Me Love You Long Time

Deceptive title. That's all I have to say about that.

I just wanted to say hi, how is the awesomeness out there, so on and so forth. This is a group blog post, in that it is a post intended for a group. Group blog posts are like group emails, and group emails are obnoxious, which means that group blog posts are obnoxious, which means that I, by association and propagation, am also obnoxious, especially because I send so many group emails.
I can live with that.

I'm supposed to be working right now, meaning I'm supposed to be prepping a shoot for Lima, Peru that starts in a week. I'm really looking forward to going to Lima, or I was, until I read this:

Street crime in Lima is rampant, even by third-world standards….
The police are useless….
A lady had some cheap earrings, ripped from her ear, destroying her earlobes….
Always carry a weapon, even if it is just a pocketknife, and be prepared to use it when you are attacked.
When outside Miraflores, always hire an armed escort (Note- I have two).
Wrap your camera and purse strap with heavy wire to prevent it from being sliced with razor bladed.
Ladies should line their purses with chicken wire to make them knife-proof.

Awesome!

Still, I’m excited- maybe more excited- to go, and more than ready to down a few Pisco Sours.

On the news front, the world is still turning and New York is not yet under water from global warming or water balloon fights. At least not at the intersection of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue.

In other news, I submitted a piece of writing to a publication for the first time and it was graciously accepted. Granted, I don’t know that any pieces weren’t as it’s a new publication but from what I understand, it is now at the presses and will soon be available for sale at Barnes and Noble. I will post more about that- when I know more about that. In the meantime, me love you long time.
Now get back to work.

Update: I just got an email with the release date: April 15.
You'll be able to file your taxes and pick up a copy all in one breath!

Canvassing This Weekend

I wanted to canvas Rhode Island for Obama last weekend but got caught up with work. This weekend, however- come hell or high water- I will be out knocking on doors. If anyone else is considering doing so, I say do it! And tell me so we can talk about the amazing final debate going on right now while we drive up the coast.

If you can't make it to RI but still want to contribute to the cause (and after tonight, how could you not?), consider donating some of your time to making calls or donating some money to advancing the campaign. It doesn't have to be much: the average nationwide donation is $109 and a ton of people in their 20's, who are hardly flush with cash, only donate $25. It all goes a long way.
March 4th is not far away, and neither are the links below:

To canvas Rhode Island this weekend: http://my.barackobama.com/GOTVinRI
To call Rhode Island: http://my.barackobama.com/CallRI
To donate to the campaign: http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/BoweryGirlNYC
(I posted my friend Rachel's Obama fundraising page because I'd love to see her reach her goal, but you can of course do a general donation here: https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/main?source=homedropdown )

What's Going Through Hillary's Mind?

March 4 is not far away so here's a theoretical look at what might be going through Hillary's mind.
In all fairness, I have a lot of respect for Hillary and as I told my friend Alex Lasky, who did a remarkable job conceptulizing and building www.HillarySpeaksForMe.com, if Hil does end up winning the nomination, I will support her 110%.
In the meantime, I'm all Obama, all the time.

I Like You

A good friend and saint is treating me to a little Northern California getaway for yoga, meditation and general granola eating and in the spirit of paying my good fortune forward, I thought I would leave behind this handy list from the much revered Himalayan guru, Amy Sedaris. Enjoy.

A SELF-REALIZED PERSON WILL...
- Be Unique in a way that is pleasing to everybody.
- Accentuate the positives- medicate the negatives.
- Have a hairstyle that is flattering to some and offensive to few.
- Have access to money.
- Never cry herself to sleep in front of others.

LEAR MORE ABOUT YOURSELF!
- Make a self-esteem collage using pictures of other people you with you were.
- Wing it! Quit your job without any financial plan or backup savings.
- Sleep with someone Chinese.
- Spend a lot of time in the bathtub.
- Disguise your voice and call family members posing as a police officer. Suggest that there has been a homicide and then question them about yourself.
- Spend some time at the zoo. Record how the animals react to your presence.
- Write yourself a fan letter.
- Put something small in your anus during lovemaking.
- Fly Air India.

Happy Day, Valentines!

though i aspire to avoid games in my own relationships, there is something charming and lyrical about this poem that makes me love it. wishing you all a happy valentine's day!

