The Apolitical Activist, Ch. 4

Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Like Jared Lee Loughner, who killed six people in Tucson on January 8, 2011

using a 9mm Glock  semi-automatic pistol.

Loughner had a history of drug possession charges and had been suspended by his college for disruptive behavior.

Which only goes to show that

Guns don't kill people, people kill people

One of the victims who survived the assault in Tucson was Democratic Representative Gabrille Giffords.   Giffords  herself owns a Glock. “I have a Glock 9-millimeter, and I’m a pretty good shot,” she told the New York Times in 2010.

But that really didn't matter, because

Guns don't kill people, people kill people

The Glock Giffords owned could shoot 19 rounds without loading.  That could come in handy in the Arizona desert if you are attacked by not one, not several, but a platoon of Muslim extremists.  You don't want to let them get the upper hand because

Guns don't kill people, people kill people

The Glock Loughner used in the shooting used a 31 round magazine.  These magazines were illegal under the
Assault Weapons Ban law of 1994 which Congress let lapse in 2004, but whether the Ban existed or not, it would not have mattered because

Guns don't kill people, people kill people

The Glock became a favorite of drug gangs because of its light weight (its made from plastic), ease of operation, and  the fact that it is quick to shoot, and it can shoot a lot.  Tupac and Dr. Dre rapped about the Glock.   Tupac was killed with a 40-caliber Glock.  And if gangs have the Glock, it makes it an easy sell to law enforcement, who would be outgunned if they had to rely on the American made Smith and Wesson.  And if law enforcement has the Glock, it makes an easy sell to criminals, who would be outgunned if they had to rely on the American made Smith and Wesson.  But whether the chicken or the egg came first, it doesn't really matter because now Smith and Wesson has a plastic revolver competing with the Glock...and

Guns don't kill people, people kill people

Glock's marketing strategy has been reported as brilliant and shady.   From salesman entertaining law enforcement purchasers at a notorious strip club in Atlanta to offshore accounts to industrial espionage, but none of this matters because

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

The Music Lover Ch. 12

Greenland is Melting.

And the waters ran from Greenville to Pocahontas, down through The Mill as it Leisurely made its way though the Copper Dock and Carlyle Jam and its Dam.

From there it was just a Breese to the Knotty Pines to get the Wig out.

At its furthest reaches, the waters flooded the Mississippi, Missouri, and Platte, drowning the Saints Charles and Louis the ville of Nash and the Junction of Grand.

Red fish blue fish, and 2720 Cherokees lay swollen in its banks

Not to mention the full moon at black diamond, red bar near collinstown, and the lotowatamie where the banks are absolutely stuffed.

And the dykes-- filled to the brim, and the glory holes stuffed near novaks and the buffets of Nepal.

The oysters, lay unmoving off broadway, near the old house of rock and the El Lenador, where the records have stopped their spinning.

But the railroad chugged on alone, eating its strewn earth in a witches brew, and these tunes blaring on the engineer's portable radio over the drone of the engine:

Song 1:

Got a blank space where my mind should be
Got a Clif Bar and some cold green tea
Got clouds that seem to follow me
Got strange demands piled up on me
Got memories, Got memories
Memories of being free

Song 2:

You decide what it contains
How long it goes
But this remains
The only rule is it begins
Happy happy oh my friend.

And this one, heard long ago, a different time and a different place, heard again, live, with new consciousness:

Then it comes together
Put your hand on me
And I feel you mama
made a blind man see
Been sleepwalking
an eternity
Whoa yes
I’m working on a new plan
Working on Sunday Morning
Working on being forgiven
For that soft (sic) livin
I’ve been steamrolling
Heading for a crash
Cruise controlling
Blowing right on past
Sleepwalking
Put your hand on me
I’m working on a new plan
Working on Sunday morning
Working on being forgiven
For that soft (sic) livin
And the lonely one's
Be'd happy to see
Do you hear them call your name
Carrying a heavy load
When the bullets that protect you
Come raining down on your own head
You’re feeling like you’re almost blind
Carrying a heavy load
Carrying a heavy load
Oh, no
Don’t cry mama
Gonna be ok
So sorry
That it went that way
Like a stray sheep

Inadequate instructions for just about anything, Ch. 3

How to take a shit.

