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FreeWill Takes A Burn
May. 6th, 2016 07:35 pmSagittarius Horoscope for week of May 5, 2016 "Anybody can become angry," said Greek philosopher Aristotle. "That is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power and is not easy." I'm pleased to inform you, Sagittarius, that now is a time when you have an exceptional capacity for meeting Aristotle's high standards. In fact, I encourage you to honor and learn all you can from your finely-honed and well-expressed anger. Make it work wonders for you. Use it so constructively that no one can complain.
When I was in examination years back, I told the therapist about something called "carburetor icing". In aircraft engines, the fuel intakes can get much colder than the rest of the engine because of the speed of the airflow around the components and the altitude. If the air is very humid, you might have the hazard of water vapor being induced into the carburetor and then flash-freezing, blocking the air and fuel getting into the engine, and then the engine seizing as a result. I said, there is something like that with human emotions: run too hot and you break the relations that sustain you. Run too cold and nobody wants to relate with you because they think you can't empathize. Where is the healthy temperature? |
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My mother had a medical emergency over the last thirty-six hours; she's in a hospital ICU and will have probably had a CT scan by now. This is related to her recovery from cancer surgery two years ago and subsequent complications.
I had a long day today, I'm looking at a longer day overmorrow, and probably a long lost weekend after that.
I had a long day today, I'm looking at a longer day overmorrow, and probably a long lost weekend after that.
Ayes Of The Beholders
Sep. 7th, 2011 06:33 pmSagittarius Horoscope for week of September 8, 2011
The beauty contests in Saudi Arabia don't judge women on the basis of their physical appearance. A recent winner, Aya Ali al-Mulla, was crowned "Queen of Beautiful Morals" without ever revealing the face and form shrouded beneath her black head-to-toe garment. Instead, her excellence emerged during a series of psychological and social tests that evaluated her strength of character and service to family and society. I'd like to borrow this idea and apply it to you. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you could and should be a paragon of moral beauty in the coming week -- a shining example and inspiration to all the other signs of the zodiac.
I'm having a hard time believing this one, as lately I've been carrying a lot of evil in my being. At least I don't act on it, but I fear my own anger and bloodlust. I had a nightmare Sunday/Monday about watching somebody I know getting killed. I know it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I dread what my own behavior would be like if I were in a situation where I know somebody is about to die from unjust actions and being in no position to stop it--yet being in a position to summarily avenge it.
All of a sudden I want a t-shirt that reads "I Reject Your America And Substitute My Own!"
The beauty contests in Saudi Arabia don't judge women on the basis of their physical appearance. A recent winner, Aya Ali al-Mulla, was crowned "Queen of Beautiful Morals" without ever revealing the face and form shrouded beneath her black head-to-toe garment. Instead, her excellence emerged during a series of psychological and social tests that evaluated her strength of character and service to family and society. I'd like to borrow this idea and apply it to you. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you could and should be a paragon of moral beauty in the coming week -- a shining example and inspiration to all the other signs of the zodiac.
I'm having a hard time believing this one, as lately I've been carrying a lot of evil in my being. At least I don't act on it, but I fear my own anger and bloodlust. I had a nightmare Sunday/Monday about watching somebody I know getting killed. I know it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I dread what my own behavior would be like if I were in a situation where I know somebody is about to die from unjust actions and being in no position to stop it--yet being in a position to summarily avenge it.
All of a sudden I want a t-shirt that reads "I Reject Your America And Substitute My Own!"
Writer's Block: Everybody hurts
Aug. 29th, 2011 06:44 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I was bullied a lot in school. All I could really do was endure.
I was bullied a lot in school. All I could really do was endure.
A couple years ago, a friend pointed me to Joost, because they host fansub anime programs that we both like. Unfortunately for me, I don't have the bandwidth to actually watch programming on Joost yet, so while I have an account, I haven't done diddly with it.
Sometime earlier this year, when updating my Like list on Facebook, I thought, why not include Joost so I could see what they're doing with their site, and perhaps learn more about how to use it?
Bad Idea.
