Embrace the now. Forget the past, and don't worry about the future, as they are both things you can't control.
It's a fairly easy sentiment to believe in, as the philosophy makes sense. Doing too much worrying or overthinking sometimes only gets in the way of acting.
However, I have yet to figure out how to implement it! GRRR!
Someone recommended The Power of Now. I shall pick it up.
11.20.2007
Tumblr
I set up a new Tumblr blog, and you can see it here. It's in its early stages, so there isn't much of anything on it. Basically, it allows you to very easily blog brief text, articles, pics, videos, etc. If you dig a quote by someone, you can throw that up, too. Each media has its own style of post, and you don't really have to worry about how it looks.
So, when I come across something fun on the Web, I'll most likely post it there, as it's simple and quick. I'll leave this blog and the MySpace one for when I have something meaningful (relatively speaking) to say.
So, when I come across something fun on the Web, I'll most likely post it there, as it's simple and quick. I'll leave this blog and the MySpace one for when I have something meaningful (relatively speaking) to say.
11.19.2007
Geese of the Corn
I was driving into town today and came upon this scene. Hundreds of geese, slowly but methodically making their way across a corn field. I had to stop and take a pic:
It was a little too dark and the little buggers started to waddle away when the flash went off, so the pics I took didn't quite work out as I'd hoped. Oh well!
It was a little too dark and the little buggers started to waddle away when the flash went off, so the pics I took didn't quite work out as I'd hoped. Oh well!
11.18.2007
What's Up? or What's Up!
I was born into the tail end of the years people consider to be Generation X.* Apparently, this means I am, and I paraphrase, an apathetic, cynical, and disaffected slacker. To be truthful, I might be one of those things at any given time, but I'm rarely if ever all of them at the same time. That takes work.
Anyway, I heard 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" while driving to somewhere or other today. This got me to thinking...assuming that an entire Generation can be labeled by one shallow definition and assuming that members of my generation believed in such things as "anthems," could there be an argument for this song to be considered said anthem? I suppose most people think it's Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, but I think this song might have a case:
Check out the video.
I have a feeling saying this might put me somewhere in the middle of stupid and contagious and fashionably sensitive but too cool to care.
*(BTW, there's a novel named Generation X, by Douglas Coupland.
Anyway, I heard 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" while driving to somewhere or other today. This got me to thinking...assuming that an entire Generation can be labeled by one shallow definition and assuming that members of my generation believed in such things as "anthems," could there be an argument for this song to be considered said anthem? I suppose most people think it's Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, but I think this song might have a case:
Check out the video.
I have a feeling saying this might put me somewhere in the middle of stupid and contagious and fashionably sensitive but too cool to care.
*(BTW, there's a novel named Generation X, by Douglas Coupland.
Monkeys, robots, and other stuff
Monkeys:
Thieving monkeys 'out of control' in northeast India
Thieving monkeys. Heh. :) I suppose I wouldn't find this funny if monkeys were stealing from me.
Robots:
Robots don't bug cockroaches
After the human race is long gone, cockroaches and cockroach-friendly robots will be the only things left.
Other stuff:
I was listening to a song from Lily Allen in which she mentions a supermarket chain in the UK called Tesco. Tesco? That sounds like a gas station name. But then again, who am I to poke fun. Taking a sample, it looks like we're illiterate and carn't spel: Publix, Kash n Karry, Shop Rite, Piggly Wiggly (wtf?). At any rate, I still prefer ShopRite.
Thieving monkeys 'out of control' in northeast India
Thieving monkeys. Heh. :) I suppose I wouldn't find this funny if monkeys were stealing from me.
Robots:
Robots don't bug cockroaches
After the human race is long gone, cockroaches and cockroach-friendly robots will be the only things left.
Other stuff:
I was listening to a song from Lily Allen in which she mentions a supermarket chain in the UK called Tesco. Tesco? That sounds like a gas station name. But then again, who am I to poke fun. Taking a sample, it looks like we're illiterate and carn't spel: Publix, Kash n Karry, Shop Rite, Piggly Wiggly (wtf?). At any rate, I still prefer ShopRite.