Step 1:  Eat some food.   If you don't eat food you wont be able to take a dump.   Seriously, do you think Gandhi was able to take a crap on a hunger strike?

Step 2:  Eat the right kind of food.  Your brain may be in a bind if you live in South Carolina and voted for Gingrich.  But that doesn't mean you have to live with chronic constipation.  Don't be a brat like Gingrich or eat a BRAT diet (banannas, rice, applesauce and toast).   Other foods that can tie you up include meats, ice cream, potatoes.   If you are forced to eat your own words, that also can make you tense, and bind you.

Step 3:  Drink a ton of water.  In fact, drink so much water that you almost spring a leak because of the water pressure.   Of course, if you spring a leak, it does not necessarily mean you will take a piss, but maybe sometime else will come out of you.  Think about it.

Step 4:  Try not to be so full of shit in the first place.  Really, Bill, just admit you had the hummer in the oval office, things will go so much smoother for you.  Pete, just admit you gambled.  Maybe you would get into the hall of fame.  Barry, admit you had a little help with all those home runs.  Richard Millhouse, admit that you had a thing for wiretaps.   Geesh, I don't know about you but i'm feeling better already.

Things I wish my daughters will read, Ch. 2

Everything we are or can see is in the Milky Way.
So how do you eat the Milky Way?
Take a bite of air, and you are eating the Milky Way.
Sometimes you can eat a Milky Way within the Milky Way.
And if you like Milk Chocolate and nougat, its much better that way.
But its all the Milky Way, it cannot be avoided.
With our current means of interstellar travel.
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.
Your father is a nut, but you knew that.
I don't think he's ever eaten a Mounds.
He likes dark chocolate, not milk chocolate, but you knew that.
The dark chocolate covered pomegranates was the perfect Christmas present.
And you knew that.

However, in the future, you have to look at the chocolate content on the label.

Its like a test.  If its under 60 %  chocolate or cacao, the chocolate bar fails.   Over 85% is awesome.

So here is your quick fire:   you have to make a dish with dark chocolate, pomegranates

and whatever other organic foods you can buy at Whole Foods with $100 dollars

and you time begins.....NOW

Padma used to be married to Salmon Rushdie.

Salmon Rushdie was molested by Ayatollah Khomeini

when he was younger.

See its not just the Catholic Priests who have issues.

But you didn't know that:-).  Not yet, anyway :-).

Inadequate instructions for just about anything, Ch. 2

How to have sex.


Step 1:   Practice improves the activity.   Practice a lot with yourself before inflicting yourself on anyone else.

Step 2:  Stop thinking about the activity and just do it.  Lose yourself in the activity. This is something you cannot control.    Have you ever tried to stop thinking?   Its like trying to stop your heart beat.  You can slow it down.   But never stop it.

Step 2.5:  Give up control.   Have you ever tried to give up control?  This is something your cannot control.  Its like trying to stop a fart when your stomach is very very upset.   You can squelch the noise some, but depending on what you ate, the evidence will be readily apparent when it is released, even if the noise is silenced.

Step 3:  If issues with sexual mood, function, or muscle remain,  I have "heard" that Abbott Labs makes an excellent product for men called AndroGel.  It comes in a convenient pump dispenser.  There are even some excellent attorneys who represent this product's manufacturer.   Those attorneys remind me that:  AndroGel must not be used if you have known or suspected prostate cancer or breast cancer (a rare condition for men). AndroGel must not be used by women who are pregnant, may become pregnant, or breastfeeding, as testosterone may cause fetal harm. The major risks of AndroGel include prostate enlargement, prostate cancer, and transfer of testosterone to others (including women and children). Transference can occur when vigorous skin-to- skin contact is made with the application site and can be minimized by washing your hands after application and covering the application site with clothing.

Step 4:  Have an emotional connection to the person or person(s) you want to have the activity with.   If you "love" them, it would be most helpful.  Have you ever tried to love someone?  This is something you cannot control.  Its like trying to teach a pig to sing.  It wastes your time and it generally annoys the pig.

