~Albert Einstein~
The Island Chronicles took some time off..............and I am sure a lot of you were thinking, "hell yea! Now I can live in peace and just paddle." Well, guess what?......................It's back. Deal with it. For the rest of you who did miss The IC, my apologies for the hiatus. I needed a break............ from the story, from life, and from the train wreck that had been rolling along for about two years.............plus everything in the Northern Hemisphere seemed to be frozen solid for the past two months. Living on The Island was, apart from having two wonderful boys, the coolest trip I have ever had the opportunity to experience, but unfortunately it was an experience that came at a cost. Living on an Island and isolating yourself away from society does not help when it comes to being forced into a fight for your children. In fact, it makes it pretty easy for those who want to portray you as "crazy" to make a pretty strong case.............I didn't care. I just let everyone say what they wanted to say about the situation, and just continued to write what I felt needed to be written.......and I still don't care and do plan to continue to write what I feel needs to be written.
So here we are, with a fresh paddling season upon us and a whole new set of adventures waiting to be had, new controversies to discuss, and a story waiting to be concluded.............with that being said, it is time to continue The Island Chronicles. The story, the West By God adventures, and last but not least, my blunt and colorful opinion about a range of topics both in the RVA boating community and beyond. Why?...............why not? After all, you're reading this now, which means you have nothing better to do with your time at the moment, so you may as well just enjoy it, learn from it, disagree with it, and take it for what it is worth. Know what I mean?
“Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?”
~Chuck Palahniuk~
Damn, that is one hell of a quality quote! Just to update those who are either new to The IC or are not regular readers, this is not a normal blog. Blogs suck! PERIOD. I despise them and do not read them. In fact, if you go back and read the past posts in this blog, you will see that there are many things I do not agree with. I use to let this bother me. But now, I am pretty much indifferent to just about everything. I will explain why that is later. But by being indifferent, I can now continue the tradition of The IC with an entirely new and self amusing perspective.
It is important to know that this blog is an ongoing story. It is written so you can either choose to read the story from the beginning, or just jump in and read a post here or there. I do not write this blog for anyone other than myself, and I am perfectly fine with that approach. If you don't like it, then don't read it. I am cool with that. I also follow one continuing philosophy.................perception is reality. Every single one of us experience something different in life every moment of every day, so we all have our own reality based on our different perceptions of the world. This is my perception. If yours is different, ok. I am cool with that. The question is, are you?
“Humans see what they want to see.”
~Rick Riordan~
So here we are, with a fresh paddling season upon us and a whole new set of adventures waiting to be had, new controversies to discuss, and a story waiting to be concluded.............with that being said, it is time to continue The Island Chronicles. The story, the West By God adventures, and last but not least, my blunt and colorful opinion about a range of topics both in the RVA boating community and beyond. Why?...............why not? After all, you're reading this now, which means you have nothing better to do with your time at the moment, so you may as well just enjoy it, learn from it, disagree with it, and take it for what it is worth. Know what I mean?
“Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of Eden maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?”
~Chuck Palahniuk~
Damn, that is one hell of a quality quote! Just to update those who are either new to The IC or are not regular readers, this is not a normal blog. Blogs suck! PERIOD. I despise them and do not read them. In fact, if you go back and read the past posts in this blog, you will see that there are many things I do not agree with. I use to let this bother me. But now, I am pretty much indifferent to just about everything. I will explain why that is later. But by being indifferent, I can now continue the tradition of The IC with an entirely new and self amusing perspective.
It is important to know that this blog is an ongoing story. It is written so you can either choose to read the story from the beginning, or just jump in and read a post here or there. I do not write this blog for anyone other than myself, and I am perfectly fine with that approach. If you don't like it, then don't read it. I am cool with that. I also follow one continuing philosophy.................perception is reality. Every single one of us experience something different in life every moment of every day, so we all have our own reality based on our different perceptions of the world. This is my perception. If yours is different, ok. I am cool with that. The question is, are you?
“Humans see what they want to see.”
~Rick Riordan~
The Island Chronicles will still follow the same model, and will still be written with the same bluntness and controversial TRUTH that it has always been written with, however I will be writing from a new perspective. Everyone who read this blog over the coarse of the last year probably said something like, "WOW! Justin lost his damn mind. Dude up and moved to an Island and said fuck it to society! Now he is pissed off at everyone and doesn't seem to mind giving his opinion about, well, everything.".......................for those of you who did make that statement I have one thing to say...........Congratulations Captain Obvious! Of course I lost my mind! I had a meaningless affair with an 18 year old whore and threw away my family for nothing, and as a result had a scorned, pissed off, and very wealthy wife take everything from me (rightfully so) and then use my own children to seek revenge (NOT rightfully so)......................so yes everyone, I did lose my mind. It's cool. Hemingway said so.......................
"A man never knows who he truly is until he falls in love, gets in a fight, and loses his mind at least once in life."