Just looking over the current month of Wall entries makes me think that Joost ONLY wants the Lowest Common Denominator as their user base. Shillage related to Fashion Week, Dinner For Schmucks, Eat Pray Love, Glee, Jersey Shore (whatever THAT is), Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton--everything in pop culture that is 180 degrees from where I am. The last straw was yesterday when they did a promo for America's Next Top Model allegedly featuring Tyra Banks that disgusted not only myself but others in the crowd.
A long time ago, my brother wrote, for his college newspaper, an ode to Berry Blue Kool-AidTM that I wish I could quote. Suffice it to say that the feelings there mirror my feelings here--NOT EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT'S "POPULAR"!
The whole point of an Internet-based alternative video media outlet is to be alternative--not necessarily a mirror source for what we can already get from the Idiot Box. If we didn't want SOMETHING ELSE, we wouldn't need Joost. Joost, you're worse than lame; you're gangrene. Be glad I'm not deleting my account--yet.
FP
Sometime earlier this year, when updating my Like list on Facebook, I thought, why not include Joost so I could see what they're doing with their site, and perhaps learn more about how to use it?
Bad Idea.
Just looking over the current month of Wall entries makes me think that Joost ONLY wants the Lowest Common Denominator as their user base. Shillage related to Fashion Week, Dinner For Schmucks, Eat Pray Love, Glee, Jersey Shore (whatever THAT is), Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton--everything in pop culture that is 180 degrees from where I am. The last straw was yesterday when they did a promo for America's Next Top Model allegedly featuring Tyra Banks that disgusted not only myself but others in the crowd.
A long time ago, my brother wrote, for his college newspaper, an ode to Berry Blue Kool-AidTM that I wish I could quote. Suffice it to say that the feelings there mirror my feelings here--NOT EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT'S "POPULAR"!
The whole point of an Internet-based alternative video media outlet is to be alternative--not necessarily a mirror source for what we can already get from the Idiot Box. If we didn't want SOMETHING ELSE, we wouldn't need Joost. Joost, you're worse than lame; you're gangrene. Be glad I'm not deleting my account--yet.
FP
Writer's Block: Fight or flight
Jun. 23rd, 2010 01:15 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
It's the reason I cannot smile.
It's the reason I cannot smile.
With FreeWill, You Get What You Pay For
Apr. 14th, 2010 12:04 amSagittarius Horoscope for week of April 15, 2010
According to Us Weekly, baseball star Alex Rodriguez owns two paintings of himself in which he's portrayed as half-man, half-horse. This is an excellent time for you to be inspired by his example. Gazing at a picture of a mythical centaur who looks like you would speak to your subconscious mind in just the right way. Bypassing your rational ego, that stirring icon would animate and cultivate the wise animal in you. It would stimulate the sweet spot where your physical vitality overlaps your visionary intelligence. Do you know anyone who could Photoshop this powerful image for you?
Could do it myself...but don't need to. In our modest family art collection, we have two black velvet paintings of matadors in action against nasty-looking bulls. I suppose that would have to be the visual metaphor for my own psyche--the human, thinking, civilized side in conflict with the raging, energetic, and implacable beast that is the combination of the gross body and the subconscious. Again, the red/blue dichotomy...there is one painting with the matador in red, and the other matador wears blue, and the poses say different things.
Unfortunately for me I can't bring the pictures out to show you now. I promise to return to this theme in a future Pilot's Log.
According to Us Weekly, baseball star Alex Rodriguez owns two paintings of himself in which he's portrayed as half-man, half-horse. This is an excellent time for you to be inspired by his example. Gazing at a picture of a mythical centaur who looks like you would speak to your subconscious mind in just the right way. Bypassing your rational ego, that stirring icon would animate and cultivate the wise animal in you. It would stimulate the sweet spot where your physical vitality overlaps your visionary intelligence. Do you know anyone who could Photoshop this powerful image for you?
