i am

I haven't been referred to as "contamination" in a while. Or maybe ever. I'm not sure I've met anyone who knows so little, yet seems so convinced they are an authority worthy of teaching people...

Well in my case, it's happening. It's only a matter of how I really feel about it that I'm sorting out. Only two or three things can get in the way of it. It's ok if they do. But if they don't, early spring next year I will be on the road. I'm already weeding out and getting rid of a bunch of stuff, and preparing in other ways. But this thread isn't about me... That was just my way of saying I to some extent understand what he's talking about.

I struggle with this myself... I ask, is it reasonable to expect to be doing what I love? Is it reasonable to expect to be able to do what I want to do? Is there anyone out there who doesn't also wish they were home or somewhere other than work, doing what they actually want to be doing? Has there been any time in history when people were doing what they loved, rather than what they need to do to survive? I'm struggling a lot lately with the idea of quitting my job and taking a year for travel and...reflection and looking forward, I guess. But I wonder, since I've always only wanted to do what I want to do, am I setting myself up for no job being up to my standards of what I'm willing to sacrifice my time for? Am I being unreasonable, expecting to only do what I want to do? I actually love manual labor that takes care of my needs. Hunting, building, cutting wood etc. So I'm ok with that. I don't like trading my time for money, so that my money can buy the things that take care of those needs. Even without a consumer culture, we are in a society that is set up so that the majority of us work a job, to pay someone else to grow our food and build our homes and provide heat and water. Can the earth support this large of population of people, all working a farm and hunting? I doubt it...we'd need a population collapse. Not taking a stand on one side or the other of what you're saying. Just rambling because I struggle with some of the same stuff. But sometimes wonder if I should be telling myself: "get over it. Everybody does something they don't necessarily love, in order to make a living. " But then we here, maybe better than most others, know that's not necessarily true... The world can only support so many people living a complete alternative lifestyle, refusing to go along with the norms of modern society. Because those people are to some extent living on the backs of those who do conform. No food in the dumpster if people weren't working and buying that food. No hitch hiking if someone else wasn't working and buying those cars so you can get your free ride. Etc. Anyway, I feel your pain...as it were

And something of a "second brain". Anyone listen to radiolab? They had a good one recently where there was an experiment with the effects of probiotics on mice. They found that what is in your gut directly effects how you brain functions, through the vagus nerve. (Or at least it does in mice) Dr Yang (from what I remember) thought of the intestines as a second brain, and the two communicate. And of course a location with a capacity to store large amounts of energy, due to the physical makeup of it, and the ability of that very real physical material to store real physical energy.

I like every Dan Cong I've tried. Not sure if I've tried that particular kind, though. Let us know how it is!

Is the cake the white tea? Never seen a white tea in a cake, or heard of it being aged! Nice. Where is this? I've only been to a tea shop in Shanghai (Song Fang), and it was more of the expensive, boutique variety... I'm excited that we're getting back into cold weather, so I can start using my tea pots for the oolongs and puers.

I guess to get back on topic, I love green and wulong. I drink green all summer, wulong all winter, and got into some puer this last winter. I get my tea from seven cups, and every now and then some wulong from red blossom. Taiwan wulongs really are sweeter tasting than Chinese... I switch up my favorite "every day" teas. From seven cups I like this http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Yin-Gou-Mei-Cha-Silver-Fish-Hook-Eyebrow-Green-Tea-2011.html And this [/url]http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Premium-Huang-Shan-Mao-Feng-Organic-Green-Tea-2012.html[/url] When it's on sale. Those are my most common teas I drink all day and really go through in the summer. I like these as every now and then teas. They are GOOD (IF you have a taste for green tea. If you're new to it, don't waste your money): http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Meng-Ding-Gan-Lu-Sweet-Dew-Organic-Green-Tea-2013.html http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Bi-Luo-Chun-Green-Tea-2013.html I like pretty much every wulong I try, but I like any of this type (they call it "rock" wulong, but other shops won't know what you're talking about if you ask for rock wulong). http://www.sevencups.com/tea_shop/Wu_Yi_Mtn_Rock_Wulongs/ And the tung ting from red blossom tea company is really good for the price. http://www.redblossomtea.com/tea/oolong/tung-ting-charcoal.html Careful, though...I can spend $40 or more a month on tea if I'm not careful.

I guess it would be the difference between "storing" and "keeping". If you have a large stock of tea that stays put, and you hold onto it for several months at a time (like a tea shop), sure, store it in the fridge. If you drink the tea every day, or almost everyday, and are constantly taking it in & out of the freezer/fridge, you'd have better luck and better tasting tea if you just left it in the cupboard, even beyond its freshness date. Every time you open the freezer or fridge door, condensation starts forming on everything in there, and taking it in & out of there over and over is not good. Freeze-thaw, freeze-thaw. My tea stays in a cupboard, and tastes great. My friend follows the "conventional wisdom" of "if you're going to keep the tea longer than a month or so, put it in the freezer". To me, his tea tastes like a freezer. But he may not wrap it well enough.