~Ernest Hemingway~
Looks like I am three for three.................I guess that means I know who I am now. (and on a side note, my fighting experience came from my college days, not from The Fat Bastard. That wasn't a fight. That was just pathetic...........but we will get back to The Fat Bastard a little later, trust me on that) It is important to note that The Island Chronicles are unique. Most people lose their minds, find them, and then sit down and write what happened after all is said and done and their lives become boring and mundane again. However, for those of you who followed this story from the beginning or caught up at some point over the past year, the perspective was different. This story actually played out through the course of a complete life breakdown..........basically, I found a creative and colorful way to lose my shit, say fuck it, and then tell the world what I didn't like about it while I had everyone's attention as the crazy dude living on The Island. I sat down recently and re-read The IC from the beginning, and one thing is for sure.................I lost my shit, but had one hell of a fun and adventurous time doing it.................for everyone that came along for the ride, thanks! I hope you enjoyed it too!
Well, now I have regained my shit, cleaned up my position in the world, and am looking forward to what chapter of life is next. I sit here with the focus of rebuilding life and trying to re-invest in the belief that the system is necessary, the way of life I am being asked to lead is the healthiest approach for myself and my children, and that I am capable of investing fully in a "normal" lifestyle in order to be with my boys. I will need to do all of this while remaining strong in the beliefs I have developed from the lessons I have learned over the past two years and beyond, and most importantly, the lessons I learned while on The Island........................I am finding this to be a tougher endeavor than I had originally thought. I have read a lot of different stories recently about men who dropped off the grid, from deep Alaskan adventures to modern day urban exploits, and all had one common piece of knowledge..............coming back is hard.
I am finding this to be true, but I take it step by step, day by day, and try not to question why most things are pointless and stupid and completely unnecessary in our world.....................seriously, people amuse the hell out of me. We have gotten so far away from what is important that it truly baffles me..............but that is an entirely different conversation for a different day. Right now the focus will need to be on coming back. So stay tuned. I am sure 2014 will be just as interesting as 2013. The RVA paddling community never disappoints. Along the way look for the continuing story of my journey through a decade of the whitewater world, the biggest West By God adventure of all, tragedies and controversies, and plenty of opinions to brighten up your day.
“Tell me that the purpose of life is to have fun, and without a care in the world I'll begin wreaking havoc on everything I pass. Now that's what I call pure, honest fun.”
~Criss Jami~
See ya on the rivah...................with a new approach to bashing the shit out of life! PEACE
"A man never knows who he truly is until he falls in love, gets in a fight, and loses his mind at least once in life."
~Ernest Hemingway~
Looks like I am three for three.................I guess that means I know who I am now. (and on a side note, my fighting experience came from my college days, not from The Fat Bastard. That wasn't a fight. That was just pathetic...........but we will get back to The Fat Bastard a little later, trust me on that) It is important to note that The Island Chronicles are unique. Most people lose their minds, find them, and then sit down and write what happened after all is said and done and their lives become boring and mundane again. However, for those of you who followed this story from the beginning or caught up at some point over the past year, the perspective was different. This story actually played out through the course of a complete life breakdown..........basically, I found a creative and colorful way to lose my shit, say fuck it, and then tell the world what I didn't like about it while I had everyone's attention as the crazy dude living on The Island. I sat down recently and re-read The IC from the beginning, and one thing is for sure.................I lost my shit, but had one hell of a fun and adventurous time doing it.................for everyone that came along for the ride, thanks! I hope you enjoyed it too!
Well, now I have regained my shit, cleaned up my position in the world, and am looking forward to what chapter of life is next. I sit here with the focus of rebuilding life and trying to re-invest in the belief that the system is necessary, the way of life I am being asked to lead is the healthiest approach for myself and my children, and that I am capable of investing fully in a "normal" lifestyle in order to be with my boys. I will need to do all of this while remaining strong in the beliefs I have developed from the lessons I have learned over the past two years and beyond, and most importantly, the lessons I learned while on The Island........................I am finding this to be a tougher endeavor than I had originally thought. I have read a lot of different stories recently about men who dropped off the grid, from deep Alaskan adventures to modern day urban exploits, and all had one common piece of knowledge..............coming back is hard.
I am finding this to be true, but I take it step by step, day by day, and try not to question why most things are pointless and stupid and completely unnecessary in our world.....................seriously, people amuse the hell out of me. We have gotten so far away from what is important that it truly baffles me..............but that is an entirely different conversation for a different day. Right now the focus will need to be on coming back. So stay tuned. I am sure 2014 will be just as interesting as 2013. The RVA paddling community never disappoints. Along the way look for the continuing story of my journey through a decade of the whitewater world, the biggest West By God adventure of all, tragedies and controversies, and plenty of opinions to brighten up your day.
“Tell me that the purpose of life is to have fun, and without a care in the world I'll begin wreaking havoc on everything I pass. Now that's what I call pure, honest fun.”
~Criss Jami~
See ya on the rivah...................with a new approach to bashing the shit out of life! PEACE
