Modern Polymathism

The Jail Cell Scholar

With life being so multifaceted these days the complications break up the day so much that far less can be done towards one's projects and studies that one would hope. This has always been the case for me at least. I always have found myself thinking or saying that if you were to lock me in a room with nothing but books and paper (and of coarse those necessities of life in this modern era) I would be able to think and learn more than in any other situation.

When I see people go to minimum security prisons I always say that if I were going in there I would be studying almost every waking hour. Imagine being sponsored by the state to learn at your own pace (hopefully quite rapid), and with access, generally, to a prison library. I'm sure that if I were able to I would be learning much more than I am currently.

With school (what a misnomer that experience has been) and work (which is only somewhat the learning experience I wished it to be) there has been little time for my personal studies and projects. This is a pity because if left to my own (and with proper discipline) I would be able to learn, instead of being taught at the 8th grade level at CCAC, and work, instead of pointless projects with little return of learning or skill for the time they consume.

I am always filled with resentment at these things  which consume time for no good end. Yes, a college degree may help in the W2-slave (term by Barrie Gibbs) world, but to me I believe working for others is very overrated. The old-timers of the 1950's workforce thought the way to work was at a single company for most of your whole life, and then retire. This seems on the surface a very secure way, and perhaps in that old world when time moved slower this was possible.

Today though, with M&A activity at a fever pitch and with globalization giving even more complications these once steady jobs are more and more risky. One merger with a rival company and perhaps even 30% of a workforce could be cut without due reason. We work in a society where workers are really just another means of production.

This leads me to ask," What are the similarities between a jet aircraft and a human?" More than you may guess.

1.) Most can only be leased for service
2.) Both require massive amounts of maintenance to keep running
3.) Both have massive amounts of government red tape regarding their usage

So then, for all intents and purposes both are treated by an airline similarly. If a neither work as per the contact money will be invested to fix that, but if it still doesn't work the contract is off and a new one is brought on board. In this modern world being a worker is not a good thing to aspire to. I can never understand how these guys in business school (which I attend) lust after the corporate life. Why would you want to grovel to people like a peasant for a chance to kiss the brass ring for a promotion. And to what? To have to grovel to another boss for the same. And for what? To have a little more stress, a little less time, and some more money that you really don't have time to spend.

Wouldn't even the life of a prisoner be better than this? For your freedom is similarly defined. You only trade the walls of brick and mortar for those of golden handcuffs and pointless responsibilities. At least the prisoner gets to enjoy learning - one of the highest forms of human endeavor. The corporate robot get worthless money to buy things he doesn't need and only society tells him he wants. Poor fellows they are indeed.

News + Talk = All Media ?

As a conservative in America I am predisposed to listen to talk radio because the "main-stream" media on TV doesn't cover the whole truth - we are told. I'm not sure though it this two venue system is really working that way. Does network TV news + talk radio = even 60% of the spectrum of world views? I'm not talking about moderates, because to me they are just undecided.

What I'm thinking is that to me it seems that while more and more Democrats and Republican are battling over what flavor of vanilla the country will turn into next some people are actually noticing this, but,missing the talk radio part of it as well. Sean Hannity is a supreme example since he seems like a mouthpiece of the Republican party and only differs his opinions to match the same people who realize the aforementioned issue. He never would try anything more extreme. Unlike Michael Savage who actually will think when an issue arises.

The problem though is that even Savage and those like him have gotten to their position by having wide appeal, and I'm not sure if a large slice of the masses actually see past the news + talk radio world. Sure, there are the blogs and the rest of the internet which people may source news, but you have to sift through the mass's concerns first since search engines are governed somewhat by popularity.

What I fear, and this sounds like a conspiracy, but hear me out, is  that these two flavors of media, whether by explicit or tacit agreement, are working toward the same ends. Remember in 1984 when Winston gets betrayed by a supposed leader of the "Brotherhood" which was supposed to overthrow the government, but actually was a device more fishing out the subversives? This seems similar. You can either be one slice of the pie watching network TV news or another slice listening intently to talk radio. In the off chance you see through both the "News + Talk Radio = 100% Media" fallacy and the more obvious double-vanilla party system you are the one cherry in the filling that fell on the floor.