When a Woman Loves a Man
by David Lehman
When she says margarita she means daiquiri. When she says quixotic she means mercurial. And when she says, "I'll never speak to you again," she means, "Put your arms around me from behind as I stand disconsolate at the window." He's supposed to know that. When a man loves a woman he is in New York and she is in Virginia or he is in Boston, writing, and she is in New York, reading, or she is wearing a sweater and sunglasses in Balboa Park and he is raking leaves in Ithaca or he is driving to East Hampton and she is standing disconsolate at the window overlooking the bay where a regatta of many-colored sails is going on while he is stuck in traffic on the Long Island Expressway. When a woman loves a man it is one ten in the morning she is asleep he is watching the ball scores and eating pretzels drinking lemonade and two hours later he wakes up and staggers into bed where she remains asleep and very warm. When she says tomorrow she means in three or four weeks. When she says, "We're talking about me now," he stops talking. Her best friend comes over and says, "Did somebody die?" When a woman loves a man, they have gone to swim naked in the stream on a glorious July day with the sound of the waterfall like a chuckle of water rushing over smooth rocks, and there is nothing alien in the universe. Ripe apples fall about them. What else can they do but eat? When he says, "Ours is a transitional era," "that's very original of you," she replies, dry as the martini he is sipping. They fight all the time It's fun What do I owe you? Let's start with an apology Ok, I'm sorry, you dickhead. A sign is held up saying "Laughter." It's a silent picture. "I've been fucked without a kiss," she says, "and you can quote me on that," which sounds great in an English accent. One year they broke up seven times and threatened to do it another nine times. When a woman loves a man, she wants him to meet her at the airport in a foreign country with a jeep. When a man loves a woman he's there. He doesn't complain that she's two hours late and there's nothing in the refrigerator. When a woman loves a man, she wants to stay awake. She's like a child crying at nightfall because she didn't want the day to end. When a man loves a woman, he watches her sleep, thinking: as midnight to the moon is sleep to the beloved. A thousand fireflies wink at him. The frogs sound like the string section of the orchestra warming up. The stars dangle down like earrings the shape of grapes.

475 Kent

Dear Friends,

We are trying to save the building that Melvin Gibbs, Eve Sussman and Simon Lee, and other people/artists/musicians you might know as well, live and work in. It is currently under threat from mass, unjust eviction.

For more information:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/nyregion/21loft.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/nyregion/22lofts.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/nyregion/10building.html

Please take two minutes to sign the online petition to Mayor Bloomberg
to try and help get the folks @ 475 Kent back into their building, and
get their livelihood and life back.

http://www.petitiononline.com/475Kent/petition.html

Please do so now. And PLEASE forward this to your friends.
We are trying to get thousands of signatures on Bloomsberg's desk asap.

Thanks

Church and State

Apologies in advance for inundating the blogosphere with philosophical and/or religious posts as of late, but there's something in the air and it has me and my friends talking about everything from parallactic shifts in the universe to which brands of toothpaste we use. One of those friends, a Mr. Simon Dasher, added this to the conversation. It's one of the most rewarding pieces of footage I've seen in recent history: a 40 minute video of Barack Obama speaking on the subject of religion that reaffirms all the reasons Obama is, in my mind, the person who can and will help put this fractured and fragmented country back together again.

In case you missed the link above, here it is again: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid353515028?bctid=416343938

This I Believe

i'm a big fan of the Edward R. Murrow-founded THIS I BELIEVE project. whenever a THIS I BELIEVE segment comes over the air on NPR, i'm momentarily suspended in time, listening to what it is people, both known and unknown, find meaning and measure in. it leads me to the question of what it is i believe, a question that mostly lazes about in my mind but sometimes wakes up to harass me at 10:21am on a monday morning. i found this article, which reminded and well encapsulated much of what i believe. as always, i thought i would share.
(p.s. my father brilliantly added that this video may help clarify: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoBTsMJ4jNk&feature=related)

The meaning of life

by Ram Samudrala

---

It's all quite simple really. I just formulated this somewhat cogently in the last couple of months (it's January 2000 now), but since I was five I've been thinking about this question.

Always, my answer was that ultimately life is pretty meaningless. That we're all as insignificant as grains of dust in the grand cosmic scheme of things, all created randomly, leading random lives, and that our existence, or lack of, doesn't affect anything. This isn't a negative view---it's an extremely positive and uplifting one (and I've had an extremely positive upbringing). Thinking this viewpoint (assuming it's a relatively correct one) as negative would imply there's something about our place in this Universe that is not satisfactory. Why not accept who we are? I think it behooves us to remove any conditioning that makes us think we're more special than we really are. Only then will be content with who we are and perhaps then able to truly feel alive as a human being.

More importantly, this view opens all possible doors and makes the choices endless. What this means, in a similar vein as Sartrean existentialism, is that whatever meaning to life we give is borne out of our own creation. It is artificial but that's okay, as long as we're content when we go through our chaotic and complex life cycle.