Step 5:   Make a game out of the activity.   This is something you can control.   Its like trying to get a dog to salivate at the sound of the bell.  Classical Conditioning.  I have heard the Russians are great at this.  "Classical conditioning involves an individual preparing itself for important biological events in the individual's life, particularly sexual activity. For example, a stimulus that is conditioned to occur before sexual interaction prepares animals both mentally (increased sex drive) and physically (sexually aroused body responses). Sexual arousal can actually be conditioned in human subjects by pairing a conditional stimulus like a picture of a jar of pennies with an unconditional stimulus like an erotic film clip. Similar experiments involving blue gourami fish and domesticated quail have shown that these conditioning techniques often increase the number of offspring, compared to unconditioned males. These findings could possibly be beneficial in terms of conditioning techniques aimed to increase fertility rates in infertile individuals and endangered species (Psychology, Gray)."  Make sure that you create well defined rules of the game.

Step 6:  After you make a game out of the activity with a well defined set of rules, make a point out of not following the rules.

Step 5:  If all else fails, please repeat Step 1.

(At Robust with the Hoekel's, and a Mondo day afternoon with Mondo)

Things that don't go together, Ch. 9

Brain size and intelligence.

A dolphins brain is actually larger than a human brain.

But they are scarcely more intelligent than dogs--at least in the ways that humans measure intelligence.

A chimpanzee is also smarter than a dolphin, but with much less brain volume.

The difference in intelligence does not appear to be linked with size so much as plasticity and developmental history.

For example, the difference in brain volume between a neonatal chimp and an adult chimp is only about 20 percent.

Like chimps, dolphins are born with almost their complete repertoire of behavior already hardwired in.

By contrast, a human brain keeps growing though years of learning.  Our brains keep growing--unless we get stuck in some repetitive dead end job, or we watch too much of the endless Republican primary debates.

This is probably why my mom during her middle age years (of almost 70) wants to learn spanish, and has rekindled her piano playing skills.

And its probably behind the craze of Baby Mozart where the infant child is exposed to complex classical music with the belief that this sort of stimulation at at early age will further brain growth.

But why not take this one step further?

If data received during post-natal growth is so crucial to intelligence, could we boost our intelligence even further by intervening in the womb during the earliest stages of brain development?

I'm talking TV screens embedded in the womb.  Or at the very least little nanobots which can get in there to give them instructions in Chinese or Russian.  Or quantum physics.

Baby baby you ain't seen nothing yet...

You ain't been around...

Things that don't resonate with me to the extent they once did, Ch. 4

"Be sure of this, O young ambition, all mortal greatness is but disease."
HERMAN MELVILLE, Moby Dick

The charisma of Ahab.

The alcoholic zen teacher.

Newt leading the charge against Clinton for the Monica business while simultaneously having an affair.

The best teachers are those that most need to learn what they are teaching--how else could the material resonate with them?

But enough of that.

Why do we have two kidneys, two ovaries, two testicles, two eyes, two ears, two breasts, two lungs, two nostrils, when we could live with one of them?

Why is nature or evolution into so much symmetry?

Ok, so it supposedly has to do with embryos dividing and stuff like that.

I suppose we are always looking for our other half:-)

That's what the Greeks think,

But everything they think must be tempered with the fact that they cannot govern themselves...lol

Anyway....

There supposedly is only one God, or sometimes if you are into the holy trinity, three.
If you are hindu, there are millions

and the buddhists, none.

So where does all this two stuff really come from? 

I have no recollection of events unfolding in the manner in which you describe, Ch. 1

If there is any merit to delayed gratification, it is certainly not encouraged by cable TV.

Cartoons are now ubiquitous and there is no need to wait until Saturday morning anymore :-).

No more excitement of waking up early on Saturday to see Scooby friking Doo or Josie and the

politically incorrect Felines. 

H.R. Puffin stuff, who is your friend when things get rough?

 I'll give you one guess what befriended

the writers of that program when they were feeling a little down.

As Scooby used to say (without any puffing):  "doobie doobie doooooooo"

Here was the lineup circa 1973:

The Jetsons -
The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour -
Hong Kong Phooey -
Goober and the Ghost Chasers -
Speed Buggy -
Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch -
Yogi's Gang-
Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan -
Roman Holidays -
Josie & the Pussycats -
The New Scooby-Doo Movies -
Funky Phantom -

If you really want to forget what has been blocked from your mind all those years ago, check this out:

http://dt.prohosting.com/70s/childtv/childtv.html

I remember being totally bummed out one morning when they interrupted all the Saturday

programming for the Vietnam peace talks in Paris.

What was Kissinger's problem?

