I really loved George Carlin. I think that he was as much philosopher as he was comedian. His comedy was exhausting for me to watch sometimes because it was almost preachy and was too much to take at once. I felt like he was saying OPEN YOUR EYES! (laugh) OPEN YOUR EYES! (laugh) But he knew what people would listen to and come see. And he was so funny he effect was, "I'm laughing at this but is he talking about me? Should I take a moment and think about how that affects me and those I love? Shit he is throwing more thought-comedy at me! HAHAHA (contemplate) HAHAHA (contemplate)."
At my first job in my Dad's office when I was 12, I worked with a lady from New York City named Jan. George Carlin always reminded me of Jan. They were both cantankerous, had a sharp tongue, and had no patience for bullshit. It is their particular flavor of distaste for bullshit that really connected the two for me. From the stories both told I can see NYC making them who they were.
Anyway, next time you see a clip or show of George on stage, look close at his face and listen to his voice. He is up there yelling because he is actually concerned! He is making jokes because he knows that is the only way you will listen to what he has to say! He is hoping you will take a moment after you are done laughing to think and be concerned too! I didn't know you George, but I'll end this by promising to think about what you say, and thanks for making me laugh.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Art on the dunes
I found this great video tonight made by Minneapolis Art on Wheels. Apparently they stopped in Winnemucca and went out to the dunes. Check out their vid, it is definitely worth the full screen view.
If you like their work you can check out their original post here and give them a shout. Also, here is their post with the pics.
If you like their work you can check out their original post here and give them a shout. Also, here is their post with the pics.
Friday, June 13, 2008
myspace es muy feo
Just because every user page on myspace is ugly doesn't mean that they should make the homepage blow out all the green cones in my eyeballs.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
6
Right before I left for Nevada last weekend I was tagged by daddyninja to try and summarize my life in 6 words so I thought about this a bit on the road.
"Help people. Be useful. Improve."
Help and people have been the main focus of my life for a long time. When I was young I was very shy. I worked hard to not be shy. When I was about 16 I wrote goals of what I want to be. Things I didn't see in myself that I wanted to. They gave me direction for a long time. In following those goals I found out that I don't just want to have friends but I want to matter to someone. To be useful is more satisfying than anything else to me.
I have a box of notebooks including a folder with these goals that I keep wherever I move even though I almost never look at it anymore (I think i have accomplished these goals to my satisfaction and it's time to define new ones). If my house was on fire, this is the one thing that I would save.
One sec,
[rustles through some paper]
Here it is.
In that red notebook there is a yellow pad of paper entitled "P.O.M.L." (Point of my life)
I have never shown anyone this and it's a little embarrassing, so here we go,
(33 y.o. me note: The above is written by someone with very few friends trying to find his place in a social setting. I never could find a good truth that was better than another so I didn't want to decide. I wanted to understand and be able to talk to whoever. This is reflected even in the people i hang out with today. I didn't want to close any doors.
(33 y.o. me note: A little over the top yes, but I was 16. You can see that this is basically a reinforcer for #1. Not concentrate in general. Concentrate when you are with people. It is like saying "really listen" but I think listening does not encompass enough. When you can agree with someone you are doing more than listening. I was shy, in any room filled with people I felt isolated. However, I am also fairly non-threatening, so when I was willing to listen, care, pay attention, and [enter additional undefinable quality here], I can understand enough to be there and I could understand and would be allowed to be part of a situation. And there was nothing more amazing to me than being in some new situation.)
(no more description here. But none needed I think. You have to try, you have to really want it or it doesn't matter. If you don't want it, reconsider).
I have not written another POML since then. That one was very general. I was trying to find my direction. Then the Point was the search. Then I believed people have a "base" that guides them, lets them know what to do, keeps them sane. I thought I would eventually find this in my social and mental wandering. But for me I think the process of looking, the underlying patterns you see in people and the world, even if you cant define them, the process of navigating that became my base. I think the flexibility in that process keeps me more stable than a set set of values would. If you know me and ever wonder why I rarely get worked up, mad, or freaked out, that is why. Because there is always another option to look at.
But I am finally getting to the point where I have very strong opinions of my own and becoming a bit of a moral dillema. I have spent my life trying to understand other people's opinions and that has borne some of my own. Who is right? Maybe thats not what it's about. Gotta figure that out.
Anyway, lets get to the "help" part and wrap this up. Its getting long for a blog post.
Nothing makes me more happy than helping people. I had a customer care phone service job. And when they promoted me and took me away from the customers, I quit (in the same meeting where they promoted me, "Thanks, but I wrote this letter.") I think people are inherently selfish. But I also think that other people are what makes life worth living. Maybe not always "helping" in the traditional sense. But everyone wants to affect the lives of others, to make a difference. So I want to be useful. To help people in whatever capacity I can, as much as I can. That would be a life not wasted to me.