While I believe what I say above is true (and there are many different types of arguments on its behalf), I never could specifically answer the question of what the nature of the meaning that we give to life is. I always felt people frantically searching for meaning and the search was what gave it meaning but yet I felt there was something more than this lack of meaning and the futile search. At first it seemed as though each person's meaning was their own personal thing and finding contentment was what brought meaning to peoples' lives. For example, a mother might find meaning in her life by devoting it to the care of her children; a religious person may find meaning in their life by devoting it to their god (I'm an atheist, for the record); some may find it in the arts, or the sciences, or excelling in some physical activity; and a psychopath may find it by killing other people. No matter how it happens, all of these would/should lead to contentment (and who is one to question or argue what makes one content?).

I think the meaning of life is what you make of it, but what I think this boils down to is doing things that make you realise that you're a living entity, i.e., being alive. For example, I jumped off a plane from 18,000 feet recently. That was an existential experience and what I went through when I experienced that was what made me realise what life is about---I was being alive (or existing). Likewise, when I have an intellectual orgasm solving a problem no one has ever solved before which may change the way the world works, that also makes me feel extremely alive. Or when I ski down a difficult slope successfully or hike the Grand Canyon in less than eight hours. Or having great sex or eating a great meal. Or enjoying a good laugh or a cry. Or marvelling at the beauty of nature and reaching a Zen-like state with it. Or creating this web page. (And so on---in general, doing things you're passionate about makes you realise that you're alive.) That is when I realise I'm alive. I'm being alive. And that is the meaning of life.

If there is confusion about what I'm writing about (I'll refine it as time goes along), think of it this way: what does it mean to be a rock? Or a planet or a star? Or a table? Or a cloud? Or wind? Or a ray of light? That meaning lies in what each object is, the way it is defined and characterised, the way it exists. The meaning of "a ray of light" is just that---being a ray of light. Likewise, the meaning of life is just that---being alive.

Now, of course, one could argue that every moment in our lives is spent being alive. Yet, perhaps because of the way our brains are structured, perhaps because we have some form of self-awareness, we might not necessarily realise it at all points in time. And if we don't realise it for long enough periods, we're not being alive---we're being something else. We lose the passion for life and although we're creatures that are alive, our lives take on a different meaning.

So different people may indeed have an idea of what things to do that make them aware they're alive, but if the things they do don't succeed in this regard, then they may feel their lives lack meaning. Religion, and other institutions, promise this awareness, but my view is that they generally fail (and when they do succeed, more power to them!). I think not being alive, i.e., not doing things that make you aware that you're alive, including allowing yourself to be objectified (you can see why existentialists spent so much thought on this issue), leads to discontentment, forlornness, nausea, and all the other pseudointellectual garbage that existential philosophers talked about.

I guess after writing such an arrogant missive I might as well stop (you can guess the chances of this happening) these pseudo-intellectual ram-blings. I'm sure there are people out there who will take personal affront at my effrontery, but it is my opinion and it is a personal view.

A reader pointed out to me that the meaning of life is simply the biological imperative to transfer our genetic code. This is line with Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, where we're just vessels to propagate our genes and every action we undertaking (including the writing of this missive). I have no philosophical objection against this view (just go to a bar and you'll see evolution in action). I guess my missive above implicitly accepts the genetic framework and then as humans who are sentient and conscious beings, we have somewhat of a "choice" to derive more meaning, but there really isn't any (i.e., it's all chance anyway).

People Today Have the Means to Live, But No Meaning to Live For

it's been an interesting year, people: one that has left me grappling with all sorts of questions about my life and existence and one that has led me to this article, which i quite like. perhaps you will, too.

People Today Have the Means to Live, But No Meaning to Live For
by Chuck Gallozzi

The title of this article was taken from a quote by the Austrian Psychiatrist, Viktor E. Frankl (1905 ~ 1997).

He developed the theory and practice of logotherapy, which became known as the "third school" of Viennese psychotherapy (the "first school" being that of Sigmund Freud and the second that of Alfred Adler). A survivor of the Holocaust, Frankl became widely known because of his book, "Man's Search for Meaning." In it he theorized that the concentration camp victims most likely to survive were those who had meaning in their lives.

According to the tenets of logotherapy, the main motivation of humanity is its search for meaning in life. Without meaning, a vacuum is created, plunging us into the relentless pursuits of money, power, fame, and sex. There is nothing inherently wrong with all the above, but unless they are subjugated to a higher purpose, their attainment leaves us feeling empty. Money, sex, and power, then, are not enough. We need meaning.

