the journey

we are all walking perceptions. we perceive that which surrounds us, that which we are exposed to. that is it. that there is more than one perception, ie more than just my mind perceiving, is incomprehensible. how can others be, exist, if i am, if what i feel is, true? i feel more and more that this is a book. a story. a plot slowly unfolding. it is too unreal to not be. am i losing touch? yes but is this a bad thing? my mind is leaving narberth. it is changing. i am thinking differently. so odd. this is growing up i guess. so much. how is any of this? that anything happens in ways it should not is hard to understand. woah. that time passes. that is it. that is it. it passes. nothing is permanent. only the now is real. only. a journey is something that begins and ends and is begun with the intention of ending in a particular place. life is a journey. though we do not necessarily treat it that way. we should. we should realize that we are all journeymen. on the same trip. going through the same things. we need to respect that. one must share experiences with another person in order to connect with them in a meaningful way.

can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all

food for thought

Bittmania

words for thought

“The trouble with immortality is endless. The thought of it brings us into contact with problems of time itself — with shapeless problems we have never grasped and may never put into words. Our ability to exist in time may require our being mortal, although we can’t understand that any more than the fish can understand water. What we call the stream of consciousness may depend upon mortality in ways that we can hardly glimpse.” ~ Johnathan Weiner

the way things happen and why

I have recently found myself analyzing and considering the methods by which individual people and families go about living and shaping their lives. I am also intrigued by the idea that lives are constructions of intentions and circumstances, i.e. that they are the ultimate definition of each of us and that they are a mix of that which we hope for and that which we cannot control. The idea that our time in this life is something that we can shape and define, or more that, for reasons commendable and not, not everyone makes the effort to shape and define their life, is infinitely intriguing to me in this stage of my life. For whatever reason, I have never fully considered the power and potential of my own agency. I have, for that matter, also never considered that I even had agency. Meaning that, looking back, I think that I have lived my life without really understanding that I had the ability to change any of the aspects of it. This sounds odd and is not entirely true but I know that it is to a certain degree the reality of the situation. This makes me wonder how much of the world lives as though their lives are the only lives that they could lead and that their circumstances are the only ones that they could every experience on a day-to-day level.

Back to analyzing the methods by which people define their surroundings as they age and mature, I cannot help but connect this issue to foundational political philosophies. I think that, at its core, republican ideals are built around setting up a system that best allows each and every individual to better their lives, even at the expense of the group whole. I think that democratic ideals are built around setting up a system that best allows the group to better its  life, but at the expense of the individual. With this in mind I look at how the people around me set themselves up to insure their future; do they mind paying more taxes towards community goals, would they rather put their money directly into the community, instead of through the government, do they teach their kids to regard their families beliefs as acceptable truths or do they teach their kids to accept whichever truths they find to be worthy of acceptance? And on what level is any of this conscious?

Things in northwest Montana are different from in Philadelphia but the way that people's brains work is the same. People everywhere are living their lives out trying to best get what they want without sacrificing what they have. While the things that influence them are different, i.e. surroundings and possibilities, the ways that they go about it is quite alike; they work a few more hours a week, they move, or they have more kids.

I am losing my train of thought but hopefully it will return

time and the woods

Working outside everyday in the woods is a mind expanding experience. To see natural processes at work with no, or at least little, human influence is truly incredible. If you know what to look for you can see time passing, literally see time. You can see this in cities too but, to me, it is somehow easier out here. You see erosion changing mountains and rivers, you see trees growing and dying, you see animals in the midst of it all struggling to survive. These are the realities of nature. Walking into them and merely observing them, meaning not fully being a part of them, gives you a sense of watching a time-lapse video or something, which, of course, you are but there is something more to it. It is like watching ice melt or clouds change and pass. You know what is coming, what the end result will be, but you are still interested in seeing exactly how it takes place. There is something profound about it. Something truly profound. It is life. It is us. We have removed ourselves from the process to the best of our abilities but we are still a part of it. Walking into the woods and really spending some time there is like going home. I, at least, feel an incredibly deep sense of ease and comfort. Things make sense in a way that they rarely do. Everything, even though it is in a constant state of flux, feels just right. Everything feels as though it is in exactly the right place even though it was only through an absurdly random process that anything arrived at that exact point and place in time. Order in the midst of the ultimate disorder. Nature. Makes me swoon.

