Civil Obedience

Just think about it... but more than that, act!


Or read the Moon is a Harsh Mistress...

where Professor de la Paz explains our credo, "In terms of morals there is no such thing as a ‘state.’ Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free, because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything that I do."

PSG Patron Saint

It's Kurt Cobain, of course. And the national anthem is quite long, here:

The album's picks is fraught with pacifism... 

about friendship... "need an easy friend"
"as I want you to be, as a friend..."

of pellet gun...

"no I don;t have a gun"

and some things we easily could not do...

"don't expect me to lie"

"I think I'm dumb
Or maybe just happy."

If you want the words, here they are...

hey, this is my republic. you can create your own as you please.

and all of our favorite oligarchs have this for you:

"There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words."

and we can only chorus back:

"Where do bad folks go when they die?
They don't go to heaven where the angels fly
They go down to the lake of fire and fry

Won't see 'em again till the fourth of july..."

Notebook

As I shared earlier, I am already getting educated... big deal... how do you educate a hundred and eight year old  anarchist?

Surprisingly, I admitted I was enjoying education. And I do. It's like taking a shortcut about life... For instance, the uni MOOC talk about Dieter Rams and his principles of a good design... I wonder if I can adopt it in designing a semi-anarchist PGS? remember, I used to detest formal education.

Here it is, A GOOD DESIGN, anyway:

1. Is innovative - progression should not be exhausted... always offer new opportunities for original designs...
2. Makes a product useful - has to satisfy, functional, with psychological and aesthetic criteria... emphasizes the usefulness of a product  disregarding anything that could detract from it.
3. Is aesthetic - integral to its usefulness is the effect on well-being...
4. Makes a product understandable -  clear product structure... making use of the user's intuition (think of the early apple /macs). At best, it is self-explanatory.
5. Is unobtrusive - fulfills a purpose ... design should be neutral and restrained yet leave room for the user's self-expression.
6. Is honest - should appear as it really is. without promises that cannot be kept.
7. Is long-lasting - avoids being fashionable but never appears antiquated... lasts many years – even in today's throwaway society.
8. Is thorough down to the last detail - (now, this is a job!) Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.
9. Is environmentally friendly - contribute to the preservation of the environment, resources... and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout its lifecycle.
10. Is as little design as possible - Less, but better – concentrates on the essential aspects, and not burdened with non-essentials. Pure and simple...

Now, we have a task, an assignment... about having notebooks... I have stopped diarying since I - after my first corporate job... I had a scrapbook diary back then, a pad of colorful construction papers.... because I like writing into the soft pages, and collecting small pretty, beautiful, colorful images that I paste on the appropriate page... or draw and express my emotions, observations...... I lost that in my aunt's house, and since then, all other attempts at reviving a diary were futile... I only write or copy good quotes, and that was it...
I keep too many chaotic thoughts, I maintain started probably 15 blogs as release... or more. Some I have abandoned, some I visit every now and then, and try reviving, but they are comatose. Some are already deleted. And this, PSG, is quite young. My other diaries (blogs now) talk about my "creative" (hah! I am saying it again!) which probably is the closest I can point as related to my design 101 course. But not as close to a notebook... like this. This has become quite a diary, kinda more personal, closer to my personality yet as anonymous as it could get. Anonymity keeps us out of tangles and dangers. As much as I don't want to admit, I want m diary to be anonymous,  so, I have stopped the physical diary. it is sort of vulnerable.

I can't doodle and paste pretty clippings, tho. that is one disadvantage... what I keep now is a notebook of calendar of activities, a reminder... I draw on them, when designing expressing what I want to build (a room, furniture, house repair, a task)... now, do I still want a physical notebook? tough question.

And the main lesson for today, from Mark Twain...

Life is short. Break the rules.
Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly.
Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably.
And never regret anything that makes you smile.

Almost FREE Education

Not that I promote formal learning or education... but it is the closest thing I'd want for a government. So, when I heard of it, I of course enrolled. It is called Massive Online Open Course or MOOC. My uni (oi, like I really am getting educated, I am making Huckleberry blush!) is called Iversity and you can read about them here... One of the courses I enrolled into is Design 101. And I was blown away the first day! Mr. Stefano Mirti shares a lot you'd think his lectures (he calls them postcards!) are your own wayward scribbles and notes while you are suicidally bored listening to your trigonometry or character education teacher in secondary school. Imagine actually watching Pink Floyd's legendary anthem right on his class postcards? You should check out the other links as well! This is the coolest cool next to Antarctica I've had in centuries! Not that I've landed in that continent, silly. Imagination, my dear.
And now that I am trying to make this idle brain and body useful, I am now wondering if these courses will be credited when I apply for a corporate job, eh? Or if I'd require recognition from civil society groups to join their communal workforce?
Hey,  if it is of relevance, I created this in less than an hour for the course!