The Fickle Finger of Fate

November 10th, 2008

Well, the experiment in regular blogging has returned definitive results, and it would appear that no matter how benign in purpose, any form of regimentation grates against my spirit and is inevitably defeated by my freedom-loving tendencies, known collectively as The Lazyness. I even tried setting my calendar app to deliver “reminders” straight to my email, which I generally check every day. The reminders kept arriving, and with their reminding served only to convert this really very enjoyable task into an odious chore which, as I tend to do with odious chores, I didn’t. This of course, leaves an empty space in the heart of the reader, and a terrible mess in my own.

So, no shame in it! I have decided that, being far from famous and interesting, I can afford to blog whenever the heck I want! I am most definitely going to try to get back to the at-least-once-a-week habit, however.

In Other News

As a prominent member of the press, I must, of course, weigh in on this. I am sure most of you know that we have elected our first black President, and his name sounds a good deal more fun than any other President’s to date (the “Hussein” bit is certainly included in this judgement, I like the Hussein bit). I am pretty happy with all this. Change can be good sometimes. Of course, nobody can cause quite as much of it in as short a period of time as our current Lame Duck, Mr. Bush. Mr. Obama (and both houses of the current Congress, and the Supreme Court, why not) has his work cut out for him, and I personally wouldn’t want to be in his spot.

Of course, I can never discount the possibility that the President is merely another global figurehead in a grand scheme perpetrated by a cabal of wealthy, bored, and well aged frat boys (of potentially reptilian ancestry) with a penchant for wearing very funny robes. In fact, I almost expect that to be the case. Things would be simpler if it were, and Occam’s Razor should thus dictate that it is. Nonetheless, the President Elect of the United States is, for a change, handsome, posessed of more than adequate rhetorical gifts, and, well…not laughable in his carriage and demeanor. Aside from that, I cannot tell what the future will bring (except that the world is still due to end in 2012, which means all this isn’t all that important in the first place) but I do really hope that he does incredibly well…for our sakes.

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Things that Have Changed

November 1st, 2008

My email has changed, so I have updated that information for all of you to see. I will try to post up newer paintings and photos as well.

Also, Halloween has come and gone. I have a new laptop from System76 which I am enjoying immensely, and I am still hanging on to the world by the skin of my teeth (what a bizarre expression that is!) I have begun work on my novel - “The Secrets of the Erotic Apocalypse” (working title) - and am slowly growing what will, in the not too distant future, become my first epic collection of poetry - “The Bastard Jim Saga” (also working title) - the Spiral Roleplaying System and the Alchemy Review are still in the same state of project “unlife” as is the Point And Click Adventure Game Module for Python and Pygame. The memory of the tremendous sense of flow and joy that I have felt when working on those projects has, however, convinced me to return to both soon. The same goes for my painting practice which, though better, is not where it should be.

In short. Life is weird and hard, but fun, fun, fun, I am hungry and must feed. You will be hearing from me in the near future.

Love,
Aleks

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A Video Essay

October 10th, 2008

Exhibit One:

Exhibit Two:

Exhibit Three:

I am sure I am not the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?

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Compensating for Something

October 10th, 2008

I am no stranger to posting long past four in the morning, and it ain’t because I am an early riser, I’ll tell you that. Rather, it’s because my schedule is…idiosyncratic. I wonder if the quality of the output suffers because of it. As you can see, the actual volume thereof has been suffering tremendously, for all my lofty, and empty, talk of setting a weekly schedule. You see, Web Design, it turns out, is a fairly booming and a fairly consuming business. I have gone from having tons of time on my hands and nothing in my pocket to having a little more in my pocket (believe me, I haven’t risen to great wealth in just the one month) and what seems like no time at all.

Still, all in all I am surviving and, what is most important of all, learning. These past two weeks have been nothing if not a first rate crash course in Advanced Time Management. I am learning that deadlines can be both friend and enemy, that it is important to space out projects in a fashion that will be least likely to drive me nuts, and that taking lunch and dinner breaks is always a good idea, even if it seems like a bit out of the way at the time. Nutrition tends to have a very direct impact on energy levels and, it follows, intellectual capacity, motivation, and concentration. At the time of writing, this reporter is running a deficit in all those departments, but it’s off to the “austere gates of sleep” within a few minutes anyway.

Speaking of deficits, how about that economy, eh? Zeitgeist Addendum came out recently, and its certainly worth a look. I like this one a great deal better than the first one, actually. Partly because it offered more hope. Also, the first section, which has to do with the core of our monetary system (debt, the Federal Reserve, all that good stuff) is actually quite strong and very edifying in terms of the information it provides (granted, in a somewhat simplifyed way). It’s definately harder to argue nowadays that there is nothing wrong with the Capitalist beast that we’ve been feeding, and feeding off of, all of our lives that it is to argue against the existence of Global Warming. The pocketbook is one of the most sensitive spots on most humans’ being, and pocketbook pangs are hard to ignore.

I am not gonna go crazy survivalist or anything just yet, but it may be prudent to begin in earnest a gardening project in my concrete backyard and on the patio. Granted, the city roaches may get to the harvest before I do, but it may be worth a try. Supposedly you can do that kind of urban farming quite cheaply. Fill some plastic crates with the right arrangement of soil, plant a few seeds, and tend to them as you would in any other situation. I imagine it can be quite fulfilling and pleasant and relaxing, and even a small crop of one’s own tomatoes is something to be proud of. We should all do it. How about it? Let’s make a pact!

In any case, I remain dedicated to the blind and magical optimism of some of my earlier posts. Ultimately, the world IS everlasting. I sure am glad I don’t have anything invested in that there stock market though. Gold is where the real action is at. It’s shiny and it can only be forged by the power of an exploding sun. It is the last remnant of a flamboyant death.

I will continue writing. I swear.

God bless us. Everyone :).

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New Format - Balance

September 28th, 2008

Alright, faithful and hungry reader, things are going to have to change around here! As you know (because you’ve been checking up on me day after day, hopeful for yet another morsel of my “wisdom”) I haven’t actually posted in weeks. The reason for this is obvious and banal. Alas, I was not whisked away to extraordinary outer worlds by mysterious, time traveling aliens. Alas, aliens were not directly involved at all (”directly” being a key word in this sentence). I’ve been simply preoccupied with post-graduate survival. Nothing more and nothing less.

However, my error lies not in my earning a living, but in my doing so without moderation! As you know, moderation is very important for the mental health. I myself have often said that one must work to live, not live to work. However, for a lucky someone who likes their occupation such distinctions can get a bit blurry.

Anyway, the point of all that jibber-jabber is that I need to learn to balance things out with a bit more grace, follow the Way, as they say, (which probably cannot be “followed”, being ineffable and all that), and try my very best to make more time for friends, family, and (the most applicable to this particular context) my personal projects.