I hope to create a routine of work ethic. But I need some inspiration or a kick in the pants to carry it out. Any suggestions?

Reading, Righting, Rithmetic

I guess spelling wasn't in the curriculum of this saying's author. I do have, or at least had, a strong aptitude for arithmetic and advanced mathematics. There was never an advanced math or calculus class I couldn't ace. With the exception of differential equations. And I'll blame that on the fact my professors (both times I took it) spoke no English and lectured to two hundred students at a pace appropriate for a livestock auction. The students who succeeded in these classes were those who actually had the compunction to attend study groups and seek out TA tutoring. Not me, nosiree. If I didn't get it during lecture or after skimming the chapter, I was done. I had better things to do like lounging at student union or napping on the quad.

However, I've never seen math as something to do during leisure time to improve your intellect. Reading and writing, however, I consider two of my hobbies, or perhaps even my passions. When it comes to writing, I am one of volcanic temperament. Meaning that there are always ideas bubbling and brewing, but it is only on occasion that there is a spewing forth of composition.

Reading, on the other hand, is something I love to do all the time. Novels, magazine stories, shampoo bottles, you name it. Reading, along with music and films, illicit some pretty powerful emotions in me. Like dreams, unfortunately, those feelings often dissipate shortly after. I sometimes read strictly as a distraction, but even then I'm learning something... about the world around me or about the human condition. Same with music and films. Even in the most inane songs and movies often have some hidden wisdom and insight. Because truly, I think most writers do try hard to instill depth in their work, it's part of their ethos. The production, of course, often takes a turn for the worse, but at the core of the script or lyrics, there's often something good. If nothing else, it presents some sort of conventional wisdom or even a reflection of pop culture.

Anyway, I want to chronicle what I read, listen to, and watch. I don't want to chronicle in this blog, since I'd like to focus on the project. Like AG Musings chronicles my writings, I'll create another blog to chronicle my readings/watchings/listenings (is there a term for these three things?) I'll call it AG Anthology, only because I can't think of a better name. There I'll list all things I read/watch/listen to, and provide commentary in the form of posts.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Meathead

So I completed my second day at the gym. I'll say I took last week off... after my soreness inducing episode with my friend. I didn't make my deadline on putting up the 'body' page, but again I'll try this week. It's a good feeling to work out, to have a solidarity of purpose while I'm there. No distractions, no excuses. I just have to get there regularly. I tried cardio.. yikes! I only lasted 10 minutes on the elliptical machine. And my kooky wife is going to be running a full marathon in the fall, nearly 4 hours of running. I'll be happy when I can do 30 minutes of cardio.

Ok, then... this was an uninteresting post...

Time: The Devour of All Things

Has it been nearly a week since I've contributed to this project? I must say it has. I've been out and about this past week, staying with family for the 4th, then on a camping trip. But back to grind I go... I've learned a few things this past week, now that I'm being more reflective. I'll probably forget most of these things before I can chronicle them, but I'll try...

Monday, July 2, 2007

Entropy, thy name is mud

First, where does that saying "thy name is mud" come from? Google, amazingly, failed me. I had to turn to yahoo via alltheweb.com to find this somewhat placating explanation.

Anyway, I tore into entropy today. Not the best entropy-ripping day I've had in recent memory, but a good one none-the-less. What is 'entropy' anyway? Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it. Check out the AG Entropy Page for more, but basically 'entropy' is a measure of disorder.

In my life, at least, disorder reigns. It threatens to consume me and my environment. Some people are very good at creating order, it comes natural. I, however, must try very hard. And I must try hard because I am inefficient in a chaotic environment. I helped for a week or so in the Katrina disaster recovery effort near New Orleans. I was in an animal rescue base outside of Gonzalez, LA. It appeared to be chaos, but it was managed chaos. And my sole job there was that of a structural conduit, to reign and control the chaos. It was amazing, and I did well.

So in my personal life, there is much energy, but that energy easily leads toward disorder. In this project, I strive to apply this energy constructively and in an orderly fashion.

Today, I attacked several home projects, and it felt great. I put up a pool, a trampoline, barn roof rafters. I created order on my homestead. I spent time with family and friends (who helped me accomplish these tasks), spent time talking and connecting. I also rode (a horse) for the first time in a very long while. This last activity was full of meaning. It established a baseline for entropy-busting, by exciting me about working with the horses again. It was physical exercise. Most importantly, it rekindled a spiritual exhilaration. See this Musings entry to get a feeling for what riding means to me. Good day. I also gave myself some points for mind... perhaps that was for reading the New Yorker... ha!

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Sing a song

Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad.
- The Carpenters

Music is a beautiful thing. I have a friend of the intellectual ilk, who I deem a literary and musical snob. You know who you are, buddy. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but I remember him commenting to a co-worker once, "You have the second least-worst taste in music here." This is a double snub, first on the music, and then on people's taste.

I'm not sure I could ever be so bold as to decry anything of a creative nature as 'bad.' The most I could say is that I don't like it. For who really can understand the inspiration of the work and the creative process behind it? How pretentious of one to pass judgment without 'having walked a mile.'

This same snobbish friend rekindled in me an interest in music, if for nothing else, to justify my own predilection for 'bad music.'

I'll announce it loud and proud, that on my smartphone right now I have Eminem, Nelly Furtado, Pink, Gwen Stefani, Jack Johnson, Oreja de Van Gogh, Blue October, Gym Glass Heroes, Cyndi Lauper, the Buggles, the Killers, Notorious BIG, Snow Batrol, Dan Seals, Blink 182, Dido, My Chemical Romance, Tom Cochrane, Canibus, Black Eyed Peas, Freedy Johnson, and Ron Sexsmith. I don't which of these artists are considered crappy, but I like them. I like their music. The lyrics touch me, the music moves me. So there!

The Mind aspect of the project is about intellectual development. While music may move the soul, music appreciation is intellectual. So is writing and playing music. I'm a beginner piano and guitar player, as well as neo-lyricist. By 'beginner' I mean I am no better than after finishing a summer's worth of instruction 10 years ago, clearly for lack of natural talent. But I try.

This morning my daughter wanted to sing a song about a new friend of hers. So we threw together some lyrics and some music, even turned on the arranger for a back-beat. It came out pretty good. I'll post the song on the Mind Page when we get it recorded. I give myself a 4 in the Mind category today today just for writing (with my daughter) and composing this little song.