Living Next Door To Alice

Only

2012-01-28T10:44:00.007-06:00

"I feel like I'm the only person who has reason, common sense, and sanity." ~Victoria Jackson

Of course, she also believes that Barack Obama is literally the antichrist and that God got her a spot on SNL so she could witness to Al Franken about Jesus.

You can read about her in The Village Voice.

11ish

2012-01-28T09:51:00.002-06:00

I thought this was worth sharing. It's by Sandra Cisneros:

What they don't understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you're eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don't. You open your eyes and everything's just like yesterday, only it's today. And you don't feel eleven at all. You feel like you're still ten. And you are— underneath the year that makes you eleven.

Like some days you might say something stupid, and that's the part of you that's still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama's lap because you're scared, and that's the part of you that's five. And maybe one day when you're all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you're three, and that's okay. That's what I tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry. Maybe she's feeling three.

Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That's how being eleven years old is.

Ticky-Tacky

2012-01-28T09:35:00.004-06:00

"So many people are shut up tight inside themselves like boxes, yet they would open up, unfolding quite wonderfully, if only you were interested in them." ~Sylvia Plath

If you have the time, "Tell me about yourself" is one of the best opening lines.

If you ask a young person that question, they'll tell you about art and philosophy and music and hobbies.

Old people usually just tell you their occupation. They've been stuck in their boxes a little longer, so you have to pry a little harder to let them out.

Kodachrome

2012-01-28T09:31:00.001-06:00

"No place is boring if you’ve had a good night’s sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film." ~Robert Adams

You could update the quote to say "the batteries are charged and the SIM card is empty," but it loses some of the charm.

"Teachers"

2012-01-28T09:21:00.005-06:00

"Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives." ~Barack Obama (source)

Not me.

My teachers were universally mediocre. I can think of a few that were impediments to my life, but not a single one who was an inspiration, or even useful.

The people who made a difference in my life were poets, artists, and holy men. Those are the people who lifted me up; all my teachers ever did was drag me down.

I don't think my experience is unique.

American Flag Shirt

2012-01-27T18:59:00.005-06:00

One of the books I'm reading right now is a collection of Charles Bukowski's poems titled The Pleasures of the Damned. This one is in it, sans the picture:

the American Flag Shirt
by Charles Bukowski

now more and more
all these people running around
wearing the American Flag Shirt
and it was more or less once assumed
(I think but I’m not sure)
that wearing an A.F.S. meant to
say you were pissing on
it
but now
they keep making them
and everybody keeps buying them
and wearing them
and the faces are just like
the American Flag Shirt–
this one has this face and that shirt
that one has that shirt and this face–
and somebody’s spending money
and somebody’s making money
and as the patriots become
more and more fashionable
it’ll be nice
when everybody looks around
and finds that they are all patriots now
and therefore
who is there left to
persecute
except their
children?

And I'm using the Flag Topic to sneak in a gratuitus John Prine video:

Lyrics HERE.

How To Succeed in Business

2012-01-26T10:05:00.002-06:00

From John Green (via Wil Wheaton):

So Hank and I run or help run several businesses at the moment: Vidcon, DFTBA Records, the juggernaut that is 2-D Glasses, ecogeek, vlogbrothers, scishow, and crashcourse, as well as administering the nonprofit Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck. These are not huge businesses or anything (and in some cases are not even profitable), but many of them have employees and revenue and function like any other business, so recently Hank and I have developed some Rules for Running a Business That Doesn’t Suck, which we thought we’d share.
Rule 1: Don’t be a dick. This is the governing law of the Internet, as created by the great Wil Wheaton, and we try to apply it to our businesses. Not being a dick mostly means treating your clients and customers respectfully, and focusing on creating value rather than creating profit, and generally being reasonably kind and personable when it comes to business relationships.
Rule 2: Increase Awesome or Decrease Suck. If an idea won’t increase world awesome or decrease worldsuck, we won’t do it. (And if we’re doing something that no longer feels like it is increasing awesome or decreasing suck, we stop doing it.)
Rule 3: Minimize lawyering. Hank and I tend to lose interest in any endeavor when a lot of lawyers become involved. Basically, if we require lawyers other than our cousin Mike or the people he works with, we don’t do it.
Rule 4: Employ more people per dollar of revenue than PepsiCo. This is very important to us. So one of the emerging metrics for a company’s “success” is revenue generated per employee. PepsiCo generates more than $196,728 in revenue per employee. (That may seem ludicrously high, but it’s much lower than many companies: Google generates $1,900,000 every year per employee.) The thinking goes that successful companies generate a lot of money per employee. Our thinking is that it is both good business and good citizenship to invest revenue in new employees.
Rule 5: Keep promises. We try to keep promises even when they are very inconvenient and expensive to keep, such as when Amazon Germany ships out a thousand unsigned preorders of your new book even though you signed more than enough copies for them to ship to their customers.
Rule 6: Pay tops out at 10x average worker pay. Pretty simple, really: The highest paid employees of a company shouldn’t make more than 10 times the average employee’s pay. (Current estimates in the US indicate CEOs make between 185 and 310 times more than the average worker.) Capping this at a multiple of ten means everyone is invested in seeing the company grow and succeed.
Rule 7: Have awesome customers. If you don’t like the people who watch and read and wear the stuff you make, then you will not have any fun. Speaking of which…
Rule 8: Have fun. Our grandfather wrote thousands of lists in his life—grocery lists, lists of business ideas, pros and cons of taking different jobs. Almost all of his lists ended “Have fun!” We think this is good advice.

