alternatesource's Blog

The word "Blog" is one of the weirder ones to come out of the web.

It sound kind of gross...

"Bllllloggggg" 

or... "Who's in Charge Here Anyway?"

Consider the microcosm and the macrocosm and their striking similarities to each other. The tiny atom, with it's satellites affably flying around in their eternal orbits, supposedly unaware of our spying microscopes. The many sizes of stars, assumedly keeping their assorted planets tight in their circular path. Each keeping in line with natures own atomic pattern, their only difference being their size and composition. "as it is above, so it is below." Oh, those ancient sayings. And if we dare go further than our clever scientists can prove, what else can we compare? If we conclude that the planets were formed by the curdling of lighter gases surrounding a newly ignited star, then we might also conclude that the satellites surrounding the planets formed in the same way. And that the rings of the outer planets are to be the future moons of those planets. Imagine the young Earth with rings, what a sight.
And what of our Solar Systems asteroid belt? Why is it there? How was it formed? If our scientists can reach in with their micro tweezers and snatch the nucleus from any atom for any reason they desire, did some scientist residing on a higher cosmic level pick up his tiny tweezers and remove what was then the fourth planet of our solar system? Leaving behind only scattered debris to bombard the neighborhood it once inhabited? Were we, the germs of earth, the strange thing that occurred, as strange things always occur when you mess around with natures plan? We seem proud of our ability to split the atom, yet one day when our sun inexplicably blows up, will we get the chance to understand the faults of our ways?
Does it matter?
 

Once upon a time I knew this guy...

I met him at work when I was in tech support 

We went outside for a break, and whenever I saw him,

he was talking up a storm, and he was interesting.

So I walked up to him and introduced myself,

and asked him his name. We hit it off great,

and talked about all things intellectual every break.

Initially, I worked the 12-9 shift, and he had the 9-6

So I always missed out on these fantastic happenings

during happy hour at the bar across the street.

Then I moved to the early shift, and the story really begins.

At the time, I had just gotten divorced, and was living at my Mom’s

house; he was recently divorced and sleeping on the couch of one of

his former University Professors. It was obvious that we should get

a place. So we rented a house in the campus area and proceeded to

drink heavily.

It started slow, but it built to crescendo in no time.

For happy hour, they had these 23 oz drafts for $.99

and we’d have 4 each between 6:03-8:00. At 8:00 the price went to

$3.50 and we were out of there. A quick stop at the convenient store

for a 12-pack each and we were off to the house for a night of

incredible conversation, and lots of beer.

As we got to know each other more and we got drunker, our

conversations begin to change. He had learned where all of my

buttons were, and started pushing them on purpose.

He once told me that the only time I ever got mad

was when I learned something,

and that; when-ever I learned something, I got mad...

And mad I got ...

And he’d laugh at me,

and say something else to piss me off, on purpose...

All the while telling me that it was all for my benefit

After all I was learning things, wasn’t I?

"He was the Master, and I was the student"

 I’d yell and cuss and pitch a fit.

And then go get another beer from the refrigerator,

and then we’d start in again

We argued the deepest of philosophies;

responsibility, purpose, reason, and fate

God and the Devil, and the existence of the soul...

And it hurt my head.

And I knew what was happening.

He didn’t know the answers himself.

But, he was making me figure them out for him.

He’d verbally spin me around and toss me on my head.

And make me give the answer that could not be denied.

It was a painful experience.

An experience that taught me many of the things that

I now know for certain.

I eventually could not handle it any more, and at the

same time entered into one of too many short lived

reconciliations with my ex. The last time I saw him was two years

ago when I flew back to give a presentation to support. I went to

his apartment, and it was a scene from a movie. Not a piece of

furniture in the place, and there was a Budweiser can sitting

everywhere there could be one, save a narrow path from the front

room to the bathroom. I tried to talk with him, but he turned foul

in no time. I shrugged, and left.

That was really two stories in one...

One was just my story, but the other was my attempt to relate my

self-recognized issues with being “forced to think”. It’s easy to be

the know-it-all when you only say what you already know, but I find

it painful - and that isn’t the really the proper word for it,

actually, “frustrated” is more to the feeling, as if my mind had

been placed in a virtual maze, and I ‘had’ to think my way out. I

have an issue where I tend to get angry at the person (or thing!)

that places me in that position.

Life is peachy keen when I get to decide what I’m thinking about.

Now I just need to work on this other part a bit.

I’m still learning...

And the useless becomes useful...

Here inside my head, I got it a lot better off than outside.
I can dream up the perfect vacation. I can talk to god,
And god talks back, ‘cause I am god,
Here inside my head, I got it a whole lot better off than outside.

Nobody yells at me here inside my head, it’s quiet and kinda cozy.
Shelves of ideas stored neatly for later use,
after their usefulness has been forgotten.
Perhaps my last great accomplishment was learning how to walk,
I’ve been stumbling ever since.

I wonder if I’ve learned enough, will any more thoughts improve me,
Was everything a waste of my time, is knowledge it’s own reward?
Do I know any better now, do I know anything worth anything at all,
Does any of it matter when they're trying to figure out,
what to do with what’s left of me.

It’s lonely here inside my head, I wish I could go outside and play.
 

We were all just like,
standin' around you know,
And this guy, from the other side,
he just, like, walks up, and, you know...,

He says, like, "I'm from the other side,
and, uh, what goes on over here?"

