American Center for Surreal and Paranoid Life

25

2008-02-15T02:15:00.002-05:00

What are the bases on which you select your goals?

24

2007-12-17T11:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the night, there will be a break through. I will tell you what I mean next post, after the fact.

I will thoroughly (I have dreamed) enjoy this break through.

23

2007-12-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

I thought my mind was over there, but it was over here.

When I went over to it, it just sat there. And then my mind was blank, and (then) I could see.

I made this music while I was fraught and the inklings were coming out of my brain(s).

22

2007-12-11T12:22:00.000-05:00

21

2007-12-10T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a firm believer in what these days is becoming the norm in thinking about inanimate objects: that they actually may have "life" in them. There's an essence in objects. They resonate and give off a (low) vibration of some kind. The molecules in objects are moving about in such a way that science is beginning to say that objects are alive, albeit at a very slow rate of life. Slower than a tree.

When you break or lose an object you just may be hurting that object's (slow-rated) feelings (in the long run). Perhaps this is where good luck and bad luck come in. Objects remember, they can "see," and they can "make things happen."

20

2007-12-09T06:15:00.000-05:00

I will not seriously ask myself any questions. But how do I dig deeper into something that is with/in me at the moment? No one answer that, so as not to make it a question.

Calculators are for adding (?) numbers, matches are for lighting fires, little black books are for having phone numbers inside. Red light, blue light, green light. Things, objects are in their places inside my room here the way they were put there. I put them there without even knowing it, or without doing it on purpose at the time.

Now I look at these/those things and they sit/set there quiet, unassuming, unmoved, silent and content, almost peaceful and serene. They did not get there on their own. I don't remember the precise moment when I put them there. They are all there as objects and evidence of my existence. They are forms of beauty... If I want to be downtrodden and negative... I can't.

What I'm saying is I love my life, no matter how horrid or horrible or useless it might seem on the outside (to/for me). In my own pettiness I am happy to be alive. I am happy to be a living creature among the objects around me. We share our life together.

19

2007-12-06T11:40:00.000-05:00

For the first time in my life, I'm seeing dollar signs in front of my eyes. And those dollar signs (and the actual dollars) are entering my life. Call them dollars, or pesos, or euros, or whatever.

Money is coming into my life for the first time because I'm allowing it to. I want it to. I'm inviting it into my life. I'm not asking for it. I'm not hoping or wishing for it -- I'm inviting it, (in other words) I'm accepting it. And it's coming in.

I'm no longer being artistic about it. I'm no longer putting a gripe on money. I'm looking at it as a friend now, almost as a long lost brother -- like it's a part of my own family that I had cast out in the past.

It's not like all of a sudden I've now realized how important money is, or how much I need it in order to survive in this life. It's more like it (the concept of money, and the concept of making lots of it) has come up to me and has asked me to be it's friend. It's as if all of a sudden I have a secret magnetic relationship with money now.

18

2007-12-05T16:14:00.001-05:00

There isn't enough time in the world to know exactly what's going on (in the world). So if you don't know something that you do want to know about, don't even think about it because it's probably too late -- it's probably already passed by and is already on its way to infiltrating into the world. And there is no way to know about it now, until it has an impact on your life (without you even knowing about it).

17

2007-12-04T11:51:00.000-05:00

Yes, I hid them in a good place.

16

2007-11-29T03:02:00.000-05:00

Now I've got to go and look for a good place to hide Rachel's two severed legs.

15

2007-11-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

Do you see the hands? Do you see the fingers on the hands? Do you see the letters there? Those are the vowels. A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. A, E, I, O, U.

14

2007-11-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

Dismembering Rachel in the garage

one minute, thirteen seconds

13

2007-11-26T11:33:00.000-05:00

My novel was born out of the idea not to intellectualize. I couldn't say anything (more), there were no words to say -- so my novel was born out of an action really, an action of feeling -- a welled-up feeling that couldn't be expressed in words at first, but only in a rush of feeling emanating from my body, and then using language only as a secondary means of knowing a little bit (or even an inkling) of what my welled-up feeling was all about.

12

2007-11-25T10:14:00.001-05:00

I saved a kitten today from a small but deep and narrow fountain. The kitten was submerged underwater when I noticed her. She was swimming upwards to the surface, when I put my hands into the fountain water and grabbed hold of her and took her out of the water.

11

2007-11-22T11:08:00.001-05:00

Today I was calm in the heart today. I felt calm. I felt like I was calm. I was calm today. I can't wait to go to sleep tonight. I will take some dreaming pills tonight.

10

2007-11-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

The policeman put on his cap at 1:45 p.m. and ran off to a distress call down the street. The dispatcher had to remind the policeman to bring his weapon, because it was a dangerous (as well as distressful) situation, the dispatcher said.

She slapped his cheek hard, when he told her that he had lost faith in their life together. And she watched his face blankly as the redness in his cheek slowly went away.

"Inequality in our society is the whodangey of all the goodness and capabilities of organized heroes where ardent strides are kept alight toward the goal of futile gesticulations," a respected professor (who wished to be a policeman when he was a child) was saying as me and my friends were sitting together in the grass near the fence outside University Hall on that October afternoon when that kid shot at several people randomly on campus. And then he killed himself, the policemen said.

9

2007-11-20T06:05:00.000-05:00

TRIP The / Your Count / Esses / Houses. Television Visions --> Monday, November 19, 2007 was the day the skull - (was) down in the Lap(b)els: skull post/erior /moments/ meditated by mr //hot// tamale at 11 minutes : 55 Places to Meet the Comment(arie)s - Like the post/erior _

8

2007-11-19T11:15:00.001-05:00

There was another one in Freeport, Texas. She unlocked the car door quickly, and tried to get away. I told her she had thirteen seconds to make a run for it. She said that she could run to hell and back in thirteen seconds. And when she left, she left her purse in the car. That's how I got those little "trophies," as you call them.

7

2007-11-18T10:34:00.001-05:00

Timing is always right. No matter which way you see it, or look at it. She was with me again last night.

6

2007-11-15T17:11:00.001-05:00

I was in the late great state of Michigan, and we were both sitting on the sofa. She arrived at our rendezvous spot a lot earlier than she was supposed to.

She pulled a knife on me when she sat down on the sofa with me. Her boyfriend (and her five kids from another relationship) found out about me, she said.

And I grabbed her wrist and told her to put the knife back (into her purse where she got it from). She did so for a moment, but then pulled the knife on me again. And again I had to grab her wrist and guide her hand to put the knife back.

5

2007-11-14T10:44:00.000-05:00

Last night my dream was not a dream, because it was blacked out by fever and a (migraine) headache. I was nonetheless there, in my dream, although I can't recall except that my mind was tossing and turning trying it's best to get better.

In the future I will listen to no more stop signs.

4

2007-11-13T08:14:00.001-05:00

Another day of wanting gravity to give up on me. A UFO will land in front of my house tonight, at a time in the night when everyone else is sleeping.

My brain will be looked into (and operated on) while I am hypnotized. I will be called on to walk through my house exactly as I've always done, except now with a slight night-time (sleepy) daze.

My dreams that night will bring me the details of what I'm supposed to do.

3

2007-11-12T04:50:00.000-05:00

I wish there was a sure fire way of communicating with other people and getting what I want from them at the same time.

When the time is right, things will work out whether I know it (realize it) or not. I've got to get to the stock market as soon as possible.

The stock market is the one place that's connected so much to nature, without seemingly to have anything whatsoever to do with nature. Intuition comes alive in the stock market. Why? Because the elements of chance, fate, skill, thought, human frailty and triumph, and delusion come into play in direct connection with actual reality outside the self.

I don't shape reality, I must play the game "correctly" within the reality that's going on outside me. My stock choices relate to (or shape) my bankroll reality only -- not at all are they relevent to the ups and downs of the companies that manufacture and sell goods for and to the human race...

At least I know I don't shape reality at the very moment I make my stock choice, and not unless there's a conglomeration of other people's stock choices converging and naturally in sync with my own at any given moment.

2

2007-11-11T01:18:00.000-05:00

Today is the start of my story. I don't know at this point where the story will lead (or where or how it will end). But it will lead and end somewhere. It has to, once it gets started. I just know that honesty is important.

There's Music In the Air

2007-09-27T05:30:00.000-04:00

(Ivan Johnson -- The Institution Blues Album / 2006 / USA)

The final touches of a cutting-edge psychology experiment have now been completed on Patient I.J., marking twelve years of non-intrusive neuroscience research since the preliminary experiments were first started in 1995.

Ivan Johnson (Patient I.J.) suffers cyclical episodes of incapacitating hebephrenic schizophrenia that has not been helped in any way by any currently available medications.

So as a last resort, doctors at the Milton S. Hershey Clinical Psychiatry Center decided to fully give in to Ivan's delusions of grandeur and allowed him to pursue his "dream" of becoming a blues singer musician (while still in the safety of the courtyards at the Center).

The doctors supplied Ivan with a guitar and set up a small recording apparatus before him (and also quietly became bystanders and audience members in the z-courtyard), where Ivan's delusions and hallucinations became uniquely and productively reflected in the reality around him (thus producing The Institution Blues Album) rather than remaining stagnate in the confines of his own mind.

This simple and therapeutic method (of building up a mentally ill patient's motivation level) is known by its few practitioners as Open Flow Excitation. The method aims at identifying the patient's recurring inner-most patterned wishes and desires, and then goes about systematically constructing and guiding the environment so that the patient can do nothing but immerse and encourage himself into fulfilling his own inner-most wishes.

DOWNLOAD the entire album (for free)

Technorati tags: Ivan-Johnson, music, institution, blues, schizophrenic, patient, free, download, open-flow-excitation

Ivan Johnson: "Hear my sound worm."

2007-09-05T08:01:00.000-04:00

Ivan Johnson (pictured) has finished preparing his recordings (full album, 36:24m) done live in the Z-courtyard at the Milton S. Hershey Clinical Psychiatric Center, between June 24 - 27, 2006. Ivan is a 42 year-old schizophrenic with marked affective disturbance who has been receiving inpatient treatment at the Center for the past twelve years. Here is a sample song from the soon-to-be-released CD...

[UPDATE: The full album is now available as a free download!]

[READ MORE, and get the free download...]

Shop at the shop

2007-08-24T05:48:00.001-04:00

Work by Linda Starlson, lindastarlson(at)yahoo(dot)com, in response to an earlier post. Thanks Linda!

She writes, in reference to the work, "It's all over in half a page, but in that glimpse the goose is lifted dramatically."

1

2007-08-14T19:47:00.000-04:00

Went to the Guggenheim today, to the Shapes of Space show. Of particular note I thought was Mika Rottenberg's "Dough" (2006).

Assignment for artists: draw, paint, or otherwise artistically create a rendition of this as-of-yet non-existent painting that is described here:

2007-06-29T07:47:00.000-04:00

23. And then I walked passed the antique mahogany hutch on my way to the bathroom. And I looked at the painting (we bought from the second-hand shop) that was now hanging on the wall in the small hallway near the bathroom door in our apartment.

