Death, Taxes & All The Uncertainties Inbetween

"The thing that is most hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once..."

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:48:26 -0400

“The thing that is most hardest to accept about the passage of time is that the people who once mattered the most wind up in parentheses.”

- John Irving, The Cider House Rules (via larmoyante)

Don’t you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old...

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:47:21 -0400

Don’t you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone!

Hyperbole and a Half On Depression

Sat, 11 May 2013 18:42:00 -0400

Hyperbole and a Half On Depression:

Hits a bit close to home. Totally didn’t realize what I was dealing with or why I was (or wasn’t) feeling what I felt until this.

"After months of sadness and wishing, it came true. My love came back to me. Sure, her mannerisms..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:15:00 -0400

“

After months of sadness and wishing, it came true. My love came back to me. Sure, her mannerisms aren’t the same; her hair’s a different colour; and I call her by a different name. But it’s back.

We take the same walks through country paths in the rain and the sun. I tell her those same stories of my past and future, and she nods and laughs – just like the first time. But it’s not the first time. My first time is gone.

My love is back now though. And every now and then, I see a glimpse of my first in her. It reminds me of how I will see, so vividly, the colour orange whilst chomping upon a Terry’s chocolate treat; a sort of homage to that sad citrus fruit with whom I experienced it first.

So, my message to all of you is this: do not become hung up on ‘the one’. Chase the feeling. There exists the potential in a billion souls. Do not be afraid to ignite that fire once again. Let it engulf your world. Let it envelope your senses. And when that last flickering flame turns on itself in anguish, don’t ever let yourself believe it’s been forever extinguished.

”

The Diameter of a Bomb

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:37:10 -0400

The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters

and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,

with four dead and eleven wounded.

And around these, in a larger circle

of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered

and one graveyard. But the young woman

who was buried in the city she came from,

at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,

enlarges the circle considerably,

and the solitary man mourning her death

at the distant shores of a country far across the sea

includes the entire world in the circle.

And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans

that reaches up to the throne of God and

beyond, making

a circle with no end and no God.

priskamusik: Love doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:17:59 -0400

priskamusik:

Love doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it to. Even beautiful moments can turn sour in an instant. I was so moved by the difficult and subtle truth this song is trying to express I had to take a stab at it. I hope you enjoy my one-take, live cover of Tegan & Sara’s “I Was a Fool”. We shot it outdoors in Culver City and even though it was freezing and I was the genius who wore shorts, it really was an intimate and tender session and I’m so happy to share it.

Acoustic Guitar: Elliot Kim

More info:

http://facebook.com/priskamusik

http://twitter.com/heresthelove

http://youtube.com/priskamusik

Download MP3 for “I Was a Fool (Live One Take)”

https://soundcloud.com/heresthelove/i-was-a-fool-live-one-take

Video produced by:

Naofumi Kudo

Sound recorded by:

Rickey Lumpkin II

Special Thanks:

Eberth Martinez

Punishment for rape in Ancient Rome: Rapist's gonads were crushed between two stones.

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:14:11 -0400

Punishment for rape in Ancient Rome: Rapist's gonads were crushed between two stones.
Punishment for rape in America in 2013: 1-2 years of jail and victim-blaming, rapist-sympathetic media coverage.

Video

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 03:37:17 -0400

“There’s a thing in life where you have to come to terms with...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:32:30 -0400

“There’s a thing in life where you have to come to terms with dyin’. Well, I haven’t come to terms with dyin’ yet. I want to come to terms with being sure that you understand that my love for you up to this point was as much as it could be and it’ll be as much as it could be for eternity.” -Danny Perasa, on his deathbed, to his wife Annie Perasa

Meet London - a Shiba Inu/Shetland Sheepdog mix - the smartest...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:04:19 -0400

Meet London - a Shiba Inu/Shetland Sheepdog mix - the smartest dog ever!

I got him when he was 9 weeks and 2 days old. He got potty trained in 4 days! He learned how to brush his teeth in 3 days! He has no problem taking a bath.

We’re working on his learning his name and following me now. But he should be a really quick learner. He’s such a cutie too. And bitches, he’s single ;)

“Wow… you guys should just get married.” I said the following in response to two...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:10:00 -0400

“Wow… you guys should just get married.”