Space!

2012-01-26T06:40:00.006-06:00

Newt Gingrich, from CBS News:

"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.

"We will have commercial near-Earth activities that include science, tourism and manufacturing, and are designed to create a robust industry precisely on the model of the development of the airlines of the 1930s, because it is in our interest to acquire so much experience in space that we clearly have a capacity that the Chinese and the Russians will never come anywhere close to matching."

"When we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon, they can petition to become a state. And here's the difference between romantics and so-called practical people. I wanted every young American to say to themselves, 'I could be one of those 13,000. I could be a pioneer. I need to study science and math and engineering. I need to learn how to be a technician. I can be a part of building a bigger, better future.'"

I'm all for space exploration- but not the way he wants to do it.

It should be done internationally. There's no reason for this to be exclusive.

What exactly does he want to manufacture on the moon that we can't make here? What "science" is he talking about? Do we really want tourists tramping around up there?

I don't think other countries will have any problem matching America in technological advances, but assuming we somehow do get a monopoly on space technology: why? For what purpose? My assumption is that, like Ronald Reagan, he wants to tie the space program to the military and come up with innovative new ways to kill people, but the era of American imperialism is closing, and a leader should be looking ahead to where we want to be, not looking wistfully backward at the way things used to be.

I can't see young people saying "Wow, I better study harder if I ever want to be a Moon Pioneer!" and I can't really see Moon People ever petitioning to become a state. It's not the same as colonizing North America. The moon will forever be completely dependent on earth for things like oxygen and water. Their wants and needs will be so different than ours that I don't want the Moon Senator to cast the deciding vote.

But other than that: What a great idea, Newt!

And even though it all went wrong…

2012-01-25T17:40:00.002-06:00

There are lyrics HERE, but they've changed over the years, and he tends to mix and match.

4

2012-01-24T15:33:00.004-06:00

From The Bhagavad Gita 7:16

O best among the Bharatas, four kinds of pious men begin to render devotional service unto Me— the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of the Absolute.

Examples:

"Help me, Lord!"
"Lord, please give me a bicycle."
"Lord, WTF?"
"I really want to know you, Lord."

A Month of Letters

2012-01-24T11:39:00.005-06:00

Mary Robinette Kowal has a great idea:

I have a simple challenge for you.
In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
All you are committing to is to mail 24 items. Why 24? There are four Sundays and one US holiday. In fact, you might send more than 24 items. You might develop a correspondence that extends beyond the month. You might enjoy going to the mail box again.

I'm going to do it.

Read all about it HERE (via Boing-Boing).

And may you stay…

2012-01-24T09:38:00.002-06:00

Somewhere along the way, "young" came to stand for "joyful, warm, and engaged," and "old" came to represent "dour, cold, and distant."

We should be more careful with language.

Simon's Cat

2012-01-24T09:35:00.001-06:00

This had me smiling all the way through. Simon has obviously spent some time with cats!

So Krishna comes up and asks for my license…

2012-01-24T09:04:00.007-06:00

From The Ram Dass Blog, via Om from India:

So I started out on the New York thruway. I was just galumphing along in such a high state that I was hanging out with various forms of the Divine. I was doing my mantra, which I usually am doing one way or another, to remember that this isn't the only game in town. So I'm holding onto the steering wheel and I'm keeping enough consciousness to keep the car on the road. At another part I'm singing to Krishna, who is blue, is radiant, plays the flute, is the seducer of the Beloved, all of whom we are, back into the merging with God, back into the formless. I am in ecstasy hanging out with blue Krishna, driving along the New York freeway, when I noticed in my rear view mirror a blue flashing light.

Now, there is enough of me down, so I knew it was a state trooper. I pulled over the car, and this man got out of the car and he came up to the window. I opened the window and he said, "may I see your license and registration?" I was in such a state that when I looked at him, I saw that it was Krishna who had come to give me darshan. How would Krishna come in 1970? Why not as a state trooper? Christ came as a carpenter.

So Krishna comes up and asks for my license. He can have anything, he can have my life. All he wants is my license and registration. So I give him my license and registration, and it's like throwing flowers at the feet of God. I am looking at him with absolute love.

So he goes back to the car and he calls home. Then he comes back and he walks around the car and he says, "What's in that box on the seat?" I said, "They're mints, would you like one?" He said, "Well the problem is you were driving too slow on the freeway, and you'll have to drive off the freeway if you're going to drive this slowly." I said, "Yes, absolutely." I'm just looking at him with such love.

