Here's To The Crazy One's
And How The West Was One

Preface

When I was thinking of writing the first line of this book, the first word that came to mind was When, and so I thought I should explain why this is the first line.

JS

Introduction

This book was surely conceived on an otherwise ordinary afternoon, when a seemingly normal American boy opened his eyes to a brand new reality, and chuckled so loud that the ducks went coo-koo. "The rest," they say, "is history," and we all know that history is filled with extraterrestrials and Jesus, which helps us admit that we all believe in paradox while actively pursuing means to deny it.

To read this book is to use your imagination, and one must be careful not chuckle out loud too early.  But honestly, and just between you and me, this story is about the resilience of an American boy and several million or so of his closest friends and relatives, and how they are creating the world we will all soon inhabit.

Why You Should Buy This Book Now

With the funds raised, the real-life characters of this book will continue to journey to new spaces in search of silence and ideas, stories and facts, robots and rockets, tattoos and trees, ancient scrolls and souls. The publisher has insisted that you buy this book early on, for a reduced price, in order to show the world an early glimpse of what is to come. The author accepts that with your early support and your name in the credits, you can say that you were there when it all went down.

Excerpts From The Book

Robots & Rockets

Dagmar Reynolds had always wondered about those vibrant locals who were always talking about creating an economy based on innovation and creativity and not currency. In fact, she was trying to envision a new engine comprising intentional collaboration and community building, in contrast to silos and secrecy like she experienced at work, when she heard the frogs sing in the mid afternoon sun in Texas.

As one of the leading minds on robotics research at one of the government’s largest spook boxes, Dagmar was constantly exposed to the place where brilliance meets madness, and so she took her days off very seriously. "Shit", she said out loud, not to anyone in particular, but more to everyone. The more that she researched and tested the many strains of highly creative and empathy-inducing marijuana, the more she realized that she had the wrong friends. Most of her friendships had began at work, and were people whom she just put up with, but they all seemed more interested in the meaning of money than anything else. This did not interest her, not nearly as much as the joining of technology and art and how the world seemed to misunderstand both. As she stared at the lilypad paint on the back of her nails and pondered this, there wasn't an empty suit in Tarrant, Texas that didn't hear her chuckle out loud.

Ideas as Art

Those people who are here to create different environments that overlap and connect and interact with each other, in order to transform the culture around us, are often called artists. Sanford Batund was this kind of person. His family had endlessly teased him, his friends had always followed him, and his colleagues never once appreciated him. To see one's past, present and future as Sanford had, is to find some sort of eternal joy and pain in a snake dance to death. But when he turned 35, however, he found that the love of a woman can be as intoxicating as the love of Mother Earth, only without all of the convenient ways out of getting out of sticky situations.

At 5:45 in the morning, on a soon to be sunny day, Sanford leaned back in his favorite rocking chair that sat amidst the Blue Mountains, and chuckled so loud that even the beans took notice. That was four years ago, and was no coincidence that the very same day was Talk Like A Pirate Day, or better known as the day that William Golding liked to reflect how democracy was insisted on and rebelled against on the same day.

Electric Bee Hive

Frances had always wondered why they so constantly came in contact with the greatest geeks that ever lived. Not matter where, they were sure to be found surrounded by incessant idea spewers, inventors of knick knacks and doodads, and dreamers always fully awake who lived in the sleepy parts of town. These restless souls, some drinkers and some solitudes, never seemed to stop trying to make the world a better place, even if their ideas were constantly rejected. This trait had always fascinated Frances Mallory, and she knew that the world couldn't rightly continue to ignore them anymore.

"It's freezing again outside," said Evan, just as she had opened the front door. Sometimes, on days that looked and felt a lot like today, she couldn't stand to not laugh at how obvious everything seemed when Evan opened his mouth. She thought about encouraging him to register with the Captain Obvious League, but locked the door and headed for the car. As Evan eased into the driver seat, he let his head fall back gently into the soft cushion of the plush head rest, and chuckled out loud. At almost the same moment, a dried blob of brick and mortar lit up a Tanzanian village.

Eight years later, Evan Mallory produced a grin wide enough to connect the Mississippi, in an effort to answer the question "What Happened to The Bees?"

A Wizard’s Scroll

"Misfits have always gotten the short end of the stick, even if their idea was revolutionary. You see, they’re familiar with getting so caught up in their ideas that collecting a paycheck comes second to turning those ideas into reality. They are the type of people that would rather work towards getting an energy-independent washing machine in every home on the planet than care enough to learn how to make a profit from it. But I digress, since we all know that an idea can't change the world, only money can."

These were the words he despised most. Well, at least he was often asked to despise them. They were part of a dissertation he was giving on economics in the Western world, and how America and Europe have prepaid the way for the boom happening in the East. The dean was not pleased at the rabble rousing, as she called it, and had asked him many times not to provoke the thought that Western born Economics may not be the key to the world's survival. As Kurt Lynch continued to remember that day, almost four years ago, he slowly laid back in his seat, as much as one could 20,000 miles in the air, and chuckled so loud that the captain came on the speaker and called for order on board.

The American

It was today, actually, when it all came back to his memory. That day, as a young boy, when he chuckled so loud the ducks quacked seven hundred miles away as he fell down a manhole. Or was it a rabbit hole?

Conclusion

In short, this book intends to provide you the tapestry of a modern day revolution, seen through the wide lens of a number of seemingly fictional characters, all whom work hard to remain anonymous so that you can take the credit. Economics, technology, equality, design, art, travel, education, energy, agriculture, government, big business, war, peace, drugs, friendships and family are a few of the topics at hand, among others. Needless to say, the story has already been written, it's just not all on paper yet.

Next Chapter: Chapter 1