Art Attack Central

Fixing stuff, myself included…

Cool Things

How cool? Are we talking refrigeration, or freezer?

We’re talking Siberia! A major Ph.D. dream researcher stumbled across my lucid dreaming site Mentalrollerderby, and has requested information on my research. At the blizzard level, I’ve finished redesigning Art Attack Central, and it’s looking “hot”.

Also I just designed a card for my my mother’s 80th birthday party.

Happy Birthday Mom

What’s on your plate for today?

It’s absolutely fabulous outside, but I’m thinking, work on my painting. Yes that’s what I’m gonna do. I was out of town last week doing some interior house painting for a friend in Princeton, NJ. Picking up my “real brushes” will feel good. However, my most recent painting is not looking like the vision in my head; so maybe I’ll start a new one.

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”

Tuesday?

Of course it’s Tuesday; are you mad?

Mr. Potatoehead once told me, “there’s more to life than freecell.” However, when your brother has a winning streak of 118 games in a row and still counting, it does make you wonder.

Wonder what?

Where is my next cup of coffee?

What is my project for today?

What would I really like to be doing?

What should I be doing?

How come I’m doing what I’d like to be doing?

Why don’t I have 118 games in a row?

Do you really care about freecell?

Hell no.

What do you really care about then?

I guess what I really care about is being in the moment, but notice I said guess. Why do I have to guess what I really care about? Maybe what I care about changes from moment to moment, and that’s why it’s so important to be in the moment so I won’t mistake what’s important for what’s not. Oh that’s just crap.

Are you going to spend your whole life trying to figure out what’s important?

That does appear to be the case, but that’s not entirely true. Although, that doesn’t necessarily mean that when I’m not wondering about what’s important, I’m doing something important. Then again, maybe it does. Maybe that means I am what I doing; I am the doing.

But, if you’re not aware of yourself while doing it?

Doing what? Just kidding. Is it the doing, or the awareness of doing while doing? Boy that’s an awful lot of doing if you ask me. So often we forget ourselves; we are caught up in whatever it is we are doing. In some cases that seems to be a good thing; to be totally absorbed in the activity of drawing, or painting for instance. That sort of activity requires a rather Zen like concentration, but so many times I forget to “see” when thought takes over.

What do you mean, when thought takes over?

This conversation seems to be going in circles, but really it’s not. To be totally absorbed in what one is doing removes thought.

Are you saying thought is not a good thing?

Not exactly; more to the point, and it is a very fine point, would be to say that thought interferes with being totally present. Perhaps awareness requires a silent mind, not a dull or a bored mind, but rather a quiet mind, a one pointed mind.

What?

A one pointed mind is just that. An awareness without thought, behind an activity, any activity. If I’m walking down the street, and “thinking” of things I’m going to do tomorrow, I’m not aware of walking, because of the talking in my head. I’m not aware of the tiny flecks of mica in the street, which I may never see again from that particular position, or the angle of the three birds streaking across the sky, or the yellow truck followed by the red car with the dent in the side. Only if my mind is quiet will I see what is only there once to see. It is always changing; it is never the same, and that is truely a miracle, every moment a miracle.

“Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin.”

–Hermann Hesse

Maybe, because it’s Tuesday you’d like to answer some of these questions for yourself, or maybe not, because that would require too much thinking.

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”

Tuesday Too

Tuesday Too

I.) How are you going to honor, or what are you going to give the earth on Earth Day?

2.) How come there’s only one “real” question, and how come there are three Tuesday Toos in a row?

Don’t ask me; I’m only the messenger.

“There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew.”

–Marshall McLuhan

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”

Tuesday Too

Tuesday Too

1.) How would you explain the impossible?

2.) Invent, and define a new word for the dictionary of the future?

3.) Was the media coverage of the war bias? Did you watch the coverage? Why, or why not?

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.”

–Mark Twain

Post your URL in the comment.

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”

Tuesday Too

Tuesday Too

1.) When was the last time someone surprised you? What did they do?

It was last night; that’s really what made me think of the question. I was in a local bar, talking with a woman that I’ve had conversations with maybe 3, or 4 times prior to last night. I said, “that’s a beautiful sweater you’re wearing,” and later in the evening she took it off and gave it to me. Yes she had something on under the sweater! It was such an open, and trusting thing to do. I hesitated, and she insisted. I was genuinely surprised and pleased. Now I’m wondering what I might have that I can give to her. It must be something she will be pleased with.

2.) Alright then, it’s similar to a googlewhack, but different. You must come up with two words, spelled correctly and within quotes that google will produce only 1 result for, and that result must be your site. Unless you’re already a rather unusual wordsmith it might take you a couple of days for goolge to find a combination you invent and find no result for currently.

“pavlovian speakeasy”

3.) Give a link to the funniest site you’ve come across lately; it may or may not be a weblog.

The Onion

“If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.”

–Rotarian

Post your URL in the comment.

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”

Shock and Awe

Michelle Shocked and Awe Dr. Phil. Medea Benjamin was also on this Dr. Phil show.

What do you mean by Awe Dr. Phil?

Awe as in, awe come on Dr. Phil, don’t pretend to defend the right to speak out, while not quite politely, and as a matter of fact rudely insisting that speaking/demonstrating against the war is helping the enemy. If that’s true we really aught to just go on and call them traitors, rather then calling you a fascist. But, let’s not get things [drawkcab].

I don’t get it yesterday you were making lists, and today you’re talking about fascism?

Sometimes, I get things backward. I saw this show on Friday afternoon. It’s the first time I ever watched this show, and I was so upset by his faulty logic I turned it off twice during his hour long debacle (transcript).

It’s not nice to say nasty things about Dr. Phil. Don’t you know lots of people adore him?

So what? I don’t take Dr. Phil pills. In my book he makes adore, as in a door stop.

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

–George Washington

“Designated driver, on the information highway.”