And the Electric Company:

I sort of remember asking my mom about cancer during one of the programs.  It was hard for me to
believe that there was a disease which doctors could not cure.   And there was apparently no
explanation for the cause.

What a bummer.

But Saturday was good TV all day.  We had the Wide World of Sports in the afternoon.  And late at

night, at least if you lived in Wyoming and were watching Denver television (or was in Salt Lake

City?) one could feast on "Sci-Fi Flicks" or "Creature Features."

Of course, at that time it was much better to watch the old flying saucer movies in your own

rocket ship made of inverted chairs and tables with blankets draped over them.

Even weekday television in the mornings wasn't that bad.   Remember Hotel Balderdash from the

local Salt Lake City television channel?  Wiki describes is as follows:

Hotel Balderdash was a children's television show in the 1970s with three zany hosts: Cannonball, Harvey and the wacky Raymond, who performed antics and slapstick in between cartoon clips.
This show was produced at KCPX/KTVX - TV in Salt Lake City. It was seen throughout Utah, but was also a regional show seen in parts of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming. The show debuted on KCPX-TV, the ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City, on September 11, 1972; soon after the debut of the show the station changed its call letters to KTVX. "Hotel Balderdash" lasted for over ten years as the most popular local show of any type in the area. Between 55% to 65% of the entire morning audience - all ages - would get up to watch this "local" children's program.

Still cable isn't all that bad.  I would have totally rocked out on Jimmy Neutron--as I do now--

regardless of whether it is age appropriate:-)

The Entity, Ch. 2

It was very simple what kept us together all those years

said the Entity to the Other.

It did not need to be debased with a name.

The Other filled the Entity completely--

over and over and over

so that there was no Entity and no Other

just a complete overlap of body and soul.

And when the Entity moved inside the Other

their screams reified transcendence.

In the aftermath, much later,

mad Ahab searches for his leg,

and the lovers,

who previously found intimacy in wide open spaces

seek solace in a crowded house.

Rostov-on-Don, Ch. 3

13 August 1942

Dearest Marina:

Our unit has moved out of Rostov and into the surrounding country side.  We have not seen much action which I am grateful for given that we are accompanied by these incompetent Italians.   Our unit has bivouacked with elements of the 8th Italian Army.   These are supposedly the elite troops of the Italian Army, the Alpini Mountain Regiment.  I regret that we do not have stronger allies.
Our unit had to assist them clear out a building on the western edge of Rostov.  They frantically contacted Sturmbannfuhrer Muhlenkamp because they claimed to have encountered a strong contingent of Russian heavy infantry and were suffering heavy casualties.   It turns out they had mistakenly attacked a hospital and some of the Russian nurses, none too pleased, had somehow obtained several PPSh 41 submachine guns and were making the Italians pay.  These women killed two Italian officers and seven other soldiers before they disappeared.   The women made a mockery out of the Italians.  I cannot believe the ferocity of these Russian women.   We have even seen Russian women pilots on the front lines.h 41 sub-machine gunRussian PPSh 41 sub-machine gunussian PPSh 41 sub-machine gun
The Italians are even more unsufferable at night.  The Sicilians are the worst.  They sit around drinking wine bragging about how they are going to start the new Italian empire and how Italy is the birthplace of Western Civilization.  The silly idiots must not remember that it was the Greeks who founded Western Civilization and the Wehrmacht conquered Greece in under six weeks.  Their tanks are no match for either our tanks or the Russian tanks which make their obsolete vehicles look like horse drawn carriages by comparison.  I hope we never have to depend on them to assist us in battle.  I hear that they are being sent to assist our glorious 6th Army on its drive to Stalingrad.   Good riddance to them!  I still hope to see the Black Sea next week.  Best wishes to you and your family.   I keep your photo next to my heart at all times.

With great love, Michal.

The Zen Guy, Ch. 11

Review of Sesshin, January 2012.

Appetizer:

On the drive into Champaign, we encounter this koan from Yogi Berra:

"If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be"

That about says it all. 

Main Course:

Mumonkan case 12 "Master Zuigan Calls Master"

Zuigan called to himself every day, "Master!" and answered "Yes sir!" Then he would say, "Be wide awake!" and answer "Yes sir!" "Henceforward, never be deceived by others!" "No, I won't!"