24. The painted canvas was framed in a large, intricately carved dark wooden picture frame. The painting was a painting of a woman holding her baby. The baby was bundled up in a pink woolen blanket. And only a portion of the baby’s left side profile was discernible.

25. Only the baby’s left side rosy red cheek, and a portion of the baby’s left side portion of nose, and the baby’s closed left eye, and a small portion of the baby’s closed rosy mouth on the left side, was discernible.

26. The woman was sitting on a white wicker chair, and she was holding her baby bundled up in the soft pink woolen blanket, as though the blanket was meant to keep the baby warm. And the woman was wearing a pair of black tight fitting Gass jeans. But she wasn’t wearing any shoes. She was barefoot.

27. In the background of this picture of the woman holding her baby in her arms and sitting on the white wicker chair, was a singular background that was painted a completely smooth lavender.

28. And I couldn’t help but notice that the woman’s beautiful feet had toenails that were nicely polished with a bright red nail polish. And she was wearing a black sleeveless Evelence blouse that had six small black buttons buttoned all the way up to the top of her neck line.

29. And I stared at her slender arms and her long beautiful hands as she held the baby, and I noticed that her fingernails were nicely manicured and polished with the very same bright red nail polish that her toenails were polished with.

30. Then I looked up at her long, flowing, chestnut brown hair that hung thickly down over her shoulders. And because her eyes were hidden behind a pair of large black Rye-Pan sunglasses, I couldn’t see her eyes.

31. I then looked at her face, and I could see only parts of her face that weren’t hidden behind her large black Rye-Pan sunglasses. Yet I couldn't help but focus on her lips. Her lips were closed and quite large and puckered into a kiss going out toward the person who would be viewing the painting. And her lips were glossed over with a thick layer of hot red Garlucci lipstick.

32. Abruptly, my eyes shifted downward from the painted canvas, so I could see the title of the painting. Shop At The Shop, was the title of the painting. The title of the painting was stylistically engraved on a gold-plated metal plaque that was affixed to the bottom part of the painting’s intricately carved dark wooden picture frame.

33. I backed one or two steps away from the painting, and I said aloud to Lisa who was in the kitchen, Wow, what exactly regulates what a person does with their life?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

34. Lisa knew I was talking about the painting on the wall that was perpendicular to the bathroom door, and across from the bedroom door, and near the threshold of the living room. It was the only painting we had in the apartment. At least now she knew exactly where I was, obviously on my way to the bathroom.

35. So she said from the kitchen, I think that's where the energy of the person comes in, and the ability of the person.

36. I heard what she said, and I heard the loud squeak of the oven door opening up all the way. And I heard the sound of Lisa pulling the pan-sheet of onion rings out of the oven. Directly after that, I heard the squeak of the oven door closing, and I heard the faint sharp sound of the oven-timer being clicked off (before the alarm could actually go off).

37. I said, So you're saying that what a person does with their life is related to the energy they have? What about a person who has lots of energy and they only cook and clean all day? They're constantly using energy, right? They seem to have plenty of energy.

38. Lisa said, Well, I'm not talking about pure energy of using up calories. I'm talking about mental energy, creative energy. I'm talking about someone creating something new!

39. So with her country-style pot holder gloves on, she swung the pan-sheet of onion rings over to the kitchen countertop and dumped them into the large Denkar serving dish.

40. She thought to herself that it was a wonderful painting. She said aloud on many occasions that she loved it because it was a real painting, using real paint, and that it was in a real wooden frame. A picture says a thousand words, she said several times, referring to all paintings in general. She also said that she loved the Denkar serving dish she bought from the second-hand shop at just a fraction of the original price.

41. How many people actually create something new in their lifetime? I mean during their whole lifetime, how many people actually create something completely new? I said. And I hoped that she heard what I said as I walked into the bathroom, and I closed the bathroom door behind me.

If you'd like, click here to read the first 22 passages.

Kowtow

2007-06-14T23:00:00.000-04:00

Can you guess the answer: Why do statues and paintings of George Washington always show him standing?

Graveyard of Dead Blogs

2007-06-04T22:36:00.000-04:00

comments section (a reservoir of dead blogs) updated November 6, 2007

This blog post will serve as a singular resting place where anyone could drop off (and find) DEAD BLOGS.

Dead blogs can be a treasure trove of interest to those who look carefully.

So when you find an interesting dead blog on the internet, (and let's define "dead blog" as any blog that has been inactive for longer than three months), pick up the link to that blog and give it a proper place to rest.

Dump the link HERE in this post's comments section, henceforth known as the GRAVEYARD OF DEAD BLOGS.

Let this be a place where others can view the dead blogs, and pay their respects to interesting ideas and thoughts gone by.

[NOTE: These are the beginning steps to setting up a website (separate but stemming from Surreal and Paranoid Life) that will exclusively showcase everything DEAD BLOGS. Please join this endeavor by recommending choice dead blogs.]

Technorati tags: dead blogs, blog, blogger, death, cemetery, graveyard

2007-05-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

Two New

hypnotizing pin wheels

FOR FREE!

---> 1 , 2

Gloss 1

2007-05-26T10:02:00.000-04:00

Featured artist: Mark Amerika

Artist's post: "Way back in 1996, I introduced the concept of surf-sample-manipulate as part of a long tradition in what author Raymond Federman calls playgiarism (the use of the extra y is, of course, meant to signify the more playful aspects of intentionally manipulated source material)...." (Read More)

-------------------------------------------------------------
My supplemental gloss: Now this idea in the above-mentioned post would be even more wonderful and even more relevent to one's own artwork if one would choose one's own works to playgiarize. Work that has been published, or work (or parts thereof) that is languishing in one's own private keeping. Indeed, we are playgiarizing all the time. Yes, nothing in itself is original, only in the presentation (and in the timing of presenting) can we find originality. And to make it even easier, remember, most of the time we are indeed playgiarizing from our own real lives (or what we observe or take in from reality around us) when we recall (i.e., use or manipulate) in any way, and for whatever purpose, our daily memories and impressions.

Technorati tags: mark amerika, playgiarism, plagiarism

Rr

2007-05-14T07:18:00.000-04:00

Instructions:

1. Write down (in the comments section here) as many words as you can think of that begin with the letter "r".

2. It's okay if you happen to write down words that someone else has already written (in the comments section).

3. Don't use a dictionary to help you think of any words.

Technorati tags: alphabet, words, letter r

Business

2007-05-08T08:21:00.000-04:00

For the single man, or the single woman; or for the married couple keeping a sense of autonomy and individuality as well as being together; or for the unmarried couple living together like a married couple.

[UPDATE: Janice's development was similar to Robert's during the first half of the year. Later, however, she moved beyond the stage of viewing the jack-knife as simply the accurate reproduction of frontages. She began to interact more with sediment and infinity about her policies, she began to add information to her impropriety in response to questions, and she used a variety of resources to get the red herrings and intercourses she wanted to use.]

NOTE: Image and all text by John Jersey

Slow version serial killer

2007-04-30T13:59:00.000-04:00

humpf="hell://www. climb.organs/#"> over="My_slapped(' life="< href="http://www.">help//will. climb. on/directly/" out="My_swappedIwife Restore()" a > over=""> ('dumped','','images/pop up_fur.girl',''','images/roll_dir_ectable. gift',1)"

outsource="MMmmm_swapImyRestored(wife)" dump','','images/pop up_ circular.cut','cried','','images/roll_circular_blue.gifts',10 onmouse=" her="hips://will. clamp.over/and/about/sub_merged_form." MMmmmmmm_swapImy wife in myhouse dump?,??,?images Rest()?

her="hips://will.clamp.organs/about/jui_ce_database_and_form.reality"helping://with clumping.organs/in/the/toolkit/next/2/the/garage.help" a.s>a>p.

[NOTE: Prose/poem written by John Jersey, a former computer systems analyst, who is currently a patient at the hospital diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.]

(-OO)

2007-04-27T04:51:00.000-04:00

If you were able to see anything that you wanted to see, what would you want to see?

(Write the first thing that comes to mind.)

Medical Surrealism, Issue 02

2007-04-23T11:01:00.000-04:00

The mind, body, and spirit are working as one organism in the world. Death only gives hope and life to renewal. And anything you do or say is connected to the well being of this organism.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. How would you like to die a hundred times over? And die in so many different ways? Here you can read about a woman who likes to experience a variety of imaginative deaths every day. [contributor: howidiedtoday at HOW I DIED TODAY]

2. To have a nose, or not a nose. That is the question when worrying about a better way to clip one's nose hairs. Death nose, and death knows. [contributor: Mark A. Rayner at THE SKWIB]

3. Voices inside the heads of other people are quite hard to hear. We all want to hear voices sometimes, and we wonder what the voices might say. The vocal cords of those voices would be a treat to see. [contributor: motherjones-rn at NURSE RATCHED'S PLACE]

4. After 33 deaths, this one-act play finally gets to see the light of day. Perchance anyone thinks his existentialism tells infinite clues?[contributor: [link sent in by Bellance] THE SMOKING GUN]

Hover over the thumbnail pictures you see below to see where the link will take you when you click on that thumbnail. Match the addresses on the thumbnails with the brief descriptions you see above in order to go to where you want to go to.

___________________________________________________________

Be a part of Medical Surrealism by submitting a post (or website or blog) of artwork, prose, poetry, linguistics, photography, story, documents, odd, unusual, experimental, or conceptual to the next issue, Issue 03, before May 23, 2007. Send your submissions to flic at banquetofballoons(at)yahoo(dot)com or via the "Carnival of Medical Surrealism" link you see located on the sidebar under "Additional Links". Thanks.

Any and all copyrights belong to the individual authors.

The element of safety

2007-04-17T04:00:00.000-04:00

As I watch and listen to the new real-life tragedy at Virginia Tech unfold, I have just finished writing a personality-profile blurb on Kathy Sierra, the subject of the not-as-seemingly-tragic-as-now event from last week.

I teach a (psychology) graduate course at Harvard, and I have posted before about the esoteric skills involved in and related to compiling a personality-profile based on linguistics. I have now finished carefully reading parts of Kathy Sierra's blog, and I have concluded a personality-profile blurb based on her written language. Here is an excerpt from her blog, along with the personality-profile blurb:

"But whose fear? The metaphor Liz used (she got from someone else) was that many of the 'leaf nodes' (what Microsoft and Sun and others refer to as 'individual contributors') tend to be innovative and brave, but many of the 'branches' (i.e. layers of management) can't stomach the risks. In their (admirable) desire to be strong and stable, the 'branches' put safety above all else." -- Kathy Sierra (from 'Death by risk-aversion' post)

She is a person who sometimes likes to only pretend she knows what's going on around her. Also, she will often use this naivete persona to actively try to move forward with a plan she already has formulated in her head. In addition, she is a person who usually must always bring others into her sphere of life so as not to do things alone or on her own. But on the other hand, she almost always chooses to do the things she desires with people she doesn't know very well. And as a result, this always adds to the insecurity and hesitation she often feels when following through with her own ambitions.

You can take this personality-profile blurb into consideration whenever you read further developements regarding her situation.

Technorati tags: kathy sierra, personality profile, linguistics, virginia tech shooting

The picture book project, Page 2

2007-04-11T06:00:00.002-04:00

She kept on flying higher and higher. So high that no one saw where she was.