Now, if you put yourself in the role of a state trooper, how often do you suppose they are looked at with unconditional love? Especially when they're in their uniform. So after he had finished all the deliberations, he didn't want to leave. But he had run out of state trooper-ness. So he stood there a minute, and then he said, "Great car you've got here!" That allowed me to get out. And we could kick and spit and hit the fenders and say, they don't make 'em now like they used to, and tell old car stories. Then we ran out of that. I could feel he still didn't want to leave. I mean, why would you want to leave if you're being unconditionally loved? Where are you going to go? You've already got what you wanted. What are you going to do? That takes care of your power needs, all of it.

So finally he runs out, he knows he's got to come clean that he's Krishna, so he says, "Be gone with you," which isn't state trooper talk, but what the hell. As I get into the car and I start to drive away, he's standing by his cruiser and I look in the mirror and he's waving at me. Now you tell me, do you think that was a state trooper, or was that Krishna? I don't know.

Say It Ain't So, Joe

2012-01-23T09:42:00.006-06:00

From CBS News:

(Joe) Paterno, who died at 85, was fired Nov. 9 by the Penn State trustees after he was criticized for not going to the police in 2002 when he was told that former assistant Jerry Sandusky had been seen molesting a boy in the showers at the football complex.

Paterno reported the allegations to university higher-ups, but it would be nearly a decade before Sandusky was arrested, and Paterno said he regretted having not done more. Pennsylvania's state police commissioner said the football coach may have met his legal duty but not his moral one.

That can't possibly be true. So if I have knowledge of a horrifying crime, I legally have to tell my boss but not the police?

"When I think back on Joe Paterno's legacy, the events of the last two months won't even cross my mind," (Stefen) Wisniewski said.

The last few months have been the aftermath of getting caught. The crime had been covered up for years- and you can bet there are at least fifteen young boys who will find those events crossing their minds for a long time to come.

Let There Be Light

2012-01-23T09:23:00.006-06:00

Wasted Talent by Angela Melick
Clicking Imbiggens
I've done that.

Seeds

2012-01-23T09:07:00.002-06:00

Seeds are cool. You reap what you sow, sort of, but there are so many variables that you never know for sure exactly what you're going to get. A seed that's planted but not nurtured gives different results than a seed that's carefully cultivated.

More Angry Little Girls HERE.

And in a related note, if you are a gardener, go check out Seed Savers.

Lincoln

2012-01-23T08:22:00.001-06:00

Isn't this cool? I found it HERE.

Rare Moments

2012-01-23T07:28:00.003-06:00

Jesus in Hindu Form

2012-01-23T06:53:00.002-06:00

I like this very much. I found it HERE.

Consensus Reality

2012-01-23T06:40:00.004-06:00

Diesel Sweeties by Richard Stevens
Clicking Imbiggens
I'm with Topor. :)

(This is only the final panel. The first three are a little not-suitable-for-work; not bad, really, but not something you want someone to read over your shoulder.)

Pappa Was A Rolling Stone

2012-01-22T18:27:00.005-06:00

"Coming home to a place he'd never been before."

That line always appealed to me.

Maybe it's because we moved around so much when I was a child. Before I dropped out during the tenth grade, I had been in eight different schools.

"Home" seemed like such an elusive concept. I understood that if I ever found it, it would be in a place I'd never been before.

Now I kind of think of "home" the way the Sioux thought of the Sioux Nation and Abbie Hoffman thought of Woodstock: not as a physical place, but as something you carry with you, in your heart.

(Full lyrics HERE.)

There I Go!

2012-01-22T09:50:00.003-06:00

That Alone

2012-01-22T08:47:00.003-06:00

From The Captain is Out to Lunch and the Sailors have taken over the Ship:

"We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing." ~Charles Bukowski

Experience

2012-01-21T21:49:00.004-06:00

From Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul:

"In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now.

"I have had enough experience to make this statement." ~Abraham Linclon

The last line makes me feel sad for a man that died 150 years ago.

See

2012-01-21T09:46:00.002-06:00

via White Paper Quotes

All The World's Sorrows

2012-01-21T08:42:00.009-06:00

Via Madhava Gosh:

"Alienation begins when culture divides me against myself, puts a mask on me, gives me a role I may or may not want to play. Alienation is complete when I become completely identified with my mask, totally satisfied with my role, and convince myself that any other identity or role is inconceivable." ~Thomas Merton

From one of my favorite movies, Harold and Maude:

Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They're so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?
Harold: I don't know. One of these, maybe.
Maude: Why do you say that?
Harold: Because they're all alike.
Maude: Oooh, but they're not. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All kinds of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are this- (she points to a daisy)- yet allow themselves be treated as that (she gestures to a field of daisies).

Loss

2012-01-20T17:25:00.000-06:00

"It’s easier to identify with loss than love, because we have had so much more experience of it." ~Roger Ebert

Howl

2012-01-20T12:24:00.002-06:00

James 5:1-6:

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.

Why do Republicans spend so much time worrying about liberals and hippies?

It sounds like they've got a much bigger concern.

So Cold…

2012-01-19T20:52:00.005-06:00

Unfortunately, many people define themselves by what they don't like. They can't "promote what they love," because they don't love anything.

In the words of John Prine:

…All the people who don't fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people down

Full lyrics HERE.

