Unexpected

If you read really far back in this blog you will see a few posts where the anger in my posts is matched only by my cryptic wording. I was very angry with someone who was very angry with me. I truly felt for years that we would never speak again. Thank God for my huge music collection. Occasionally I will just put it on random and listen to whatever is played. Alana Davis came up. I only know one person who listened to Alana Davis. So I decided to text her. We had a very nice conversation through texting. It was distant, but it was still the nicest things we have said to each other in 2 years.

Moral: Time heals all.

Formism, Cubism, and Dadaism

For a class, I was asked to teach a seminar on Formism, Cubism, and Dadaism… Lord help us.
The primary differences between the three –isms are in the artist intentions. The intentions of the Formists are primarily to shock the audience with a twisted view of reality expressing a pessimistic view of the world. This seems to apply to all three –isms, however, the drive of the Formist is not involved with social issues. Unlike Cubism, which is based very heavily in social reform and reshaping, or Dadaism, which is anti-government, Formism comments on the current state of humanity without any thought to the governing bodies or issues that create the mindset of the viewers. The viewer needs only be human to understand the Formist ideas. Cubism claims this same stance, that the emotions of the audience are enough to frame the art.
Recognizing that each character represents part (not the entirety) of humanity separates Cubism from Formism and Dadaism. The latter two do not make a stance on the representation of humanity, whether one character can show the entirety of anything. Cubism, theatrically speaking, breaks humanity and individuals down into facets and shows all emotions in one work. Dadaism has a tendency (although it is not a rule) to show many things being represented by one character, an absolute opposition to a Cubist idea. This representation of multiple things stems from Dada being a response to society. Cubism also often plays on the emotions of fear and solitude, where Dadaism acts on the idea of art being a movement of the masses. The artist’s intentions for humanity differ in each –ism. Cubists intend to dissect humanity, while Dadaists intend to unite humanity until the collapse of society (which of course will be caused by the reformed society corrupting to be just as the old society was). Formism simply complains about it, voicing an opinion of distaste.
The artist’s intent branches into another difference between the three –isms; the visual quality of the works. Formism is filled with tricks and illusions, brought to life by a very simple and awkward set, where everything has a purpose. The colors used are very monochromatic, and often are only black and white (stage directions make direct references to this). Cubism, a step above Formism, has sets and costumes that are very familiar to the audience, but restricts this to avoid anything vivid and distracting. The set is filled with average things, no matter how un-average the play is, which often function as simple “filler”. Dada is the extreme in this respect. The stage is very intricate, and the characters often do not interact with their surroundings. The colors are vivid, and the eccentric design is matched by the eccentric themes of the play.
Because of the abstract nature of these forms, they all require open minds to be understood. The question asked by so many, “What is the way out?” leads each –ism to be a different explanation of a situation. It is not that one –ism leads to the next, which leads to the next, they all came into existence individually. Some are more confusing than others. The most confusing is cubism, due to the way that the message is dissected into so many pieces. The way that the characters are presented, representing a section of every person’s personality. This way of representing people gives a very fractured and not easily followed storyline. Although both Formism and Dadaism are not easily understood, either. Formism’s exaggerated shapes and colors lead the viewer to a misunderstanding of reality, portraying basic concepts to the viewer using complex methods. Dadaism is confusing due to its constant turn rounds, building up the expectations of the viewer just before completely changing the course of action.
Of the examples used (The Mother, Desire Caught by the Tale, and Ubu Roi), two are about political change and one is about social change (on an individual level). The Mother, a Formist play delivers a message about individual social change, and how each person fits into society. The constant use of drugs and other substances to alter the minds of the characters leads to The Mother being a Formist play. Also, the colorless set, except for very few and small details used for plot purposes. Ubu Roi strives for political change, stating that even the best intentions will be lost through the rise of power. This follows the claim that a new revolution will lead to a replacement of the old with very similar ideals. This Dadaist philosophy is a core tenant that renders itself best to Dada theatre.
Desire Caught by the Tale is a Cubist play calling for revolution, just as Ubu Roi. The largest difference lies in the delivery of the lines. Picasso’s Cubism dissects the plot and characters to deliver a very complex set of lines using the sentence structure to build the story. Jarry uses the literal meaning of the lines instead. Cubism takes apart an idea to build on it, while Dadaism takes advantage of the literal meaning of every idea that comes up.

A drunken man walks into a biker bar, sits down at the bar and orders a drink. Looking around, he sees three men sitting at a corner table.

He gets up, staggers to the table, leans over, looks the biggest, meanest, biker in the face and says: "I went by your grandma's house today and I saw her in the hallway buck naked. Man, she is one fine looking woman!"

The biker looks at him and doesn't say a word. His buddies are confused, because he is one bad biker and would fight at the drop of a hat.

