About Michael Atman

Atman in Hinduism is the principle of life, the individual after enlightenment as in Brahman (from which everything comes and to which it returns). I borrow the name with respect to the philosophy.

I am a native Coloradoan, born in 1946 and reared in Fowler, a small farming community on the Arkansas River. My father was a cattle rancher, my mother an artist. I married my high school sweetheart and started Pueblo Precision Products, Inc. before graduating from college with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Technology. I had a thirteen year career as a business owner in the precision machining business, then seventeen years in architectural millwork before forming Spire Press, Inc. in 2000 to self publish. I am currently extending that enterprise to the Internet.

My first two novels were published under the pen name of Michael St. Auder, which proved to be confusing for the book industry since it was a play on my real name. I am now a full-time writer, photographer, and photo-art film editor and producer. My wife Patty collaborates and edits my works of fiction and has been active with me in making the Loveland Photographic Society one of the most progressive camera clubs in the U.S.

Fiction

(A bit of my Philosophy)

When I began writing I was of the opinion that I was producing mainstream fiction. I classified my fiction as near future adventure, never expecting to be stuck in the Science Fiction genre, although I recognize the book industries reasoning. Personally, I find little in hardcore science fiction appealing, although there are plots and concepts that are hard to express in any other genre, and certainly there are sci-fi authors and select works that are hard to beat. I have my favorites. I have a love of technology for the creative minds that envision better more useful products. I often loathe commerce for the end result, and detest those that are only in the game for the money. Wall Street sucks. With that said, I understand commerce and societies need to conduct business. I would never advocate taking my philosophy of business and applying it to the world. I do have ideas on how to prosper without world commerce, big business and big government. If you choose to read my fiction, my true character shines through in my protagonists, for in fact they are all just an extension of my vision of the world and man’s place in the ecosystem. I have a sad view of what we are doing to planet Earth, yet hope we can eventually come to terms with our existence. I am an optimist, although pessimistic at times about the paths we chose. We have a marvelous tool, our minds, and I believe logic must be the foundation for all understanding, and truth the beacon to guide humanity to a better tomorrow.

Nonfiction

In confronting the future, I have come to grips that there are many things we need to do to get in sync with nature. Building umPODS (unishell modular permacast optimal superstructures) is only one of them. How we produce food, and why we produce so much junk food is a topic that begs for more exploration. Why isn’t everything on the grocer’s shelf healthy? Why we use and abuse harmful drugs is another, and I don’t exclude pharmaceuticals, alcohol, or tobacco from the problem. Why we persist to worship the automobile for personal transportation, or trucks for long distance hauling is a quandary worth better solutions. Because we can invent and produce doesn’t mean we should. Just because we have made an investment doesn’t mean a product deserves a place in the market. Big box stores aren’t the solution.

In the forthcoming book Building umPODS, I do not profess to have a solution to every problem by producing modular superstructures or future autonomous cities. I only have a vision of self-reliance and think the concept is better than global interdependence. I understand the cooperative nature of humans, and would never advocate that we don’t work together or that we quit depending upon each other in the name of individual independence. In the process of cooperation, we should not allow individuals to have power to rule over others; to guide yes, to rule, never. Too much of what goes on in the world is shortsighted, and the “rulers” of the world seem to be blind to the fact. Those who have the power are micromanaging failing systems, and the United States is hardly exempt. We don’t need political solutions, but real solutions from the bottom up for a better tomorrow. We need goals that make sense.

Photo Art

My first experience as a photographer was for the high school paper and the Grizzles annual in Fowler, Colorado. I used a 35mm Zeiss Icon and black and white film. I seriously thought of making photography a career at the time. Other interests were architecture and astronomy, and I had no idea I’d end up manufacturing in the metals and architectural woodworking industries.

I genuinely respect true photographers, especially nature and landscape photographers and their philosophy. I am not one. I am a photo artist, and as such bend the rules. I represent Mother Nature as I envision her, not as I find her. For those that are willing to seek out that special moment, I give you my best and wish you luck. For me, I chase clouds and love them as I have all of my life. Unfortunately, to make really good pictures you need interest, and although clouds hold my interest, I know they are much more appealing if they have a good foreground. Thus my second love, rocks, especially those of the Colorado Plateau and all the great canyons, arches, spires, and monoliths. I hope you like the many ways I mix them together.

