Everyday Junglist
Bio
Practicing mage of the natural sciences (Ph.D. micro/mol bio), Thought middle manager, Everyday Junglist, Boulderer, Cat lover, No tie shoelace user, Humorist, Argan oil aficionado. Occasional LinkedIn & Facebook user
Stories (562/0)
Two Doves
I met two doves the other day at the pond. They said they liked my eyes. I thanked them for the compliment and prepared to head home when one of the doves looked at me and said. "You must marry a rabbit." "Marry a rabbit?" I asked quizzically, puzzled by this strange command. "Yes, a rabbit. You must find a white rabbit and marry it. And you must do so before the sun sets three days hence." it replied in an earnest and serious tone. "And If I do not?" "If you do not, you will die before sunrise the next day." Upon hearing this goosebumps broke out upon my skin all over my body. Or, they would have, had I had any skin remaining. Unfortunately a witch had cursed me many years ago for picking apples from her favorite apple tree, causing my skin to dissolve from the neck down. Thus the goosebumps were confined to my face, but I still felt a cold chill and I knew the dove spoke the truth. Not wishing to die, that same evening I wed a rabbit in holy matrimony. I wore a lovely white transparent flowing gown which accentuated my skeletal features. The rabbit wore only its fur but seemed genuinely happy to have found such a beautiful wife. I was content and thought the dove's warning had been avoided until the very next day when I came upon two black ravens in the woods whilst eating yet another apple. This apple had not come from a witch's tree but instead had come from the grocery store on Elm street where I often purchased produce and meats and sometimes had nightmares featuring a burnt man with steel claws and a striped sweater. He told me his name was Robert and that he was a classicly trained actor who had once auditioned for the role of someone named Han Solo and another person named Luke Skywalker, but that he had not gotten either part. In his dismay he had set himself on fire and now stalked the dreams of local adolescents using his training as a classical actor to frighten them away from any ideas they might have of becoming actors or actresses themselves. "Look what became of me" he would tell them as they gazed upon his horrible visage.
By Everyday Junglistabout 6 hours ago in Fiction
Biohacking
“Amateurs run medical experiments on themselves, joining a long and gory tradition among scientists.” The only accurate thing about the above statement describing the exploits of so-called biohackers is the use of the word "amateurs." The fact that the vast majority of 'biohackers' are amateurs cannot be denied. For the most part they have little to no formal training, and even less skill or ability. However it goes on to equate these amateurs with other “scientists” who have tried similar approaches in the past. These people are not scientists, and to suggest that they are is to give them way more credit than they deserve and only serves to encourage more dangerous and ill advised auto-experimentation. Frankly I could care less about how dangerous it is. Your body, your call, but I hate the idea of time being wasted and resources being diverted to deal with the consequences when these “experiments” inevitably crash and burn.
By Everyday Junglist3 days ago in Futurism
To the Edge of Coyote Gulch
Author's preface: This is chapter one of a five part series which can be found here. “Where will you be heading into the gulch at?” asked the National Park Service Ranger stationed behind the counter at the Escalante visitor center upon hearing our request for a backcountry permit. When my companion Kat replied “40 mile trailhead” the old woman’s head snapped up sharply and she fixed us both with a hard gaze. “You do realize the trail there is a 45 degree descent. Are you both capable of handling that, with packs?” We nodded as she gave us the once over, appearing satisfied with what she saw she handed over the permit and we turned to leave. A 45 degree descent sounded challenging but that was exactly the reason we had made the long trip out to the Utah desert, to test ourselves against some of the most difficult backpacking conditions to be found in the United States and prove our mettle. At the time I was grateful for the heads up and warning, later I would curse the old woman for what she neglected to tell us. The 45 degree descent into the gulch was a one way trip, it simply was not possible to return up out of the gulch the same way.
By Everyday Junglist8 days ago in Wander
Know Your Business to the Bottom
Recently a colleague for whom I have much respect was gracious enough to share a presentation about leadership and success in business he had been asked to prepare as part of a training program for future business leaders. The deck was great, full of outstanding advice of both the practical and philosophical variety. It was obvious the views expressed had come from hard earned experience, and not some fancy ivy league college business school or expensive training program available only to the elite, giving it a ton more credibility in my view. Of all the sage advice within one nugget really struck me. If you have not guessed by now, it happens to be the title of this post. It was framed as advice for how to succeed in business, but it has applicability across almost all areas of life.
By Everyday Junglist8 days ago in Journal
Leadership is Patience
Authors note: For purposes of anonymity, and to protect my own ass, the people in the article are referred to as “the leader” or simply “they/them.” In addition I paraphrase throughout and thus chose to not use quotation marks to indicate conversation. The wording may not be exact, but it is close to what was actually said. All in all it makes for an awkward read in places and I apologize for that, but could not think of a better solution.
By Everyday Junglist11 days ago in Journal
An Update on the US Mexico Border Situation
Introduction As you go through life there are things you experience everyday that together form the reality of your world . Because you experience them personally and directly, you generally accept them as true and accurate. As a (hopefully) mostly sane and rational human you recognize that you may be being deceived and/or that what you are experiencing is not all there is. Moreover, you also recognize that other people's experiences, even in the same situation as you, are different then yours. However, even given those limitations of perspective, you feel that you understand the world you live in. You know, for example, that when you get in the car to go somewhere else, that you will be coming home later in the same condition as you left, alive, and unhurt. You know that you will not need to don body armor, or dodge a hail of gunfire as you swerve through crowded streets choked with smoke from burning barrels as far as the eye can see.
By Everyday Junglist13 days ago in FYI
Science, Magic, and Technology
In a story I published a few years back and more recently republished here I discussed the role of science in technological utopianism. For those who may not be familiar with technological utopianism a decent definition can be found at the beginning of Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.
By Everyday Junglist13 days ago in Futurism
The Greatest, Most Dynamic, Complex, and Diverse, But Least Popular Musical Genre Yet Invented, May Have Finally Erased an Enduring Blemish
If you are reading this then you are probably a junglist like myself. A lover of drum & bass/jungle music. Because of that fact there are at least three things that I know about you. Number one you are a very cool person with excellent tastes who I'd love to hang out with and happily call a friend. Number two you have had a variation of the following conversation way too many times in your life to count.
By Everyday Junglist26 days ago in Beat
The Depressing Truth on the Value of My Writing
I joined Vocal officially as a Vocal+ member in June of 2021. I began writing here shortly after my Medium account was suspended for the second time. It has yet to be reinstated despite multiple requests, and so I have continued to publish here for the past almost three years now. While at first I railed endlessly against their counterproductive censorship policies, absurd minimum word count requirements, bizarre "community" structure, and bare bones text editing capabilities I have come to accept the limitations and have developed something of a fondness for it. One thing that has not changed much since my Medium days is my popularity and viewership stats. I was never very popular there and that trend has continued apace. While I like to think I am a fairly decent to maybe even good writer, the general public continues to strongly disagree, at least based on the dollar value they have assigned to my work.
By Everyday Junglist30 days ago in Writers