thank you crab! I do help the children be in the sky!

For the past two weeks I've felt like I've been on the verge of getting sick but it never fully hit and today I feel like I'm out of it and more in my body and brain than I have been. So that's good.

good good good.

was coaching all weekend

 Definitely my proudest moment in coaching with the comp team. This feels like the first year where I really understood what the Regionals competitions test and was able to apply that directly to the training. The kids work so hard and care so much and they were able to do their best climbing on the day OR they've gotten so good that even having an "off" day still let them reach their goals.

It was a big moment and I think the team is only going to get better while staying true to having fun. 

a true mark of distinction

 is to wear socks adorned with the likenesses of animals upon them. For everywhere you tread you will signal to all with eyes to see that you are aligned with the beasts of the earth, and the flying things, and the critters of the deep.

I hate crowds. I like people.

I ain't down with the plague but I'm cool with the beetles and bugs.

-Jesse Welles 

here's my anti-infantilization message

let's stop acting like we can't believe it when one day it's hot and the next day it's snowing.

I know. It's a big change. It feels sudden.

But surely we can imagine more. Surely anyone over the age of 12 or so has seen enough weather changes in the Spring to know that this type of thing can and does happen.

Let's broaden our imagination a little bit to consider a world without cars perhaps. Or not paving over large swaths of land to create heat islands and useless stupid infrastructure. Or put plants on roofs and stuff. 

I don't want to keep playing the tutorial and level one every time. Let's get to level two. Maybe try out level three? I don't know. Could be fun.

crab likes the dwelling series!

 thank you, crab!

here's a little amateur zoology lesson for you all, crabs are natural dwellers.

Recently I have devised what I call the 'dwelling index' which is how far a given creature travels from its home. Crabs score very high on the dwelling index because my understanding of most crab species tells me that they like to lurk in a safe spot and then rush out when opportunity comes along. 

And that's the way to do it.

Liver propaganda would have you believe that if you want to achieve something you can't just expect it to show up on your doorstep one day.

Um, excuse me, livers. Millions of years of evolution would beg to disagree.

Look at the noble eel, for example.

How did this proud creature make it to the top of charts of the animal kingdom? How did this beautiful beast become nearly synonymous with the word animal itself? 

Oh I don't know---by hanging out in a rock until it seems something cool and then lunging out and biting it!

I feel you hearing but not listening. Let me show you a picture:

Ignore the words for right now. This is a picture of a pyramid. And everybody falls somewhere on the pyramid. A lot of people, because of delusions of grandeur think they're probably close to the CPR SCORE zone. Wrong! 

You, me, crab, and eels are all down by Gross Margins and SG&A. The eels know this. And that's why they stand to triumph over the Monthly Overheads who walk around thinking their CPR Scores in their empty chasm skulls. 

I want to be clear. I'm not saying you shouldn't strive to be the best version of yourself that you can be. You should always strive for personal excellence in what you do. That's the dwelling way. Hone your craft. I'm saying that all of history and mythology and storytelling tells that the CPR Score zone is the death zone. Look at this:

The Story of Icarus. The story of Prometheus. Any Shakespearean Tragedy. Any Greek Tragedy. Scarface. That weird little movie that Donald Glover made like 10 years ago where a bloody golden tooth comes out of his nose. It's not compatible with being a human. 

And then you say, 'well I think eels are gross and weird and I want to be a hero!' 

Not the perfect analogy but close enough.

I don't know I feel like I got too serious. I feel like a person who showed up at school one day and made a presentation you never really understood but kinda thought about for a long time after and the teachers were clearly upset because this isn't what they thought they were getting.

I fancy myself a golden buffoon

 buffoon comes from the medieval Latin word 'buffo' meaning clown. 

A clown is someone who seriously undertakes the act of being foolish. What better thing to set seriousness against than fun and silliness?

a continuation of my dwelling series

 hello welcome back to my series on dwelling where I talk about why you shouldn't be focused on living you should be focused on dwelling and what that means.

today's episode is about dwelling like you're from earth. The planet earth. You are the thing the planet earth made. Alan Watts talks about this. Like rocks and oceans and volcanoes and trees, humans are a thing the planet made. You should dwell like you are a part of the planet.

Don't be allergic to things. Whatever it is you're allergic to, stop it. What are you, an alien? What do you mean your immune system reacts to something that won't harm you. Cut that out. 

Touch dirt every day. What a gift to touch dirt. The dirt and the sky are the two most important things. 

Be thought of as a bum. Today the children I coach told me I look like I could be a hobo. I say, 'yes. this is a sign that I am dwelling correctly.' My appearance and the impression it makes matches my values. Do you think yourself stylish? Do you think yourself well put together? Then you are a slave to images and figments. Aim to appear in all ways to have risen up from the dirt with breath inspired.

When you say words, think of the earth as burping them. Because the earth delights in itself and so should you.