Oh yea, and I don't like strict rules (i.e. my grammar/syntax) so I'm sorry bookbabie & Hemingway, my meme is 5.
"Help people. Be useful. Improve."
Help and people have been the main focus of my life for a long time. When I was young I was very shy. I worked hard to not be shy. When I was about 16 I wrote goals of what I want to be. Things I didn't see in myself that I wanted to. They gave me direction for a long time. In following those goals I found out that I don't just want to have friends but I want to matter to someone. To be useful is more satisfying than anything else to me.
I have a box of notebooks including a folder with these goals that I keep wherever I move even though I almost never look at it anymore (I think i have accomplished these goals to my satisfaction and it's time to define new ones). If my house was on fire, this is the one thing that I would save.
One sec,
[rustles through some paper]
Here it is.
In that red notebook there is a yellow pad of paper entitled "P.O.M.L." (Point of my life)
I have never shown anyone this and it's a little embarrassing, so here we go,
1. Freedom of Mind: An absence of values will give the ability to be with different people because I will have no values which they can offend. And this also allows me to fully relate to their thoughts and still agree with opposite views because of the "why" of base values.
|Additional note: Base here is defined as what is needed for truth, listener, relator, diff grooves, and fun w/ these people/situations. To fully do these as far as I want to, everything else is possible because of this.|
(33 y.o. me note: The above is written by someone with very few friends trying to find his place in a social setting. I never could find a good truth that was better than another so I didn't want to decide. I wanted to understand and be able to talk to whoever. This is reflected even in the people i hang out with today. I didn't want to close any doors.
2. Concentration: Allows quick and correct development of skills necessary to better fulfill POML. Also helps to better relate to a person by allowing me to delve deeper into their thoughts and feelings (the "whys") that may otherwise only be understood by someone who was there in a situation or a more perfect personality match.
(33 y.o. me note: A little over the top yes, but I was 16. You can see that this is basically a reinforcer for #1. Not concentrate in general. Concentrate when you are with people. It is like saying "really listen" but I think listening does not encompass enough. When you can agree with someone you are doing more than listening. I was shy, in any room filled with people I felt isolated. However, I am also fairly non-threatening, so when I was willing to listen, care, pay attention, and [enter additional undefinable quality here], I can understand enough to be there and I could understand and would be allowed to be part of a situation. And there was nothing more amazing to me than being in some new situation.)
3. Desire
(no more description here. But none needed I think. You have to try, you have to really want it or it doesn't matter. If you don't want it, reconsider).
I have not written another POML since then. That one was very general. I was trying to find my direction. Then the Point was the search. Then I believed people have a "base" that guides them, lets them know what to do, keeps them sane. I thought I would eventually find this in my social and mental wandering. But for me I think the process of looking, the underlying patterns you see in people and the world, even if you cant define them, the process of navigating that became my base. I think the flexibility in that process keeps me more stable than a set set of values would. If you know me and ever wonder why I rarely get worked up, mad, or freaked out, that is why. Because there is always another option to look at.
But I am finally getting to the point where I have very strong opinions of my own and becoming a bit of a moral dillema. I have spent my life trying to understand other people's opinions and that has borne some of my own. Who is right? Maybe thats not what it's about. Gotta figure that out.
Anyway, lets get to the "help" part and wrap this up. Its getting long for a blog post.
Nothing makes me more happy than helping people. I had a customer care phone service job. And when they promoted me and took me away from the customers, I quit (in the same meeting where they promoted me, "Thanks, but I wrote this letter.") I think people are inherently selfish. But I also think that other people are what makes life worth living. Maybe not always "helping" in the traditional sense. But everyone wants to affect the lives of others, to make a difference. So I want to be useful. To help people in whatever capacity I can, as much as I can. That would be a life not wasted to me.
Oh yea, and I don't like strict rules (i.e. my grammar/syntax) so I'm sorry bookbabie & Hemingway, my meme is 5.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Weekend of 6/7-8/08
People wonder why I go back to Nevada so much. The reason is I always have so much fun! On the way back I think about all the stuff I did so today I wrote (most) of it down. I left a little out on purpose, and probably left a little out just because I forgot. It was actually a pretty tame weekend, but there was still lots of friends and family, great times, bad decisions and fun.
(if you want to skip ahead to the fun stuff, look for "Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror..." late Saturday.)
SATURDAY:
- Wake up, rush out to Basque festival parade to take some pictures. I haven't been to one of these in years. I found Clay and his family so i hang out with them.
- Back home. Mom make's my favorite cream of wheat. The trip is already worth it.
- See family and dog, hang out at Basque festival, and see old friends at that throughout the day.
- Dinner with Mom, Dad, Grandpa Buckie and Elaine at (Basque restaurant in Winnemucca). A couple picons before dinner, lots of great conversation and catching up.
