I was reminded of this commencement address given by Kurt Vonnegut at MIT I remember coming across probably 13 years ago and loving it then - I still do love it and find it refreshing and real:
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4:00 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.
Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Musicapalooza
By: Kyle Elden
I've got myself a bad case a' download fever. iTunes can be a dangerous, gluttonous fly-trap of an invention if left in the wrong hands. I find myself downloading, from my iPhone, like crazy in waiting rooms (like my doctor's office for my 'annual' you know what), waiting at the courthouse for Child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) cases for my job, or in the long-as-h-e-doublehockeysticks line as I wait to pick up my kid at school. My iTunes account linked so devilshly to my debit card, so easy, so hassle-free - and it's nothing....download, download, download until you are in a blissful music frenzy, a haze of beats, boppin' your head in your car like a mutha' - it's so easy! I think I've got it under control until I check my bank account and whoa momma....the numbers are dropping fast!! But, what is life without passion eh?!?!?
So, two albums I've been devouring are as follows:
First, there's this sweet little Birdy - a fifteen year old sweetheart with a voice that is tremendously mature and other-worldly ~ as my daughter Stella so eloquently put it, "momma, I can't believe she's 15, she sounds so old, like she's probably like about 20 or something!" Yes, that's right kid, she sounds old :) Her debut album is phenomenal - seriously, it's a compilation of covers from some of my favorite songs from my some of my favorite artists - the best 'covers' album since Cat Powers The Covers Record, which is amaaahhzingggg!! Stella loved Fleet Foxes version of White Winter Hymnal, but little Birdy, boy oh boy - it's good stuff. And c'mon, James Taylor Fire and Rain (they played that damn song at my grandpa Clem's funeral when I was twelve, it always wells up my eyes with tears)! And then throw in The National's Terrible Love, Phoenix's 1901, xx Shelter, and holy moly Bon Iver's Skinny Love....and it's all over!! My little girlie and I have been listening to this, singing along together all weekend long!! Check out some of the aforementioned songs:
and just go google like crazy to listen to the rest - or better yet, download the album :)
Okay, and then I've been diggin' Polica !! A friend had sent me a link to a youtube video a while back and then on the wearehunted website I came across them again. Damn, I tell you this is sweet, smooth, sexy music you can get lost in - feels like I'm being swept away in a sea of sultry beats and a sweet voice like honey taking me to another place that I like, a lot!! It's hypnotic!! As I researched the band a bit more they are from freaking Minneapolis and the lead singer is this absolutely adorable, stunning woman (admitted woman-crush :)) from the duo Roma Di Luna that I love too!! Another recent download Polica's Give You the Ghost is start to finish goodness! Check out a couple:
And that's all I've got!!
I've got myself a bad case a' download fever. iTunes can be a dangerous, gluttonous fly-trap of an invention if left in the wrong hands. I find myself downloading, from my iPhone, like crazy in waiting rooms (like my doctor's office for my 'annual' you know what), waiting at the courthouse for Child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) cases for my job, or in the long-as-h-e-doublehockeysticks line as I wait to pick up my kid at school. My iTunes account linked so devilshly to my debit card, so easy, so hassle-free - and it's nothing....download, download, download until you are in a blissful music frenzy, a haze of beats, boppin' your head in your car like a mutha' - it's so easy! I think I've got it under control until I check my bank account and whoa momma....the numbers are dropping fast!! But, what is life without passion eh?!?!?