I said the following in response to two friends who were bickering about something stupid and one of them immediately responded,

“Isn’t it sad that we associate marriage with bickering?”

I’m not sure how I feel about that just yet. I definitely see his point, but there’s also strength in a relationship that isn’t stressed by bickering and there’s value in being able to be brazenly honest. I don’t think it’s as simple as he’s making it out to be.

But last night another friend did say that “life is a power struggle and you never want to show someone that they have all the power.”

In the heat of the moment, I agreed. But after thinking about it, this is actually one of the points I mentioned in a previous post:

#20. Don’t fear being hurt. http://deathtaxes.tumblr.com/post/46061454281/a-few-simple-and-not-so-simple-things

We should stop viewing interactions as a vie for power, because it’s a mindset that deals pain as an alternative to being hurt. It causes a depression in the social space - pushing someone down as opposed to lifting someone up, which I’ll call an impression - and places unnecessary pressure on those nearby.

Scott Simpson, of the blog YourMonkeyCalled.com, recently wrote a piece titled “You Are Boring.” In it, he recalls every conversation he’s ever heard between two people:

Stranger #1: Thing about my life.
Stranger #2: Thing about my life that is somewhat related to what you just said.
Stranger #1: Thing about my life that is somewhat related to what you just said.
Stranger#2: Thing about my life…

Why are we only interested in ourselves? And not in a good way where we’re introspective, but in a puffed up way where we want to pat ourselves on the back and have others give us kudos for the insignificant things in our lives.

Why don’t we ask more questions? Be more inquisitive? Find out the why and how of things instead of the what? Why not lift others up instead of putting them down?

I think this approach can also apply to the entrepreneurial landscape. I’ve recently been reading the book Blue Ocean Strategy. It talks about the diminishing returns of fighting in established markets (red oceans, made bloody by excessive competition) and encourages entrepreneurs to create new markets (blue oceans, free of limitations).

When companies fight ignorantly over existing markets, they make miniscule changes, add insignificant benefits to the consumer, and take on heavy burdens of extra cost. PT Barnum & Bailey and Wringling Brothers died because they focused on featuring stars (which no one cared about), marketed based on a 3-ring venue (which increased the number of performers needed with other cost implications), and their high concession costs discouraged audiences from making purchases and made them feel taken advantage of. Whereas Cirque du Soleil offered new benefits such as a story line, intellectual richness, artistic music and dance, and multiple productions. Apple under Steve Jobs was constantly innovating the consumer space. Steve thought intensely about how people interacted with electronics and always looked to improve that, and because he built products that enhanced people’s lives rather than competing for market space, he ended up building a beautiful company that is still loved by billions of people.

There’s a vast difference between helping someone because you want power vs helping someone and inadvertently receiving respect. The ends don’t justify the means. Coincidentally I also touched on this point in a previous post:

#21. Don’t chase love, affection, or attention. Those should be freely given.
http://deathtaxes.tumblr.com/post/46061454281/a-few-simple-and-not-so-simple-things

Let’s learn to love ourselves so we don’t have to bully other people into doing so. Let’s learn to live harmoniously. Let’s learn to build each other up. Let’s love.

"Be with me, not because I am kind but because the taste of kindness is sweeter when we are..."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 19:09:50 -0400

“

Be with me,
not because I am kind
but because the taste of kindness is sweeter when we are entangled.
Be with me,
not because I am pleasant
but because all pleasantries aside, we are known by each other.
Be with me,
not because I amuse
but because things are less amusing when we are apart.
Be with me,
not because I am bold
but because the boldness of your character has found its match in mine.

This is a call for mercy
so that my poor heart can rest in peace,
rest in a peace that excludes death.
For we are not a stillness
But a wave cresting,
growing, expanding;
gaining momentum with every forward movement.

Be with me
not because you are able
but because you are unable
unwilling
unwanting
not to.

”

- Anon - Notes to a Fellow Wanderer

journhi: Little toy cars in the pavement :) (Taken with...

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 10:36:16 -0400

journhi:

Little toy cars in the pavement :) (Taken with Instagram)

Capture the present; before you know it, it’ll be the past.

"Your body is white like sand in which children never played your eyes beautiful and sad like..."

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:36:46 -0400

“

Your body is white like sand
in which children never played

your eyes beautiful and sad
like illustrated flowers in a schoolbook

wisps of your hair fall
like smoke from Cain’s sacrifice;

I must kill my brother
my brother must kill me.

