Dear Beloved Reader,
Because for all things the time comes for them to cease, and die, and live on in the next incarnation;
Because a year has passed, and more than a year, and the rains of April come again to the mountains of Oregon and Pennsylvania;
Because in the mountains of Arizona I sat with god and god with me, and spoke through one another, nor was there any separation in that time-beyond-time;
Because, reurbanized, I feel once again the poison of ten thousand soulless man-things seeping under the cracks in my skin;
And because, in the desperation of the last hours, we must fight like cornered wildcats--we who live like anarchic rats in the walls of industrial civilization;
Because of these things and other things, I have decided to end this blog, this Better Cats and Gardens. I have begun another, and the clue to where to find it is contained within the words I have just written-- I will not tell you the specific here.
Look for me in the world.
-Steve
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
All We Know of Heaven
But I didn't entirely lie.
No, I didn't sit down and fill out my New Years Resolutings et cetera as I said, instead, I've decided--
I'm leaving tomorrow.
Right now, everything is in flux. I'm scrambling to finish things, a thousand things, last minute, the way I do--
Bu for now the plan is that I will be in Eugene at 8:00 tomorrow, & thence south, to Arizona, for 6 weeks.
What will come of it? I don't know!
See you when I get back.
No, I didn't sit down and fill out my New Years Resolutings et cetera as I said, instead, I've decided--
I'm leaving tomorrow.
Right now, everything is in flux. I'm scrambling to finish things, a thousand things, last minute, the way I do--
Bu for now the plan is that I will be in Eugene at 8:00 tomorrow, & thence south, to Arizona, for 6 weeks.
What will come of it? I don't know!
See you when I get back.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Resolutions, Revolutions
Or, "Things to Want in 2009."
Next year I'd like to be better than I am this year.
That's a rotten thing to say. "You think you're better than me, Steve 2010?"
"No, Steve 2009. But, I have done some things that you haven't, and that you'd like to do. It's all a process. Remember how you were in 2008?"
"That's a good point." In fact, it's the only point; the only place from which to start. What happened in 2008? What has Steve 09 added to the History of Steve?
In 2008, I:
Quit eating meat. And yes, I still go for seafood sometimes-- on a controlled and usually invertibrate level. (There are, however, 2 filets of tilapia in my freezer--tilapia, a species whose numbers, as I understand it, are not at a critical level.)
...So there you have it. Steve 2009's major upgrades. Join us next time, when we'll be discussing major changes in store for 2010!
Next year I'd like to be better than I am this year.
That's a rotten thing to say. "You think you're better than me, Steve 2010?"
"No, Steve 2009. But, I have done some things that you haven't, and that you'd like to do. It's all a process. Remember how you were in 2008?"
"That's a good point." In fact, it's the only point; the only place from which to start. What happened in 2008? What has Steve 09 added to the History of Steve?
In 2008, I:
Quit eating meat. And yes, I still go for seafood sometimes-- on a controlled and usually invertibrate level. (There are, however, 2 filets of tilapia in my freezer--tilapia, a species whose numbers, as I understand it, are not at a critical level.)
Traveled. This is a no-brainer, but it's big. I never used to travel. Now there are the obvious ones: I moved to Oregon, then spent that week in LA, then have randomly jaunted about the state. I know Portland and Eugene and the Coast pretty well; have seen Crater Lake and the Devil's Churn and other cool stuff. Then there were the two big trips: South, through S. Oregon and California; and North, through Washington. Another thing that makes these ones a big deal is that they required saving money and budgeting, and--
Learned to Drive. It's not that I want to be part of the car culture. But. Okay, driving a stick shift car is fun. And I couldn't do it before-- It's one thing to not partake because you CAN'T. It's another when it's a choice.
Learned about Grants. I cannot stand grantwriting. But the fact of being able to write a grant application is probably a useful thing.
Learned about Office Work. It's not a bad thing to learn about what you hate and are bad at.
Read a lot more science fiction and communist history. And also Paradise Lost, that was cool.
***...So there you have it. Steve 2009's major upgrades. Join us next time, when we'll be discussing major changes in store for 2010!
A Whole New _______
January 28th, not the 1st, but this year didn't begin on the first, did it?
No, it began with the move to Oregon, and the beginning of my job here with this unnamed National Service Organization, and that's how it ends, in two days time, except they're having a farewell dinner for me tonight, though I doubt they all want me to fare all that well--
And so the next Year starts now.
***
Interjection: An irate reader messaged me today. "I demand you start posting again regularly, Steve!" And I: "Certainly," though I forgot to actually send it until he'd gone away.
***
But what to post about? And this new Year, and this new -- life? -- and so, I don't know how much to write about the external world, or if I care.
