The perfection of an artsy, intellectual, exhilarating, seductive, depressive, duplicitous, dramatic, intoxicating, frustrating, intimate, immature, apathetic, fiery, fiendish, irreverent, incredible student life was marred only by the pain of your inexcusable absence.
Why do you accuse me of being so free?
Where were you when I was trying to be me?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Too Much Information
This may come across to many people as a somewhat ridiculous epiphany. Perhaps it is something that I’ve never spent a great deal of time contemplating before, especially in the wake of a secondary school environment that did a great job exposing me to a wide variety of literature and historical fact. But the fact remains still that I will never get through all the information that is available to me today. Not even close.
I would dare to say that individuals in my respective level of intellectualism have not enjoyed and suffered from this phenomenon much before probably the dawn of the twentieth century. Prior to that time, it seems to me like the information of the world, centered in multitudes of cultural centers throughout the world but never truly connected, had never been linked in enough of a way to provide easy, unrestricted access to literally all of it, in my everyday apartment, in an everyday town!
I came to this realization in the pursuit of a digital abstract of Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, so that I could remind myself how significant of a novel it has been for my palette when put up against Huxley and Orwell (I loaned out my printed copy to a dear friend). What do I find in my search? Strangely enough, the entire novel surfaces, unscathed in the original Russian, on a website funded “With the financial support of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications”. With a short burst of Google Translate, I have found exactly what I sought.
Despite the text of the website being in Russian, my realization of just how far away this server actually is did not dawn on me until I attempted to locate it. It dwells in Moscow- thousands and thousands of miles away, and I retrieved it on my computer like it was nothing, another mere commercial website in the Dallas area! What a scathing realization- that my entire society rarely if ever considers the awesome complexity of this phenomenon! And naturally, my shell shock from this thought process only made me want to seek out more.
As the downhill boulder grew larger, I found efforts like Project Gutenberg, which has contributed by themselves almost 30,00 eBook documents for free and open access- enough for a lifetime! Then through my work on an English term paper, the magic of Texas’ Interlibrary Loan shows itself to me- not only does my library have more to study that I could ever endeavor to pursue, but every University library from here to the border with Mexico throws their doors open to my curiosity! I need not include the capitalistic side of the journey- for a nominal fee, I can purchase the information I seek instead through bookstores found in every level of society, every city and every town…everywhere.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Much Better Than Late
Am I trying to show anger, or merely my fear,
Of losing a feeling that I hold now so dear?
Friendships of late become much harder to bear,
When I cannot interpret the colors they wear:
The red flame of passion, the deepest of love,
Or white and frail tenderness of a small dove?
Perhaps the green vibrancy of a strong mind,
Or purple intellect to share in the grind?
Maybe the blue will explain my sad way,
But orange will not care to come brighten my day.
Fear I now always the prospect of black?
And hold onto violet for eternity and back?
The storm of my life is not what would seem,
But I will find someday the girl in my dream.
And should I then miss that one chance yet again,
I know that I deserve a life's loneliness then!
The God that I fear would not ensure my wait,
If never or always were not much better than late.
Of losing a feeling that I hold now so dear?
Friendships of late become much harder to bear,
When I cannot interpret the colors they wear:
The red flame of passion, the deepest of love,
Or white and frail tenderness of a small dove?
Perhaps the green vibrancy of a strong mind,
Or purple intellect to share in the grind?
Maybe the blue will explain my sad way,
But orange will not care to come brighten my day.
Fear I now always the prospect of black?
And hold onto violet for eternity and back?
The storm of my life is not what would seem,
But I will find someday the girl in my dream.
And should I then miss that one chance yet again,
I know that I deserve a life's loneliness then!
The God that I fear would not ensure my wait,
If never or always were not much better than late.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Coffeeshops: A Credo
The time granted to me for spring break has taught plenty. However, the one niche that seems to have presented itself at least once every day is the opportunity to investigate a cup of coffee, and the venue from which it is served. Now, though I dwell in the DFW area completely year-round, a situation regarding plane tickets and this odd thing called 'vacation' has actually landed me in eastern Wisconsin this week. However, I remain resolute that what may be observed in the mid-West is just as pertinent in Texas, or anywhere else in the nation for that matter. Without further ado, we have the Coffeehouse Credo. I know, it is in a very 'ten-commandments' format...forgive me, I'm on vacation!
1) Thou shalt not serve MERELY COFFEE! Thou shalt serve bagels, crumb cakes, sodas, sandwiches, and even beer if the local authorities permit.
2) Thou shalt serve all varieites of coffee- mocha, americano, all manners of expresso this-and-that, without exception.
3) Thou shalt HAVE THY OWN WI-FI SIGNAL! The only exception is if thy town has free public internet. Without wi-fi, your business will surely die.
4) Thou shalt not overcharge! If thy clientele wanted a $5 cup, they would go to Starbucks.
5) Thou shalt purchase plenty of furniture, and keep it clean for people to sit!
6) Thou shalt play good music. And by good, I mean Sirius-XM satellite radio or Pandora One.
7) Thou shalt not employ mean people! Locals with a taste for their city and a warm attitude shalt be hired.
8) Thou shalt at least consider organic and fair-trade products, provided they are affordable.
9) Thou shalt accept credit and debit cards!
10) Thou shalt stay open early and late, day and night, so thy clientele can stimulate their caffeine palletes at any hour!