If you happen to be this cherry you are at great risk of being stepped on and then wiped off the floor to be disposed of. You are impure for being outside the pie so you must be waste to be disposed of. If America wants to become a great nation we need to not ignore the cherry, but put it on top of the sundae of America for the greatest exposure. Until the truth has truly been revealed the oligarchy that is America will continue unabated to destroy our freedom & call it security and to steal wealth from our people and call it progress. What a state we must overcome.

The Layers of the Onion

I've noticed more and more that humans operate at many levels of thought during the course of the day. At some points we are very mindless and enjoy completely passive activities such as TV which have no purpose than to entertain the brain so as not to notice anything else but this medium. It has been shown in research that watching TV involves less brain activity than sleeping - so really you're effectively worse than comatose during this period of time. "Vegging-Out" might be more aptly named than we thought.

At other times there are levels of higher thinking such as when one plans their activities for the day or perhaps is involved in an activity requiring thinking like balancing the check book. Then we think deeper beyond the world of the near-present and to the future. This area will have as think of our long term goals based on the environment in which we currently live, such as planning your career path.

Yet, there are other times which I'm not sure we all have. I'm not trying to be elitist I just have met people who would just scoff at this next category as "crazy". This level of thinking challenges us to think beyond our current environment to things of this world that transcend our daily operating environment into the realm of definite principle and facts. An example of this would be a time when we are contemplating the Bible or the concept of God. These things we can't think about all the time or else we would never actually be able to get anything done such as feed ourselves and work to pay the bills.

Recently, though, I was thinking about an analogy that is often used in these situations of the layers of the onion. I have read that onion have 5000 separate layers that make up their body just like rings in a sequoia tree. I believe humans are the same way in their thinking - stratified into levels. The question to me is which DOES one operate at, and at which SHOULD one operate at. To me life must have a compass to direct your path, and this is made up of your world view, values, and such things that you see the world through. In order to truly have a meaning and purpose who need to find this base of principle and then follow the path.

By my thinking, this compass should exist in the deepest layer of thought - the layer of contemplation.  If you are driven by immediate concern of your appetites you will being living as an animal and hardly more. If you live with basic tasks as your center you are little more than a slave to them. And, by the same token, if you live by the notion that you must fulfill goals set in the relative area as defined by your society's environment than you are  a pawn of the elites, though you may live in a so-called democracy.
However, if it is possible for you to define your life's compass by this deepest level of absolute truth than you are truly living in the highest most human strata.

This will not be easy by any means. Control the appetites and the need for a social place of belonging will force your conformity with haste. If you live this life you will most definitely be thought in the fringe and "nuts". For instance, look at Thoreau who was only recognized after his death. It was Mark Twain who said:

"In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it cost nothing to be a patriot."

This will happen to any person who wishes to live differently from the pack. However, just because it is difficult doesn't mean it isn't worth doing. This mean sacrifice though. The Bible says that we should live by God' principles and be prepared for any sacrifice that we may be required to make. This, sometimes, amounts to living in the margins of society.

The question is which layer of consciousness do you operate in? The day-to-day with just living for living's sake, or do you truly have a deeper purpose?

Oh country, where art thou?

I woke up this morning at 6AM (earlier than usual) to study for an accounting exam. However, after eating my Corn Pops, I wasn't much in the studying mood so I went on YouTube and checked out Ron Paul's channel. I have to say I'm addicted to this guy's commentary. He's another one of those guys who you just want to sit down and learn from. He's a congressman from the old school, and I don't mean the 1950's. No, I mean the 1750's.

This guy seems like a Modern Polymath. On the one hand, he's a doctor of medicine who still treats patients while he's in office, and he's a state rep. Also, he gets over 95% of his funding from private citizens donations when most federal politicians are getting big corporate backers. He also spends most of his time in his home district actually helping the local constituency.

This hearkens back to when congress was a group of people who were revered amongst the body politic, instead of the spineless variety currently inhabiting the congress. Those who are nothing but purveyors of soft talk and meaningless showmanship that Rome's great manipulators would have known quite well. Instead of a congress from the people, by the people, and for the people, we have what amounts to the beginning of the coming American oligarchy. A tyrannical bunch of Big Brothers from "1984" who will control us through our Telescreens with the modern Soma of mass media while all the time being aided by the rampant anti-intellectualism amongst the populous at large.