BG

2012-01-19T18:28:00.009-06:00

I've read several translations of the Bhagavad Gita:

The Song Celestial by Sir Edwin Arnold was the first one I ever read. You can download a free copy from Project Gutenberg, HERE. It has a certain beauty to it, but like the King James version of the bible, old English can be hard to penetrate. There's little doubt, though, that he loved his subject.
As It Is by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, available online HERE, has extensive commentary, but the translation can be a little stiff at times.
Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song by Graham Schweig is the most poetic I've read so far, but it's rather light on commentary, and sometimes seems to favor beauty over clarity.
The Illustrated Bhagavad Gita by Ranchor Prime is by far the easiest to read, and is the one I'd recommend to anyone unfamiliar with the text. It's very well organized, and is a great introduction.

But the one I'm reading now, titled simply The Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran, is really something special. The poetry of the language is easy and flowing, and the commentary explains difficult concepts in a way that, while still challenging, takes me where I want to be taken.

I think when I die, his is the version that will be the most dog-eared.

Real

2012-01-19T16:09:00.002-06:00

"Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." ~From The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

This was one of my favorite books as a child. You can read it online at the University of Pennsylvania, HERE.

Clod

2012-01-19T16:06:00.001-06:00

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." ~George Bernard Shaw

Sita

2012-01-19T07:00:00.005-06:00

One of the best movies I've seen lately is Sita Sings the Blues.

It's completely free and completely legal to download, and you can get your own copy HERE. You'll love it! (Ebert did.)

Profiles in Courage

2012-01-18T16:17:00.004-06:00

Obama didn't *really* cancel the Keystone pipeline.

He's just sticking with Plan A, which is to approve it after the election, when it's too late for supporters to take their votes back.

Be sure to bookmark this post, so you can come back and tell me I'm wrong.

0.5

2012-01-18T15:05:00.000-06:00

"Don’t do anything by half: If you love someone, love them with all your soul; when you go to work, work your ass off; when you hate someone, hate them until it hurts." ~Henry Rollins

I Feel Better

2012-01-18T08:23:00.001-06:00

This has a very 1970s feel to it. Lyrics HERE.

Selves

2012-01-18T07:59:00.000-06:00

"Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves." ~Nathaniel Branden (via Perfectly Imperfect)

"There is no disappointment we endure one-half so great as that we are to ourselves." ~Philip J. Bailey

Within You Without You

2012-01-17T20:01:00.005-06:00

Eknath Easwaran, in the introduction to his translation of The Bhagavad Gita:

This morning I had a fresh mango for breakfast: a large, beautiful, fragrant one which had been allowed to ripen until just the right moment, when the skin was luminous with reds and oranges. You can see from that kind of description that I like mangoes. I must have eaten thousands of them when I was growing up, and I probably know most varieties intimately by their color, shape, flavor, fragrance, and feel.

Sankhya would say that this mango I appreciated so much does not exist in the outside world - at least, not with the qualities I ascribed to it. the mango-in-itself, for example, is not red and orange; these are categories of a nervous system that can deal only with a narrow range of radiant energy. My dog Bogart would not see a luscious red and orange mango. He would see some gray mass with no distinguishing features, much less interesting to him than a piece of buttered toast. But my mind takes in messages from five senses and fits them into precise mango-form in consciousness, and that form - nothing outside - is what I experience. Not that there is no "real" mango! But what I experience, the object of my sense perception and my "knowing," are in consciousness, nowhere else. A brilliant nueroscientist I was reading recently says something similar in contemporary language: we never really encounter the world; all we experience is our own nervous system.

I've learned a lot just from the introduction to his translation. I can tell this is one I'll read again and again.

All of his books are available from his official website, HERE.

Dreams

2012-01-17T16:10:00.000-06:00

"On Fox News, they had a poll to have me thrown out of the country. That's hurtful. But also flattering." ~Russell Brand

I aspire to someday being kicked out of the country.

Problems

2012-01-17T08:27:00.004-06:00

My initial reaction to this was negative. When a rich person tells me that it's not important to find a job I love or that pays well, my first thought is that he's got an unpleasant low-paying job he wants me to perform.

But I've been told "pay attention to the message, not the messenger," and in this case the message does ring true.

From Harvard Business Review (via Madhava Gosh):

Like myself, today's twentysomethings were raised to find our dreams and follow them. But it's a different world. And as the jobless generation grows up, we realize the grand betrayal of the false idols of passion. This philosophy no longer works for us, or at most, feels incomplete. So what do we do? I propose a different frame of reference: Forget about finding your passion. Instead, focus on finding big problems.

Putting problems at the center of our decision-making changes everything. It's not about the self anymore. It's about what you can do and how you can be a valuable contributor. People working on the biggest problems are compensated in the biggest ways. I don't mean this in a strict financial sense, but in a deeply human sense. For one, it shifts your attention from you to others and the wider world. You stop dwelling. You become less self-absorbed. Ironically, we become happier if we worry less about what makes us happy.

Read it all HERE.

Tiny Note

2012-01-16T16:34:00.002-06:00

I've heard from a couple of people that they were having trouble commenting. I think the problem is with Blogger, and hopefully they're working on it.

Won't you call me?

