. - NOTES 1988 - 2007 June, BY PAUL NERVY. COPYRIGHT 1988 - 2007, BY PAUL NERVY. FAIR USE APPLIES PROVIDED YOU MAKE NO CHANGES TO THE TEXT AND INCLUDE THIS COPYRIGHT STATEMENT. THE RIGHT TO SELL THIS WORK IS RESERVED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER. .. .. -- CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION, ARTS, BUSINESS, ECONOMICS, HEALTH, HISTORY, LAW, LEISURE, PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, PSYCHOLOGY, RELIGION, SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, WORK. .. ... --- This file can be sorted alphabetically, chronologically, or by importance rating. This is a tab-deliminted text file. .. .Introduction, .what. .(1) A method of thinking about x, and generating ideas. (2) A method of writing up ideas or notes. (3) A structure of concepts (keywords). (4) A body of ideas (the book itself). 09/26/1997 .Introduction, .what. .This section is about what is the Paul Nervy Notes. Topics include: (1) Digital network. (2) Frequently Asked Questions. (3) Modular. (4) Personal information system. (5) Short forms. 1/24/2006 .Introduction, .what. (1) By and for the average mind. (2) From one average mind to another. (3) Average joe philosophy. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. (1) Education: total and more efficient, quicker. (2) Education, learning, knowledge, studies. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. (1) Notes are a lot of hard work, with not much results. But you do what you gotta do. (2) A few simple hard won truths. 09/20/1994 .Introduction, .what. (1) Notes is not just your brain. Notes end up being like a second brain. It adds more brain power. (2) The Notes ends up being the best you, not the mediocre you or the worst you. (3) If you can think critically, and if you can see and argue both sides of an issue yourself, you create a dialectic that lets you move up and ahead. 06/30/1997 .Introduction, .what. (1) Paul's philosophy. What I need to move forward. (2) Personal puzzlings, questions, and ignorances. (3) Creativity. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. (1) Pocket mentor, pocket sage, pocket guru. (2) $5 wiseman, $5 paperback encyclopedia. (3) Ultimate cheatsheet for life. (4) The best of Paul. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. (1) Text. The Notes is text. Text as a medium has strengths and weaknesses. Writing lets you save ideas. (2) Database. The Notes is a database. Structured information. Sortable. Searchable. (3) Computerized. The Notes is computerized. Text editor. Internet web page so everyone can read it. 3/12/2005 .Introduction, .what. (1) The Notes are a way to take a (written) ethical stand. (2) The Notes are also a reason not to kill yourself. A reason to keep living. 03/20/1997 .Introduction, .what. A 1000 page personal ad. A 1000 page resume. 2/10/2005 .Introduction, .what. A book of logically arranged ideas, thoughts, knowledge, or information, call it what you will. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, .what. A book of poems, jokes, stories, and a load of philosophical, psychological and social analysis. 9/12/2005 .Introduction, .what. A culture of one. An individual culture. 5/31/2005 .Introduction, .what. A database for living. 1/26/1999 .Introduction, .what. A do it yourself book to record and organize your own thoughts on the contents, structure, and mechanism of your mind. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. A mind in text. A life in text. 3/24/2000 .Introduction, .what. A one thousand page personal ad. 2/19/1999 .Introduction, .what. A structure, organization, framework, and a mechanism, method. (1) A framework and a method. (2) An organizational framework for ideas. (3) A method of thinking, and a method of writing. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. A super-mart of stuff, basic useful stuff, organized and displayed nicely, everything you need to live. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. A year by year attempt to try and figure out what is my problem. 2/29/2000 .Introduction, .what. Accumulation of many small details. Each seemingly insignificant alone. Combined they form a big picture. Ala Seurat's pointillism. Ala methods of doing history, in which no detail is too small. Ala the book about the Internet called "Many Small Parts Loosely Joined". 5/2/2002 .Introduction, .what. An interdisciplinary book. (1) Filling in the cracks and relationships between subjects. (2) Text for my interdisciplinary philosophy therapy career. (3) Interdisciplinary text: how to (method) and data (results). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Applied philosophy. Everyday philosophy. Spirit guide. Reports on everything. 03/01/1994 .Introduction, .what. Approximately a million words, some of which have to be good. 6/13/2007 .Introduction, .what. Assumptions of the Notes. (1) We can change ourselves for the better. (As opposed to those who do not think we can). (2) We must change ourselves for the better, in order to stay healthy and sane. (As opposed to those who do not believe so). (3) We have an ethical duty to change ourselves for the better. (As opposed to those who think that we do not). 6/10/1999 .Introduction, .what. Between art and philosophy there is the Notes. 4/1/2005 .Introduction, .what. Confront reality vs. escape reality. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Description of the Notes using three names: Frank, Ernest and Kurt. 10/19/2000 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. In the future everyone will have their say, and can put in their two cents worth, unless the net becomes controlled by big corporations and they charge to let you on. 12/30/1996 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. Once the paradigm for information management technology was stone tablets. Then a technological innovation known as paper led to an improvement in information management technology known as the book. The printed paper book has been the paradigm for information management up till the 20th century. With books, the amount of information is limited by the portable size of the book. The new paradigm for information management today is the web-enabled, hyper-linked database. With databases, the amount of information that can be used is almost unlimited. The digital "book" can be as big as we want it to be. You don't have to write multiple books anymore. It can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet. It can be printed out anywhere. Authors, write your books as web-enabled databases! 3/1/2000 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. Owning a computer is an ethical imperative. So is writing all your ideas and putting them onto the "big network", in order to develop yourself and help develop others. Every year there should be a "life day", when we all upload our public notes onto the big network. 01/07/1997 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. The Notes are a person living after death. The notes are you, as computer, living forever, and joining with others. 01/07/1997 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. To all those scribbling in notebooks and not digitizing their ideas. Don't you want to share? Don't be so selfish. 11/20/1997 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. To exist on the Web: (1) Your words that you write. Your visual art that you paint. Your music that you compose. Your audio/video that you film. (2) Plus references to the books that you read. The visual art that you viewed. The music that you listened to. The audio/video that watched. 12/4/1999 .Introduction, .what. Digital network. You could use the Internet to create a public groupware philosophical encyclopedia of notes. Everyone does their notes, and puts their initials on each note, and sends it in as a contribution. One editor edits it all and gets authors permission to use it. Then the user logs on and is able to do searches of one giant text, or even multiple connected separate databases. 10/25/1997 .Introduction, .what. Disclaimer: These are not statements of fact. These are opinions, conjecture and hypothesis. It is an exploration and a discussion of conceptual schemata. It is constructive critical inquiry. 1/22/1999 .Introduction, .what. Epiphanies, sudden illuminations, reflections, meditations, musings, advice, working out my problems, figuring things out, growing wiser with experience and thought. 12/30/1995 .Introduction, .what. Essay about the Notes. Principles of the Notes. PART ONE. People write diaries in long, serial passages of a personal nature, much like a novelist. (1) Separate, analyze, and break it down. Why? So you can automatically sort notes. How? By paragraphs. (2) Make it as abstract as possible. Why? So that other people can use it. How? PART TWO. (1) Separate the Figured notes from the Found notes. Why? So you can self publish you own Figured notes. Every one will. How? With a prefix. (2) Separate the public notes from the private notes. Why? So you can publish the public notes. How? With a prefix. PART THREE. (1) Why distinguish the Figured notes from the Found notes? Why separate them into two files? Its all about boundaries. (A) Protecting the self. Protecting your ideas. Protecting your sense of self. Protecting your self identity. (B) Protecting others. Credit where due. Copyright law. 10/17/1999 .Introduction, .what. Essay about the Notes. The author in the age of information management. PART ONE. In today's world of information overload the concept of information management is key. Books were just one step in the history of information management. So were traditional conceptions of writing and the author. PART TWO. The trend is: Everyone is an author. Everyone has a website. There will be a lot more authors. Information will be less expensive or free. PART THREE. Possibilities for information management. (1) Computers let you search a directory of files for a text string. (2) Databases of text files. (3) Databases containing hyperlinks. (4) However, due to compatibility problems, one big ASCII plain text file is best. This is the preferred method. (5) The key is to make the file so that it can be converted back and forth between ASCII plain text, HTML hypertext, and a database. PART FOUR. This lecture is a meta-discussion of the book entitled "Notes" by Paul Nervy. The lecture is not about the content of the book. The lecture is about how the book is structured. The book serves as an example of the changing role of the author and writing in the age of information management. PART FIVE. Digitize everything. Your e-library will include music, movies, photos and the visual arts. The e-library will be multi-media. It will be available to others. It will last beyond your death. PART SIX. (1) The author as we traditionally understand it is changing. The author is no longer just the novel writer or the essay writer. (2) Writing as we understand it changing. The new form of writing is the digital database, of which Notes is an example. Hypertext is getting the spotlight at the moment, but the database is just as useful and important. (3) The new form of the author is the non-professional author. Academia and the traditional media will have adjuncts. Academia and the traditional media will not be replaced or superseded, but they will have new cohorts. PART SEVEN. The notion of the author must be broadened to that of creator, thinker or being. Because the author will also create music, paintings and movies. PART EIGHT. The organization of information. An author, or even a computer, can automatically organize Notes in several ways. (1) Organization by: (A) Logical (ex. textbook). (B) Chronological (ex. diary). (C) Importance (ex. goals list). (D) Alphabetical (ex. encyclopedia). (2) Levels of information. (A) Grade school. (B) High school. (C) College. (3) Length of information. (A) One page (ex. synopsis). (B) Ten pages (ex. outline). (C) One hundred pages (ex. full text). (4) Translation into foreign languages. 10/16/1999 .Introduction, .what. Estir: every single thing I remember (personal history). Esticto: every single thing I can think of. It pays to write down every decent, useful thought you get. You can help yourself, and you can help others. 05/30/1996 .Introduction, .what. Everything. (1) Everything in one spot. Everything under one roof. (2) Everything (useful/important) I could think of. (3) Everything single thing I remember (estir). (4) Ways to look at everything, ways to deal with everything. (5) Everything for everyone. Everything outlined. (6) Basic philosophical musings on everything. (7) An encyclopedic classification/structure of ideas. (8) Write your own encyclopedia. Write your own library. (9) Idea menu. All I could figure out and find out. