http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX8D0yU0pMc&feature=related
"We know very well that after people die, other people are born. And they're all you. You can only experience it one at a time."
"Doesn't it astonish you that you are this fantastically complex thing and that you're doing all of this and you never had any education in how to do it."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssf7P-Sgcrk
"So cheer up, you see."
"And always the secret lies in the place you would never think of looking for it."
Sunday, September 23, 2012
A Note on Being Yourself
From the "KNOW THYSELF" inscription at the Oracle at Delphi to Polonius in Hamlet: "Above all, to thine own self be true." This is a constant theme in the work of humanity. What does it mean?
I don't know.
An answer:
The act of being oneself is a practice of following one's curiosity for your curiosity is your passion. As Joseph Campbell says: "Follow your bliss." Bliss can easily be replaced for "passion" or "heart."
WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'm curious.
I don't know.
An answer:
The act of being oneself is a practice of following one's curiosity for your curiosity is your passion. As Joseph Campbell says: "Follow your bliss." Bliss can easily be replaced for "passion" or "heart."
WHAT DO YOU THINK? I'm curious.
If you talk all the time...
If you talk all the time, people listen less. If you talk all the time, people listen less.
One must decide: Do you want to be listened to? Then shut up until you have a cogent, interesting, worth while thought. Thanks.
One must decide: Do you want to be listened to? Then shut up until you have a cogent, interesting, worth while thought. Thanks.
A Note on Originality
Originality is being yourself.
It is not being different than everyone and everything for the sake of being different.
If being yourself for you is considered the norm by most, you are still being original because you are being true to yourself.
If truly being yourself for you is dressing in drag, wearing your hair like a pigeon and getting a tattoo of a llama on your left butt cheek: good for you. You're being original.
BUT if you are being different for the sake of being different in the hopes of originality or creativity then this is false and you should be yourself above all because, damnit, you're the most original thing that ever was.
Don't think of being different or being original.
Just be yourself and put your seat belt on for the adventure.
It is not being different than everyone and everything for the sake of being different.
If being yourself for you is considered the norm by most, you are still being original because you are being true to yourself.
If truly being yourself for you is dressing in drag, wearing your hair like a pigeon and getting a tattoo of a llama on your left butt cheek: good for you. You're being original.
BUT if you are being different for the sake of being different in the hopes of originality or creativity then this is false and you should be yourself above all because, damnit, you're the most original thing that ever was.
Don't think of being different or being original.
Just be yourself and put your seat belt on for the adventure.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
An Introduction to all these words.
in life, if one has ideas, it is typically easier though not altogether
healthy to repress them in fear of rejection or ridicule. It is much
more difficult for the idea-filled human to catapult their ideas out in
the world and see what Miss Universe has to say. This is a lengthy way of telling you that I've created a blog and I'm nervous about this.
And a resounding fuck you if you think this is stupid. For those on
board in the adventure: enjoy my musings, if you please. And let
me know your thoughts, if your are so inclined. :) peace.
What if...
Fall 2012: Seattle, WA.
What if we called each other “sir” instead of “bro;”
if we said “hi there” instead of “hey bitches”
What if we didn’t mime masturbation for a cheap
laugh?
What if we respected each other’s space and each
other’s values?
What if we had values? Do we have values? What about morals? Does it
matter?
What if we shut up for more than twenty seconds in
order to truly listen to one another?
What if we told someone how we felt…how we actually felt?
What if we didn’t ridicule our friends?
What if we were honest to our feelings and other
people’s feelings?
What if we weren’t shallow?
What if we believed in ourselves?
What if we were brave enough to be ourselves, whatever the hell that means on a given day?
Wait--Does any of this matter? Would it make a difference or is it useless
to try?
Is this utopian; unattainable?
Perhaps; perhaps not.
As Rilke tells us:
I would like to beg you
dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your
heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms
or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers,
which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live
them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps
then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it,
live your way into the answer.
--from Letters to a Young Poet
Monday, September 10, 2012
9 Stories High
Winter 2010: Eugene, OR.
9 stories high.
I think of jumping sometimes.
Then I realize the horizon.
Look at it.
Sit just a little longer.
What's the rush?
9 stories high.
I think of jumping sometimes.
Then I realize the horizon.
Look at it.
Sit just a little longer.
What's the rush?
Stairs
Spring 2011: 9th Ward, NOLA.
Stairs leading to nowhere.
Empty lots.
Numbers of the dead.
"Dog on roof"
Overgrown.
Roots.
Weeds.
Ugly trees.
Bricks from what used to be.
Trying to restore.
Foundations--gone.
Stairs leading to nowhere.
Empty lots.
Numbers of the dead.
"Dog on roof"
Overgrown.
Roots.
Weeds.
Ugly trees.
Bricks from what used to be.
Trying to restore.
Foundations--gone.
A fight
In the halls of Jesuit High in Carmichael, CA. Spring 2009.
A fight--a fight
From day's light into night
And Carpe diem!
Nay! Carpe noctum!
And knock them off their steed
Piercing those who are not in need
Witch each thrust of sword and spear
I want to see them sneer
Into their heavy hearts of greed.
