In Which I Explain My Blog Title, Again

So tonight, as I was juggling my ever-faithful 6-lb. ball, it occurred to me that all my friends, the ones who have spent their lives being careful, conscientious, hardworking, and diligent about trying to help the planet, environmentally speaking, are probably going to be far overbalanced in no time at all by a bunch of greedy, reckless, short-selling agents of entropy, fucking barbarians ignorant of the Tao. I'm speaking of course of the BP oil spill. Think of it... all that hard work and love, helpless in the face of millions of gallons of chemicals.

Why? is the question I asked myself. Why is this? Why does this happen? Why do we do what we do? Why do we keep doing it? In short, what the fuck?

As usual when questions like this arise, I took a look up at the sky. And the answer seemed very clear-- it's a dark universe, folks. On average, our entire cosmos is but three degrees above absolute zero. Those little bright stellar specks of plasma, impressive as they are, are nestled in still greater pockets of empty space, darkness, coldness, silence. 95% of our universe is void to our eyes, dark matter, dark energy. In any system, entropy tends to increase, not the other way around. Electrical charges will always take the path of least resistance. And so on.

I think you can see where I'm going with this. Human beings are manifestations of life and order, and life and order are more aberrant than not. Generally speaking, it will always be more likely that we hurt rather than heal, because hurting and healing are just manifestations of larger forces. And entropy, the darker of the two, is easier. Anytime we flow bright instead of dark, we're beating the odds in a pretty rigged casino.

So what, you're saying, we should just give up? Well, hell no! Quite the opposite! I'm not even saying any of this should fill us with sorrow, or joy. Things just are what they are. If we are strange little burning emblems of what might be, then that's our cosmic duty and we will fulfill it. My desire to destroy Glenn Beck, for example, a part of me, is counterbalanced by a small part of Glenn Beck desiring to destroy people like me. Without Glenn Beck, that part of myself would lack definition, focus. Without me, a small part of Glenn Beck would be similarly diminished. And the cosmic push and pull between me and Glenn Beck (that raving charlatan) are what power the spin of the galaxies.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, we are surrounded on all sides by darkness, but that just makes whatever energy we can muster shine all the more. And that's what being a Bright Animal is about.

Blood! Let's Drink Some!

Let's drink some blood!

Focus, Trinity

I discovered something cool today. I was playing around in the backyard with this weighted ball I have (6 lbs. or so). I was tossing it around like I usually do, and then I spent some time balancing it on my head, and seeing how long I could keep it there. I tried walking while balancing it, and I noticed it was forcing me to be very aware of my body, and move slowly and with great consciousness. Then I tried to see how long I could remain still while balancing it on my head. After a little while, I noticed myself slipping into a hypnotic state. The effort involved in keeping the rather heavy ball balanced engaged most of my basic motor functions, while my mind was free to split off and do its own thing. I picked a point and focused exclusively on it-- the world in front of me became acid-bright, like a diorama. My eyes closed and opened several times of their own accord. I felt totally focused and receptive (I had taken my shoes off as soon as I noticed the state coming on, in order to be more connected with the ground). In short, it worked terrifically well as a calming, meditative exercise. If you try this, let me know how it worked for you.

Yo Dawg, I Heard You Like Rapping Dawg

Oh, you are so lucky to be living in the world right now, because you get to see one of the best Youtube mashups ever made:

This dog has fucking flow

In case you're wondering, here is a transcript of the dog's rap, according to Youtube's rather questionable closed-captioning:

"And what would what would

But with well in the lead with him in a minute

But what happens when let me

I said well then we're going live with

It wouldn't have mattered ranch

The ad opens with a dwindling

But go ahead with the referendum"

Fucking. Wisdom.

OMSI

Stacia and I went to the OMSI and did things! One of the coolest exhibits they had was a chance to make your own stop-motion videos. Here is what two reasonably creative people might come up with, given the chance:

Study in Stacia

Bright Animal Convulsion

Quickdraw

Crane Style

Coffee! Let's Drink Some!

Let's drink some coffee!

Hub World

You know how lots of action/adventure games have a hub world, where you can save your game, heal your character(s), stock up on necessary items, before embarking on the next mission or stage of the game? I feel like that's where I am right now. Hub World.

Over the past week or so, I've been practicing self-hypnosis and have been finding it surprisingly easy. I've done it about three times so far. The first one was great, the second one made me throw up in some odd psychic way but was still ultimately educational, and the third one lacked specific focus so just became more of a general relaxation-exercise.

I mention this because it may have something to do with my next point: lately I've been experiencing... feelings? premonitions? projections? And in these states, I visualize my future, and it's surprisingly good.

This has never happened to me before at any point in my life. I had, I realize now, been operating under the assumption that things were not going to turn out well for me in any significant way. This was just a given factor, something dwelling in my subconscious. But like I said, I've been getting these shadowy, warm not-quite-visions of a very positive possible outcome of my life. It's kind of weirding me out, the idea that this reality could be coalescing in one of my existence-branches. I regard it obliquely and don't want to scare it away.

I've also been trying to communicate with people on a supernormal level lately, so if you feel like I'm trying to say something feel free to say something back.

Big/Small

If you're anything like me, and you enjoy the feeling of your head exploding, I really think you should look at this:

The Scale(s) of the Universe