Am I the only one who noticed the odd coincidence today between the rare 5.8 earthquake in Virginia, and the fact that it corresponds to the astrological transition from Leo "the lion" to Virgo "the virgin"?
Whether it means something or nothing, I don't know. I don't have any deeper insight to offer into this, but just thought I'd make note of it. I've also made note of the fact that my next door neighbor has a Virginia license plate, a Duke University bumper sticker, and goes to work wearing Army fatigues. That's the way my mind works, to notice odd patterns around me; you could say that my pattern recognition skills are top notch. Or maybe I've just smoked too much pot, or gotten hit over the head with a pot. No, that's not it. It's the pattern recognition skills, I say, a keen eye for symmetry and correspondence; that's what it is.
Could this strange observation offer a clue along the lines of a real life "Da Vinci Code" or "Foucault's Pendulum"? That would be really cool. I'm extremely bored though, and only a bored mind would probably stretch these details in this manner. It does make a blog post though. Yeah, in case you weren't aware of it we are now in the sign of Virgo. It may be time to change my blog's header picture again. Maybe that'll be my next creative project, to create a custom header picture that changes on a monthly basis, reflecting the mood of each zodiac sign: the astrological zeitgeist of the times, embodied in the non-verbalized imagery of fine art. I'll get back to you on that. You'll just have to wait and see what happens.
Or, maybe I'll just delete the blog. Or, maybe I'll just deactivate the comments. Or, maybe I'll change my name to anonymous and remove all photos of myself, putting up some fake cartoonish caricature of myself instead. Doesn't seem to matter much around here. Fake people. Phony people. Cowardly people. Anonymous people. People hiding from themselves. Hiding from the truth. Hiding from me.
People refer to this -- to the internet -- as not being real life. Really? What the fuck is this then? A dream? Something not really happening? If your attention is here, and you are lucid in this space, reading, writing, communicating, fully present and consciously aware of self and surroundings, then how is it not real? Oh, you mean because you cannot see people? Because you are all wearing masks? So does that mean that this is some kind of masquerade party, some kind of asexual "Eyes Wide Shut" moment, where everyone here is wearing a disguise? Yeah I suppose it's a little bit like that. Easy to think you are in some kind of a fantasy, if you are talking to people without actually seeing each other or hearing each other's voices, or really even having any idea who it is you are communicating with at all, but just reading each other's words, blindly in the dark, and especially if drinking is involved, the whole thing would be very bizarre, and quite risky. Probably for the best in such a situation to lay off the booze and keep your mouth shut: Just the facts m'am; don't drive drunk and don't drink and blog.
Been thinking about web anonymity a lot these past few days. This is not the time to compose a well thought out post, as my intellect is rather tired and groggy, and I'm in a really shitty mood right now, but I am planning to post about this topic in greater detail at a later time, exploring the differences between anonymity and privacy, because although they are related, they are not exactly the same thing. I touched on the subject slightly in my previous post, but I failed to distinguish the important differences between these two concepts. Example: While I'm extremely annoyed with anonymous commentators, I'm all for protecting people's online rights to privacy. You give a name and a photo, but you don't give details that can lead to uninvited strangers showing up at your door. Honesty is not at odds with privacy. You can have privacy without wearing a disguise or using a fake name. Discretion need not require deception. As there is a difference between using deceptive underhanded tactics, and remembering to lock your door and to not give out your passwords or Social Security Number to just anyone. But I'll go into this more on another day, when I'm feeling less irritated.
Oh and by the way, the heat is back. It was 108 today and it really sucked.
Over and out. This is what you call an extremely abrupt ending; slightly augmented by an "over and out". That means that I've said my piece, am now ending my transmission, and no comments are necessary.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
I am Not a Gadget
I recently started reading this really interesting book called You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier, offering a critical look at online technologies written by a man credited as being "the father of virtual reality technologies." I recommend it for all bloggers, certainly for all readers of this blog, and anyone who has dabbled with social networking sites, spends a lot of time online, and especially those who have an optimistic view of it all.
*Unless otherwise noted, direct quotes from the book are printed in bold, followed by my own lengthy commentary.
Regarding your presence on the internet:
-- "Don't post anonymously unless you really might be in danger."
