
A man sits in the center of a Middle Eastern marketplace crying his eyes out, a platter of peppers spilled out on the ground before him. Steadily and methodically, he reaches for pepper after pepper, popping them into his mouth and chewing deliberately, at the same time wailing uncontrollably.
"What's wrong, Nasruddin?" his friends wonder, gathering around the extraordinary sight. "What's the matter with you?"
Tears stream down Nasruddin's face as he sputters an answer.
"Im looking for a sweet one," he gasps.
I first learned of Nasruddin and his folktales in Going on Being by Mark Epstein. I love how they manage to be so simple and yet have a lasting impact when you think about what they are trying to teach.

It's time to rise from the ashes. The last post on here was from the 2013 Reno Tahoe Odyssey in June. As I find myself now training for the 2013 RTO, I think we can all agree that I left this site behind to rot.
A lot of great things have been happening with Cloudsnap and Reno Collective lately but most of it happens behind the scenes. We've been learning a lot of great things and growing as a community and I want to start pulling back the curtain and sharing everything I can.
Off the top of my head, that includes some of the background story on Reno Collective, how it has evolved over the last 3 years, some amazing stories from our members, my experiences going through TechStars with Cloudsnap (also about a year ago now) and what we've been up to since returning to Reno.
I'm also taking this opportunity in rebooting my site to learn a new skill. I've always wished I could be better at drawing. My friend Lisa Kurt has been on a very inspiring art tear lately, posting photos of her creative genius, and she mentioned that getting better at drawing does require you to see the world in a different way(s).
I've heard this a few times before and I'm sure there are countless things that my newbie drawing brain is not yet able to perceive or certainly, takes for granted every day.
Like a phoenix, rising anew from a flame, I want to attempt to see the world in a new way and draw something to accompany what I write here. The goal will be some sort of progression in the quality of the drawings (for your sake, I hope so).