My Bunker in the Amazon...

... or how to survive the Earth's imminent doom (read Zombie Apocalypse, Nuclear Holocaust, Global Climate Change, Explosion of Yellowstone, etc)

For some time now, I have been contemplating the imminent doom of the human race. Now, I tend to view myself as a rational, scientific human being. Albeit, one who occasionally gives in to feats of irrational phobias from time to time, but otherwise, I'm generally stable. However, the year 2012 is fast approaching and with it, a slew of apocalyptic hype. The evidence was gathered, the ancient tomes of times past pulled out of their quiet corners, the everyday science of the world gussied up to marvel and incite powerful emotions, and the literature expanded exponentially. The general consensus: the world is going to end in three years. To which I say, well shit.

Now, if we are to put any stock in these allegations, even for an instant, what's one of the first things we do about it? Panic. Yes. And then prepare. Prepare for the inevitable doom of our life on earth. Our realities, our social constructs, our culture and our history. And how do you go about doing such a thing? That's where the bunker in the Amazon rain forest comes into play.

Originally, when it first came down to it, I was just content being pissed off that I wouldn't be able to finish graduate school. Seriously, I go through high school hating it, looking forward to the freedom of college. Then I spend all of this time in my undergrad, working my ass off, listening to professors who butcher the subject I love (granted, there are some really great professors out there), wading through extensive lectures and putting up with it, just so I may one day enter a graduate program and finally get the opportunity to do what I want to do with my life and my education. Obviously, if the world were to end come 2012, these plans would be null.

With this in mind, I began to stew upon some ideas. At the start of this blog post, I thought I'd just explain why I wanted a bunker in the Amazon. However, after three solid paragraphs of flippantly crafted rhetoric, I kind of want to give this more thought and attention, to idle away at my office hours and allow myself the opportunity to indulge in all of my paranoid scenarios along with the chance to explore a sustainable way of living in extreme conditions.

So the post that began as How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse may just turn into If We Can Survive a Zombie Apocalypse, Why Not Live Like This Everyday and Not Have to Worry About It At All? Now, without further ado, I present The Plans, to be richly and comprehensively embellished upon in a later post at a later date - when I don't have two labs, an interview and a meeting, breathing down my neck.

The Plans:
(multiple, yes, and listed in order of how dire of a situation the world's in)

Canada

The Amazon

An island

An underground city in the subway/metro system of a large city

Antarctica

An underwater ecosystem

Outer Space


In the promised later posts, I will, in all of my amateur expertise, name a situation that would require us to initiate The Plans, and then go about explaining what The Plan entails. The point is to be epic, but realistic at the same time - won't that be fun?!

It's been a while...

“Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary.”
- Mark Twain

It's been a while since the last time I've pontificated a point or an idea on this blog. From then til now life has moved on in its ever stubborn matter, not caring if I say something, do something, feel something. Good old life.

I haven't been exactly relaxed these past few months. I tried to make life better, but who knows what can be called better from worse. Maybe you have to make it worse in order to make it better. Start with destruction so that you may know what it means to create. Maybe life is just one mistake after another, some better than others, some worse. Mistakes are just decisions we make, and in hindsight regret. In their conception, they were just as innocent as any other action. Does that make them any easier to view and look back on? No, it does nothing to help whatsoever. It merely adds more words to their contemplation and gives me something to talk about while skirting other issues.

Now that Spring is approaching again, I feel the need to run away. South, of course. Away from the mud and cold of the winter. In the middle of the night, the windows rolled down, the road stretching out behind me in a fading concrete banner, the stars spelling out the hours and months and seasons, the nearly tangible smell of dark forests and deserted beaches - I would run away if I could. If I didn't have so many connections with this world, so many reasons not to leave, I don't know if I'd ever stay in one place longer than a season.

So if you find yourself talking to me late one night and I randomly ask you to run away with me, keep this in mind. I'm not crazy, I'm just restless. There are some days that stick out in your mind's eye. When all you want to do is escape what's going according to plan because the sound of your own voice and the feel of the same routines makes your skin crawl. It's because sometimes, good enough isn't enough anymore.