Sunday, December 28, 2008

Best friends that pee on you - part I

owning and caring for a dog teaches you a lot about life.

to me, dogs arent just objects of responsibility. they deserve and mean so much more. there's something about holding it close to your chest as a fragile puppy, laughing when it runs into the screen door, yelling when it pees in the corner of the living room, cuddling up with it on a cold night under the sheets, and grieving slowly when it passes on; they frame life in a way that no book or story could without ever saying a single word. just meaningful little barks and grunts here and there.

you could do much worse than to be called a dog. i'll take that compliment anyday.

thank you googly-eyed dog. i love waking up to your bad breath every morning. without the slightest clue, you teach me so richly of life. you oblivious brat.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

silhouettes - part I

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as a kid, i used to subscribe to a children's magazine called "Highlights." (i loved getting any kind of mail with MY name on. didnt matter if it was a letter from a friend or an freakin invitation to open a mortgage). dont act like you're too cool to know what im talking about. all you 90's kids will know what im talking about: those magazines with all sorts of cool articles on animal rescues, outerspace, and shel silverstine poems. in the back of every issue, there was a "guess the object" section where they show you a zoomed in picture of something like lizard scales or zebra skin, and you'd have to guess what it was. i never peeked at the answers.

i think it was then that knew that i loved silhouettes, hiddenness, and even their shadows. even today, half the pictures that i save when im wasting time on deviantart.com are of outlines or the backs of heads or something else obscure.  

they make you anticipate, guess, imagine, and sometimes hope. even as formless nothings, there's a forbidden clarity: sometimes you have to trust that the things you cannot see or understand are truly there.

a good friend of mine asked me if i would rather choose a famous michelangelo over an uncut slab of marble. like most sane people, i said that i'd rather choose the michelangelo sculpture, but he met me with this response:

"i'd choose the uncut chunk of marble. it holds so much potential and room for creativity. it could be an utter failure, but it could also be the greatest masterpiece of its kind"

i love silhouettes. they are the taste of what has yet to come. 
God is kind of like a silhouette. a daringly, exciting silhouette.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

homecoming and shaved heads

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How to fix a haircut gone wrong:


1) chop it off.

2) reassure yourself by saying aloud, "that is bold, you bold person, you."


-- "that is bold... you bald person. you."


its never felt so good to be home! the smell of kimchee and sesame oil never gets old. mmm, delish. i think i'll take my time stretching out on the sofa and spend aimless hours watching dry day-time dramas that nobody likes (thats some high-quality laziness right there).  just the type of break i needed...



here's to a some great winter adventures :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

art. humanness. souls. creativity. robots. algorithms. the impossible. God.

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i was commenting on a friend's blog and i decided to carry it over to a post.


can robots be creative? this post isnt about robots, but answering this questions might have some pretty solid implications on God, life, and the human soul. im writing a paper on how the soul is what makes humans human. the soul validates itself through algorithm*-less choices, creativity, and the possibility of failure - all of which are shown through expressive art (keyword expressive) because the art is a product of choices, evolving ideas, and subjectivity (not everyone will like it or deem it a "success"). expressive art in itself does not mean anything unless it points to the person/artist/creator. therefore, a printer cannot be an artist because though it creates, it cannot creatively create; it is merely a conduit of the creativity obeying a programmed, linear, and un-evolving algorithm to print an image. so can we ever create something that creatively creates? can we create non-linear algorithms that disobey themselves and evolve into other algorithms? is AI even possible or is it like trying to create life?


God is God because he can do the impossible by creating evolving algorithms. He is also an artist because He can creatively create. if the essence of life is to have breath and creativity, then He is the author of Life. He creates, therefore He is. -deep silence-

*(an algorithm is a step-by-step procedure that guarantees an output. for example, a math equation like 4x=8 is programmed to yield x=2 every time because it follows a uniform set of procedures. a calculator is programmed with algorithms to do arithmetic and also complicated equations to follow a procedure that will consistently yield a output. boom.)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Transitory Season


Autumn, autumn, fading fast
Autumn, autumn, make it last
Sprinkling leaves on glassy lakes
Stillborn hush glaze hazel scapes

Autumn, autumn, crispy air
Autumn, autumn, in my hair
Comb the breeze in zephyr blues
Breathe out breath in silky plumes

its coming too soon...
far too soon.theend.

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"the brevity teaches us to enjoy it."
thank you, creator, for a great fall season.