2012-01-16T09:25:00.003-06:00

"I can tell you nothing new has happened since I last saw you."

That line fascinates me. The Beatles broke up, he had a hit solo album, assembled a charitable concert to help Bangladesh, donated a mansion to the Hare Krishnas, and that's just scratching surface- yet, he really seems to mean it. Nothing new has happened. Won't you call me, Miss O'Dell?

Full lyrics HERE.

Three

2012-01-16T08:55:00.003-06:00

Dale C. Allison Jr., in The Love There That's Sleeping:

Every religion seeks to answer three fundamental questions. The first question, which implies discontent with the way things are, is: What is wrong with human beings? The second question, which summons hope, is: What is our ultimate destiny beyond this world? And the third question, which assumes a way from here to there, is: What enables us to be transformed so that we can get to where we ought to be?

Learn Something

2012-01-15T10:07:00.004-06:00

From The Book of Merlin by T.H. White:

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then— to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn."

Help Me Help Myself

2012-01-14T13:27:00.002-06:00

One of the last songs Lennon wrote. It's a demo, and a little rough, but the sentiment sounds sincere:

Read the lyrics HERE.

100

2012-01-14T13:07:00.002-06:00

"I'm a 112 percenter. And I don't feel satisfied unless I'm putting in 112 percent into anything that I'm doing." ~Michelle Obama

I hope someday she applies that work ethic to eradicating stupid platitudes.

Urine Trouble

2012-01-13T13:53:00.003-06:00

Four US Marines killed some alleged Taliban fighters, then peed on them. From CBS News:

The NATO-led security force in Afghanistan released a statement Thursday saying, "This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces."

That's fascinating to me. Killing people, moral; peeing on people, immoral. Taking their lives, moral; taking a leak, immoral.

"C'est la vie," say the old folks, "it goes to show you never can tell."

Copywrong

2012-01-13T10:27:00.005-06:00

Well, this is horrifying.

Richard O'Dwyer set up a web page in the UK that violated US copyright laws, so he is being extradited to America for trial.

It's an interesting precedent. Are you one of those people who purposely posted insults to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in violation of Thailand's lèse majesté laws, because you thought it was funny? See you in Bangkok. Have you ever posted a picture of a female who wasn't wearing a ḥijāb? I hear Tehran is pretty this time of year.

Apparently if it's illegal anywhere, now it's illegal everywhere.

Alone

2012-01-12T19:25:00.002-06:00

"Krsna and Guru are in your heart, so don't feel this, that "I am alone." Never are you alone; He who has created you is always with you." ~Srila Narayana Gosvami Maharaja (via)

Alone
by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Birds

2012-01-12T16:47:00.001-06:00

This has nothing to do with anything, I just liked it.

Harry & Me

2012-01-12T14:10:00.003-06:00

"My question is, what legacy will he (Barack Obama) leave, having the opportunity to serve under such hugely dramatic circumstances and had such a huge impact on the universal state of things… how could he have had such a splendid opportunity to do more than most presidents would have ever been able to do, and he let that opportunity slip away from him.

"I'm very cautious of the fact that those who think he has some second agenda and only if he could be given a second term for us to see the new light, new things will be revealed, new efforts will be made to take us to a place other than where we’ve been and where we languish. I just don't trust that. I don’t believe that's a safe way and accurate way to look at this scenario. If there was the kind of moral compass serving Barack Obama the way we hoped, the moral force would have helped him make choices, the absence of that force in his equations, that barometer to guide him when he has to make these decisions that are hugely complicated, he should have come to the table with the things that would have helped us in this moment of crisis." ~Harry Belafonte

Willard

2012-01-12T11:45:00.005-06:00

From The Washington Post:

In a simple experiment, researchers at the University of Chicago sought to find out whether a rat would release a fellow rat from an unpleasantly restrictive cage if it could. The answer was yes.

The free rat, occasionally hearing distress calls from its compatriot, learned to open the cage and did so with greater efficiency over time. It would release the other animal even if there wasn’t the payoff of a reunion with it. Astonishingly, if given access to a small hoard of chocolate chips, the free rat would usually save at least one treat for the captive — which is a lot to expect of a rat.

The researchers came to the unavoidable conclusion that what they were seeing was empathy— and apparently selfless behavior driven by that mental state.

Cool!

Tiny Linux Mint Post

2012-01-11T17:11:00.002-06:00

I tried the latest Mint KDE release. It's pretty cool, and I might someday make the switch, but for now I'm sticking with Gnome.

Oh, dear…

2012-01-11T11:31:00.002-06:00

What a letdown. Is "pathetisad" a word?

I guess Eddie is still mad at David, otherwise he would have told him he was coming off as really, really creepy.

And speaking of apologies…

2012-01-11T11:09:00.002-06:00

Rick Santorum wants you to know that he didn't say he was going to cut off welfare to black people, he said he was going to cut it off to blah people.

Seriously!

I find this totally credible. If there's one thing I hate, it's a lazy blah person on welfare.