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Figure out (on your own), and find out (from others). See: Psychology, thinking, figure out and find out. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. For once in my life I am: (1) Doing it my way. Doing what I love. (2) Giving it my all. Giving it 100%. 9/23/1998 .Introduction, .what. For who. (1) For those who don't work well with a shrink. (2) For the dissatisfied, harried, and confused. (3) For neurotics like me. A handbook for neurotics. (4) For the natural generalists, who this world of specialization doesn't cater to. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Four concepts: Notes, Outline, Diary, and History. (1) Notes is my thoughts on the world of ideas, arranged in subject order. (2) Outline is a list of basic concepts, and my thoughts on those concepts, arranged in subject order. (3) Diary is what is happening in my world, arranged in chronological order. (4) History is what is happening in the wide world, arranged in chronological order. 1/12/2006 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. (1) Are the Notes the only way and must everyone do Notes? No. (2) Are the Notes the best way and should everyone do Notes? No. 4/11/2001 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. (1) Question: What am I looking at here, Paul? Answer: Good question. The Paul Nervy Notes are some musings I jotted down. You can read it online. Its a work of art (2) Question: Are the Notes just a compilation of quotes from other authors or sources? Answer: Nice try. The Notes are observations I figured out. The Notes are not a compilation of quotes from other authors or sources. (3) Question: Are the Notes just your school notes? Answer: Negatory. The Notes are not notes from school. I try to include subjects and ideas not covered in school courses or textbooks. Once was enough. (4) Question: Are the Notes just your personal diary? Or are the notes a weblog? Answer: The Notes are not the story of my life. The Notes do not follow the "What I did today." form of writing. Nor are the Notes a list of links to other sites. (5) Question: What release version of the Notes is on this website? Answer: This website contains Paul Nervy Notes 1988-2000. (6) Question: Why are the Notes so varied? Answer: Some of the chapters are thin and skeletal (for example, the chapters on law and medicine) while other chapters are more fully fleshed out (for example, the chapters on philosophy, psychology and sociology). Also, some chapters are dry (abstract or technical) and other chapters are juicy (humorous or intriguing). (7) Question: Should I read the Notes from start to finish in a straight line? Answer: I wouldn't recommend it, unless you are a proofreader. Take your time. Skip around. Find your favorite chapters and favorite notes. (8) Question: Why do you write the Notes? Answer: I keep asking myself the same question. It is not for fame or fortune (although I am not completely opposed to either). Your guess is as good as mine. (9) Question: I must say, I disagree with some of your ideas, Paul. Answer: What a coincidence, so do I. The Notes are full of contradictions and changes of mind. (By the way, technically, that was not a question). (10) Question: Are you some kind of expert? Are the Notes some kind of definitive reference book? Answer: I am just a regular dude. The Notes are just some ideas I wrote down. (11) Question: Don't you read books? Don't you surf the web? Answer: Sure I do. The links page contains Paul Nervy's "e-library o' free content links" (a work in progress). (12) Question: What's up with the table of contents? Answer: The first part of each note is a keyword phrase. The Notes are organized by sorting by the keyword phrases. The table of contents lists the keyword phrases. (13) Question: Can I read the Notes year by year? Answer: Yes, see the archives for the Notes in chronological order. Formatted in .html, .rtf and .pdb for Palm and Handspring. (14) Question: Thanks for the info, Paul. Cool site, excellent Notes. What can I do to help? Answer: Bookmark this page. Tell your friends about Paul Nervy Notes. E-mail positivity. Thanks for visiting. 6/30/2001 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. Book fair. Most popular questions about my book. (1) Question: When you started writing ten years ago, did you know how it would end up? Answer: It was just a glimmer in my eye. The book evolved organically, in a series of small steps over many years. (2) Question: Now that your notebooks are published, will you write a novel or a play? Answer: The wise ass answer to this wise ass question is "Now that I have come this far, why should I take a step backwards?" The serious answer is, different media and different voices for different artists and different audiences. Variety and diversity are what make the world work. (3) Question: Don't people want to be, and have to be, seduced and sweet talked in order to convey a message? Answer: Some people like plain speaking. Tell it like it is. Do not sugar coat it. Do not waste their time. Austere minimalist aesthetic. Also like generic canned goods in the supermarket. (4) Question: Why do you mix the mundane and the profound? Answer: In life the mundane is always mixed with the profound. In order to live successfully, you have to learn to carefully balance the mundane and the profound. 3/28/1999 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. Question: Paul, your work is, how shall we say, non-standard in terms of its style, structure, scope, etc. What are the implications? Answer: A traditional publisher is unlikely to publish my work. The mainstream public is unlikely to accept it. I will have to work a day job. And since the Notes are like a full-time job, it is like working two jobs. 6/1/2002 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. Question: Who is Paul Nervy? Answer: Paul Nervy is interested in foundational issues and the big picture. Is he an artist or a philosopher? 10/25/2000 .Introduction, .what. Frequently Asked Questions. Two objections to my work. (1) Question. Paul, why don't you simply read books to research your questions? Or why don't you post to Internet forums the questions that you have? Answer. If I researched every question that occurred to me then it would be a situation where I have more ideas than I have time to research. If I posted to a newsgroup every question that occurred to me then I would be doing a hell of a lot of posting. I simply do not have time to read a book or post a message every time a question (or answer) occurs to me. Thus I write the Notes. (2) Question. So Paul, what do you expect other people to get from reading your simplistic meanderings on various topics? Answer. Well, if they like it, they like it. I state up front that I am not an expert and that this is not the last word on any subject. In fact, it may be the first word on many subjects for many people. If the Paul Nervy Notes sparks an interest in someone, or motivates someone to look for more information, or even spurs someone to a new idea, then super, for me that is a worthy accomplishment. 8/31/2001 .Introduction, .what. Global. The Notes is global in scope. (See also: Philosophy, specialization and generalization.) 12/15/2005 .Introduction, .what. I am a guy who had to think of a lot of useful things in order to stay on the right track in life. And I wrote them down. And it might help other similarly challenged people who share the problems I had and have (1 in 50 people?). They are not retards, but rather they are those who tend to wander off track and lose sight of goals, and occasionally run off the deep end. Notes is minor mental tweaks to stay running hot. If it works for you, o.k. If not, fine. 12/30/1995 .Introduction, .what. I am a thinker, not a writer. If I could reach a bigger audience by talking then I would be a public speaker or have a television show. If I could put my thoughts into computer language then I would be a software programmer. Don't label me a writer. 2/29/2000 .Introduction, .what. I am an idea farmer. These lines you read are like the rows the farmer hoes. Welcome to my farm! 5/25/2002 .Introduction, .what. I don't have to hit a home run. Just keep hitting singles. 8/28/2000 .Introduction, .what. Imagined college bull sessions transcribed. 1/26/1999 .Introduction, .what. In addition to asking, "What are the Notes?", one can also ask, "What could the Notes be?", and, "What should the Notes be?" 3/9/2005 .Introduction, .what. Information management inventory methods. We can look at ideas as objects and the Notes as an inventory of objects. Then we can apply well established inventory concepts to the subject of ideas. (1) The Notes uses a FIFO (first in, first out) idea-inventory method. That is, the Notes are released year by year. (A) I argue that FIFO has good points, such as the fact that most information has a "freshness date" or useful time period. Wait fifty years to publish and your ideas will likely be stale. (B) FIFO idea-inventory is sometimes criticized on the grounds that ideas may be released prematurely, but this is not a big deal in that this happens everyday, and in any event premature ideas are better than no ideas. The sooner you get out useful information the more people it can help. The positive points of FIFO outweigh the negative points. (2) However, some people use a LIFO (last in, first out) inventory method. For example, they decide that they wait till the end of their life to write their memoirs. (A) LIFO proponents argue that they release information only when it is complete and polished. (B) I say LIFO can be criticized on the grounds that it hogs information. It is selfish hoarding. LIFO idea-inventory is essentially a form of closed society, rather than an open society. Another objection to LIFO idea-inventory is that it leads to stale ideas. The negative points of LIFO outweigh its positive points. (3) An alternate way of looking at this topic is to say that the Notes uses the "prototype" method of production. Each note (each idea) is a prototype. The product is not waited for perfection before it is released. 6/28/2000 .Introduction, .what. Information overload. The Notes help you deal with information overload. The Notes help you store and organize your ideas (information). Sorting by keywords saves massive amounts of cut-and-paste time. Storing your notes helps you keep from forgetting. The rapid organization capability of keyword phrases lets you organize your notes, and that helps organize your mind. Being able to store and organize your ideas (not someone else's) helps reduce the anxiety of information overload. Importance ratings and the "most important ideas about x" category help you prioritize your ideas. Helps you get your priorities straight. 3/20/1999 .Introduction, .what. Information theory. (1) Get (by figuring out or finding out). (2) Record. (3) Organize (classify and prioritize). (4) Manipulate. (5) Retrieve. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Information. Notes is an information management system. 6/3/2004 .Introduction, .what. Information. Personal information system. (1) To discover, record, preserve, and accumulate. (2) Organization and dissemination. (3) Quickly, accurately, flexible, compactly, efficiently, completely. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Integrated. The Notes are integrated. When you put everything in one pot and stir it around you get integration. (1) Integrated in the psychological sense (see also: Psychology). A healthy state in which all parts, all experiences, work together. (2) Integrated in a sense analogous to racial integration. Harmony and tolerance of diverse elements. (3) When other authors write single subject books for the marketing segments created by publishers, they have built lack of integration into their works. 2/20/2002 .Introduction, .what. Interrelationships of things. Perspectives on things. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Major themes of the Notes. (1) Specialization and generalization. (2) Information management. (3) Philosophy, psychology, and sociology. 6/1/2006 .Introduction, .what. Market place of ideas. In order for people to make up their minds, all sides must be heard completely, sympathetically, and well argued. 09/01/1994 .Introduction, .what. Me: the notes are (1) Me, my brain, my soul, my baby, my purpose. (2) My main project, my little brain child. (3) Product of my mind. (4) All these folders add up to Life and Me. