“Shrewdness is a limitation on the mind. Shrewdness tells you what you must not do because it would not be shrewd.”
-Steinbeck (East of Eden)
“There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension.”
-Steinbeck (East of Eden)
Time
“Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all.”
-Steinbeck (East of Eden)
Baudelaire: Intoxication
One must be for ever drunken : that is the sole question of importance. If you would not feel the horrible burden of Time that bruises your shoulders and bends you to the earth, you must be drunken without cease. But how? With wine, with poetry, with virtue, with what you please. But be drunken. And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace, on the green grass by a moat, or in the dull loneliness of your chamber, you should waken up, your intoxication already lessened or gone, ask of the wind, of the wave, of the star, of the bird, of the timepiece; ask of all that flees, all that sighs, all that revolves, all that sings, all that speaks, ask of these the hour; and wind and wave and star and bird and timepiece will answer you:
“It is the hour to be drunken! Lest you be the martyred slaves of Time, intoxicate yourselves, be drunken without cease! With wine, with poetry, with virtue, or with what you will.”
If I am occasionally a little over-dressed, I make up for it by being always immensely over-educated.
–Oscar Wilde
I am an enlightened man
I am an enlightened man. But my enlightenment doesn’t come from within; it comes from without. Through my friends and companions did I gain and train, and learn to grasp my wisdom. Through the beauty of people did I arrive. And how I have arrived — in a great big group. A parade! With caravans of grace, wisdom, and the finest grains of laughter.
People talk a lot of trash about blogs. ”They’re all the same. Everyone is just repeating the same ideas”. Yeah, but isn’t that the point? Isn’t that what makes us special? Our collective reasoning — our group-thoughtfulness? What good would it be if everyone ignored each other and created art in isolation? What do we gain by not celebrating each other?
Last night I dreamed that I made an old enemy laugh. He was my enemy but I was not his. How could I be? I barely had any presence in the world back then; no, I was no enemy. I was too laughable and pathetic a creature back then warrant the title of “enemy”. But in my dream I saw him approaching, and my gut churned with self loathing and shame. But then he laughed when I made some silly gesture. He laughed and smiled approvingly.
My greatest friend
There is strength in weakness and weakness in strength. One of my greatest friends knows this so well that he speaks only of his weaknesses. That is not to say he is feigning strength; no, he is the greatest embodiment of strength that I have ever witnessed in a human being. There is none so complete as my friend; nor has there ever been. I am sure of it. And what a wonder it is that he is in my life! That I should come so close to greatness that I can sit around and pass a full day with it. That I can go to some shitty part of town and rummage through a dumpster with him for food and still feel grand! On top of the world! What glory I have had the privilege of being in the presence of! There is no one as uplifting in this world as my friend. He takes responsibility for everything that he says, and therefore says everything so well. And the greatest thing about our friendship is that I don’t, for a second, feel slighted or challenged by him. That’s not to say that I am not humbled; to be in his presence is to stand naked before the world. But he passes no judgement - not through word or action - and in that way does not make me feel like anything less than a perfect human being. He doesn’t violate my dignity or try to instruct me. His is the way of true acceptance — unconditional, all loving, and full of intention.
Thoughts of the month
What can you learn about yourself through your creative pursuits?
Ruin yourself before someone does the job for you. Weed yourself out of existence. Yeah, that’ll show them!It’s just a political ideology that you’ve bought into. It’s not your property or your wealth.
We’re all just trying to figure ourselves out, and in most people that can look shallow and ridiculous.
My upbringing baked me and left me with a hard exterior that I never wanted.
How can I have faith in you when you don’t have faith in yourself?
Thank you for trying to explain myself to me.
Find the only woman you could ever love — she is everywhere. She is not one, but a group. There are bits of her in all of us.
To be pure at heart is to admit weakness to all who come into your life. To admit weakness to yourself alone is no great feat.
The best way to use politics is to indoctrinate yourself with it, and then get on with your life. Apply a lens of political thinking — place it behind the lenses of love and empathy.
Lovelessness and insincerity go hand in hand.
A path of excess can lead to wisdom. (from East of Eden)
Don’t let politics form a conduit within you for negativity. Don’t let it fortify its hatred within you. It grows, like cancer. Treat it.
I don’t know what it’s like to have no talent.
“Dude, you gotta cut the weed out. This does not feel good” (from my high self to my sober self).
I don’t trust my sense of humor sometimes. I think it isn’t humor but nervousness. It’s too personal.
“Discombooboorate” -Alan Watts
You have 20-odd years to figure yourself out. Then your ship is wrecked and you pray some floating board will land near you so you can swim yourself to shore.
Show emotion, in all forms and colors. Think alone but act with a good conscience for your friends and beloveds. Shine furiously!
Is it ever a mistake to tell exactly what is on your mind? There is strength in unabashed expression, and strength is beautiful.
