The Frontier View

A House AND a Barn.

2012-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Whatever causes someone to take to country life will be made better by two things, a house and a barn. You might call that barn a shed, garage, smokehouse, summer kitchen or whatever. The reason for the two is so that you can live in one and keep your *truck in the other. Stuff begets more stuff and the elimination of unnecessary stuff makes for good employment. It would be redundant to say more except to define unnecessary stuff as those things we acquired in a hurry but are lacking in quality and long term durability. Make no mistake about it though, you need both, house and a barn.
Stuff begets more stuff and the elimination of unnecessary stuff makes for good employment.
The poor man is made richer by a good space of land. Timber, garden, pasture and Orchard all make for a good supply in all seasons of the year. Water too! A good well, spring, stream or pond is a great asset otherwise you have haul and that's hinderance in so many ways. Rain can be collected in a cistern as has been done for thousands of years.

Of course there is a dilemma in all of this; living in this fashion is a dying art at least in some parts of the world. The key is education although we don't often think of the farmer or the woodsman to be an educated man, book-wise at least. Truth is, the skill and the knowledge of living directly from the land is worthy of a Ph.D.. No need though, the country man or woman has nobody to impress.

*truck ~ used in the sense of stuff you have to haul, supplies as it were.

Down on the Farm & Grandpa's Tools

2012-02-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

Switching gears after long absence of work on this blog. On the farm long ago without any prejudice to situation we were blessed to live in the old ways. We had a well with a bucket, outhouse, wood stove, garden and not a power tool anywhere on the place. The best part of this was that as a small boy I saw what it took to front the essentials of food and shelter. Apple picking was an adventure, milking a wonder and butchering a simple necessity if you like the smell of bacon in the morning. Everything had a purpose and none of it was without wonder; from gathering the eggs to playing with the wood chips out behind the smokehouse. We were pioneers, sort of and the importance of that was not realized till many years later.

The best part of this was that as a small boy I saw what it took to front the essentials of food and shelter

Along those lines grandpa was a pioneer kind of guy too. Made his living with trees, first cutting them and then growing them. Everything he did was with the same mindfulness we used on the farm. His yard and landscaping were perfect. The fence was always painted and the tools were all put up. Tools were like gold, they hung on a wall in the garage with every one in it's designated spot. In both of these situations there was rarely a word of instruction, what I learned was all from observation. The question I still ask is what made me take notice of all these things. Photo © My one room school

Fear Of The Unknown

2011-03-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

It has been often said, we fear what we do not understand. While this may be true you can still fear something even if you understand it. The reason is simple. Fear takes us to a uncomfortable emotional place. It is the experiencing of these things that we don't like.

Why we have these feelings is too complicated to figure out and influenced by a zillion factors that make up who we are. Figuring it out wouldn't help anyway.

The truth is our emotions play a much larger role in governing our behavior beyond the extremes of emotion such as fear, anger and love. We tend to base our decisions on what will give us a sense of well being. Isn't it more complicated than that? Probably, but how we "feel" is a pretty big deal.

What they don't tell you about Success

2011-03-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

Many of the admonitions, tips and tricks that lead to a successful outcome are true; notice I said many and not all. There is one element that is overlooked and although it may not sound great it really is one of the most important assets you can have.

It is simply this.

People who are really successful are a combination of many traits, experiences and situations that are too complex for anyone to orchestrate. You are who you are. Finding out what works for you is the key to your success; not being able to mimic the habits of people who are living out a life that is quite different from your own.

Yes you can use those tips and tricks but only in a way that is consistent with your goals and desires. My career in design was a result of my observations in the fourth grade. I had no idea at the time what was taking place but a few skills I learned from one of my fellow students was the catalyst for a future I could never have imagined.

It's not what you say, altogether

2011-03-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

BB King said "it's not what I play it's the way that I play it" So true also of writing. How things are phrased and what is left out can be just as powerful. Sadly this is too true of our communications these days whether from companies or the media.

If you read only the headlines you may never know the truth of a subject. Journalists use a hook to attract attention in their headlines that may not exactly give you the whole picture.

"Elevated levels of radiation in milk"

Alarming to say the least but does elevated mean harmful? You must read on to find out. In our time deprived world we read snippets and hear ten second sound bites that give us a general and sometimes fuzzy picture of the world around us.

Our modern frontier is expanding at a pace that many are not able to keep pace with and yet for our own well being we must be alert and aware of the changing world. It's time not to take cliches of the past or what we heard growing up as the whole truth. As we venture out we must keep our "possibles bag" stocked with provision that are useful for today.