Could do it myself...but don't need to. In our modest family art collection, we have two black velvet paintings of matadors in action against nasty-looking bulls. I suppose that would have to be the visual metaphor for my own psyche--the human, thinking, civilized side in conflict with the raging, energetic, and implacable beast that is the combination of the gross body and the subconscious. Again, the red/blue dichotomy...there is one painting with the matador in red, and the other matador wears blue, and the poses say different things.
Unfortunately for me I can't bring the pictures out to show you now. I promise to return to this theme in a future Pilot's Log.
Anger At This Man's Bureaucracy
Feb. 10th, 2010 03:54 pmDad got a set of statements from the VA. Yes, they are paying the people who treated him during his July 4th medical crisis last year. But they aren't paying all of it. They aren't even paying HALF. We're still crunching numbers to sort it all out but I don't like how this is going to add up.
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Sagittarius Horoscope for week of October 1, 2009
The coming week will have something to offend and agitate everyone -- except you. Whines and moans and yelps will ring out across the land, even as you're emanating poise and aplomb. You may be tempted to brazenly exploit everyone's vulnerability and seize control of your corner of the world, but I think that would be shortsighted of you. A better strategy for capitalizing on your advantage would be to dole out large doses of mercy, making sure that the people who will be important to your future don't lose their way.
The problem is that too many people seem to think that the anger and rage they have now is the best tool in the box. Me?--I have rage fatigue. It's like asking a metalworker who spends eight hours of every working day next to the blast furnace whether he cares about the hot air generated elsewhere.
This kind of ties in to that story of the hanged Census worker in Clay County, Kentucky. I did that work here in Tennessee ten years back, and one of my RL friends (on FB too) did the job in Florida, and I never told my parents how hazardous I thought the job was getting in some areas because I needed the cash too bad. (What's even more chilling is another of my RL friends/classmates, also on FB, knew the victim personally.) Now, the general circumstances are pointing to the man running into some sort of criminal activity--but what if it HAD turned out to be politically-motivated? I could imagine that myself, as when I did the job in '98 it was "hang the Clintons!" and "none of your CENSORED business!" Scare a man too much, stoke his fire too high, make him think there's no way out, enemies are all around and he can't trust anybody, and rage can KILL.
I'm personally not in a position to "dole out large doses of mercy", but you can understand my desire to stay out of the fray and try to douse the flames before something explodes. Water is getting expensive, so don't be surprised if all that comes out of the bucket is sand.
The coming week will have something to offend and agitate everyone -- except you. Whines and moans and yelps will ring out across the land, even as you're emanating poise and aplomb. You may be tempted to brazenly exploit everyone's vulnerability and seize control of your corner of the world, but I think that would be shortsighted of you. A better strategy for capitalizing on your advantage would be to dole out large doses of mercy, making sure that the people who will be important to your future don't lose their way.
The problem is that too many people seem to think that the anger and rage they have now is the best tool in the box. Me?--I have rage fatigue. It's like asking a metalworker who spends eight hours of every working day next to the blast furnace whether he cares about the hot air generated elsewhere.
This kind of ties in to that story of the hanged Census worker in Clay County, Kentucky. I did that work here in Tennessee ten years back, and one of my RL friends (on FB too) did the job in Florida, and I never told my parents how hazardous I thought the job was getting in some areas because I needed the cash too bad. (What's even more chilling is another of my RL friends/classmates, also on FB, knew the victim personally.) Now, the general circumstances are pointing to the man running into some sort of criminal activity--but what if it HAD turned out to be politically-motivated? I could imagine that myself, as when I did the job in '98 it was "hang the Clintons!" and "none of your CENSORED business!" Scare a man too much, stoke his fire too high, make him think there's no way out, enemies are all around and he can't trust anybody, and rage can KILL.
I'm personally not in a position to "dole out large doses of mercy", but you can understand my desire to stay out of the fray and try to douse the flames before something explodes. Water is getting expensive, so don't be surprised if all that comes out of the bucket is sand.
( Never Forgot This Song, But Never Knew Who Made It Till Today )
Bottom-Feeders is devoted to the middling and mediocre music of the 1980s...songs good enough to make it to the Pop Charts but not good enough to make the Top 40. Some bands were true one-hit wonders; others spent their whole careers charting but not making the A list. I'll probably cruise this blog a lot and hope the Vending Machine can handle the results!
