June 2009
11 posts
1 tag
“The city’s all wrapped up in plastic like an electronic cocoon If you...”
– Nutopia - Meg Lee Chin These lyrics, written in 1997, were intended to parallel Alan Ginsberg’s Howl.  It seemed as if my generation was coming down from the angst-high in the early 90s and Meg Lee Chin was at the epicenter.  Partially a reflection of the decade’s early abuse, it starts...
Jun 30th
1 tag
The Why of X
One of the best teachers I’ve ever had, Eugene Wallingford, regularly writes in a thoughtful notebook called Knowing and Doing.  He’s a computer scientist, as was I in a previous life.  He approaches the study and the craft as a scientist - a position that most people in the field do not actively take.  Perhaps that’s why he resonated with me so strongly. Regardless, I liked the...
Jun 27th
1 tag
Jun 27th
Here’s what I don’t understand about the response Michael Jackson’s death: many of the people that are grieving now that he’s dead are the same people that ridiculed him while he was alive. Ridicule me all you want after I die, tell me you love me while I’m still here.
Jun 26th
Jun 22nd
1,228 notes
1 tag
Jun 20th
WatchWatch
Whether he is a writer or she is a gardener, painter, or a bricklayer - the satisfying feedback of tactile work is part of the human experience.  The innate joy of handling physical materials.  I sat down to write this afternoon and couldn’t help but notice this man across the table.  His stack of papers were about a foot thick altogether.  Some pages were met intensely, others he would...
Jun 17th
2 notes
1 tag
Jun 15th
1 tag
“‘They [trains] race along, they rumble, they clatter as they hurry by for...”
– Fydor Dostoevsky The Idiot (1868) There will always be noise.  The universe is filled with noise.  What constitutes how it is defined is largely cultural.  Spiritual peace is not the absence of noise but instead comfort with the unknown.  The unknown - the unexplained and obscure - will always...
Jun 10th
1 tag
Jun 7th
1 tag
The Four Ancient Greek Loves
Storge - Natural, Familiar Love Philia - Friendship & Loyalty Eros - Passionate Love Agape - Unconditional Love It says something about a culture when the language conveys a need to understand how and why love exists.
Jun 6th