Taking My Unique Brand Of Stupid Elsewhere

Well friends, I'm branching out from this blog.

In my continuing effort to avoid giving up the things I waste time on, I'm trying to make the wasted time more productive.  As such, I volunteered to participate in a weekly podcast covering (mainly) the Tennessee Titans.  It's being run by TitansReport.com, but I've got the direct link below.

We're calling the podcast Two Tone Crew, in honor of the uniforms that the Titans wear.  I like to think that we're the podcast equivalent of combining the musical talents of 2 Live Crew and the Deftones.

I'm one of the three main hosts and we recorded the first episode Thursday night (on less than half a day's notice).  One thing to note is that this is a learning process.  Myself and the other hosts had never spoken to one another before sitting down to record, and we were spread across three states.  Because of that, we recorded over Skype.  This left room for the audio to T-Pain itself once in awhile, but otherwise I think it sounds pretty good.

I listened to the first podcast twice Friday night, as we were trying to decide whether or not we were satisfied with the editing, before it was posted (sometime around 1:46 am).

You are more than welcome to listen to it, just click the link below.  I'm not going to promise that you will enjoy it, especially if you aren't a Titans fan, but if you do give it a listen - I would truly be interested in your feedback as we work to improve this ever-advancing podcast.

Don't Be Such A Dummy, Dumbo

One man's compromise is another man's deal with the devil... only this devil doesn't play a fiddle... and this man isn't named Johnny.

Come count the crows sitting on the wire, a perfect black profile against the sky.  One... two... three... You'd better hurry - they'll soon be off, for they've work to do. 

"Anything is possible," the moral says, as a crow gives the elephant one of his feathers.

But wait... did you hear that?  Rewind the movie.  Yep, there it is again.  Turn the volume up.  Put on the subliminal messages closed captioning and you'll see.  It's the SMCC button.

"Racism is alive and well, because we like this story," the crow says to a new generation of children.  "It's an American Classic!"

Does the addict really quit for two months, or was he just on a break? Some say there's a path we're walking, but I wonder if we'll ever reach the end when we double back so often for a peek at poorly chosen nostalgia.

Cogito Ergo Sum And Know Thyself!

I often hear people talk about how uplifting writing or reading or music or dance are… well, not dance so much, but I would hear about it more if I knew more dancers.  At varying times, all of the first three work for me.  Really, though, it's just variations on a theme.  They all find their root in letting the mind wander and picking up inspiration from the universe.

They are a sort of active meditation, and I consider meditation to be of vast significance for anyone who chooses to engage in it.

A Life Less Dynamic’s 3 Q&A’s To A Better You.

1.   “I think, therefore I am.”  Gee, thanks Descartes, but what am I?

As an intrepid reader of A Life Less Dynamic, I know that the essence of knowledge is what one knows about one’s self.  (Previous Post)  If you are right that I exist, surely I should endeavor to know who or what I am.

First, though, let’s inadequately address a two points on Descartes.  One, I won’t even touch the propriety of Descartes’ equating thought to existence, because I think it inherently confuses the meaning of existence.  Two, I do not believe thoughts exist in the absence of having been begotten.  Thus, Jamal Earl Black believes that the existence of his thoughts assumes the existence of a person or agent thinking them, namely – Jamal Earl Black.

If you can follow the preceding bundle of sentences… you exist as well.  If, on the other hand, that paragraph makes no sense to you – your lack of understanding calls your entire existence into question.  Stop reading this blog immediately on pain of complete, utter, and spontaneous self-annihilation!

2.   Ok, returning to the first train of thought:  I exist, so what am I?

In short, I don’t know for sure… but that doesn’t matter, so long as I recognize that I am not my body or my thoughts.

It is easy to cognitively acknowledge the fact that you are not your body.  After all, your thoughts prove existence… but not human and bodily existence.  In practice, however, stubbing your toe hurts.  Try telling your toe it doesn’t exist and see what happens.

Understanding that you are not your thoughts is a bit harder, because those really are all that you have.  The important thing to consider here is that your thoughts emanate from, and are relevant to, a thing which begets them.

So what is this separate thing which begets thoughts?  Science teaches that the brain thinks, but that is mere physical representation (which has not been proven to exist).  Jamal teaches that it doesn’t matter.  Acknowledgement of this thing is sufficient.

