Peak Oil is the idea that someday soon (or perhaps already) humans will have taken out more oil per day out of the ground then we will ever be able to take out again. If you read over the site Matthew Savinar presents his case that this event will happen soon. He also details his vision for what this means for America and the world economy. I think that he presents a compelling case, but I'm not qualified to assess his interpretation of the facts. I tend to be impressed by the sense that the oil companies have begun to act like this is going to be true.

The biggest effect that this would have on our way of life is that decisions about energy would be made on a much different basis. I have started to take this into consideration when I make decisions that will affect my life. I make my decisions based on the assumption that at sometime in the next 5 to 10 years oil will cost anywhere from 2 to 5 times what it does now. There would also be corresponding rises in the costs of natural gas and electricity. Fuel economy and conservation become much more important factors in purchasing and using anything that consumes energy.

This whole subject is something that I am still pondering at times, I'm considering other points of view, but I must say that it has had an effect on the way that I make decisions.

Ahhhh yes, here I am sporting the mutton chops. In front of my wall of award winning albums. 

This picture gives me an idea. I would like to make a photo essay of a certain journey that I took once upon a time. This picture captures a spot that once caused me to ponder the idea of a College of Education and what kinds of things one would learn there. This picture was taken at Penn State University. I work at the Pattee/Paterno Library which is not far from this spot. 

Another book that I have been looking at lately is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. This book is great for hippies. My fiancee sometimes accuses me of "turning into a hippy", which is completely unfair. Just because I spend a lot of time thinking about composting and sustainablility doesn't mean I'm a hippy. Or maybe it does ....

Anyway, the book is about using naturally occuring (wild) yeasts and bacteria to make foods and beverages. This includes breads, cheeses, krauts, and of course beer and wines. My personal favorite recipe is for "Hooch", which is a type of alcohol favored by prison inmates. I'm not going to go into details, but it involves fruit cocktail and a 55 gallon garbage bag. Yummy!

The Heart of Wood is a blog about this blog. It self references in a confusing manner.

I just finished reading Beowulf's Children by Larry niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes. I thought it was an excellent book. It's the second book in a series about people from Earth who colonize a world called Avalon. They run into some hostile species, which generates quite a bit of action. The book moves quickly, and it is not very thought-provoking. I recommend it if you are looking for the reading equivalent of an action movie.



If the above link works, you can buy it from Amazon and I should get paid a small sum. I've never used one of these before, so I don't know if it's going to work.

The Tao Of Programming is for my friends in IT. It's one of the best items of it's type that I have ever seen. It's pretty truthful about Tao and it's not bad on the programming either.