Chaos everywhere
No one person is awake or alive
As horses flee to roam
They cry and moan
Because they're hurt.
Walking with a million people
And yet feeling so alone
As they groan 'cus the shackles are too tight
And can't be broken with all their might.
Prisoners--sitting in a cell
..Hearing no bell of freedom...
A fight--a fight
From day's light into night
And Carpe diem!
Nay! Carpe noctum!
And knock them off their steed
Piercing those who are not in need
Witch each thrust of sword and spear
I want to see them sneer
Into their heavy hearts of greed.
Chaos everywhere
No one person is awake or alive
As horses flee to roam
They cry and moan
Because they're hurt.
Walking with a million people
And yet feeling so alone
As they groan 'cus the shackles are too tight
And can't be broken with all their might.
Prisoners--sitting in a cell
..Hearing no bell of freedom...
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Train Whistles
On a train in the middle of the country. Summer 2011.
Train whistles call to a Home
Though
the whereabouts seem uncertain
Whistles like a groan:
An
invitation to The Curtain
The month of September felt as a Dream
Conversations
disappearing
Nothing is as it would seem
Transportations
ever nearing
Seemingly spending a life on this train
Perplexing
dualities forever confounding
Traversing the plain pretedingly sane
Living
to attain and become more rounding
Days speed up—taking their toll
As
we forget
We are growing but less full
Never
regret
Life is in constant transition
We
must transcend
Laughing at the idea of perdition—
We must mend
The time of life is now.
Forever
and always
Nothing is ever as important to know:
Never
live in future’s craze
Be never content to strive for mediocrity
Every
gift is responsibility
Talent is one’s curiosity
Kinship
is the doorway to mobility
Future is simply hope
Past
is an old, reinvigorating friend
Cease the feet of mope
And
Live Full ‘till the end!
The train will come someday
The
lights will all be low
We will step on board
And
still—we never know.
A Rebel with Several Causes
In Capital Hill neighborhood of Seattle, WA. Night; fall 2012.
Let me tell you how many titles I thought of before I just said "screw it" and chose one that sounded AWESOME. First it was "Monologues in the Margins" (whatever the hell that means), then it was Riley's Ramblings and a whole host of other really bad, alliteration-filled options. Finally, I decided to just choose one that made contradictory sense. After all, names are just names; titles just titles. When reading a book, you enjoy the chapters, not just the cover. Though the cover can get one's attention...more on this later. In any event, welcome. Welcome to "A Rebel with Several Causes." I created this blog because I have great ideas and wanted to catapult them out into the universe to see if they would withstand the test of time and douchebags, which is of course the ultimate goal of any writer and/or human. Please let me know what you think whether it be good, bad, happy, or sad.
Basically, this is the place where I write things and you enjoy them. I have been wanting to write a blog for quite some time but I really did not think anybody would read it so I am happy even if you just decide to read some of the words on this page. You can make it a game for yourself and read every third word and make a found poem out of it...frankly, I don't really give a damn. Enjoy.
I am a student at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. I just moved here from Eugene, OR where I was at school for two years studying theater. I transferred because I a) could and b) I needed to get more opportunities and exposure to my art. Throughout the years, I will post poems, essays, thoughts questions, rambles, jokes, epiphanies, grievances, and the like all for the greater glory of understanding our humanity. Which brings me to the definition of this endeavor: to better understand our humanity through the help of other humans. Ya? I like it. Maybe I'll change it later but I like it for now. I hope you enjoy what I have to say. If you don't then kindly get the fuck out of my blog-space. Peace, RS. :)
Let me tell you how many titles I thought of before I just said "screw it" and chose one that sounded AWESOME. First it was "Monologues in the Margins" (whatever the hell that means), then it was Riley's Ramblings and a whole host of other really bad, alliteration-filled options. Finally, I decided to just choose one that made contradictory sense. After all, names are just names; titles just titles. When reading a book, you enjoy the chapters, not just the cover. Though the cover can get one's attention...more on this later. In any event, welcome. Welcome to "A Rebel with Several Causes." I created this blog because I have great ideas and wanted to catapult them out into the universe to see if they would withstand the test of time and douchebags, which is of course the ultimate goal of any writer and/or human. Please let me know what you think whether it be good, bad, happy, or sad.
Basically, this is the place where I write things and you enjoy them. I have been wanting to write a blog for quite some time but I really did not think anybody would read it so I am happy even if you just decide to read some of the words on this page. You can make it a game for yourself and read every third word and make a found poem out of it...frankly, I don't really give a damn. Enjoy.
I am a student at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. I just moved here from Eugene, OR where I was at school for two years studying theater. I transferred because I a) could and b) I needed to get more opportunities and exposure to my art. Throughout the years, I will post poems, essays, thoughts questions, rambles, jokes, epiphanies, grievances, and the like all for the greater glory of understanding our humanity. Which brings me to the definition of this endeavor: to better understand our humanity through the help of other humans. Ya? I like it. Maybe I'll change it later but I like it for now. I hope you enjoy what I have to say. If you don't then kindly get the fuck out of my blog-space. Peace, RS. :)
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