I & I

^ traces of a project we did recently at SDaS.

Hellohi.

Over this here Thxgiving break, all my housemates have left town to go see family, & I've had La Casa all to myself! Well, sort of to myself. I've had my best friend w/ me th whole time, my wee beagler Sophie. Also, I've had ten cluckers in th shed to go visit - egg-laying chickens who need feed & water. I choose to eat eggs from our chickens (but still not from any others), since I believe they live well; but w/ no one else around, th eggs accumulate & wait. Still, I've done my part & made eggs for most of my meals this week. I figure, some fat, protein & cholesterol could only do me good. My body doesn't seem to mind.

Th week started off wonderfully, as our friend Beth hosted a Composition Intensive at her house that went from Sunday at noon to Monday night. This involved people coming over, grabbing a pillow, a chair, a bedroom, what have you, & working on something in th company of others working on their own things. Then, at certain intervals, we'd take a break from working to "check in" w/ everyone else. We'd give updates on what we did & set goals for th next chunk of time. I especially enjoyed check-ins because we would use Skype to call other people scattered over th country who wanted to get in on this long-distance. You can see traces of what this project looked like here.

My friends Anna & Michael had me over Wednesday & Thursday to play games. So for two nights in a row, we pulled out Killer Bunnies & th Quest for th Magic Carrot, an old favorite of mine that I haven't hardly played since I lived in Troy, NY. Also, Catch Phrase went over well, as it tends to do. Anna expressed an interest in playing "socially relevant games" (as opposed to these "socially irrelevant games" I guess). Altho I don't think we have a clear idea of what that means yet, I share that interest & want to help organize a different sort of game night in th near future.

I've spent my late evenings blasting German operas on th living room stereo system while sipping bourbon.

I've also done quite a bit of reading about cybernetics this week, in particular th cybernetics of cybernetics, or second-order cybernetics (where you apply cybernetics to cybernetics itself). Says Ranulph Glanville on this:

"What characterises the Cybernetics of Cybernetics is the inclusion of the agent that is determining the system under consideration. It is the insistence that observation needs an observer and that any account that pretends otherwise is essentially in error. It is the insistence that there is (inter)action, that there are processes and that we are involved with and in our processes. It is the insistence that there is no thinking without the thinker and that there is no thinking without thinking."

~Ranulph Glanville, in his paper "Chasing the Blame"

I like all this & want to do more w/ it. I recommend that paper, if you'd like a fascinating read. Indeed, do call me up for a chat, if you'd like to have one, about cybernetics, or about anything.

Which reminds me: VerizonWireless has turned off my cell phone. Probably because I haven't paid them in months. Anyway, I do have a landline, & if you'd like to call it, do!

La Casa Landline: (217)365-9496.

By th way, we have a bunch of wet clumpy snow on th ground! Hooray!

I think I want to go out for some coffee & spend some more time w/ my books. Anyway, much love to all. I desire recurrent interaction w/ you.

House, Wondermagick, Fives, Etc.

I have a place to live in Urbana:

& a bedroom (note happy beagle):

In a week I move downstate for good (i.e. at least a school semester), & things look just jolly.

Th Law of Fives strikes again, landing in my lap not only an opportunity to play some Nodal Nimly singsonglia, but also to help organize & MC a night of delightful fun inaugurating a series of strange & wonderful shows at a place called th Red Herring Coffeehouse, a vegetarian counter-culture arts&activism wonderland run by Unitarian Universalists (all hail Unitar!). Jacob Barton & I have some marvelous things in th works - music, games, interactive weirdness, special guests, et cetera, et cetera & so on unto infinity! So Urbana-ites (Urbanians?), mark yr calendars immediately; keep open th date known in Western circles as September Five.

Nim@Silvie's

I played a show last Saturday. It went ok & lasted about 45 minutes. I debuted two new songs: my beagle & Isbe. Thanks to Luke, Chase & Tiffany for coming & showing support! I stuck around for th Pawns, who rocked. I couldn't stay for th next band, but maybe I'll catch them another day. Fun abounded.

2007-23-07

Yes!
Tectonic 23 Day!
Humdingery HumanLight!

My beagle & I celebrated with Gnocci Tacos. Too much habanero, tho. O my.