This I only semi agree with. I would be extremely uncomfortable posting my personal mailing address, phone number, complete birth name, and resume online in connection with this blog. Because, as much as I value openness and honesty, why should I blindly share personal info with you which can be traced back to my exact physical location, when you the readers are mostly anonymous, invisible, quietly reading without commenting, or sharing anything personal about yourself? After all there are such things as cyber stalkers and identity thieves waiting to prey on gullible bloggers who reveal a bit too much about themselves, setting themselves up to be exploited, to be attacked, robbed, blackmailed, or conned in real life by unsavory predators just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
Nevertheless, I believe in the value of posting a real photograph of myself and using my real name. Yes believe it or not, Cym is not an acronym, nor is it a pseudonym, but it is in fact my real name: the name I use offline. It is not my full name, but it is the name I am most known for. It is pronounced like the words symphony and symmetry, like the musical instrument the cymbal.
If anyone wishes to comment, to send me an e-mail, to interact with me online, I would prefer that they identify who they are, using their real name, providing a real photo of themselves, and preferably have a blog or website, so that I can have a better idea of who they are; as the way a person writes, especially when writing about oneself, gives probably the clearest reflection of how a person thinks. It may differ slightly from the spoken word, from a person's real-time face to face persona, but the written word does offer the clearest reflection of a person's internal thought processes.
I no longer feel comfortable interacting with people online who hide behind the masks of anonymity, who wear false names and cartoonish avatars (it's okay if you use that for your online profile so long as you have your name and picture posted elsewhere), and those who wish to continue hiding, who are unable to be upfront about who you really are, it is probably for the best that you remain in hiding, because I do not wish to talk to someone who cannot be honest about who they really are. I will no longer respond to anonymous comments, and unless I know the person in real life, it is unlikely that I will respond to e-mails in connection with this blog who do not provide a link to a personal blog, website, or social networking profile.
So while I do not believe in full public disclosure -- there is no need to post your resume, birth certificate, or photo id online -- I do believe in at least providing a real name and photo attached to your online web presence, to give it a more authentic human presence. That is what I do, and ask that anyone who wishes to interact with me here does the same. Fake pictures and fake names will not be tolerated, and anyone who does such a thing is just a creepy bastard who if I ever find out that is going on, will become permanently blacklisted from any and all future exchanges of communication.
--"Create a website that expresses something about who you are that won't fit into the template available to you on a social networking site."
Twitter and Facebook on their own are shallow attempts at creative self-expression. A blog or website can be anything that you want, it is up to you what you share, but really, if you want to authentically share the depths of who you are, to be known to a wider audience, to expand your circle of associations, and you want to do it online, a blog or website is the way to go. Creative self-expression is not a priority to everyone. Not everyone feels the call to share themselves in this way, to keep a public diary, to share their personal passions, to keep a website that is devoted to some hobby or social cause that you feel passionately about.
It is not for everyone, blogging and website creation (aside from its business angle) is primarily in the realm of the artist and the teacher. There are those who feel the impulse, the call to create, to share what they know with others. And then there are those who are here solely to read, to feed, to learn what they can, for creative inspiration, or to observe for purposes of strategic analysis, similar to how a scientist studies the habits of a laboratory subject. In any case, whether you are here in the role of a teacher or a student, a creator or one who appreciates observing the unfolding creative process in others, a website or a blog is the most fruitful online tool available for creative self-expression. If you limit yourself to social networking sites, like facebook or twitter, you limit yourself to a much more fragmentary tool of self-expression.
-- "Write a blog post that took weeks of reflection before you heard the inner voice that needed to come out."
This is the main difference between a blog and twitter. A thoughtful blog post is more like the uncorking of an aged fine wine, or a fine cup of tea which has had time to steep to perfection, where an experience has really had the chance to soak in and become more refined in its subtleties of expression. Whereas a twitter entry is like a cheap bottle of MD 20/20 (aka Mad Dog) with a shallow depth of flavor and a nasty lingering aftertaste, which though it may have been fun in the beginning, when you were young and inexperienced and afflicted with the poor taste and poor judgment of youth, but in hindsight was as unmemorable as suffering a terrible headache or a terrible head cold years ago on a boring and lazy Sunday afternoon.