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Mental models and paradigms. Logical structures of ideas on x. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Modular. Low-cost, reusable modules that can be reconfigured with a variety of parameters. When one person is done with them they can be recycled and used by another person. 9/17/2001 .Introduction, .what. Modular. The Notes are modular. That is one of its strong points. Modular like computer object oriented programming. 1/3/2000 .Introduction, .what. Motivational tool. Motivation through rational ideas. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. My goal is to do good thinking (art/philosophy) till a ripe old age. Make it public every year because art/philosophy types have a tendency to go nuts and destroy their good manuscripts (ex. Kafka, etc.). 12/30/1996 .Introduction, .what. My notes. (1) My notes distilled and communicated. (2) Super ultra organized Notes for my personal use. (3) Preservation and organization of notes. (4) A book to teach you to do your own notes, and some notes to start you off. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. My public writings. (1) The writings that will not embarrass me for others to read. Writings that are not private. (2) Writings that I think will do some good for others to read. Writings that are not specifically applicable to me and my life only. 12/26/1997 .Introduction, .what. My work does not fit into the standard genres. You might call it being homeless. And each note is worth about a soda-can nickel. You might call it canning. So my writing is the functional equivalent of a homeless man canning. Ego booster! 8/4/2000 .Introduction, .what. My work is uneven and slightly odd, which wreaks havoc on the pagination. 4/13/2001 .Introduction, .what. My writing style developed out of my comedy style, which consists mostly of one liners. 6/30/1999 .Introduction, .what. New improved values. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Notes are a type of psychological therapy. It is a type of writing therapy. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, .what. Notes are an extension of your mind, of yourself. 09/01/1994 .Introduction, .what. Notes has something for everyone to disagree with. 12/30/2003 .Introduction, .what. Notes is outside academia. Notes is outside traditional publishing. Notes is outside blogdom. 12/30/2003 .Introduction, .what. Paul Nervy carries them kicking and screaming into the big thicket. 9/28/2000 .Introduction, .what. Perhaps, for me, the Notes were a way to (1) Forge a self-identity for myself. (2) Create a sense of meaning and purpose in my life. (3) Keep up my self-esteem and self-worth. PART TWO. Subjectively. How successful were the Notes in achieving the above goals? Did they do the trick? Did it work for me? PART THREE. Objectively. What good are the Notes? What did they accomplish for other people besides myself? How do the Notes compare to what else is available? Do the Notes make a new and useful contribution? Did I accomplish as much as I could have accomplished? 4/14/2002 .Introduction, .what. Personal information system. (1) History, diary, personal chronology, oriented toward the past. (2) Goals list. Oriented toward the future. (3) Bibliography of books, music, movies, Internet, etc. (4) Notes on media. Found concepts. Outline. (5) Library and e-library. Actual works. (6) Your Figured Out ideas. 9/22/2003 .Introduction, .what. Personal information system. When some people think of a personal information system they think of a schedule and a contacts list. I am thinking of something more than that. I am thinking of History and Goals. Figured and Found. The history and goals address the past and future. The figured and found handles your own ideas and the ideas you read in the media. 9/25/2003 .Introduction, .what. Proust had a project and a method. Kerouac had a project and a method. Nervy has a project and a method. 3/24/2000 .Introduction, .what. Record of my development. (1) My intellectual and emotional development. (2) Development of my knowledge of x, and my opinions on x. (3) A record of idea development. (4) Tracks from your exploration of world of ideas. (5) A record of mental travels, mental development. (6) Mental travelogue. (7) Extension of your mind, of yourself. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Religious description of my book: confessions, assumptions and revelations. 4/8/1999 .Introduction, .what. Self help, self therapy book. (1) Cognitive therapy: thinking, learning (figure, find). (2) Memory therapy. (3) Philosophy therapy. (4) Writing therapy. (5) Getting your shit together. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Short forms. You've seen books of micro-fiction. The Notes are micro-non-fiction. 10/5/2000 .Introduction, .what. Short quotes. Each worth about a nickel. They begin to add up. Like people who make a living by collecting empty cans for refunds. This book is the equivalent of intellectual canning. 3/29/1999 .Introduction, .what. Slogan for the Notes: Stumbling toward a better future. 4/15/2002 .Introduction, .what. Some artists deliver their product in little boxes covered with wrapping paper and a bow. I deliver my product with a dump-truck. 7/1/2002 .Introduction, .what. Some writers write in a torrent or flood of productivity. My brain is like a slowly dripping faucet. Each idea is a drop of water. One drop does not help much, but put a bucket under the drip and you can gather enough water to survive. The Notes are the bucket. (Don't let the dripping drive you crazy!). However, I do not want my autobiography to be titled "Slow Drip: The Paul Nervy Story". 4/28/1998 .Introduction, .what. The "reinventing the wheel" criticism of the Notes says that I am just thinking of things that other people have already thought of, even if I am not aware of them having thought it. My counter-argument is one could say that we are all, each one of us, reinventing the wheel every time we make a wheel. I am not reinventing the wheel, I am making wheels. I am a wheel factory. 3/29/2002 .Introduction, .what. The average person who puts in the time and effort can write a book each year for 30 years. Do you really expect anyone else to read all thirty of your books? That would be an unreasonable expectation. The best you can do is make one large, searchable, sortable database. That's what are the Notes. 6/1/2002 .Introduction, .what. The big picture. Interdisciplinary studies. A data base. Basic, important shit. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. The broad, wide angle, scattershot approach vs. the microscopic, narrow, in depth view. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. The jigsaw analogy. Each note is like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. 4/23/1999 .Introduction, .what. The Notes - talking points. (1) Everyone can and should do their own notes. (2) In the Notes, as in life, there is no distinction between the theoretical and the practical. Just like there is no distinction between the public and the private (see postmodernism and feminism). (3) Computer's influence on the Notes. (A) Computers today are great for the organization of large quantities of information. The Notes are self-organizing in that they sort at the touch of a button, which lets the author focus on creativity. Cutting and pasting would be unbearable. In the future, computers will more actively aid authors in their creativity. (B) The Notes format is better than HTML because it imports into a database. Very soon we will be able to "mind meld" our notes when we meet each other on the streets. Compare and add new ideas. Very soon we will have thinking computers. (C) Computers raise our ethical responsibility for working with information. No more excuses like "I can not write. I do not have the time." Voice recognition will make it quick and easy. (4) The Notes are between art and philosophy. Bertrand Russell called philosophy the land between science and religion. I call the Notes the land between art and philosophy. Artistic philosophers like Wittgenstein and Nietzsche. Philosophical artists like Conrad and Melville. (5) Short form. Aphorism, axiom, maxim, epigram, haiku. Poetry like. Concise and economical. (6) Contextual nature of the Notes. The Notes has a gestalt aspect to it. (A) The Notes address all phenomena. Everything in this world exists in relation to, or in context to, everything else. In the Notes it is all there, a world. The whole story, not half the story. Epistemological holism. (B) The Notes exist in relation to each other. The surrounding notes, or neighboring notes, is what helps give an individual note its impact. Semantic holism. (7) The Notes put a human face on ideas, so that you can understand the ideas better. It does this by avoiding a dogma of pure abstraction, and thus lets the emotions, drives and memories of the author show. The ideas are embodied. You can see from whence the ideas evolved. (8) Notes as writing therapy for self-help. (9) Notes as a reference work. (10) Notes as a structured format, using keyword phrases. (11) Notes as a useful tool for writers, to spur their ideas. (12) Notes as: Reminders. Provocations. Contradictions. Open questions. (13) The Notes are not "everything I know". Everything I know can be broken down into stuff I Found Out from other sources, and stuff I Figured Out for myself. The stuff I Figured Out for myself can be broken down into Public Notes that I let others read, and Private Notes that I keep to myself. The Private Notes are private either because they are personally sensitive, or else they are information that applies to me only and that would not benefit others to read. 4/2/1999 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are about figuring out, as opposed to finding out. See: Psychology, thinking, figuring out and finding out. 1/1/2002 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are like a message in a bottle cast out onto the ocean of the Internet. 1/16/2006 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are like a quotebook, except all the quotes are by the same person. 3/28/1999 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are not aphorism. An aphorism is a succinct, complete idea. The Notes are fragments strung together. 10/5/2000 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are the best of Paul. They let me focus on my rare best thoughts, instead of the common garbage thoughts I have. 90% of everything is garbage, including my thoughts. 02/15/1997 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are very similar to the brute force method of artificial intelligence programming. You start with the simple and work toward the complex, with everything in between included. But the Notes are meant for humans, not computers. 8/1/1998 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are voluminous, unedited, unexpurgated, uneven and flawed. Yet this slag heap may keep many a rag-picker alive. Enjoy! 10/5/2000 .Introduction, .what. The Notes are voluminous, uneven, incomplete, unedited, raw, ponderous, plodding, unexpurgated, wandering, and erratic. 10/12/2000 .Introduction, .what. The Notes does not explain everything. The Notes is not perfect. However, there is a lot of cool stuff in the Notes. A lot of ideas to work with. 7/1/2002 .Introduction, .what. The Notes goes beyond blood, sweat and tears. I bashed my brains on it. I poured my guts into it. I broke my bones on it. I seared my wrists on it. I lost my hair over it. I spent my eyesight on it. I put my back into it. I got wrinkles over it. 8/10/2001 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is a psychological workout of memory, emotion and thinking. 3/12/2005 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is activism. 4/27/2006 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is not everything that I know. Everything I know is comprised of (1) Figured-out knowledge. (A) Public: Notes I will let others read. (B) Personal: Notes I do not let others read, either because they are notes that apply only to my specific situation, or because they are notes that are private. (2) Found-out information. (A) Notes that I took on information I gathered from books, magazines, newspapers, radio, television or Internet. (B) There are also the digital files that comprise my e-library. (3) The Notebooks that I publish are my Figured-out, Public notes. 