(That is: I care. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the new Bolivian constitution are faraway and have little to do with whether or not I eat next month, and that has to take priority for now)--
And all this is to say, this is going to be a space filled with personal reflection for a while. I haven't walked my own mind in much too long a time. And that takes the whole thing maybe to a different sort of level, and not particularly interesting to the ones who live outside my head. But then, it's my blog, and that's what I want to do.
So next up: New Years Resolutions.
No, it began with the move to Oregon, and the beginning of my job here with this unnamed National Service Organization, and that's how it ends, in two days time, except they're having a farewell dinner for me tonight, though I doubt they all want me to fare all that well--
And so the next Year starts now.
***
Interjection: An irate reader messaged me today. "I demand you start posting again regularly, Steve!" And I: "Certainly," though I forgot to actually send it until he'd gone away.
***
But what to post about? And this new Year, and this new -- life? -- and so, I don't know how much to write about the external world, or if I care.
(That is: I care. But the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the new Bolivian constitution are faraway and have little to do with whether or not I eat next month, and that has to take priority for now)--
And all this is to say, this is going to be a space filled with personal reflection for a while. I haven't walked my own mind in much too long a time. And that takes the whole thing maybe to a different sort of level, and not particularly interesting to the ones who live outside my head. But then, it's my blog, and that's what I want to do.
So next up: New Years Resolutions.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Random Weirdness
New Scientist:
The holograms you find on credit cards and banknotes are etched on two-dimensional plastic films. When light bounces off them, it recreates the appearance of a 3D image. In the 1990s physicists Leonard Susskind and Nobel prizewinner Gerard 't Hooft suggested that the same principle might apply to the universe as a whole. Our everyday experience might itself be a holographic projection of physical processes that take place on a distant, 2D surface.
The holograms you find on credit cards and banknotes are etched on two-dimensional plastic films. When light bounces off them, it recreates the appearance of a 3D image. In the 1990s physicists Leonard Susskind and Nobel prizewinner Gerard 't Hooft suggested that the same principle might apply to the universe as a whole. Our everyday experience might itself be a holographic projection of physical processes that take place on a distant, 2D surface.
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Man in the Yellow Hat
Somebody help me.
Struck by sudden inspiration, I spent twelve hours on Wednesday writing a story featuring a villain called "the man in the yellow hat." I was immensely proud of it. Last night I was riding home from work with Girlfriend, and said something like,
"Yes, I just finished it. So I'll tell you about it. And now I can pay attention to you again, now that my mind isn't entirely occupied"--here I filled my voice with a tone of cosmic terror far surpassing its customary level of menace-- "by the man in the yellow hat!"
I looked at her expectantly.
"Um, Curious George?" said she.
"FUCK," said I.
***
The man in the yellow hat was just an image I thought was unassuming but memorable. So ... now I don't know what to do. Recolor his hat? But what color? The man in the orange hat? No, orange is too loud a color. The man in the silver hat? Well, maybe, he is (after all) a robot.
So...
Purple? Black? White? Blue? Red? Grey? I don't know! Help!
Struck by sudden inspiration, I spent twelve hours on Wednesday writing a story featuring a villain called "the man in the yellow hat." I was immensely proud of it. Last night I was riding home from work with Girlfriend, and said something like,
"Yes, I just finished it. So I'll tell you about it. And now I can pay attention to you again, now that my mind isn't entirely occupied"--here I filled my voice with a tone of cosmic terror far surpassing its customary level of menace-- "by the man in the yellow hat!"
I looked at her expectantly.
"Um, Curious George?" said she.
"FUCK," said I.
***
The man in the yellow hat was just an image I thought was unassuming but memorable. So ... now I don't know what to do. Recolor his hat? But what color? The man in the orange hat? No, orange is too loud a color. The man in the silver hat? Well, maybe, he is (after all) a robot.
So...
Purple? Black? White? Blue? Red? Grey? I don't know! Help!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hierocles and Philagrius
This is the best thing ever.
...And, looking into it, I spent the morning laughing at the wacky antics of that world-renowned comedy duo, Hierocles and Philagrius.
A few samples:
...And, looking into it, I spent the morning laughing at the wacky antics of that world-renowned comedy duo, Hierocles and Philagrius.
A few samples:
And did you hear about the Cumaean who was selling honey at the marketplace?
Someone needled a well-known wit: "I had your wife, without paying a penny." He replied: "It's my duty as a husband to couple with such a monstrosity. What made you do it?"
When a certain person, upon testing the honey, said that it was not good, the Cumaean replied that, "If a mouse had not fallen into it, I wouldn't be selling it!"OH those crazy Cumaeans. Then there's the no-good Sidonians.
A certain person once said to a Sidonian fisherman, "Your fishing pot is filled with crabs." And so the Sidonian replied, "There is a cancer in your breast."Hahahahaha, hahaha, haha, ha.
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