11.15.2007
New Year
So, I took off the week of New Year's with the hope of being able to do something relatively original and fun to counter the New Year's I had last year, which was anticlimactic * to say the least. No final plans have been made, though, and time is pacing on.
I already did the New Years in Times Square thing. It was unbelievably cold, and my God were there a lot of people. Also, the place cleared out incredibly fast, with a huge mess left behind. It was a fun thing...to do once.
Another idea I had was London. Years ago, I saw an amazing winter fare to London from one of the NYC airports, and my then roommate and I were about this close to hopping on a plane on short notice. I'm not quite sure why we didn't go.
Well, I'm seeing those fares again...while the weather might be absolutely piss-horrible, that's why they call it the off season. Regardless, it's still the same old London, right? All the monuments and tourist attractions haven't been taken down and moved to a self-storage place somewhere...
I'd just have to wear coats. I have several.
Anyway, it's an idea, and I'm still trying to think of others. At any rate, I want to start this next year off well.
* (I would consider falling asleep at 11 on an air mattress in my brother's parents-in-law's study to be anticlimactic.)
I already did the New Years in Times Square thing. It was unbelievably cold, and my God were there a lot of people. Also, the place cleared out incredibly fast, with a huge mess left behind. It was a fun thing...to do once.
Another idea I had was London. Years ago, I saw an amazing winter fare to London from one of the NYC airports, and my then roommate and I were about this close to hopping on a plane on short notice. I'm not quite sure why we didn't go.
Well, I'm seeing those fares again...while the weather might be absolutely piss-horrible, that's why they call it the off season. Regardless, it's still the same old London, right? All the monuments and tourist attractions haven't been taken down and moved to a self-storage place somewhere...
I'd just have to wear coats. I have several.
Anyway, it's an idea, and I'm still trying to think of others. At any rate, I want to start this next year off well.
* (I would consider falling asleep at 11 on an air mattress in my brother's parents-in-law's study to be anticlimactic.)
11.12.2007
Help!
I got the second Beatles movie, Help! over the weekend! It's digitally restored, and I got a chance to watch it on my brother's hi-def TV.
The picture is clear, and it sounds great! The movie is completely nonsensical and cornball, but hey, it's The Beatles, it made a bunch of money, so I'll shut up. :) The music numbers are fun to watch, and I can't get over how at ease they are in front of the camera. They were naturals.
The picture is clear, and it sounds great! The movie is completely nonsensical and cornball, but hey, it's The Beatles, it made a bunch of money, so I'll shut up. :) The music numbers are fun to watch, and I can't get over how at ease they are in front of the camera. They were naturals.
Shopping
I seem to have amassed quite a collection of furniture over the last few years, and none of it seems to go together, giving my apartment the appearance of a college dorm.
Slowly but surely, I think I might be putting that college dorm look out to pasture. This weekend, I did something relatively grown up, buying real furniture that has a design purpose to it. OK, I'm not sure how "real" Ikea is, as you have to put the stuff together yourself, but they do have some cool, fairly inexpensive stuff. Baby steps...I did say "slowly." :)
I got a chest with six drawers, a bed frame with storage boxes underneath, a nightstand, and a cool lamp. So, once I get all that stuff set up, my room should look pretty cool and much less college dorm-y. Next up is the living room.
BTW, I absolutely hate going to the Ikea here. It is wicked busy, especially on the weekends (and I got there right when it opened too! sheesh.) People walk through the place completely absent-mindedly, stopping right in the middle of the people traffic and staring off to space like deer caught in headlights. That, and it's one of the few places I know where getting run over by an errant stroller could be a distinct possibility. I swear, my tolerance for that place runs around three hours, after which I make a bee line for the exit. Of course, not before I grab at least one .50 cent hot dog. :)
Slowly but surely, I think I might be putting that college dorm look out to pasture. This weekend, I did something relatively grown up, buying real furniture that has a design purpose to it. OK, I'm not sure how "real" Ikea is, as you have to put the stuff together yourself, but they do have some cool, fairly inexpensive stuff. Baby steps...I did say "slowly." :)
I got a chest with six drawers, a bed frame with storage boxes underneath, a nightstand, and a cool lamp. So, once I get all that stuff set up, my room should look pretty cool and much less college dorm-y. Next up is the living room.
