Wayne Loves Tennis

Back to School

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Princeton era 1960 (Life)

Back to school yall. Sun's still out but the day is giving way to a whole different colour of structure. I'm not sure I'm up for it in all its splendor but what choice do I have. I hate it when people say "That's just the way it is." Don't ever believe that to be true. If school absolutely sucks at first, suffer through it and make it the best you can. Situational predicaments are never without a little good, even the worst. And the greatest good doesn't come in an instant. The best example of this is TED. The folks behind all the beautiful lectures that TED produces didn't simply become into their craft. They've dedicated years to what they love, whatever it may be and the great shit they produce eventually gets recognized. The benefits aren't immediate, but rather they slowly become. After a while, you're suddenly recognized, but only after the time and effort that got the gears of progress moving. That way of thinking can be applied to every shade of life. Accept nothing for as it is, especially if it sucks. Own up, take responsibility for whatever the matter may be and then run with it. I'm finding myself now in some deep gradoo, something the likes of which I've never come across. But I'm trying to believe that the effort will be worth it eventually, because for the next little while things might just suck. But that ain't no reason to not keep on grinning. It's college baby and you're beautiful.

Rant

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How ironic is it that material affluence creates a scarcity of non-material things. In this hyper connected world of ours, with Facebook and text messaging blowing up everyone's free time, do the most important things in the world seem to suffer? There is one person I know who's so flakey with her phone and I love her for it. She forgoes all that bullshit of what's up where are you whatcha doing for honest to goodness face to face interaction. Why isn't all this time spent all connected up being spent towards encouraging and nurturing the cornerstones of the psyche like friendship and wisdom? I saw something the other day talking about the amount of girls in the work force as it related to the amount of hours boys spent playing video games in their childhood years. All that time boys spend on video games, something like 10,000 hours before 18 years old, is automatically not being spent nurturing basic communication skills and necessary tools for the workplace. Girls steer clear of video games in their early years, which therefore translates to a better chance of excelling in the workplace environment. I believe the same sort of principles can be tied to current trends such as the rise of obesity and lack of creativity in the United States, which Time just did a great cover story on by the way. Kids don't play outside any more. Never before in the history of mankind has our modern world seen the likes of such a problem before. Not only do the fundamental tools of everyday interaction suffer, the immaterial, intangible notions of the heart and mind are taking a fatal plunge as well. Pope John Paul II said that very well when he first spoke to the United Nations. "In a culture of affluence, you will predictably see a decrease of spiritual values: time, knowledge, wisdom, love and friendship.  Those decrease almost in mathematical proportion as you move toward materialism."

Update! Read some mo wiser words than my own

{Social Relationships and Mortality Risk | Plos Medicine | Continue}

{America: Land of Loners? | Wilson Quarterly | Continue}

{Relationships in Late Capitalism | Adbusters | Continue}

Cha Cha Changes

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There is a difference between change and transformation.  Change happens when something old dies and something new begins.  I am told that planned change is as troublesome to the psyche as unplanned change, often more so.  We feel manipulated, forced, and impute it to some evil authorities, the change agents.  But change might or might not be accompanied by transformation of soul.  I'm afraid it is usually not. If change does not invite personal transformation, we lose our souls.  Such is the modern malaise.

We mass-produce neurotics and narcissists because there are so few medicine men and healing women and Spirit guides to walk us through transformation. At times of change, the agents of transformation must work overtime, even through few will hear them.  The ego would sooner play victim or too-quick victor than take the ambiguous road of transformation.  We change-agents need a simple virtue:  faith.  It still is the rarest of commodities because it feels like nothing, at least nothing that satisfies our need to know, to fix, to manage, to understand.  Faith goes against the grain.

Transformation in times of change is the exception, but it is also the norm. Nothing new seems to happen except when the old dies.  But the old does not die gracefully:  It always takes hostages.

(But Does It Float)

from on Vimeo.

Healthy Relationships

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Healthy Relationships

Sometimes I'm very happy that I'm not in a secure romantic relationship. I dunno, it just seems to me that people who are in really healthy relationships are really, really boring. I mean, where's the spice in emotional security? Where's the excitement in this:

"I love you, my love."

"I love you too, my love, until our planet meets its demise at the hands of an asteroid, for as long as my body can still produce breath and excrement unaided by hospital machines, until Jesus comes back and we kill him again, I will, always love you, my love."

You see? No excitement at all. No umph. There's no jealousy, no distrust, no acerbic barbs that subtly scar two lovers until their hearts cauterize from the daily onslaught of passive-aggressive remonstrations. Now that shit, that's fun to me. Not knowing where you stand with someone, being so full of self-doubt that you question everything, believing nothing the person you're with tells you. I'm talking about the emotional equivalent of being an illiterate serf in Europe in like1204, and the bible is in fucking Latin and you can't read the gospels for shit even if it was in your language, and your priest has got you convinced that every little thing you do is gonna land you in hell. "The harvest failed this year... I'm done for." Now that's a relationship you maricóns!

{Continue Reading | Mad Decent}

Tattoo

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I stayed up nearly all night last night reading this book, had to put it down after close to four straight hours of nothing but reading because I couldn't keep my eyes open. Finished it this morning and can't wait to grab the next. It's fantastic. I've been in dire need for some great fiction recently and this held every bit of my attention for all 600 plus pages, which is a miracle in itself. Whoa. I'm in North Georgia for a few days for the grandfather's surprise birth. They live up on a mountain with a beautiful view and loads of drafty quiet rooms which are perfect for reading and detoxing, as long as the dogs don't find you. A bear wandering through the garbage last night and they killed a copperhead in the garage two days ago. I love being in the middle of nowhere. Today in between pages, we ventured out to see friends out on in the nearby county. They've got a dairy farm thats been in the family since 1840. Every weekend, trucks of folks venture up from Atlanta to buy their all naturale, dry aged, organic no nothing added pork and beef. Watched a lady get her heel stuck in the mud today. Awesome. I love time spent in the back of beyond. 

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Lots to come this next week with the meanderings of summer finally slowing down and giving way to the regiments of a unself-inflicted schedule. But man oh man, it has been a fantastic past few weeks. Loads of pointed facts,  askewed notes, colourful observations, quotes, soul wringing, thoughts, head nods, beats and buzz, bell chimes, super tunes, sprawling wordscapes, rudeness, and photos about to be dropped. Here's to catching up and not making sense.