The best thing that I've seen/heard in a while

Sometimes you just need to marvel at skill and groove to amazing music.

Beauty - By RICHARD FEYNMAN

Sometimes it's simply self-realization that contributes to the largest moments in life. but often we simply forget to make the time to reflect.

I encourage you to read the text below while watching this stunning video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRmbwczTC6E

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I have a friend who is an artist, and has sometimes taken a view which I don't agree with very well.


He'll hold up a flower and say "Look how beautiful it is" and I'll agree. And he says you see as an artist I can see how beautiful this is, but you as a scientist take this all apart and it becomes a dull thing. And I think that he's kind of  nutty.


First of all, the beauty that he sees is available to other people and to me too, I believe, although I may not be quite as refined aesthetically as he is; but I can appreciate the beauty of a flower. At the same time, I see much more about the flower than he sees. I could imagine the cells in there,the complicated actions inside, which also have a beauty.


I mean, it's not just beauty at this dimension of one centimeter, there's also beauty at smaller dimensions. The inner structure, also the processes, the fact that the colors and the flower are evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting. It means that insects can see the color. It adds a question: does this aesthetic sense also exist in the lower forms that... why is it aesthetic... all kinds of interesting questions which with science, knowledge, only adds to the excitement,and mystery, and the awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts.


If you expected science to give all the answers to the wonderful questions about what we are, where we are going, what the meaning of the universe is, and so on, then I think you could easily become disillusioned and look for some mystic answer to these problems. How a scientist can take a mystic answer, I don't know, the whole spirit is to understand... Well, never mind that, I mean I don't understand that.


But anyhow, if you think of it, the way I think of what we're doing is that we are exploring, we're trying to find out as much as we can about the world.


People say to me "Are you looking for the ultimate laws of physics?" No I'm not, I'm just looking to find out more about the world, and if it turns out there is a simple ultimate law that explains everything, so be it. That would be very nice to discover. If it turns out it's like an onion with millions of layers, and we're just sick and tired of looking at the layers, then that's the way it is. But whatever way it comes out, nature is there and she's going to come out the way she is.


Therefore, when we go to investigate it, we shouldn't pre-decide what it is we're trying to do except to find out more about it.


You see, one thing is: I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers, and possible beliefs, and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I'm not absolutely sure of anything, and there are many things I don't know anything about. But I don't have to know an answer. I don't feel frightened by not knowing things; by being lost in the mysterious universe without having any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell possible. It doesn't frighten me.


And so altogether I can't believe the special stories that have been made up about our relationship to the universe at large because they seem to be too simple, too connected...too local, too provincial. The earth, he came to the earth!


One of the aspects of god came to the Earth, mind you. And look at what's out there, it isn't in proportion.


Anyway, it's no use arguing, I can't argue it. I'm just trying to tell you: with the scientific view, my father's view, that we should look to see what's true and what may not be true; once you start doubting, which to me is a very fundamental part of my soul, is to doubt, and to ask; when you doubt and ask, it gets a little harder to believe.


Beauty
RICHARD FEYNMAN

So that happened

Call it a tipping point, or an 'aha' moment, or just that time where you mutter "ohhh ... that's how it's supposed to be."

Well something hit me.

I woke up this morning with an obscure memory lingering in my mind. I was a child, dressed in a faded 3/4 t-shirt sporting my mopish auburn hair, proudly whipping through a dense forest at top speed. The wilderness blazing by, my arms flailing, and feeling that my lips were forming the purest smile.

Living in the moment - and loving it.

So what the hell happened to me? When did I start limping through days that most people envy. Internalizing complaints about things that I wouldn't feel comfortable to mention in public, because I'd surely appear as a spoiled schmuck.

I may have forgotten how to enjoy some small moments, and I may have missed a few years of those self-initiated "how do you feel you are doing in your life" reflection sessions.

So guess what... that's not going to happen anymore. You shouldn't let that happen either.

The truth is that we can all be fucking awesome people when we want to be.