4/25/1999 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is not the only way to change ourselves for the better, but it is an important way. 6/10/1999 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is one book, added to year by year. Another person who wrote one book and added to it year by year was Walt Whitman with his "Leaves of Grass". What kind of person writes one book and adds to it year by year? Firstly, a generous person who is not afraid to give a lot of themselves for the price of a single book. Secondly, a person who sees the world holistically. Nothing is separate. It all hangs together. Everything is connected. All is one. Thirdly, someone not afraid to go against the conventions of the publishing industry which releases product bit by bit, and book by book. Whitman was nothing if not generous, holistic and unconventional. And there are others like him. 1/6/2002 .Introduction, .what. The Notes is really a collection of attitudes, and thus it is a person-ality. 6/25/2001 .Introduction, .what. The Notes started as a germ of an idea. Then the germs began multiplying. And today it is completely germ-ridden. 6/8/2001 .Introduction, .what. The Notes uses the "prototype" method of production. (1) The prototype method involves putting out a trial product and then fine-tuning it, rather than waiting till a perfect product is produced and put on the market. (2) In the case of the Notes, the product is an idea (attitude). The product does not have to be perfect. (3) This topic concerns two views of truth or ideas. (A) Looking for an idea that is perfect and un-assailable. Some people attempt to live this way and it does not work well. (B) Looking for ideas that have any improvement over existing ideas. Or even looking for any reasonable alternative idea. This approach produces more and better ideas. 8/7/2000 .Introduction, .what. The soup and salad definition: tangy and zesty, yet robust and hearty. 5/15/2002 .Introduction, .what. Theory and applications. Technology. Applied philosophy. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. There are no books, only ideas (only notes). Books are just collections of ideas. We are more concerned with the idea level, not with the container level. The Internet is helping us focus less on the book level and more on the idea level. 2/10/2001 .Introduction, .what. There is a difference between reading philosophy and doing philosophy. Many people who read philosophy can tell you what this or that particular philosopher wrote. Fewer people actually try to do philosophy. The Notes is doing philosophy. Or trying to. Actually. 12/1/2001 .Introduction, .what. Things left out and ignored. (1) Tell you the things the textbooks won't or can't. (2) Important thoughts you may have missed or forgotten. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Thinking better. (1) New improved ways of thinking: broader, deeper truer. (2) Improved interdisciplinary momentary thinking. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. This book is friendly in an unassuming way. Like a dog that comes up to you to be petted. Then the dog starts talking. 3/29/1999 .Introduction, .what. This book is just the best original ideas from my notes which I have been writing down as I thought of them over the last several years. I describe my note writing method in the "How" section and tell you a way to organize your own notes. I saw this book as spanning several genres and hoped it would achieve several purposes. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Three truths about the Notes: (1) I don't know what it is. (2) I don't know why I do it. (3) I don't know who its for. 9/10/2001 .Introduction, .what. Three views of the Notes. (1) Notes as history. (2) Notes as philosophy. (3) Notes as psychotherapy. 1/2/2005 .Introduction, .what. To develop new, important, true ideas, for people in general and for me specifically. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. Traditionally there has been a strict division of labor, with the arts handling emotion and the sciences being completely unemotional. The Notes, tries to bridge that gap. The Notes has a freedom to mix non-fiction and emotional responses. 10/9/1999 .Introduction, .what. Truth. (1) Totally valuable truths. (2) The horrible, painful, bitter, cold, hard truth. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. What are the notes. (1) Six years of trying to get and capture on paper the hot mental moment. (10/93) (2) More organized than a quotebook, more formal than a pop book, more comprehensive than a polemic, more complete than a textbook. (5/25/93) (3) Notes are not an end in themselves, but a means to accomplish other things. It is necessary but not sufficient (4/15/93). (4) The basics. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, .what. What distinguishes the notes from some other forms of writing therapy is that it focuses on the logical arrangement of thoughts (as opposed to chronological journals). That is not to say that the notes does not touch on non-logical subjects like drive, emotion, etc., because it does. 6/10/1999 .Introduction, .what. What information do I need? How get it? Fast, clear, condensed. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .what. What is Notes. (1) Notes is a way to generate, organize, store, share and manage information. (2) Notes combines the genres of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and jokes. Notes combines the modes of philosophy, art and science. (3) Notes is a set of principles and techniques to deal with information. To help change the way you look at and deal with information. So there is less information overload. So you manage information better. So you are more creative. (4) Notes works at the idea level, not the page level like a web page, and not the book level like a library. (5) Notes is a database. More specifically, Notes is a tab delimited text file database. The database is as important as the web page. (6) Notes lets you sort by date, category and rating. (7) Notes makes use of two files: "the figured out" and "the found out". Notes makes use of two categories: the public notes (for anyone, about everyone), and the private notes (about self, for self). (8) Notes uses digitized and paper formats. (9) Notes is organized by category. Notes uses an outline form of writing. (10) Notes is a constant thinking and writing of ideas. Jot down ideas everywhere and anytime. (11) Notes is a lifelong pursuit, not a thin slice of time. Notes is concerned with all of reality, not a narrow subject area. Notes is one big book. (12) Originally in text format. On the web in html format. Add a table of contents. Add a search engine. 8/25/2002 .Introduction, .what. What is the Notes similar to and different from? (1) Similar to a quote book, but consisting of your own quotes. (2) Similar to a blog, but something you build from within instead of appending onto end. (3) Similar to a diary, but a diary of ideas. 3/4/2007 .Introduction, .what. Writing in the age of information management. PART ONE. Hypertext is a useful technique that has received a lot of attention in the last few years. There have even been books written that explore the cultural impact of hypertext. But let us not overlook the database. Let us not give short shrift to the database. For the database makes possible automatic sorting. Automatic sorting lets you worry less about organization and focus more on content. PART TWO. Types of information. (1) Quantitative information (the province of corporations and science) vs. Qualitative information (the province of individual's notes). (2) Sentential information (facts) vs. emotional information (feelings). (3) Figured Out information (thought of on your own) vs. Found Out information (heard, read, saw, etc.). (4) Public information (non-private) vs. Private information (personal). (5) The Notes include 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A and 4A. PART THREE. Types of writing. (1)(A) Linear narrative (ex. novels) or linear chronological (ex. diary) vs. (B) Logical, hierarchical, classification (ex. textbooks) vs. (C) Organization by importance vs. (D) Alphabetical. (2)(A) Structure (automatic sorting) vs. Content (my focus). (3)(A) Paper vs. (B) Computer text vs. (C) Computer html vs. (D) Computer database. (4) The Notes focus on 1B, 2B and 3D. 10/10/1999 .Introduction, .why. .This section is about why I write the Paul Nervy Notes. Topics include: (1) Personal reasons. (2) Societal reasons. 1/24/2006 .Introduction, .why. (1) Boredom, lack of better alternative. (2) Nothing better to do, nothing more important to do. (3) A way to kill time while time kills me. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. (1) Doing Notes is especially helpful for pessimists like myself. The key is to write notes to record the good in your life, and then study those notes to focus on the good in your life. (2) For repressed neurotics the Notes help you recall ideas and emotions that one has a tendency to repress. (3) In both the above cases, the Notes contribute to mental health. But the Notes should not be used as the sole therapy for people with serious mental problems. (4) The Notes are also a reminder or memory aid. 7/27/1998 .Introduction, .why. (1) For self respect. (2) For respect from others. (3) To show something for my time (11/01/94). (4) Proof I worked for five years and didn't vegetate. (9/01/94). (5) To make the most of myself and my life. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, .why. (1) For self: For fun. For health. For growth. (2) For others: For fun. For health. For growth. 6/3/2004 .Introduction, .why. (1) For truth and justice. (2) To improve the world. 4/25/2006 .Introduction, .why. (1) Going over old stuff makes it easier to think of new. (2) Going over old stuff makes clearer the way to go. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. (1) Health. Psychological health. Improve self. Growth and development. (2) Knowledge. Truth. Get smart. (3) Improve the world. Justice. 4/17/2006 .Introduction, .why. (1) Notes gives one a purpose, when times are tough. (2) Notes give one a foundation, when one is in doubt or has lost the track or vision. 04/24/1997 .Introduction, .why. (1) People do not have time to perform a science experiment on every idea they get. (2) People do not have time to research every idea they get. (3) People do not have time to discuss every idea they get. (4) And it would help if the ideas recorded and organized themselves to some extent because people do not have time to type and organize their ideas. (5) Yet the ideas people get are important, at least for them, and should not be forgotten or discarded just because they aren't easy to herd. (6) Some people argue that if an idea cannot be verified scientifically, or if it is not researched, or if it is not debated publicly, then it is useless. However, such criteria do not invalidate every good idea. 9/19/2001 .Introduction, .why. (1) Practical reasons. (A) Psychological health. (B) Personal development. (C) Economic well being. (D) Successful social relationships. (E) Accomplishment and productivity. (2) Idealistic reasons. (A) Make the world a better place. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. (1) Subjective reasons: why I think I wrote it. (2) Objective reasons: why I actually wrote it. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. (1) To develop a stand, to take a stand. (2) To work from thought to action. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. (1) Writing helps you think. Work it out on paper. (2) Writing helps you remember. Save it on paper. 8/15/1998 .Introduction, .why. Academics are specialists bound by their disciplines. Professional or commercial writers are specialists bound by sales, advertisers and audiences. Amateur generalists are less bound. Notes is a work by an amateur generalist. 11/15/2003 .Introduction, .why. All the things learned by people, and not recorded, and lost to the ages, only to have to be re-thought again through painful mistakes by later generations. If we could write it down, clearly, concisely, and well organized, without being unclear and long winded, then it would be useful, and easy to search, and quick to read and learn. 11/30/1996 .Introduction, .why. At first I did Notes because I was trying to be an artist and philosopher. Now I do Notes because I am: (1) Just trying to survive. Trying to get and keep head screwed on straight (double check marks). (2) Trying to capture the gold I drip. Get the most out of my brain (single check marks). (3) All the muddlings to get the above two. The 90% garbage one must wade through to get the 10% useful. 