Careful what you wish for

I had an interesting conversation with a colleague today. The topic was the escalation in the price of oil, and what that portends for the future.

It’s hard to argue that the continued parabolic rise in oil prices will have a chilling effect on any real economic growth, at least in the near term. While the wealthy among us aren’t affected by this exponential rise in price, at least initially, those of us in the middle class, and certainly, the working poor, already have had to start making some hard choices regarding household budgets.

The conversation I alluded to centered on transportation, logistics, and distribution (TDL)—basically that sector that ensures that everything we consume—food, gasoline, electricity, etc., gets delivered, intact, and on time. Medical services, entertainment, our technology, is all dependent on delivery, and oil affects everything we do. It is the literal lubricant that greases the gears of our civilization.

At some price indicator, we will reach a tipping point where our current way of doing things will no longer be sustainable. Then what?

Interestingly, since I started blogging here back in 2004, and prior to that on my first blog, a consistent theme of mine has been community, at least the kind that I remembered from my youth, growing up in Lisbon Falls. Even better, much of the past five months has found me writing about that time period, working on the topic of Moxie, for my upcoming book, but even beyond that, focusing on aspects of small town life that were meaningful to me that will be part of a full-length book, due late in the fall.

The person I spoke to happens to work in the TDL field. Her take on where we are headed is back to the 1940s, and 1950s. What? At that time, commerce, industry, and the focus of life, was on the local community, and then outward, to the region that you were part of. In the U.S., each region—the South, New England, the Midwest, the Southwest, etc.—all had unique characteristics; cuisine, dialect, heritage, and even politics.

If gas were to go to $10/gallon, then this might create a demand for a local grocery store, where people would drive five miles, rather than 25 miles to do their shopping. Local hardware stores, lumberyards, and other retailers might once again become central, rather than Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and others. Because everything we do revolves around transportation, particularly trucking, it may no longer make sense to truck food, manufactured goods, and other products thousands of miles. Rather, regional economies, such as northern New England, might forge partnerships to begin supplying the products being imported from overseas, or even, the west coast.

Many people that live in Maine don’t know that Aroostook County has the capacity to grow wheat, and in fact currently produces organic wheat for Borealis Breads. Facing a global shortage of wheat, Maine may once again find itself re-emerging as an agrarian center for particular crops, like wheat.

Here is an interesting article from 2006 that alludes to that potential.

The invisible hand always creates winners, as well as losers. That has always been the calling card of capitalism.

Blog-a-thon

I've been on a bit of a run of late, meeting fellow bloggers that I've watched from afar. The latest one being Mark LaFlamme, of Sun Journal crime beat notoriety, as well as the popular blog, The Screaming Room.

I actually met LaFlamme back in 1996, while working one of the worst gigs of my working life, up to that point. He was already creating a signature style of reporting that he's continued to hone over the subsequent years. I was just looking to get the hell out of my position. In all fairness, I met some great people at the paper, I just had a crappy job, overseeing delivery of the newspaper, which is a thankless job.

As a member of the Empower Lewiston board, I had been thinking of ways to engage residents of downtown Lewiston. Since I view blogging as a great way to get your writing, and ideas to an audience, without alot of outside control, I thought this might be a way to give voice to a group of people that often don't have one. Hence, the idea for a blog-a-thon was hatched.

The attendance was a bit disappointing, but all was not lost. LaFlamme and I got to chat about blogging, baseball (found out he's a KC Royals fan), and the role of newspapers in the digital age. I was pleased that he took the time to come out and help support our efforts.

Mayor Gilbert, of Lewiston, also was in the house, providing opening remarks. Gilbert also has a blog, and he informed us that his two daughters are behind the popular Rumor Girls podcasts.

Get your Jones on!

You ‘gotta love a soda company that has flavors like Blue Bubble Gum, and an energy drink called WhoopAss. They once had a flavor (now retired) they named Bug Juice.

Since I’ve been living in the alternative drink universe for several months, I continue to be on the lookout for interesting drink products in the vein of Moxie. I’m becoming aware that these products are everywhere, depending on where you live in the U.S., and probably in other countries. I remain partial to Moxie, however.

Not sure if you can find Jones products here in New England, although Shaws Supermarkets are listed as a location for Maine, as well as Panera Bread.

Talk is cheap; action entails costs

The past six years have been a remarkable period of reinvention, as well as self-discovery for me. Prior to that I was stuck in a pattern of working in jobs that sucked the soul out of me, crushing my spirit, and causing me to dispair that I'd ever find a place where I belonged.

For me, life truly began at the age of forty, as I am the classic late bloomer that you occasionally read about, or listen to interviewed on a talk show.

I remember vividly, beginning a quest to find myself while assembling contracts at Unum-Provident, in 2001. Beginning with Gregg Levoy's book, Callings, and setting my face towards developing a career focused on writing, I've made steady progress toward my goals, some of them written down on a piece of scrap paper, during my solitary lunches outside of the gray, glass and cement corporate prison I was forced to endure.

Book #2 is now in the can and at my designer, waiting to be prepared for printing. This is my second book that I've put together (with a third on the way, in October). Additionally, I published someone else's book last summer, which helped me to realize that I'd rather focus on my own writing/publishing. I have plans to begin a forth book, in the fall. This is all taking place while working a demanding daytime job that is fulfilling and helping me to keep my writing financed and viable.

I don't spend as much time as I used to, being irritated that other writers get recognized, or featured by Maine's literary community. Occasionally, I do feel irritation when I peruse the list of featured writers at events like the upcoming Maine Festival of the Book, and see names of people that routinely sell a fraction of what my first book sold. While this event has some stellar talent, there are many local authors that would make for a more realistic sense, in my opinion, of who is writing about Maine, and what that writing looks like.

These seasons of frustration and the sense of being ignored for what I've accomplished grow wider in duration, however. One book doesn't make for a writing career, so I'm using that major-league chip on my shoulder to motivate me, and keep me outworking my competition. (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone my secret.)

As I grow in experience, I'm learning that I have much greater control over my own direction and success. Working a full-time job has given me a freedom to no longer worry about outside forces that I have little, or no control over, anyway.

As I continue down life's corridor, having passed the halfway marker, I'm confident that in another decade, I'll have a substantial catalog of books, both varied, and successful in whatever niche that I choose to target, festival invites, or not.

Interviews with authors and dreams of ice cream trucks

I'm a sucker for interviews, particularly with authors and rock stars. Well, maybe not rock stars, but musicians that are more adept than my three-chord contributions to the rock pantheon.

I happened to be visiting the website of Mr. Everyday Yeah and stumbled upon his amazing interview with an amazingly unique writer, Mark Danielewski. I say this, having never ever read any of his books, but based upon this interview alone, I'm going to immediately seek out a Danielewski novel today (I won't find it today, as none of my local bookstores have it, so I'll be forced to wait until I hit the big city of Portland). That's what great interviews do.

Speaking of interviews, I heard etown for the first time, Sunday night, while working on Moxietown. Nick Forster, a great interviewer in his own right, was speaking with Todd Park Mohr, of Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Mohr is a provocative thinker--articulate and able to craft his interesting ideas in a compelling way--a real change from so many empty-headed "stars" that dominate much of our pop culture.

Back to Mr. EDY, he doesn't know it, but a city council member in Portland, Kevin Donoghue, is going after ice cream trucks. Maybe someday, ice cream trucks will be relegated to junkyards, on the edge of town, with bums living in them, dreaming of Rainbow Pop-ups. Then, all we'll have left is Ice Cream Truck Days, No More!