Red Blossom tea company also has good tea, in my experience. Mostly (all?) Taiwan tea.

Sevencups.com Sorry my ipad can't do a direct link...

Sevencups.com is where I get my tea, and especially if you choose a puer that says its good for beginners, you'll do ok. I've had fishy puer (not stored correctly) and puer that tasted like straight up compost. But I have some now that I drank and loved all last winter. Fridge and especially freezer are not good places to store your tea, unless you live in a tropical climate and can't get away from heat and moisture. Every time you take your tea out of the freezer you get condensation on it, and it's constantly freeze-thawing every time you have some. Puer has been stored for decades without a freezer or fridge...why would you need to change that now? J Store it in a cool, dark, dry place. Same for all teas. Green and white will not be as good after about 6 months. Drink it faster than that. Wulong and puer will last much longer.

Thank you! Ok. So I'm not really filling it up the neck, with just enough room for it to foam? I'm filling it just high enough that it reaches the narrowing part? I'll try doubling the coffee amount. So this is meant to be a very small cup of coffee? The way I was making it, it filled a regular size coffee mug. When I was a coffee drinker, I liked it very strong and very dark. That's still the taste I go for, but my caffeine tolerance has gone down a bit.. I'll let you know how it turns out. And maybe consider a smaller pot.

The more ok with myself I become, the more social I've become. I've always been an introvert. But most people who know me now would not say this about me. I can easily go days without taking to anyone, and not get lonely. But I know a lot of good people, and it's nice spending time with them. Most of the people worth knowing appreciate the attitude, frankness, honesty and viewpoints of a person who is genuine, andinterested in higher goals. For me, the inability to enjoy or even tolerate social interactions with less like-minded people was MY issue, not theirs. The more I figure myself out and accept myself, the more I enjoy social interaction. And the less I need it.

Hopefully I can actually get something out of this before people turn it into a pit-bound mess... I'm asking as many different types of people as I can so I can hear all the perspectives. Say I went on the road in a small RV for about a year. I'd mostly stick to western national forest and BLM land, and out front of friends and families houses. But I'd definitely be in a parking lot here and there, and unfortunately with meth and all that crap even the national forests in some areas aren't safe. What are your opinions on packing a handgun? State-by-state law differences are something I'd deal with later. For now I'm just curious on people's opinion of the gun for protection. I hunt and have a rifle and I know gun safety. I don't know if I would shoot someone...but if they were coming in my camper and didn't stop after I warned them that I have a gun and they'd better go away, I would have to assume that they mean me real harm. I'm not against defending myself from a real threat. Anyway, what do you think? Some friends say do NOT go on the road without a gun. Others would never think of owning a gun. I'm somewhere in the middle...

What's your culture? "Camping" isn't exactly right, but partially. Camping in the situation I'm describing will be all over, including national forest (where there are rolling meth labs, marijuana plantations, and general crazies), BLM land (same deal), parking lots, city streets, rest stops, neighborhood streets. I've been on plenty of road trips and never needed a gun for protection, which is why I'm leaning toward "no". But plenty of people do travel with guns, and they have solid reasoning for it. Btw, many of my friends, and many people in the western US, ESPECIALLY bring guns when they're camping. Target practice, protection against crazies, bears, mountain lions... Camping might be the third most popular place to bring guns, after war and hunting. But I'll be "traveling", more than "camping", though I do plan to settle in to some desert and forest areas for up to a month at a time.

Yeah thanks. I don't really need hookups. No bathroom, and my electrical system is really minimal (no TV or microwave ). But safe places will be key. Almost anywhere in the western US I can find free undeveloped campsites on federal land. But once I move east...state campgrounds are going to start looking better. I'm definitely continuing to lean toward no gun.

Part of the issue with an RV is that most states require the gun and ammo to be locked, separately. I think maybe once I'm parked I might be able to have it handy and loaded...but possibly not. So is unless I'm breaking the law, the gun wouldn't be accessible in an emergency anyway. I did consider getting snake shot...like bird shot in a shot gun but available for other caliber guns. But as mentioned...are we just persuading someone to go away, or stopping a violent attack? Because the above post is exactly right. If somebody is on drugs or adrenaline or both, it takes death to stop them. They'll keep fighting till they die. Well...we'll see. I don't have a gun at home for protection (unloaded long rifle in the next room doesn't do much good) so probably I won't be carrying one. But it's safe and I'm not a target where I live. On the road in places where I don't necessarily know what areas to avoid, and being obviously a traveler...makes me more of a target. Boy, thinking about killing someone and being attacked sure sucks..

