100 Things

So I pretty much suck at posting regularly, or at all. I was recently surfing the interweb and stumbled across a interesting idea that might motivate me to do something, which would be a feat in and of itself. I think I might make a list of arbitrary length consisting of goals that I would like to meet in the next year or so. I would keep the list on some page, probably on my blog, and update it as I finish or attempt certain things. I'm also pretty terrible at meeting any goals that I might happen to make. I do like setting goals, though, which is strange. Anyhow. I'll be working on the list today.

Ha, Ha-Ha-Ha

From the diaphragm, it's much clearer that way--definition. Lets sing in the key of C minor. Blending, pay attention to your blending.

I think, objectively, that there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. I think, subjectively, there is no right or wrong way to do things. I'm told that subjectivity and objectivity are constantly dancing awkwardly in the content of truth, but that both are necessary. I'm told that they live in tension and that tension is good. Somehow there is a paradoxical relationship between the two that makes truth impossible to define with objectivity or subjectivity alone. I don't know what that means. I am also told that meaning informs truth as well, and that meaning is relationship. I don't have a relationship with the locally accepted definition of truth that surrounds me. That's strange, and I'm not sure I fully understand it. I hate jargon. A concrete example (I'm told that Jesus is the best example, typically): If there is a chair sitting in a room that no one has ever seen or knows about, that may be an objective fact, but until someone possesses subjective knowledge of that fact it isn't true--it isn't part of reality. Bizarre.

I "annihilated" myself yesterday in a discussion that flitted back and forth between subjectivity and objectivity. I "contradicted" myself so severely that I reduced myself to nothing in the perception of my peers. It was disheartening to fall off of the invisible tightrope suspended above the object-subject nebula. I can't really remember why I fell off, I think I was pushed. I contradict myself quite often. Somehow I thought this would have been appreciated in an environment that preaches paradox as much as this one does. Something pedantic is going on, I'm sure of it. Situationally, contextually, objectively there is a right way and a wrong way to go about the preservation of Place. Universally, totally, objectively, there is no right or wrong way to go about the preservation of a Place.

There must be something really comfortable about living in the indiscernible cloud of "tension." I realize that in modern society there is an almost unbearable attention to scale and degree. The "intelligent" thing to do is to be a compatibilist and say that scale and degree are both imminently important and unimportant, simultaneously. This is an apparent logical contradiction, but proponents of the idea would call it paradoxically true, and Christians would call Jesus' affinity for such paradoxes to their aid ("The first shall be last and the last shall be first," et cetera.) Christ's paradoxes were markedly different, however, because they didn't function as an end within themselves. The aforementioned paradox, for example did not literally refer to someone circularly moving  from the head of the table to the end in never ending iterations, but spoke to those who lived their lives in humility and how their place in eternity would be one of glory. There is no such resolution for many apologetically induced paradoxes. There is comfort in these irresolute positions because, while they are difficult to argue positively for, they are relatively easy to defend negatively with talk of mystery and faith and trinitarian ideas. In other words, it is difficult for someone to argue against such positions positively. 

It's hard to relate these paradoxes to pragmatism in any way, since their components are fundamentally indiscernible from one another. There is no provision for degree or scale, only vague "tension." Which relates to me in terms even more vague. Therefore, most of the meaning is lost.

Curly Straws

Leaning in to drink from a curly "Q" straw is one of the most emasculating experiences a man can have. I didn't pay for the drink, though, so I thought I might humor my benefactor by using the straw she provided. It was a good Coke. Just the right combination of fizz and syrupy sweetness. I came to the pub to write and thereby vault out of my melancholy funk. I got a Coke instead. I'm not complaining, I mean, I like Coke, but Coke is killing me. 90's pop music is also killing me.

So Bad

"I feel a bit retarded and I know I shouldn't project the examples of others in different situations on to you now, but at least now you know why I'm weird. No pressure."
"I guess I'm just worried that I won't really have anything to do. I mean, I don't want to commit to this thing and then spend six months in the US for no reason... working for Starbucks or some shit."
"For me it's not just this thing, its my life. I can't afford to go back and do nothing. Or else I'll have nothing and be nothing."
"You are a guy and I am a girl. That worries me."
"I'm not asking you for life or death, or forever or never. All I'm asking is for you to try something. Make it easier. You have time, but not that much. When you look back on your life, will you be sorry that you did this?"
"What, exactly will I be doing?"
"I can't expect it to be your life, too, and I can't guarantee anything at all. All I can do is be so loud and persistent that you can't ignore me. I--this thing--needs someone else. Someone different. I'm expendable, the end is not."
"I need to process, it's a lot to unpack. Give me some time."
"I know ow this ends."
"It looks positive."
"Of course."

I want to start a record label. So bad.

Sustainability

So I say "sustainability" and you think "green." I smoke cigarettes. Antelopes are not a primary concern of mine. Needless to say, I think our definition of sustainability is a bit narrow (Neutered). Sustainability should be holistic. It should encompass the abstract as well as the explicit. Economy, Ecology, Sociology, Spirituality. The idea should move in all spheres. If we live with regard and circumspection for our surroundings socially, morally, intellectually, physically, and emotionally, the world would be a cleaner, happier place.

Botulism: Sans Diarrhea

I chose the name because I hear botulism is really catchy, but don't want to give anyone who reads the page diarrhea. That would require a commitment few are willing to make--a raw deal to be sure. So, in an effort to preempt any questions I might receive about the side-effects of my writing, I was sure to include "Sans Diarrhea" in the title. No worries, and no loose stool. I wanted to capture all the contagious, infectious, undercooked fun of botulism without any of the drawbacks. I also wanted to cast a more positive light on a pathogen that often gets a bad rap.