To Society, With Love

Prologue

                There was a time in society in which all things could be communicated within a society. I still believed in those days. No matter how trivial the subject, no matter how mundane the action, I always felt there was a need for it to be reported. Communicating was the most important aspect of my life as I was young. It had no standards, no purpose; no intrinsic meaning within its bounds, yet by utilizing it people could create.

                It was this whimsical notion that got me into journalism.  I thought that maybe by coming into journalism, I would become the voice of those who needed one. I was at the top of my class; I did everything that was asked of me in school. I took the right courses, I studied hard, and I had nothing but an abysmal amount of debt to show for it. I owed more money than what I knew could be found out there, but still I progressed on with the dream. These were my hopes, until the real world came crashing upon them.

                I got into the business all wide eyed hoping that I somehow could tell the people what they wanted to hear. The real world had something against that notion. They only want the superficial. They don’t want the happenings of what most people would consider life. No, they want only what amuses the whims of society so that they may live their lives through that of the celebrity. It slowly started the degradation of society’s self-esteem, and mine. I settled into the routine of the mundane, knowing very well that the once bright flame of integrity inside of me was going to turn into nothing but embers.

Do Re Mi Fa So La ti Do

Starting work on producing the music for the Malcolm Vonnegut mixtape. I highly doubt that I record it, but if the opportunity for it arises, I'd like to be prepared for it.

Aeternus Amor: The End of the Beginning

Everything was perfectly quiet.


There were no cars on the street, no birds chirping, no busy shops along main street. The whole area would seem to be lifeless and deserted, had it not been for one young couple sauntering down the street.


Both of them dressed in the most expensive and elegant of clothes. They were newly weds and were basking in the post wedding bliss. Earlier, they'd found the last available priest to do the ceremony for them. Price was of no object to them now, as the only thing they had to look forward to was happiness. As they strolled down the street, the young woman was caught by a bit of nostalgia. They took a pause at the record store where they had first met. She looked up at the flashing neon sign that read, "Duncan's", and was taken back to that faithful day, "Do you remember that day we met here?"


He chuckled a little before he replied, " Yeah, I do. I was a struggling bum DJ, and you felt sorry for me, so you payed for the James Brown album I was trying to get. I felt like such a loser that day," he almost blushed at this.


"You shouldn't be one to worry. You turned that one album into a club hit, got rich, and you got the girl of course," her cheeks got rosy, "it was all you ever wanted right?"


"And then some. I just wish that.." she interrupted him as her lips pressed against his sensually. He lost his train of thought and they continued their stroll down the street, perusing as they reminisced over the memories they'd shared so dearly in this town.


They had almost neared the edge of town when the alarm when off, the buzz was piercing. Suddenly the quiet shangri la they had to themselves was shattered. She looked at him, he was holding back tears it almost seemed. This caused her to burst into her own. Then the mayhem started as the streets poured over with sudden movement. It was if a war zone had suddenly erupted mid town square. People were screaming into the sky, gun shots could be heard as people made their final actions, it was utter chaos. Neither of the young couple wanted anything to do with it, and they hastened their pace out of the town, the chaos was over for them, all they need now was solidarity.They moved forward towards the hill at city limits.


As they ascended to the top of the hill, they took in the scenery. It was a serene area. The noise and chatter of the city had become almost mute to where they were now. Atop the hill there was a single flower, one single rose amidst the grass. They sat on opposite sides of the rose, facing one another, not really knowing what to say to each other now that the time was nigh. She looked down at the rose, "This may be the last beautiful thing that we see together.." her words trailed off into tears.


He grabbed her hand, "Let's name it."


She looked at him in utter amazement and distraught,"What is there to name it? It's a rose, and it will be a rose to the last second that it stands..."


"Would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet?" She looked up after he said this, and she opened herself up to the gesture. This was his last ditch effort to try and be romantic. She decided to go with it, "Let's name it Death."


He was puzzled a bit,"Why Death?"


"Well this is the end isn't it? Let's make this rose be death. Roses have always stood the test of time for their beauty and grace. So just as this moment should end all times, I want that beauty to stand through with us." With those words they both smiled at each other, the rose fixed between their hands, and stood up. They embraced in a passionate kiss one last time, and looked towards the sky. It was coming for them, for us, for the entirety of the world. "I love you," was the last spoken words between the two, as they looked into each others eyes one last time. For they held death, and with it, everlasting grace between their hands.

10 Ways to Enjoy Doing Nothing

Ran across this, and thought I'd share it somewhere.

10 ways to enjoy doing nothing

• Story Highlights
• Writer Tom Hodgkinson learned to embrace doing nothing
• The first step to being idle is to banish the guilt associated with not being busy
• Hodgkinson also recommends playing the ukulele and pretending to meditate
• Choose the right role models, like Walt Whitman, to help you enjoy being idle

By Tom Hodgkinson

(REAL SIMPLE) -- One morning, nearly 20 years ago, I was lying in bed. It was late. I was supposed to be working, but I seemed glued to the mattress. I hated myself for my laziness.

And then, by chance, I picked up a collection of writings by Dr. Samuel Johnson, the 18th-century wit and the compiler of the first comprehensive English dictionary.

In the book were excerpts from a weekly column he had written called "The Idler," in which the great man celebrated idleness as an aspiration, writing in 1758, "Every man is, or hopes to be, an Idler."

