From a Land of Books and Other Diversions

"Classification of fantasy and reality is itself a fantasy that humans created, my dear motorrad. Life... It begins when you first make distinction between yourself and others. From that moment on, the world becomes a stage for the story in which you are the main character. All people live in a fantasy in which they are the main character."

"I see."

"But the world doesn't recognize you as the main character at all. What nonsense! Everyone lives their entire life tormented by this confusion! There is only one way out of this hell."

"To place yourself in a position that is neither the main character nor a supporting role. In other words..."

"Yes. The Author."

--Kino no Tabi, Land of Books

Some things can be summed up in cute cut and dried segments. The brief moments in time lend themselves to Twits, Tweets, FaceBook, and G+ among many others. Yet they lack any form of depth and do not lend themselves easily to longer posts.

Life has been full of many random distractions - many times thoughts are formed and lost like mist before the heat of the sun. Which has been driven home in the idea I'm now confident in my lack of ability to distill some thoughts in to a coherent form long enough to share them before the need forces me to move onto the next perceived process.

Maybe it's time then to dust off DI and set aside time for a mental swim instead of just splashing through the puddles between destinations...

Simon's Cat Redux

Back in 2008 I came across Simon's Cat and posted his first 3 vids here:
http://undead-karma.blogspot.com/2008/08/simons-cat.html

Recently I stumbled upon his YouTube page though and found he's been busy. So for those who are interested here's a link to Simon's Cat YouTube channel, and an embed of the latest video.

http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat

sources of ignition

I know it's been a while, and there are a couple of links to update... but other questions/thoughts have been rattling around over the past few weeks to the point where maybe if i list 'em out my brain will be allowed to move on.

While on Hulu i came across the Dresden Files. The television series was fair, but it was enough to spark my interest to go out looking for the book series it was based on. I figured this would be a basic trilogy situation, easy to track and check out... to my surprise instead i found 13 books, and short-stories - even an RPG that all held true to the mythos. (I've read most of Stephen King's Gunslinger and the Dark Tower series but I still feel like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files has been my first real taste of Urban Fantasy. Maybe the Gunslinger was western fantasy? Have to think on that one later...)

Combine this hit with a binge on Anime, which I've not done in years, (okay i admit i was tired of lousy reality TV programming and reruns so this provided a much better source of writing and story lines) combined into a perfect storm of inter-linking chaos of patterns and concepts. One that led back on older musings of why humans do what they do. The most simplistic reasons seem to be a need to protect something - or maintain a status quo and a need to change - or change the status quo

Yet there seem to be other subsets lurking just below, usually tagged on to the top two but able to be its own reason and purpose to act or abstain from interference.

Survival will force a choice internally at some point that will cause action. Let's face it humans are hard-wired to survive and numbers can swing the balance.(but the debate of single v. group is one for another time)

Curiosity and the 'what ifs' - there seems to be some innate human need to test scenarios and change perimeters. I think this might be why games, card, board and computer have all had such a profound impact on world, as they allow a chance to learn without the general fear of impending death most of the time.

The other subset would be the business of risk v. reward. Seeking the payoff of the 'golden ring' either obsession drives us to the exclusion of all else no longer looking at the costs it will exact upon us in the bargain, or we see it's value to enhance our current situation and have bartered it down to what appears to be an acceptable price that may come with buyer's remorse later.

Something to think on later when it bubbles back up to the consciousness of this reality...