A picture of a painter...

...painting a picture of a painter painting a picture of a painter painting a picture of a painter painting a picture of a painter painting a picture of a painter painting a picture of a painter...

The idiotverse

the worst part about being intelligent is that you are surrounded by idiots.

they're everywhere. literally EV. ERY. WHERE.

the other day we had a snow storm in chicago. it wasn't a ton of snow, just 5 inches, but it all came at once and caused some pretty gnarly carnage on the main streets. my commute home from work generally takes 10 minutes. on that day, it took AN HOUR and 10 minutes.

this was mostly because idiots occupied the streets. intersections blocked by idiots. angry drivers being cut off by idiots. wrecks being caused by idiots roaming the streets with no regard for THE FUCKING BAZILLION CARS TRYING TO NAVIGATE THE SNOWED IN STREETS.

sometimes all the idiocy around me leaves me with little hope. i feel like i have to retreat into the sanctuary of my own home/mind to avoid the fallout from the mass idiocy that has taken our world hostage.

whether it's eschewing the rules of the road during a white out, or touting the healing powers of an invisible sky daddy, my patience for idiocy is about as taxed and tattered as it could ever be.

Beware the technology loop

i rely WAY too much on technology. i get sucked in by it VERY easily and i have a hard time putting the smart phones, the ipods, the laptops, the garmins, etc down or away for any extended period of time.

i need to change that.

when i run, i run sans phone/ipod and sometimes i run without my garmin, but that time only accounts for a small percentage of my day.

i'm going to try and get away from all the gadgets a little more in 2012. at least, i hope i can.

btw, portlandia is a fucking ridiculously hilarious and exciting new show on IFC.

"A Universe from Nothing" by Lawrence M. Krauss

i'm reading sam harris' The Moral Landscape right now (a fascinating albeit difficult to grasp at times read) and in checking in at mr. harris' website i found this recent interview with scholar lawrence m. krauss about his new book A Universe from Nothing.

I

GOTZTA

READ IT!!!

santa may not visit for another year, but zelig claus has a pocketful of hamiltons that'll do the trick.

In awe of ueli

to say i have a soft spot for ordinary people doing extraordinary things is quite the understatement. so it's no surprise that ueli steck, multi-record-holding speed alpinist, gets me excited about living.

here. see for yourself.

What is beauty?

the definition of "beauty" is, obviously, one of personal taste. it's a relative idea. my understanding of it is unique. on a bigger scale, societies create their own versions of what constitutes as "beauty".

some think long-ass necks are sexy.

others find robust hips to be a must.

i'm not sure what my own idea of it is exactly, as my tastes vary from day to day, moment to moment really; but i do know that i can appreciate different discourses on the subject of beauty.

do yourself a favor and travel back to the 50s/60s to discover what "beauty" looked like to the masses. i reckon today's kids would look at this and find it completely boring, yet back then, these were considered suggestive/sexy.

New year's resolution: dowatchulike

two years ago my resolution was to quit smoking. mission accomplished.

last year my resolution was to learn something new. i bought some turntables and taught myself how to mix/scratch. been having a blast doing it all year.

my resolution for the year 2012 will be to spend more time doing the things i enjoy and say fuck all to everything else.

more reading, more writing, more baseball, more basketball, more running. LESS people-pleasing, LESS committing to shit i don't care about, LESS suppressing my feelings/thoughts.

HUZZAH!

Can't touch this?

i'm a weirdo. on many levels.

sometimes i don't even realize how much of a weirdo i am until something alarming happens because of my weirdness.

i have "space" issues. i don't like being touched, especially by strangers, but even by friends and family. without going into a heavy does of psychoanalysis, i am aware of this issue and where it comes from but i've never thought it necessary to do anything about it. i don't like being touched. don't touch me, and all is good.

but most people won't let this be. they try to talk me into being okay with it. I'M NOT OKAY WITH IT. do i need any more of a reason? do i have to defend myself every fucking time someone wants to hug me for more than 2 seconds? this is MY space, isn't it?

oddly, my distaste for being touched has always been tempered by my ability to touch and be touched -- in moderation -- within a relationship. sexy time seems to trump my uncomfortableness with being touched. with girlfriends/lovers i've never had a problem with intimacy, as long as it's been in context (sneak up on me and touch me and there might be problems though).

it's been well over a year since i've been in a relationship, and i don't get touched very often otherwise, so nowadays when people do touch me -- whether by accident or on purpose -- it freaks me the fuck out.

i just don't like it. even hugging family members has become an issue lately. i can't go for the big hug. i'm not a hugger. i feel uncomfortable after a few short seconds and pulling away happens instinctively, and that became apparent after the holiday, when folks kept wanting to hug me and i surely offended them by pulling away too quickly.

i wish i could break myself of this issue, but i don't know how. i can't help that space invasion causes me to freak out and i don't want to have to explain myself for now and forever when such instances occur.

maybe i should just wear a sign around my neck.

No one tells it like carl...

goddamnitimissyoucarl!!!!

