Go Lewis Carroll and Alice, his spokesgirl. Dare I say that in this P.C. world of late? “I mean what I say and I say what I mean.” xoxo Love that Alice.

THANX for the phenomenal feedback |_|) “Reply to wit with gravity, and to gravity with wit.” ~ Charles Caleb Colton

PS: I ignored “pinkerton” as he’s been trolling RhodesTer & I for some time; “There is no reply to the ignorant like keeping silence.” ~ Turkish Proverb

I don’t write as eloquently as both of you, nor necessarily those that have commented before me.

I wish you both the best of luck/happiness/good fortune (in whatever form it takes) in your move.

I hope your ‘friend’ can one day see that the choices and priorities he’s made in his life do not represent what is right or best for everyone.

You know how I admire the choices you’ve made, and the serendipity of those choices having led to your happiness. I often think about how different my life would have been if I’d lost my ability to both love and live with Garry earlier than I did—would Dave and I have gotten together? Or what if I hadn’t applied for a job with the government and stayed a telephone industry worker? Well, on that one, at least I’d have some stock.

And the thing that I think is most impressive, is how cognitive you are of the choices you’ve made, and their consequences, and how accepting.

I’ll be thinking of you this week as you take step number 793,621 in your journey.

Getting back to the topic…

Please, keep creating, connecting with others and making us all laugh and think. The world needs more people like you — not more Mercedes driving bimbos who think that they’re making the world a better place by disposing of their cash on some bullshit carbon credits or an annual holiday donation to the local homeless shelter.

Yes, living simply is a choice; it’s really all about “Your Money Or Your Life”, isn’t it? You KNOW what’s important, and you’re doing it, which is far more than most people.

Money is nice if ya got it; but using your time to be creative and make a true impact on people is a far greater reward in the end. Most of us know this, but how many of us have the guts to follow through and go against the grain?

Jim and I have made the choice to take the money we earned, and run around the country for a while until we’re broke, and then figure out what’s next. And in the brief amount of time that we’ve had off thus far, we’ve seen far more things and produced far more creative work than we have in the last 15 years. We are scrimping and choosing to live simply, to allow us to lead a more fulfilling life on a higher level than we ever did while working a 12 hour grind at our business every day. After this journey, we can never go back to our old lifestyle. We are living in 200 square feet, with few possessions, and life has never been easier. I can’t believe that I used to be such a consumer. For what?

Everyone needs some money to pay the rent and get us those things that make life a little easier. But how far do we really want to take it? At what expense?

If this jerkoff guy doesn’t see that he’s paying a huge spiritual price for his pursuit of material wealth, he’s fooling himself. Maybe he’ll realize it on his deathbed, maybe not. You, however, can already see what his kind of lifestyle leads to, and you are so very far ahead of him. Keep it up.

Sheryl knows more of our situation personally, and I don’t speak of it on my blog, but the man in question has been a “friend” of mine for 25 years.

In recent months we’ve been living in a home that he owns, and I’ve transitioned from being a longtime acquaintance of his to being beholden to him. I prefer acquaintance mode, and not even that after what we’ve been through lately.

He’s sent us some extremely offensive emails, the last of which was excerpted in this post. He doesn’t see them as offensive – but when you tell someone that they’re basically not much more than a steaming pile of shit because they’re not like YOU, and don’t desire the things in life that YOU DO, I think most of us would agree that’s pretty arrogant.

We’re moving out of here over the next two days, and should be completely out by Tuesday afternoon. I sure as hell hope so, because he and his wife are due to arrive then and I’d rather lick a potty in a bus station men’s room than ever see those two again.

They can have their fancy house in LA, their Mercedes and their stocks or whatever. The place we’re moving into is about 300 square feet.. it has a bed, a table with two chairs and a patio.. and we couldn’t be happier about it. I think that happiness and contentment is worth more than all those material things. Call me selfish.

“One other thing she said is that she now thinks it was incredibly selfish to think the way she did. By being able to make money she can do more for those around her. By only living for herself on a very small budget is selfish because that doesn’t allow you to do much for those around.”

That said, [insert deity here] bless them, every one.

I have way too much to say about this subject. I had it all, and purposely gave it up. The process has been horrendous. My house still hasn’t sold. I put my fine art and antiques in an auction and the auction house screwed me. I probably lost IT ALL. To hell with it. I don’t want ANY MORE STUFF. I want to have a tiny rented apartment, my lover and my cat and my friends. I want to make money such that we can support a few dinners out with friends or cooking for them over at our place. Most of all, I want to learn and talk and learn some more. I never want to own a $300 sweater again. I love my $5 coat.

How dare someone imply that I am selfish to not pursue wealth. I’d like to know their ulterior motives (i.e. sell me real estate or something else OR…support their own ideology). I am closer to other human beings right now than I EVER was when I was working 12 hour days to make money so I could live in a fucking secured, gated community condo. Blech.

Ok, I better stop ranting. I am looking for a place to live too. It can be stressful. I know you will be fine, and so will we. I am thinking of you both.