___________________________
Check out the author of this picture book, and the illustrator.

Technorati tags: art, picture book

The picture book project, Page 1

2007-04-10T06:03:00.000-04:00

There once was a bird flying in the air so high that she was flying above the clouds.

_______________________________

Check out the author of this picture book, and the illustrator.

[NOTE: If you'd like to see all the finished pages of the picture-book project thus far, click on "picture book" under "Category" in the sidebar to the right.]

Technorati tags: art, picture book

Updates (Final), Kathy Sierra

2007-04-07T08:19:00.000-04:00

[UPDATE: April 6, 2007: She's back! Based on Kathy Sierra's newest post on her blog, you'd think she never experienced the personal/public whirlwind culminating in that terrible appearance on CNN. There's no update on the actual event in her post. But there is a long round-about request for, and a preoccupation with, how she can take advantage of the new position she finds herself in. I believe that there is a high level of denial and more than some evidence of schizoid thinking going on beyond the surface in her post, including the pictures she has decided to include in her post.]

[UPDATE: April 6, 2007: Here are the final results of the one and only Kathy Sierra poll, conducted here at Surreal and Paranoid Life from March 28 to April 6. Here is the poll question, along with the percentages of the answers:

What's the bottom line with this Kathy Sierra fiasco?
1. Kathy is working hard with the authorities and will prosecute. = 30.3% (40)

2. Kathy is watching the publicity she is getting and loving it. = 25.8% (34)

3. Something other. If so, write what it is in the "Hang in there" comments = 22.7% (30)

4. Kathy is really offended and will blog no more. = 13.6% (18)

5. Kathy is actually one of the "meankids", and they're all having a good laugh. = 7.6% (10)

6. Kathy will be killed or harmed by the perpetrators of this mess. = 0% (0)

total votes: 132 individuals ]

[UPDATE: April 5, 2007: Well, that's it. The Kathy Sierra story has died down. And everyone, including all the players in the saga, got a chance to construct their own different versions of stories and current-issues. Now we could all move on to talking about how we're not going to talk about Paris Hilton anymore. Or even more appropriately, we could all move on to appreciating the consciously constructed real-life fictions of writers like Dana Vachon and Harlan Ellison.]

Technorati tags: update, kathy sierra poll, kathy sierra, doc searls, rageboy, alan herrell, scoble, chris locke, cnn, youtube, frank paynter, paris hilton, dana vachon, harlan ellison, fiction

Updates, Kathy Sierra

2007-04-04T01:04:00.000-04:00

~~Please take a moment and do the Kathy Sierra poll you see in the sidebar at the right of this post.~~ Thanks. Poll results can now be found in the Updates (Final) post above.

(See continuous updates on the Kathy Sierra saga below)

[UPDATE: April 3, 2007: Frank Paynter has a post with links to assorted reactions to the CNN segment. And he says in the post, "CNN has covered it now, and we know that America’s finest news gatherers are able to do more in less than four minutes on early morning TV than the assembled blogosphere can do from all the laptops in the land."]

[UPDATE: April 3, 2007: Well, here it is -- a YouTube video of the CNN segment. And it's unbelievable. From watching this video, I would say Kathy Sierra is going through a nervous breakdown. And both Chris Locke and Kathy Sierra look like ghoulish cast members of a strange horror movie. Nothing is worth looking like that on television in front of so many people. Was that for real, or did television just do them in?]

[UPDATE: April 2, 2007: Not much of a big bang after all the CNN hype. See some reactions to the CNN gathering here (read the comments section for some good information), and here (for a micro summary), and here (where Scoble says he was "cut out" of the CNN segment. I guess fate would have it that his appearance on CNN was an April Fool's joke, after all.)]

[UPDATE: April 2, 2007: Now Kathy Sierra says, "Chris Locke and I agreed to publish a statement, together (both in our own words) in advance of the story which will appear tomorrow (Monday, April 2) on CNN, at 7:20 AM (EST) on "CNN American Morning", and throughout the day on other CNN shows...."]

[UPDATE: April 1, 2007: Here are two links to online articles from Business Week (March 28) and the Los Angeles Times (April1) with their [double-agent: i.e., print media with an online presence] takes on the subject-matter stemming from the Kathy Sierra debacle.]

[UPDATE: April 1, 2007: Robert Scoble is claiming that March 31 is a date when one is able to say an "April Fool's joke". It's not clear though whether the Scoble-on-CNN-with-Kathy-Sierra part is part of the "April Fool's joke" or not. If it is part of the "April Fool's joke", then this adds an element of infintilism to the whole affair at hand. If it's not part of the joke, then we're back to where we started.]

[UPDATE: March 31, 2007: It seems like there will be a full house over at CNN on Monday, April 2. Robert Scoble says, among other things, "I was going to not blog until Monday, but I saw something today that just has to be blogged about. Seriously, on Monday I’ll be on CNN with Kathy Sierra and Chris Locke talking about this week’s events. I spoke against more rules or other infringments on our freedom of speech. No matter how vile or disgusting that speech is."]

[UPDATE: March 30, 2007: And Chis Locke (a.k.a. rageboy) says, "I met Kathy Sierra last night for the first time -- on camera. This email just hit my inbox from CNN: The segment is scheduled to debut on our [April 2, Monday] morning show "CNN American Morning" which airs between 6am to 9am. If there is breaking news of a serious status, it will not run.]

[UPDATE: March 30, 2007: There's now an Update over at Kathy Sierra's "as-i-type" post where she says, in part, "Yes, I should have known that when I posted, and had I known the firestorm that would be created, I probably would have stayed silent. But my words here still stand." (read more...)]

[UPDATE: March 29, 2007: Last night Kathy Sierra decided to close the comments on her infamous "as-i-type" post.]

[UPDATE: March 28, 2007: Evidently there's the possibility that (one of) the person(s) behind all the aformentioned Kathy Sierra death threats and serious jibes is none other than a shadow person who stole Alan Herrell's identity and has been gallivanting around the internet passing himself/herself off as Alan Herrell, although as Alan Herrell incognito.]

Technorati tags: update, kathy sierra poll, kathy sierra, doc searls, rageboy, alan herrell, scoble, chris locke, la times, business week, cnn, video, youtube, frank paynter

Hang in there, Kathy Sierra

2007-03-27T05:07:00.000-04:00

~~Please take a moment and do the Kathy Sierra poll you see at the top of the sidebar on the right.~~ Thanks. Poll results can now be found in the Updates (Final) post above.

Don't do it, Kathy Sierra. Don't NOT blog anymore. She has mentioned that she may not continue blogging anymore. And all because of some heinous and intense death threats! And coming from, she says, from a source [made up of many] calling itself "meankids". Now isn't that a dead give away? Mean kids. And that's the crux of the reason why I say, "Hang in there, Kathy."

Blog Bullying takes place all the time in the blogsphere. Many, many blogs "close down" from the pressure and challenge of conflict. And I'm not talking about the pressure and challenge of being an author and "saying something relevent and exciting, etc., etc." to keep the blog alive. I'm talking about caving in to being personally offended and afraid of (or horribly frightened about) what others out in the blog world say "right up front to your face". Don't chicken out, Kathy.

It seems to me that someone (or someones) is trying to run Kathy Sierra out of town. Or trying to indoctrinate her into a death cult or a BDSM fun group. Perhaps they're waiting for her to bite, after she's had "the messengers and messages" live inside her brain long enough.

In this situation, she's doing the right thing right now. She's telling as many people as she can what is going on with her. But one thing she shouldn't do is be afraid. She should hang in there.

Or is Kathy Sierra turning victimization into an art?

Technorati tags: kathy sierra poll, kathy sierra, doc searls, rageboy, alan herrell, scoble, chris locke

Medical Surrealism, Issue 01

2007-03-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

The mind body and spirit are working as one organism in the world. Death only gives hope and life to renewal. Anything you do or say is connected to the well being of this organism.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. The skull can sometimes have to have a hole in it. And sometimes someone in the operating room drops (onto the floor) the piece of skull that is supposed to be the cap to the hole. [contributor: Christopher Depelteau at MRI LINKS AND OTHER COOL THINGS ]

2. Make-up can help the living and the dead. We see it on live people in real life, and sometimes on live T.V. We see it on the dead at funerals. Make-up can make life worth living. [contributor: [link sent in by Balian] COLLEGEBOARD.COM]

3. Sometimes death occurs or arrives at the right time, and sometimes it arrives right on time. We're so busy with our lives, that we can forget that others are about to be busy no more. [contributor: therapydoc at EVERYONE NEEDS THERAPY? LESSONS FROM A FAMILY THERAPIST]

4. It's unspeakable and unthinkable, but murderers are there. Right there next to us, as they say. Some people think they have the right to do exactly what the cells in their brain tell them to do. This is murderer Kevin Ray Underwood's blog, still up (although not active anymore). [contributor: [link sent in by Frank] STRANGE THINGS ARE AFOOT AT THE CIRCLE K., will jump to the first month the blog was started.]

Hover over the thumbnail pictures you see below to see where the link will take you when you click on that thumbnail. Match the addresses on the thumbnails with the brief descriptions you see above to go to where you want to go to.

___________________________________________________________

Be a part of Medical Surrealism by submitting a post (or website or blog) of artwork, prose, poetry, linguistics, photography, story, documents, odd, unusual, experimental, conceptual to the next issue, Issue 02, before April 22, 2007. Send your submissions to flic at banquetofballoons(at)yahoo(dot)com or via the "Carnival of Medical Surrealism" link you see located on the sidebar under "Additional Links". Thanks.

Any and all copyrights belong to the individual authors.

Invisible hospital staff

2007-03-19T23:59:00.000-04:00

Before someone who is recently released from being institutionalized can be expected to make it in the real world, they first have to live for a short period of time in what is called the Trans House. The Trans House is a real house (an old Victorian house) with all the furninshings of a real home, along with its own grounds and garden, and a family dog as well.

Our Trans House is located on property owned by the hospital, and is several miles away from anything or anyone connected with the mainstream population. All the household chores are kept up, and the kitchen is well stocked, by the hospital staff. But the hospital staff must work swiftly and secretly in the night, and they are required to be essentially invisible to the patients who are "living" in the house. One patient at a time "lives" in the house, accompanied only by family members who are willing to live with the patient during this transition time (usually between 2 - 3 weeks).

The following is a brief snippet of conversation (recorded for medical and follow-up purposes) between Donna (38), a woman who suffered from full blown unipolar affective psychosis for the past fourteen months, and her husband Robert (41) who works as a civil engineer for the state of Massachusetts. Donna and Robert have been married for seven years. The conversation takes place in the living-room of the Trans House at 12:59pm while the couple relax together on the sofa:

You were going to say something, Donna. I know you were.

Do I have to tell you again? I said it already: will you please just let me think about it for a moment, because I can't think. I simply can't remember.

No, no, no, you don't have to think at all.

But I told you, I'm telling you, I have no idea at all what it was.

No, no, don't think about it at all, just tell me what it was, tell me what the object was, without thinking about it.

But I can't tell you, I simply can't tell you because I haven't yet been able to think of what the object was.