You are it.

3.   Ok, I’m a thought begetter, and…?

Much of life consists of the analysis of external stimuli, which is useful because it gives us knowledge and ability to function in the physical world.  Meditation is different.  It is the active stimulation and consideration of one’s inner self through the letting go of attention to one’s physical self.

It allows for the application of the command: “Know Thyself!”

Your thoughts do not define you – your ‘self’ defines your thoughts.  Know yourself and think with purpose and intent.  Choose your thoughts wisely.

Longing To Be A Leaf And Playing Clue With Life

Who killed Mr. Time?  Life, in the study, with distraction.

I haven't posted for awhile now, and I blame life.  Everytime I feel the desire to sit, think, and jot down words... something comes up.  I've also been spending more time writing Mr. Sir Awesome Masterpiece, Himself.

Now that I have more of an outline, my co-conspirator (we'll call him Alex Zander) has finally jumped on board and we've been taking turns writing, imagining, and sending the Word doc back and forth via email.  It's fun and more is getting done than when I work alone, though there is a lot more time spent having to take things from my brain and inject them into his... somehow... and small diferences in vision are less than exciting to resolve in 10 word snippets over email.  I'm also finding that my excessive use of "..." does not work as well in a novel as it does in a blog.

-~<>~-

My father posted a haiku on Facebook recently, as a tribute to his sunny fall day in South Carolina.  It inspired me to write my own haiku, as a tribute to the blustery fall day we had in Wisconsin.

Sunny Day

sunlit blooms cry out

take my beauty home with you

i seek love not frost

- AB 10/18/11

Blustery Day

wind blows leaf from tree

which falling down says goodbye

fitting end, old age

- JB 10/18/11

I someday hope to be as a leaf - to fall back to the earth and return to dust, having lived life whole and healthy, showing my true colors.

Mr. Sir Awesome Masterpiece, Himself

I'm at a coffee shop thinking and writing today, while my side-kick wife is off on an adventure of her own.  It's her side band, of sorts, to hang out with her friends... and I'm not the jealous type.  I hope she enjoys herself as much as I plan to.

One thing I'm doing right now is to try and consolidate a few of the sporadically written/typed thoughts for my sci-fi book, which at one time or another have flowed copiously from my brain.  Mind-wrapping them together is going to be a task without trying to organize them first.  Much of what I find is interesting, but more in the vein of a passing thought than a building block for a novel.  Some of the better stuff is fun to read again.  Because I haven't revisited much of it for over a year now, it's almost like I'm reading someone else's work.

Here is a passage that I found today, originally written on August 21st, 2010.  It is (in theory) coming from the Mr. Miyagi/Yoda-type character, as he tries to open the eyes of his protege.  What I like about it is that I feel it hits on a fundamental truth, yet I could never have come up with this myself without trying to dream up something which sounds mystical and profound - two words which I would never use to describe myself.  In a way, even though I wrote it, I didn't think of it... an imagined character did, and then shared it with me.

Some will tell you that man exists to bring order to the world.  We build things, we create, and our society provides structure for a life which, through sciences and intellectual discourse, is ever-advancing.

I believe that the world exists to help man bring himself into order, that the essence of knowledge is not what one knows about the world but what one knows about himself, and that all existence speaks to the reality of man. All we have to do is to learn to listen.

Other times I find little journal entries that I wrote from some character's perspective to try and get inside their mind.  Reading them again, I see myself in the character I'm trying to create.  Am I becoming more like them, as I dream them up... or are they just a reflection of a formerly hidden self that I am uncovering slowly?

I watch the leaves falling from the trees and wonder what it would be like to do the same - to watch as unwanted bits of myself fall slowly to the ground while the rest of me remains standing, solid, and resolute; growing through it all.

Is man capable of such a revolution as the changing of the seasons?

The last type of thing that I am finding are little blurbs written here and there as cultural proverbs, as a means of trying to delve into what makes a society tick.

If ever you arrive again at the same fork in the road, you must have chosen wrong the first time.

This is fun stuff for me, and should be exciting for you.  This post amounts to a free sneak-peak at my awesome masterpiece in-progress.

That noise you hear is joy within your heart - softly booming.