The drunk leans on the table again and says: "I got it on with your grandma and she is good, the best I ever had!"

The biker's buddies are starting to get really mad but the biker still says nothing.

The drunk leans on the table one more time and says, "I'll tell you something else, boy, your grandma liked it!"

At this point the biker stands up, takes the drunk by the shoulders looks him square in the eyes and says.......

"Grandpa....Go home, you're drunk."

Moon

Scientists have shown that moon is moving away at a tiny although measurable distance from the Earth every year. If you do the math, you can calculate that 65 million years ago the moon was orbiting the earth at a distance of about 35 feet from the Earth’s surface. This would explain the death of the dinosaurs – the tall ones, anyway.

Another side of people

Have you ever known somebody in only one sense to the point that you think they essentially just disappear when they aren't in that environment? For example, only knowing someone professionally and then you see them in a different light when they are wearing jeans instead of dress pants. I think that a lot has to do with the mindset that you are in, too.

Moral: even if you think you know someone, you don't.

Wedding joke

I thought this might be good enough for the blog, even though it is about me personally rather than as an example, I think it can still enlighten some. I was trying to get inspired by some wedding humor to write a good speech for my sister's (Megan) wedding reception. Being that Megan married Valerie, I needed a joke that doesn't poke fun at wifes nagging husbands... and those are 90% of the jokes about marriage. I finally found one "It is true that love is blind but marriage is definitely an eye-opener."-- well, isn't that nasty! In fact, all wedding jokes are pretty nasty.
But I am going to use this in my speech, but not as a joke.
It will go something like this:
I know how important gay rights are to Val and Megan, and I was thinking about that while I was writing my speech. I heard a joke once about marriage. I don't really think it is funny, but in this case, it is more beautiful than humorous if you listen to the words and ignore what most people associate them to mean. "It is true that love is blind but marriage is definitely an eye-opener." It is true that love is blind, when we are in love we don't see anything but that person; not snickers nor pointing, or eye rolling or whatever other judgmental things people throw around. Gay couples are finally being more accepted, but there are still a few hurdles that are best to turn a blind eye to for right now. So, it is very important that love is blind. The second part, "Marriage is an eye opener" is very true in this case-- Look, Open your eyes wide, Love has triumphed. This is a testament to how far we have come. A marriage of these two women and these two families.

I still need to polish it and open it with that bit about Megan wanting me to be the maid of honor till Val and outvoted her for my title to be "Best Man".

Thank you for letting me get to know you. Both of you have changed my life in ways you don't know about. Thank God I never had to decide which of you has helped me more, as I can't even imagine where to begin thinking about that. It would be stupid of me not to see that you were both in my life for a reason (but not a season) and that the time has come to wave goodbye and gracefully turn away.

O'death

O, Death
Won't you spare me over another?
Oh what is this that I can't see with ice cold hands taking hold of me
When God is gone and the Devil takes hold
Who'll have mercy on your soul
O, Death
No wealth, no ruin, no silver, no gold
Nothing satisfies me but your soul
Well I am Death
None can excell
I'll open the door to Heaven or Hell
My name is Death and the end is here

Studying tea will not help.
Meditating on tea will not help.
Listening to others talk about tea will not help.
Reading sutras about tea will not help.
Smelling the aroma of tea will not help.
Sitting blissfully in samahdi around tea will not help.
Seeking tea in exotic countries will not help.
Having profound insights about tea will not help.
Opening the heart in deep life-changing ways will not help.
Going inside a tea shop will not help.

All of these things are mere confusion and delaying tactics.

To know the taste of tea you must drink it. There is no other way.

Moral: This isn't actually about tea.

the consumption of God

Einstein's theory states that E (energy)=M (mass of matter)*C (a constant that represents the speed of light in a vacuum) ^2. That means that to create a small amount of matter, you need a huge amount of energy... M= C^2/E. Mere atoms requiring more energy to create than anything you can imagine. Such energy had to come from someplace-- or someone. Taking a small leap of faith (as physics does very often then creates circular logic to self justify) I can claim that God created that energy. Or... God was the energy. Think about it. How much energy would it take to create an infinite amount of matter?: an infinite amount of energy. The math proves it. Not until the universe stops expanding will we be able to put a finite measurement on the energy required. Until then, I choose to call it god.
Philosophers have claimed that God is dead for a long time now, but what if God isn't dead (like defeated) instead he is consumed and used up like fuel for a volatile explosion?

Moral: I might be creating a lovely idea of God as a power source of infinite magnitude, but that is no less plausible or logical than all the huge claims made by physicists.