Okay, go ahead and think, think of what the object was that you loved more than anything else in the world before you met me.

Okay, okay, I thought of it. It's weird, but it's an object. The object that I loved more than anything else in the world before I met you was a, a, a telephone. The telephone's receiver really. The telphone receiver that was in my bedroom back at home when I lived with my parents. I always liked talking on the telephone in my bedroom back when I was at home.

I'll tell you what I think. I think that deep down inside, deep down inside your heart of hearts you are a very communicative person. That's it. You have a great ability to comminicate. You're not afraid to communicate. No matter what, and that's what I love about you.

But Robert, sometimes I didn't always answer the telephone. Sometimes I didn't want to pick up the telephone receiver and answer the telephone when it rang.

[END OF TAPE]

...please continue (here in the comments section) writing what you think would be the rest of the conversation.

/=< :-][ "0\/\ )*(

2007-03-14T23:36:00.000-04:00

What would your caption for this photograph be?
(Write your caption in the comments section)

Paris Britney Connection

2007-03-10T02:50:00.000-05:00

Paris Hilton's publicists have been vigorously bending over backwards to push away the fact that Paris and Britney Spears hung out like sisters for a brief few weeks before Britney's meltdown.

And Paris' publists are right to state that there is no connection, because it's true: Britney's meltdown has nothing to do with any emotional ties or mishaps that came along while, or because of, chumming with Paris and company.

What we see Britney experiencing today are the effects and after-affects of applied mind control techniques. Particular people close to Paris have used Paris as a conduit to drop hypno-tropic subliminal scripts in order to take control of (and thus destroy) Britney and her place as a media and cultural darling and money machine.

Paris is tangently aware of this attempt to control Britney's mind, and Paris believes that she stands a better than good chance of filling the cultural void when Britney is "out of the way".

We are able to say these things here because of the known facts about the psychology and processes of mind control, coupled with Britney's current and past public and private behaviour and activities, and a detailed study of Paris' and Britney's time and friendship together. Stay tuned.

Technorati tags: mind control, paris hilton, britney spears

What's on the table?

2007-03-06T06:51:00.000-05:00

Imagine that something or some things are on the table above.

Write down (in the comments section) what you are imagining is on the table.

Eye on a cultural icon

2007-02-20T00:38:00.000-05:00

Britney Spears is the first popular public figure to make it here onto this blog by the sheer context of her developing psychosis. She does so with this recent act of shaving off all the hair on her head. So what does it mean for Britney Spears to shave off her hair? No, it's not a fashion statement, nor is it an act meant to steer an interested public into a new style or way of living.

Simply put, with this act she shows herself as a person who feels completely not in control of herself. In other words, she feels overwhelming controlled by others other than herself. Her hair is the one thing closest to her that she feels is hers, and is also something that's hers and she can (safely) take away at will and effectively say, "See, this is mine, not yours!" We don't know exactly who she's symbolically talking to when she says this.

Furthermore, when one shaves off all the hair on their head (making their feelings or state of mind public and out in the open for others to see), and it's not for fashion or stylistic reasons, it's a sign of someone wanting very much to prove to themselves that what they do does indeed have a consequence. When something has a clear-cut consequence, that in itself is clear-cut proof that the person did something. The proof of her act is as plain as day. She blantantly can see (and thus re-assure herself) that she has control over her own actions, and that she can control her own being in some way.

But it doesn't stop there. A person who shaves off all of their hair (for non-fashionable and non-stylistic reasons) is engaging in an exaggerated personal project. What I mean by project is that the act has a beginning, middle, and end. Her hair slowly (in stages) grows back. And she will over-see this personal project (i.e., the hair eventually growing back). And she will be the only person to personally and truly experience this project, because the hair is growing from the top of her very own head -- a head that she wants to believe belongs to no-one but herself.

Britney Spears will sleep, eat, walk, and live with this personal project perculating every minute of the day and night right there upon the top of her head. She will watch and tend to her hair growing back slowly but surely over time -- time that eventually will (she subconsciously hopes) bring her a sense of natural accomplishment that she can feel is hers and hers alone.

Good luck, Britney.

Technorati tags: haircut, britney spears

Children's bedtime story #1 (complete text)

2007-02-15T01:39:00.000-05:00

Before reading any further, please click here and read about the disheartening circumstances surrounding George Johanson, the writer of this children's bedtime story.

One day, there were two robots. They were fighting and attacking each other like crazy. Like two maniacs, really. If you saw what they were doing, you wouldn't even think they were robots. You would think they were maniacs.

That's what made it so strange. Now they were shaking hands with each other in many different kinds of positions. They shook hands with each other while they stood there. They shook hands while their whole bodies shook. They did a flip while they shook hands. One did a twist, and one did a jumping-jack, while they shook hands. They did hundreds of different handshakes. All in just a couple of minutes. So you could imagine how freaky that looked.

There were two strange people controlling the robots. One person was in one country, and another person was all the way in another country. There was one kid in one country, and he was playing a duck-hunting game with a little controller. While in the other country, there was a little kid and he was playing with a remote-controlled tractor in the dirt. And he was using another controller. But little did they know, while they were playing with their toys, they were also controlling the two robots.

That’s why the robots were freaking out. They didn’t even know what was going on. And the robots didn’t talk because the kids weren’t using their controls in such a way to make them talk. But just then, the boy who was playing the duck hunting game hit his button in just the right way, and the robot he was controlling, far away, started to talk.

“Hi, what are you doing? Glad to meet you. Let me shake your hand one more time,” said the robot.

And just then, in the other country, the boy using his controls to control the yellow tractor in the dirt, hit his button on his controls in just the right way, so that the robot he was controlling, far away, started to talk, too.

“I’m fine. Hey, you know what? I’m a robot, and you’re a robot. Maybe we should do something and try to find out who’s controlling us. And maybe we can take the controls and control ourselves!” said the other robot.

“Hey, that’s a good idea! Let’s try to do that. How are we going to follow the frequencies? I guess I’ll go this way, and you go that way, and maybe one of us will find someone who's controlling us,” said the robot.

“Alright, that sounds like a good idea to me. Here, take this walkie-talkie mobile phone, and we could talk with each other once we get traveling and we’re far away from each other,” said the other robot.

“Good idea. Okay, see you later. Good luck in finding someone who’s controlling us," said the robot.

“You too. Good luck!” said the other robot.

And now, instead of attacking each other and also doing maniacal shaking of hands, the two robots were both walking away from each other in two different directions. It seemed like the robots were controlling themselves, but really the kids were controlling them. But the robots were just coming up with reasons on why they were moving in different directions from each other right now.

What do you think happens next? Well, the two robots keep on walking and walking and searching and searching -- looking under rocks, and looking inside old abandoned houses, looking for a person who's controlling them.

“But they should look inside new houses! If they look inside old abandoned houses, people don’t live in them. Only ghosts live in abandoned houses. But if they look inside new houses, people live in them. And I’m one who’s controlling the robots, actually,” said a little boy.

“How do you know all that?” said the robot.

“I just know,” said the little boy.

“Oh my, I’m going to call the other robot on the phone right now!” said the robot.

Rrrrring. Rrrrrring.

“Hello?” said the other robot on the phone.

“Hello, robot?” said the robot.

“Yes?” said the other robot on the phone.

“I found one of the kids who are controlling us! He's just got done playing with his remote-controlled tractor, and he's standing out here in front of his house right now,” said the robot.

“Great. Well, that’s good luck! You found him very quickly. I’m still looking for the other one,” said the other robot on the phone.

“Okay, you continue looking for the other one. I’m going to take care of this one. Or I’m going to get those controls, so that I can control myself!” said the robot.

“Very good! Good luck with that, too! I’ll keep searching. Bye, bye,” said the other robot on the phone.

“Okay. Bye, bye,” said the robot.

“There! Now give me those controls, little boy!” said the robot.

“Okay, here,” said the little boy.

“Thank you! You’re actually a nice boy. Now I’m a little scared,” said the robot.

“Why?” said the little boy.

“Because I don’t know how to control myself,” said the robot.

“How do you want to be controlled? If you tell me, I’ll control you however you want,” said the little boy.

“Oh, that’s nice of you! But I don’t know. I just want to be a good robot. I just want to know how to control myself. But I really don’t know how. And plus, I’m a little afraid I might control myself over the edge of a cliff and fall down and crash, or something like that,” said the robot.

“I know what! I could control you into a real person. Then, you can control yourself without using the controls. I could control you like that, to turn you into a human being,” said the little boy.

“You’ll control me like that? You mean you’ll control me to make me human?” said the robot.

“Yes, and then you don’t need to use the controls. You won’t have to,” said the little boy.

“But then it’s kind of scary,” said the robot.

“Why?” said the little boy.

“Because I won't know exactly what to do with myself. I don't know how to control myself. Isn't it scary?” said the robot.

“No. I'm a human being, and I’m not scared,” said the little boy.

“And you’re not scared? Hmm, maybe I’ll do it then. I’ll try it. Okay, let’s do that,” said the robot.

“Okay. Here, take the controls for a moment. Now press that button, okay? That green button,” said the little boy.

“The green button?” said the robot.

“Yes,” said the little boy.

“Okay,” said the robot.

Click.

“Now look at your body and see how you look like,” said the little boy.

“I look like a human being! Oh my gosh. I even have clothes on. Wow! I even have a little comb in my back pocket. I could comb my hair on the top of my head. Interesting! Well, thank you very much, little boy! I think I’m going to tell this good news to the other robot. What do you think?” said the robot.

“Yes, you should do that,” said the little boy.

“Okay. Here, can you give him a call? I don’t think he’s going to believe me when I tell him all this. Here, I’ll dial the number. Take the phone. Now wait until he answers the phone,” said the robot.

“Hello? Who’s this?” said the other robot on the phone.

“Hello?" said the little boy.

“Hello? Who's this?" said the other robot on the phone.

“It’s me. I was the one controlling him, the robot. I turned him into a human being,” said the little boy.

“Oh, so you’re taking care of him in a good way?” said the other robot on the phone.

“Yes. And I’ll even send you the controls in the mail, and you should press the green button and then you could turn into a human being, as well,” said the little boy.

“Alright! That sounds great! So did you say press the red button?” said the other robot on the phone.

“No, the green one,” said the little boy.

“Oh, the green button. Okay. Thank you very much! I’ll be waiting right next to the mailbox! Bye, bye! Thanks a lot,” said the other robot on the phone.

“Okay, bye!” said the little boy.

“Wow. That was nice of you, little boy. You've just helpled two robots to help themselves! Now, once the other robot has the controls that you're sending in the mail, we could help all of the other robots in the world! Thanks so much,” said the robot.

“You're welcome,” said the little boy.

“Okay! I'm going off into the world to see what I could do. Maybe we'll see each other again. Bye, bye,” said the robot.

“Okay. Bye, bye,” said the little boy.

THE END

___________________________________________

Reader's feedback.

1. Would you read this story to your (present or future) child/niece/nephew?
2. What was the most memorable part or moment of this story for you?
3. What do you think would be a good title for this story?
4. What kind of illustrations or artwork do you imagine would go best with this story?
5. Any additional comments?

