A body of intelligence

Sometimes the desire to have something is stronger than the genuine need. In fact, this is the case most of the time. Following, the actuality of a situation is rarely as satisfying, in relation to the thought process that proceeded it.

Inside the mind, the commingling of chemicals that translate into sensory perceptions are like one big orgy. Realized one at a time, things appear quite lackluster. If you were watching one of those commercials right now, the part taking place inside the mind would be like a 120-piece ensemble marching band. The outside representation would be a one-man band.

So the question becomes, how does one externalize this orgy so that it feeds into our practical, minute-by-minute realities? (i.e. so that you are not having a one-man orgy).

Some say it is by slowing down the mind. Cessation of the waves of the mind. A stillness of sorts where every thought is a new thought, not predicated on what happened earlier or what may happen tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next year.

Others say it is by harnessing the intelligence of the body. Not treating our physical body like a trash can, rather, by giving it proper standing - on the level with organs such as the heart, lungs, and liver. The body is not idleness waiting for stimulus, rather the body freely transmits vast intelligence into the brain - from the fingertips to the toenails. Said another way, tend to the roots and the flowers will bloom. The root is in this case the body and the mind is in turn the flowers.

I tend to agree with both of them, and give credit to Maslow for providing the underpinning of my opinion. With Maslow, we were led to believe there is a hierarchy in place and once you attain level one, you are able to begin the work toward arriving at the next level.

I would argue that these levels are constantly fluctuating inside our minds and bodies. The need for food is necessary every few hours; the need for shelter is necessary each and every day. The need for belongingness and love presents itself each time we bump a toe or spill our coffee. Back & forth, up and down.

All that said, today I retreat to the body and work on penetrating these sheaths - skin, muscle, bone, blood and nerves, with my sights set on the heart. If today's journey doesn't provide the orgy, given the opportunity, I will look again the following day.

Aces high

One commenter writes, and I paraphrase, "Are blogs replacing listserves?" To that comment I reply - not really (imho). On some listserves that have been around for several years, the members get tired of shooting the shit so they just chime in from time to time with pertinent news or a good joke.

Sometimes, individual members of the listserves start their own blogs and appear to be separatists, with the other members treating them as so - "Damn Miscreants!"

However, looking deeper, the individuals and their mob mentality have to question their own standing within the internet community. Are they equal contributors or are they feeding off the creativity of others?

Without going too too deep, I invite any individual listserve member to be a regular contributor to this blog to be able to 'call-out' anyone and anything they want. They could talk about such popluar topics as beauty tips, bling, Paris Hilton, Taylor Hicks or any other American Idol, or just simply talk about themseves.

Your deal - and don't give me no weak shuffle.

Blog vs. Vlog

So today I spent some time checking out the various vlog's available. Not too many cause like TV, they tend to eat up lots of time, but enough to see that there are some interesting things going on.

One that I liked is:

http://www.rocketboom.com/vlog/

There are lots of others out there and I'm sure you can check them out on your own simply by typing 'vlog' or 'video blog' into google.

Lots of production going into some of these which has got to be quite time intensive. Like many online businesses, a few seem to be making some money, but most just doing it for fun.

Yoga in the Workplace

I have actually been looking for an assistant - please contact me if you are still available.

Want more? Check out this link: http://www.possic.de/zlata1/julia.html

Alone in the blogosphere

Yesterday I panicked. I thought for a little while that I was alone in the blogosphere. I called Dr. Blog, aka JBO and we had a good brainblogstorming session. While the goals are still not as clear as I wish they were, it has given me (us) renewed hope. One of our agreed upon goals is to get a comment from someone we don't know. (An actual reader would also be a good thing, but this didn't come up as a goal).

We discussed the idea of community, how if you want blog friends one must be proactive and provide stimulation (aka comments) to other bloggites. So I'll give this a try later today and report on my results. Of course, giving comments is a bit tricky in itself. Should I give comments to the Transsexual bog, the communist blog, the terr*r*s*t blog, and the porno blog - forsheezee, aren't there any normal blogs out there? Stay tuned, and while you're waiting visit that other blog http://skiletsrage.blogspot.com/.

...Sex, Blood, Tears.

Spent a little too much time watching tv this weekend. Problem was I didn't watch enough during the week so I ended up DVR-ing some of the shows I like such as Law and Order and CSI (yes, all of them). On top of that we had the tribute to Mike Wallace on 60 minutes that was interesting to watch.