In all of this mess though is Ron Paul. This guy seems like the only man on our side, freedom's side. He openly speaks about abolishing many of the departments that the socialists (Hillary's ilk) would have us expand. His rationale is simple: let the market decide. Where as in the other corner we have Frau Clinton saying that we need to move our country into the future with "shared responsibility". I could be stereotypical say,"It didn't work for the Soviets", but that would be too easy and really not convince anyone - including myself. So, let's break it down.

Your family has each sibling perform a chore for the day. Your is to take out the trash and your sibling washes the dishes. This continues on for several weeks until your brother asks you to do the dishes so he can go on a date. It works out well, and next week he takes out the trash so you can go to a baseball game with some friends. You both agree that you should always alternate doing both chores so that you can free up that day to something you want to every other week. One week, you come home from your friend's house to notice that the trash hasn't been taken out and the dishes are dirty. You find out the next day your brother skipped out to be with his girlfriend. He tells you that he's really sorry but that he has special circumstances and that you'll have to help him out. Now you're stuck doing both with no foreseeable end. This is what socialism becomes. You take out the trash while your brother sits back and gets laid. 

Everyone forgot what it means to be human. Being fed and housed by the government isn't being alive it's being a pet, or perhaps more to the point - a slave. People don't cherish the same things any more. Whereas as early as 70 years ago people wanted to achieve the American Dream, now they just want to be given it. The only way the politicians can get the attention of the mob is to make them promises of the high-life, and the other way to pay for it is to raise taxes (or in the Republican's case cut somewhat them).

It's a shame that it's come to this because we come from such great intellectual roots. Before, during, and long after the Revolution this country had the highest rate of literacy in the history of man. People were always reading, leading to literary clubs and salons like the one Ben Franklin started which eventually became so wide spread and accepted that the public contributed of their free will to the construction of a library. People wanted to learn, a common young boy in his teens contacted Thomas Jefferson in a letter asking how he may become well read. He was given a most warm reply with a reading list of classic works to study with the promise he would write him about more.

What do our youth want today? Play Station 3 or Game Cube by my observations. Kids in bad circumstances today don't want an education, let alone a college degree. They'd much prefer a nice set of Jordan's or a Nintendo PSP. This isn't just remarked on by some extreme nut cases but by the most mainstream of all, Oprah. When she decided to build a school to teach disadvantaged youth she didn't build it in some urban ghetto. She built it in Africa.

Meantime, in the United States, we're on a viscous death spiral. We get bad leadership because only a fraction of the electorate cares and even few actually THINK. This leadership leads to a further decline of the culture which turns us more and more into the sheep that they must herd. My roommate and I were talking today how this actually turns against the force of natural selection. By turning the government into the great provider (and simultaneously a Leviathan) they are rewarding poor and destructive behavior which leads to a new generation of youth who are more predisposed to this same effect.

For instance, the lower proletariat in America is, by definition, not on steady financial ground. Under the old system these people scrap it out to survive, but those that make it have shown they have what it takes. I'm not advocating for raw Social Darwinism where people actually die; that's not for our modern era. I am a proponent, however, of something very close to that, where the only change is that there is a tacit agreement where people have to help each other by their own will, not the government, to survive.

This isn't done by mandate. It's done by self evident principles. For instance, if you are lazy in our current system you get to at least eat for free via the government's dole. If this was taken away, as in my system, the people would go hungry if they remained lazy. So there is going to be a reaction from this stimulus causing: increase in crime and /or decrease in laziness. Crime is the problem of this system, and if someone tells you it's not then they're kidding themselves. Just look at our current urban slums to see that people with nothing to loose are pushed into lives of crime. By their own decision, yes, but not by their inclination. Few are born a thief.

It is shown that crime positively correlates with economic conditions so much that we'd be foolish to ignore this part of the problem. More police is not the answer. Many NRA people (a group which I'm a proud member) think guns will solve everything. The fact is, though, that while they most definitely have their place in crime prevention (without ANY infringement), we can't have a bunch of bodies lying around in the transition phase from our current system to the one I'm proposing. No, education and restoration of the family are really the long term answers.

The family issue is something which I have little knowledge of how to correct. On the one hand it could be argued that this new set of rules would bring families together to survive, and on the other you could make a fair argument that it would turn into complete self-centered world where family is only liability. So, without any knowledge I'll have to go into education side of things.