___________________________________________

Institutionalized but not forgotten

2007-02-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

The next several posts will be a series of children's bedtime stories written by George Hadory, aged 31, an institutionalized patient for the last 2 years at the hospital who has recently taken to writing children's bedtime stories in order to, he says, "Lull myself to sleep, and get my mind off the fact that I'll probably never have children of my own. Nobody wants a loser like me."

George was a grade-school teacher, and before being admitted to the hospital he was under some stress at his place of work. His wife of five years left him, and he began to find that he had to check that the doors were locked and faucets turned off. This took on a constant and extended ritual pattern, even when he was at home. Over a period of months his rituals gradually became more elaborate and began to interfere with the carrying out of his normal daily activities. Clothes had to be put away and folded in a certain way and the laundry washing had to be carried out for a specific length of time with two applications of soap and two rinses, for example.

He then began to be confused, mistaking the identity of his family members and his friends and his students and becoming increasingly disoriented in a patchy manner in both time and place. He occasionally sat at his desk in front of his class and pretended out loud that he was being interviewed by David Letterman. He soon lost his job. He then began to be visually hallucinated, seeing frightening moving creatures like large insects and six-legged tiny monsters crawling around on the floors at home.

Today at the hospital George is undergoing extensive radio-frequency hypnotherapy and telepathic signal hypnosis therapy (to foster automatic writing), as well as routine sedation with chlormethiazole, and is diligently writing a book of children's bedtime stories.

___________________________________

read children's bedtime story #1, and [NEW: the picture book project].

Art Act, Number 3 (step 1)

2007-01-25T09:45:00.000-05:00

PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Write down, in the comments section here, your own answers to the four Survey questions that you see below the dotted line.

2. Print out a blank copy of the Survey.

3. Distribute the Survey according to the "Extended Instructions" below.

4. Gather, disperse, destroy, or give back the results. And hold on to your own.

EXTENDED INSTRUCTIONS, [OPTIONAL]:

1. First, (if applicable) walk into all the rooms of your home and ask everyone there to answer each of the Survey questions.

2. Then, (if applicable) walk into your work or your office and ask all your co-workers and associates around you to answer the Survey questions.

3. After that, (if applicable) walk into the school or classes you are attending and ask everyone you meet to answer the Survey questions.

4. Finally, stand outside on a street corner in your neighborhood or somewhere in the town or city where you live and stop and ask passersby the Survey questions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

SURREAL BEING SURVEY

HAPPY GO LUCKY #061

Hello, if you have about thirty seconds, I'd like to ask you just four uplifting and appealing questions about helping others find SUCCESS. Okay, great. Answer the questions as quickly as you can, without thinking too much about the answer. Just give me a quick, honest answer. Here we go:

1. What is your deepest fear?

2. What was the worst thing you ever did in your life?

3. When, and under what circumstances, were you the unhappiest you ever were?

4. What is the one thing that you hate most about yourself?

acspl12507 http://balloonballoon.blogspot.com, This survey may be publically distributed. Updated12807.

______________________________

Is Steve right?

2007-01-21T23:35:00.000-05:00

There are many conspiracy theories regarding just about everything out there these days. What is the one conspiracy theory that you've heard about recently? Not that you necessarily believe in it. But one that you simply remember hearing about.

Or what about your own personal conspiracy theory?

Steve's personal conspiracy theory concerns his parents and his parent's generation. Steve says, "I believe that my Baby Boomer parents and their generation as a whole consciously and deliberately place and construct obstacles in front of the generations who are behind the Baby Boomer generation (especially my generation, Generation X). I think that Baby Boomers do this mostly in the workplace, where they constantly change the rules in order to benefit themselves. And I'm convinced that these Baby Boomer generational attitudes towards the other generations is not just taking place in America, but permeates Baby Boomers throughout the world in virtually every country."

Steve believes that if you can remember and understand how you handled your parents (or how you should have handled your parents) when you were growing up, then you'll know how to get on properly and successfully in the world today.

Steve, a 38-year-old father
of two children (ages 8 and 6),
both of which have recently
been diagnosed with Autism.

[NOTE: As far as legitimate conspiracy theory, the question this post is getting at is: What's the difference (or what is the fine line) between a personal paranoia or paranoic viewpoint, and an actual bonafide conspiracy theory? What do you think?]

Intermission

2007-01-17T08:14:00.000-05:00

[to enter this secret website, click on the emblem above]

In Your Own Time

2007-01-07T22:09:00.000-05:00

Linda Starlson, aged 32, developed feelings of tension and anxiety related to pains in the right side of her head. (Subsequently diagnosed with (SDW): Depersonalization with pervasive anxiety). It was probably significant that her father, to whom she had been very much attached, had died a few months before having had such head symptoms before his stroke. The patient's symptoms generalized, however, so that at the hospital ward she presented a four-month history of shakiness, loss of concentration, feelings of nausea in the morning and a feeling of fear gripping her stomach. Under these circumstances, she could only use her pencil and drawing paper to literally sketch over three hundred and fifty self-portraits a day. She had difficulty in getting off to sleep and was irritable and constantly keyed up. In this case treatment using hypnotherapy combined with a period on tranquillizers allowed Linda's symptoms to clear.

Photo of Linda Starlson (right), and her self-portrait (above left) #47, 12/03/06. Linda is currently receiving out-patient care at the hospital, and she can be reached at her email at: lindastarlson@yahoo.com

__________________________________________

[NEW: Also take a look at her work with the picture book project.]

Nervous breakdown

2006-12-28T07:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever witnessed or experienced a nervous breakdown?

It’s an understandably frightening, and largely misunderstood, mental phenomenon. And the affect on family members as well as on the sufferer can often be devastating. The following (in red print below) is a beautifully written testament by Lisa Harlow, aged 23, who seventy-eight hours after her first mental breakdown sat in her hospital bed and wrote vigorously in her personal journal about her experience. Lisa subsequently handed the notes to our staff and gave permission for the notes to eventually be published in a book by yours truly. Here's a sample of Lisa's notes:

I've never had a mental breakdown until now. I never really thought it was possible to have one. I thought it was like one of those things people say to excuse themselves from responsibility. I was up late most nights, and I drank a lot of coffee. I had a thesis and other projects due. To even look at them made me want to throw up, honestly.

My concentration was shot. A lot of times Jake my boyfriend would ask me why I wasn't speaking, and it was because I was always thinking of things I needed to be doing. I realized that I shouldn't, and I knew I would much rather talk to him than do those things, but I couldn't help it.

It was like a bomb went off inside my head, and I was scrapping "What would I do if I were logical?" questions from my head just to keep doing what I should have been doing. Right now, even that is a little hazy.

I got to the point where I didn't eat, but I spent my lunch breaks working on projects or whatnot instead of eating.

I feel this heavy feeling that I am letting everyone down. I feel like I won't make my parents or Jake happy. I know that I shouldn't feel this way, but I feel like I am heading towards a brick wall, and at the brick wall is the inevitable conclusion that I am a failure, a reject, a nobody. I feel like I am incapable of doing anything worth doing.

That fateful morning I think I finally realized it fully. I got out of my high loft bed. I didn't realize where my foot was coming down. And then my foot looked to me like it turned into a weird fish. I slipped on my fish, which was in my slipper, and then I actually heard the fish scream.

When the fish screamed, I screamed. I screamed so loud. My mouth was not my own. And then the fish separated itself from my foot and felt like it jumped into my mouth. I started screaming at the top of my lungs and shaking my head back and forth. The fish finally popped out of my mouth, and I saw my mother and father standing in my bedroom doorway.

They looked liked freaks from another planet. My father proceeded to tie me up with a rope, and my mother called the hospital and the police! I tried to get away while I was tied up. And I landed on the edge of a chair, screaming that they were trying to kill me, and the chair tilted underneath me, and I landed sideways on the chair. I thought I was fine, and I immediately hopped into the bathroom with the ropes tied tightly around my ankles.

--Lisa Harlow
xxxx Hospital,
Ward xxxx,
September 29,
2006

[NOTE: The above photograph of Lisa was taken by her mother during Lisa's heart-wrenching breakdown. Permission has been granted by the Harlow family to use the photo.]

Schizophrenic description #8 (the last in the series)

2006-12-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

Ronald's description of an everyday object: "Billing boing song and then some one cent turn all dun for some I don't lone on my own tome leck go home sad mad"

Now guess what everyday object he described.

[Ronald, a schizophrenic
patient with a cleft palate
and wearing glasses.]

[UPDATE: Ronald first gave us the
above family album picture of
himself (striped shirt, circa 1976)
to use for this post. Now he says he
feels more comfortable about himself
and wants us to use a current photo for
this post. So here is a photo of Ronald,
taken December 18, 2006.]

Please read the Introduction (to the schizophrenic descriptions) and its comments section first.

Schizophrenic description #7

2006-12-06T15:00:00.000-05:00

Susan's description of an everyday object: "earth shine touch touch hold mold cold I'm turning letting holding shining mining"

Now guess what everyday object she described.

[Susan, a schizophrenic
patient, wearing a black
t-shirt.]

Please read the Introduction (to the schizophrenic descriptions) and its comments section first.

Schizophrenic description #6

2006-12-02T18:36:00.000-05:00

Mike's description of an everyday object: "Calamity caused it to sing see sir. Calamity clue."

Now guess what everyday object he described.

[Mike, a schizophrenic
patient, wearing a
patterned tie.]

Please read the Introduction (to the schizophrenic descriptions) and its comments section first.

Schizophrenic description #5

2006-11-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

Julie's description of an everyday object: "Grub grab ground round innard sink."

Now guess what everyday object she described.

[Julie, a schizophrenic
patient, wearing her
favorite gold earrings.]

Please read the Introduction (to the schizophrenic descriptions) and its comments section first.

Schizophrenic description #4

2006-11-16T20:28:00.000-05:00

Gail's description of an everyday object:
"elecko oo points and hook zeez. I car star z . Her who holes owes. Down on up out in on son. One day shay say day d"

Now guess what everyday object she described.

[Gail, a schizophrenic patient,
looking closely into the camera.]

Please read the Introduction and its comments section before you begin.

Schizophrenic description #3

2006-11-15T20:17:00.000-05:00

Bruce's description of an everyday object: "Blind dark flat on eye see me round sound switch show see we bree eat breet white brite stop off."

Now guess what everyday object he described.

[Bruce, a schizophrenic
patient, photographed
just before he sat to write
his description.]

Read the Introduction.

Schizophrenic description #2

2006-11-10T19:30:00.000-05:00

Rachel's description of an everyday object: "sits silent. circly circly I want one on me and c c c c c c ud it talks to me I'm my own hand L I want to open."

Now guess what everyday object she described.

[Rachel, a schizophrenic patient,
posing for a picture.]

Read the Introduction.

Schizophrenic description #1

2006-11-07T21:04:00.000-05:00

Leonard's description of an everyday object: "In sertin cert Jagged jaded tip Hallow way."

Now guess what everyday object he described.

[Leonard, a schizophrenic
patient wearing a smoking
jacket.]

Read the Introduction.

