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Monthly Archives: January 2019

Midnight Books!

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Philosophy

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Books, new books, Philosophy

It’s 12:48 in the morning and I just remembered I had two books delivers today! Thanks Amazon! Especially looking forward to this one. The other book is on Logic and quite well arranged. More later… if I remember.

New Music: Alex Di Leo

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Music

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fun, listens, Music, new music, office, renovation, work

I discovered Alex Di Leo a few months ago when he released “Brooklyn Bridge” as a single. Great song to run to! I just realized that his EP came out recently too and it’s well worth a listen!

Also, I finished painting one one my lower office spaces today and have to work on the lower trim tomorrow, but it’s coming along well (although that rubber trim sucks to work with around corners). Everyone keeps commenting about how hard I work just because they can see a very visible result. They don’t see the scheduling and templates I work with or hear the patient complaints I resolve. But the notice this. A word of advice to new managers: do something highly visible at least once a month. It will establish you with your staff quicker than the behind the scenes stuff that is far more important. Also, make sure you communicate something daily and follow up on issues quickly. It goes far.

(Also, my manager helped paint too so I’m trying to make sure everyone knows she helped a lot too. All of my higher-ups straight to the top of our musculoskeletal line are amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better set of people to work with. It’s awesome to even be able to say that.)

I Never Liked Politics… Not Sure If I Do Now Either

30 Wednesday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Philosophy, Random Thoughts

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desegregation, Gandhi, Harman, King, OOO, oppression, politics, social theory

I’m laying on my bed, getting a crick in my neck, reading over OOO’s theory of politics and social order. It’s quite interesting and claims to line up with Bruno Latour’s current position. I hope that’s correct because I wouldn’t know otherwise.

You see, I’ve always neglected politics because I was so caught up in trying to understand the world around me and myself (and God at one looooonnnnnggg point), so I didn’t care to try and control the world. I felt it was like operating heavy machinery without knowing what I was operating. The good news is – no one knows precisely what they are talking about, but luckily science has stepped in to help.

I’m still listening though this book and even went and got the hardback on Sunday. I’m loving it. But it’s also making me want to take action and I’m not so good with that due to my tormenting level of introversion.

Also, I’m kind of pissed that I wasn’t educated about the last 50 years of history while I was in high school. I’m directly effects by that part of history as much is not more than the major points beforehand! I’m learning so much about desegregation in America (as well as other major themes) from Kleinfeld’s book that I feel ashamed for being so ignorant in my early 30s.

I would love to study more Gandhi and King too. There are factors that made their movements work while many others fail. We have to study what works and make policies with that knowledge rather than making policies from dirty deals, back stage bargains, and party politics. We use the scientific method in most everything now, so why do we shirk it when it comes to our political opinion? That’s lazy and dangerous.

Ignorance will kill us all unless we learn to bear the truth bravely.

It’s Amazing What You Can Do With A Pencil

28 Monday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Random Thoughts

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activism, hate, love, pencil, poetry?, power, surrender, thoughts, writing

It’s amazing what you can do with a pencil.

You can draw a new world, write a new story, or compose a new song.

A pencil is a source of power with the limited ability to reverse what has already occurred.

It can connect you to your friends, your enemies, your loves.

You can plead for help or demand a ransom.

It needs no more energy than your hands can provide.

You can change the world with a pencil, if you only know how to yield it.

Of Music and Endings

27 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Uncategorized

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I used to play on stages. Nothing big, but I had a few practices in a week and then a small show. The problem was that it was always too loud on stage. My ears would ring for hours afterwards. I also would destroy my vocal cords and have to take breaks a few times a year. Now, I can hit most of those notes without problems. I also used to pay about as much to get to and from a show as it would make me to play it. Now, I have the funds to do so without issue, but no excuse to do it.

Contrary to what many people may have thought (or still think), I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to create. And I’ve always been passive, so I never would have made it big without being a puppet. Now, I still play other people’s music every weekend, but that’s not art to me. It’s just a quick, fun job – when there’s a band to play with. Without a full band, it feels empty and boring. There’s something special about synchronizing yourself with others to create a product far bigger than any one of you.

I love the emergence.

Even now, I just purchased a new studio and am looking for a new computer to record again. Just for fun. I hope I can help others too. Many kids would go far if given a shot early on. I’d like to help them.

By the way, just finished Bohemian Rhapsody so that’s why this is on my mind. Good night world.

Christians Against Meditation

26 Saturday Jan 2019

Posted by The Madman in Buddhism, Religion, Theology

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Buddhism, Christianity, meditation, Theology

apple.news/AbN-fAlqORCS14jutTIwnOw

This article left me shaking my head. I’ve met Jay Sekulow in person years ago and he seems like a sincere guy, but his stand against so many things borders on obsessive. I’m not even sure if he agreed completely with his callers.

But one thing is true – Christianity (at least among the lines of Augustine and Calvin) allows no inner-goodness in humans. Buddhism teaches that good and bad spring forth from people. The Christian scapegoat is “I was born this way because God curses Adam for disobeying Him” (not Satan as some atheists would have you believe).

But if you can replace this toxic Christian theology with a better one that gives credence to both aspects of human nature, then perhaps there wouldn’t be do big an issue. The problem is Christian fundamentalism and evangelicalism as a whole.

I side with the Buddhists.

Peace Is Every Step

23 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Throughout the past several years, Thich Nhat Hahn’s Peace is Every Step has been there to pick me up when I get in ruts. As several of the past posts have demonstrated, I’m in one. The funny thing about this tiny book is that it clearly shows why simply breathing and smiling make you feel happier. Meanwhile, everything else you think is important or you worry about or get bored of or want more of – it always seems to fail. I’m no saint or monk, but the truth doesn’t care about what I am or you are. It’s just there. The truth is what is. I believe it is ontologically existent in the world and not simply a social idea. The reason? Because it is a relationship between objects, namely us humans and other humans/objects.

The trouble I have with this truth is that I fall so short of being peaceful all the time. I let myself and others down. I try to hard. And all I need to do is just let go and just be. It’s hard because I like to think I orchestrate my own life. But really, we are all tied together with each other and everything else in existence in what Thich calls “inter-being.” We are connected and dependent upon each other and everything.

A Savage Order – New Audiobook Started

21 Monday Jan 2019

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Started this book today! Super excited about it because it has practical advise for making the world a better place. I’ll probably post something about it on my main blog though. Also, just got back from TN and looking forward to DiGiorno pizza

Empty Post

21 Monday Jan 2019

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.

Limitations

20 Sunday Jan 2019

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I hate finding my own limitations. A lot of the time I think we humans imagine ourselves to be just like characters from fantasy. The only limitations placed on them is by the author. Maybe that’s why we get appalled with the god of their story mutilates them or weakens them. How can they do that to their creation?

But real life sucks and we would despise a perfect character – because we have no hope of obtaining that existence. We all yearn for utopia; we all know it’s impossible (those old enough, at least).

What would you think of yourself if you lacked the ability to feel pleasure? Nothing really brought any excitement to you. You just encountered all things in a narrow spectrum of pleasure. That’s what it’s like now for me. I think it’s partly from the medicine I’ve been on and partly from just growing older and colder. I don’t feel like a bad person, only a tired person with no escape rope. I see my future and it’s so plain. It’s better than negative, surely, but it’s also a reminder that I have limitations in my life.

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