A few things have stuck out to me.
1. Loving feels pretty good. Giving even more than receiving.
2. Fear, indeed, is the antagonist to love. Being fearful or afraid sucks a lot.
3. Judgment is disgusting. To judge another is a sad thing.
4. Money is nothing. Not good or bad, just nothing.
5. We have a long way to go towards knowing love. And God, for that matter, though this distinction really a disguise.
After I took out this book for the first time with my family in China, my sister pounced. "Why are you reading a spiritual guidance book?" Lol. I said, "It's not really a spiritual guidance book."
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Gaza
There are few news items that have caught my heart as closely as what's going on in Gaza right now. I need to write a few thoughts about what is going on.
Since middle school, I've always kept a respectful distance from the conflict(s) from which this arises. I've always known that there are truth and there are lies, that "both sides" disseminate their fair share, and (most complacently for me) these players all share in wrongdoing. (I forgive myself by thinking that these basic levels of understanding were just a function of my awkwardness receiving a liberal UWS education.) And then, I'd say, there was college. I tried much harder to get my information promptly, to be responsibly informed.
Which is why feeling the sharp pain of an occupied people is new and pretty unusual to me.
The lack of a developed history in my epistemology has left me with very reductive ways to look at this conflict. I guess most of the world thinks this way now, with the soundbite-friendly internet and political erasure of histories, etc. But certain inalienable truths do come out.
Disproportional? Yeah. But I think what's more important is... If you need to kill a thousand to protect fifty, you only reveal a belief that the lives of your own are worth more than the lives of the other.
What a disgusting way to think. I remember hearing similar thoughts voiced by classmates in high school... When reflecting on the rich man's dilemma in La Barca Sin Pescador by Alejandro Casona (he was offered the choice to kill a poor man he didn't know far away, in exchange for wealth and power), they said, pretty flatly, that they would kill the man. Not only pretty fucked up, but it says so many other things.
A few other things before I'm done: I really don't know how a legitimate operation is conducted without basic, internationally-established humanitarian concerns. I don't understand how a successful operation is conducted without regard for public sentiment inside or outside Gaza. Shouldn't these be basics? Is anyone working for peace, instead of hit-me-I'll-hit-you-back?
Love is in a dire state.
Since middle school, I've always kept a respectful distance from the conflict(s) from which this arises. I've always known that there are truth and there are lies, that "both sides" disseminate their fair share, and (most complacently for me) these players all share in wrongdoing. (I forgive myself by thinking that these basic levels of understanding were just a function of my awkwardness receiving a liberal UWS education.) And then, I'd say, there was college. I tried much harder to get my information promptly, to be responsibly informed.
Which is why feeling the sharp pain of an occupied people is new and pretty unusual to me.
The lack of a developed history in my epistemology has left me with very reductive ways to look at this conflict. I guess most of the world thinks this way now, with the soundbite-friendly internet and political erasure of histories, etc. But certain inalienable truths do come out.
Disproportional? Yeah. But I think what's more important is... If you need to kill a thousand to protect fifty, you only reveal a belief that the lives of your own are worth more than the lives of the other.
What a disgusting way to think. I remember hearing similar thoughts voiced by classmates in high school... When reflecting on the rich man's dilemma in La Barca Sin Pescador by Alejandro Casona (he was offered the choice to kill a poor man he didn't know far away, in exchange for wealth and power), they said, pretty flatly, that they would kill the man. Not only pretty fucked up, but it says so many other things.
A few other things before I'm done: I really don't know how a legitimate operation is conducted without basic, internationally-established humanitarian concerns. I don't understand how a successful operation is conducted without regard for public sentiment inside or outside Gaza. Shouldn't these be basics? Is anyone working for peace, instead of hit-me-I'll-hit-you-back?
Love is in a dire state.
