North Carolina Shred - BigDirtyFoot

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 26 Nov 2007 22:19

Does anyone practice meditation on modified? I'm interested.

Just finished a huge semester-long communication research project tonight. What a relief. Only a week and a half left of this semester's classes.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 27 Nov 2007 03:12

I don't, but I'm sure there are people who do. Sam Harris is really into it

There are a couple of essays of his you should read. The one based on his AAI 07 talk and also the one about Buddhism. I will find the links right now;

AII 07 talk

Killing The Buddha

I'm not really on board, but they're interesting reads.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 27 Nov 2007 21:50

Word, I'll check those out. Sam Harris is the man!

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 08 Dec 2007 01:23

Drunk roommates are infinitely annoying at 4 in the morning. It could only be expressed by a Mandelbrot diagram.

Regardless, things are pretty well. The semester is coming to a close. Recorded a podcast tonight. It was pretty lame though I think. Jammed a bit. That was nice. Went to a lame dramafest party and left early. I've been meditating off and on. It's nice and relaxing. I need to start going to the gym and figuring out my financial situation. I've been reading James Gleick's "Chaos: Making of a New Science." It's awesome. I finally finished "Brief History of Time" by Hawkins. I picked up "Heart of Darkness" but I'll have to read it at some other time. I think 2001: A Space Odyssey is next but who knows. I'm starting to notice a rhythmic thing with my reading. I can't force myself to read some stuff at certain times. I have to just run with what my mind wants to process at the time.

Anyone listen to any of Terence McKenna's talks? They're very interesting.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 18 Dec 2007 15:31

Just had a good recording session with my roommate. We play guitar and I try to sing. We recorded a jamcast for my podcast, Engagement Head, a while ago that I need to edit. The semester is over; I earned 4 As and a B. It was pretty good I guess.

I should start playing footbag again, huh?

PegLegHolly · Post by **PegLegHolly** » 18 Dec 2007 21:19

yeah, david!!!

even if you dont practice often, you should do like 10-20 clippers a day. its not more than 10 minutes!

we miss you!

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 19 Dec 2007 05:40

Yeah Holly! I should definitely start doing that. I've been in pretty bad health, aside from meditating and stretching every day.

Some podcasts for everyone to check out:

http://www.thegrowreport.com
http://www.matrixmasters.com/podcasts
http://www.coffeegeek.com
http://www.web1.nugs.net/nugscast/

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 19 Dec 2007 06:51

Hey Dave, I finished Inferno today. I know you've been talking it up for years; what are your thoughts on it?

I enjoyed it a lot. My favourite part was meeting Ulysses. It's quite a history lesson. I definitely see why you'd want to read it in its original language though. I was reading the Steve Ellis translation and I felt a little cheated in that he talks about how he's used very common words and kept it flowing and easy to read. While I understand the argument he puts forward at the start about wanting to capture the feel of the book as if we were reading it as native speakers in the original text, I find part of the excitement of reading old books is the language and in this version that's missing. I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the trilogy, but certainly I won't yet. I'm going to finish off Breaking The Spell by Daniel Dennett and then possibly go on to the new Ian McEwan book On Chisel Beach.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 24 Dec 2007 21:34

I really enjoyed Inferno. I also finished Purgatory, and I'm still (kind of) working on Paradise. I'll definitely eventually finish it. Currently I'm reading Chaos: Birth of a New Science by James Gleick and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. Have you ever read any Tom Wolfe? I've only read Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test but I loved it so much I figured I'd ask if you had any suggestions. I've also really gotta suggest The Illuminatus Trilogy! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. I'm gonna look up those books you talked about, are they pretty good?

It's now officially Christmas and has been for 30 minutes I guess. I'm not really excited. I'd actually rather not celebrate Christmas but my family likes to for some reason. That really blows my mind considering it's a bunch of loud horrible music and making multiple batches of food to get fatter than we already are. And it certainly doesn't help that I'm incredibly sick. I've gone 4 days without cigarettes though and I'm trying to quit - not for New Years or anything. I've smoked pretty heavily since February 06 and I have a love/hate relationship with it. But more than anything I just don't like having it control me. So I guess in a way I'm trying to take the power back.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 25 Dec 2007 19:38

Day 5 is almost over.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 25 Dec 2007 23:35

Hey top work on not smoking buddy. I'm sure you can do it!

Haven't read any Tom Wolfe, but he's definitely on my list. I remember you talking about him a lot, so eventually going to get onto him. My list is pretty long at the moment, but the real drag is all the books I don't particularly want to read, but feel like I need to; Dennett, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Gould, Rushdie, Camus, Roth, etc. At last count I have 32 books that I own but haven't read yet.

Zen is an awesome book. Definitely one of those books that even if you don't agree with, it has an impact on the way you think about the world (at least that's what I found), and a book for people like us I feel. I hope you're enjoying it. I don't know if I can express this well, but I felt like Robert had wisdom beyond what he wrote. That sounds silly I know, but maybe you'll get the same impression.