07/30/1996 .Introduction, .why. Current realization: No one cares what I have to say. Gee whiz. Well, that's fine with me. That these words are on the Internet and no one reads them only adds to their wilderness quality. 3/21/2001 .Introduction, .why. Develop me and my mind. (1) Sharpens (quicker and more accurate) your thinking ability. (2) Improves mental organization. (3) For thinking, evolution of thought. (4) Become my ideal me, develop personality. (5) To improve my mind, behavior, my life. (6) Cognitive therapy, organize head. (7) Develop unconscious working knowledge. (9) Improve contents, structure, and mechanism of mind. (10) Psychic health, reduce neurosis, to help me. (11) Be a better person, and survive better. (12) Money: get and hold better jobs. (13) Sell this book. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Dual purpose. (1) To get it out of my system, to get it off my mind vs. (2) To remind me of things. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Dual purpose. Paradoxical dual purpose of Notes. (1) Writing Notes lets you take your mind off what you need to take it off of. You unconsciously realize you can take your mind of it because you know you have it written down in your Notes somewhere. (2) Writing Notes paradoxically also helps keep your mind on what you need to keep it on. Writing things down serves as a reminder to think about them when you go back and re-read your notes. 06/15/1994 .Introduction, .why. Each of us must put the world in our own words. It is not just a matter of writing. We must make life our own. You cannot just hear life and see life. You have to say life and do life. You have to be life. You have to live life. 3/16/2000 .Introduction, .why. Essay about why. Problems. (1) Minds forgetting stuff. (2) Minds inactive. (3) Minds full, with no room to learn. (4) Minds disorganized. Disorganized in regard to logical organization. Disorganized in regard to chronological organization. (5) Confusion. Upset. Frustrated. Angry. Making important life mistakes. (6) Writing your own notes can help alleviate these problems. It is writing therapy that can fight information overload. 8/25/1999 .Introduction, .why. Essay about why. Why write? Psychological health and growth. Healthier, smarter people. A better society. Save the earth. In part, these goals all depend on information management. Information in the form of memories, emotions, thoughts and attitudes. 8/30/1999 .Introduction, .why. Eventually you meld your personal notes (figured out) and your book notes (found out) in your mind to produce some total mental data base. 04/21/1993 .Introduction, .why. Everyone should do their own Notes. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, .why. For fun. For health. For progress. For truth, ideas, knowledge. For justice. 5/14/2004 .Introduction, .why. Honestly, Paul, why do you write the Notes? (1) I'm trying to sort out my problems. To stay alive, healthy, productive, employed. (2) Groupies. Female fans. I really thought the Notes would bring me women. (3) I honestly thought the Notes would help other people. (4) Ideas have a beauty all their own. Ideas possess aesthetic qualities. Ideas can have inexorable logic, wit, emotion, enlightenment. Ideas are a delight to behold. (5) The search for and discovery of ideas can be a kick. At some point I either recognized or decided that this is who I am and this is what I do. Its fun. 6/4/2002 .Introduction, .why. I am arguing for the importance of words, reason, thinking. Other people like objects, money, or power, but I do not find those compelling. Still others like obedience, mindless action, or doing nothing, but I do not find those compelling either. 8/16/2006 .Introduction, .why. I don't want my notes to end up being just about my worsening pathological psychological condition. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, .why. I'm not trying to save the world, I'm trying to save my self. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. I'm not trying to think of things no one's ever thought of, I'm trying to think of things I've never thought of. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. If it exists, it is important, and I'm interested in. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. In addition to asking, "Why do the Notes?", one can also ask, more generally, "Why think, write and publish?" 3/9/2005 .Introduction, .why. Individual progress is not automatic. Societal progress is not automatic. Progress requires effort. 8/20/2006 .Introduction, .why. It is imperative, an ethical obligation, that parents write and self-publish notes for their children, and their children's children. 01/07/1997 .Introduction, .why. It is not enough to collect notes. They must be ordered. And thought about. 02/14/1989 .Introduction, .why. Its fun. Its healthy. 5/3/2003 .Introduction, .why. Notes boost self-confidence. Enables quicker, better thinking. Enables quicker action. Leads to faster development and growth. Notes avoid the stall, the languish. 1/25/1998 .Introduction, .why. Notes help you remember your good ideas and thus let you let go of your bad ideas. 02/28/1998 .Introduction, .why. Nothing seems real to me till I write it down. 06/30/1996 .Introduction, .why. One has an obligation to think. One has an obligation to write what one thinks. One has an obligation to publish what one writes. What is the basis of the obligation? The basis of the obligation is that these acts are good to do and we are able to do them. 2/1/2005 .Introduction, .why. Only by leaving your mind open to consider anything and everything will you be able to focus in on what is really bothering you and what is really important. 1/16/2006 .Introduction, .why. Personal information system. Once ideas are recorded and organized, it is easier to think new ones. Preservation and organization. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Personal reasons (egoism). (1) Money, glory. (2) Ethical reasons. (3) It is what I do best, it is what I want to do. (4) Save and organize notes for me and for posterity. (5) To change (improve) myself and my life. (6) Make money publishing it. (7) Develop thesis or articles out of it. (8) Impress women. 9. See below: social reasons (altruism). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Pseudo-reasons why not to do Notes. (1) Nobody reads. (2) Nobody reads self-published books. Most people who read, read the major publishers. (3) Nobody reads art-philosophy. Most people who read, read fiction. (4) Nobody cares. (5) Its not that good. 6/4/2002 .Introduction, .why. Questions. (1) Why do I do my notes? Why does anyone do their notes? (2) Why should I do my notes? Why should anyone do their notes? (3) Will this book help me? Will this book help anyone? (4) Will writing notes help me? Will writing notes help anyone? (5) Why should you read Notes (my reasons), and why do you read Notes (your reasons)? (6) Reasons why not read this book, and reasons why not to write your own notes. Waste of time? 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Quote. You can have more fun with 1 pen, 1 package of loose-leaf, and a library card, than you can with $10,000.00. If you know how. (from 4/15/90). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Retrieval problems. When you have information that is recorded either in handwriting, print or digital format, and you are having trouble finding what you are looking for, then you are essentially in a state analogous to the mental state we call "forgetting". To say "I forgot" is to say "that information is not currently retrievable". Information recall is 90% of thinking. Information recall is 90% of the solution in the physical world as well as the mental world. 10/22/2000 .Introduction, .why. Self-publish or self-perish. (1) Self-publish or self-perish. Write down your ideas. Organize your ideas. Self publish your ideas by putting your web site on the Internet. Why? Because to not face this important challenge is to risk casting yourself into a vicious, possibly suicidal, existentialist depression. Self-publishing is part of what you are here to do. (2) Self-publish or self-perish. Leave a trace of yourself because otherwise you will die without leaving a trace and no one will be able to benefit from your experience. The idea is not that you want to live forever through your writing out of vanity. The ideas is that you want to live forever through your writing because you want to make a useful, lasting contribution to the world. 8/9/2005 .Introduction, .why. So you don't make as many mistakes as me, and suffer the resulting pains. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Social reasons (altruism). (1) People don't have time, energy, ability to find out and/or figure out. (2) Help them avoid mistakes and pain. (3) Help them solve problems and get goals to change (improve) the world. (4) Never underestimate your audience, most people are evolving. (5) For those dying to know, whether they know it or not. (6) People don't have time to read books and outline them. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Stand. Writing a diary to be left after you die, as a virtual person or mind, forces you to lead a more authentic life. Because it forces you to say, "This is for the record". It makes you think, and then take a stand. 10/05/1997 .Introduction, .why. Sum up. (1) For self. For fun. For health. For money, chicks and fame. (2) For others. To make a contribution to society. To share. For truth and justice. 6/7/2004 .Introduction, .why. Survival. (1) Purpose of all this learning is survival. (2) Surviving better. (3) Health: psychological, physical, financial. (4) Solve problems, avoid mistakes, reduce pain. (5) Get goals (job, money, women, notes, books, stuff). (6) Figure out what's going on. (7) How does it affect us. (8) Understand things, make sense of things. (9) To understand life, how the world works. (10) To get a better model of reality. (11) Figure out what's important. (12) Figure out what to do, and how I know. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Teach kids that the computer is an idea bank. If they save only two or three ideas a day, you will have 1000 ideas per year, and 10,000 ideas in 10 years. You will be rich with ideas in a short time. 01/07/1997 .Introduction, .why. The alternative to doing Notes is confusion, forgetting and being overwhelmed. And not knowing who you are or what is going on. And lack of focus. And distraction, and psychological fragility. 3/20/1999 .Introduction, .why. The Notes are necessary for survival (not death), health (not illness), and growth (not waste). The results of not doing them will be pain and waste. 10/25/1997 .Introduction, .why. The Notes are sets of ideas, or sets of attitudes (ideas + emotions). Some people would argue that every person, as they develop, works through a series of sets of attitudes. That is, to some degree we repeat each other. If this is the case, even to a minimal degree, then the Notes are reusable modules. The Notes are not just the story of one specific being. 10/25/2000 .Introduction, .why. The Notes helped bring me out of pathological psychology to peak performance in all areas of my life both practical and theoretical. The Notes also helped bring me from 0 to 100% productivity. 08/14/1994 .Introduction, .why. The only justification I can give my writings at this point is this: Other people may be as smart, or smarter than I am, but they may not be neurotic or narcissistic enough to sit around all day writing down what they think. Maybe they should. I am one organizing, entertaining, and creative bastard though. 12/30/1996 .Introduction, .why. The question is not only, "Why write?" The questions are also, "Why think?", "Why speak?", and "Why communicate?" 10/1/2005 .Introduction, .why. The question, "Why do the Notes?", is an ethical question. Why do the Notes rather than anything else? 3/9/2005 .Introduction, .why. They ask why don't you write about the people doing cutting edge work in any area? Or why don't you write about famous historical people? (1) Because that is what academics, journalists and biographers are for. Everyone is doing that. (2) Because the Notes are about ideas, not people. (3) Because the Notes are about the individual quest. The Notes are about every person's journey. (4) Because I am an artist. 8/31/2000 .Introduction, .why. Thinking and writing contributes to psychological health by (1) Organizing your ideas and thus head. (2) Recording and storing best ideas and best head. (3) Storing memories. (4) Sorting out feelings. 