In case you missed it, here's some of the stuff I didn't post over the past week

2009-10-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am still longing for FB to put a simple create a new note button on the home page. Yeah I know you can click the little thing at the bottom under applications and that will take you to the notes view and THERE you can create a new note. Non intuitive. I'm still on FB even though I don't really don't like it sometimes and with all their resources think it could be so much better designed; same thing goes for flickr. If you want to reference the difference look at squidoo.com not perfect but has a much more unified look.

It's easy to add friends on facebook but you don't see an option for adding strangers which is in some cases more appropriate since they aren't always people that you have met face to face. Ok, indulge me a little bit :-) A comedian once told me that life plus logic equals humor...

I was asked to to become a fan of Old Spice this week, wow I wasn't aware there was a cologne fan base. Marketing is where you convince people to buy your product, true fans are where your customers choose you...

NO I'm not a curmudgeon and I wasn't born in the land of curmudge... in thirty years of design you develop a filter. The good ideas come on their own; not the result of throwing lots of man hours at something.

Design is a lot like invention; not all brilliant ideas make it to the shelves. I have more brilliant ideas than I care to remember but only a few of them actually launch.

It's been a painful and sometimes happy week and for you I hope that the wind is at your back, the seas are following, your storehouses are full and your health is springing forth speedily.

Faithfully....

Success is not for everybody!

2009-05-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Success is not for everybody?

What!! Well, the big kind of rich and famous success that everyone touts as being "the goal". There just aren't enough spotlights and space on that stage. We all want various parts of that success and for different reasons but for many of us; that isn't going to happen. What can happen though is a success that is substantial and appropriate for us and perhaps more important for society as a whole. Each of us has a role to play and success is to play that role very well.

Winning: How To Create Your Own Success

2009-04-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

"Success is simply acting like common sense is true"

A large part of what passes for "business wisdom" is just common sense. You could come up with some equally profound statements if you had time to put your thoughts into precise language. The fact that you don't might be that this sort of thing isn't where your gift lies. So it's perfectly fine to listen to these advisors who have acquired these insights but it doesn't mean you are less intelligent.

The difference between those who succeed and those who don't is what kind of action we take with what we come to know and understand. All the business principals are like the automobile but acting on those principals is the gasoline that propels it forward.

Here's a few principals:

Find out what you're good at and be brutally honest with yourself. Admiring talent in someone else doesn't mean you have that same talent.
Be attentive and promnt in your work habits whether you're self employed or working for others.
Be friendly but unique enough for your clients or superiors to notice you.'

A famous songwriter once said "never sing a song you can't sing" the idea being that if you don't have the vocal chops to do justice to the song don't hurt yourself by singing it. When it comes to self appraisal, honesty is the best policy.

Being a success could be as easy as showing up for work. If you miss an opportunity to meet the person that can help your carrer because you slept in. You have no one to blame but yourself.

Knowing how to navigate the tricky waters of client or corporate life is key for one reason, communication. In all it's forms communicaton is one of the most important tools a person can possess. In thirty years of business, I can honestly say that the source of most all problems were due to some breakdown in communication.

So, put some gas in your car and take action.

Find out who you are and what your skills are.
Show up, be wherever you are supposed to be.
Communicate your message effectively.

Common Sense.

Currency, what you need most.

2009-04-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

With economics we tend to think in terms of quantity and cash flow; when revenues are high we smile. Recent events have shown that the bottom line can be deceiving. With certain large companies and agencies failing due to poor business practices, it might be that we need to look at another kind of currency.

Whatever amount of money is in the bank, one needs an equal amount of currency called character; as in someone of good reputation. Responsible behavior with money is key to the viability of a family, business or one's own life. We all could do better. Having too much money or too little can lead us to unsavory practices which hurts everyone.

Useful tool and Economics lesson

2009-02-04T22:46:00.000-08:00

Joe Ades, vegetable peeler pitchman made no small amount of money and a pretty good name for himself doing what many people would not do, which is in part the secret to his success. Joe was a regular fixture at the Union Square Greenmarket in NYC and can be seen in action right here.

Although Joe passed recently at the age of 75 the famous peeler can still be found here.

The lone entrepreneur who makes good with hard work and determination is not always celebrated but it is the model for what made the U.S. a great nation. There are only so many dream opportunities, right place —right time. Most of us must make the best of our skills, applying them with the same determination that Joe demonstrated with his consistent approach. It is this last example that will provide the "stimulus" to bring back a viable economy. So go out and create, just make sure it's legal. ;-)

It's up to us

2009-02-04T12:18:00.001-08:00

We always create on the frontier, never in the factory.

The current state of affairs dictate that we review and re-invest ourselves in pursuits that have been underused or abandoned over the last several decades. To that aim this blog will cover some of these issues and practices including plain ole thinking for oneself instead of listening to the media bloat.

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