My Generation

Today, I was walking back from class and saw that someone had written “Bad Wolf” in...

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:40:03 -0700

Today, I was walking back from class and saw that someone had written “Bad Wolf” in chalk on the side of the math building. That made me smile.

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:33:38 -0700

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

- Yogi Berra

FUCK

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 20:07:56 -0700

fffffffffFUCK.

"Climbing is the only cure for gravity"

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:46:15 -0700

“Climbing is the only cure for gravity”

chandlerrodman: slow mornings! i could use more of...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:08:01 -0700

chandlerrodman:

slow mornings! i could use more of them

Greenville, NC

You Must Decelerate

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:38:00 -0800

This semester has been moving fast. I mean every semester moves fast in retrospect but this one is special. It’s my last in another 4 year school with no immediate plans of returning to the institution that kills the fun out of learning, although my gut tells me I’ll be back. Since school began in the late weeks of January, just about every weekend (and many weekdays), I’ve been going out. I told myself that this semester I’d try and say yes to every invitation to social events (outside dire circumstances or major obligations to school). So far so good. The main purpose was to meet as many new and interesting people as possible.

However, when I focus on one area of my life for a long time, even for a few weeks, I begin to notice the other areas falling apart. Each part requires as much attention as all the others. This is me slowing down. The importance of slowing down in all times is important. I could see how someone would feel the opposite way but the benefits to me are unique. There is no telling really how to do this whether it be through solitude, introspection, appreciation or any linear combination thereof. Everything gains enough perspective especially when situations, relationships, or emotions are skewed one way or another. When situations seems bad, relationships are sour, or emotions are in the gutter, slowing down wins its worth many times over.

"Remember, happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends solely upon..."

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:39:00 -0800

“Remember, happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends solely upon what you think.”

- Dale Carnegie

"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:35:06 -0800

““Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.””

- J.K. Rowling

"Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it..."

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:17:32 -0800

““Sometimes I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts.””

- Edgar Allen Poe

The biggest photo of the night sky ever taken – 360-panaromic view composed of 37,000 separate photographs

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:01:44 -0800

The biggest photo of the night sky ever taken – 360-panaromic view composed of 37,000 separate photographs:

They’re all dead.

Currently

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:24:38 -0800

Currently pondering a storyline for a science fiction book examining the human condition. This is complex.

Learning to unlearn. Unlearning to learn.

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:40:44 -0800

Learning to unlearn. Unlearning to learn.

"Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected..."

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:39:46 -0800

“Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there – I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things happen in life that’s unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it’s like watching television – you don’t feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it’s all television.”

- Andy Warhol

Walking

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:31:05 -0800

Walking is one of the most therapeutic things I have encountered. It is the same reason I love being outdoors, hiking, climbing, or playing sports. I enter this trance in which I am not thinking about the past or future. I am completely in the present. The feeling I had when I was a child. This might be the reason why I don’t mind hard labor at all. Shoveling the driveway when it snows in New York isn’t so bad when I get time to myself. All thoughts are one dig after the next. Time feels lengthened and the thoughts are pristine.

Now imagine today where everything people do is supplemented by phone, internet, and computer usage. These technologies are incredibly distracting. They disrupt and confuse the brain’s thought processes. Gone are the days where people had long, beautiful elegant thoughts. The minute the brain doesn’t encounter something easy or interesting it reverts to these positive reinforcements like checking Facebook for notifications.

Walking (or whatever the choice of getting away from technology) seems to clear the mind. By clear, I mean it allows people to focus on one singular thought as opposed to jumping back and forth between many different ones. Not only is this process more productive in terms of the time and efficiency of dealing with problems but it is far more creative.

The main principle is well captured in meditation and yoga. Focus, only on the present and don’t let your mind get distracted by other things. Beautiful things start happening when one can achieve this state. In the future, the creatives, artists, writers, etc. will become extremely valuable for as technology pervades into our daily lives more, the important commodity will be well structured, creative, and focused ideas.

One of my goals for this semester (hopefully for life) is to spend one day per week away from the computer and phone as much as possible. I’ve had about a 50% success rate thus far. These days (usually Saturdays) are when I take the opportunity to engage in some physical activity or in a creative process. I usually accomplish an incredible amount. Incredible being a relative standard to the other six days.

Walking is a simple act only requiring oneself, nothing else. The fundamental benefit is getting away from distraction and being able to focus. This has perpetual rewards.

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:24:46 -0800

Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action.

Moves On

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:58:08 -0800

A few days ago I wrote a letter to my friends, which one day I may finish and may actually share. It began, “I just cried watching a great piece of story come to an end”.

There are many painful moments as happy ones in life. Funny thing about the painful ones is that you get over it. Relatively fast. Live moves on. Better to embrace it than reject it.

Today (1/31/2012) a bunch of us cooked dinner and hung out. Only...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:08:00 -0800

Today (1/31/2012) a bunch of us cooked dinner and hung out. Only a fraction of the people who came are in the picture but the essence has been captured. We are together.

I am so grateful for the people in my life. I hope they know that.

"People fall so in love with their pain, they can’t leave it behind. The same as the stories they..."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:11:12 -0800

““People fall so in love with their pain, they can’t leave it behind. The same as the stories they tell. We trap ourselves.””

- Chuck Palahniuk, Haunted (via acid-floyd)

"The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears..."

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:11:42 -0800

“The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.”

- Ted Hughes

"There isn’t a woman I’ve met that I haven’t fallen in love with, whether..."

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:06 -0800

“There isn’t a woman I’ve met that I haven’t fallen in love with, whether it’s for 10 years or 10 minutes.”