04/24/1997 .Introduction, .why. Those who don't take care of their ideas are like those who don't take care of their bodies. 01/07/1997 .Introduction, .why. Trace. PART ONE. An argument for leaving a trace of yourself. Most people go through life without a trace and then die leaving no trace. Most people accept this fact quite calmly. Some people claim that the trace they leave is the work they do (ex. digging ditches) or the children that they raise. However, that is not really leaving a trace of yourself, instead that is leaving a trace of something else. I say that in addition to work and kids, leaving a trace of yourself is required in this life. Leaving a trace of yourself means recording your mind, one way or another. Today, we are beginning to develop the technology required for most people to more easily leave a trace of themselves. Being asked to leave a trace of yourself first requires that you create yourself out of the whole lot of nothing going on. PART TWO. Four weak arguments against leaving a trace of yourself. (1) One could argue against the above view by saying that the only difference between leaving a trace of oneself (your mind) and leaving a trace of something other than oneself (work and kids) is the vanity of the former. (2) Also, many people endeavor to leave a trace of themselves and produce only excruciatingly boring descriptions of their daily activities. (3) Other people quite honestly admit that they have nothing to say. (4) Others still would argue that a trace of a person is useless to another person, and even useless to the same person after a period of time. 6/20/2001 .Introduction, .why. Truth, knowledge, thinking. (1) Knowledge = power. Knowledge = health. (2) Knowledge is good (Animal House college motto). (3) Knowledge is transferable across subjects, and from person to person. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. When people meet and like each other, they will exchange their public notes. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, .why. When you read what you have written, you see yourself almost as if seeing another person. This is a valuable perspective to have, and a difficult perspective to obtain. 2/24/2000 .Introduction, .why. When you write things down, (1) Your thoughts evolve quicker than if you didn't. (2) You help slow down forgetting everything you ever knew, which does happen soon or later, with disastrous results. 12/30/1996 .Introduction, .why. Why am I doing Notes, and why should others do their own notes? When it comes to reasons why anyone does anything, a familiar complex of unconscious motivations and underlying assumptions can be recognized. (1) Save the earth. Save the human species. Make the world a better place. (2) Be the hero. Get the girl(s), fame, and admiration. Be like a god, powerful and immortal. (3) Prove my critics and detractors wrong (In your face!). Prove I am better than others think I am. 4/28/1998 .Introduction, .why. Why are so many people depressed? One reason is because they realize they are not using their brains like they should. They are not making full use of their brains to create and grow. It bothers them today like never before, because people are more enlightened and realize that they should use their brains. Yet they often don't know how. The Notes are one way how. 9/18/2000 .Introduction, .why. Why bother writing it all down? (1) Liberal view. (A) Pro: Develop something new. (B) Contra: Writing things down can slow you down when you are changing quickly. (2) Conservative view. (A) Pro: Writing helps you save what you have accomplished. (B) Contra: Writing can cause you to remain stuck in a way of thinking. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, .why. Why do I write? Because I feel so inarticulate. What can I say? We stand dumbstruck before each other. Mute. Mumbling. It is disconcerting and aggravating. 3/29/2001 .Introduction, .why. Why do I write? Because there is no one to talk to. It is very difficult to find someone who is in the same place as you (mentally), going in the same direction, at the same speed. 4/25/1999 .Introduction, .why. Why do I write? To have one real conversation, even if it is only with myself. 4/4/2004 .Introduction, .why. Why I started writing. I found my ability to generate ideas was greater than my ability to remember them. 02/04/1989 .Introduction, .why. Why publish notes every year, rather than as one single volume at the end of your life? In 50 years the world will be facing a new situation with new knowledge, and your 50 year old, just published notes will be less of a help to people. 1/6/1998 .Introduction, .why. Why the Notes? There have been moments in my life when I said to myself, "I wish I could meet a cool person and have access to their brain by being able to ask them any question on any topic at any time." The Notes is access to my brain. 12/12/2005 .Introduction, .why. Why write? When you write something you put it in your own words, you make the idea your own, and you develop new ideas on that idea. 07/14/1993 .Introduction, .why. Why write? Writing is a record of a mind. Much like a person's photograph is a record of their body. Writing is often the only record of a person's mind. One could say that writing is a person's mind. Years from now, when you are old and dead, the mind and the body that you have now will no longer exist. Writing is a life preserver. You try to save yourself. Writing is a preservative. Writing is formaldehyde. The basic idea is that life is precious day by day. You and I are precious day by day. We lose sight of this. We take it for granted. We let it slip by. We waste it. We get wasted. Writing is the gong. 3/13/2000 .Introduction, how. .This section is about how I write the Paul Nervy Notes. Topics include: (1) Alternative methods. Paper vs. digital. (2) Categories. (3) Computer. Web site. (4) Current method. (5) Dates. (6) Ratings. (7) Searching. (8) Table of contents. Index. (9) Other things: Goals. Outline. Lists. Diary. (10) Year by year. 1/24/2006 .Introduction, how. (1) At base, Paul Nervy Notes is a tab delimited text file. (2) One can make it slightly more fancy by saving as an .rtf file and then making the keyword and date fields italics and by spacing the paragraphs apart. (3) One can make it even slightly more fancy by converting it to html or by making a web site, or by importing the text file into a database or spreadsheet. 1/14/2002 .Introduction, how. (1) Cover every subject. (2) Start from the ground and work up. (3) Figure out and find out. (4) Publish your results. (5) Everyone should do this. 4/28/2005 .Introduction, how. (1) Digital vs. paper. (2) Alphabetical vs. chronological. 6/3/2004 .Introduction, how. (1) Figured-out notes: (A) Public. (B) Private. (2) Found-out notes: (A) The notes you take on books. (B) Your e-library. (C) Your favorite websites list. (D) Your notes from school. 8/25/1999 .Introduction, how. (1) Historical structure vs. (2) Logical structure of things vs. (3) Structure by importance: important to me, average joe, any individual. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. (1) My notes (stuff I figured out). (2) Book notes (stuff I found out). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. (1) Structure: what are the elements in the method. (2) Mechanism or procedure: how to use/manipulate the elements. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Alternate methods. Diary as a record of days. Diary as your personal story. 365 days a year for 100 years is 36,500 days, and 36,500 journal entries. 3/2/2006 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods to do Notes. (1) Use carbon paper. (2) Take notes on one side of standard paper, and then photocopy notes on the photocopy machine automatically. (3) Take notes using handwriting recognition software. (4) Take notes using voice recognition software. 12/27/1997 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. (1) Chronological handwritten approach. Carry around a piece of loose-leaf. Write down any good ideas you have. Label the idea by subject matter. Date each idea. You can make an index for each year's output. Or you can even cut the ideas apart, sort them by subject, and then tape them together. Make a back up copy by photocopying or using carbon paper. (2) Separate notebook for each subject, handwritten approach. Have a dozen notebooks on various subject matters, into which you can copy ideas on those subjects. (3) Index card, handwritten approach. Write one idea on each index card. This untried method would make sorting ideas easier, but could get very bulky. (4) Typewriter method. Another low tech approach. (5) Computer: desktop, laptop, or palmsize method. Much easier to use. Word processing software, or even dbase software could be used. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. (1) Diary, (2) Journal, (3) Indexed journal, (4) Notes, (5) Every single thing I can remember (Estir). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. (1) On paper, by handwriting. (2) Typewriter, then use optical character recognition. (3) On computer: desktop, laptop, Newton. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Blogs. The difference between blogs and Paul Nervy Notes. (1) Bloggers tend to write and publish on a daily basis. The Notes take time. (2) Blog tend to be either a diary of someone's life or else be dedicated to a specialist subject. The Notes is neither. 1/23/2004 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Chronological method. Keeping a chronological record of the development of your thoughts is very important. One reason why it is important is for general historical reasons, in order to accurately trace the development of your thought through time. Another reason is to trace your thoughts on a specific subject problem so that you can see what you were thinking when you made mistakes, and when you found solutions. This helps you prevent making future mistakes. 12/30/1996 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Computer methods. (1) Text file. (A) Unstructured text file. (B) Structured text file. (2) Database. (A) Flat file database. (B) Relational database. (3) XML. (A) Docbook. (B) XHTML. (4) Web enabled methods. (A) Static web page using HTML. (B) Blog. (5) Dynamic, web enabled, database using PHP. 10/19/2005 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Computer methods. Blogs. A blog is just a web page. A blog is a web page that you can update through a web browser. What is all the fuss and commotion about blogs? Blogging makes web site creation easier and faster. 4/28/2005 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. (1) Diary as an accounting of days. How do you account for how you spent your time? (2) Diary as a reckoning of days. How do you reckon how you spent your time? 2/15/2007 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. A dual mistake that some people make regarding their diary is, on the one hand, thinking that if you did not write in your diary then nothing happened that day, and on the other hand, thinking that if you did write in your diary then something happened that day. 2/23/2007 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Another dual mistake people make when writing their diary is the mistake of making something out of nothing, and the mistake of making nothing of something. The mistake of making something out of nothing is the mistake of ascribing too much importance to a trivial event. The mistake of making nothing out of something is the mistake of ascribing too little importance to a significant event. 3/18/2007 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Each day keep track of number of pages read (books or notes), number of pages written (number of ideas thought of), number of hours of free time, number of hours worked vs. wasted, and what you got done. 07/08/1994 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. The bizarre world of the diarists: "Dear diary, Today I spent the entire day writing in my diary. Sincerely yours, etcetera." 2/23/2007 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Two views on journal method. (1) Write in your journal everyday whether you have a good idea or not. Vs. (2) Write in your journal only when you have a good, new, useful idea. (This is the better view). 6/15/1994 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Two ways of doing a diary. One way is starting every year of the diary on your birthday. This way is more subjective. Another way is starting every year of the diary on the first day of the year (ex. January 1st). This way is more objective. I prefer this second way. 10/30/2003 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Why a diary? A diary to provide some accountability to yourself for how you spent your time. A diary to manage your time better. A diary to track your progress on your goals. 