Babbles of a Lover and a Fighter

For those of you who don’t know about TED, it’s a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.  The speakers are awesome, ridiculously passionate about their research, beliefs, careers, and hobbies.  They’re basically a bunch of nerds, artists, comedians, scholars who come together to share ideas.

I like to browse every once in awhile, and since there is such a broad spectrum of topics (from religion to orgasms, string theory to slight of hand, culinary arts to Legos, world hunger to aliens), one in every 5 or so I watch really grabs my attention.  Some speakers just reek (in the best way possible) of compassion and do-goody-ness, some make my brain hurt, some make my heart hurt, and some just make me giggle with titillating humor, like this snippet from Emily Levine’s Theory of Everything:

The reason I don’t do math is I was taught to do math and read at the same time. So you’re 6 yrs old you’re reading Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  It becomes rapidly obvious that there are only 2 kinds of men in the world: dwarves and prince charmings, and the odds are 7 to 1 against your finding the prince.  That’s why little girls don’t do math; it’s too depressing.

Some of the talks are about 20-30 minutes, but if you have about 4 minutes and 27 seconds, check out this talk about social media, memes, and humpback whales:

And Alexis Ohanian (picture snagged from this interview) is kinda cute and has a nice voice.  Just sayin’.

So yeah, TED talks are brilliant and always oh-so-interesting.  It’s my go-to when I feel like my brain’s deteriorating from too many pointless YouTube videos.

Burn Out Bright by Volcano-Club

My cousin, Michael, piano-ed, sang backup, and produced this awesomeness.  It was written, guitar-ed and sung by his friend, Aric Damm.  Yours truly laid down the bass and some backup vocals.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Check out their other stuff =)

We took boats around a lot in the Philippines hopping to different islands.  Sitting on the outriggers, lying on top of the roof (is that was you call the top of a boat?), or being King of the World hanging off the bow, we were in heaven on the sea.  We saw beautiful sunsets and the occasional flying fish, dried up waterfalls and a rainbow around the sun.

It was absolutely perfect.  If I ever get wealthy enough to by property around those parts, I’m definitely going to.  There’s just something about the ocean, the never-ending wash of waves on the beach that makes me feel simultaneously insignificant and indispensable.

Like no matter what, compared to this vastness, my problems, my happiness, my heartache, my life is infinitesimal, but at the same time it is mine alone to experience, and sometimes it means the world to me, though not the world to the world.

I took three pictures like this on three different days.  Always on stairs, always downcast, always with feet.  It’s not that I have a weird fascination with steps…it’s just…I find it interesting that they’re all the same but totally different…if that makes sense at all.  I could be on a dock in the middle of the ocean, or in a fort where they kept and tortured prisoners, or on the beach…the steps always lead somewhere.  Why would they be there if they didn’t lead anywhere?

Hello again!  It’s good to be back.  =)

The trip to the Philippines was amazing to say the least.  It had been ten years since I last visited, and things have definitely changed, the most notable being an increase in the number of paved roads.  I’ll definitely be putting up photos and stories in the next few days, but for now, here are a couple of paintings I did while I was out of town.

Mind you, this is the first time I’ve ever really painted, and I found it very calming.  There’s just something therapeutic about being able to reach inside your head and smear it on a canvas.  I’m not sure how other people do it, but I found the best way for me (at least for these two pieces) was to let my mind go blank then imagine colors.

I would like to continue painting and trying new mediums.  I think the more ways you find to express yourself, the better you can do so.  I think I’ve found something I’ve needed for awhile, and it’s pretty cathartic.

Artsy-fartsy stuff aside, trip stories and photos to come!