If/Then

2012-01-11T08:27:00.003-06:00

Kate Perry's father invoked an unkind Jewish stereotype, but apologized:

"I am not going to offer any excuse, or tell you not to think what I did wasn't so terrible. I do insist, and God is my witness– that I am not an anti-Semite. But that is the point. We can do lots of harm even to those we love simply by using words irresponsibly. I used images about Jews rooted in the worst anti-Semitism in the past, images that at times led to the persecution and murder of Jews… I used them without ever considering what they meant. …I apologize for the hurt that I caused my Jewish friends. With the help of God, it will not happen again."

It's rare and admirable for someone to step up to the plate and just admit they screwed up and offer a sincere apology.

That's so much better than the "if/then" non-apologies so many use: "If you were offended, then I apologize." If someone offers you one of those, the proper way to respond is to kick them in the nuts and say, "If you were offended…"

Happiness

2012-01-10T06:38:00.001-06:00

What advice would the old give the young?

Almost to a person, the elders viewed happiness as a choice, not the result of how life treats you.

A 75-year-old man said, “You are not responsible for all the things that happen to you, but you are completely in control of your attitude and your reactions to them.” An 84-year-old said, “Adopt a policy of being joyful.”

The 90-year-old daughter of divorced parents who had lived a hardscrabble life said, “I learned to be grateful for what I have, and no longer bemoan what I don’t have or can’t do.”

Even if their lives were nine decades long, the elders saw life as too short to waste on pessimism, boredom and disillusionment.

Read the whole article HERE.

Worries

2012-01-09T11:12:00.003-06:00

I spend a lot of time worrying these days.

I can distract myself. I can chant sixteen rounds, and be completely In The Moment and totally at peace. But when I stop, the worries come back.

I can blast Beatles music and be completely absorbed in it, but when the track ends, the worries come back.

I can enjoy a good meal, watch a movie, have a great time dancing, but the carriage always turns back into a pumpkin when the moment ends.

This book helped me years ago, and I'm going to find it and work through it again.

But I think what I have to do is just accept that this is how it is- maybe not forever, but for the time being- and I have to find a way to live with it in a way that doesn't keep me from doing the things I want and need to do.

In the meantime, isn't this a great song?

Oh…

2012-01-08T11:07:00.001-06:00

This might be the best 7:09 you spend today. :)

Pope

2012-01-06T17:56:00.001-06:00

Shamelessly stolen from Tony Zimnoch:

The Pope and Margaret Thatcher are on the same stage in front of a huge crowd.

The ex-PM and His Holiness, however, have seen it all before, so to make it a little more interesting, Maggie says to the Pope, "Did you know that, with just one little wave of my hand, I can make every Conservative in the crowd go wild?"

He doubts it, so she shows him. Sure enough, the wave elicits rapture and cheering from every Conservative in the crowd. Gradually, the cheering subsides.

The Pope, not wanting to be out done by such a level of arrogance, considers what he could do. "That was impressive, but did you know that, with just one little wave of my hand, I can make every person in the crowd go crazy with joy? This joy will not be a momentary display, like that of your subjects, but will go deep into their hearts and they will forever speak of this day and rejoice."

Thatcher seriously doubts this and says so. "One little wave of your hand and all people will rejoice forever? Show me."

So the Pope punched her.

Die Now, Go Later

2012-01-06T17:04:00.002-06:00

When stresses start to get to me- my mother's illness, my illness, bills bills bills- this song comforts me.

Dogs

2012-01-06T11:41:00.002-06:00

Just a happy little story, that I found HERE.

Jesus

2012-01-06T11:12:00.003-06:00

Via CBSNews:

"We always need a Jesus candidate. We need someone who believes in something more than themselves, and not just the economy." ~Rick Santorum

Finally!

I've been waiting for a candidate whose foreign policy will be based on turning the other cheek, and whose domestic policy will focus on feeding the hungry and healing the sick!

How refreshing it will be to have a candidate who, rather than pandering to the wealthy class, will instead warn them with the parable of the camel and the eye of the needle!

2012-01-06T06:40:00.002-06:00

"To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do." ~attributed to Hermann Hesse

I can't find a source for it, but it's not out of character for him. Regardless, it's makes a nice motto.

Ugly

2012-01-05T17:26:00.003-06:00

Kirstie Alley, on the men she plans to date, via CNN:

"I'm thinking ugly men might be the solution. I'm talking about butt ugly. Because I go for really handsome men and I think butt ugly would be appreciative."

I'm not going to ask her out.

She might say yes, and then my self-esteem would take a beating.

War Bucks

2012-01-05T14:41:00.003-06:00

From CNN:

President Barack Obama unveiled his administration's plan Thursday for a leaner, cheaper military, a reflection of Washington's fiscal belt tightening and slower national economic growth.

but then he says that:

"Over the next 10 years, the growth in the defense budget will slow, but the fact of the matter is this: It will still grow…"

Okay, what am I missing? How is "cheaper" from the first paragraph compatible with "still grow" in the next?

Smoking

2012-01-04T19:00:00.003-06:00

I don't know if this is a real product or not, but if it is, I want one (via).

Three gods walk into a bar…

2012-01-04T13:07:00.000-06:00

I've got the winter blues and blahs, and this picture makes me smile.