- Unlocked a few levels and Mom's Mii on Mario Kart so she can play as herself. Character name, "mom"
- Graduation house party in a house my Grandpa built with an interesting crowd that I haven't hung out with much.
- Dinner at Model T with America and her step-daughter. Nice to get to know her finally.
- Winnemucca seems mostly dead again. I go to the basque festival dance and see some faces i haven't in a while including my favorite High School teacher Mrs. Kennedy. Her son just graduated and she is having a GREAT night. I always love seeing Mrs. Kennedy :)
- Over to the Sage. Not much going on again but I have a drink and talk to the bartender for a while.
- Next to the Mineshaft. Ask people if the town is so dead because of the shootings a few weeks ago and they think so too. I have one drink and skip out the back avoiding goodbyes.
- Go home for a minute, take the A/C unit out of the back, pick up my flip camera.
- Drive away from the town and look at the stars from the back of the pickup. It is a perfect night. If you have never seen this I can't really explain what it looks like, and my camera can't picture it. No clouds and no moon. I can see the milky way.
- Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror and go boonie crashing (aka off roading) on my fav road behind the high school while listening to "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. (note to self: when video taping a bonnie crash, better to not use high beams. When you bounce that much it just shoots the light too far and up too high).
- The video is not as exciting as you would hope.
SUNDAY:
- Breakfast with mom and dad, homemade by Mom :)
- The next morning I am talking in the front yard and Dad comes out and says, "I just got a call from Bud Vetter. He says that one of our tailgate's is behind the high school. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Apparently I boonie crashed so hard I bounced the tail gate off. So I hop in the truck to go get it. It still smells like all the sage brush I ran over last night.
- Pick up the tail gate (only one strap broken, not that bad) and wash the pickup.
- Lunch with Dan and Ferd. Sandwiches in the park. Dan's conversation is odd and inspiring (in the oddest way) as always. Ferd lives in the moment like no one I have ever met. He is my oldest friend, and a gift. We get sandwiches and eat by the river in a park.
- Hang out with brother and his family for a few.
- chased a small dust devil that was throwing tumbleweeds in the air.
- Drive back to California.
(if you want to skip ahead to the fun stuff, look for "Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror..." late Saturday.)
SATURDAY:
- Wake up, rush out to Basque festival parade to take some pictures. I haven't been to one of these in years. I found Clay and his family so i hang out with them.
- Back home. Mom make's my favorite cream of wheat. The trip is already worth it.
- See family and dog, hang out at Basque festival, and see old friends at that throughout the day.
- Dinner with Mom, Dad, Grandpa Buckie and Elaine at (Basque restaurant in Winnemucca). A couple picons before dinner, lots of great conversation and catching up.
- Unlocked a few levels and Mom's Mii on Mario Kart so she can play as herself. Character name, "mom"
- Graduation house party in a house my Grandpa built with an interesting crowd that I haven't hung out with much.
- Dinner at Model T with America and her step-daughter. Nice to get to know her finally.
- Winnemucca seems mostly dead again. I go to the basque festival dance and see some faces i haven't in a while including my favorite High School teacher Mrs. Kennedy. Her son just graduated and she is having a GREAT night. I always love seeing Mrs. Kennedy :)
- Over to the Sage. Not much going on again but I have a drink and talk to the bartender for a while.
- Next to the Mineshaft. Ask people if the town is so dead because of the shootings a few weeks ago and they think so too. I have one drink and skip out the back avoiding goodbyes.
- Go home for a minute, take the A/C unit out of the back, pick up my flip camera.
- Drive away from the town and look at the stars from the back of the pickup. It is a perfect night. If you have never seen this I can't really explain what it looks like, and my camera can't picture it. No clouds and no moon. I can see the milky way.
- Tape the video camera to the rear view mirror and go boonie crashing (aka off roading) on my fav road behind the high school while listening to "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. (note to self: when video taping a bonnie crash, better to not use high beams. When you bounce that much it just shoots the light too far and up too high).
- The video is not as exciting as you would hope.
SUNDAY:
- Breakfast with mom and dad, homemade by Mom :)
- The next morning I am talking in the front yard and Dad comes out and says, "I just got a call from Bud Vetter. He says that one of our tailgate's is behind the high school. You wouldn't know anything about that would you?" Apparently I boonie crashed so hard I bounced the tail gate off. So I hop in the truck to go get it. It still smells like all the sage brush I ran over last night.
- Pick up the tail gate (only one strap broken, not that bad) and wash the pickup.
- Lunch with Dan and Ferd. Sandwiches in the park. Dan's conversation is odd and inspiring (in the oddest way) as always. Ferd lives in the moment like no one I have ever met. He is my oldest friend, and a gift. We get sandwiches and eat by the river in a park.
- Hang out with brother and his family for a few.
- chased a small dust devil that was throwing tumbleweeds in the air.
- Drive back to California.
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