This little jewel perplexed the zen guy several years ago.  Now there is nothing to it.   This is what we

all do.  Nothing special.  Clear as any deception could be :-)

Even Mumon's comments hold no mystery:

The master, Zuigan, sells out and buys himself. He has a lot of puppets of gods and devils that he plays with. Why is this so? With one mask he asked, and with another he answered. With another mask he said, "Awake!" and another, "Don't be cheated by others!"

If you adhere to any one of these, you are totally mistaken. If, however, you imitate Zuigan, then all these are no other than the fox's disguises.

We are always never deceived.  We cannot help but to not be always deceived.  That much is clear.

Its all about suffering, really.   Don't know what all this deception is about anyway.  And practice the endless realization and letter go of the deception.  Never getting there, because we are always there.

Enough crap.  The zen guy's mind was also filled with the recurring thoughts of his coworkers and the frustrating effect they had on him.   Very silly really.  A real silster wilster.

Underture:

And as usual, there is always a song or two entertaining the zen guy while he sits staring at the wall.  This weekend was no different.   Here it is, enjoy! 

"Well basically it's not what it seems
It's too late to argue with me
You think you figured out this machine
well you're way off, you're way off

If I roll up my sleeves
should just stand back, just stand back
You'll take it if it's coming from me
you'll take everything from everybody

You're falling down like a stack of domino's
your secret was safe but now everyone knows
your demeanor was cleaner but now we just ain't enough"

and the encore:

"When I was young, still a kid
I was unprepared, never thought before I did
And now as I look back I can’t believe it
I told lies, needed proof, I was further from the truth
So I locked myself in the corner of my room
Yeah I thought maybe my view could be better
I never knew what I did, it would all come back
I’d be forced to sift through all the misdirection
I believed in.
I relied on my youth, I could make up an excuse
And collected scars, yeah, I thought that I could choose
And my way would be destined to deliver
You never have as long as you want
So don’t get caught up in the…
We never could take back time that we’re wasting
I only hope that you’ve been listening
But I doubt you could repeat a thing
Yeah I’ve been in that seat before
It’s always easy to ignore
When no one wants or needs advice
From someone they don’t think is right
And just cause I’ve been wrong before
It doesn’t mean I don’t want more for
You live in the long-term world and it’s hard to endure
(But ya) Do cause you’ve already seen and
You know the routine now
(We) maybe could meet in the middle
It’s not too difficult
(To) Cause we’re both just stuck with spinning wheels
The odds aren’t any easier on either side
And just because you say it doesn’t make it right
Don’t think I ever could repay you
But it’s still my life
I hope I never have to say or go forever a day
Without You
(You) live in the long-term world and it’s hard to endure
(But ya)
(Do) cause you’ve already seen and
You know the routine now
(We) maybe could meet in the middle
It’s not too difficult
(To) Cause we can’t take back this wasted time, but
(You) never have as long as you want so don’t get caught up
(But ya)
(Do) Yeah you’ve already seen and it’s not any easier but
(We) maybe could meet in the middle
It’s not too difficult
(To) Cause we can’t take back this wasted time."

And lets not even get started with Wilco's new cd....

The Hippie Chick, Ch. 6

What do you do when there is shit everywhere in your life?

Shit in the basement

Shit on your patient's asses and in other unmentionable parts

Shit everywhere in the county where you live

And a freaking dark cloud follows you around everywhere.

Well one thing for sure is that when the weather breaks you live it like no ones business

And the weather is going to break in about 4 more months--

that's the forecast.

In the meantime, we fight the lighting with lightning bolts out of our skull

with roses in our headdress

and scarlet begonias :-).

We run and we run to never let go the night

with Captain Trips and Reddy Kilo-Watt

and their band of Merry Pranksters.

And we run and we run because we just can't face it anymore

the empty bottle, the empty house,  the dawn of the new day

For its better to run--its always better to run

isn't it?  Isn't that what we all do?

For there is always adventure around the next bend in the road:-)

The Hippie Chick rarely misses a concert

but she did.

