Monday Blues

Brian Eno writes about the death of uncool.

The Guardian's Albums of the Decade is worth agreeing with.

How did Tiger Woods spend his Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

-Buddha

Mornings

A bunch of folks crashed at a friend's house in Nashville after Deadmau5 last night and I woke up today with my jeans on. Mornings when the sun wakes you up are always best because they aren't rude, unless you're camping. The best is waking up laughing. I'm sprawled out in a chair this morning, wrapped up in a Native American blanket looking picnic spread thing I wound up with last night, sitting by a window and my buddy Joe tells this story. A bunch of friends were sprawled out in the grass, watching the sun set in Central Park one evening. It's the weekend of some festival and music is sounded not too far away. Folks are milling around the park in high spirits and the friends lounging in this particular group are rolling hard and gloriously fucked up. This gal in the group recently got a cute little puppy, well trained and purebred but still goofy like all little dogs are and it's bounding around the group, chasing grapes and loving on everyone. But pretty soon it takes off after a squirrel. In the spirit of the day, this guy scrambles up and runs after it in goofy fashion. He's a pretty big guy and he's running after it down a hill, bend over a bit with his hands out, calling it in his little doggie voice. But he suddenly trips and falls on top of the cute little puppy. The dog convulses and dies. The guy then picks up the dog BY THE TAIL, walks it back to the group, and lays it on the ground by the girl who just got it, who see's the dog and immediately starts throwing up, everywhere. The group flat out loses itself. Everyone's fucked up and the sudden surge of death & bad energy immediately stampedes the good feels of the day and everyone flips out. Tears, spills, stains, yelling and mad chaos ensue. The girl is still throwing up and her dead dog is laying next to her, with the guy hunched on all four, crying his eyes out.

Everyone else rolls away from the picnic, unable to bear what's happening.

Joe takes his shirt off and ties it around his eyes, to blind himself from seeing anything else.

I laughed so hard, I don't even need to run today.

Mao

The funny thing about this is that, in China, this a good thing. Mao is kitschy and cool, in ironic fashion. Of course, some folks in the United States will eat this up, declaring to the heavens the woes and rot that are sure to befall our blessed nation thanks to the Obama administration are not unlike the atrocities that befall the East under Mao Tse-Tung. Mao was a monster but his likeness has aged into a different set of imagery, which won't be understood by the right wangers who think the word "kitschy" is Hebrew or something.

Not two days after Obama dared to speak about free markets and an open internet in Beijing, the government locks down a nationwide ban against the sale of Maobama shirts. This begs the question, how long before the same thing happens here?

Hassle Free

Utopia (via)

You Can Fly

Hell Yeah

Great Men

Richard Francis Burton

"Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks is the departure upon a distant journey to unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the Slavery of Home, man feels once more happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood….afresh dawns the morn of life…”

Journal entry from Zanzibar, 1856

Caves

I went golfing the other day for the first time ever and the best part of the day had nothing to do with me golfing, but rather caves. My friend showed me this cave entrance (!) off the ways a little bit, back in the woods. I could have crawled through the entrance. Kentucky apparently has the largest cave system in the world. That's crazy. Caves are older than forever as well, who's to say What in the world is in these caves? King Juba's treasure? Farmer's gold? God I'm suppose to be writing a paper and just can't write academically right now. Let's get lost.

This song will fuck with your head, it's not even a great song, Its just all lazers and they trance around while you have the time of your life chasing down a fucking beachball in Ibiza.

DJ Cleo- Hands Up (Edit)

Don't Worry

Action as we are using the work does not mean activism, busyness, or do-goodism. Action does mean a decisive commitment toward involvement and engagement in the social order. Issues will not be resolved by mere reflection, discussion or even prayer. God works together with all those who love (Romans 8:28). By contemplation, we mean the deliberate seeking of God through a willingness to detach from the passing self, the tyranny of emotions, and the addiction to self-image and the false promises of this world.

Contemplation is the Divine therapy and the perennial clearinghouse for the soul. It is important that we continue to clarify and hold to these two pivots of our lives. Rightly sought, action and contemplation will always regulate, balance and convert one another. Separately, they are dead-ended and trapped in personality. The clear goal of our center is to meet people where they are and help them trust where they are not.

-Richard Rohr, Radical Grace

White People

The routines of tourism are even more monotonous than those of daily life.

-Mason Cooley-

Big Plans

Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening at once.

-Albert Einstein-

There is not a natural sense of urgency here in Bowling Green, so I'm a bit out of place sometimes with my dashing around. Maybe it's just the small town comfortable feel to things here. Not pressed for time, no rush, doesn't take long to get here or there, folks waving from their front porch. The police here are at a loss too because nothing obviously felonious going on, which is why they make everything they call out a grand fucking spectacle. But whatever. There's a breeze when you're walking, but it's hot when propped up in the sun, like Southern California. It's easy going here, which is can be for better or for worst. I mean, it's gorgeous outside and I love taking my time, but behind every minute of every day anywhere is a pressing urgency. Not a big deal or anything, but there isn't a moment to lose during the day.

If things are too comfortable, time wastes away.

Some people become more aware of this phenomena in times of struggle or weak moments where the odds aren't stacked in favour. Time suddenly becomes of the essence when two papers are due and a test is coming up, or when you're lining up out of the shotgun on third & eight in the fourth quarter. Those seconds are always longer than others, while a weekend with friends flies by, which just proves its relative nature. Time was considered to be absolute and to flow equably for all observers until Einstein came along and suggested that "distances appear compressed and time intervals appear lengthened for events associated with objects in motion relative to an inertial (still) observer."

So what?

Time will seem like more, in a sense, for the person who keeps moving. By learning to live at peace with natural speed of life, the ebb and flow of the actions and interactions of everyday won't seem so drastic when the pressure's on and things get difficult. Everything won't seem so hasty and stressed in a way. Situations will get their deserving amount of attention paid and the big picture won't be lost amongst little pressing needs that are eventually unnecessary, like messed up food orders, dramatics, jealousy, lost sunglasses, forgetting books for class. All those things can be solved by taking a deep breath and widening the moment's lense a little bit.

This is something strange but it has been in mind recently, in thinking about future endeavors, opportunities, and pursuits. I question the legitimacy or purpose of being here in school, in class sitting, listening, and fidgeting. I feel like a more pro-active approach must be taken towards making things happen. School does enable one to go further towards achieving a certain set of goals in life like the ones I've drafted up, so I'm learning to trust the process and be cool with the pace of the moment, while not letting my mind wander toward the ridiculous What If's the imagination thinks up.

It's a whole lotta at once, but it is a good thing to do battle with every day.

Keep me on my toes.