Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Some Videos from the Texas Yoga Conference
During the Texas Yoga Conference, I was interviewed by Brian Castellani of Yoganomics about the Om Project, a sustainable yoga and meditation retreat to be located somewhere deep in the heart of Texas.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
This just deepens my sadness for this country
I don't have too much more to say about this. I'm confused that we live in a world like where this is possible. Sigh...
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Amazing Roger Ebert
This article just blew me away. I was having a rather drama-filled day where hand-wringing about my fate in the world abounded when I came across this on Dave Weigel's Twitter feed. All I know is that from the moment I started reading, the dramas of my day slipped away into gratitude and admiration for Roger Ebert's struggles and his triumphs.
If anything similar to this ever happens to me, I hope that I remember that there is a lot of life left to live even when I might think it's over. Read this. Now.
If anything similar to this ever happens to me, I hope that I remember that there is a lot of life left to live even when I might think it's over. Read this. Now.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Mission Impossible
I stumbled across Unhappy Hipsters the other day on twitter and, in addition to being smart, funny, and little depressing at the same time (kinda like me), this site hammered home to me the importance of a mission. Yeah, yeah, I know. Every single new age freakazoid is going to tell you that you have to be part of something bigger than yourself... call it what you like, it's still a mission.
And I know. I've read every new age treatise on prosperity, business and life improvement out there and they all say the same thing... and I always love the message, but never do what it takes to make the change. I even tweeted something to the effect that the biggest problem with people who say "Something must be done" are never willing to change their lives once they realize what it takes to do something. So, where is this going. Who the hell knows?
What I do know is that whenever I see a great blog, or site like the Hipsters, or Shit my Dad Says, it's the simplicity of what they do that is so powerful. I try to do way too much with my limited resources and end up a thinly spread, bland topping on otherwise delicious, crusty bread. (Hey, sometimes ya gotta reach for the metaphors.)
So, I'm on the lookout for a theme, a mission for what I say... and why I say it. I'll spare any readers any more existential bullshit and sign off. Time to pick up the kiddos. Now that's simplicity.
And I know. I've read every new age treatise on prosperity, business and life improvement out there and they all say the same thing... and I always love the message, but never do what it takes to make the change. I even tweeted something to the effect that the biggest problem with people who say "Something must be done" are never willing to change their lives once they realize what it takes to do something. So, where is this going. Who the hell knows?
What I do know is that whenever I see a great blog, or site like the Hipsters, or Shit my Dad Says, it's the simplicity of what they do that is so powerful. I try to do way too much with my limited resources and end up a thinly spread, bland topping on otherwise delicious, crusty bread. (Hey, sometimes ya gotta reach for the metaphors.)
So, I'm on the lookout for a theme, a mission for what I say... and why I say it. I'll spare any readers any more existential bullshit and sign off. Time to pick up the kiddos. Now that's simplicity.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Fiction Has to Make Sense...
Ok. I've been told I've gotta blog every day. This will be the last self-referential word in my blog about blogging. Blogging is old news. New news? How 'bout that State of the Union address last night? I spent a lot of time nodding, did a little frowning, and only said, "You lie!" once. The man can give a speech.
What I did find fascinating was waking up this morning and listening to NPR's Morning Addition coverage and analysis of the speech. The analysis itself was what I would have expected but what struck me was the parsing of the language Obama used and how carefully crafted it was. One example was how he got the GOP to stand and applaud healthcare reform. It reminded me of the scene in Gandhi when he got the parliament to stand in support of his cause by singing "God Save the King." Great politics and a great scene from an excellent film. But I digress.
I realized that the speech I heard was very different from the words spoken. This is credit to Mr. Obama and his speechwriters, but it is also a double-edged sword. If I heard the speech aimed at the choir, then I'm sure that the peanut gallery heard the speech aimed at them (intentionally, or unintentionally). How can I judge that whatever vituperous response to the speech was unjustified? The craftsmanship of the language created a generalized horoscope that would, of course, sound like bank-bashing socialism if that is the way you have trained yourself to view the world.
Who'd a ever thought that I would have compassion for what the right wing would have to say about was, most probably, a centrist speech. I know. Some of you might be bursting to scream that he's a socialist, blah blah blah... check that thought for a moment and see where it's coming from. Likewise, if you're hearing the gospel, better rethink that one too. Our brains are very unreliable interpreters of the information that is poured into it.
The cliche´ is we see what we want to see, and we do. Both the right and the left are correct in their reactions and interpretations. They heard their own truth, but did they listen? When people begin to understand the joke and laugh about, they end up shot, or nailed to a tree, or today, institutionalized. Some are even given TV shows.