~a

sophie & xmas & tao te ching & not xmas

I've not done great work keeping you abreast of lifehappenings. For example, did you know about th new dog in my life? I shall describe her as a wee four-year old beagle bitch that we have renamed Sophie (formerly Gabby). She had hip surgery before we met her, causing her to often hop on th back right leg. So we also call her Hopper. She likes to sleep & make humans rub her belly. She has eight prominent nipples. She lives with us, meaning me, Tiffany, Jordan, our cat Vega, our other dog Sparki(e) (our Corgweiler), & our hamster named Rocko. Quickly, he has settled into happiness & harmony here, more or less. We like her bunches.

Sophie melts my heart.

I had intended to tell you about her sooner, but I wanted to wait until we found th cord for th digital camera. Adorable pictures of Sophie remain trapped for th time being.

I won't be coming home - to Troy, NY - for xmas. I miss my friends there, but since I couldn't get a whole week off, I decided to postpone a visit until th last week of January - into February.

& while I stay here in Chi-town, Tiffany, Jordan, & Sparki(e) all will travel to Vermont to spend xmas with their family (as they all originate in Vermont). They leave within th next three or so hours, in fact. They intend to drive thru th night & arrive sometime Sunday. So first they sleep to prepare themselves for a long night.

We exchanged xmas presents shortly ago. I gave Jordan two unvideo games (Munchkin Fu & Devil Bunny Hates th Earth) & Tiffany a DVD (Jason and th Argonauts). They gave me a CD (Th American Song-Poem Christmas), a DVD (Donnie Darko), & three books from th Oz series (Th Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Th Emerald City of Oz, & Tik-Tok of Oz - I've read those first two, but not th latter. I'm excited to reread & read).

All seem pleased with their new possessions.

I also bought today, with th help of an xmas gift certificate, a pocket-sized translation of th Tao Te Ching that my friend Ali recommended to me long ago by Stephen Mitchell. I read it with delight. Several chapters really moved me. In particular:

Chapter 26.

Th heavy is th root of th light.
Th unmoved is th source of all movement.

Thus th Master travels all day
without leaving home.
However splendid th views,
she stays serenely in herself.

Why should th lord of th country
flit about like a fool?
If you let yourself be blown to & fro,
you lose touch with your root.
If you let restlessness move you,
you lose touch with who you are.

This chapter stuck out because I saw myself in it. I could describe my behavior recently as "flitting about like a fool... letting myself be blown to & fro... letting restlessness move me," etc. I intend to take these two weeks of living alone & use them to regain "touch with who I am." I haven't lived alone in a while. I intend to cleanse myself & work on meditation.

Another thing concerning xmas. What should I celebrate this year? Th fictional birth of Jesus doesn't excite me much. I won't have Christians in my midst. Some Discordians have their own celebration on December 25 (altho they call th date 67 Aftermath):

December 25 (67 Aftermath): Santa Claus Day (O)/(DD). Celebrate the Patron Saint of Children. Honor the jolly old man who loves children, wears funny clothes, has no legal address, holds boys and girls on his lap, urges them to share their desires with him, offers them a candy cane, dreams of sliding down their chimneys, sneaks into their homes at night, watches them when they’re in bed asleep, then gives them a package to unwrap. (This holiday is also known as Christmas. It’s also known as Don’t You Think We’ve Gotten So Paranoid About This Whole Protect Our Children Thing That We’re Actually Harming Them and Ourselves Day).

So that option presents itself. How cheeky, yes?

Also, tomorrow happens to register as December 23rd, & since 23 registers as a particularly holy holy number in Discordianism, all 23s ought to register as holidays, don't you agree? I could celebrate a 23 day tomorrow. Of course, given th vast variety of calendars that humans have created over th years, most likely every day of th year has some connection to 23 & could thus register as 23 day. How festive, yes?

Of course, generally speaking, I choose not to honestly say, "I am a Discordian," so I will not. I needn't celebrate any Discordian holidays at all (altho I like to when I remember).

Xmas has its roots in pagan winter festivals. I could celebrate one (or more) of those. A quick wikipedia search reveals lots of options.

Sadly, I missed Zamenhof Day.

Ah, how about HumanLight! A holiday devoted to celebrating secular humanistic ideals! Not bad!

Ok, enough of this. If you have ideas for what Andrew (& th cat, dog & gerbil that will spend these next two weeks with him) should celebrate, please write a friendly fnord.

Your humble chaotic rambler of soorts,
Andrew