Happy xmas and all that shizz

no need for me to lay out my jaded position on how an historically suspect hippie's birth is reason enough to dictate what everyone should be doing on december 25, nor is it necessary for me to make clear just how much i despise the wicked religion of the masses. y'all know that.

i'm no delusionoid, but i do like the idea of having a specific time set aside exclusively for being with family and friends, giving each other gifts, reminding people that they matter and looking at cool lights while trudging through a foot of snow.

i ain't no bah-humbug, but for me -- and most of the learned folks of this earth -- i'd say that's a reasonable stab at what xmas really is anymore. well, that and the idea that it's a great way to sell shit that people don't need.

anyway, i'm gonna be with family this year. hopefully you're with people you like too.

also, i find beagles in santa hats to be quite irresistible.

HOLLA!!!

I knew there was a reason i keep shaving my head...

Rest in peace christopher hitchens

"School Portrait"

this sorta melted my heart.

yeah, yeah, yeah. make fun. if you must.

one of my sisters used to be a school photographer and her stories of taking pictures of kids are as entertaining as they are plentiful. i never envied her experiences as they sounded more fit for a young woman thirsty to become a mother rather than someone like me, but i enjoyed them nonetheless.

and in this case, i couldn't help but love what jonathan rhodes does.

maybe you'll enjoy it too.

Been reading a lot of zizek lately...

some pretty heavy shit.

but it's hard not to like the guy and the way he goes about breaking down ideology.

it's sorta like getting cataracts removed from your eyeballs.

I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE!

Embrace your inner crazy

for when you think your idea is stupid...

when you think no one cares, that the world is against you...

just know that it probably is and they probably don't but that still doesn't mean you should give a fuck.

on the real.

there will ALWAYS be someone crazier than you. and you count. if honey counts, you count. i count. we all count.

Everybody's got an opinion

i like buzzfeed. i think they serve a pretty good purpose on the interwebz. but sometimes, like a lot of the contrived, fact-skimming fodder fuel that runs amok on the world wide web, they do a better job at inciting social media riots.

a friend of mine posted a link to *this buzzfeed article* the other day on FB and got a hardcore back-and-forth frenzy going... all over who some folks consider to be good musical talents and who don't.

first, i think it's a well regarded fact that -- like any art form -- music is subjective. for me to assume that everyone likes soundgarden just because i and all my friends like soundgarden, is ridiculous, pompous and stupid. soundgarden isn't for everyone, just like hillbilly tambourine bluegrass ain't for everyone. i always just assumed everyone agreed on this.

but obviously, they don't. dude's feelings get hurt when you say his favorite band (or actor or writer or whatevs) sucks, because that implies that dude sucks, that his tastes suck, that he is just full of suck.

and that's what happened with folks on FB. of course, let's also realize the misleading nature of the article, comparing creed's record sales to that of jimi hendrix. how can one reasonably compare two different eras with two entirely different musical sharing technologies? in jimi's day, they didn't even have cassette tapes! by comparison, if i want to know what scott stapp sounds like farting in the comfort of his home i'm sure there's a free download of that available on the internets somewhere.

my point is twofold: 1) don't shit on my tastes. they're mine and they can be awesome in the public eye or not, i don't give a fuck, 'cuz they're mine. and 2) comparing apples and oranges is one infuriating way the media fuels uninformed idiocy.

and now ya know.

The gatti/ward inspiration train

pro boxing hasn't been good for a while. like, a long while.

sure, the pacquiao/marquez matchups have offered us a hint at what boxing could be, but in the end, they've been controversially disappointing. not since gatti/ward has a legitimate (and dramatic) storyline developed.

so, it's gatti/ward that i go back to. often. all three fights are on youtube in their entirety, and all three fights put tingles on the back of my neck.

but nothing does it like round 9 of their first matchup -- what ring magazine called "the round of the century".

as a long distance runner, i find great inspiration in people who soldier on through pain, in people who fight til the end and never give up. i like to think of myself as one of them -- that i'm a fighter, that even if you kick me when i'm down, i'll just keep getting back up and the only way you'll stop me is if you kill me.

To live life with no regrets

i seem to have this ongoing conversation with myself, each and every day, where i psyche myself out of just going through the motions (especially from a mental standpoint) that typically ends with the shawshank redemption morgan freeman character quote "get busy livin, or get busy dyin."

on the real.

while it sorta sucks that it took me almost 30 years to realize that i am in control of my own mental state -- that i have the power to discover contentment within myself for myself, no matter what circumstances may surround me -- at least i can be thankful i'm awake to the idea.

so many people in the world are clueless. they expect happiness to come to them, they expect things to line up properly, just because. i know, 'cuz i used to be one of those people.

i still have a long, long way to go. every day is a struggle, but it is a struggle that i know i can win -- I HAVE TO WIN -- and the reward of living life without regrets is the proverbial carrot that i won't stop chasing.

Superdong

if i had a boat i'd name it superdong II.

This is a joke, right?