Yeah a couple comments. Agreed that others cannot decide this for me. I'm just really unsure...so I'm looking for other perspectives. I'll take everything I hear from people and weigh it, and possibly make a decision that doesn't make any sense compared to the advice I get And I agree that there's the trap of "when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail"...a gun bought only for the most dire life and death situations might get pulled in any random confrontation if you have it...which is not good. And it could turn a fist fight into a deadly thing. I carry a knife at all times, because it comes in handy quite a bit. I don't think I'd pull it in a fight. If someone pushes me, and I pull a knife...I just seriously escalated the situation. I won't pull it as an empty threat...I know if I pull a knife, I just took the fight to a different level and I'd better be prepared to use it. However...if someone is breaking into an RV, and they KNOW someone is in it...That's a situation where a weapon is called for. I'm either beating them over the head with a wood club if I don't have a gun, or shooting them if I do. I tend to think I don't need it, or want it around. However, and this is a completely small-sample unscientific study....but it seems to me that people like me, who have never been the victim of a home invasion or car jacking, find it easy to say "you're being paranoid". Where I've rarely if ever talked with anyone who HAD been a victim, who doesn't keep a gun and is prepared to use it. So...is keeping a store of fresh water and food in the case of a natural disaster paranoid? Is having a gun that you may well never need to use a risk not worth taking? I know fresh water and food can't (necessarily) kill someone by mistake...but you get my point. I'm hesitant to travel with a handgun. But I'm comfortable enough with guns that it wouldn't be a huge deal...but I do feel that it would somehow change the feel of my travels and how I view myself negatively. But I'm not the kind of person (almost, but not quite) who will say "what happens happens, and I'm not willing to hurt anyone anyways, so I'll just hope that no one messes with me... Thanks so far!

As I mentioned, that only becomes an issue IF I decide to get one. I'll worry about it later.

Ok, I understand what you're saying. This is what I have. The whole thing tapers from the start, but it "necks down" quite a bit about halfway, then stays about the same width. http://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Coffee-cezve-wooden-handle/dp/B003NQJGE4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380481725&sr=8-1&keywords=Turkish+Coffee+Pot+%28cezve%2Fibrik%29+with+wooden+handle+-+XL+14+oz So it looks like 14oz. Thanks!

I finally did it! Light/medium roast, ground right before brewing in my new hand-grinder. 3 heaping teaspoons of coffee, just less than 1 teaspoon of sugar, just over a cup of water. My results: I had an image of the fine foam breaking through the cork which didn't play out...it was a lot less obvious, and I found that the cork was not going to be completely submerged before the coffee was boiling. So I just got it as close as possible, three times, before calling it good. Let it sit for a couple minutes and poured it out. Right away I was afraid I could see too far into it...not strong enough. But then I remembered this is not a dark roast coffee. It's been about 5 years since I was a coffee drinker, so I'm not the best guinea pig for this. So my opinion: It's good coffee! I'm sure my method is lacking some things, and will get better. It was definitely not bitter, and didn't seem strong. Is 3 heaping teaspoons a lot of coffee for one cup? I don't really know. I didn't used to add sugar to my coffee. So it's hard to compare it to what I remember. I mostly tasted sugar. Maybe I'll try it once with no sugar. Anyway...I'm a bit more wired than I would be with my normal tea! But not jittery.

I'm sure it was a bit of an exaggeration, but gets a point across.

Currently reading Attention Revolution, by Alan Wallace.

Multiple times in my life I've had periods of overwhelming urges to DO GOOD. As in be over the top honest, let everyone know exactly how I feel and why I do the things I do so they understand, never do anything that hurts someone's feelings or, if I feel I have, to go to them and explain and correct it. To not do anything negative to anyone and not leave any loose ends, to do the good things the little voice in my head tells me to, even if it seems silly or unnecessary, but that most people in our society would avoid because its outside social norms. To be completely fair even when it's awkward or unpopular. To basically be a good person. I always feel this to some extent, but don't always act on it as much as other times. And I feel like some of this stuff IS blockages. When I get used to not going out of my way to be nice or do something for someone when something is telling me I should, just because it might seem "weird" or something, so I talk myself out of it. I suppose part of having open channels and being clear is not having the little emotional blockages that are almost a prerequisite to living in modern society and fitting in. And I guess I'm probably creating blockages, or strengthening them, when I ignore the voice... Not sure if this is in line with the heart or something else...

I was reading a post by someone on an automotive forum I'm on earlier this week, and his sig says something like : Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet. I almost thought I was on this site for a second.