Education is the older brother of child-rearing, which I mean is an evolution of it. This is due to rearing being one's enculturation in this society and to humanity itself. This learning must be followed by a more thorough look at what the state of knowledge is and how one can use it to good ends. One of the few government programs that I support is  public school. Now by that I mean that I think that many communities would benefit by having a school which is free (obviously taxpayer funded) to a certain age and mandatory for those in the district. Now, at the same time competition must be present in the form of a voucher system so that people can pull their money and put it in whatever school they choose. This system would only be in effect during this transition phase because after that communities would be left to decide for themselves how they were to operate.

Once a general level of education has been reached some type of trade school or college would be necessary (not mandatory) for a large part of society to fulfill all the skilled jobs. At the same time some unskilled people will always be needed, but since they are now a smaller group their labor is more valuable and hence their wages will increase as a result. If this level of education is maintained throughout the populous the crime level would drop quite low and people would be able to focus on higher pursuits than just trying to stay alive. For instance, on the family.

Perhaps now that most are living above the poverty line families are more likely to stay together, and the parents' natural tendencies to want the best for their children will shine through. This will hopefully improve the situation more. Now, with their children satisfied many will grow ambitious and want to strive for more. More of what it doesn't matter. Whether they want objects like a better house or luxury car, or if they just want to be able to go on a nice vacation with the family once a year. This will rekindle the working spirit to people who have actually earned it, and hence have more confidence (on average of course) to go out their and do something more.

This then would bring about a more limited form of government because no one wants the infringement on their abilities. This then leads to the ending of the transition phase into the full limited government area of my idea.

Now, I realize this will most likely never happen, but it's basically as close as mankind can come to utopia. In fact, this was how it was 200 years ago. Men were truly free, the government didn't steal half your money, and people had pride in themselves and what they achieved.

Today, I sit back and wonder how we progress from such great beginnings to what we have now. Aristotle had a succession of government which showed how it would slip from one to another as political forces were expressed into real change. He viewed this as inevitable. Our government evolved from a constitutional one to a mob-rule democracy. This was known by the earliest of the patriots. Prompting none other than Thomas Jefferson to say:

"And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms... the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

This to me is the only way things will get any better. This may seem radical today, but more people than you would care to know believe in it. I have talked to them, and they are not a majority by any means. However, support for the Revolutionary War was far from majority during its original conception. Its concept was somewhat taboo, just as today. You can imagine though with the intellectualism of the day, how the concept got legs and spread throughout the colonies. I really wish this would happen again. Today, though, I must sit back and talk of the movement that may someday bring about this change.

Zen and the Art of Automotive Maintenance

Yes, I know the title is a rip of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,"You wanna fight about it?".

Today, was an interesting day as Saturdays go because I got to do some work on my car - namely the cooling system. I don't want to get into it, but I bought a 1984 Nissan 300zx Turbo for a project car, and I definitely know that it's a project, but the jury is out over whether you can actually claim that it's actually a car, as it doesn't move anywhere.

So, to make a very long story short, I went to LA to get the car, and it had massive overheating problems. These continued the whole way until Amarillo, TX where it had to be "repaired" to the tune of almost double the cost of the car (it's a really cheap car though, $2,300). I was out of the shop for no more than 5 minutes when I had a massive cooling system failure on the highway and had to limp to the shop. Later, it was shipped to my house. The shop is NOT on my good side by any means, and we're letting the authorities that be try to sort it out.

So, after having the thermostat, housing, water pump, fan clutch, and a radiator cap replaced, the thing still overheats quickly. I looked on Z31.com, and it appeared that the radiator was the problem. I drove 2 hours to Summit Racing and bought a massive race radiator to cure the problem. Today was install day. The radiator went in with minor fuss, but the overheating persists. Took all day, and nothing. That's cars though.

A part of me though is happy that it wasn't the issue. It would have been too easy, and wouldn't have taught be very much. Even though taking the front end off a car and completely rerouting the cooling system was a learning experience; it is nothing compared to taking the engine out of the car complete. I tend to use a lot of analogies, my friends usually make fun of most of them, often because they are car related.

Cars have taught me a lot about life. I've never read the book above (though I just might pick it up after this), but I know it has to do with the philosophy of values and what quality really means. To car-nuts, like I claim to be, cars are a lot like women. In fact, I remember a study was done on car guys and non-car guys, and it showed that while most people use the part of the brain associated with object recognition for cars, car guys use the part of the mind dealing with human facial recognition. So, basically, gear heads think of cars like women.