This was an epiphany for me. Idleness, it seemed, was not bad. It was noble. It was excessive busyness that caused all the problems!

So I got out of bed and started a magazine called 'The Idler," in order to remind people of the forgotten, simple pleasures of doing nothing. I even wrote books about it. And, yes, you could say that idleness became my life's work. So, based on all those years of tough-going research, here are my top tips for people who find it difficult to just be.

1. Banish the guilt. We are all told that we should be terribly busy, so we can't laze around without that nagging feeling that we need to be getting stuff done. I rejected my guilt upon learning that Europeans in the Middle Ages felt no shame for lolling about. Their favorite philosopher, Aristotle, had praised the contemplative life, and the monks spent a lot of time just praying and chanting. Guilt for doing nothing is artificially imposed on us by a Calvinistic and Puritanical culture that wants us to work hard. When you understand that it hasn't always been this way, it becomes easier to shake it off. Real Simple: How to worry less

2. Choose the right role models. Most of the great musicians and poets were idlers. So feed yourself a diet of John Lennon, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, and the like. Carrying a slim volume of verse in your purse or pocket can be therapeutic -- something from Keats, who wrote of "evenings steep'd in honied indolence," or Wordsworth, of course. (What could be more idle than wandering lonely as a cloud?) It's delightful to read a few lines while you're on a bus or a train, then stare out the window and ponder their meaning.

3. Sketch a flower. If you are new to idling and feel compelled to be purposefully occupied, sketching a flower at the kitchen table can be an excellent way to bring some divine contemplation into your life. The act of drawing makes you observe the bloom in a way you never have before. All anxieties fly away as you lose yourself in close study. And at the end of it you have a pretty little sketch. Real Simple: 34 low-cost, make-you-smile ideas

4. Go bumbling. Bumbling is a nice word that means "wandering around without purpose." It was indulged in by the poets of 19th-century Paris. They called themselves flâneurs and were said to have taken tortoises around on leads, which gives you an idea of the tempo of their rambles. Children are good bumblers. Try making a deliberate effort to slow down your walking pace. You'll find yourself coming alive, and you'll enjoy simply soaking in the day.

5. Play the ukulele. The ukulele is the sound of not working. My wife hates it for that very reason: The twang of those strings means that I am not doing something useful around the house. I keep my ukulele in the kitchen and play it at odd moments, like while I'm waiting for the kettle to boil.

6. Bring back Sundays. Many religions still observe a Sabbath, whether it's Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. And for a long time secular society embraced Sundays as a day of rest, too. But now Sundays are as busy and stress-filled as any other day.

Having a day of rest was a very practical idea: We were excused from all labor and devoted ourselves to pleasure and family. Take that ancient wisdom to heart and declare at least one day of the week as a do-nothing day. Don't clean the house or do the laundry; don't get in the car. Stay home and eat chocolate and drink wine. Be kind to yourself.

7. Lie in a field. Doing nothing is profoundly healing -- to yourself and to the planet. It is precisely our restless activity that has caused the environmental crisis. So do some good by taking a break from "doing" and go and lie on your back in a field. Listen to the birds and smell the grass. Real Simple: 10 guilt-free strategies for saying no

8. Gaze at the clouds. Don't have a field nearby? Doing nothing can easily be dignified by calling it "cloud spotting." It gives a purpose to your dawdling. Go outside and look up at the ever-changing skies and spot the cirrus and the cumulonimbus.

9. Take a nap. To indulge in a siesta after lunch is the most wonderful luxury: It softens tempers and guards against grumpiness. Yet our culture has decided that naps are for wimps. A nap is acceptable only if it is called a "power nap" -- a short doze that is supposed to return you to the office with more energy to kick some ass.

But you should nap, not for the profit of a corporation but for your own health. Research has shown that a daily snooze can reduce the risk of heart attack. And just knowing you're going to sleep after lunch seems to make the morning less stressful. If curling up in your office isn't an option, go somewhere quiet, like a church or a park bench, and close your eyes for even just five minutes.

10. Pretend to meditate. For us westerners, meditation is an accepted way of doing nothing. Tell everyone you're going to meditate, then go into your bedroom, shut the door, and stare out the window or read or lie down for half an hour. You have excused yourself from household tasks and can indulge in contemplation, reflection, and that underrated pleasure, thinking, without fear of disapproval.

Actual Proof: The Talented Tenth

Everyone knows I hate mainstream hip-hop for the most part right now, so here's another underground duo that are killing it. Thank 2dopeboyz for highlighting this on on the site.

Download: Actual Proof: The Talented Tenth

Slaughterhouse and YelaWolf: Shady Records

After a little bit of suspense, albeit not that surprising, Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf, have signed to Shady Records. I loved Slaughterhouse's first album, the self titled, Slaughterhouse. Singles Microphone and Onslaught 2 were amazing. As for YelaWolf, I actually saw him in concert at UCF. He definitely had the high energy, and the music wasn't that bad either. I don't expect either artist(s) to fail.

Soul Like Khan

One of my favorite Battle M.C.'s Soul Khan came out with his debut album Soul Like Khan recently, produced by 2dopeboyz so shout out to them. After giving it a listen to, I have to recommend it for people. Check it out.

Soul Like Khan - Download Link