After all, the rich and powerful are not immune from suffering. How can they face it without meaning? Do not even the most powerful people die? If so, how can they courageously accept their mortality without meaning? Can our life be a source of joy if it is without meaning?

What then is meaning? It's a personal reason for our existence. It's a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It is not a matter of searching for some ethereal, profound, and mysterious meaning, but merely of choosing what to dedicate our life to, for the purpose of life is to live a life of purpose. In other words, the meaning of life is to live a meaningful life. We create ourselves with the power of thought, and we create our meaning with the power of choice.

The meaning of a word is its role in a sentence, and the meaning of a person is their role in society. When we take on a role and contribute to society, we become meaningful by being useful. Our role gives us value and significance.

The world is in great need. It requires peacekeepers and bus drivers, janitors and shopkeepers, factory workers and salespeople, schoolteachers and philosophers, artists and musicians, accountants and politicians, plumbers and physicians, engineers and electricians, computer programmers and dishwashers, cooks and architects. The list is endless. No role is too small; all roles are vital, and every role is an opportunity for someone to find meaning.

It is not the nature of the role, but how we express it that fills us with purpose. Taking orders for food and serving it may be the job of a waiter, but putting people at ease, helping them make their selections, serving them courteously and promptly, and making their dining experience enjoyable is the mark of a professional, the mark of someone filled with purpose. It is this intention to serve others to the best of our ability that elevates even the simplest job into one of great dignity. It transforms a common task into an extraordinary event that touches the lives of others. So, it is not the nature of our job, but the nature of our attitude toward our job that makes our life worth living.

Is our job really that important? Buddha thought so, for he taught, "Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749~1832) expressed similar sentiments when he wrote, "What is my life if I am no longer useful to others?" So, when we accept a role, we cease to be a wanderer and become a pilgrim. The simple act of dedicating ourselves to a noble purpose fills us with power. The Indian philosopher Patañjali (2nd century BC, or 5th century AD) explained this well when he taught, "When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be."

Some young students worry that they may never find meaning in life because they are overwhelmed by the number of occupational choices and the extent of the skills that are needed. They often are confused because they don't know what to become. But life is not about becoming an occupation; it's about becoming useful. It's about serving the community. And we can do this is any number of ways. The secret, then, is not to search for an occupation to study, but to look for a way to help others. When we redirect our attention from our own needs to the needs of society, we are more apt to find our place in the world. A sincere wish to contribute to society coupled with a willingness to respond to opportunity as it strikes will lead to finding one's purpose. All young people have to do is follow their heart, as long as it ennobles them.

Some cry, "How can we find meaning in a world of suffering?" But doesn't suffering point to needs? Don't needs provide an opportunity to serve? And doesn't service give meaning? Being good isn't good enough. We need to be good for something. What greater meaning can we find than lessening the suffering of others? It is for this reason that all religions teach compassion.

For example, the Hindu faith teaches, "What sort of religion can it be without compassion? You need to show compassion to all living beings. Compassion is the root of all religious faiths." (Basavanna, Vachana 247) Also, Islam teaches, "All [human] creatures are God's children, and those dearest to God are those who treat His children kindly." (Hadith of Baihaqi)

The following story taken from the Talmud (Abot de Rabbi Nathan 6) expresses the Jewish view:

Once, as Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai was coming forth from Jerusalem, Rabbi Joshua followed after him and beheld the Temple in ruins. "Woe unto us," Rabbi Joshua cried, "that this, the place where the iniquities of Israel were atoned for, is laid waste!"


"My son," Rabbi Yohanan said to him, "be not grieved. We have another atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving-kindness, as it is said, 'For I desire mercy and not sacrifice' [Hosea 6.6]."

Perhaps, if the Hindus and Muslims of Ayodhya, India burned the above teachings into their hearts, instead of burning one another alive, the world would become a better place. And what of the Palestinians and Jews? Rather than exterminating women and children of their enemies, why not extinguish the hatred in their hearts?

I don't mean to condemn any particular group, for we are all guilty of being less than we can be. So, let's end our search for meaning by choosing to become all that we can be. And if someone were to ask, "What on earth are you doing for Heaven's sake?" — let our answer be, "I'm doing God's work."

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

To say he influenced and shaped a good many lives, my own included, is a vast understatement.
Maharishi, rest in peace.

Super Tuesday

It's Super Tuesday tomorrow people. Get out and vote!!!!
If you're in NYC and need to find your local polling station, you can do a quick and easy search here: http://gis.nyc.gov/vote/ps/index.htm

DAMN it feels good to love the Giants