August 4, 2010

I’m not sure if you know who Cornel West is. I was just reading an interview with him. Shear genius.  His thoughts on love and the undereducated youth of America is brilliant. Here is a portion of his feelings on unattainable soul nourishment.

‘If I were born today, I’d have soul sickness. I think that’s true for the country as a whole. I see it with my students, certainly. Black, brown, white, red, no matter-4.0 GPAs, 800 Board scores, sharp as can be, on the way to Harvard Law. But if a friend died tomorrow, they’d be in crisis and catastrophe with hardly any way of dealing with it. They haven’t experienced love in any deep sense. They don’t know how to love themselves or one another in a way that empowers or nourishes the spirit. They’re used to more fleeting interactions, stimulations, titillation rather than deep nourishment.’

Yes.  I think the man knows what he’s talking about.

7:47pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyryOQ3
July 30, 2010
Just looking through some old pictures from last August’s trip to New York to visit Filip Szymanski.  Naturally, this might have been the defining moment.

Just looking through some old pictures from last August’s trip to New York to visit Filip Szymanski.  Naturally, this might have been the defining moment.

9:09am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyqRXAH
May 26, 2010

Normal?  What does that word mean?

I have often fought with minions over the true definition of what normal is, as it were.  I feel like we often times address the word with a positive connotation, like ‘normal’ is something we should strive for.  But why should we do that?  Normal isn’t exciting.  It doesn’t hold your attention or inspire great thought.  It doesn’t demand your very best.  It suggests a sort of mediocrity and adequacy that only begins to challenge the human mind.  Normal is based on user-defined scale, with two extremes, chosen by the user, and is merely a ideology held by the user.

I don’t want to be normal.  ’Normalcy’, to me, describes someone bland and complacent.  I want to be someone that people think about, and think about again, because they can’t quite figure me out.  Someone that inspires complex thought.  That challenges the minds of others.  That questions the beliefs of myself and of others.  

I think I’m done with this note, but I do want to leave you with this quotation.  No one has claimed it, so for the sake of honest journalism, I will credit myself with it.

“When will you understand that being normal isn’t necessarily a virtue?  It rather denotes a lack of courage.”

11:27am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKybr9qG
(Notes: 1)
  
May 4, 2010

I’m at Moe Joe’s right now, having a coffee and writing on my laptop about my personal interests, activities, and goals.  No, not just for the fun of it all, but because a $10,000 scholarship for next year requires it.  And yes, I am very excited about it.  It might be my best one ever.  Not to mention, it will help may the $500 bill that I just racked up on my motorcycle.  Don’t ask what happened, I’m not proud.

On another note, this week has been pretty productive, just to let you know.  It is an uncomfortably natural feeling, that this is my last ‘summer’ of sorts.  I realize I work all the time now, so the real world and it’s grueling summers should be no different, but I can’t help but think that it will be.  I enjoy being able to work 4 hour days and then chill the rest of it.  I found the chords today for ‘Arms Around Me’ by Tyrone Wells.  It will be learnt.  

I had a great lunch today with my friends.  Brandee’ and Audrey (Budsey).  It never ceases to amaze me, how my close friends, no matter how down I am, cheer me up.  Not that I was down, it’s just that when an engineer is forced to rely on the work of a psychology major creative inquiry team, one tends to be stressed.  But, I more wanted to say thanks for having great friends, and not so much to complain.

I have rambled, as I tend to do, so I’m going to move on and get back to work.  Cheers.

8:57pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyY6eC1
April 30, 2010

I’m sitting here studying for biochemistry.  I’m supposed to ready for this exam tonight at 7:30 p.m.  But all I can think about is how I want to be riding my motorcycle up to the mountains with a hammock and laying out by the lake with a book.  I would ask if anybody else felt the same way, but I know the answer.  Granted, they may not have the same mode of transportation, but the goal is the very same one.  Complete relaxation…of the mind, body, and spirit.  That time will come soon.

1:31pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyXT7ms
April 28, 2010

It’s Wednesday morning during exams week.  I just got done watching a few episodes of Saved by the Bell and Fresh Prince, and now I’m sitting here listening to music and thinking…and typing.  It’s amazing how often my mind wanders into the unnatural space that seems to me a mixture of self-loathing, confident exultations, solemnity, and bliss.  

I often find myself harping on the word ‘love’.  I use it more than is allowable for it to retain its meaning and potency, but I cannot get enough of the word.  Love is what drives humans, it is a universal feeling that, regardless of any discriminatory classification you can think of, is alive and strong.  It is what causes the heart to be whole.  And it is what causes my cocktail of emotions.  I find myself moved by love, even when I am not in love.  I am witnessing two weddings this summer, both of dear friends, and it brings a smile to my face and to my heart to see them together.  It is such a genuine happiness…it’s contagious.  That’s why I’m smiling right now as I read this.

I like to put it like this.  While apart from your loved one, you miss them terribly.  Yet you are still happy, because you can feel their love in your heart, and you know that you will never truely be apart.

And then there is unrequited love, which is another ballgame all together.

10:47am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyX8-8u
April 27, 2010
"The heart has reasons which the reason cannot understand.
- Blaise Pascal"

11:11pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/ZFYSKyX4xRn
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