She had to be running or on some adventure somewhere--

maybe with her new running shoes

we may never know--

once she gets to running--

that chick is gone :-)

Anyway, they sang this at the concert she missed:

There’s nothing more we need
Just a little sympathy
The timing couldn’t be more perfect
Wait all the time
Just to find you were blind
The future seemed so uncertain
You’re life is on the wall
The books will tell ya, your friends will tell ya all
There’s nothing more we lack
just a little self respect
The timing couldn’t be more perfect
Sometimes we need a change
Before we go insane
Because life can be overwhelming
To really feel the cost
Right down to your core
I’d hit the floor for you now
What you need right now is some time
Could it be that it would seem so hard to find
There’s nothing more we need
Just a little sympathy
The time couldn’t be more perfect

Scenes inside a Gold Mine, Ch. 7

Two Scenes:

Scene I:

In the shop "Sunshine Daydream" near Belleville, Illinois.  A bearded guy wearing a t shirt with a cannabis leaf stumbles into the store.   His cell phone is on speaker.  He is unaware that everyone in the store can hear his phone conversation.   He is visibly intoxicated.   He stumbles to the counter and starts to talk to the pregnant store clerk.   He is barely paying attention to the voice on the cell phone. He covers the speaker of the cell phone with his hand as he tries to strike up a conversation with the store clerk.  The woman's voice on the phone becomes louder as she pleads with him not to drink today.  He eventually responds that he has not had anything to drink, but he makes no guarantees about the remainder of the day.   Having said this, he winks to the store clerk, seeking an accomplice.  The store clerk makes no response.   Undaunted, the bearded guy continues to hit on the store clerk while the frantic woman on the phone continues.


Scene 2:

At a train station in a small Midwestern town.   Ten people await to board a train to Chicago.   A woman asks the man sitting next to her if if she will be able to easily catch a taxi when they arrive at Union Station.  The man responds that it will not be a problem.   The woman explains that she has a doctors appointment at Northwestern University Hospital.   The man responds that he also has a doctors appointment at Northwestern University Hospital.   They laugh at the coincidence.   She explains that she has a rare cancer of the eye that will require an experimental radiation procedure that is only offered at several locations in the United States, Northwestern University Hospital being one of them.  With a smile she reports that she is probably going to lose the eye, but this is her only option.  The ophthalmologist at Northwestern is leaving to go to Egypt after her appointment, but was kind enough to squeeze her appointment in before he left.  The man responds that he has prostate cancer.  The doctors in his small town provided radiation treatment to him several years ago, but the cancer had returned, aggressively.  With a smile he tells her that he is going for a new experimental radiation  treatment at Northwestern University Hospital which is last hope.  They smile less enthusiastically at the coincidence.  They make plans to share a taxi when they arrive in Chicago.

The Artist, Ch. 9

The next night at the camp she dreamt she was back in her hometown near the intersection of South Grand and 11th Street.

But the area had changed.

There were more people and more buildings than she remembered. 

She wished she had purchased some of the surrounding property before all the new people had moved in.

She was in a wine bar with her friend Jake.

Jake owned the place.

He bought property before everyone else and had made a killing. 

Then she was outside in the street.

There were street performers everywhere

and hippies.

Some of the performers were riding unicycles and juggling.

Some were grooving with hula hoops. 

A large brown black dog with gaping jaws left one of the performers and approached her. 

It jumped up on her enthusiastically putting its paws up below her chest.


Perhaps too enthusiastically, for it would not leave.


She became nervous, conflicted


She knew the  would be loyal and would not leave her side.


But there was something menacing about it as well which left her unsettled.

Its physical presence with her was too strong--it could overpower her.

She hurried back into the building with the wine bar and ran upstairs.

She shut the door behind her preventing the dog from following her.

"Oh, its just your fear of commitment," commented the tattooed woman.

Then she had various sexual intrigues with the  poly amorous sister of one of her lesbian friends.

She woke to the sound of a guitar playing.

(chicago, skokie, lula's brunch, back at it in the morning)

The Zen Guy, Ch. 10

For the Zen Guy the homage to Chiang was different.

The separation between the human and the divine in Michelangelo was the basic suffering and tragedy of the human condition:

The fingers never touched:


despite the longing from the caged animal to strive for more.

The separateness from the inner and outer

from the word and the representation

from the thought and the action

from the me and the you.