There is of course a more intimate part of my craft that focuses into the macro. I grew up helping my mother garden and thus have a love for flowers. The details are incredible, but beyond that are the colors and variegation produce astonishing subjects to photograph.

My newest venture is Space Art, perhaps because there are no bars on imagination. Yet even space has its own bounds, which are fun to explore using Photoshop. Few of us will ever explore space, but the dream is still there.

Mother Earth

Although there is the perception that somehow we as a species are above the animal kingdom, I believe we think too highly of our position. Although the human genome is a marvelous concoction, the fact of the matter is that other animals do some things better than we do. The idea that we have rights to rule over this kingdom is a fascinating concept. If in the universe there are powers (or a single power) that control(s) experiments, I would think we would have been given much better instructions. In reality, I believe there is no divine intervention, and that men are the authors of scripture, not God. But like most human beings, I hope there is a merciful God, redemption so that truly bad people are punished, and beyond death, something besides oblivion. I consider this wishful thinking. No matter one way or the other. Either way, I suggest we make life on Earth our heaven instead of our hell and quit gambling with the ecosystem.

About Spire Press, Inc.

Since the new millennium, aspiring to inspire

Spire Press, Inc. is an independent publisher promoting creativity to inspire, entertain, educate and advance logical objectives through fiction, non-fiction and the digital arts.

Company Mission Statement:

1. To promote the use of the electronic word as an ecological alternative to printed material.
2. To offer select digital images and publications in an electronic format free of charge as an alternative to print.
3. To offer select digital images and publications in an electronic format for a nominal fee as an alternative to print.
4. To offer high quality print of select material for a nominal fee.
5. To offer a format to promote and exchange ideas related to prospective technologies.
6. To promote literature (both fiction and nonfiction) that explores alternatives to conventional modes of transportation, manufacturing and construction, including energy production & storage, water conservation & treatment, climate control and biospheric cycling.
7. To promote literature that discourages the practice of planned obsolescence for financial gain.
8. To promote literature that encourages the responsible use of natural resources and the ecological health of the planet.
9. To promote literature that encourages the sensible use of technology to accomplish these goals.

About Photo Art

Photography has many purists that believe their art must remain pure to be worthy of being called photography. Although digital has allowed great strides in high dynamic range and unlimited depth of field, there are many that frown on digital manipulation that alters the image in any way. If you’re a purist, my photography and Photo Art Blog may seem blasphemous to the nth degree. Digital capture is just the beginning for the non-purist that finds Photoshop irresistible.

Come visit my worlds and share in the fun of digital manipulation. Visit Grandscapes, Intimate Worlds and Alien Worlds and see my creations. Find ways to create imaginary worlds that titillate the imagination from my articles and tutorials on many techniques such a creating lightning, planets, star fields, planetary rings, shadows, sunrays, and more that are available at Michael Atman Photo Innovations Blog at photoart.MichaelAtman.com.

New images will be added to this site on a monthly basis, and as I gain skills that are worthy of discussion, I will add articles or tutorials to my blog. I do not profess to be a professional photographer. I currently compete at the Masters Level at the Loveland Photographic Society, however, without my skills in Photoshop, I would be unable to compete at this level.

I rarely capture images that I would classify as art with my camera. I quite often alter images that easily qualify as art, at least from my perspective. Many aspects of digital manipulation are easy, at least once you get the knack of layers. Blending modes also offer quick and easy ways of adding interesting effects to your images.

I’m not a big proponent of filters other than those that come with Photoshop. While many add interesting effects, they are really someone else’s technique that you are applying to your work. While I am not generally opposed to such shortcuts, I feel it is a much better learning experience to figure out and apply your own technique to your images. Let me help you in that endeavor.

About umPODS

If this is your first visit, I feel I must explain where I stand. I can see no profit in being dishonest with my readers, for given time the truth would expose my true convictions. I believe that humanity is on the wrong track, and although I don’t believe in Armageddon in the Biblical sense, I certainly believe that humanity is setting itself up for a catastrophic failure of such proportion that most will believe that Armageddon has indeed befallen mankind. I just don’t see anyone being raptured to heaven, and I certainly put part of the blame for our circumstance on that type of backward thinking. So now that I have offended some share of my potential readers, I will continue with my concept and how to avoid such a calamity.