This is certainly how I feel this morning

http://vimeo.com/31964641

Organ donation: How You Can Get Involved

I now understand how important it is to have a signed donor card. Please take a minutes to help. Thousands of people die each year while waiting for organs to become available. In my opinion it's irresponsible and selfish to not participate.

Here are the details:

Ontario
In Ontario, you can show your intent to be an organ donor by carrying a signed donor card. Cards are included with new and renewed driver's licenses and available through theTrillium Gift of Life Network (call 416-363-4001 or 1-800-263-2833), at Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care offices and at some Ministry of Transportation offices. You can also register your wishes and have them linked to your health card with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care -- visit their website to obtain the Organ and Tissue Donor Registration Form.

Quebec
To indicate your willingness to donate organs and tissues in Quebec, obtain a free donation sticker and apply it to your health card. Stickers are available at CLSCs, hospitals or drugstores.

If you're outside these examples google "organ donation", or visit you local hospital for more details.

5 Things That Bug Me

1 - The media covering Jack Layton's sudden death - but not highlighting the need for cancer research

2 - Sitting on the subway in front of the subway map

(because it seems like everyone is looking at you)

3 - Street kids with pet animals

4 - Ingrown Toenails

5 - That no matter how hard I try - all of my foreign accents sound like Borat

Things life has taught me lately

1 - Wear the most unflattering clothes in your wardrobe to the gym. (You will work out harder and not pause to stare at yourself)

2 - Caffeine is a covert drug. Most of us are addicted to it.

3 - Surfing articles on the internet is not the equivalent to reading a book.

4 - Only when we are sick do we realize how fantastic a clean bill of health truly is.

5 - When you think negatively - sooner or later you will act negatively.

6 - Life is short for a reason.

limmerick

There was a young man from Lahore
Whose limericks stopped at line four.
When asked why this was,
He responded, “Because.”

Summer of 2000 Anthem

My city's still breathing (but barely it's true)
through buildings gone missing like teeth.
The sidewalks are watching me think about you,
sparkled with broken glass.
I'm back with scars to show.
Back with the streets I know
Will never take me anywhere but here.
The stain in the carpet, this drink in my hand,
the strangers whose faces I know.
We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say "I wanted it this way"
Wait for the year to drown.
Spring forward, fall back down.
I'm trying not to wonder where you are.
All this time lingers, undefined.
Someone choose who's left and who's leaving.
Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me:
a blanket, some matches, this pain in my chest,
the best parts of Lonely, duct-tape and soldered wires,
new words for old desires,
and every birthday card I threw away.
I wait in 4/4 time,
Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJ6soX18R8

Insomnia Inspired

On the cusp of saying something charming,

Moments before appearing as brave.

Awaiting another shining moment,

Whilst attempting to behave.

The world smiles for all who take the time to realize that they are being smiled upon.

Poetically Incorrect

Poetically Incorrect

I worry constantly about my bank balance, and yet I sneer at those who feed their families by making change.

I eerily stare at the homeless, and spend countless hours decorating to ensure my feeling of homeliness.

I owe nothing, though I have it etched in my conscience that the world owes me more opportunity, more options, and more attention. I am gravely disappointed when my self conceived expectations are neglected.

I fail to see the plan, and then afterwards I assure myself that I did not plan to fail.

I listen to the comments that I wish to hear - the compliments, the one liners - with full attention. I over-talk or tune out utterances that bore me, or those that I feel are less pertinent to my current situation.

I wander when I feel the need. Occasionally, I hurt those who deeply love me.

I play the hypocrite, the devils advocate, and the yes man where I see fit.

I believe that I am original, and singular. But reality shows that most of my actions are non-linear.

I expect too much of myself, and those around me. I recognize that I must realize needed change - before changing my station.

Or maybe I need to simply adjust my settings.

All of this is possible as I am still the holder of my remote.

5 things that have stuck

1 - Say what you feel without regret. "Those who mind don't matter, those who matter don't mind." Dr. S.

2 - People can, and will be obnoxious. This is a sad fact. Don't try to change it - deal with it.

3 - Nothing is truly amazing - if you have no one to share it with.

4 - "Everyone likes someone who gets to the point quickly." David R.

5 - There will always be another green light.