”

- Yehuda Amichai - Songs for a Woman

Uncertainty

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:56:53 -0400

Everyday I’m at a crossroads. And everyday I wind up asking myself these questions:

“What am I doing with my life?”
“Will my company be successful?”
“Should I go back to school?”
“Can I build something lasting?”

There are many things I don’t know and even more that I’m discovering I don’t know, but also so many things that I’ve figured out.

“We have something amazing to offer others.”
“We’ve come such a long way. Look at us just a year ago.”
“Pain and growth often come hand-in-hand.”
“We are appreciated and loved.”

Those truths are more powerful than any fear of uncertainty and are what motivate me to keep going.

"And in the big cities, protestors blocked the roads like a blocked heart, whose master will die. ..."

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:48:15 -0400

“And in the big cities, protestors blocked the roads like
a blocked heart, whose master will die. And the dead were already
hung out like fruit, for eternal ripening within
the history of the world. They searched for the child; and found
pairs of lovers, hidden; found ancient urns;
found everything that sought not to be revealed. For love
was too short and didn’t cover them all, like a too-short
blanket. A head or two feet stuck out in the wind
when the cold night came. Or they found a short-cut of sharp
brief pain instead of the long, oblivion-causing
streets of joy and of satiation. And at night
the names of the world, of foreign cities and dark
lakes and peoples long vanished.”

- Yehuda Amichai - The Elegy on the Lost Child

A Few Simple (And Not So Simple) Things

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 05:57:00 -0400

Be sensitive to other people’s feelings.
Don’t discredit other’s ideas right away. Understand before forming an opinion.
Don’t be petty.
Your time isn’t more (or less) important that anyone else’s.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Don’t keep track of every debt or mistake.
Participate!
Always give people 100% of your attention.
Offer encouragement. Only criticize when asked.
Getting angry accomplishes nothing.
Love yourself.
Discover your passions.
Don’t dwell on mistakes. Overcome.
“How are you doing?” is more important that “What are you doing?”
Find value in all things.
Step back and look at the big picture every now and then.
Laugh off insults.
You don’t need to have the last word.
Two things define you: 1) your patience when you have nothing 2) your attitude when you have everything.
Don’t fear being hurt.
Don’t chase love, affection, or attention. Those should be freely given.
Do good and don’t expect anything in return.
Do what you say you’ll do; be where you say you’ll be.
…

To my best friend, You’ve taught me to be vulnerable and...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 05:50:00 -0400

To my best friend,

You’ve taught me to be vulnerable and encouraged me to share my thoughts with the world. Here’s my second try at that…

Chicco

Amazing cover of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team by...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 16:29:24 -0500

Amazing cover of Ed Sheeran’s The A Team by Priska.

Chilling lyrics are matched with a powerful yet seasoned voice; Priska adds depth to Ed Sheeran’s The A Team. Priska’s voice swells up, fills the verses and carries over into the 1st half of the hook, evoking an image of a strong girl in desperate times though we feel at least there’s hope for her - that she could pull herself out of her struggle.

And then all at once, the bottom drops out from beneath our feet and we’re left standing on air, only hearing just the wispy, thin remnants pleading “slowly sinking wasting; crumbling like pastries. And they scream the worst things in life come free to us…”

Hauntingly perfect musicality. I can’t wait to hear more from her.

carlosbaila: Marina Abramovic meets Ulay“Marina Abramovic and...

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 03:40:13 -0500

carlosbaila:

Marina Abramovic meets Ulay

“Marina Abramovic and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. at her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing it and this is what happened.”

“En los años 70, Marina Abramovic mantuvo una intensa historia de amor con Ulay. Pasaron 5 años viviendo en una furgoneta realizando toda clase de performances. En 1988, cuando su relación ya no daba para más, decidieron recorrer la Gran Muralla China, empezando cada uno de un lado, para encontrarse en el medio, abrazarse y no volver a verse nunca más. En 2010 el MoMa de Nueva York dedicó una retrospectiva a su obra. Dentro de la misma, Marina compartía un minuto en silencio con cada extraño que se sentaba frente a ella. Ulay llegó sin que ella lo supiera, y esto fue lo que pasó”

What a beautiful story. A love that spans space and time.