It's about understanding. It's about seeing all sides simultaneously because they are all right.
Cheers!
What I did find fascinating was waking up this morning and listening to NPR's Morning Addition coverage and analysis of the speech. The analysis itself was what I would have expected but what struck me was the parsing of the language Obama used and how carefully crafted it was. One example was how he got the GOP to stand and applaud healthcare reform. It reminded me of the scene in Gandhi when he got the parliament to stand in support of his cause by singing "God Save the King." Great politics and a great scene from an excellent film. But I digress.
I realized that the speech I heard was very different from the words spoken. This is credit to Mr. Obama and his speechwriters, but it is also a double-edged sword. If I heard the speech aimed at the choir, then I'm sure that the peanut gallery heard the speech aimed at them (intentionally, or unintentionally). How can I judge that whatever vituperous response to the speech was unjustified? The craftsmanship of the language created a generalized horoscope that would, of course, sound like bank-bashing socialism if that is the way you have trained yourself to view the world.
Who'd a ever thought that I would have compassion for what the right wing would have to say about was, most probably, a centrist speech. I know. Some of you might be bursting to scream that he's a socialist, blah blah blah... check that thought for a moment and see where it's coming from. Likewise, if you're hearing the gospel, better rethink that one too. Our brains are very unreliable interpreters of the information that is poured into it.
The cliche´ is we see what we want to see, and we do. Both the right and the left are correct in their reactions and interpretations. They heard their own truth, but did they listen? When people begin to understand the joke and laugh about, they end up shot, or nailed to a tree, or today, institutionalized. Some are even given TV shows.
It's about understanding. It's about seeing all sides simultaneously because they are all right.
Cheers!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
I like to make things
I like to make things. That's not particularly news to me, but it really came home to roost last night. As I was putting together an exercise-ball rack made of PVC (for the Houstonian Club's new yoga room), I hadn't thought through some key elements of assembly and how to align elbows and tees in a single plane with glue that sets instantly. New problem, new opportunity to invent a jig to align all the pipes and to get the spacing exactly right for each one. I did it.
In that twenty-five minutes of problem solving and woodworking, I had more fun standing up than I think I've had in the last ten years. I watched Steve Jobs give the commencement address at Stanford on TED
and truly understood what he meant about doing what I love. While sitting in front of a computer all day and solving virtual problems, I've lost touch with a key truth of the world. Hmmm... better stop now before the navel-gazing whining starts.
I'll post pics of the jig and rack later. Party on.
In that twenty-five minutes of problem solving and woodworking, I had more fun standing up than I think I've had in the last ten years. I watched Steve Jobs give the commencement address at Stanford on TED
and truly understood what he meant about doing what I love. While sitting in front of a computer all day and solving virtual problems, I've lost touch with a key truth of the world. Hmmm... better stop now before the navel-gazing whining starts.
I'll post pics of the jig and rack later. Party on.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Inaugural Post
"Plan north" is a term used by architects when orienting a building plan to the proportions of the drawing sheet when true north may not be orthogonal to the building's orientation, generally pointing to the top of the page... make sense? Probably not. I'm an architect, as full of shit as the next guy, and am trying to make some sense of the world that I see.
I've spent a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, but 140 character limit and filtering things that my mom might see have pushed me into the blogosphere a decade after it was really cool to do it. The time seemed right for me, so here I am. I have no idea where this is going. It'll be stream of consciousness, political, idiotic, hypocritical, hopefully funny and completely oriented to my own point of view. By the way, this post is written for me, not any readers I may pick up. This is just so I can figure out what I'm going to do and figure out how to use this dang thing.
For now, that's about it. I'm sitting at my favorite neighborhood watering hole, the Darkhorse Tavern in Houston, Texas and am going to drink my scotch (a Balvenie, neat). Until the next time, find me on twitter http://twitter.com/Twit_ster.
I've spent a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, but 140 character limit and filtering things that my mom might see have pushed me into the blogosphere a decade after it was really cool to do it. The time seemed right for me, so here I am. I have no idea where this is going. It'll be stream of consciousness, political, idiotic, hypocritical, hopefully funny and completely oriented to my own point of view. By the way, this post is written for me, not any readers I may pick up. This is just so I can figure out what I'm going to do and figure out how to use this dang thing.
For now, that's about it. I'm sitting at my favorite neighborhood watering hole, the Darkhorse Tavern in Houston, Texas and am going to drink my scotch (a Balvenie, neat). Until the next time, find me on twitter http://twitter.com/Twit_ster.
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