Face

2012-01-04T12:28:00.004-06:00

Well, not really. All the study said was that pigeons can recognize patterns of facial expression, and that's a long ways from recognizing what those patterns represent and using them to their advantage.

But I like the picture: me + 20 years.

Castles

2012-01-03T17:24:00.001-06:00

I like knocking things down: Crush the Castle

Sugar Sugar

2012-01-03T10:54:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago me and Mona had hot chocolate at a coffee shop, and both came home incredibly grouchy.

This morning I had pancakes with syrup, and now I've got a crashing headache.

I think it's the sugar, in both cases. We eat very, very few sweets, and I think when we get a burst of sugar we suffer for it. Our bodies just aren't acclimated to it.

And in a tangentially related note, if you ask Mona what her favorite song is, this is what she'll tell you:

That's some fine dancing, girls.

Okay.

2012-01-02T17:20:00.002-06:00

"Even if what you’re working on doesn't go anywhere, it will help you with the next thing you’re doing. Make yourself available for something to happen. Give it a shot." ~Cormac McCarthy

I Hope So, Too

2012-01-02T14:52:00.004-06:00

Via Eric. :)

Crank it up!

2012-01-02T13:42:00.004-06:00

It's sort of a kirtan for the omni-committaled. If I die before you guys, make sure they play it at my funeral.

I love the piano.

You can visit Mason Jenning's webpage HERE.

Mermaid

2012-01-02T11:39:00.003-06:00

"Russell (Brand) had a copy of his book in the car, and I was intrigued. I asked him to sign it, and when I got home I read what he wrote: You are a mermaid, and I am drowning." ~Katy Perry

I've read his book.

I really don't think he's ever been happy a day in his life. I think he distracts himself, and calls that happiness.

Also: who carries around a copy of their own book in their car?

Happy?

2012-01-02T10:59:00.003-06:00

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it." ~Elizabeth Gilbert

Being "happy" sounds like too much work.

I think instead I'll just sit quietly on the porch with Mona and look at the stars.

I Can't Think Of A Good Title

2012-01-02T09:51:00.003-06:00

Gotye did a nice job, but I bet Ozzy could have done it even better.

It kind of reminds me of Bell Bottom Blues.

Stones

2012-01-01T15:27:00.001-06:00

From Jewish Virtual Library:

Unlike people from other religions, Jews do not typically place flowers at gravesites. Instead, they often place stones on the grave or tombstone. The origin of the custom is uncertain, though it may relate to ancient times when a pile of stones was used as a marker. The most common explanation is that placing stones is a symbolic act that indicates someone has come to visit and the deceased has not been forgotten.

I had always wondered.

Uncle Albert

2012-01-01T09:50:00.006-06:00

"Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being."

The internet thinks Albert Schweitzer said it, but there's no documentation to support it.

But I think we do meet people, at just the right time, who fill vacancies inside of us; a sort of spiritual magnetism.

Just Do It

2011-12-31T10:18:00.003-06:00

"My dear Lord, devotional service unto You is the best path for self-realization. If someone gives up that path and engages in the cultivation of speculative knowledge, he will simply undergo a troublesome process and will not achieve his desired result. As a person who beats an empty husk of wheat cannot get grain, one who simply speculates cannot achieve self-realization. His only gain is trouble." ~Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.14.4 (via)

"I have come to the conclusion that understanding ain't all it's cracked up to be. In other words, serve now, live now, and love now. Don't wait to understand." ~Arlo Guthrie

Humble

2011-12-30T10:54:00.003-06:00

"Lord Brahmā said: There are people who say, "I know everything about Kṛṣṇa." Let them think that way. As far as I am concerned, I do not wish to speak very much about this matter. O my Lord, let me say this much: As far as Your opulences are concerned, they are all beyond the reach of my mind, body and words." ~Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.38 (via)

I like the humbleness of this passage.

Flowers

2011-12-30T06:50:00.000-06:00

"Be like a flower: give happiness and fragrance to all." ~Swami Chinmayananda

Questions

2011-12-30T06:34:00.006-06:00

Via 3QuarksDaily:

What Should We Do About The Moon?
by Hafiz
from The Gift- versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky

A wine bottle fell from a wagon and
broke open in a field.

That night one hundred beetles and all their cousins
Gathered

and did some serious binge drinking.

They even found some seed husks nearby
and began to play them like drums and whirl.
This made God very happy.

Then the "night candle" rose into the sky
and one drunk creature, laying down his instrument,
said to his friend ~ for no apparent
Reason,

"What should we do about that moon?"

Seems to Hafiz
Most everyone has laid aside the music

Tackling such profoundly useless
Questions.

Kind of a side issue, but: a god that loves a good party is profoundly different than what the fundamentalists (of all stripes) expect to find.

Six

2011-12-29T18:44:00.001-06:00

Roger Ebert lists six reasons movie revenue is falling. I agree wholeheartedly with number three:

The theater experience. Moviegoers above 30 are weary of noisy fanboys and girls. The annoyance of talkers has been joined by the plague of cell-phone users, whose bright screens are a distraction. Worse, some texting addicts get mad when told they can't use their cell phones.