11) THOU SHALT NOT DRESS LIKE A HIPPIE. Thy store may be painted like one, but YOU SIR, are a professional. :P
PS, Wisconsin does coffee well...very well. Texas...support local coffee, protest your local Starbucks! (Unless you have no other option...cough...oh well.)
1) Thou shalt not serve MERELY COFFEE! Thou shalt serve bagels, crumb cakes, sodas, sandwiches, and even beer if the local authorities permit.
2) Thou shalt serve all varieites of coffee- mocha, americano, all manners of expresso this-and-that, without exception.
3) Thou shalt HAVE THY OWN WI-FI SIGNAL! The only exception is if thy town has free public internet. Without wi-fi, your business will surely die.
4) Thou shalt not overcharge! If thy clientele wanted a $5 cup, they would go to Starbucks.
5) Thou shalt purchase plenty of furniture, and keep it clean for people to sit!
6) Thou shalt play good music. And by good, I mean Sirius-XM satellite radio or Pandora One.
7) Thou shalt not employ mean people! Locals with a taste for their city and a warm attitude shalt be hired.
8) Thou shalt at least consider organic and fair-trade products, provided they are affordable.
9) Thou shalt accept credit and debit cards!
10) Thou shalt stay open early and late, day and night, so thy clientele can stimulate their caffeine palletes at any hour!
11) THOU SHALT NOT DRESS LIKE A HIPPIE. Thy store may be painted like one, but YOU SIR, are a professional. :P
PS, Wisconsin does coffee well...very well. Texas...support local coffee, protest your local Starbucks! (Unless you have no other option...cough...oh well.)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The Importance of Image
I am not the first to say that reputation is a big part of being an adult. I am certainly not the first adult to damage their reputation through their own words and actions. I like to think that I am the first adult to blog about the phenomenon of being torn between image and disimage. But probably not.
It has been commented to me that one should not care about what anybody else wants for you. Taken to an extreme, this explanation is basically a individualistic manifesto, a ‘selfish’ credo by which to decline the opinions of all others and live to extract information from life in the manner best suited to the person’s inner workings. One of the only holes in my otherwise-sound individualistic outlook on life is the assertion that this kind of blind ignorance of the people around you will make the pursuit of life much harder, not easier, if not taken into consideration. We are built by design to be social creatures, and to resist this too much is a failure to recognize our divine origins.
The concept of ‘disimage’, then, is not merely a poor reputation. This is a wholly incorrect interpretation. Instead, disimage more closely resembles the dismissal of reputatory concerns from the psyche and the objective personality that every person inherits. Simply, it is the lack of care about others’ opinions or recommendations. It is not a thought itself but rather a LACK of thought in this category. I don’t intend this invention of mine to be scientific…merely poetic.
Disimage is proper when aimed properly within the objectivist mindset. It would be fair enough to say that a wise person from which to seek advice is a parent, or a good friend. It would be equally fair to reason that an enemy, archrival, or faceless competitor may not be a sound source of consul. In order to mirror this properly, image ought to be funneled to the friendlies and disimage to all others.
What does this mean? To steal the AE slogan found in preteen-ridden malls everywhere…live your life! Attempting to sow image where image does not belong will make you miserable. It is impossible to please all around you. As stated time and time again in Randian philosophy, this is the Virtue of Selfishness- individuality has a place, and so does altruism.
I am no Biblical scholar, but it is my suspicion that it is not a sin to be wary of those that would do you evil. However, it is admirable to show even these people altruism all the same. However, if and when this does not pay dividends, disimage is the solution. These actions are a mixture of your choice and the choice of a higher power, whose will trumps all else.
It has been commented to me that one should not care about what anybody else wants for you. Taken to an extreme, this explanation is basically a individualistic manifesto, a ‘selfish’ credo by which to decline the opinions of all others and live to extract information from life in the manner best suited to the person’s inner workings. One of the only holes in my otherwise-sound individualistic outlook on life is the assertion that this kind of blind ignorance of the people around you will make the pursuit of life much harder, not easier, if not taken into consideration. We are built by design to be social creatures, and to resist this too much is a failure to recognize our divine origins.
The concept of ‘disimage’, then, is not merely a poor reputation. This is a wholly incorrect interpretation. Instead, disimage more closely resembles the dismissal of reputatory concerns from the psyche and the objective personality that every person inherits. Simply, it is the lack of care about others’ opinions or recommendations. It is not a thought itself but rather a LACK of thought in this category. I don’t intend this invention of mine to be scientific…merely poetic.
Disimage is proper when aimed properly within the objectivist mindset. It would be fair enough to say that a wise person from which to seek advice is a parent, or a good friend. It would be equally fair to reason that an enemy, archrival, or faceless competitor may not be a sound source of consul. In order to mirror this properly, image ought to be funneled to the friendlies and disimage to all others.
What does this mean? To steal the AE slogan found in preteen-ridden malls everywhere…live your life! Attempting to sow image where image does not belong will make you miserable. It is impossible to please all around you. As stated time and time again in Randian philosophy, this is the Virtue of Selfishness- individuality has a place, and so does altruism.
I am no Biblical scholar, but it is my suspicion that it is not a sin to be wary of those that would do you evil. However, it is admirable to show even these people altruism all the same. However, if and when this does not pay dividends, disimage is the solution. These actions are a mixture of your choice and the choice of a higher power, whose will trumps all else.
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