land lubbers

Today we received the final papers for our land title in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. We’re land owners, free and clear, all paid off in cash. Thanks to Karen for helping push us over the edge of the last stretch - and thanks to the rest of you for all your well wishes.

Party at our place in 2006. Bring sunscreen, beer and a Bobcat.

Posted by tee in de la vida
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June 28, 2005

Wise words from Edward Abbey

“Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast…. a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can, while it’s still here.

So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space.

Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards.”

Posted by tee in quotes
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June 20, 2005

recompense for the 9 to 5ers

In every freelance or independent career - assuming it lasts long enough - there comes an inevitable graduation from The Glorious Life to The Real Life. Working in your pajamas, while a nice touch, eventually moves from feeling privileged to feeling lazy and sloppy, and then so does the work you’re doing in them. A few years of rolling out of bed at 10:30 or so, and you start to notice those extra hours of sleep showing up, reincarnated, as empty air in your bank account. Working poolside in the sun with your laptop, and oh how it hurt to let this one go, means little more now than some eye strain and a lot of dust in your keyboard.

So, like other freelancers and self-employed small business owners before me, I had to suck it up and start treating it a lot like a Real Job - with a real schedule and a real boss, even if its me, and a real production process. This resulted in a few frustrating, moments during that transition… I don’t do structure well. But at that point I was starting to wear through my pajama bottoms, and forgetting to tame the bed-head before going out on appointments never makes a good impression, and while mid-afternoon naps do wonders for one’s well-being, the effect is soon reversed when you wake up and realize you’ve slept through an important meeting — SO — I think it’s better to just not wrong that whole delicate universe to begin with.

So for those of you who’ve been reading for years, since way back when I stuck my fingers in my ears at you as we trotted off at 3pm to go grab an ice cream, or took a two-day, mid-week road trip to who knows where just because, or lounged around on the deck with an iced tea glass and a notebook: here is your retribution. We are all in the mighty trenches together. I will not, however, wear shoes. You can’t make me.

Posted by tee in favorites, freelancing
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