Hell of a career the guy has had meeting so many people. I personally would have liked 60 min to do a two hour tribute instead of one so that we could actually learn a little more about him and listen to more interviews. It came across as a bunch of soundbites. The Heads-up poker championship was fun as well. Even got me in the mood to play some Hold-em but since I had to teach C how to play first, there wasn't much competition at these tables.

Sad news of the weekend was all about Barbaro. (and Darfour - don't accuse me of not caring). Big things often happen at Pimlico and this one "silenced the crown of 118,000". What a terrible end to a career. It is strange how a broken leg can threaten a horses life, even when they have the best medical care.

"Horses are often euthanized after serious leg injuries because circulation problems and deadly disease can arise if they are unable to distribute weight on all fours."

Can you imagine if humans were more like horses, how much better off the human race might be?

Then again, Darwin probably woudn't have been as famous for his Natural Selection shtick as it would have been much more obvious.

Where in the world is Liquid

I live in a pretty busy neighborhood, relatively speaking. No, it is not downtown Beijing or Mexico City, and it isn't (ain't) Salina, Kansas either. In my neighborhood, there are lots of restaurants and quite a few nail/hair salons. And one brothel, so I am told, but haven't had the cajones to walk in to this place that fronts as a restaurant.

By the way - those of you that were fond of the Jews for Jesus office a few blocks from here will be crushed to learn that they have shut their doors for good. Rumor has it, they are continuing their search using alternative methods than simple waiting for him in the office.

Likewise, the Peruvian restaurant that was pretty good has now morphed into another nationality.

You won't have a hard time finding Asian fare around here. We have a multitude of Chinese, Japanese, Thai, a couple Korean and an Indian. Italian and Mexican is not an issue. Up to this point, there has been one thing missing which I am ecstatic to proclaim - "Is no longer the case!"

I now see a boarded up place 1 block away that has a new marquee and it is for a Mediterranean restaurant. This happens to be a favorite cuisine of mine. Peeking in, I noticed they had just completed a new tile floor and are working on the inside paint job.

Mediterranean madness here we come.

What Dreams Are Made Of

Lately I have been checking out Kevin Sites. He seems to be a low key dude that has now hit the big time - Once a lonely blog like the Crackpod, he was optioned by Yahoo and his blog is now the Hot Zone!

Check out his blog and video at:

http://hotzone.yahoo.com/

His bio is here:
http://www.kevinsites.net/bio.php

i could really go for a double-double

Haven't you always heard not to cross double yellow lines when driving. They tell us it's a safety hazard, but why do people continue to break the lines?

Maybe folks just aren't sure what constitutes the difference betweena single and a double. So let's just put that out there.

So a single yellow line is the following:

A double yellow line looks like the photo below:


I mean just maybe the confusion started with the advent of the In-n-Out Burger. They have a simple menu, just a couple burgers and assorted items. The single burger is just called Hamburger (or Cheeseburger for you smartasses). Then their double patty burger is called the Double-Double. To me it would have made a little more sense just to call it a Double, as it is called at 99.9% of hamburger joints nationwide. But no dice there and the confusion began.

SO now people think that they can cross a single AND can cross a double yellow line cause they feel that unless the lines look like the photo below, (aka a 20x20), they are free to turn.

In case you are really wondering, this is a confusing law in the vehicle code which is why we have so many people doing erratic things while blocking traffic and endangering pedestrians.

So without further ado, here is a cut/paste from the drivers handbook:

TRAFFIC LANES

Line Colors

Solid yellow lines mark the center of a road used for two way traffic.
Broken yellow lines mean you may pass if the broken line is next to your driving lane.
Two solid yellow lines mean “no passing.” Never drive to the left of these lines unless you are:

• Turning left at an intersection.
• Turning into or out of a private road or driveway.
• In a carpool lane that has a designated entrance on the left.
• Instructed to drive on the other side of the road because your side is closed or blocked.

Hmm, maybe it wasn't all that confusing.

Succeeding in the cut throat world of blogs

It has come to my attention through completely, ahem, legal means that my blog is not penetrating the blogosphere. True I am not marketing it like a champion, however, still, wouldn't it be nice if people would read what I had to say, even if it was boring and even if the sentences never seemed to end, really, wouldn't that be the coolest, if not downright groovy.

So working toward this goal, I am compiling a few tips to assist you and me in this dog eat dog world of blogging.

Mention famous people like Bill O' Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, and other media folks. Mentioning liberal political media like Arianna Huffington, Al Franken, Rhandi Rhodes, or Big "Ed" Shultz may not get you as far.

