 |
|
|
|
. : About me : .
. : Recent Posts : .
Support those around you! . : Archives : .
November 2004 . : Currently Loving : .
|
. : Links : .
Our House . : About the Site : .
. : Currently Petting : .
Bandit
. : I owe it all to.. : .
|
|
Thursday, June 29, 2006...be like Buddha...I just read an article about Becca Bland and her idea for a "non-photography day". Her website expands on the idea. Becca, a photographer herself, is drawing from her seemingly newfound Buddhist beliefs to encourage others to live in the moment, rather than stoically document it. If you read the entire article, you got to the deragatory comments made by David Rowan at the bottom. He starts from the assumption that she is wanting to get everyone to stop taking pictures in general and claims she is "fighting a losing battle" comparing this day to anti-consumerist and anti-television days which have done nothing to stem the tide of watching TV or buying stuff. I feel that he is looking at this wrong way. These "days" aren't there to elimnate these practices entirely- we are all going to have to buy stuff at one time or another- but to get you to go out and experience life in a different way. Just as Becca isn't trying to get people to stop taking pictures forever, but to spend a day living in the moment, rather than recording it. While I agree that many people use photos as a way to try and "own" a moment, others use them as a way to simply remember how they felt at a certain time. So check out her site, and put down your camera for one day. "The thing is there before our eyes, for it refuses to be ignored; but when we endeavour to grasp it within our own hands in order to examine it more closely or systematically, it eludes us and we lose it’s track" -D.T Suzuki- Essays in Zen Buddhism   
Thursday, June 15, 2006Another Comments Section Relationship Gone BadI started blogging in November of 2004. At that time, I was single and living in a new city and trying to meet new people. I was on Friendster, MySpace, and hitting up random people on Craigslist looking to walk their dog around the Lafayette Reservoir. One of the random girls I was trying to pick up on Friendster had a blog on blogger. After reading it for a few weeks, and checking out other sites on blogger, I decided this was something I could do, in fact, something I've always wanted to do. Thus began the majesty that is my blog. Well, this same Friendster girl and I continued to read each other's blogs and would send the occasional e-mail. I enjoyed reading what she had to say, and she at least pretended to enjoy my claptrap. I'd seen pictures of her here and there, knew minor details about her life, but we weren't really friends, just e-friends. Then around the holiday season I received an invite to a Christmas party she was throwing. "Should I do this?" I asked myself, Should I break the fourth wall and meet this person who I had built up this ideal of? Well, I decided I should indeed meet this ethereal person and actually put flesh and bone to the ideal.
So Mysterious... First off she was shorter than I expected. And of course other little things of who I thought this person was were completely wrong. The party was fun. We didn't know many people, and I had to drive back, so I couldn't get drunk enough to be social with strangers. But we had a good time and it was good to meet her in person. But then I stopped reading her blog. It wasn't really a conscious choice, a "She's not who I thought she should be so I won't read it" type of thing. I just didn't find myself clicking on her link as often. Of course, that was about the time she changed her blog site, and I was doing a site redesign, and it was the holiday season, but it wasn't until about a month or so ago that she made it back into my usual repertoire. Now comes the problem. One of Danielle's college friends, whose blog I read religiously, is coming out to visit in a few weeks. My problem is, what if she's completely different from what I expect and then I stop reading her blog too?! That would be too much for me to take! Her's is one of the few that I will laugh out loud to. So loud, in fact, it disturbs my co-workers causing a groundhog-like pop-up of heads over cube walls. Who else will I learn about phone flare from? Who else can I relate to about mistaken cat identity? I'm sure she is great. I'm sure we'll all have lots of fun when she visits. But I still have a hesitation about it. We get along so well in our comments sections, what if that doesn't relate over to real life? What if we can only handle each other in terms of quipped one liners? Oh Internet 2.0! You and your increased social networking capacity are driving me insane! Ok, I will try and be like Buddha. I will have no expectations. Expectations lead to failure, which leads to fear, which leads to anger, which leads to hate, which leads to me eating at Panda Express! I will go into this meeting of wits with no ideals, no standards, and no expectations of height. I just have to remember... ....be like Buddha... ...be like Buddha...
...be like Buddha...
Tuesday, June 06, 2006"The DEV-IL!"One of my friends in college was the biggest metal head I've ever known. He was about 6'4", had long hair down the middle of his back, and worked as a DJ at the excellent radio station that used to reside in Georgetown, TX, 107.7 KNACK, Home of the PsychoBaby.