A beautiful woman will have you turn your head to check her out, even for a split second. Guys get a mental "reward" out of viewing attractive women, however we the autophiles get that same reward with vehicles - pretty sick. I know that if a Ferrari drives by that most people, the vast majority of guys, and every gear head in the vicinity will be turning their heads. That's what cars do to us.

Further, driving is a lot like romance and intercourse at it's extremes. Right after you get a new sports car you baby it. You start to get to know each other. A report builds between the two of you. Then you want to go a little further. Why take that curve at 40 mph when I can get the tail out at 60. Pulling out of the apex and shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear gives you that adrenaline rush and dopamine flow that is akin to getting to 2nd or 3rd base. When your full out racing it's a lot like sex. Everything is happening so fast that you really can't think very much about what lies ahead, you're just reacting what's in front of you. In the end, as you can guess, crossing the finish line in both circumstances will have you in euphoria.

The point, though, is that cars and humans (some more than others) relate to cars. For some reason 3000 pounds of metal and plastic turns into something more than an object; it's like a good companion. They even utilize a lot of the same tools that doctors use to fix them. I just bought a thermometer to see if my car had a fever. You use a stethoscope to listen to the engine's internal sounds. There are even car "medicines" like fuel injector cleaner you can use to quick fix or band-aid the problems your car has. And, just like with humans, the meds rarely cure the problem, and you end up opening the chest cavity, taking out an organ and giving the car a transplant.

So, if they're are so close to humans, why wouldn't we be learning about ourselves from cars. Cars teach us that regular maintenance staves off disease, and that if you sit in the driveway too long some day you won't start up either. Driving is like accelerated life. You can transcend time by pushing the right pedal harder to pass by boring scenery or you can steer away from the pot holes. Driving gives me a rush, whether I'm going 100 in a turn or I'm cruising around Pittsburgh listening to some jazz at 30. The rush isn't just adrenalin, as 30 won't produce much. No, it's the dopamine. The same feeling that heroin gives. The car gives you a mild high; you're high - on life.

Learning from the adventures they put you through is also quite an experience. As my trip from LA to PA will eternally remind me, it's not A or B it's the points in between that really matter. This is a good lesson in life as well. We can't think that the goals we have will instantly bring us happiness. No, we all know that the majority of people just want to get enough money to retire and do what they really enjoy. So, we work 45 years or more, then at 65+ we get to sit back...    ...and die. Not the life you want to live. You want to see those points in between. You can't slave away doing nothing but serving "the man". It's not what people were meant to do. Remember in one of the best films in modern cinema,"Office Space", what Peter said to his friends? It's always stuck with me: "People went meant to live like this - to sit in tiny cubicles and type up pointless reports while your boss drones on about mission statements." (sic) I give props to whoever wrote that line because they captured the modern rat-race perfectly.

Our society has evolved to a point where our work is generally the low part of the week and the remaining 2/7th's is spent doing housework and basically vegetating in front of a TV or Computer. I pray to the Lord that my day-to-day life doesn't turn out like this. It's a vicious cycle. When you "settle down" and have family you're pretty much stuck with being conservative unless: you have major drive, are willing to sacrifice your kids' futures, or have a lot of money in the bank - in which case the others could still happen. A lot of middle age men tell me they wish they could go back and be in my shoes and live a life of entrepreneurship or adventure, but they can't turn back now. The road less traveled, as some have said, is less traveled for a reason. The "no turning back" mentality that is modern white collar life is this reason.

Now for me, and others like me, this is a fork in the road. Will we take the path to mediocrity, or will we set out on paths less traveled and explore the extent that they'll lead us to? I suspect the end of the trail lies not at the end of many miles, but only at the end of a single life. Which path will you choose?

Did he have passion?

When a Greek died there were no obituaries; they asked only one question,"Did he have passion?"

I started this blog with the name "The Life & Times of Nick Pinkston", but that was lame so I changed the name to something more interesting. Polymathism is derived, as you might guess, from Greek. "Poly"means many and here "math" means knowledge. The term Polymath is generally used to describe Renaissance Men such as Leonardo Da Vinci, who have mastered many fields of study. These people not only knew a lot of academic subjects like math, literature, and science, but they also knew about such activities as swordsmanship and horsemanship. Interestingly, to me at least, I'm a student of a wide variety of subjects, but I too find a great fascination with the modern equivalents of these activities: shooting and driving.