Friday, December 12, 2008
With everything going on,
I can't fathom why I don't blog more. Some things I've got to put down -
1. I'm discovering some really neat music... Common, Phoenix... In response to my discovering Q-Tip, Ryan says...yuppp
2. I'd love to revive Wormhole, the old Centerfleet that's gone dead since 2002. Too bad I don't know enough about coding and web development to do this. I'd love some help. It's totally possible. Just Google "centerfleet wormhole". Most of the hits are nostalgia for the game. And the data is still out there, FYI. I know where it is.
3. Going to Maryland and China this break. I'm a little nervous for both. I've got a whole itinerary planned for China by Baba, but I haven't looked closely enough. I feel like most of the stuff I'll just skip out on, in deference of my desire to just sleep. Maybe I'll need it this break. China will also be an adventure in nostalgia, much like all this Wormhole-related research. I haven't been (back) in six years!
P.S. It really feels weird to say "back". I'm not really going back to anywhere.
4. I can't believe I started playing Half-Life 2 and Portal this week, right before finals. Valve owes me maybe .2 that it stole from my GPA. Half-Life is a really fucking creepy franchise. It's special because it deserves a special place in dystopic science fiction, but I can't play that game without chills running up and down my body. Portal is absurdly funny. Can anyone still get into www.aperturescience.com?
5. Refrain from posting in the early, early morning. Just don't. Gawd.
1. I'm discovering some really neat music... Common, Phoenix... In response to my discovering Q-Tip, Ryan says...yuppp
oh david
we're winning you over
slowly and surely
2. I'd love to revive Wormhole, the old Centerfleet that's gone dead since 2002. Too bad I don't know enough about coding and web development to do this. I'd love some help. It's totally possible. Just Google "centerfleet wormhole". Most of the hits are nostalgia for the game. And the data is still out there, FYI. I know where it is.
3. Going to Maryland and China this break. I'm a little nervous for both. I've got a whole itinerary planned for China by Baba, but I haven't looked closely enough. I feel like most of the stuff I'll just skip out on, in deference of my desire to just sleep. Maybe I'll need it this break. China will also be an adventure in nostalgia, much like all this Wormhole-related research. I haven't been (back) in six years!
P.S. It really feels weird to say "back". I'm not really going back to anywhere.
4. I can't believe I started playing Half-Life 2 and Portal this week, right before finals. Valve owes me maybe .2 that it stole from my GPA. Half-Life is a really fucking creepy franchise. It's special because it deserves a special place in dystopic science fiction, but I can't play that game without chills running up and down my body. Portal is absurdly funny. Can anyone still get into www.aperturescience.com?
5. Refrain from posting in the early, early morning. Just don't. Gawd.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
In defense of giving a minimal shit about the flows of money
We hear many things. Unprecedented... lasting damage... catastrophic... historic... (life-altering?) I haven't lived long enough to put the stock of my life into the myriad forms of capital out there, so it is justified the case that I don't know what I don't give a shit about. Still, given the choice, I believe would sooner remove myself from such structures of society and "civilization" than move with the courses of material gain and loss while attempting my own pursuit of truth and a good life.
My net worth is not developed and my savings are insignificant. I don't anticipate approaching the limit of insured savings within the next ten or twenty years of my life. But the idea of accumulating what can be summed up in a few pixels on a LCD eludes me. Influence, I understand. Power, we can talk about. Wealth? ... And? What else can wealth mean?
My stance is not necessarily Marxist, but there are many things that can be touched on. I would argue that capital separates us from what we truly want to spend life pursuing, more than other people or our occupations or our time or ourselves. If we are inspired to spend the extent of our lives reaching for what is true, what makes us happy, or that in which we are exceptional, our own economies collude our visions.
If certain financial realities are collapsing in your world, you don't wonder about what to do. If you are principled, inspired and determined, the game does not change. You'll find another way.
(And so far, "employing the vernacular" has not been successful. Damn.)
My net worth is not developed and my savings are insignificant. I don't anticipate approaching the limit of insured savings within the next ten or twenty years of my life. But the idea of accumulating what can be summed up in a few pixels on a LCD eludes me. Influence, I understand. Power, we can talk about. Wealth? ... And? What else can wealth mean?