-- "If you are twittering, innovate in order to find a way to describe your inner state instead of trivial external events, to avoid the creeping danger of believing that objectively described events define you, as they would define a machine."
This is why I no longer use twitter. Though it certainly is possible to innovate, to make the most out of twitter, to make it less of a trivial fragmentary expression than it normally is. But I myself prefer the creative fluidity of a blog, where I can post all manner of media, pictures and videos and words of any length and depth I choose. And I'm doing everything in my power to not allow external events to objectively define me as they would define a machine. Because I am not a machine. I am not a gadget. I am not an artificial intelligence or a virtual reality robot, but I am an individual free thinking human being with a real body mind and soul, who lives and breaths real air, and who thinks and feels and senses and speaks and stands in real time in real space. I will not be restricted or limited or diminished by this technology; this technology serves me, I do not serve it.
*Unless otherwise noted, direct quotes from the book are printed in bold, followed by my own lengthy commentary.
Regarding your presence on the internet:
-- "Don't post anonymously unless you really might be in danger."
This I only semi agree with. I would be extremely uncomfortable posting my personal mailing address, phone number, complete birth name, and resume online in connection with this blog. Because, as much as I value openness and honesty, why should I blindly share personal info with you which can be traced back to my exact physical location, when you the readers are mostly anonymous, invisible, quietly reading without commenting, or sharing anything personal about yourself? After all there are such things as cyber stalkers and identity thieves waiting to prey on gullible bloggers who reveal a bit too much about themselves, setting themselves up to be exploited, to be attacked, robbed, blackmailed, or conned in real life by unsavory predators just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.
Nevertheless, I believe in the value of posting a real photograph of myself and using my real name. Yes believe it or not, Cym is not an acronym, nor is it a pseudonym, but it is in fact my real name: the name I use offline. It is not my full name, but it is the name I am most known for. It is pronounced like the words symphony and symmetry, like the musical instrument the cymbal.
If anyone wishes to comment, to send me an e-mail, to interact with me online, I would prefer that they identify who they are, using their real name, providing a real photo of themselves, and preferably have a blog or website, so that I can have a better idea of who they are; as the way a person writes, especially when writing about oneself, gives probably the clearest reflection of how a person thinks. It may differ slightly from the spoken word, from a person's real-time face to face persona, but the written word does offer the clearest reflection of a person's internal thought processes.
I no longer feel comfortable interacting with people online who hide behind the masks of anonymity, who wear false names and cartoonish avatars (it's okay if you use that for your online profile so long as you have your name and picture posted elsewhere), and those who wish to continue hiding, who are unable to be upfront about who you really are, it is probably for the best that you remain in hiding, because I do not wish to talk to someone who cannot be honest about who they really are. I will no longer respond to anonymous comments, and unless I know the person in real life, it is unlikely that I will respond to e-mails in connection with this blog who do not provide a link to a personal blog, website, or social networking profile.
So while I do not believe in full public disclosure -- there is no need to post your resume, birth certificate, or photo id online -- I do believe in at least providing a real name and photo attached to your online web presence, to give it a more authentic human presence. That is what I do, and ask that anyone who wishes to interact with me here does the same. Fake pictures and fake names will not be tolerated, and anyone who does such a thing is just a creepy bastard who if I ever find out that is going on, will become permanently blacklisted from any and all future exchanges of communication.
--"Create a website that expresses something about who you are that won't fit into the template available to you on a social networking site."
Twitter and Facebook on their own are shallow attempts at creative self-expression. A blog or website can be anything that you want, it is up to you what you share, but really, if you want to authentically share the depths of who you are, to be known to a wider audience, to expand your circle of associations, and you want to do it online, a blog or website is the way to go. Creative self-expression is not a priority to everyone. Not everyone feels the call to share themselves in this way, to keep a public diary, to share their personal passions, to keep a website that is devoted to some hobby or social cause that you feel passionately about.
It is not for everyone, blogging and website creation (aside from its business angle) is primarily in the realm of the artist and the teacher. There are those who feel the impulse, the call to create, to share what they know with others. And then there are those who are here solely to read, to feed, to learn what they can, for creative inspiration, or to observe for purposes of strategic analysis, similar to how a scientist studies the habits of a laboratory subject. In any case, whether you are here in the role of a teacher or a student, a creator or one who appreciates observing the unfolding creative process in others, a website or a blog is the most fruitful online tool available for creative self-expression. If you limit yourself to social networking sites, like facebook or twitter, you limit yourself to a much more fragmentary tool of self-expression.
