Life as an Extreme Sport

Category: life and living

Not so much the daily grind, as the things that fall outside the scope of academics.

technology is rarely foolproof

blog as therapy, life and living

Sometimes, I have the overwhelming urge to leave people little notes that say something along the lines of “Hi, I’m both smarter than your technology, and than you think.” But then the manners Mom drilled into me as a kid resurface, and I (mostly) behave. In public, anyhow. Kind of. Passive aggressively, anyhow.

As a matter of point, passive aggressive seems to be the name of the game lately, and it’s a game I strongly, strongly dislike. Might even go so far as to say hate. It’s gotten so bad, just the culmination of everything and all, that I slid into driving meditation tonight, something I only ever used to do, in my previous life, when it was the only way to clear my head. (Microsoft got sort of pissy with us after we rather over-zealously used the provided stress relief toys, causing building damage…)

It’s a pretty simple method. Some people do walking meditation, I just take it a step further – a natural step, for someone who tends to see herself so damned augmented by machine. Get in car, pick a stretch of road to go Very Fast on, and go Very Fast with Very Loud and Angry music. Do this for a while, then switch to wandering strange side roads with soft, calming music. Rinse and repeat until it’s time to turn around.

Head back the absolute fastest way possible, going Very Very Fast with Very Loud and Angry music, again. About 10 miles from home, switch to another calm and soothing artist, and sink into the moment and take the time to do your final destress.

Granted, I had an excuse this evening – went to pick up an automated litterbox cleaner from someone a bit north of here – but it was still nice, and needed. I went through my Nine Inch Nails and various gangsta rap albums, wandered through Waterford to Eva Cassidy, spent a while sitting in what was truly the strangest cemetery I’ve ever seen – full of small, glowing/illuminated crosses. Very grave of the fireflys, without the nuclear holocaust. Came back home to more NIN, and finished it all up with Josh Groban.

I managed to hold on to the serenity all the way through dinner.

nightstand, mid-Sept 2007

...and everything else, Academics, AMBI, life and living

My nightstand post was apparently such a hit, people have been asking again to see what is on my nightstand. Never say I didn’t bow to request…


If you were to guess I’m finishing a project, your guess would not be that far off. Although, in all honestly, the nightstand has, at this point, overflowed to the side of the bed I’m not using… (The stuffed animal is Bones. I’ll talk about him some time down the line,…)

kill the buddha outside you

Buddhism, KellyZen

I was chatting with an academic colleague of mine about the recent attack in Pakistan on a large, carved Buddha, and actually impressed myself with my own serenity and acceptance. Quite the different response from my reaction to the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas (outrage, anger, despair).

But as I told him, it is only rock, and only appears indestructable to use because we move at different time than rock. To focus so much on the image is in fact to do exactly what the Islamic militants fear – idolize the image, instead of revere the message.

Ultimately, what I feel is more sorrow and sadness, not for the destruction of the carved art and stone, but for the people who are so ruled by fear, who are so threatened by something as simple as carved rock. How sad and small their lives must be, and what beauty and wonder in the world they are missing.

words make wisdom

blog as therapy, Buddhism, KellyZen, life and living

For various reasons, and one rather specific one, it became necessary to stop using my office as a large storage room, and get it in working order rapidly. (So now my living room is a large storage room… sigh. But I’m working through it, albeit slowly.)

Anyhow, now that I can sit at my desk, I can see some of the collective wisdom I’ve opted to attach on the side of my filing cabinet. And it’s rather weird to realize that these are things I had hanging up on my cube wall at eWorld, some 12 years ago.

I guess as much as things may change, they stay the same. (And rather, as an aside, solidifies the notion I’ve been a pragmatist long before I knew what it even meant.)

When you lose your temper, the other person gains control.
-Anonymous

A person is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens.
-William James

Of course, the two bumper stickers up are equally apt, tho not quite so old:

I’m not paid enough to be this pissed off!

I’m not gonna drink anymore…won’t drink any less, either!

Yep. That about sums it all up.