And we all just sorta looked at him,
and said, like "wow, he's from the other side,
I wonder what goes on over there?"

And we wondered,
And we wandered,
'cause we're all really the same.
 

Welcome to the proceedings
hope you brought everything you need.

Came naked did ya?
Tee hee

Better pay attention then.

And uh,
speak up if you need anything.
'cause they don't just give it away,
you know?

A stunning menagerie we have here, don't you think?

Predator and prey.
Give and take.
Buddy can you spare a dime?

All parts being equal, some parts are more...

Some need more.
Some want more.
Some have more.
Some get more.

Speak up now, don't be shy.
Don't be afraid to ask for what you want

They don't just give it away, you know?.

By the way, there's nobody to blame.
No reason for anything
just what you want
or....what something else wants

and...
it would seem,
it is better to want,
than to be wanted,
in a world inhabited by predators.

preyforme
 

 GOD SPEAKS
A one act play
CAST:
God......................played by God
The Mortals...........played by The Mortals

(the scene opens with God laughing hilariously,
the mortals standing at Gods feet shuffle about uneasily)

GOD:
(sighing heavily) There you go again...
(with a mocking falsetto whine ) "Please God, tell us the answers..."
(with a stern Godlike voice) OK, try these on for size...

[add 5 millisecond delay to the house sound system]

(GOD stands and begin to orate, with feeling)

You get to live, until you die
You'll be remembered, until you're forgotten
Everything you find, was already there
The biggest things are made of the smallest pieces,
And every piece is equally part of the whole."

THE MORTALS:
(the Mortals all cry out in single voices, none speaking the same word at the same time)

But God, those aren't rules...

GOD:
(God shrugs nonchalantly and disinterested)

Hey, you folks got it all wrong here, I don't make rules,

(God points at the Mortals, they begin to tremble in fear)

you do!...

(Gods hands go up)

Where in the manual does it say the creator has to be the mediator?
I'm just observing the proceedings at this point,
You get to figure it all out for yourselves, however you see fit.

(God becomes more serious)

If you want laws, make laws
If you want to punish the lawbreakers, punish them
If you want to punish the punishers, so be it.
But don't blame me when all of your plans come to naught.
I've already told you, there are no rules.

(God fades into the backdrop and the mortals roam in confused circles around the stage as the house lights fade to darkness.)
 

 One of Aesop's fables

A wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, 
resolved not to lay violent hands on him,
but to find some plea to justify to the Lamb
the Wolf's right to eat him.
He thus addressed him:
"Sir, last year you grossly insulted me."
"Indeed,"
bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of voice,
"I was not then born."
Then said the Wolf,
"You feed in my pasture."
"No, good sir,"
replied the Lamb,
"I have not yet tasted grass."
Again said the Wolf,
"You drink of my well."
"No," exclaimed the Lamb,
"I have yet to drink water,
for as yet my mother's milk is both food and drink to me."

Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up,
saying,
"Well! I won't remain supperless,
even though you refute every one of my imputations."

For:

The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.
 

Re: truth and context

6 Jun 2002

> > Though, by definition, there could only be one 'local' perspective 

> > of the Universe, that being the perspective of the Universe itself.

>

> maybe a mere semantic point, but doesn't 'perspective' or 'point of view'

> require there be something to 'look at'? wouldn't the perspective of

> the entire universe be... 'empty'?

> there being nothing outside the universe to be 'perspected upon'? 

> and if the universe turns in on itself to examine within itself,

> already we have split it into two localities.

I'm pretty sure all of our collective difference are simply a matter of semantics ;)

But, perspective has nothing to do with eyes... 

and the idea is more along the lines of

'perceive' than 'spectacle'

And, we've been down that road before ;) 

I perceive myself, and I trust my perception. 

I allow the Universe the same ability.

And I grant _you_ that ability!

There is that stuff about 'infinity' which I can not yet grip. 

While you mention "nothing outside the universe",

that statement bends under the pressure of infinity,

in that, there is no outside!

Everything is inside the universe,

which has no external boundary, owing to it's infinite nature.

originally written: 30 May 2002

Truth...

Truth is the network name of my computer at work... 

The truth is a pretty complex topic when you start to think about it 

Encarta has ten definitions,

Mostly to the effect of: correspondence to fact or reality

We seek the truths of others, and we hide our own truths 

We value our truths

And when the truth is exposed, great attention is drawn to it

The truth turns us on...

Yet, the truth must be proven, and corroborated 

"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth"

A single truth, it seems, cannot stand by itself...

And that's where the realm of the other side comes into play. 

All that stuff that can't be true because it 'can't' be proven.

And the criteria of proof, and truth... 

is as variable as the beings that contemplate it.

Dogs know truth, and dogs can lie... 

I know the truth, and I can...

And when I see something that _isn't there_ 

To me, that is closer to the truth,

than when somebody doesn't see it.

And to them, nothing is there

It can't be proven, so it can't be true. To them.

I'm sure more than a few "don't believe" the things I talk about,

And I have no recourse other than to shrug.

I view the stories of others with similar skepticism... 

Truth is easily replaced by lies...

So, I'm thinking, 'singular truths', truths which cannot be backed 

up with lasting corroborating evidence, are only acceptable by

others when they are presented as 'perceptions'.

Because we can dismiss a perception as flawed,

But it shakes us up pretty bad to dismiss the truth...

Once, a ouija told me I was the prophet of truth 

Too bad it was only telling me what I wanted to hear...

;)