And Chiang had built an elaborate superstructure in the gap between heaven and earth

that was beautiful and complex

and self aware in its limitation:

From the short story "Understanding":

"I understand the mechanism of my own thinking. I know precisely how I know, and my understanding is recursive. I understand the infinite regress of this self knowing, not by proceeding step by step endlessly, but by apprehending the limit. The nature of recursive cognition is clear to me. A new meaning of the term "self-aware."
"Fiat logos. I know my mind in terms of a language more expressive than any I'd previously imagined. Like God creating order from chaos with an utterance. I make myself anew with this language. It is meta-self-descriptive and self editing; not only can it describe thought, it can describe and modify its own operations as well, at all levels. What Godel would have given to see this language, where modifying a statement causes the entire grammar to be adjusted.....I can perceive the gestalts; I see the mental structures forming, interacting...."

But deep inside, The Zen Guy felt that there was no separation, but the separation itself was just a construct of the mind.   This is what separated him from his brother.


(in the windy city with the reg, Krasivaya Devotchka),  edible duck, and beets K?

The Philosopher, Ch. 1

This was not mentioned previously but

the Zen Guy had an older brother.

He rarely mentioned him.

He avoided him. 

The feeling was mutual.

In any event, they found themselves together over New Years.

Alone and unencumbered.

To their surprise, they found that they both mutually admired the writing of Ted Chiang.

For the Philosopher, the "Tower of Babylon" was an affirmation of his project all along.

Which was this:

The bridging between the human and divine. 

The Philosopher saw this directly in the "Tower of Babylon"

and in every other human pursuit reflected in Chiang's opus, be it mathematics, linguistics, genetics,

and theology.

The Philosopher found in Chiang (unlike the mortal in Michelangelo),  an active striving to reach the divine.    The finger extended by the mortal to God was fully erect, not lazily extended.
:-).

Tattoo you, Ch. 5

Candy kids/London kriptz theme song:

Hello Kitty chocolate Jager Gin and Juice break

Break out the Sharpies

Write on the walls

We are pros at climbing up the stairs

Say Hi to Lincoln--he's our guy

We ain't no bitches--like his wife

Taking pictures of our shoes in his hallway

This place is haunted

We should leave and pack up my Maxwell

We are headed to the basement

Break out the candles

Break out the red bull

The living room is our dance floor

Tonight our clothes are coming off

Pooh Bear passed out drunk

now he needs a bubble bath

Mini skirts teased hair kandi bling xtc

Drunk texts call up this ginger named John Hibbs

woke him up at 3 in the morning

talking shit about the moon

Order a pizza

Pay in change

Screw you deliver boy

WTF is up with this blown out wine?

Oh shit we are out of Reese's pieces

Its ok cause we got face time with Mr. Noodle Smoke Breaks Camel Crushes

Roll up outside with our smart phones point at the sky

Star terrorizum blow up the moon too much LULZ-Kuz we got Mary Berry on the big screen :-)

I am Salvador Carol McTiggins

I am a proud Irish alcoholic

I love to drink

I love to ___K

I love to fight

--that's life---

The Artist, Ch. 8

Her dreams the following night were equally disturbing.

This time she was in Afghanistan

working with the U.S. government

or was she a journalist?

She was interviewing the Taliban

They were very open with her describing the area on the map that was their territory

and which territories were disputed.

American soldiers were also around.

These were not elite soldiers by any stretch, but overweight teenagers playing war.

Helicopters appeared overhead.

American helicopters.

She warned the Taliban and hid in a trench

to avoid the massacre.

But then she had a gun and was hiding behind a wall.

The sloppy American soldiers were called to proceed on the other side of the wall.

She took aim and surprising started shooting them

lots of them.

They were all bunched up like apples in a barrel.

It was hard to miss.

She hit them in the shoulder, the the neck, the chest

they started dropping.

She was surprised. And filled with unease. There was no turning back now.


She awoke to the sound of the chanting outside....

The Music Lover, Ch. 11

Me and Bobbie McGee's

Cousin

Named Umphrey's

Went to New Years

with organic Darjeeling

coursing through the barrier

where the blood meets the brain.

There was no need for more


from the man in the gold suit--

we were already there

third eye shaking


Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
Flashing lights above the stage
Surrendering  we closed our sage
Sitting cross-legged on the floor
25 or 6 until there was more
Staring blindly into space
Getting up to shut my case
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can fake
Should I try to do some lore
25 or 6 until there was more
Feeling like I ought to sleep
Spinning room is sinking deep
Searching for something to say
Waiting for the break of day
25 or 6 until there was more
"25 or 6 to 4"    :-)