The Long Brown Path

Peak-bagging, running, barefooting, exploring, and other minimalist adventures in nature

Hyper-reality and the Desert of the Real

November 13, 2022November 20, 2022 Barefoot KenBlissfeel, Cypher, George Catlin, Haruki Murakami, Hyperreality, Isa-tai, Jacques Ellul, Jean Baudrillard, John Burroughs, Manhattan, The Desert of the Real, the matrix, Walt WhitmanLeave a comment

Flying into LaGuardia, the City shimmering outside the airplane window — labyrinth of light beneath squid-ink sky. Bridges spanning black waters, buildings silhouetted against dark vistas, boulevards radiating in concentric directions. Circuit board of the digital economy.

“City of hurried and sparkling waters!” sang Walt Whitman, “city of spires and masts! City nested in bays! my city!”

But it’s not my city. Not anymore. Never really was… Continue reading “Hyper-reality and the Desert of the Real” →

More Nature, Less Technology

October 23, 2022 Barefoot KenClarence King, Edward Abbey, Ernst Schrodinger, Gary Snyder, Hoot Owl, Intergenerational Discussion, Jacques Ellul, John Burroughs, John Zerzan, Schrodinger's Cat, Spravato, Technology, The Technological Society, Walt Whitman, Worse is Better10 Comments

“You’ll be the troublemaker.” Arif gave me a sly look as he guided me to a far corner of the restaurant, and I nodded, because surely life is too short for small talk.

There were six of us seated at the table. Four middle-aged women — each one attractive, intelligent, engaging, successful. A quiet-spoken serious young man with a shock of brown hair. And me, wearing camouflage-colored Yankees cap and a few days’ worth of stubble.

This was an “intergenerational dinner,” hosted by the Hoot Owl, a cozy restaurant in upstate New York with a loyal local following. The event was organized around a series of questions designed to elicit discussion.

Anne had been tasked as the table’s guide, and now she opened with the first question – what makes you feel most alive? Continue reading “More Nature, Less Technology” →