My stance is not necessarily Marxist, but there are many things that can be touched on. I would argue that capital separates us from what we truly want to spend life pursuing, more than other people or our occupations or our time or ourselves. If we are inspired to spend the extent of our lives reaching for what is true, what makes us happy, or that in which we are exceptional, our own economies collude our visions.
If certain financial realities are collapsing in your world, you don't wonder about what to do. If you are principled, inspired and determined, the game does not change. You'll find another way.
(And so far, "employing the vernacular" has not been successful. Damn.)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wow, I'm sorry.
Those last posts were absurdly depressing. I'll try not to pull that shit again, as I'm no longer a moody teenager. (Well...)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The Groundwork
I'd like to believe that this blog begins at a crucial moment, not just because I've finally found the time to invest in it.
I'd like to look back on these words and say that they were chosen perfectly and meticulously, but the improvisational nature of this post will most likely cause embarrassment in the future.
And years from now, I want to be able to peruse a record of my most abstract thoughts in order to retain a sense of philosophical continuity, but these writings are perhaps most useful as mental structuring in the present.
Then, ATWP might ostentatiously come off as an attempt to construct theories on things grandiose and metaphysical, but this would be silly. What these writings will try to do is to restore order to any conceptual and philosophical chaos that may overtake me. And to do this, I will need ground rules.
ATWP is personal, but will never become personal. When this boundary is crossed, this blog will have already ceased its function.
"Employ the vernacular." Yes, ironic. Something my middle school English teacher always told me to do - she hadn't seen how pretentious college can make you become.
Consistency. I've thought recently that perhaps now I've entered a new phase where my mind is not as able to conjecture aimlessly. This is bullshit; it is always working.
Think beforehand. Chess is played sometimes with hands tied behind the back.
Make some sense. I don't write for myself. I would set up a site meter to prove this, but it's probably too neurotic to do so.
I'd like to look back on these words and say that they were chosen perfectly and meticulously, but the improvisational nature of this post will most likely cause embarrassment in the future.
And years from now, I want to be able to peruse a record of my most abstract thoughts in order to retain a sense of philosophical continuity, but these writings are perhaps most useful as mental structuring in the present.
Then, ATWP might ostentatiously come off as an attempt to construct theories on things grandiose and metaphysical, but this would be silly. What these writings will try to do is to restore order to any conceptual and philosophical chaos that may overtake me. And to do this, I will need ground rules.
ATWP is personal, but will never become personal. When this boundary is crossed, this blog will have already ceased its function.
"Employ the vernacular." Yes, ironic. Something my middle school English teacher always told me to do - she hadn't seen how pretentious college can make you become.
Consistency. I've thought recently that perhaps now I've entered a new phase where my mind is not as able to conjecture aimlessly. This is bullshit; it is always working.
Think beforehand. Chess is played sometimes with hands tied behind the back.
Make some sense. I don't write for myself. I would set up a site meter to prove this, but it's probably too neurotic to do so.
Monday, May 19, 2008
What is ATWP?
Thievery Corporation, All That We Perceive
Everything that's real
And everything unrealized
All infinity
Starts falling from your eyes
We are fluid dreams
Vivid memories
All uncertainly
Leads to eternity
All that we perceive
In every mystery
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Illuminating love falls from the skies
To water the illusions in our eyes
All that we desire and all we fear
All our aspirations grow unclear
We feel endlessly
Beyond all gravity
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Everything that's real
And everything unrealized
All infinity
Starts falling from your eyes
We are fluid dreams
Vivid memories
All uncertainly
Leads to eternity
All that we perceive
In every mystery
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Illuminating love falls from the skies
To water the illusions in our eyes
All that we desire and all we fear
All our aspirations grow unclear
We feel endlessly
Beyond all gravity
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
Who are we
What we see
I can't comprehend
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