So, two albums I've been devouring are as follows:
First, there's this sweet little Birdy - a fifteen year old sweetheart with a voice that is tremendously mature and other-worldly ~ as my daughter Stella so eloquently put it, "momma, I can't believe she's 15, she sounds so old, like she's probably like about 20 or something!" Yes, that's right kid, she sounds old :) Her debut album is phenomenal - seriously, it's a compilation of covers from some of my favorite songs from my some of my favorite artists - the best 'covers' album since Cat Powers The Covers Record, which is amaaahhzingggg!! Stella loved Fleet Foxes version of White Winter Hymnal, but little Birdy, boy oh boy - it's good stuff. And c'mon, James Taylor Fire and Rain (they played that damn song at my grandpa Clem's funeral when I was twelve, it always wells up my eyes with tears)! And then throw in The National's Terrible Love, Phoenix's 1901, xx Shelter, and holy moly Bon Iver's Skinny Love....and it's all over!! My little girlie and I have been listening to this, singing along together all weekend long!! Check out some of the aforementioned songs:
and just go google like crazy to listen to the rest - or better yet, download the album :)
Okay, and then I've been diggin' Polica !! A friend had sent me a link to a youtube video a while back and then on the wearehunted website I came across them again. Damn, I tell you this is sweet, smooth, sexy music you can get lost in - feels like I'm being swept away in a sea of sultry beats and a sweet voice like honey taking me to another place that I like, a lot!! It's hypnotic!! As I researched the band a bit more they are from freaking Minneapolis and the lead singer is this absolutely adorable, stunning woman (admitted woman-crush :)) from the duo Roma Di Luna that I love too!! Another recent download Polica's Give You the Ghost is start to finish goodness! Check out a couple:
And that's all I've got!!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
We ARE HUNTED
This is an amazing site of music exploration I've been LOVING
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http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Thursday, March 15, 2012
In Praise of Honest Enthusiasm for the Awesomeness for Life
By: Brendan Leonard (http://semi-rad.com/)
*Thanks to my good friend Deb for sharing this awesomeness with me :)
One Saturday morning last October, my friend Greg and I were running down the North Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon, close to halfway through 26 miles of trail. We had run four miles and would run about four more to Phantom Ranch, where we could double-fist coffee and Lemmy lemonade at the cantina before climbing 4,400 vertical feet back up the South Rim to finish a hike/run Rim-to-Rim.
I turned around mid-stride and said,
“Hey Greg!”
“Yeah,” he said.
“We’re running in the Grand Canyon!”
Sometimes I get to do awesome things, and I kind of forget how awesome they are. Do you? I get stressed, caught up in other stuff, and I forget how fortunate I am, how incredible life has turned out to be most days, and some of the special places I’ve gotten to see. Most of the time, though, I try to keep a pretty good handle on it — try to remember to turn around and yell to my friend that yes, we are running across the most famous hole on Earth, and that’s pretty special. Or, you know, even reminding someone a few months later about something special.
Kurt Vonnegut, in a 2003 speech to students at the University of Wisconsin, said,
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’”
In 2012, I urge you to notice when something is awesome, as it often is, and exclaim or murmur or just make a mental note of it. Isn’t it just goddamn fantastic that you have your health, for example? Or running water, or electricity? Or that you have enough money to actually pay someone else to make you a cup of coffee? Or if you want ice cream, you are at any time in America probably only 5 or 10 minutes away from a place that sells some form of it? (Trust me on that one)
Your life, even the bad parts, is fucking amazing. And most of the small things that make up your life are amazing, too — mountain bike rides, rock climbs, ski runs, sunsets, stars, friends, people, girlfriends and boyfriends, dogs, songs, movies, jokes, smiles…hell, even that burrito you ate for lunch today was pretty phenomenal, wasn’t it?
What was your enthusiasm for these things last year? I recommend you step it up in 2012.
People can disagree with things like quality, maybe your taste in food, or whether or not a movie is good. But no one can argue with enthusiasm, especially when it is over the top.
Do you think that climb you just did is the greatest climb ever? Great! If someone tries to tell you it isn’t, who cares? “Greatest Rock Climb Ever” is not an objective title. Thusly, when you are excited about a climb (or a trail run or a summit view or a bike ride or a sunrise), don’t let anyone bring you down.
A conversation where someone puts down your favorite ski area/mountain/rock climb/trail/burrito is not a conversation about ski areas/mountains/rock climbs/trails/burritos. It is a conversation about that person being a pompous asshole. Go forth and be positive in 2012.
Enthusiasm doesn’t have to stand up to criticism. It doesn’t even have to really make sense. If you finish a ski run, MTB trail or sport climbing route, and you like love it, I encourage you to try out new superlatives when describing it to someone else. This goes for everything you’re excited about. Examples:
“I’m just going to tell you now that Outer Space is the most incredible rock climb you will ever do. You cannot not smile while climbing it. It’s like the Beatles. Even if you for some ridiculous reason don’t enjoy it, you can’t deny its inherent goodness.”
“Have you heard the new Macklemore song? It will knock you on your ass!”
“The Eggplant Parmesan sub at Pasquini’s is probably my favorite sandwich in the entire city of Denver, if not the state of Colorado. In fact, now that I’ve said that, I think we should go to Pasquini’s immediately.”