I'm sick of those tiny little lights bobbing around all over the theater!

Read his whole article HERE.

15

2011-12-29T15:31:00.000-06:00

Via Jason Robert Ballard. Clicking enlarges.

I don't think anyone can read this without cringing in recognition; I certainly couldn't.

Sabers

2011-12-29T14:41:00.002-06:00

From CNN:

The Obama administration said Iran has been "saber-rattling" over its threat to block the strategically important Strait of Hormuz and renewed its vow Thursday to keep the corridor open.

Pot, meet kettle; kettle, pot.

Sodium

2011-12-29T14:23:00.001-06:00

It took me a minute, too.

Buckets

2011-12-28T12:49:00.000-06:00

"A definition of a bucket list- it isn't a list of things to do a few moments before you die, but a list of things you should be doing while you are alive." ~Mark Johnson

Melting

2011-12-28T10:57:00.000-06:00

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake." ~Marie Ray (via)

Lost Generation

2011-12-28T06:53:00.002-06:00

This is a clever little poem I found posted at golden aura. Once you've read it top to bottom, reverse it and read it bottom to top:

Lost Generation
by Jonathan Reed

I’m a part of Lost Generation
and I refuse to believe that
I can change the world
I realize this may be a shock but
“Happiness comes from within”
is a lie, and
“Money will make me happy”
So in thirty years I’ll tell my children
They are not the most important thing in my life
My employer will know that
I have my priority straight because
Work
Is more important than
Family
I tell you this
Once upon a time
Families stay together
But this will not be true in my era
This is a quick fix society
Experts tell me
Thirty years from now I will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of my divorce
I do not concede that
I will live in a country of my own making
In the future
Environmental destruction will be the norm
No longer can it be said that
My peers and I care about this earth
It will be evident that
My generation is apathetic and lethargic
It is foolish to presume that
There is hope

And all of this will come true unless we reverse it.

Freud

2011-12-28T05:55:00.006-06:00

I've had dreams the past two nights that seem to be related.

In the first dream I was talking with a man in the middle of a large room. I looked up and found myself surrounded by police in riot gear. I was not surprised to see them, nor was I afraid; I was certain that, even though hopelessly outnumbered, I would escape.

In the next dream I was running through a forest along a stream, pursued by police far in the distance. I had a strong sense déjà vu. I knew that I had been pursued and captured many times before. I came upon a sewer. I considered crawling inside to delay the inevitable- but I didn't. I sat down and watched the mayflies, and noticed a shiny, pretty pebble.

I've thought about these two dreams a lot.

I think the police represent my own mortality.

Lyrics HERE.

Quotes

2011-12-27T16:13:00.000-06:00

I've been burned a time or two, so now I always verify my quotes.

The one above seems to be legit.

Hazy

2011-12-27T07:58:00.003-06:00

Maybe it's the season that put this song in my head:

I like this version better than the original. I think it needs the electric guitar and the booming drums.

A Full and Busy Life

2011-12-26T18:51:00.001-06:00

I haven't been able to track down the original source yet, but I'm looking:

The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The businessman then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor.”

The businessman scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But señor, how long will this all take?” To which the businessman replied, “15-20 years.” “But what then, señor?” The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions.” “Millions, señor? Then what?”

The businessman said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”

Roads

2011-12-26T16:21:00.002-06:00

"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost." ~H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Error

2011-12-26T15:48:00.001-06:00

"The common error of ordinary religious practice is to mistake the symbol for the reality, to look at the finger pointing the way and then to suck it for comfort rather than follow it." ~Alan Watts

Now and Again

2011-12-26T11:42:00.000-06:00

"I can laugh about it now, but at the time it was terrible." ~Morrissy

Lies

2011-12-24T17:39:00.001-06:00

Lies by Stephanie McMillan
Clicking Imbiggens
"Each time voting doesn't change things, it's a fluke."

Threads

2011-12-24T14:13:00.005-06:00

I got in the habit of reading foreign newspapers, and there were two today in in Việt Nam's Thanh Niėn News that were more connected than the authors probably realized.

The first story is about their recent move from the firing squad to lethal injection as a method of execution, and how some are supporting ending the practice outright- not to show mercy towards the condemned, but to show mercy to the executioners:

Officials from several agencies are part of an execution council, "but those who directly use guns… are always the ones who are most stressed out," (Lo Xuan) Le said.

"To be honest, no one is willing to end a life with their own hands, even if it is that of a criminal," he said.

The second story is about am American veteran who can't forgive himself, forty years after the fact:

US veteran Chuck Palazzo has spent the past 40 years compensating victims of the Agent Orange he helped spray during his 13 months serving in the Vietnam War.
Palazzo said he had seen photos of the war victims on the Internet but he was still shocked when he saw those people with his own eyes.

He said his pain is difficult to explain. It is the pain of seeing a deformed body caused by himself more than 40 years ago.

"It’s terrible… It haunts me every night," Palazzo said.

A system that turns young men into killers is an evil system that must be abolished.

You can call them "peace-keepers" and fill their heads with stories of honor and glory, but at the end of the day, but when the parades are over and the bumper stickers have faded, they know what they've done.