Chinese thinking says that if one attains mastery of one field then he can possess the ability to master any. I always draw parallels between these physical activities and the pursuits of the mind. I believe it was in the Book of Five Rings that famed swordsman Miyamoto Musashi says that if one masters the sword he can pursue something such as art, and master it far quicker. I was skeptical of this idea at first. Other than the idea of the sword and the brush being similar I believe this idea goes far deeper than that.

I thought about how this might relate to the use of grades in our society to determine one's merit for a job. Personally, I've never given grades much weight. Strange as it may seem to someone just stumbling on this blog, I actually don't care for the formalized instruction of the modern university. Nevertheless, society sees it as useful for a very similar reason than that above - that a 4.0 student appears to have mastered the art of getting good grades. Whether it was by merely memorizing for the tests or actually internalizing the knowledge makes no difference, the grades speak like these kids are destined for greatness.

Why doesn't that happen that often though? Why are people who are supposedly so smart and motivated not the captains of industry and the great social leaders or our day? Interesting questions to be sure, but to me they really haven't tried to master learning as much as manipulate its measurement. The first group of those who merely memorize make up the vast majority of those in the "high achievement" sector, but it's the second group which has more than just the perfect GPA. They have passion for their course of study.

It's always a treat for me to listen to a true master talk on his field. This is how learning was done before our system diluted learning for the sake of the masses - not to put down regular college folk in the least. I've never met a master without passion. Recently, I met a man famed in Pittsburgh for his entrepreneurial prowess - Don Jones. Listening to him was like hearing John the Baptist giving a sermon. A beautiful thing to behold when as you ask a question the man instantly comprehends and then gives such insight that it blows you away. It certainly did blow everyone away who was present. Except of course for one student who shall remain nameless who would shut up about his credit card debt - what a wasted opportunity for him.

This kid was of a group not yet mentioned in this post. Those of the people who think they're good, but really done achieve or have passion. They probably know in their heart of hearts that they are average, but they puff themselves up to try to take a mental vacation and live vicariously through their own dilutions of grandeur. This is known as mediocrity, and it may be the worst thing in existence.

God says in Revelation that,"since you are neither hot nor cold I spit you out (sic)". Dante in "The Inferno" said that, "the hottest places in hell are reserved for those in time of moral crisis have remained neutral." It seems that both God and man can agree that hell is the place for mediocrity. Thinking candidly, does this mean almost every politician (who undoubtedly has flip-flopped or dodged questions) has their destiny as wallowing in hell? I hope so [only kidding].

Yet few places in the world let you settle into mediocrity like the US. Everyone says they're going to be the next billionaire, but at last count Fortune said only about 1000 of them out of 6 billion  people have ever done it. No, in America everyone can settle into our mediocrity because it's the rest of the world's high achievement. In the third world if you had a 1986 Civic, A/C, and a TV you are upper middle class - in America you can receive food stamps. Heck, you actually can get money to but the car, money to pay your heating/cooling bill, and use the money left over to purchase those extra HBO channels you just have to have.

So, in this environment in which we live, who wouldn't get comfortable at our level of mediocrity? Overcoming this and doing something great is no easy task in America even though the land is still so fertile for activism in society, politics and  business - despite FDR. For all of you living in a mediocre existence with unfulfilled dreams don't just look at this post and use it as a crutch to say,"that's the reason I'll never get out of the rat-race." You have to take those steps in the right direction by finding your true purpose and using the tools God gave you to truly succeed.

 

 

First Post!

It's 9:13AM as I begin the first post on my first blog ever. I have to thank a good friend of mine,  Brian Lash  for being the sole inspiration for me creating this blog. I saw what he's been doing at his various websites (of which 2 are business ventures), and I couldn't resist the temptation to begin speaking my mind in a public forum as well - albeit with a current audience of 0.

Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. I should probably say why I'm doing this and the topics that will be covered. Firstly, I've always wanted to write a journal of the daily events of my life so that I could actually remember, and also to decompress from it. This, however, is only half of the reason I choose to go forward. The other deals with the fact that I can produce more hot air than almost any human I've ever encountered. I have an opinion on everything and I'm quite outspoken amongst my friends and colleagues  on  many topics from the "hard" politics & philosophy to such soft things as cars & clothing.