Maybe some of the stuff you like love, that you’re passionate about, isn’t cool. Hey, this is 2012. Everything is cool. Irony is either everything, or dead. Be honest: When you see someone wearing a Motley Crue t-shirt, you don’t know if they’re serious, or wearing it to be ironic, do you? Do you like Motley Crue? Then ROCK THAT SHIT. And spread happiness.
Remember it is not illegal to high-five anyone. Do you use exclamation points in the salutations of your e-mails? Well, why not?
Do you like to laugh? Most people do, don’t they? Including baristas, waitstaff, and retail personnel. Perhaps you have at some point had a real conversation with one of these people. This can sometimes begin by sincerely asking those people how they are, instead of treating them like a machine that makes you coffee or orders your salad. This opens the door to making them laugh. If you play your cards right, you may be able to high-five them at the end of a conversation.
Remember yesterday, when you saw that one thing that reminded you of that one friend of yours, and you thought about how if you sent that friend a photo of the thing that reminded you of them, they would smile? But then you didn’t send your friend that photo, and it wasn’t awesome. Don’t do that again. Here’s what you do:
Take the photo.
Send it to your friend.
Your friend smiles. The world is a better place. Thanks.
*Thanks to my good friend Deb for sharing this awesomeness with me :)
One Saturday morning last October, my friend Greg and I were running down the North Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon, close to halfway through 26 miles of trail. We had run four miles and would run about four more to Phantom Ranch, where we could double-fist coffee and Lemmy lemonade at the cantina before climbing 4,400 vertical feet back up the South Rim to finish a hike/run Rim-to-Rim.
I turned around mid-stride and said,
“Hey Greg!”
“Yeah,” he said.
“We’re running in the Grand Canyon!”
Sometimes I get to do awesome things, and I kind of forget how awesome they are. Do you? I get stressed, caught up in other stuff, and I forget how fortunate I am, how incredible life has turned out to be most days, and some of the special places I’ve gotten to see. Most of the time, though, I try to keep a pretty good handle on it — try to remember to turn around and yell to my friend that yes, we are running across the most famous hole on Earth, and that’s pretty special. Or, you know, even reminding someone a few months later about something special.
Kurt Vonnegut, in a 2003 speech to students at the University of Wisconsin, said,
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’”
In 2012, I urge you to notice when something is awesome, as it often is, and exclaim or murmur or just make a mental note of it. Isn’t it just goddamn fantastic that you have your health, for example? Or running water, or electricity? Or that you have enough money to actually pay someone else to make you a cup of coffee? Or if you want ice cream, you are at any time in America probably only 5 or 10 minutes away from a place that sells some form of it? (Trust me on that one)
Your life, even the bad parts, is fucking amazing. And most of the small things that make up your life are amazing, too — mountain bike rides, rock climbs, ski runs, sunsets, stars, friends, people, girlfriends and boyfriends, dogs, songs, movies, jokes, smiles…hell, even that burrito you ate for lunch today was pretty phenomenal, wasn’t it?
What was your enthusiasm for these things last year? I recommend you step it up in 2012.
People can disagree with things like quality, maybe your taste in food, or whether or not a movie is good. But no one can argue with enthusiasm, especially when it is over the top.
Do you think that climb you just did is the greatest climb ever? Great! If someone tries to tell you it isn’t, who cares? “Greatest Rock Climb Ever” is not an objective title. Thusly, when you are excited about a climb (or a trail run or a summit view or a bike ride or a sunrise), don’t let anyone bring you down.
A conversation where someone puts down your favorite ski area/mountain/rock climb/trail/burrito is not a conversation about ski areas/mountains/rock climbs/trails/burritos. It is a conversation about that person being a pompous asshole. Go forth and be positive in 2012.
Enthusiasm doesn’t have to stand up to criticism. It doesn’t even have to really make sense. If you finish a ski run, MTB trail or sport climbing route, and you like love it, I encourage you to try out new superlatives when describing it to someone else. This goes for everything you’re excited about. Examples:
“I’m just going to tell you now that Outer Space is the most incredible rock climb you will ever do. You cannot not smile while climbing it. It’s like the Beatles. Even if you for some ridiculous reason don’t enjoy it, you can’t deny its inherent goodness.”