-- "Write a blog post that took weeks of reflection before you heard the inner voice that needed to come out."
This is the main difference between a blog and twitter. A thoughtful blog post is more like the uncorking of an aged fine wine, or a fine cup of tea which has had time to steep to perfection, where an experience has really had the chance to soak in and become more refined in its subtleties of expression. Whereas a twitter entry is like a cheap bottle of MD 20/20 (aka Mad Dog) with a shallow depth of flavor and a nasty lingering aftertaste, which though it may have been fun in the beginning, when you were young and inexperienced and afflicted with the poor taste and poor judgment of youth, but in hindsight was as unmemorable as suffering a terrible headache or a terrible head cold years ago on a boring and lazy Sunday afternoon.
-- "If you are twittering, innovate in order to find a way to describe your inner state instead of trivial external events, to avoid the creeping danger of believing that objectively described events define you, as they would define a machine."
This is why I no longer use twitter. Though it certainly is possible to innovate, to make the most out of twitter, to make it less of a trivial fragmentary expression than it normally is. But I myself prefer the creative fluidity of a blog, where I can post all manner of media, pictures and videos and words of any length and depth I choose. And I'm doing everything in my power to not allow external events to objectively define me as they would define a machine. Because I am not a machine. I am not a gadget. I am not an artificial intelligence or a virtual reality robot, but I am an individual free thinking human being with a real body mind and soul, who lives and breaths real air, and who thinks and feels and senses and speaks and stands in real time in real space. I will not be restricted or limited or diminished by this technology; this technology serves me, I do not serve it.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
A Clockwork Orange
An update on my reading habits. This is not a review, just some passing comments about what I read. Just finished reading A Clockwork Orange for the first time. I was not impressed. If I were to sum up my impressions of it in two words, it would be: overrated drivel.
I always heard it was violent, but it really wasn't that bad. I've read worse. I didn't find anything shocking about it at all. If you want to read shocking, read about the brutal gang rapes occurring right now in Rwanda and Sudan and in too many other places to mention. Soldiers raping with impunity, impaling women's reproductive organs and anal cavities with foreign objects, left to bleed to death on the side of the road, or to die a slow agonizing death from infection; or if they are lucky enough to get to a hospital in time, suffering a lifetime of incontinence and infertility.
That's real life brutality. Troubling that there are some demented fucks living right here in America, cowardly trolling under the insulating masks of anonymity in cyberspace (free from real life responsibility and accountability for their words and actions) who think they deserved it. That all women, whom these demented psychopaths refer to as cunts, deserve it. I could link to some real world examples, found in the comment spaces of certain blogs I've happened to stumble upon, but there would be a backlash here that I do not wish to deal with.
So back to the book: more than anything else, reading A Clockwork Orange was a painful reminder that there are in fact real people alive in the world today who get off on committing random acts of violence. Sexual assault. Random beatings on complete strangers. Is there a solution? I don't know. I would like to presume that sick individuals are a symptom of a sick society, but that is purely conjecture. Anyway, my objection to the book has nothing to do with its violence, but it was just that nothing really grabbed me, or provoked me, or interested me to the point of leaving the experience with a feeling of "Wow that was a great read!" The behavior modification segment was interesting, but it was such a quick passing thing, over in a chapter or two, that the whole thing read more like a short story than a complete novel. I guess they call it a novella. It wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't call it a Classic by any stretch of the imagination. Even the author himself considered it to be one of his lesser works. Its popularity is probably more so due to its movie adaptation, which I also strangely enough have not seen. Perhaps it's another rare instance of the movie being better than the book. Perhaps. Maybe I'll let you know what I thought of it once I've seen it.