4/1/2006 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Diary. Why a diary? A diary to save the days, otherwise the days are lost. 1/1/2006 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Early 90's method. What I do at this point is carry around a piece of loose leaf. When I get a good idea, I write it down on the loose leaf, as clearly and concisely and neatly as I can. In the margin I write the subject matter of the note. I put all my loose leaf pages for a year together in one binder. Then I index the whole thing by subjects. Then I type it up on the computer. I used to have a more complicated method. What I use now seems to be the quickest. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Import Notes into an Open Source content management system. Like Slash, Scoop or Nuke. Allow readers to rate each note. Allow readers to comment on each note. 5/24/2002 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Paper is hard to copy, easy to destroy, hard to transmit, and takes up a lot of storage room. 10/05/1997 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Paper methods. (1) Chronological diary. (2) Indexed diary. Indexed by topic. (3) Cut and paste. 10/1/2005 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Paper methods. (1) Loose leaf vs. index cards. (2) Handwritten vs. typed. (3) Xerox vs. carbon paper. 4/28/1998 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Paper methods. (1) Loose leaf. (2) Notebooks. (3) Index cards. 10/1/2005 .Introduction, how. Alternative methods. Solo vs. group. 10/19/2005 .Introduction, how. Basic questions. (1) Will the media last? Floppy disk. Cd-rom. Acid-free paper. (2) Will the software be readable? txt. rtf. (3) Will the natural language be readable? English from 500 years ago is difficult to understand. In 500 years your writing may also be difficult to understand. 1/30/2000 .Introduction, how. Categories. Frequently Asked Questions. (1) Question: Do you create the categories first and then write the notes to fill the categories, or do you write the notes and then create the categories as needed? Answer: Usually I write the notes and then create the categories. If I have a dozen or more notes on the same topic then I create a category. (2) Question: Do you write the individual notes and then categorize it, or do you pick a subject and then write about it? Answer: I usually write the note and then try to figure out what category to put it in. 2/6/2001 .Introduction, how. Computer. Digital network. (1) Instead of headstones in graveyards, they will have dvd's of people in communal mass storage libraries. You will be able to visit a loved one who has passed on by taking out their dvd and seeing a record they have left in audio, video, and text. (2) One dvd (10 GB) per person, holding all their text, plus a two hour movie of their life taken from edited selections from their head camera. (3) Earth population will soon be 10 billion per generation. Four generations per 100 years. 40 billion people every 100 years. How much room would 40 billion dvd's take up? 10 gigabytes per dvd. 400 billion gigabytes = how many ecabytes? How much network storage would that be? (4) 100 dvds fit on 3 feet of shelf space. 1 billion dvds fit on 30 million feet of shelf space. How much shelf space can you fit in a warehouse the size of a football field, and 30ft. high? You could have one of these in each town. The hard copy is necessary as backup for the network, or for a user library/cemetery? Ah, keep it all on the network. 04/15/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. Digital network. To create an Internet encyclopedia, gather the notes of different individuals and combine them all into a database. Put each person's initials on each note. Connect the database to a Web page. Let users use SQL commands to query the database, like a person using a library catalog. The user can query by author, date range, or subject matter. 1/25/1998 .Introduction, how. Computer. Notes. (1) They can help yourself and others. So you have an obligation (to yourself and others) to do them, and thus help yourself and others. (2) Very soon, people will have the opportunity to live forever if they want, by having their notes available to anyone, anytime, on a huge network, long after they are dead. Running a homepage on the Web after they are dead. (3) You can put in two minutes of video/audio from each year you are alive. If you live to 60, that is a two hour movie. (4) You could make a business of video taping people every year, asking them questions and typing up their answers, and setting up their homepage. (5) We have a major ethical obligation to think about everything, and make a record of our thinking, and make it available to others. 02/15/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. Put the notes in database form. Make it searchable. Make it sortable alphabetically, logically (by category), chronologically (by date), and by importance (rating). 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. The Notes in database form will be similar to a searchable computerized library catalog. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. Voice. Eventually I would like to see computers that can take a disk with a text file on it, and play back that text in a synthesized voice. This would be like listening to an audio tape while you ride to work, except it could be done for any text file on any disk. You would just hit an icon of a person talking, and the voice would start. 01/23/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. Voice. Speech recognition software can be used to write one's notes more quickly and easily than typing. 07/18/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. Web site. How I do the web site. (1) Convert text to html. (2) Split the text into sections. (3) I use software like Open Office and Mozilla Browser. 10/23/2004 .Introduction, how. Computer. You can create a group mailing list and e-mail copies of your notes. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Computer. You want to be able to convert easily between text, HTML, and database, just in case. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Contra the method of the Notes. People should be allowed to express how they want to, and not conform to the Notes format or even the text medium. Many people won't want to express anything at all. 1/6/2002 .Introduction, how. Current format of Notes: Keyword (tab) Note (tab) Date. 1/15/1999 .Introduction, how. Current method. (1) Notes, public and personal. (2) Outline. (3) Lists or bibliography. (deals with the logical organization of information). (4) Journal or Diary (deals with historical or chronological organization). (5) Goals (deals with importance, urgency, current and future). (6) These methods correspond to basic ways of organizing information. (A)Logical. (B) Temporal: Past, present and future. (C) Importance and urgency. 10/8/2003 .Introduction, how. Current method. (1) Parts: (A) Notes. (B) Lists. (C) Outline. (D) Diary (personal). (E) Goals (personal). (2)(A) Contents and expanded contents. (B) Ratings, to convey degrees of importance. (C) Sorting. (D) Searching. (E) Abstracting, by using "sum-ups" and "the big question is". (F) Linking, by using "see also" and "related subjects". (G) Categories, using keyword phrases. (3) (A) Text, not .rtf or .doc. (B) Tab delimited. (C) One big book or file that contains many notes. (4) (A) Alphabetical order - via the table of contents. (B) Chronological order - if you sort by dates. (C) Importance order - if you sort by ratings. (D) Logical order - if you read the sum up sections. 1/2/2004 .Introduction, how. Current method. Linux operating system. Open Office suite. 1/26/2004 .Introduction, how. Elements. What they are. What they look like. Why they work (why that way, not another). How they work (how use them). What order you can do them in. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Essay about how. How to write? (1)(A) Digitize! Don't you want to share? Digitizing is faster. It helps you organize faster. It helps you retrieve faster. Its more efficient. Use a computer. (B) Use keyword phrases. (C) Separate ideas. Rather than having one big glob of ideas. (D) One big file for Figured out ideas. One big file for Found out ideas. (E) Use voice recognition. Or use handwriting recognition. Or use a keyboard. (F) Post a web page in perpetuity so that your notes live after you are dead. (2) Problems with other methods. (A) Journals by date. (B) Multiple files. (C) Typing on paper vs. Cut and paste on computer vs. Automatic sorting on computer (better) vs. Sorting by tab delimited fields (even better). 8/25/1999 .Introduction, how. Essay about how. Key things to do. (1) Think and write in your spare moments. Keep a pen and paper handy at all times. (2) Thinking about all subjects is key. (3) Revisit all subjects daily. 8/25/1999 .Introduction, how. Everyday I go into the fields and pick the ideas that are ripe. 10/15/2004 .Introduction, how. Five how question about the Notes. (1) How to think of stuff? (See Psychology, thinking, creativity). (2) How to write the stuff you think of? (See Arts, literature, writing). (3) How to organize the stuff you write? (Sort it by keywords). (4) How to make it available to the public? (On a web page). (5) How to notify the public to your work? (Marketing tactics). 4/8/2001 .Introduction, how. Four files, folders, lists, whatever. (1) Figured-out: Notes. (2) Found-out: school notes, etc. (3) Goals: mine (importance). (4) History: mine (chronological). 4/8/2001 .Introduction, how. Get, read (learn), reread (study): for books, and for notes. 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. How to develop a standard for sharing notes. (1) I should be exportable as a text file (.txt). And it should be exportable as an XML file too. (2) It should allow people to create their own keywords and categories rather than force them to adhere to a predefined keyword and category system. (3) One big file, not a series of directories. (4) Easy to sort. Easy to search. (5) Easy to comment. There should be an XML tag for comments. For example, . Or . Or . (6) Ratings. A rating of a note is essentially a type of comment on that note. (7) Make it an XML application. PART TWO. Make a web site application that is XHTML or XML based. (1) People can type in their notes or even upload a file of their notes. (2) Assign a category to a note or even create a category to assign to a note. (3) Combine and share their notes. (4) Converts it back and forth between text and xhtml. (5) View all keywords and categories in alphabetical order or even logical order. (6) View all notes in chronological order, alphabetical order, author order, logical order, etc. Import or export notes in the above orders. (7) The entire application should be free and open. 1/6/2002 .Introduction, how. Issue. For numbered sentences in a paragraph. How to discern a series of related sentences (for example, a list of related items or the steps in an argument. ) from a series of unrelated observations on a topic? One way would be to say "the following list of related items", or "the following argument", or "the following list of unrelated items". That would be more clear. Another way would be to signal the above notions by using certain symbols for each. But that could be confusing for those who do not understand the code. And I already need to reserve characters for outline formats. 1/9/2002 .Introduction, how. Key ideas to the Notes. (1) Always carry pen and paper. Write down thoughts. (2) Digitize. Put everything in digital form. (3) Categorize. Put everything in categories. (4) Automatic alphabetical and chronological sorting makes it easier to organize. 4/23/2002 .Introduction, how. Keys. (1) Keywords: single words. (2) Key phrases: one sentence long. (3) Key paths: a series of words. (Example: art, music, criticism). (4) I use key paths. 4/28/1998 .Introduction, how. Leave your journal at home. Vs. Take your journal everywhere. (This is the better view). 01/01/1993 .Introduction, how. Logical outlines (to describe metaphysical relationships) and importance outlines (to show ethical value judgments) are related to each other, and they are the most important types of outlines. Chronological outlines and alphabetical outlines are less important. 