Sarah's place is dope

these three crummy pics don't even begin to say it - Sarah and Yotam's place is dope.

right next to what looks like a priceless childhood heirloom is a $1 usb charger. an alarmingly powerful computer sits on a cardboard box. in the hallway, an immensely capable soundroom has been constructed (right and left full-size studio monitors adorned with a sailor's and a roaring 20's hat, respectively); a player piano roll sits between modern speakers beneath an entire wall used to watch high-definition video streams projected from the ceiling. an impressionist photocopy of the nasa logo, and a statement that AN OCEAN OF PRODUCTS AWAITS YOU frame internal doorways, and a mezuzah the front.

and the minutia! art lines the walls, some of which i can only guess was made by one or the other for or with the other, with or without the other's knowledge and later presented or discovered, in any and all cases celebrated in some way.

the stove is spotless - it's new, or extremely carefully cooked upon, or very rarely. the fridge and freezer nearly empty. as if these two either live on their art or are perhaps so consumed by its atmospheric hunger there is no further space for a lower art, that of cooking.

this place is clean, and functional, and so full of character i can't believe i know these people, but i know i always have and will.

pachamama, the sun and weather

the other night we were privvy to a very interesting and engaging event here at my cousin Brian's place. it's called a Pachamama Alliance get-together and featured a wide array of people - all quite politically outspoken in favor of progressive environmental and social issues. we're not part of the Alliance but we were invited by Brian's girlfriend, a local leader in the Alliance, to participate and converse.

it was a super laid back gathering - felt almost like a mini block party really - an awesome potluck (lots of quiche, haha), then some more or less formal introductions and sharing, then conversation groups and a screening of a documentary about climate change and how we're all tied up together on this planet.

i enjoyed listening and participating - and came away wondering, is it enough to live my life minimally?

the pics are of sunset on that day and the day thereafter - we're trying to focus on seeing sunset or sunrise every day - an exercise that has helped to ground me even as things seem spiraling.

every single morning and every single night there are these incredible atmospheric phenomena we call simply, sunrise and sunset. as the boiling energy of the exploding sun streaks by us, it ignites the sky in fiery brilliance and grants everything in sight the cool cloak of utter peace - the calm before the storm, the drop before the refrain, the indrawn breath before the outpouring of song. and we almost always miss it. And that's very sad...we should try to enjoy this daily magic.

~Micah

Jam-packing our little car

the black trash bags crammed into our little car are filled with things we don't need.

this was a really remarkable exercise for me and Wyatt - the third or fourth time we've done this in as many years - mostly because it's always *always* surprising how much stuff you have accumulated.

i like to think we don't live "heavily", and i'm utterly confident we'll be able to put everything we need (and most of what we want) into two suitcases apiece before hauling off to new zealand.

but in both of the last two places we've lived we happen to have had a ton of closet space. and what happens when you have more space? you almost inevitably find things to fill it up with.

it's not depressing to rediscover this fact every 12-18 months, but it does start to make me wonder if simply having a smaller space will eliminate the need for exercises like this. maybe spring cleaning while living in a van or a tiny house would benefit from an annual "move" - take it all out, minimize it, and put it all back in again.

in other news, the little car is also going to need some work we're barely going to have time to do. it's incredible how much parts for this vehicle cost from local providers - probably because of the small volume. ordering from rockauto, though, i got both front axles and rush delivery for less than $170 - it's probably going to be about that per side to get them installed, which is not an insignificant sum but still less than flying and renting cars would cost, assuming nothing breaks (:

but our little Pearl is doing just great. i love this car, seriously.

A New Chapter

Yesterday was my last day at Unidesk, where I'd worked since July 2014 - about 2.5 years. When I gave notice a few weeks ago it was very touching how people reacted, mostly with initial dismay and disbelief about what I said was next for me, and then with repeated and warm well-wishes.

As you can probably tell from the cake they got me, I'm moving to New Zealand and planning to live The Van Life a bit.

I've been planning this for quite a while - I have a small mini-ITX rig set up that I can fit pretty easily in a suitcase and some wireless peripherals (well and a wired gaming mouse lol), and just finally bought a really nice Dell Chromebook 13 (typing this on) which is going to be my primary "endpoint". I'll get a cheap LCD monitor locally to do proper work on my desktop.

What am I going to be doing there? I'm not sure yet! Some fun and exciting and scary things, pretty sure - like living as a technologist in a van.

The van thing isn't 100% for sure - but it's all I'm thinking about. I've always wanted to live like that, very lightly and efficiently - and many think the same way. I'd rather the outdoors be my living room. I've come to realize that for me, forn now, little physical space is required and in fact I prefer it that way.

And then there's the discussion of what I'm going to be doing when I'm not jammed in a van! I'm going to be speaking with my alumni network (lean though that it is in NZ) and trying to set up interviews with IT VARs...but in any case I'm going to really focus on going down a more technical path, whether it's in operations or support or engineering - but not 100% in sales.

Or so I say for now, ha. I really do enjoy the challenges of business development, but I feel the call for moving back towards a more technical direction.

Watch this space - probably going to be talking about my technical choices, what classes if any that I participate in, etc.