Introduction (to the schizophrenic descriptions)

2006-11-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

Those of you who know me know that I did a summer residency at the Wilton Hershey Medical Center, in Pennsylvania. I worked with Dr. Jared Hagerty, who is quite well known for his work in experimental phychiatry.

Now that I've finished the residency, I've finally had the opportunity to experiment with language functions of hebephrenic schizophrenics. [See inset: Dorene, a schizophrenic patient standing on a chair.]

In the next several posts, I will show some descriptive linguistic sequences used by schizophrenics to describe everyday objects. Each patient was to look at a given everyday object (for as long as they wished), and then write their description on a sheet of notebook paper provided to them. I will present to you their descriptions verbatim.

Please try to guess what the object is that they are describing.

There will be a winner* each post: the person who guesses correctly the object that is being described in each post. I'm working from the hypothesis that schizophrenics, contrary to popular belief, can ultimately be understood by people who are exposed, even breifly, to an example of a schizophrenic's personal language system (contained fully in the schizophrenic's single utterance).

*Winners will have the satisfaction of being able to communicate successfully with a hebephrenic schizophrenic, and will receive the code for this award:

Technorati tags: PERSON art project, psycholinguistics, psychology of art

What did you really learn in school?

2006-11-03T19:05:00.000-05:00

Choose any one or all of these when writing your answers:

Pre-School

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

University (this includes Law School, Medical School,
Graduate School, etc.)

Again, the question: What did you really learn in school?

Art Act, Number 2

2006-10-31T20:26:00.000-05:00

Instructions:

1. Write down (in the comments section here) as many words as you can think of that begin with the letter "p".

2. It's okay if you happen to write down words that someone else has already written (in the comments section).

3. Don't use a dictionary to help you think of any words.

Technorati tags: alphabet, words, letter p

Clay Is Allegory

2006-10-28T23:37:00.000-04:00

She works on her art, making her real life the main part of her art. She does all the details and procedures of her artwork herself. And she portrays herself in her artwork.

The detective touches her on her heart after she asks him to. He moves closer to her, and she whispers in his ear, "You will get yourself in trouble if you go further."

She has even been told that she's just a child who thinks the whole world is her plaything. And the game is not over yet, because everyone has the chance and the time to do good. She gets a call from the gallery for her work.

Technorati tags: episode 5, final episode

Clay Is Allegory

2006-10-24T22:11:00.000-04:00

The lead detective took complete control of the investigation from the onset.

He fell in love with the forensic evidence that she left behind at the scene of the crime and the surrounding area.

He was enamored with her psychological profile and her refusal to admit to anything.

The detective made the proof lead into another direction and hit another person. And so she was officially innocent of any wrongdoing.

Technorati tag: episode 4

Clay Is Allegory

2006-10-19T21:26:00.000-04:00

She said she read about it in the newspapers.

The professor was found dead in the woods near campus.

His entrails were hanging out of his abdomen. And his heart was resting on his opened rib cage.

She told the detectives that yes she was walking out in the same area at approximately the same time, but that she had blacked out and fainted because of her heart condition.

Technorati tag: episode 3

Clay Is Allegory

2006-10-13T01:50:00.000-04:00

She does her everyday life routines, as a regular person on campus.

And then at night, deep in the night, she contemplates her deepest thoughts.

She has a particular heart condition, wherein she is unable to love anyone.

Technorati tag: episode 2

Clay Is Allegory

2006-10-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

She gets a call from the gallery for her work.

She has to choose, and she has recently won certain prizes.

All at once: a phone call, in the mail, on email.

She is cleared of her crime. They are on the lookout for her work.

Technorati tag: episode 1

What are your favorite ways to complete sentences?

2006-10-05T21:03:00.000-04:00

Try these:

1. My feeling about married life is __________________________.

2. I believe that I have the ability to ________________________.

3. When I was a child __________________________________.

4. I could be perfectly happy if ____________________________.

Technorati tags: exercise, spontaneous, hypothetical honesty

Extra money (second installment)

2006-10-03T20:01:00.000-04:00

13. Lisa started to notice the shiny toaster, just above the cluster of gold sparkles on the Formica countertop. The toaster wouldn’t be popping up any time soon, because it wasn’t turned on, but the toaster could potentially pop up – if it was turned on. And this reminded her of other appliances, it reminded her of the oven and its oven-timer in particular.

14. She stopped looking at the cluster of gold sparkles and reached over with her left hand to set the oven timer to be set for an extra seven minutes. The two boneless top loin steaks, and the vegetables, were already done. The two steaks were resting in their steel-lined cozy pan upon the stovetop. My steak was sprinkled with a peculiar blend of crushed mustard seed, cut-up sage leaf, and thyme.

15. The vegetables, split peas and sliced carrots in sour cream and garlic sauce, for the both of us, were in the cozy pan’s matching cozy pot upon the stovetop. But the onion rings weren’t finished yet. The onion rings were still in the oven, for the extra seven minutes.She covered both the pan and the pot with her brand new vent-controlled pan and pot lids. And not only did she re-set the oven timer, but she also pressed the white button on the left side of the oven timer so that the stovetop would keep the pan of steaks and pot of vegetables warm.

16. Dinner is just about ready, so you better go and wash up, she announced from the kitchen.

17. Okay, I’ll go and wash up, I said, still sitting on the sofa in the living room. And I continued looking at the advertisement for an extra minute.

18. I looked at the bottom part of the ad where an assortment of small garden luxury equipment and other accessories were scattered about. Plants were also there for sale on the page. And sod was over to the right, rolled up like new carpets – and a few rolls were unfurled, leading to bags of fertilizer.

19. I looked closer at the bags of fertilizer. A group of children were playing kickball in one part of one of the labeled bags of fertilizer. And on another labeled bag, there was a picture of a man and woman standing together near a wood-red-painted picnic table near a large oak tree in what seemed to be a park. I noticed that the woman in the picture was holding a small green birch-tree leaf in her hand. Why would she be holding a birch-tree leaf when she was standing near a large oak tree? I thought.

20. I wonder how much money people get paid to do these advertisements, I said to Lisa, and I placed the ad onto the cushioned surface of the long swirl-armed sofa, next to where I was sitting.

21. I don’t know. Probably quit a bit. But will you please go and wash up! Dinner is going to be ready in a minute, she said from the kitchen.

22. All right, I am, I said, and I stood up from sitting on the sofa.

If you'd like, go back and read the first installment (1 - 12). Or read more.

Technorati tags: first-person narrative, procrastination, master of fine arts, graduate student, paranoia, novel writing

My first post at a community weblog

2006-09-30T20:41:00.000-04:00

Have you ever met Jodi? I don't know what you could get from her. But I'm sure it's something. Don't be fooled by the copyright date. And be sure to click on the blinking square.
posted by flic at 08:33PM UTC on Saturday (17 comments total)

1. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
comment by keyhemper at 08:35PM UTC on Saturday

2. Well, Wolfenstein 3d in black and white is what I get in mac os x classic.Strange...
comment by keyhemper at 08:43PM UTC on Saturday

3. From Wikipedia:To those that aren't in on their conceptual jokes, Jodi's works seem inaccessible and impenetrable, appearing to make the user's computer run amok. For example, their 1995 work http://wwwwwwwww.jodi.org/ appears at first glance to consist of meaningless text, until a glance at the HTML source code reveals a detailed diagram of a hydrogen bomb. Their work challenged expectations of the behavior of the computer, created humor from the misery of the glitch and the virus, reanimated obsolete technologies, and satirized the ocean of opinion and convention that governs the practice of interface design."
comment by minda25 at 08:43PM UTC on Saturday

4. two in one day? this takes me back to the collingwood era.
comment by Fes at 08:45PM UTC on Saturday

5. Thats assembly code
comment by glamajamma at 08:51PM UTC on Saturday

6. Yo no comprende tampoco.
comment by Capt. Renault at 08:58PM UTC on Saturday

7. When I look at the source to minda's page, I see Homer and I see a whole bunch of FARK squirrels doing some cheerleading thing.
comment by MoneyFlitter at 09:06PM UTC on Saturday

8. The answer's in http://jetsetwilly.jodi.org
comment by flic at 09:57PM UTC on Saturday

9. Ah, nostalgia. Back when the likes of jodi.org, superbad, and entropy8 were at the forefront of the internet 'art' world.
comment by chimaera at 10:55PM UTC on Saturday

10. 'art' That seems a little arch.
comment by Wolof at 11:06PM UTC on Saturday

11. Sorry, that came across a lot more snarky than intended, which was right about near (but not quite) zero.
comment by chimaera at 11:10PM UTC on Saturday

12. SOD = Spear of Destiny(for those who are that old to remember it)
comment by EdArzakh at 12:28AM UTC on Sunday

13. Return of the Jodi?
comment by The Underpants Monster at 01:06AM UTC on Sunday

14. jodi.org! Freaking art freaking freaks!
comment by petebest at 04:09AM UTC on Sunday

15. Does anyone else remember superbad.com?
comment by six.oh.six at 04:59PM UTC on Sunday

16. Slept with my girlfriend Suzy Rottencritch.
comment by Smedleyman at 7:49PM UTC on Sunday

17. petebest, that f.a.f.f. is a great find! And six.oh.six, glad you provided the superbad.com link.
comment by flic at 8:33PM UTC on Sunday

-----------------------------------------

As you could see from this example, community weblogs can be very interesting in many ways.

One of the ways that I find them interesting is that a community weblog seems to be a place where people do quick research and find out and give extra information about the topic or link that you bring up in your post.

And be sure to click on and check out at least one of the links above!

Technorati tags: useful links, communication, information gathering, monkeyfilter

Extra money

2006-09-25T16:05:00.000-04:00

1. I was sitting on the long swirl-armed sofa in the living room. And in my hands was an unfolded newspaper advertisement. A large part of what the ad showed was green grass.

2. I already pulled down the shades of the two windows in the living room, so I could view the advertisements without any sunlight obscuring any of the words or pictures. And I relied on the light from the light bulb that was behind the flower-patterned lampshade of the standing lamp standing beside me as I sat on the sofa.

3. I was waiting for my dinner to be ready, and I was interested in the colorful advertisement page that appeared separately in today's Sunday paper. I enjoyed my life as an MFA graduate student at Johns Hopkins, in Maryland. I was 29 years old, and I was living with my wife. She was 26 years old. And we were in love, I thought.

4. In this particular advertisement I was looking at there were three lawnmowers pictured in the upper right-hand half of the page. And there was a patch of colorful flowers pictured in the upper right-hand corner of the green grass that was there. The green grass was too green, though, almost a bright lime green. And the lawnmowers seemed to be cut out and literally pasted onto the green grass.

5. And there were a few supplementary descriptive sentences printed upon each of these lawnmowers and green grass. The prices of each of the lawnmowers hovered above the lawnmowers in very large bold red numbers.

6. Jeez, am I glad we don’t have to worry about mowing the lawn. I would hate to have to buy a lawnmower, I said from sitting on the sofa in the living room, to my wife Lisa who was in the kitchen cooking dinner.

7. Really? Why, are they expensive, she said from the kitchen, while opening the oven door a little bit to take a peek at the onion rings.