He would frequently tromp about the house, raise his arms high and yell out "The DEVIL!" as loud as he could. Most people who came over were deathly afraid of him, as he looked to be some kind of monster when he would yell that out. But in truth, he was one of the nicest guys I knew, and was always around to help you out. This hell raising friend of mine has gone on to be a youth minister in the Houston area. This just goes to show that outward appearances can be deceiving. I'm not going to say "are always deceiving" because despite what his friends may say about him, I'm probably not going to get too near the guy with the blood covered chainsaw and the necklace of squirrel heads. Which leads me to today, The Sixth of June, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Six. A Tuesday. A totally unassuming Tuesday. The slowest day of the week at the Mac Genius bar in the Walnut Creek store. And also a day of EVIL! A day full of the Fru-its of the Dev-IL! That's right, today is 6/6/6. And we are all on the edge of our seats waiting for the worst to come. Women are refusing to have children, in case it might be the son of the Lucifer. You know what ladies, if you are truly carrying the son of the devil, it will still be the son of the devil if it is born today, or tomorrow. Just ask Mia Farrow.
One of my friends had their baby today, and I'm pretty sure that they are not worried about whether the beautiful child they hold in their arms is devil spawn. I'm sure they are glad that they have a healthy baby, with 10 fingers and 10 toes, and are glad that everyone is alive and healthy. I'm sure it hasn't even occurred to them yet what the date is. Of course, once they do, I'm sure they drown the baby in a bucket of water. You know, just to be safe. I'm sure there are people not going in to work today, calling in "rapture" and afraid to leave the house. Of course, this is not the first time this date has happened. It happened in 6/6/1906, 6/6/1806, and basically the 6th year of every century since we started counting this way. In fact, there was even a June 6th in the year 666. That's like 5 sixes, and if we survived that, we can survive this.But this got me thinking again about those that look desperately for the apocalypse, that believe it will happen in their lifetime. Is that all they have to look forward too? Are their lives so destitute, that the only thing that could bring them happiness is the utter demolition of all life as we know it. I saw Stephen King's "The Stand" that's nothing that I would look forward to. Of course, there are those who are opposed to, and trying to fight the coming of the apocalypse. Thinking that if they can keep America from going to a cashless society, then the rapture can never come. That the creator of the you, me, the world, the universe, and everything could be defeated by something as simple as a bar code. But, of course the world is not going to end on 6/6/06, everyone who's anyone knows that it will end according to the Mayan Calendar on December 12, 2012.If you'd like to learn more about triple 6, check out your local library, or there is a great write up at Wikipedia (contributed to by THE DEVIL!) One of the enlightening things I learned is that '666' is considered one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture, sounding a lot like the phrase for "things going smoothly". Which just goes to show that Chinese people are evil. [Chinese people are not evil, their government is evil. Which is another reason why this blog is banned in China] -Ed. Note
Friday, June 02, 2006Ta Da!Petting three cats at the same time reminds me of that old Vaudeville act where the guy spins the plates on the long, tall poles. You start petting one cat and get him purring. Then another cat shows up so you start petting him to get him purring. Then you feel like the third cat is left out, so you go and find her and start petting her till she purrs. But now the first cat isn't purring as much so you have to run back to him to get him purring again. Now the third cat has almost stopped... Next thing you know, you are running back and forth between three cats trying to keep them all purring and now the dog is following you around, getting all excited and barky. All the time, I'm wondering, where is my applause? 
Thursday, June 01, 2006Bigger than Jesus!So, every now and then I wish I had a much larger fanbase for this site, like Jesus-size fanbase. Sometimes its because I don't want to have to go into a job I hate everyday and would be much happier if I could just make a post, then go to the beach while watching the money from my ads pour in. But the main reason I wish I had more readers is because of my friends. I have lots and lots of smart, intelligent, and creative friends. Many of their blogs I link to over there on the right under Links. Other's have their creativity offline. It's for these people that I wish I had more readers. That I had more people to tell about the wonderousness that is my friends. Kevin Jones is one of those. I have known Kevin since we were freshmen together as Southwestern. We took an Intro to Acting class that year, and like the others majoring in Theatre, he hated me for only being a minor. This hate between Kevin and I existed for a long time until I realized that it's not Kevin, he hates everyone, and that small amount of tolerance he shows me, is just his way of saying he cares. Over the years Kevin has relaxed and become a very funny guy with a great talent for writing.
He wrote a hit play, what did you ever do?
|