Moving

Moving sucks, it is extremely stressful. Often times people joke that moving is easy if you have all your friends to help. But the truth is that what sucks more packing stuff up in boxes and deciding what you have to throw away than moving those boxes. I can get rid of a lot of stuff in my apartment, but I really like most of it. I moved from a really huge place (an entire 3rd floor of a house) to really small place, I got rid of more than half of my stuff. Now I am moving someplace with another person, one who has the same predicament as I do. Josh and I both have... lots of stuff. And neither of us thinks the other will be able to consolidate while each of us feels confident in our own ability to do so. Best case scenario: we both get rid of a lot of junk. Worse case scenario: our friends bitch about the huge number of boxes.

Botulinum toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and it is, beyond a doubt, the deadliest known protein. If the clostridium botulinum spores find their way to food or wounds, they will begin to release the toxin which leads to poisoning if eaten. It is so deadly that a mere two pounds (roughly 1kg) of the stuff is enough to kill the entire human population. It is so deadly that it is potentially useful as a biological weapon. This is the kind of thing we obviously want to keep right away from right? Well, no. Millions of people have this deadly protein injected into their face every year; it is present in minute quantities in Botox which is used to “treat” wrinkles.

bruises

You know how a bruise changes color over time? That's your body fixing the bruise by breaking down and reabsorbing the blood, which causes the bruise to go through many colors of the rainbow before it eventually disappears. You can pretty much guess the age of a bruise just by looking at its color:
When you first get a bruise, it's kind of reddish as the blood appears under the skin.
Within 1 or 2 days, the hemoglobin (an iron-containing substance that carries oxygen) in the blood changes and your bruise turns bluish-purple or even blackish.
After 5 to 10 days, the bruise turns greenish or yellowish.
Then, after 10 or 14 days, it turns yellowish-brown or light brown.

Finally, after about 2 weeks, your bruise fades away.

if you go away

and left your family, friends, job-- everything. You just got up and left, how long de you think people you know would stop looking for you? I mean actively looking for you. Who do you think would look the longest? Your parents? Siblings? Husband or Wife? Boss? Who would it be?

Now think of who you don't appreciate enough.

Moral: Appreciate the people you should.

dream

I had a dream this morning about a child labor camp making some sort of clothing or textile in the middle of a swamp. Pontoon boats were the only way in or out. Anyway there was a great open space on this building that was almost like the seating in an amphitheater. Then the music for Regnava nel silenzio from Lucia Di Lammermoor came on (no idea were the music was coming from) so i started singing it (much lower than the original) and then the evil slave labor lady was over thrown because one of the children drugged her in the night.
it was supper odd.

trends

there is a basic trend with the blogging community: as the real world engages us more, the digital world hears less about it. I will not hide the fact that a lot o blogging is mindless dribble, but I try to avoid that and at least pretend that I am giving good advice. I have been busy doing real things, flying kites, working, cooking, riding my bike, stuff like that. I have aso been honing my maya skills, trying to keep up that talent. I can't sleep tonight, so I am on the internet just reading blogs (other than my own). I have come to realize that so many people think the world cares. Hell, I am probably one of them. I am sure that I have lost many readers over the years, especially during the summer months. People would rather do things in there lives than read about someone else's. It is the same thing as all the First Families with their blogs filled with stupid children's crafts or the food blogs that are all the exact same. People want to spend time with their own children (or have their own) and cook rather than just read about how your cake turned out.

Moral: people invest interest into things they are doing... and rarely care about what you are doing.

Human to Electrical Power: Large banks of batteries captured all of this energy from the 42 bicyclists pedaling 12 hours a day for 4 days. At the end of 4 days and hundreds of Amp drinks, a meter had kept track of the total amount of energy generated. Remember, it amounted to 42 athletic bicyclists pedaling 12 hours a day for four days. That multiplies out to be equivalent to 2,016 hours of one bicyclist pedaling.

The electric meter reads 38 kilowatt-hours, which can be interpreted as 38 kilowatts for one hour (like an air conditioner running for one hour) or 1 kilowatt (like a toaster) running for 38 hours. At a cost of about 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, all of this effort produced only 3 dollars of electricity! Yes, only 3 dollars of electricity.

A Post of a rare manner

I rarely use this blog to talk about things that are completely about myself. Most times it is a story about another, advice, humor, or something else. This evening I will be discussing something wholly me. I fear for my future.
There, I said it.
It seems that everything in my future is hinging on ... on other stuff. I know what I want to happen. Ideally my chosen career succeeds, josh and I live together in harmony, and I continue toward my goals of b--

and there it stops.
This blog is not a place for me to air my concerns and the whole internet to suffer the trite bitching of a 23 year old male.

Moral/Advice: it is PROVEN that when you put something into a handwritten list, you are more likely to achieve your goals. This doesn't even have to be in a place where you see it regularly. You can put it in a drawer if you like. Just as long as you make the list.