Friday Evening Thoughts

• Obama has caught more top Taliban officials in the last month than George W. Bush caught in the last 6 years of his administration.
• Glenn Beck is losing sponsors crazy fast. How long can he keep it up before he has to adjust his approach or go off the air?
• The winter olympics are great. So damn exciting. BUT They are also so absurdly 1st world/Eurocentric/Northern Hemisphere. It's pretty unreal. 
• Chatroulette is disconcerting. Further proof that instead of being out meeting people we would rather sit at home and randomly interact with total strangers. It's all too safe for me. You're not putting anything at all on the line by experiencing other people that way and it's the putting of stuff on the line that strengthens us. Still, it sounds fun. I'll probably end up doing it. 
• It is too easy to get through the day without really having to use your brain. We need more productive and accessible ways of spending our time. 
• Pictures really are worth a thousand words.
• I thought Johnny Weir was amazing last night. So much emotion in the way he moved. 
• Been going crazy on Hot Chip for the last week or so. So good.
• There is NO way that we are the only forms of life in this universe. This video will expand your frame of thought and make you feel miniscule.
• My experience of the world feels so broad and encompassing. It is beyond comprehensible that there are 6.6 Billion other people across the world who probably feel the same way. How do you go about living your life knowing that? I believe that many of the political and cultural rifts that separate us today are based on each of our responses to that question.

Pretty Much the Best Thing Ever

Stephen Colbert and Alicia Keys tearing it up on a Colbert Report remix of Empire State of Mind.

The Year in Pictures

This is a collection of pics from the past year from the Boston Globe. For whatever reason they have great picture galleries. This one is particularly full of emotion and intrigue. It's a nice way to look back on the year. The gallery is in three parts. So, make sure you get through all of it.

Here's a picture of mine from the inauguration that captures the spirit of the year that was 2009.

Thought Provoking Words From Mr. Chomsky

"So take right now, for example, there is a right-wing populist uprising. It's very common, even on the left, to just ridicule them, but that's not the right reaction. If you look at those people and listen to them on talk radio, these are people with real grievances. I listen to talk radio a lot and it's kind of interesting. If you can sort of suspend your knowledge of the world and just enter into the world of the people who are calling in, you can understand them. I've never seen a study, but my sense is that these are people who feel really aggrieved. These people think, "I've done everything right all my life, I'm a god-fearing Christian, I'm white, I'm male, I've worked hard, and I carry a gun. I do everything I'm supposed to do. And I'm getting shafted." And in fact they are getting shafted. For 30 years their wages have stagnated or declined, the social conditions have worsened, the children are going crazy, there are no schools, there's nothing, so somebody must be doing something to them, and they want to know who it is. Well Rush Limbaugh has answered - it's the rich liberals who own the banks and run the government, and of course run the media, and they don't care about you—they just want to give everything away to illegal immigrants and gays and communists and so on.
Well, you know, the reaction we should be having to them is not ridicule, but rather self-criticism. Why aren't we organizing them? I mean, we are the ones that ought to be organizing them, not Rush Limbaugh. There are historical analogs, which are not exact, of course, but are close enough to be worrisome. This is a whiff of early Nazi Germany. Hitler was appealing to groups with similar grievances, and giving them crazy answers, but at least they were answers; these groups weren't getting them anywhere else. It was the Jews and the Bolsheviks [that were the problem].
I mean, the liberal democrats aren't going to tell the average American, "Yeah, you're being shafted because of the policies that we've established over the years that we're maintaining now." That's not going to be an answer. And they're not getting answers from the left. So, there's an internal coherence and logic to what they get from Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and the rest of these guys. And they sound very convincing, they're very self-confident, and they have an answer to everything—a crazy answer, but it's an answer. And it's our fault if that goes on. So one thing to be done is don't ridicule these people, join them, and talk about their real grievances and give them a sensible answer, like, "Take over your factories.""

A Couple of Quickies

• Awesome video of flying fish. They can glide for up to 200 meters after take off!!
• Hilarious video of a prank from a Japanese TV show. One of the more well thought and absurd pranks that I've seen on a Japanese game show and that's saying something!
• And a great quote from The Daily Show two Wednesday's ago: "The Special Olympics is to winners what Fox News is to experts; if you show up, you are one." ~ Jon Stewart

Classic Louis C.K.

I have been watching SO many Louis C.K. vids on youtube. This one is one of my faves as it is hilarious and actually thought provoking. The dude gets it.

You Know the Deal

Serious Links

•  Article on the future of batteries. They have figured out how to make paper thin batteries out of a certain species of green algae. Very cool.
• Scary poll regarding the 2010 mid-term elections. The poll found that a huge portion of the republican voter base are planning on voting in 2010 while a minority of the democratic voter base is planning on voting. This appears to be due to the fact that republicans are getting real fired up and democrats are only disappointed in the progress, or apparent lack there of, that Obama has made. This gets my blood boiling. Dems out there who are actually not planning on voting deserve the republicans that are going to take office as a result of their lack of understanding and apathy.
• Article discussing the downward trend in the prices of energy from renewable sources and the prices of first time installation costs. Specifically the cost of solar power has gone down 50% in the last year.