Despite my overall disinterest in the book, the most valuable lesson I walked away from it was of that of the importance of individuality and the freedom of choice. That a person should always have the freedom to choose between good and evil. That as much as we'd like to eradicate evil, the source of good and evil rests entirely within the heart of each individual. You can modify a person's behavior to make them more compatible (or compliant) with the template of society, but you cannot force them to change the contents of their own hearts. Without modifying the inner thoughts and feelings, a modification which can only come about by one's own freewill choice, any exterior changes would be hollow and unauthentic. On the other hand, true goodness, true moral excellence, must be freely chosen. Otherwise if not, you will have the false appearance of goodness,and that is a mockery of goodness, a mockery of freedom, a mockery of truth.
I always heard it was violent, but it really wasn't that bad. I've read worse. I didn't find anything shocking about it at all. If you want to read shocking, read about the brutal gang rapes occurring right now in Rwanda and Sudan and in too many other places to mention. Soldiers raping with impunity, impaling women's reproductive organs and anal cavities with foreign objects, left to bleed to death on the side of the road, or to die a slow agonizing death from infection; or if they are lucky enough to get to a hospital in time, suffering a lifetime of incontinence and infertility.
That's real life brutality. Troubling that there are some demented fucks living right here in America, cowardly trolling under the insulating masks of anonymity in cyberspace (free from real life responsibility and accountability for their words and actions) who think they deserved it. That all women, whom these demented psychopaths refer to as cunts, deserve it. I could link to some real world examples, found in the comment spaces of certain blogs I've happened to stumble upon, but there would be a backlash here that I do not wish to deal with.
So back to the book: more than anything else, reading A Clockwork Orange was a painful reminder that there are in fact real people alive in the world today who get off on committing random acts of violence. Sexual assault. Random beatings on complete strangers. Is there a solution? I don't know. I would like to presume that sick individuals are a symptom of a sick society, but that is purely conjecture. Anyway, my objection to the book has nothing to do with its violence, but it was just that nothing really grabbed me, or provoked me, or interested me to the point of leaving the experience with a feeling of "Wow that was a great read!" The behavior modification segment was interesting, but it was such a quick passing thing, over in a chapter or two, that the whole thing read more like a short story than a complete novel. I guess they call it a novella. It wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't call it a Classic by any stretch of the imagination. Even the author himself considered it to be one of his lesser works. Its popularity is probably more so due to its movie adaptation, which I also strangely enough have not seen. Perhaps it's another rare instance of the movie being better than the book. Perhaps. Maybe I'll let you know what I thought of it once I've seen it.
Despite my overall disinterest in the book, the most valuable lesson I walked away from it was of that of the importance of individuality and the freedom of choice. That a person should always have the freedom to choose between good and evil. That as much as we'd like to eradicate evil, the source of good and evil rests entirely within the heart of each individual. You can modify a person's behavior to make them more compatible (or compliant) with the template of society, but you cannot force them to change the contents of their own hearts. Without modifying the inner thoughts and feelings, a modification which can only come about by one's own freewill choice, any exterior changes would be hollow and unauthentic. On the other hand, true goodness, true moral excellence, must be freely chosen. Otherwise if not, you will have the false appearance of goodness,and that is a mockery of goodness, a mockery of freedom, a mockery of truth.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wine Box Art: Caretaker: Pinot Noir
So I recently finished up moving. It was a long drawn out process, completely wore me out. Have bruises all over my arms and legs from hurriedly moving much too many boxes with very little help. I got most of my moving boxes from Trader Joe's. Used a lot of wine boxes. Found some really cool looking ones I've never tried before, and based on the interesting artwork on their packaging, I feel very intrigued into trying them.
Though just as they say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, perhaps it is a mistake to judge a wine by its intriguing artwork. Perhaps, but I'm not going to let that stop me. But sadly I haven't the money at this time to buy a ten dollar bottle of wine, so for now, all I can do is reminisce and wonder if this wine is as intriguing as its packaging.
Wine Box Art #1 Caretaker: Pinot Noir, a Trader Joe's Exclusive.
Though just as they say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, perhaps it is a mistake to judge a wine by its intriguing artwork. Perhaps, but I'm not going to let that stop me. But sadly I haven't the money at this time to buy a ten dollar bottle of wine, so for now, all I can do is reminisce and wonder if this wine is as intriguing as its packaging.
Wine Box Art #1 Caretaker: Pinot Noir, a Trader Joe's Exclusive.
*As always, click pictures to see LARGER.
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