The concept of building umPODS and the reason I am devoting so much time trying to promote a way of building structures that will create sustainable autonomous communities, and why I believe such an approach is vital for the future of the human species, is far too involved to cover in an introduction. If perhaps you believe that humanity is right on track, then this plea to support this movement probably isn’t for you. However, if you believe the “World” (and when I say world, in general terms I’m speaking of humanity as a whole) is on the wrong track and headed for disaster, then you might want to stick around.

My blog on umPODS at umPODS.MichaelAtman.com is a place to share ideas. I hope I’m not so focused on my way that I can’t see the light if there are better ways. As long as man is given hope for a future where we all control our own destiny, I don’t care how we do it as long as planet Earth comes out the winner. I’m pretty sure man’s existence won’t be perpetuated by government, or by some mega corporation promising the world at a bargain price of a lifetime of servitude, or by the Pope or any religious leader for the price of your soul. The future isn’t a promise anyone can keep. There are no guarantees in life or in death that anyone can make with certitude, yet promises are made all the time, and don’t for a minute forget that someone is profiting from all the double dealing that goes on in the world.

I spend a good deal of my time researching practical solutions to rid humanity of the ills of undisciplined government, the waste and instability of mass infrastructure, the risk of collapsing world economies and big businesses, the destruction of our environment, the extinction of other species, and last but not least, the baggage we refuse to discard from past generations. I promote a bottoms-up approach to solving these problems, for if we leave our future up to anyone but ourselves, I predict that our problems will only get worse.

This brings me back to umPODS, for only by securing individual survival and independence will we assure the perpetuation of our species. At this point you may rightly ask how umPODS will be the solution. First remember that the production of umPODS is not some pie in the sky dream that can only come about with revolutionary breakthroughs. Most of what I envision can be built today with the materials and technologies we already have.
Perhaps the best way to describe umPODS is by forecasting the probable advantages of building autonomous superstructures, designed to resist the forces of nature, that produce and store their own energy, filtrate and recirculate air and water, and supplement food production. By spray casting unishell modules with robots to create pods, and by engineering such structures to rest on slip-plane foundations, it is conceivable that future buildings can be built strong and safe enough to not require hazard insurance. In fact, such structures will be the safest place to be in the event of an earthquake, flood, tornado, hurricane, firestorm, or any other natural or manmade disaster. Certainly there is no guarantee such structures could survive erupting volcanoes, asteroid impacts, or atomic explosions, but umPODS would still be a better investment than purchasing promissory insurance if it were even available for such events, and be assured it is not.

When we look to the future we must question what are the biggest stumbling blocks to get there? If you think creating jobs and having booming economies will be our salvation, you may have a rude awakening. There is far more at stake here than the perpetuation of consumerism.

In reality, humans have little to fear in this world beyond other humans. In other words, what we have to fear is irrational thought, much of which is advanced out of hate, anger, distrust, hunger, envy, and other human needs and emotions. It is human needs and emotions that are used to manipulate people. If you don’t think so just go to church, read the paper, or watch TV and ask if someone is trying to influence your thoughts. We sacrifice our freedoms to our fears, and allocate to government the power to do much as they please in the name of protecting the freedoms they allow us to have.

Investing our energies into building umPODS will help remove individuals from fear, thus dependence on government and the need for money for survival. This is not to say that man will interact without government or sell or consume conveniently without monetary transactions, for we prosper by having some commerce, standards and laws. But if we can survive without government, then we are free.

Remember, please check out umPODS.MichaelAtman.com to learn more. This website is my business site and incorporates three of my passions, fiction writing, photo art, and umPODS. My blog on umPODS (unishell modular Permacast Optimal Detached Superstructures) is designed to be a place for sharing ideas.
Please note that comments are uncensored and automatically posted. Please feel free to be as nonsensical in posting as you care to be, remembering that your words will be in public view, and I will have the last say at least until I give up or pass on. I would of course rather forward this cause with thought provoking debate, for debate is essential for reaching practical solutions. I like to believe that logic is my sword, and truth is my beacon, and that common sense will eventually prevail as humanity casts away its superstitions.

Please also visit Michael Atman Photo Innovations Blog at photoart.MichaelAtman.com, and Michael Atman Fiction with Foresight Blog at fiction.MichaelAtman.com.