I should probably go ahead and say that my post will mirror my interests. However, this doesn't really narrow the scope of this blog to an easily recognizable category - therefore it won't attempt a clear focus. This is basically just a collection of free-association writes which will pour unedited out of my brain and into my finger tips as they caress the keyboard creating the symbols you're currently viewing to then convert - through vision - into your own brain. I appreciate healthy debate on my topics, if I happen to touch on something that you might have grievance with lets cultivate it. It was Socrates who said, "An unexamined life is not worth living (sic)", and I would fully agree.

Back to the interests though. I enjoy many topics although those who know me would probably think either of business or politics when asked what my interests were. This is kind of a misnomer about my life though as I believe that God must be the foremost pursuit in one's life. However, these two former interests are not mutually executive of the latter. To the contrary, they may be very beneficial for bring glory to God.

A man is endowed by his Creator not only with certain unalienable rights, but also with a purpose and the tools (skills & circumstance) by which to begin to tackle this purpose. Everyone needs to find there purpose in life in order to be truly satisfied, and being a Christian I find that God must be intertwined with this end purpose for the very reason that He Himself  gave you it in the first place.

But, as many have asked throughout time, how can I find my purpose? The answer cannot really be imparted by mere words, but a general feeling I've come to conclude is that you must look at your core beliefs (in me, from God's influence) and see what possibilities can be done within the framework of your value/belief system. This will yield a vast amount of answers, but from here you can begin to narrow down. The filtering process must be done via examining yourself and knowing your true qualities. This is easier said than done. The Greeks had a classic phrase carved into the Apollo's temple that said,"gnothi seauton", meaning , "Know Thyself".  This  was recognized by them as hard too as the rest of the phrase goes on to say,"and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and the universe. One may never reach perfection in this, however, it's quite worth while to try.

For me personally, I'll have to say I thank God for my traits and my circumstances. Imagine, of the over six billion people in this world today (let alone the countless souls of the past) I was born in the most free and prosperous country in the world, America, and I was born into an amazing family which has nurtured me in an environment which I only am beginning to recognize was far superior in its quality than that of the vast majority of Americans, not to mention the rest of the world. By quality I mean how I was raised in that I was given the freedom to explore my fascinations and hobbies unabated to this day. I also was given the resources to explore these areas far beyond what most kids (and now college age adults) were ever given. I must be eternally thankful to my parents for this most cherished gift they have given me.

My life, though, is definitely not storybook by any means, though sometimes it may feel like it. I haven't gone into my activities, but they are far removed from what most people my age do. I don't go to parties - heck I've never even been drunk. I could care less about sports. I don't follow the trends in clothing. I hate almost all TV. And generally I don't relate to most of my peers (defined age and demographics).No, my peers seem too concerned with having a good time for no reason than having a good time using reason.

Life right now is amazing and slightly frightening. You see, my goal for my future work is that of the entrepreneur. I'm an idea guy and the only way to really get your ideas out there is to become the evangelist yourself and JUST DO IT. I see my aforementioned friend going through this but in a much larger way. He just graduated from Pitt (where also go to school) and now is living the "entrepreneurial lifestyle" as he often refers to it. His position is where I will be in about 10 months, so I must prepare.

The extent of my business experience is really only gathered from the past two years. First, I tried to try my hand at dealing guns, which I still do part time, but what I found was there is no money in the selling of guns you don't make unless you really sell a lot of guns. Selling accessories is possible, but the market is flooded with offerings. I then tried (still trying?) to get my own unique models imported from South America and Greece, but this never really panned out either. Getting in contact with people across the world is only the easy part - getting a dialog going is a whole other matter.

After this, my friend Anthony Russo, who I went to Shenango High School with, and I got into the visual display business which has actually generated money. We're currently developing a "green" offering set to bring whiteboards into the 21st century with the increasing environmental concerns within much of the general populous, and hence into politics (we'll discuss that later).

This summer of 2007 is a rallying point for my future entrepreneurial endeavors. This blog will be the evidence and story of my travels through them. More than that though this blog will write down how this experience, along with many others, will shape who I am and my view of the world. I appreciate you reading this rather long post, and hope you will comment and perhaps continue reading in the future.

-Nick