FP
Bottom-Feeders is devoted to the middling and mediocre music of the 1980s...songs good enough to make it to the Pop Charts but not good enough to make the Top 40. Some bands were true one-hit wonders; others spent their whole careers charting but not making the A list. I'll probably cruise this blog a lot and hope the Vending Machine can handle the results!
FP
Sagittarius Horoscope for week of May 7, 2009
I encourage you to attempt a difficult feat: For a few days, dissolve every burst of anger that rises up in you. Squash it. Wrestle it into submission. Attack it with love bombs. If you can eradicate the fury at its source, never even letting it ripen, that would be best. But the most important thing is to use all your ingenuity to keep your hostility, irritation, and snark from reaching the surface and spilling out. And why should you try this seemingly impossible experiment? Because according to my analysis of the omens, it would bring unexpected improvements in your physical and mental health.
That IS difficult. Anger is my most vibrant and sustaining source of personal energy at the moment.
*Goes to stock up on Chill Pillz*
I encourage you to attempt a difficult feat: For a few days, dissolve every burst of anger that rises up in you. Squash it. Wrestle it into submission. Attack it with love bombs. If you can eradicate the fury at its source, never even letting it ripen, that would be best. But the most important thing is to use all your ingenuity to keep your hostility, irritation, and snark from reaching the surface and spilling out. And why should you try this seemingly impossible experiment? Because according to my analysis of the omens, it would bring unexpected improvements in your physical and mental health.
That IS difficult. Anger is my most vibrant and sustaining source of personal energy at the moment.
*Goes to stock up on Chill Pillz*
Just Heard The NPR Obit For J.G. Ballard
Apr. 20th, 2009 04:58 pmAnd he (on the commentary track of the DVD of one of the movies based on his work) was talking about how global society was becoming dependent on violence as a way to cope with blandness.
Unfortunately that seems very very true.
On another note, I hope Stephen Hawking recovers from his illness.
Unfortunately that seems very very true.
On another note, I hope Stephen Hawking recovers from his illness.
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I read Charlton war comics as a boy. Remember, those were the stories REJECTED from DC's war comics, with the names changed to protect the copyrights. The latest Stupid Comics kind of prompted this perspective. I know that what is presented in there is a contemporary WW2 comic, but as late as 1980 the same racist treatment of Asian peoples had persisted in the war comics, especially in Charlton's titles, which frequently presented stories from the Korean and Vietnam wars. The nastiness was still there, only shifted to the "Red" nations. Of course, it took a while for my attitude to evolve...or maybe it was because the realization that conflict could break out between any two factions. There is no such thing as an evil people, but there IS such a thing as an evil political system, or an evil ruler, or an evil regime making people do evil things.
Saw a page of one a couple months ago, from an issue I used to own. Embarassingly bad. I thought I'd download it for "research" but ultimately changed my mind.
I read Charlton war comics as a boy. Remember, those were the stories REJECTED from DC's war comics, with the names changed to protect the copyrights. The latest Stupid Comics kind of prompted this perspective. I know that what is presented in there is a contemporary WW2 comic, but as late as 1980 the same racist treatment of Asian peoples had persisted in the war comics, especially in Charlton's titles, which frequently presented stories from the Korean and Vietnam wars. The nastiness was still there, only shifted to the "Red" nations. Of course, it took a while for my attitude to evolve...or maybe it was because the realization that conflict could break out between any two factions. There is no such thing as an evil people, but there IS such a thing as an evil political system, or an evil ruler, or an evil regime making people do evil things.
Saw a page of one a couple months ago, from an issue I used to own. Embarassingly bad. I thought I'd download it for "research" but ultimately changed my mind.
Writer's Block: Music and Moods
Aug. 22nd, 2008 02:32 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
I may reply to this in stages. This Entry Here is the first installment. This One and This One relate to my discontentment with Muzak.
I may reply to this in stages. This Entry Here is the first installment. This One and This One relate to my discontentment with Muzak.