“Have you heard the new Macklemore song? It will knock you on your ass!”
“The Eggplant Parmesan sub at Pasquini’s is probably my favorite sandwich in the entire city of Denver, if not the state of Colorado. In fact, now that I’ve said that, I think we should go to Pasquini’s immediately.”
Maybe some of the stuff you like love, that you’re passionate about, isn’t cool. Hey, this is 2012. Everything is cool. Irony is either everything, or dead. Be honest: When you see someone wearing a Motley Crue t-shirt, you don’t know if they’re serious, or wearing it to be ironic, do you? Do you like Motley Crue? Then ROCK THAT SHIT. And spread happiness.
Remember it is not illegal to high-five anyone. Do you use exclamation points in the salutations of your e-mails? Well, why not?
Do you like to laugh? Most people do, don’t they? Including baristas, waitstaff, and retail personnel. Perhaps you have at some point had a real conversation with one of these people. This can sometimes begin by sincerely asking those people how they are, instead of treating them like a machine that makes you coffee or orders your salad. This opens the door to making them laugh. If you play your cards right, you may be able to high-five them at the end of a conversation.
Remember yesterday, when you saw that one thing that reminded you of that one friend of yours, and you thought about how if you sent that friend a photo of the thing that reminded you of them, they would smile? But then you didn’t send your friend that photo, and it wasn’t awesome. Don’t do that again. Here’s what you do:
Take the photo.
Send it to your friend.
Your friend smiles. The world is a better place. Thanks.
If God Invited You to a Party
By: Hafiz
If God
Invited you to a party
And said,
'Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest...'
How would you then treat them
When you
Arrived?
Indeed, indeed!
And I know
There is no one in this world
Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor
If God
Invited you to a party
And said,
'Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest...'
How would you then treat them
When you
Arrived?
Indeed, indeed!
And I know
There is no one in this world
Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Love More
Two beautiful versions of this stunning song originally by Sharon Van Etten. A reminder that through all experiences we can learn to Love More :)
Monday, March 12, 2012
After Drinking All Night with a Friend, We Go Out in a Boat at Dawn to See Who Can Write the Best Poem
By: Robert Bly
These pines, these fall oaks, these rocks,
This water dark and touched by wind---
I am like you, you dark boat,
Drifting over water fed by cool springs.
Beneath the waters, since I was a boy,
I have dreamt of strange and dark treasures,
Not of gold, or strange stones, but the true
Gift, beneath the pale lakes of Minnesota.
This morning also, drifting in the dawn wind,
I sense my hands, and my shoes, and this ink---
Drifting, as all of this body drifts,
Above the clouds of the flesh and the stone.
A few friendships, a few dawns, a few glimpses of grass,
A few oars weathered by the snow and the heat,
So we drift toward shore, over cold waters,
No longer caring if we drift or go straight.
These pines, these fall oaks, these rocks,
This water dark and touched by wind---
I am like you, you dark boat,
Drifting over water fed by cool springs.
Beneath the waters, since I was a boy,
I have dreamt of strange and dark treasures,
Not of gold, or strange stones, but the true
Gift, beneath the pale lakes of Minnesota.
This morning also, drifting in the dawn wind,
I sense my hands, and my shoes, and this ink---
Drifting, as all of this body drifts,
Above the clouds of the flesh and the stone.
A few friendships, a few dawns, a few glimpses of grass,
A few oars weathered by the snow and the heat,
So we drift toward shore, over cold waters,
No longer caring if we drift or go straight.
Robert Bly reads 'After Drinking All Night With a Friend, We Go Out in a Boat at Dawn to See Who Can Write the Best Poem' from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
My Master and I
By: Paulo Coelho
(these notes were written in August 1986)
We are sitting in a garden in a French town.
– Deep down, people complain, but they love routines – I said.
– Of course, and the reason is very simple: routines give them the false sensation of being safe. Thus, today will be exactly like yesterday, and tomorrow will bring no surprises. When night falls, part of the soul complains that nothing different was experienced, but another part is content – paradoxically, it is for the same reason.
“Evidently this safety is completely false; no one can control anything, and a change always appears at the moment one least expects it, taking us surprise and with no chance to react or fight.
– If we are free to decide that we want a uniform life, why does God force us to change it?