8. I’m just glad we don’t have to worry about it. That’s what’s good about these townhouses. I don’t mind paying the extra money for the maintenance. There are so many different lawnmowers, I just wouldn’t want to worry about whether I bought the right one or not. And then if it breaks down! I said.

9. Why, how much are they? Lisa said, and she was now finished looking at the onion rings and closing the oven door.

10. The most expensive one here is $1,299 and 99 cents, I said, still sitting on the sofa in the living room.

11. That is expensive, she said from the kitchen.

12. Lisa was looking at the shiny Formica countertop. She was actually staring at the white gold-sparkled countertop. And she seemed to be particularly focused on a small space on the countertop where there was an unusually high number of gold sparkles clustered together. And while she stared at the cluster of gold sparkles, she imagined for a moment that the cluster was made up of actual gold pieces that could be available to her if she would only reach for it.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Technorati tags: first-person narrative, procrastination, master of fine arts, graduate student, paranoia, novel writing

Footage

2006-09-21T00:57:00.000-04:00

When you look at this picture,

what are your first thoughts

that come to mind?

Technorati tag: cinder block

Art Act, Number 1

2006-09-14T07:56:00.000-04:00

Instructions:

1. Make an audio tape recording of summer evening sounds while walking down a forest trail.

2. Then, listen to this tape (with headphones) in the wintertime while walking down a snow-covered forest trail.

[The words or phrases in bold above can be subsituted with other words and phrases (e.g., make a recording of a heated argument between you and your spouse, and then listen to it while you're relaxing and watching people in the serenity of a neighborhood park; or make a recording of a long extended subdued dinner-table conversation with relatives or guests, and then listen to it while you're riding on a crowded ferris wheel at the local amusement park; etc., etc., etc., etc., the combinations and juxipositions are endless.)]

NOTE:
It's important that it's a recording of your surroundings. And both the recorded sound and the place you choose to listen to the recording must be personal for you.

The art of this act is really in the juxiposition of those two things: what you record, and where you listen to the recording or what you are doing while listening to this recording.

In this way, there is a sense of a foreground (the recorded sounds when listening with headphones) and of a background (the scene you are in or are looking at while you're listening to your recorded sounds).

Technorati tags: conceptual art, psychogeography, tape recording

Generation X

2006-09-10T06:38:00.000-04:00

. . .

If you were born between the approximate years 1965 and 1980, then cultural labelling of generational identification classifies you as a member of Generation X.

But you already knew that. And you are already poised to beg to differ about the idea of being labeled, classified, or stereotyped. But let's forget about that part of the discussion -- for it simply doesn't let us move ahead with the more important and interesting elements of discussion about being an individual in the world and in our beloved Generation X.

As you know, the generation after us is called the Y Generation. And the generation before us is the Babyboomer generation. No one really talks about Generation X anymore. So, what kind of relevance do we have to the present time in the world, and perhaps to the future?

How are you living your life these days? What kind of life-philosophy are you living by these days? The oldest of our generation is 41 years old, and the youngest of our generation is 26 years old. So how does the past, present and future look to you?

Do you think generations (or the relationships between generations) has any impact or plays any part in what happens in the world?

If you are a member of the Y Generation or of the Babyboomer generation, what are your thoughts and ideas about your life within your generation and in the world today?

Technorati tags: baby boomers, generation x, y generation, life philosophy, past present future

Language and Trauma, Series 3

2006-09-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

The following description of an experience was given to me by a person who was (unfortunately, or fortunately) in the wrong place at the wrong time:

I went to the zoo yesterday, while vacationing in Montana. And I saw a couple and their small baby standing very near to the tiger cage. While I looked down slightly to read the little sign that gave information about the tiger that was in the cage, the tiger quickly managed to get the couple's small baby in it's mouth.

And the mother of the child, just as quickly yanked the baby out of the tiger's mouth. But the baby was bitten. And someone nearby said in a hurried shock that a person usually died between 8 and 9 days after being bitten by a tiger. But the baby was already dead. And the mother yelled out in a frantic scream, "All the electricity has been taken out of him!"

And indeed it seemed the baby was dead. But, ironically, about 8 or 9 seconds later the baby gave signs of life and was soon wiggling and crying like a baby normally does. The baby didn't even need bandaids, the tiger didn't even break the baby's skin!

[For your reading interest, see also: Language and Trauma, Series 1 and Series 2.]

Technorati tags: language and trauma, animal and infant, near death, lucky, unlucky

Something to ponder

2006-09-02T04:40:00.000-04:00

Are you the same person you were as a child?

What I mean is: if you look at a photograph of yourself when you were 5-years-old and a photograph of yourself now today, would you say they are photos of the same person or are they photos of two different people?

The answer seems like it might be quite obvious but on the other hand not.

Technorati tags: philosophy, logic, existentialism, question

Close the window, please

2006-08-31T06:44:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had a knife put to your throat? How about a gun to your head? Or have you ever had your head put into a head-lock and twisted? These are all very scary situations. I experienced only one such over-the-top situation (while conducting a personality-assessment blurb session in my "Open up the window" post).

Sometimes between the doctor and client there are wires that are crossed. And I don't necessarily mean trip-wires. There are occasionally wires of communication that get crossed. And even so, all of these wires inevitably lead to some kind of truth.

In the following I have changed only the name of the commentor, so as to preserve his anonyminity. (And this person, his dialogue and his actions, are in no way connected to anyone who is currently in the comments section of the "Open up the window" post). It went down like this:

1. K-Czar said...

"By the way interesting insights. I tend to take people at face value, but maybe with the a posteriori advantage of hindsight after reading your post, I would have to agree 'almost' verbatim. And I only use almost because even Einstein I can only 'almost' quote verbatim. Interesting post. Love it! So flic, what would this statement tell you:I parred the 18th hole in golf today, to win the game."

flic said...

"K-
You are a man who likes to pass the buck when you feel the need to do so. Yet you enjoy comradery with your fellow man. You are usure of yourself sometimes, but you do always come around to giving credit where credit is due. In addition, you are reluctant to believe what you believe, and so you tend to rely on established knowledge for support."

2. K-Czar said...

"Perhaps that is a more accurate description of myself than I care to admit:

(1)Can I move mountains? evidently I believe I can, I just don't have enough faith(?) to make it so?
(2)Do I know I have a secret swiss bank account, with more funds than I could possibly use? evidently I believe I do, I just don't have enough faith(?) to find the number?

If you mean physics or practical knowledge - I need to rely on established reports to either agree or disagree with them. As Plato would say the knowledge is there we just need to discern the 'wheat' from the 'chaff' - and one needs to refer to recognised authority and wisdom, in whichever field to be relevant in that field.

I have to pass the buck on when I need to (to those wiser and/or more knowledgeable), and I like to pass the buck on to budding young bucks or stags, to build them up (this is a metaphor and it is not sexist) my wealth power and knowledge would be as unlimited as that of the combined resources of 12 or 12x12 or 12x12x12 people regardless of their sex. Ask Bill Gates, Richard Branson, or any other corporate head.

I have no problem believing what I believe. How to apply that belief is another story. Perhaps better said how to 'harness' and 'apply' that belief would be a better definition of your word reluctance.Thanks! anyway - you made me feel on top of the world. If that is not high enough, that is my shortfall Lol!"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who must explain all the details so as not to be misunderstood. You like order. And you are always willing to find out more about yourself. Furthermore, you think there is always a way, yet you cannot always find that way. Finally, you like to be complimented, but on the other hand you recongnize that you have a weakness for flattery."

3. K-Czar said...

"Touche

who doesn't like compliments and flattery - I wouldn't have said I had a weakness for flattery, but maybe bot knowing I had said weakness is the weakness

No, on reflection I prefer not to be flattered. Compliments should be more frequent, they are edifying. Anyone complimented always tries better or harder at whatever one (in this case you) is trying to get them to do.With words it is almost impossible not to be misunderstood. They not only have different manings or uses, they can mean one thing to the speaker/writer and a wholly other to the listener reader/observer."

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who doesn't like to be proved wrong. And sometimes you tend to focus on what you want to focus on, at the exclusion of what might be more pertinent to a given situation. In addition, you are a person who will not admit to a particular thing if others in society look down upon that thing. And you frequently do certain things over and over again, no matter what the results may be."

4. K-Czar said...

"Tell me flic, which animal or sentient being is not focussed on what they want to focus on, at least part of the day. Even slaves and miners used to get time to themselves.You mean frequently as in playing golf (or 18 holes), as in eating 3 times a day, as in putting one foot before the other to walk?

And unless we are being totally humourous, you are totally out of synch on the not admitting to things. Did I not admit to being a believer in the days of Nero and Rome burning -and flic, Rome is still here, and so am I

So what do you have to say about what is kicking off in Gaza and Lebanon - Israel getting impatient for those 'territiries' they've been trying to conquer for millennia. Now there you really have a bunch of people who do the same thing over and over again no matter what the result"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who is easily angered, although you don't usually like to admit this. Also, you are sometimes quick to proceed and thus ignore data that you've overlooked. And you are a person who usually denies their own mistakes by referring to something in the past. In addition, you're a person who often likes to forget the practicalities of life by incorporating yourself into the larger issues of the day."

5. K-Czar said...

"flic - what is anger?
which data have I ignored?
Which mistake(s) have I denied?
Which practicalities of life?
And you didn't answer the question on the 'big' picture So you seem to be giving a rather accurate account of yourself and presuming (transpossing) it onto me"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who doesn't know when to quit. Also, you are unable or unwilling to find out answers for yourself. Rather, you are a person who needs to be told what the answers are. In addition, you tend to imitate others when you find yourself at a loss for words. And you are a person who likes to be at the center of attention."

*****

And what do you think happened next?

[You MUST read the "Open up the window" post before making a comment here in the comments section.]

Language and Trauma, Series 2

2006-08-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

My cousin Stewart [photo at right] from Missouri sent me a very interesting document. He got the document from a friend of his, who in turn got it from a close relative.

The document is the recorded heart-wrenching emergency phone call to the police of Burstan County, Missouri. The following document is presented verbatim. And the Burston County police department has verified and acknowledged the authenticity of the document as it is given to you here:

Caller: The shovel is balancing on the top of my head! Can you hear me!?

Operator: Yes, I can hear you. Can you tell me that again, about the shovel?

C: The shovel is in my head!

O: The shovel is in your head? What do you mean? Do you mean that metaphorically, or literally?

C: I mean that literally. The shovel is in my head, the blade of the shovel is in my head, and I am balancing the wooden handle up at the top of my head. I'm leaning up against a wall by the pay-phone outside right now.

O: Where, where are you calling from? We've been trying to trace your call, but we're unable to trace your call. Where are you?

C: I'm over here, I'm right here.

O: Where, where are you?

C: Over here! Please help! Oh no, they're coming after me with a rake! Now they're coming after me with a rake! Please! Help! Help! Help! Ahhh!

O: Hello? Hello? Are you there? Hello? Sir? Are you there? Hello? Hello? Hello? Are you there? Hello?

