The past month has seen a thousand happenings, all manner of change, shifting sands and faulty forecasts, which have sent me bouncing around their manifold ramifications. Which is nice, as I was feeling rather entrenched and stagnant, and a fresh breeze is always welcome.
Am I being too equivocal? Then I'll just tell you a few things that have been happening.
Most of my (school) nights this year have been devoted to the cultivation of the mind, the appraisal of ideas and the pooling of our collective intellectual wealth. This is accomplished via one much used and abused hookah, centered around a gathering of the faithful (for she is Our Lady), and the removal of any boundaries that may possibly hinder your ability to convey what you think, e.g. fear of rejection, PC censorship, social norms, sobriety (or just coherence), etc. The result has been phenomenal. We talk about current issues, the latest scientific and technological advances, history, literature, music, politics, relationships, psychology, consciousness, random conjecture and all the typical college babble. Although the conversation often descends into a some hellish metaphysical labyrinth or an hour-long tangent into just how close to our hearts the Beatles lie, the topics are always engaging, and if you do get bored, you just have to turn around and talk about something else, or else join in with the others who are just staring off vacantly. To give the barest sketch, here's a quote from last night, selected at random by my memory:
MP: "You know, ever since I discovered for a fact that we're all going to enter the Matrix*, I just feel like I have an advantage on the rest of the world, and now I just need to find a way to exploit it."
*That is, willingly enter a state of induced reality that allows the fulfillment of every desire. This fact was uncovered and indisputably proven in a series of earth-shattering discussions that occurred last week.
Me: "I'm telling you man: gyroscopes!"
Newcomer: "What if I don't want to be in the Matrix?"
SE: "That's like saying 'What if I want to tie my shoelaces together and then run down stairs?' Sure, we'll pretend you're not retarded, but only because we're too busy saving the world from vampire dinosaurs in our neon moon buggies to feel sorry for you."
Me: "Yeah, everyone who isn't insane will be in there, so if you stay you'll have to hang out with self-hating masochists, for they shall inherit the Earth."
And so forth...
As pointless as it all seems, I actually feel like we're doing something, and several of the regulars concur that what they have learned during our sessions is invaluable compared to what they're picking up in class. Maybe that has to do with our tendency to stay up so late that we sleep through class though...
In other news, I'm on probation until September.
That's about all there's to say at the moment. I sally forth now to do battle against innumerable foes, both real and imagined.
Am I being too equivocal? Then I'll just tell you a few things that have been happening.
Most of my (school) nights this year have been devoted to the cultivation of the mind, the appraisal of ideas and the pooling of our collective intellectual wealth. This is accomplished via one much used and abused hookah, centered around a gathering of the faithful (for she is Our Lady), and the removal of any boundaries that may possibly hinder your ability to convey what you think, e.g. fear of rejection, PC censorship, social norms, sobriety (or just coherence), etc. The result has been phenomenal. We talk about current issues, the latest scientific and technological advances, history, literature, music, politics, relationships, psychology, consciousness, random conjecture and all the typical college babble. Although the conversation often descends into a some hellish metaphysical labyrinth or an hour-long tangent into just how close to our hearts the Beatles lie, the topics are always engaging, and if you do get bored, you just have to turn around and talk about something else, or else join in with the others who are just staring off vacantly. To give the barest sketch, here's a quote from last night, selected at random by my memory:
MP: "You know, ever since I discovered for a fact that we're all going to enter the Matrix*, I just feel like I have an advantage on the rest of the world, and now I just need to find a way to exploit it."
*That is, willingly enter a state of induced reality that allows the fulfillment of every desire. This fact was uncovered and indisputably proven in a series of earth-shattering discussions that occurred last week.
Me: "I'm telling you man: gyroscopes!"
Newcomer: "What if I don't want to be in the Matrix?"
SE: "That's like saying 'What if I want to tie my shoelaces together and then run down stairs?' Sure, we'll pretend you're not retarded, but only because we're too busy saving the world from vampire dinosaurs in our neon moon buggies to feel sorry for you."
Me: "Yeah, everyone who isn't insane will be in there, so if you stay you'll have to hang out with self-hating masochists, for they shall inherit the Earth."
And so forth...
As pointless as it all seems, I actually feel like we're doing something, and several of the regulars concur that what they have learned during our sessions is invaluable compared to what they're picking up in class. Maybe that has to do with our tendency to stay up so late that we sleep through class though...
In other news, I'm on probation until September.
That's about all there's to say at the moment. I sally forth now to do battle against innumerable foes, both real and imagined.