Merry Christmas David

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 27 Dec 2007 22:03

Well I went out with some friends tonight and had three cigarettes. Made me feel horrible - bought a pack but made my friend hold onto it so I won't have any more for a little while at least. Quitting is just so freaking hard when I have so many good memories with cigarettes. A lot of bad memories with them too I suppose. So I suppose tomorrow will be Day 1 again.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 30 Dec 2007 20:11

Does anyone else listen to The Mars Volta or any of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's work? I just got copies of three solo Omar albums and I've got to say I LOVE them.

Please Heat This Eventually
The Apocalypse Inside of an Orange
Calibration (Is Pushing Luck and Key Too Far)

PHTE is a good rehash of some work that Omar did on his album Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo.

Apocalypse is freaking GENIUS. I love it already. It's available on iTunes. If you like TMV check it out.

Calibration is only available in Japan right now but I got a leak somehow and I've listened to it a few times. It's growing on me - a lot of electronic influence.

I'm going to see The Mars Volta in Baltimore on January 18th with four friends of mine - we're all totally psyched and I've been thinking about it nonstop for about a month now. All the new Omar stuff I've recently found is so incredible. I must share an experience with the modified community and say that one of my best times ever was taking two geltabs of LSD and listening to Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo with two of my really close friends. Talk about a mindfuck! I've never had a musical experience quite like it.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 06 Jan 2008 16:26

Alright so life is moving along alright. I went to see my advisor a few days ago and it looks like I should be graduating in May. That's exciting, if not a bit scary as well. My friends and I have been going to the gym a lot lately, and I've been practicing meditation everyday. I find that meditation helps a lot, and keeps me calmer than I normally would be in some more awkward-type situations. School starts on Friday and I'm looking forward to it but I know it will be pretty hard. I think I might start kicking soon with my friends. I'll fill everyone who actually reads this in on that if it does come to fruition.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 26 Jan 2008 17:16

Gonna start shredding again soon. Really buy with my last semester. Applying to reporter-related jobs all around the world. Exciting. Later.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 07 Mar 2008 12:10

Whooo hooo modified! I'm back! This semester has been REALLY busy - I've got almost no free time anymore. I've applied to a lot of jobs around the country (and world), but I haven't heard back on any yet. I've still gotta apply for a bunch. If I get any leads, I'll post them, because it might be that I'm going to try to move out of NC and into another location. If that happens, I'm definitely gonna try to get up with shredders wherever that location is.

So, I've been studying some really intense and demanding subjects. The most intense is probably my Mass Media Law class, in which we study all the stupid things members of the mass media do to get themselves sued. The class basically teaches us a lot of things that are wrong, and instills some common sense into us. It's really challenging though - there are only three exams for the semester, and they are meticulously graded (although I got my first one back two days ago and got a B - I studied 14 hours for the exam - it's a really tough class). In addition, if the professor calls on a student and he or she does not know that answer to a case question, he or she loses one point from his or her final grade. Intense stuff. I'm also getting really into Italian - we're reading Caro Michele by Natalia Ginzburg. It involves constant translation and the building of vocabulary. My other classes aren't as tough (Investigative Reporting requires a lot of cold calling to public officials and doing a lot of research for stories; Intercultural Communication is a joke because my professor doesn't really teach anything and our text is so complicated I have problems understanding it, not to mention read it; Senior Seminar is a lot of resume/cover letter building and reflection on our successes and failures throughout our entire life) but they require a lot of outside work.

Today is the first day of Spring Break. I'm both happy and sad because I'm glad that I'm almost done with my undergraduate degree, but I will miss a lot of the limited responsibilities of college. I plan on spending most of Spring Break getting ahead in all of my classes so the second half of the semester isn't too rough.

Meditation has become a big part of my life, as I've been practicing it since November with varying results. I'm getting into a lot of ambient music such as Brian Eno, but I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions? I'm not too big on the ambient techno genre but I'd be willing to give anything new a listen. If anyone hasn't heard Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks or Ambient 4: On Land, check them out - they are incredible and really help me relax when I am on the verge of nervous breakdowns.

As far as my physical shape is concerned, I have been going to the gym frequently to play racquetball. I lifted for about a week and decided I don't really like it that much - I get really self-conscious in a college gym environment. I actually played in a doubles racquetball tournament and made it to the Semi-Finals on Day One. My partner has expressed interest in footbag, so I'm going to start playing soon, hopefully some over Spring Break, while I have time. Because when school starts up again, I won't have much time to goof off as I have to spend most of my time studying and sending off resumes for jobs.

Glad to be back - hope all is well with everyone.

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 15 Mar 2008 19:23

Played twice since I last posted. I hit a few cool things but nothing new to report or anything. Trying to throw guays in more often, I like them - they're styley. I've gotten a few friends interested in at least hacking with me, and so it's fun to just go kick from time to time.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 16 Mar 2008 02:54

Sick dude

Props on nearly finishing university

I still have 4 years to go

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 16 Mar 2008 09:09

Thanks man - but you have a bunch of interesting experiences that I can't even fathom.

I started Hunter's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 last night - you said you read it right? It's really good so far but I'm only 100 pages in.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 16 Mar 2008 15:37

Yeah I love that book. Actually I found it a little difficult to get into, and I thought it dies a lot in the second half, but there is a section in the middle that is my favourite piece of any of his work. I don't want to give too much away

You should check out Will Self; he's like the new HST.

He has a column in the Independent and Ralph Steadman does illustrations for it.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/co ... will-self/