Language and Trauma, Series 1

2006-08-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

Patient #: 4662
Name: Jennifer McPherson
Age: 28
Occupation: full-time community college student

Condition: This was the first question she had answered, after 143 questions were asked while she remained virtually catatonic (i.e., not uttering a single word) for a full three days after she had fallen and tumbled down a staircase in her parent's home. She has since fully recovered, and she has graduated from college with an associate's degree in accounting.

Question: What is the biggest emergency there could be?

Answer: "When cars are so heavy, and they land in cracks, and then it starts to break. And then bam! there's a hole. In my opinion, the biggest emergency is when a car is so heavy it makes a big hole in the road. I have two reasons for thinking that this is the biggest emergency there could be.

"The first reason why I think this is because there shouldn't be a hole in the road. Different cars could fall into it. And the hole is going to be in the shape of a car. And people could get hurt, too. Also, diggers can't go into the hole. I believe the wheels of the digger could only go on each side of the hole, like they're fences.

"The second reason why I think this is the biggest emergency is because they will need to fix the road and repair the pipes. The car might have broken some pipes when he was falling into the hole. In my view, he might have smashed into a pipe with somebody else in the car, and also with somebody in the pipe because someone was fixing the pipe when the car smashed in.

"In conclusion, I think this big emergency is a good thing because then the emergency truck and the ambulence comes to help the people and bring them to the doctor's, because that's what an emergency is!"

It's that time of the year

2006-07-28T05:50:00.000-04:00

The office will be closed until August.

I and the staff are on vacation for the next few weeks.

Please leave something in the mailbox. Thank you.

You have options, of course, while you're here. You could click on the clock above and watch some movies. Or you could scroll down and explore some previous posts. Of course, you could do both!

(Thank you Shannon for the movies!)

A creative writing meme

2006-07-25T06:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I did it. I took 9mg of Melatonin last night (thanks to an anonymous tip), and I had an amazing night of dreams. Unfortunately though, I only remember the last bit of only one of them. But I awoke like my mind was still reeling, trying to slow down from my night of dreams.

I'll take some time in the future to heed the advice espoused here. And I'll take the time to learn how to walk around in my dreams and to control what I do in them. But last night I took the easy way. The Melatonin was very easy, just a sip of water with it. And it's natural.

But today, this morning, now that I'm awake, I'm going to create a new kind of lucid dream. I'm going to live in a huge, extended dream -- a dream that other people create. I'm turning my dream into a story.

---------------------------------

Join this meme, and read the following story. And then continue the story on a post on your own blog. And be sure to put "The Rules of the Story Meme Game" list at the end of your story, and so invite others (or tag a particular person or persons) to take the story from there and continue it on their own blog. And so on.

---------------------------------

Here is the story: Page One of the Story Meme:

continued from (for example: Balloon)

The Story

Two people inside a room at night, sleeping. Half light, half dark inside the room. One person is sleeping in the bed (head where the feet should be on the bed, and feet where the head should be on the bed). The other person is wrapped in a coat, sleeping on the floor, near the door.

There is someone on the other side of the door, because the person on the bed heard. And the person on the floor opened up the coat and saw that the person on the bed was looking at the door. And so the person on the floor is quiet, and because only one or two feet from the door can see the doorknob turn ever so slightly and slowly. Now you must continue this story.

The Rules of the Story Meme Game, list:

1. You must continue the story from where you see my posted story ended.
2. Read only the posted story you see here. But don't post my posted story onto your blog. Post only your part of the story that you write, onto your blog.
3. You must continue the story in your own vein, and in your own style, etc. (Write at least 50 words. Add whatever you like, etc.), on your own blog.
4. Make your story available for others on your blog, so that others can continue the story after you. Tag others if you wish.
5. Be sure that you make a link available on your post to the person you continued from. And be sure to show a link to those who accepted being tagged. (So later, you and others could travel/click both ways and read the whole story!)

I tag YOU:
If you've found this post, and read it to the end, then consider yourself tagged. Or if I've actually tagged you! Just let me know that you're doing it, (either email me or put a comment/url in this comments section). Here's to thinking about you!

Jodi

2006-07-23T13:55:00.000-04:00

Have you ever looked inside a brain?

(click on the picture

and look inside this brain)

Open up the window

2006-07-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

I'm one of the lucky 3% of people in the world who suffer from Mythophobia, where I have the uncontrollable ability to accurately decipher someone's, anyone's, personality (and thus even physical traits sometimes), based on the words that they write or by the way that they speak.

The following are four examples [culled from the Females Section] from a report containing over two-thousand examples of 100% accurately pin-pointed statements regarding individual writers of comments.

Note: all comments in the following examples and in the full report have had permission obtained from the authors, their contact information, and their written statements as to the accuracy of my statements regarding their personality.

1. "I followed your instructions but when i try to save my updated profile page, it kept saying the pic file is too large. oh well. as you know, i am not too computer saavy. thanks though. have a nice weekend."

She's a woman of small stature, but she likes large things and large ideas. She likes to stand on the side as she watches her male significant other do things for her. And she likes to be a part of the crowd. In addition, she has more power than she's willing to show. But she gets to feeling down when she fails to properly use the power that she has.

2. "Wow, thanks. I feel much better about my family now. We're just the usual emotionally manipulative, Jerry Springer style - who's da father type family."

She likes to feel things as emotions, rather than relying on touch or taste or smell or sight or sound. She looks at everything as being from within herself. She keeps opinions to herself. She loves her father. And she believes that men are higher up than women on the ladder of society.

3. "Sure, I can allow things to happen at will, and for the most part have been doing so all my life, and if you could take a walk in my shoes you’d see exactly how far away from controlling and micromanaging I really am."

She needs to be accepted. She has a rough and tough exterior, but she has a very soft and feminine heart. She wants to be congratulated on her accomplishments. She thinks no one understands her. And she feels that she is a far greater person than the one that she thinks other people think she is. She is a procrastinator, and she takes a long time to get things finished.

4. "I do get weirded out about stuff like emails or stupid things like that & then internally something is nagging at me & its not til later that I can put my finger on it."

She always tries to take the short cut. And she likes to state how things are with her before other people get a chance to do it for her. She takes her time and thinks about what she wants to do before she does it, but she does it -- and always in a successful manner. Nonetheless, she is a person who often misses the boat and feels that life is passing her by.

I need your help

2006-07-09T06:02:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to have lucid or vivid dreams on a regular basis.

Do you have any true-blue techniques, mind-sets, rituals, or concoctions of ingredients, that have worked for you?

I'd much rather hear about your own personal know-how and experience (but pertinent links are of course welcome).

I'd like to find out some ways that have worked for others, and try them out.

I would love to be able to dream on cue. I think I'm like most people, I just happen to dream some nights and happen to not dream on other nights.

For me sleeping is much more exciting if I wake up remembering or at least half-remembering a dream that I've had.

Happy Fourth of July

2006-07-04T07:07:00.000-04:00

Find and click on the lucky dollar bill

Money isn't everything

2006-07-01T08:30:00.000-04:00

I've been living in a dream for the last three years. Money seems to grow on the trees here in my backyard in Al Ain. I now create things that have a purpose. I play with the concept that everything must have a purpose.

I have plans for building a house. A house that's in the shape of, and in the style of, and has the structure of, a mental hospital. I've uplifted this idea so much that it's attracted the attention of a designer. I incorporated the idea so that it went deep into the house, every household item, the furniture, everything.

And I plan on transferring my idea to the 15 acres of land I was able to recently buy in Massachusetts. And I plan to stay in the house all the time. The times that I go outside of the house will be in itself an act of art.

You always get what you want

2006-06-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

My uncle Hank was a detective, a detective who was also a hair fetishist.

He was naturally drawn to hair. It was how he came to work for the FBI, because he was so good with hair.

He loved women's hair, and in particular he loved the hair of murderesses -- before they would become murderesses.

He knew who was predisposed to being a murderess, just by their hair. He was naturally drawn to women who were capable of murdering another person.

It was a scary thing to be drawn to, but he was eventually drawn to a woman who murdered him.

Lunar

2006-06-25T14:07:00.000-04:00

I was sitting in my kitchen deciding what to do. Should I have eggs for lunch, or should I have none? There was an impression that after I became momentarily paralyzed there were ruminations about books I wanted to write which were interspersed with memories of long conversations I've had with an old girlfriend named Lisa.

How to capitalize on senti-ments?

The solution: make a decision, not leave it up in the air.

I think most people want to read about a personal or private situation, not necessarily a social or current-issue situation. Although a half and half one would not be too bad, either. How about a family of four?

When my parents were young they said, "Listen to the young folk, for the young are where it's at." Now that they're old, they don't think the same way about the young anymore. Now, all of a sudden, everyone should listen to their elders because they know better.

Al Ain is the center of the universe

2006-06-21T14:33:00.000-04:00

The Preamble Engineering Anomalies Research is the
Scientific Study of Consciousness-Related Physical Phenomena:

In particular, Remote Perception:

The ability of human participants to acquire information about spatially and temporally remote geographical targets, otherwise inaccessible by any of the usual sensory channels, has been thoroughly demonstrated over several hundred carefully conducted experiments. The protocol requires one participant, the “agent,” to be stationed at a randomly selected location at a given time, and there to observe and record impressions of the details and ambience of the scene. A second participant, the “percipient,” located far from the scene and with no prior information about it, tries to receive its composition and character and to report these in a similar format to the agent’s description.

Even casual comparison of the agent and percipient narratives produced in this body of experiments reveals striking correspondences in both their general and specific aspects, indicative of some anomalous channel of information acquisition, well beyond any chance expectation. In addition, to answer the needs of those wishing to have a significant collection of models to work with or to use as the foundation for further design or analysis work, I have prepared sets of models in both EXZ and NFRU formats. These models, comprising 7 sets of over 100 models each, are available for free to anyone who wants them. [Email me, and I will send them to you.]

Lessons anyone?

2006-06-19T06:41:00.000-04:00

The modest and the madcap, and the fight for mental acuity. It happened at the 2006 US Open.

(click on a club,
any club)

People say the darndest things

2006-06-16T13:01:00.000-04:00

After reading to my three year old son his third and final bedtime story for the night last night, we started talking about going to sleep and dreams. He asked me, "Do people still dream when they're awake?"

And I thought, that's a good question. And then I thought, it could be, people could dream all through the day (not day-dreaming) and not even know it, and then when they go to sleep they gradually get in touch with their dreams.

There is no direct observation that proves one begins to dream once one reaches deep REM sleep. So I said to my son, "That's a good question. Maybe people do dream when they're still awake, but they don't actually see their dreams until they fall asleep."

The Best

2006-06-15T13:10:00.000-04:00

His and Hers

(click on the respective pictures)

The waiting room

2006-06-08T06:37:00.000-04:00

Enter

(click on the lampshade in the photo above to continue)

Classic

2006-06-07T13:28:00.000-04:00

After Dorothy and her three friends managed to do what the Wizard asked of them -- namely, to retrieve the Wicked Witch of the West's broomstick and bring it to the Wizard in order to have their wishes granted by the Wizard -- the Wizard told them to let him think about it more, and for them to come back tomorrow.

Dorothy did the classic thing and said, "Tomorrow? But I want to go home now. If you were really great and powerful you would keep your promises."