Fun Links

• Article on 5 real scientific reasons why a zombie apocalypse could actually happen.
• Cool pics showing the actual amount of water on the earth compared to the actual amount of rock.
• "This woman has a pet unicorn, why isn't she smiling?!"
• KICK ASS This is a story and phone number that you can apparently call to get your voice blasted out over the Norwegian forest. (pictured below) I do not know if this is for realz but I sure hope it is.
  

The Rise of Food Stamps

Food stamps now feed 1 in 8 Americans and 1 in 4 American children. Stop and think about that. This stat says as much about the current recession as any other that I have seen. It hits home. One interesting side effect of the growing visibility of food stamps in our culture is that they are losing their stigma. For decades they were seen as something that only the truly poor had to deal with. Now, apparently, they are something that millions and millions of Americans have to deal with everyday. The times they are a changing. Check out the NYT article here.

Delayed Absence

Sorry for being gone so long guys. I have simply had too much work to be fooling around with this blog stuff. To hold you over until I return, which could be a little while considering finals are approaching, I will leave you with this great video of John Stewart enlisting the aid of retired wrestler Mick Foley to help protect that 10 year old kid who won't stand up for the pledge of allegiance until gay marriage is legalized. It's a hilarious video and for a good cause.

Whhaaat?

1 in 20 british children think that Adolf Hitler was a german soccer coach. for more absurd and depressing statistics such as this one read this article.

Linkkkkkks For Fun

Photos from a contest in which people were asked to create pictures showing what the world would be like if the internet disappeared. This is a real gem.

Insane weird cool video

Amazing set of pictures covering the world drug trade: from the dealers to the growers to the users.

Really awesome and inspired idea for a gift. Makes me wish I was much more creative.

Article on how England's swine flu cases have doubled in the last week...

Article on research that has found junk food to be as detrimental to rat brains as heroin. Clearly shows that junk food is not food for thought.

Crazy map showing the impact that a 4 degree Celsius rise in world temperature would have on the world environment.

Quote of the day: [Newton] invented calculus. Most of us sweat through it for multiple years in school just to learn it. He invented it--practically on a dare. He discovered the laws of motion, the laws of gravity, the laws of optics. Then he turned 26." -- Neil deGrasse Tyson

We Need to Get Out of Afghanistan Now

"According to reports, the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan use 800,000 gallons of gasoline per day. At $400 per gallon, that comes to a $320,000,000 daily fuel bill for the Marines alone. Only a country totally out of control would squander resources in this way."

Until I read this statistic I was semi-dedicated to the idea staying in Afganistan until we had finished what we set out. Now, I could not be farther from that. Right now, we are spending $320,000,000 PER DAY on the Marine's gasoline. Just the Marine's. WHHHHHHHHAAAT!?? How is that even possible? Really. How can we sustain that? I am speechless. To say the least, you should read the article that I got this from. It is all about how the US now fits the definition of a failed state.

What More Can I Say?

(click on it for the full experience)

This is probably my favorite Phillies picture taken during their many triumphs of the past three seasons. The raw emotion. The elation. Freaking Carlos Ruiz, the clutchest little panamanian this game has ever seen. This is the best team that I will ever root for. I can say that without any doubt and without any regret that I will never again get to see a group of players so good, so united by a common goal, so easy to love, and so exciting to watch. That is because these guys are that good. Go Phils. Finish up business tomorrow night and then sit back and wait around for those other teams to fight for the chance to be your next victim. Let's go.

Some Profound Quotes on Human Existence

It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here."

-Chaim Potok

the infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. the sheer number of experiences i could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live in trapped loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a handfull of paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, we respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, each day a slight variation of the last, every moment smoothly following the the gentle curves of societal norms. we act like if we just get through today, tomorow our dreams will come back to us.

and no, I don't have all the answers. I don't know how to joly myself into seeing what each moment could become. But I do know one thing: the solution doesn't involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of some day easing my fit into a mold. it doesn't involve tempering my life to better fit someone's expectations. It doesn't involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up.

This is very important, so I want to say it as clearly as I can: Fuck. That. Shit."

--xkcd

“In the midst of winter, I finally found that there was in me an invincible summer.”

Albert Camus

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. ~Fr. Alfred D'Souza

You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life. - unknown

"We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here." - Richard Dawkins

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

Robert Anson Heinlein

The people we judge and hate in life are in fact reflections of our disowned selves. (Dr Hal Stone)

The personal, as everyone’s so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power player, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Justice will not serve you here – it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide from under it with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your message across. That way, you stand a better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes - between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. And time and again they cream your liquidation, your displacement, your torture and brutal execution with the ultimate insult that it’s just business, it’s politics, it’s the way of the world, it’s a tough life and that it’s nothing personal. Well, fuck them. Make it personal.

• Quellcrist Falconer