Wake up!

[jackshoegazer]

"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn." - Henry David Thoreau

thanks tecknovore

Comments

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

You're welcome man. I saw your problems with Internet Explorer. Is that the browser you're using? If so, switch to Firefox, no popups. And it runs fast and doesn't consume a lot of system resources.

I hadn't looked at Thoreau for a good number of years before I posted this. Now that I've come back to him slightly, and in light of all the impressions I've perceived since last viewing his thoughts, a lot of his feelings really imply a relationship with gnosis. He was one of those people it seems who sparked his enlightenment not by ritual means but by more natural, subtle ones.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I realized that about Thoreau as well. I had always been a fan of Trancendentalism since I was just a wee lad first learning about American History, but it wasn't until the last few years that I really understood why.

I know about Firefox, but my problem is that I can't get the old shit to go away. I swear, I'm buying a Mac next. Those don't get spyware and their ilk.

[matt120.livejournal.com]

Getting a Mac? Your quality of life is a about to improve. Thoreau would've used a Mac!

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

I used Macs and a Mac clone for around 10 years before I switched to PCs. The biggest drawback to Macs is price and lack of software. I'd have to say lack of software is the main reason I switched. And when Adobe finally started supporting windows there was really no reason to stick with Macs. It was nice to never get viruses or spyware, and being able to fix the mac OS no matter how messed up it got. I've still got an original Power Mac, 66 Mhz, with the OEM 540mb hard drive still operational, never having reformatted or reinstalling the OS. It has been updated, but never needed to wipe the slate clean. I have files on that drive from '93 that are still valid. No matter what happened to that OS I could always fix it myself. You'd never be able to say that about a microsoft box. But yeah, since XP is now so much like a Mac finally as far as looks and ease of use go, it makes it even more tempting to go PC.

[matt120.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Windows has come a long way. It kinda doesn't suck as much as it used to, in some ways. I've used both PC and Mac for years, and I can tolerate the PC if I have to. The software on Mac has gotten so good in quality, I couldn't give it up for the world! I also have Virtual PC on my Mac, if I need it.

The internet security issues with Windows makes it insane in my opinion to use windows unless you have to.

Also, it has been scientifically proven in some university lab somewhere that Mac users are better in bed, have better looking children, wear fuzzier slippers, and set themselves on fire considerably less.

Don't get me wrong... Microsoft is good at making some things, like the xbox. PocketPC is pretty nice. Um... did I say xbox yet?

Now would be a good time to come back to the Mac. Drink the Kool-Aid. Go, ahead... you know you want to!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

THe only things I really use my computer for is the Internet, Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop and a few other miscellaneous programs. I'm primarily and artist and a writer, so my needs are simple and Mac can give me all that without the hassle I have to deal with as far as PCs go.

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

Oh the sublime one button mouse, how I miss thee. And the apple menu bar on the top of the screen. The ease of plug and play years before plug and play was a twinkle in Bill Gate's eyes. The easily replaceable system suitcase, which seemed to corrupt more than anything in my old Power Computing Mac Clone. Now that was a fucking awesome machine. I had like 8 Sim slots, I think it was one of the first computers to support over a gig in RAM. Plus with the Daughter Cards I was running an early G3, so fast. But that beast cost me like 2gs when I first got it. The PC I'm on now cost me $25 at a rummage sale, it's a 1200Mhz Duron. Using an Apple Display though, this monitor saw Bill Clinton's first term in office and it's still nice, 16" of appley goodness. But I am mad at apple for never releasing Rhapsody like they said they would. It was supposed to be a meta operating system where you could run an apple OS, a Window OS, and any other OS at the same time, and if one crashed you'd just reboot that OS running on your metaOS. I lost faith when they fell through on that good idea.

I know it would be nice to go back to macs, but I really wanted to play counterstrike when I first got into PCs. I was addicted playing at my buddies house on cable from his LAN. And with Firefox I don't get any Popups, so it keeps my machine pretty damn clean and smooth running. I have noticed my sexual prowess start to diminish since I've been fondling this two button mouse, damn.

Thoreau

[anarch-king.livejournal.com]

Snotty little rich boy, spent his parents money like it was going out of style. Thought that because he could afford to buy enough food to live in "nature" he was better enough than other people to tell them what to do.