There is a company called "Working Assets" that seems to be plucking the best of the best of the blogging world and offering book contracts to expand on all this infinite wisdom.

In response to one recent book offered bloauthor, John Amato of crooksandliars.com stated, "He stood out because he made astute, accurate comments based on factual arguments". Sheet, is that all it takes? It is a wonder that this blog or the other best blog in the world, Clipstone St. hasn't been picked up yet. Here is my proposal, put JBO ad myself in a room and just hit the Record button - in about 4 hours and a bottle of Armagnac, you will have enough for a book, and radio program, and if the bottle is a magnum, a feature length movie.

Overheard...

So in the coffee shop this morning a guy asked for a bagel an the following conversation took place:

"Do you have any Everything bagels?"
"Sure, we gots everything minus garlic, onions, poppy and sesame seeds"
"That sounds like a plain bagel"
"Then you don't know your bagels"
"Just give me a f'n bagel, toasted with butter"
"Whatever, man"

It's a deal, inspector.

Let me tell YOU that blogging ain't easy. I mean in reality, I'm blogging all day long - thinking about things, pondering ideas, mentally bagging on folks or trying to learn from the mistakes of others. Sometimes even trying to learn from their successes. Lot's of times I am eying broads in a voyeuristic/magazine sort of way. Just sort of checking things out cause I like things of beauty.

The past few days I've been putting together play lists for my upcoming wedding. I have decided to get married in a small town where resources are limited. One of the things that I haven't been able to figure out is the DJ scene. I called about 5 guys and got one return call for a dude who said he'd send me a demo reel, but he never did. I called each of these 5 guys twice. SO I said screw it, I'll just rent some equipment and make my own playlists. Lo and behold there is one guy in town that rents equipment and he is booked with the motocross that will be in town. He did tell me that if I was willing to pay enough, he would hire and train a guy to do the event. I had to laugh at the cost for that.

So...What the hell, I decide I'll go ahead and buy my own system and run my own f'n show. I did my research and went to eBay and had a blast After my one time usage, my goal is to eventually rent out this system so I can recoup my expenses. Can you say business expense. SO if any of you need a 250 watt PA system, let me know. I'll have one available after June. I give you good price.

Right now, after spending a bunch of time sorting through my MP3's, I have about put together about 8 hours of music of which I hope to segment into the events of the day. (pre wedding, dinner, reception, etc.) Hopefully I can pull it off. If you have any song suggestions - speak up or forever hold your peace!

In getting the music together, I found that in so many of these songs, memories were hidden. For huge memories down to the smallest things. Music is pretty amazing when it gets down to it. Looking back, I have truly enjoyed so many experiences that are now completely knotted to the music - and I don't even consider myself a huge fan of music either so this kind of happened on its own. (yes, of course I enjoy music, but I am not one of those guys that always needs to have music on, or loves to frequent music shops, watch video channels, etc.)

In any case, I am going to play some of this memorable music on the bog day - I wonder if anyone will silently think to themselves - damn, liquid chose this song for me.

The sound of silence

Watching David Blaine last night was exciting. I am always impressed by those that push the envelope. Taking the human condition and upping the ante, one breath at a time. As a magician, he is among the best. As a stunt man, he is quite possibly insane. He does stunts that push the human mind and body as far as they will go. I am certainly looking forward to his next stunt and perhaps I will go see him one day if I get the opportunity.

Check this out!

Random - did you check him out while he hung out in the fishbowl all week?

What the crack?

CNN REPORT: Binge drinking becoming an epidemic on college campuses.

Personally I always felt like the epidemic on college campuses was watching woman freshman come in nice and skinny and seeing them in their junior year with what appeared to be cottage cheese on their thighs. Only later did I learn what that was all about. Yes, you know it too - they couldn't find a good man, so they chose to fill their oral cavities with ben and jerry's and pizza, beer, candy, etc. Wait a second, that's what I was doing too. (CLARIFICATION: For lack of a good woman that would put up with all my crap). Holy Jesus, I just can't win can I. These circular arguments can really drive one to drink.

Heard this on CNN today as I was running on the treadmill. I know I should be running outside, especially on such a gorgeous day, but alas, I opted for the mindless run while watching TV. It is still good for the cardiovascular system, right?

I remember back in my day, I was going to school 2 hours north of another college campus where I had a friend living. One afternoon, I learned a friend of mine was going to be driving down to visit his girlfriend for the evening at this campus. I hitched a ride so i could party with my buddy.