BTW, I absolutely hate going to the Ikea here. It is wicked busy, especially on the weekends (and I got there right when it opened too! sheesh.) People walk through the place completely absent-mindedly, stopping right in the middle of the people traffic and staring off to space like deer caught in headlights. That, and it's one of the few places I know where getting run over by an errant stroller could be a distinct possibility. I swear, my tolerance for that place runs around three hours, after which I make a bee line for the exit. Of course, not before I grab at least one .50 cent hot dog. :)
11.07.2007
Reading material
When I find writers I like, I troll the bookstore shelves to track down everything they've written and breeze through their work. A few months back, it was Jonathan Tropper--Everything Changes; The Book of Joe-- and J. Maarten Troost--Sex Lives of Cannibals; Getting stoned with Savages.
These days, the author is Chuck Klosterman. I just finished reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, and I just started Killing Yourself to Live. It's basically a road trip o' death, as he drives across the US to visit the sites where famous rock musicians died. Still, somehow, the book is funny, and I haven't even gotten that far into it!
Anyway, check out his work if you get a chance.
These days, the author is Chuck Klosterman. I just finished reading Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, and I just started Killing Yourself to Live. It's basically a road trip o' death, as he drives across the US to visit the sites where famous rock musicians died. Still, somehow, the book is funny, and I haven't even gotten that far into it!
Anyway, check out his work if you get a chance.
11.05.2007
Movies
I've gotten back into the swing of movie watching lately. I suppose this is the time when studios release their more interesting or "prestige" fare. Anyway, a few I'd recommend:
- Lars and the Real Girl. Not your typical "guy falls in love with a sex doll" movie. While Lars holds down a job and functions within the community, he is agonizingly shy and winces away from human touch, preferring to hide away from everyone in his apartment next to the garage of his brother's house. He's delusional, but also caring and harmless, so those around him are at least willing to play along while Lars concocts this relationship he considers to be real and goes through whatever he needs to go through to reconnect with the real world. Anyway, it is completely heartfelt without being overly sentimental, and it never crosses the line into cheap humor at Lar's expense.
- Michael Clayton. Great movie with a great script, and I really loved the last scene. George Clooney is one of the more charismatic and entertaining actors out there these days.
- The Darjeeling Limited. Written and directed by Wes Anderson, the same guy that did Rushmore. Three brothers go on a spiritual quest in India to find themselves and reconnect with one another. For one thing, he gets the subtlety of how brothers act down, and the three actors have great chemistry, so it works on screen. Everything works. I think it's one of Wes Anderson's best, and I'll be sure to get it on DVD when it's out.
11.04.2007
Sleep!
I seem to have rediscovered the art of sleep!
I always used to think that the reason for me not sleeping well was me...like I was some sort of beginner insomniac or something.
Nope! It seems as though I was merely well trained by my cat. I kept the blinds closed when I went to sleep, but he found this to be decidedly inconvenient, as looking through the window provided the best entertainment. So, he would beat his paw incessantly against the window blinds while I was sleeping. Naturally, I caved and opened them, as my cat had much more patience than me.
Doing this obviously brought in quite a bit of light, so for the last few years, I have rarely been able to sleep past the sun rise.
The cat I adopted from my parents has a different set of quirks and not nearly the same sticktoittiveness that Galileo had-he was nothing if not persistent. So, I've been able to sleep in a dark room, and I actually find myself oversleeping. Not that I'm complaining...
I thought this was clever (and oh so very true):
I always used to think that the reason for me not sleeping well was me...like I was some sort of beginner insomniac or something.
Nope! It seems as though I was merely well trained by my cat. I kept the blinds closed when I went to sleep, but he found this to be decidedly inconvenient, as looking through the window provided the best entertainment. So, he would beat his paw incessantly against the window blinds while I was sleeping. Naturally, I caved and opened them, as my cat had much more patience than me.
Doing this obviously brought in quite a bit of light, so for the last few years, I have rarely been able to sleep past the sun rise.
The cat I adopted from my parents has a different set of quirks and not nearly the same sticktoittiveness that Galileo had-he was nothing if not persistent. So, I've been able to sleep in a dark room, and I actually find myself oversleeping. Not that I'm complaining...
I thought this was clever (and oh so very true):
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