Re: Thoreau

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

It is unfortunate that most philosophers started well off enough to be able to have all that idle time to sit and think. I wish I was independently wealthy enough to be able to afford to just ruminate and think. So yeah I know what you're saying, but what are you going to do, I can't hate on them just because they got dealt an easier hand than most.

Re: Thoreau

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I'd have to agree, I see it as such: One can hardly contemplate the higher chakra/levels if there is a disruption in the lower levels, i.e., if you're starving to death, it's a little hard to devote all your energy to thinking the big thoughts.

Re: Thoreau

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

Do I smell the influence of Abraham Maslow? I suspect so. It is an accurate comparison though, and I probably should have used it. You can't become self actualized without your physical needs being met first.

Here's a good quote by old Abe.
"The Exploration of the higher reaches of human nature and of its ultimate possibilities and aspirations...has evolved for me the continuous destruction of cherished axioms, the perpetual coping with seeming paradoxes, contradictions and vagueness, and the occasional collapse around my ears of long established, firmly believed in and seemingly unassailable laws of psychology." - Maslow

Re: Thoreau

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Actually I'm not sure what you smell ;) I've never read your dear old Abe. I came to that conclusion from 1) intuition, 2) the old saying that philosophy is a rich man's hobby and 3) the chakra/circuit system of development.

Ken Wilber also talks a bit about how at every developmental level, if there are issues that develop, we leave a certain amount of psychic energy in those lower levels and that inhibits us from reaching the higher levels, which explains why many 'consciouness expanding' systems first deal with early psychological issues because you need to release that pent up and trapped energy in order to progress further/deeper/higher.

Re: Thoreau

[tecknovore.livejournal.com]

Sorry about the assumption. Funny how the same idea can be found in such diverse sources. Maslow is a psychologist who founded a Hierarchy of Needs Theory. He also did all of college work at UW. Speaking of Ken Wilber, I do believe he was directly inspired by Maslow.

"Maslow took this idea and created his now famous hierarchy of needs. Beyond the details of air, water, food, and sex, he laid out five broader layers: the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the self, in that order.

In terms of overall development, we move through these levels a bit like stages. As newborns, our focus (if not our entire set of needs) is on the physiological. Soon, we begin to recognize that we need to be safe. Soon after that, we crave attention and affection. A bit later, we look for self-esteem. Mind you, this is in the first couple of years!

Toward the end of his life, he inaugurated what he called the fourth force in psychology: Freudian and other “depth” psychologies constituted the first force; Behaviorism was the second force; His own humanism, including the European existentialists, were the third force. The fourth force was the transpersonal psychologies which, taking their cue from Eastern philosophies, investigated such things as meditation, higher levels of consciousness, and even parapsychological phenomena. Perhaps the best known transpersonalist today is Ken Wilber, author of such books as The Atman Project and The History of Everything."

Re: Thoreau

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

One can hardly contempplate the higher chakra/levels if there is a disruption in the lower levels, i.e., if you're starving to death, it's a little hard to devote all your energy to thinking the big thoughts.

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

hey... i'd like to hang out with you at some point the week of my birthday. i'm going to dinner on the actual day (24th) with brian, but i get off work at 7 pm the 21st, and i am off all day the 22nd, 23rd, and 25th... so if you could maybe be free any of those days?

pwwwwwwweeeeeeease?

alternately, you could come see brian reagan with us on the 11th at the barrymore, because that's my "present" is going to that.

just wanted to put it out there so you have lots and lots of notice beforehand.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

These are in February right? Assuming they are...

I actually have off the 11th, so that's a maybe, I have to find child care. I can be more specific in a day or two. Do I have to get tickets in advance? How much is it?

I work the 22, 23, & 24th, but I'm off the 25th. I'm off the 21st and don't go in till 10 on the 22nd so we should be able to work something out.

Happy Birthday!

P.S. You're not old. I am.

[kiwikat.livejournal.com]

i know i'm not i'm mostly being silly
the 11th is the 11th of march, i just suck a whole lot and forgot to put that in there... teehee. oops. i think the 22nd would work well, if thats cool with you? lemme know.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be in DEtroit from March 10-15, which makes me :) but not being able to go to Brian Regan with you makes me :( but I'm really looking forward to my 'vacation' so that makes me :)

So our usual Tuesday evening get-to-gether, sounds good!