Arriving in his dorm room, we proceeded to take 2 oz straight shots of Vodka with a water chaser. (Overheard: Is there any food around? Answer, No. Is there any fruit juice or something? No!) Needless to say, a couple hours later I was completely shitfaced. I sort of passed out on the dorm room floor only to wake up and stumble to the hallway shared restrooms. I forgot to kneel beside the toilet so I puked all over the bathroom stall. Of course, being too drunk to clean it up, I just mosied back to the room where I was staying. When I returned to the room, my friend had made a cardboard puke box for me. Throughout the rest of the night, I puked and puked, scaring the shit out of his very Christian and religious (and eternally sober) roommate.

It was only later I learned that the entire floor of the dormitory had been asked to pay the cleaning fee for the mess I made. In fact, it was only later that I was told about most of this story.

So yes, binge drinking is a problem, but I ask - how else are you going to find your true limits? In fact, doesn't this analogy apply for most things...? How do you really push yourself in life - Answer: By trial and error. I learned my lessons the hard way and only two other times during my college career did I get so fucked up.

The last one, also in the dorms, I remember had to do with 151 and crawling with all my might toward the bathroom to puke, only waking up in the hallway at the foot of the bathroom door sometime in the middle of the night. That too was a pretty weird experience. By the time I was a sophomore, I learned to drink a little slower.

Say it ain't all that and more

Is this what I have to look forward to?

"Magath, an avid drinker of green tea, had not had any alcohol at all in the last six months, according to Bayern commercial manager Uli Hoeness. He told German television Magath had three glasses of champagne and beer on the bus to Cologne. "

Do we really have a chance?

60 Million Bloggers in China!

"Darkness at the break of noon / Shadows even the silver spoon / The handmade blade, the child's balloon / Eclipses both the sun and moon / To understand you know too soon / There is no sense in trying." - Dylan

As a former student of la science politique, I can safely say that the idealism of my youth has faded inversely proportional to my ass hair.

The idea that we can change the world is really only true if we are actually in a powerful position. And usually you can get in a powerful position only by being born into it or by playing the game and paying some 'big-time" dues. Sure there are folks that will say, "That's not true at all, look at Cindy Sheehan, or Julia 'Butterfly' Hill. See all the change they have made!"

To that I reply that this is a classic gambler's fallacy. Let's admit to ourselves that there are no absolutes in this world and in every example of human psychology or sociology, there will be answers on all 3 sides of the coin. With that said, how many individuals can you name that have changed anything of significance? I am speaking of people like me and you and not folks that were born into powerful families or have paid their dues by doing years of hard labor to their bosses and sacrificed their souls in the process to get where they are. Can you say Karl Rove? - One smart bastard on a human emotion (read: manipulation) scale, but not exactly a guy you would want to call your friend...

So about us - what can we do short of suffering a great loss and then deciding we have found our purpose in life (ala Cindy Sheehan with her son, or Julia Hill with the loss of the virgin redwoods) - or maybe that really is the only way to do it. We have to care so much about something that our life is then guided by a sense of purpose - for better or for worse. Otherwise, we are just living the routine, chasing the cheese, and dumbing down in the evening to our drug of choice.

But maybe there IS another (3rd side) option. With that, I will leave the blogosphere with a selection from J.K.
-------

. . . it is important to understand, not intellectually but actually in your daily life, how you have built images about your wife, your husband, your neighbor, your child, your country, your leaders, your politicians, your gods--you have nothing but images.

The images create the space between you and what you observe and in that space there is conflict, so what we are going to find out now together is whether it is possible to be free of the space we create, not only outside ourselves but in ourselves, the space which divides people in all their relationships.

Now the very attention you give to a problem is the energy that solves that problem. When you give your complete attention--I mean with everything in you--there is no observer at all. There is only the state of attention which is total energy, and that total energy is the highest form of intelligence.

Naturally that state of mind must be completely silent and that silence, that stillness, comes when there is total attention, not disciplined stillness. That total silence in which there is neither the observer nor the thing observed is the highest form of a religious mind. But what takes place in that state cannot be put into words because what is said in words is not the fact. To find out for yourself you have to go through it.
-- J. Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known

Run for the hills

So what is there to possibly blog about at 8:30am? The latest headlines from the Drudge Report? Latest entry from the the Daily Kos? or my favorite blog, currently known as Clipstone St. ?

