Remedial Philosophy

Is it possible to create art that says absolutely nothing about the artist? If this were possible, would the art have any usefulness to the artist or viewer?

Never Again

...the end of World War 2 on May 8, 1945 meant little except that the bombing came to an end; the killing went on...

From The Struggle For Europe by William I. Hitchcock, Anchor Books, New York, 2003, page 8.

The killing always goes on, whether there is war or not. Since Cain and Abel and probably even before that to our primordial ancestors, trampling each other in a mad effort to ooze out of the pre-historic slime.

Subtext

"Tom, how badly do you feel?"
"I don't know. How badly can you feel?"

From Islands In The Stream by Ernest Hemingway, Scribners, New York, 2004, 14th printing, page 335.

Dead Birds

I work in a moderately tall building for the area it is in. Eight stories high but set in a residential area but also facing a vast empty lot that borders a highway. I am one of those lucky enough to have a cubicle next to a window and am able to see the sun and clouds and constant coming and going of cars in the parking lot. Because the building is in a residential neighborhood there are many trees with many birds living among them. The birds see to be extremely attracted to the windows in my building because every day I hear them crashing into the floors above and below me. Once in awhile I even see they hit near me. This is a perfect symbol for my existence in this building.

Grass

You know, I have these amazingly insightful and wise thoughts whenever I'm cutting (mowing) the grass (lawn) - see I'm bilingual - it's just that I can never remember them once I've stopped.

Then again, the above may be the full extent of these superb thoughts. How would I know...I can't remember.

Doe Do

Mike Doe said:

"Our perception of time is not accurate.

Flowers do not decay, they are eaten.

Water does not flow downhill. The actions of two bodies with non-zero mass (ie. The earth and the water) causes a distortion of space-time such that the two bodies move towards each other.

Sometimes our perceptions are just not accurate reflections of reality.

When a leaf falls off a tree the earth will be drawn to the leaf and the leaf to the earth. If the leaf was the size of the earth it would be an equal match. Since the leaf is much smaller than the earth the earth tends to stay put.

That is the physics.

The rest is our intepretation of what we perceive. It is workable but it is not accurate."

Always try to look beyond the surface. That's where the treasure lies.

Time Passages

Why am I not so different from yesterday but so different from tomorrow? What am I waiting for?

Am I Going Insane

Insanity is doing the exact same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time.

So change the doing, or better yet, change the expectation.

Failure

Today I realized that though twenty years may go by and another twenty again, we can keep on making the same life mistake. The mistake is warm and cozy, like an old favourite sweater, and it is thus so much easier to put it on and fail rather than buy a new one and fail.

The Island And The Stream

Reading Hemingway's Islands In The Stream...A book about Hemingway talking to himself through too similar characters. The end was near.

Stabbed In The Back

The past and future of a right-wing myth.

The Veil

Nothing like a good dose of cold rain water on a hot day to remember that reality is just there, floating above the illusion, just reach out and draw your perception of the firmament away...

Going Nowhere But Arriving Somewhere

Today I left my home at 6:30 am, flew over 7000 kilometres, saw 3 airports and their surroundings, the flat fields of the mid-west, the rockies, the great and not so great lakes and 3 great cities (from the air), only to arrive back home moments ago. Boy are my arms tired. Badaboom.

What would my ancestors have thought.

Beer Thoughts

Overheard in a local bar:

"I'm not asking about the truth. I'm asking about what you perceive to be the truth. After all, the truth is immaterial. It's what you believe that counts."

Too Much Thinking

Is the contemplation of what is considered an immoral act in the society/culture one participates in, the same as the performing of the immoral act?

And when is the immoral act justifiable?

And how do you make sure the justifications are truthful/right/correct?

Anti-Koyaanisqatsi

Today everything worked in unison. I accepted my weaknesses and strengths, and in accepting, moved beyond them. Strangely, I can't seem to find the Hopi word for life in balance on the internet though...

The Stillness

the stillness
of the mind
after a good rest

Good To Be Home

I loved being on vacation, but I must admit, it's good to be home.