– What is reality? It is that which we imagine it to be. If many people “think” that the world is like this or like that, everything around us crystallizes, and nothing changes for some time. However, life is a constant evolution – social, political, spiritual, on whatever level it may be. In order for things to evolve, it is necessary for people to change. As we are all interlinked, sometimes destiny gives those hindering evolution a push.
– Generally in a tragic way…
– Tragedy depends on the way you see it. If you chose to be a victim of the world, anything which happens to you will feed that dark side of your soul, where you consider yourself wronged, suffering, guilty and deserving punishment. If you choose to be an adventurer, the changes – even the inevitable losses, since everything in this world changes – can cause some pain, but will soon thrust you forward, forcing you to react.
“In many oral traditions, wisdom is represented by a temple, with two columns at its entrance: these two columns always have names of opposite things, but in order to illustrate what I mean, we will call one Fear and the other Desire. When a man stands at this entrance, he looks at the column of Fear and thinks: “my God, what will I find further ahead?” Then he looks at the column of Desire and thinks: “my God, I’m so accustomed to that which I have, I wish to continue living as I have always lived.” And he remains still; this is what we call tedium.
– Tedium is…
– Movement which ceases. Instinctively, we know we are wrong, and we revolt. We complain to our husbands, wives, children, neighbors. But, on the other hand, we know that tedium and routine are safe havens.
– Can a person remain his whole life in this situation?
– He can be pushed by life, but resist and remain there, always complaining – and his suffering will be useless, will teach him nothing.
“Yes, a person can stand for the rest of his days facing one of the many doors he should go through, but he must understand that he has only truly lived up to that point. He may continue to breathe, walk, sleep and eat – but with less and less pleasure, because he is already spiritually dead and does not know it.
“Until one day when, as well as his spiritual death, physical death appears; at that moment God will ask: “what did you do with your life?” We must all answer this question, and woe betide those who answer: “I remained standing at the door.”
(these notes were written in August 1986)
We are sitting in a garden in a French town.
– Deep down, people complain, but they love routines – I said.
– Of course, and the reason is very simple: routines give them the false sensation of being safe. Thus, today will be exactly like yesterday, and tomorrow will bring no surprises. When night falls, part of the soul complains that nothing different was experienced, but another part is content – paradoxically, it is for the same reason.
“Evidently this safety is completely false; no one can control anything, and a change always appears at the moment one least expects it, taking us surprise and with no chance to react or fight.
– If we are free to decide that we want a uniform life, why does God force us to change it?
– What is reality? It is that which we imagine it to be. If many people “think” that the world is like this or like that, everything around us crystallizes, and nothing changes for some time. However, life is a constant evolution – social, political, spiritual, on whatever level it may be. In order for things to evolve, it is necessary for people to change. As we are all interlinked, sometimes destiny gives those hindering evolution a push.
– Generally in a tragic way…
– Tragedy depends on the way you see it. If you chose to be a victim of the world, anything which happens to you will feed that dark side of your soul, where you consider yourself wronged, suffering, guilty and deserving punishment. If you choose to be an adventurer, the changes – even the inevitable losses, since everything in this world changes – can cause some pain, but will soon thrust you forward, forcing you to react.
“In many oral traditions, wisdom is represented by a temple, with two columns at its entrance: these two columns always have names of opposite things, but in order to illustrate what I mean, we will call one Fear and the other Desire. When a man stands at this entrance, he looks at the column of Fear and thinks: “my God, what will I find further ahead?” Then he looks at the column of Desire and thinks: “my God, I’m so accustomed to that which I have, I wish to continue living as I have always lived.” And he remains still; this is what we call tedium.
– Tedium is…
– Movement which ceases. Instinctively, we know we are wrong, and we revolt. We complain to our husbands, wives, children, neighbors. But, on the other hand, we know that tedium and routine are safe havens.
– Can a person remain his whole life in this situation?
– He can be pushed by life, but resist and remain there, always complaining – and his suffering will be useless, will teach him nothing.
“Yes, a person can stand for the rest of his days facing one of the many doors he should go through, but he must understand that he has only truly lived up to that point. He may continue to breathe, walk, sleep and eat – but with less and less pleasure, because he is already spiritually dead and does not know it.
“Until one day when, as well as his spiritual death, physical death appears; at that moment God will ask: “what did you do with your life?” We must all answer this question, and woe betide those who answer: “I remained standing at the door.”
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