Now that I've been blogging for a couple weeks, I can see why a majority of blogs turn into rants against everything. After all, how easy is it to complain about something that is going on in your life? Shit, I could have already complained about 5-10 things in the hour or so I've been awake. On the other hard, how easy it is to speak positively about the last hour....arguably harder.

Good things about the last hour:

Had some Tea.
Started a blog entry.

Bad things about the last hour:

shoulder hurts
a little tired
need a shower
hungry
forgot to charge my phone

As you can see, the minus list is virutally endless and writes itself whereas the good things list is actually a struggle to get through. So what am I doing - complaining about how easy it is to complain? Well, now that it is Spring, on the verge of Summer, my resolution is to shed some fat. The kind of fat that just stinks of negativity.

Goal for today - not to talk about anyone that isn't in front of me or whom I am speaking with on the telephone. After all, how easy is it to not only complain about one's own plight, but project your 'stuff' onto others around you. Have you ever talked shit about someone? Oh I hear you now - "I never do that". Dude, I mean. come on. Seriously.

If you're still calling DENIAL on my last statement, the prognosis may be worse than I imagined.

Schadenfreude!

Assault!

"The heat is on, on the street
Inside your head, on every beat
And the beat's so loud, deep inside
The pressure's high, just to stay alive
'Cause the heat is on"
Glenn Frey, The Heat is On

It was bound to happen - the Crackpod has been assaulted. The cuplrit is the notoriously witty blog, currently known as Clipstone St. I think the proprietor of this site feels a bit slighted by my heavy doses of Coffee Talk. After all, I claim to be a tea not coffee drinker and yet coffee seems to find its way into most of my posts.

Is this sort of like Tim Watley on Seinfeld making Jewish jokes even though he is a converted jew. "The guy's Jewish two days, he's already making Jewish jokes." Those goddam Anti-Dentites.

But hey, JBO knows I am a closet, or not so closet competitor so I invite his verbal duel as an avid fan of the great Cyrano.

"A large nose is the mark of a witty, courteous, affable, generous, and liberal man. "

In deeper analyis, I can see that most of my readers are actually looking for crack, and hence i get an abnormally large number of hits. If you are one of them, leave me a comment so i know who you are.

Werd.

What makes me angry...

Given, after a few cups of coffee I am more likely to be angry than after a couple cups of tea. My hypothesis is that when I am amped on coffee, I expect the rest of the world to be amped up as well. When i come across folks that not only seem like they haven't had a dose of coffee, but seem as though they have smoked a few joints, my blood begins to boil when i am trying to get stuff done.

"DON'T MAKE ME ANGRY, YOU WOULDN'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY!"

Now the reality is that these folks haven't had anyhting to smoke at all, and I don't even think it is fair to pick on pot smokers (after all, some of my best friends are pot smokers ;-). No it is just that everyone moves at their own pace and no matter what kind of carrots you hold out in front of them, they won't budge. Sure they'll get to the carrot and enjoy it, but they still won't turn toward the direction you are looking in. (until something is in it for them). Yes, the cat is out of the bag - what's in it for me!!!

That is the vrai secret. (why the fuck do i keep using french words in my postings?) When working with folks, how do you determine their self interest. Sure it is easy when all they are after is money, but delving deeper, it is rarely ONLY about the money even when it appears that way at first.

I have been taught that everyone is after three things. They want to make money/save money, improve their image in the eyes of others (friends, boss, etc.), or to save time so they can putz around a bit more. Taking those three things in account, why would you possibly be reading this blog? Using the Hulk model, It is probably not going to earn you any money, certainly not going to improve your image, and seeminly is doing the opposite of saving you time. Clearly in this case, there was something else that brought you to this blog so you COULD spend a little time putzing around. The blog in this case is the END. The MEANS could have perhaps been the fact that you completed or are putting off your actual responsibiliites. (gym, food, wife time, work, etc.)

So back to the story... Think about something you did today that you were proud of? In reflection, what was your motivation? You may say, well, i do things cause I really like people and I just want the world to be a happier place. Do you buy that? I wish I did. This seems to be the good 'ol altruism argument all over again and I left that one behind back in Philosophy 101. Right along with vegetarianism, and victimless crimes. Isn't that right AR?

Today, I was mostly pissed off as I mentioned. Too many cups of coffee has sent me into a mental mania where I am most comfortable alone, completing my finite projects and poorly attempting to slow down as I watch the sun lower itself.

I am going to the gym in a few minutes and hope to get through the rest of this aggro behavior. I will drink lots of water and take to deep breathing. By nightfall, I plan on being relaxed. I'll let you know how I do.