1/1/2002 .Introduction, how. Marking margins to indicate: important, unimportant, true, false, undecided, and outdated. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Marking methods. (1) The star to say current goal or important to me. (2) The check to say good idea for anyone in this subject, or to develop further. (3) The x to say no longer agree with this. (4) How to update note markings? That is, how to trace the evolution of what you thought of an idea as you discover it, then it becomes obvious, then it is given up for better ideas (i.e., first a star, then nothing, then an x). 01/24/1994 .Introduction, how. Marking. Do not cross out old starred notes. Just write x, or nah, or outdated. 04/16/1994 .Introduction, how. Marking. Three ways to mark notes: (1) Goals for me. (2) Important idea for me. (3) Good ideas on any subject. This is a great way to find and stay on track, focused, inspired, driven. 12/30/1995 .Introduction, how. More components of the Notes. (1) Lists. (2) Diary. (3) Goals. (4) Outline. 12/30/2003 .Introduction, how. More components of the Notes. (1) Ratings. (2) Searches. (3) Abstracts. (4) Classification and categorization. 12/30/2003 .Introduction, how. Notes, types of. (1) Text version. (2) Audio version. Book on tape. (3) Audio/video version. Me giving a film lecture of the Notes. 1/1/2002 .Introduction, how. Notes, ways how, listed by psychological function. (1) Store and organize GOALS. (Goal lists). (2) Store and organize MEMORIES. (Personal history). (3) Store and organize EMOTIONS. (A) For each emotion, record top ten causes of them. (B) Record top ten strongest emotions you feel and their causes.) (4) Store and organize IDEAS. (Notes themselves). 3/26/2001 .Introduction, how. On each subject, you have two types of notes, your book notes and your own personal ideas. Both of these you can order in three ways, historically, logically (by subject and sub-subject), and by importance (use checks and stars). Important for you here and now, important for you always, important for anyone, important for any society. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, how. Organization is key to making the notes work for you. If it is a multi-subject idea, then break it down into its component ideas, and reveal any implicit assumptions. Good organization makes retrieval and further development easier. 11/30/1996 .Introduction, how. Outline style. Frequently Asked Questions. PART ONE. Question: What is the deal with the letters and numbers in your writing style (ex. 1.A., 2.B., etc.)? Answer: Sometimes the ideas in a note are organized in an outline form. Sometimes the ideas in a note are arranged in a numbered list of related ideas. Sometimes the ideas in a note are organized in a list of unrelated ideas. PART TWO. Question: Why do you write in your own style rather than using traditional paragraphs and chapters? Answer: The traditional format of paragraphs and chapters does not do it for me anymore. Many people forget that paragraphs and chapters are simply a convention. I think that most humans think in a more schematic way than paragraphs and chapters. People also think in a more discrete or modular way than paragraphs and chapters. 11/20/2001 .Introduction, how. Outlines by (A) Historical, (B) Logical structure, and (C) Importance/priorities (by perspective). (D) All three above times levels of difficulty (el, hi, coll, grad). 12/30/1992 .Introduction, how. Place-holders. Creating a place-holder for an idea is a useful and important technique. You can use place-holders when you are solving the parts of a problem. You can use place-holder to build an outline or web that you fill in later. 1/1/2002 .Introduction, how. Pursue any line of thought or idea that seems interesting, important or new. 09/08/1993 .Introduction, how. Questions. (1) How to hook paragraphs together, or otherwise order them within subject categories? (2) How to cross reference paragraphs in two subject areas? Do not copy them twice. 12/29/1997 .Introduction, how. Rating scales for ideas. 1 shit, 2 bad, 3 eh, 4 good, 5 great. Or you can use -2, -1, 0, 1, 2 as a rating. 01/01/1993 .Introduction, how. Ratings. *** general importance. ** personal importance. X outdated idea. ? Idea still under question. 08/30/1996 .Introduction, how. Ratings. Everyone's notes should be rated. By a notes critic? 3/10/1999 .Introduction, how. Ratings. Put in your ratings and then "find" them later. 02/15/1997 .Introduction, how. Ratings. What percent of your notes would you rate as excellent, good, ok, bad, shit. 20% each? Or is it a bell curve? 01/01/1993 .Introduction, how. Related subjects. "Related subjects" headers are used to tie together ideas into a net that is strong and durable. By using "related subjects" headers, hierarchical trees of ideas can be transmogrified into nets or webs. Nets of ideas are better than hierarchies of ideas because hierarchies tend to topple like dominoes. 1/1/2002 .Introduction, how. Security. (1) Keep printed copy. (2) Keep a copy on disk. (3) Keep a copy on the Internet as either a web page, or as network storage. (4) Keep a copy on dvd, and store it at a communal mass storage sight. 04/15/1997 .Introduction, how. Security. Backup early and often, to multiple media and to multiple sites. 11/15/2003 .Introduction, how. Sorting. How to sort text in Open Office Writer. Highlight the text. Select menu item Tools, Sort. If you use tab-delimited text then you can sort by column. 5/29/2007 .Introduction, how. Studying. (1) Every year read through all your own original Notes that you have written. (2) Every year read through all your Found notes taken on books that you have read. Or re-read the books again if your notes are not complete. The former is preferable to the latter because it is quicker. 8/19/1998 .Introduction, how. The "Introduction" section for each topic is similar to the "Summary" section. Both the Introduction and Summary sections should provide an abstract or outline of the section. The Introduction and Summary sections should be of short length and beginner level. Longer discussions at advanced levels are for other sections. Combine the Introduction and Summary sections into one section. 1/28/2005 .Introduction, how. The key bottleneck is the time that it takes to organize. Auto-sorting solves this. Download your brain. 8/25/1999 .Introduction, how. Think about every thing every day. 10/1/2005 .Introduction, how. Two principles. (1) Never write down to an audience. Always write your best. (2) Never kiss up to an audience. Never write to please an audience. Never write to sell. Always write what you want to write about. 4/3/2005 .Introduction, how. XML tags for Notes. ; ; ; . 8/19/2004 .Introduction, how. You could give each note a unique identifying number (example, a primary key in a database) but how would that work when you merge or split two or more notes? 5/18/2002 .Introduction. .Introduction. This section is an various other thoughts on the introduction to the Paul Nervy Notes. Topics include: (1) Issues. (2) How much will it help. (3) Reasons why people do not write. 1/24/2006 .Introduction. "Show your work.", is a good motto. 2/28/2004 .Introduction. "To be or not to be, that is the question", said Shakespeare. "To think or not to think, that is the question", sez me. "To speak or not to speak, that is the question", sez me. "To write or not to write, that is the question", sez me. 8/16/2006 .Introduction. (1) A lot of people can't do what I do. A lot of people wish they could do what I do. (2) A lot of people won't do what I do. A lot of people refuse to write for no pay. (3) A lot of people can and will do something similar to what I do. There are literally millions of blogs on the Internet. 4/25/2006 .Introduction. (1) Arguments against the Notes. "Its no good." "No one likes it." "Its a waste of time and energy." (2) Arguments for the Notes. It has some good ideas. Some people like it. Much of the Notes is done in spare moments, so it is not a waste of time. 6/8/2002 .Introduction. (1) People see what they are able to see in your work. That is, in general, people see what they are able to see. (2) Of that group, people see what they want to see in your work. That is, of what they can see, people choose what to look at and how to interpret it. (3) Thus, the author is able to modify the audience only a little. Change is usually slow. 12/4/2002 .Introduction. (1) To think of something that no one has thought of before. How can we tell? All we have access to is existing books (i.e., Books in Print). We don't have access to the books of the library of Alexandria which were destroyed in a fire thousands of years ago. We don't have access to the thoughts in people's minds that were never written down. (2) To complicate matters even further, unless you write the exact same words as someone else wrote, in the exact same order, you are not really thinking the exact same thought but rather a subtlety different thought. (3) Perhaps it goes even further. If you are not in the exact same frame of mind, in the exact same physical situation, in the exact same culture and historical situation then you are not thinking the exact same thought. (4) Also, what if somebody says an idea that triggers a thought in someone else. Shouldn't the person get credited with an assist? (5) When everyone's mind is downloaded into digital storage, and every conversation is recorded, we may chance at figuring out who thought of what. Then we can address issues of credit, kudos and plagiarism. 7/13/2000 .Introduction. (1) What are the notes? A personal information management system. (2) Why do I do the Notes? I create information (ideas). I organize information. I disseminate information. 2/3/2004 .Introduction. Audience. Ninety percent of people will be either too far above or too far below the audience level of your book. And of the remaining ten percent, nine percent of the people will be too far to the sides. One percent of the public will be on target for your book. 10/17/1999 .Introduction. Constant chatter. You will be able to hear the voices of texts converted into sound. A talking quotebook. Quotes by subject in the authors voices. 2/25/2000 .Introduction. Contra Notes. Most people are basically happy. They know what to do without thinking about it. They know how to live automatically. If they make a mistake they do not worry about it. Why make people unhappy with my neurotic obsessions and hang-ups? The counter-argument is that most people do not automatically know how to live, and the Notes are not obsessions and hang-ups. 4/29/2001 .Introduction. Contra the notes. Am I just a master of the obvious and trivial? 09/20/1994 .Introduction. Criticism of the Notes. One criticism of the Notes is that they are not a cooperative, communal discussion. In defense, I say that the Notes are a work of art made by one person, not a group effort. Everything does not have to be a group effort. Each person deserves the right to speak their minds as an individual. 4/28/2001 .Introduction. Critics often read one's work even more closely than one's fans. That's a lot of reading. 9/19/2003 .Introduction. Current method. Make a melange of ideas in the blender of your mind. Puree. Frappe. Slurry. Shake. Whip. Stir. 6/8/2002 .Introduction. Demographic hypothetical. Ten percent of people will understand ninety percent of what you say. Eighty percent of people will understand fifty percent of what you say. Ten percent of people will understand ten percent of what you say. 6/8/2004 .Introduction. FAQ. Question: On what criterion of judgment do you base your claim to be a successful writer? Answer: I write a lot. 2/21/2004 .Introduction. Focus on problems and solutions, both personal and social, in thought and action. 12/28/2006 .Introduction. Frequently Asked Questions. Question: Why the numbering of sentences and paragraphs? Answer: The notes are organized by automatic sorting. The computer sorts text by "lines". From the computer's perspective, a "line" is block of text that ends with a "line break" symbol. A computer "line" corresponds to what the human reader views as a "paragraph". So, the computer sorts by paragraphs. If I wrote in traditional paragraph format it would create a problem for automatic sorting. I use numbers and letters in outline format to signal text structures without having to insert line breaks. 11/14/2005 .Introduction. History of Notes. It may be an exaggeration, but it seems like at first I only wrote single words. Then a few years later I wrote single sentences. Then a few years later I wrote single paragraphs. Then a few years later I wrote multiple paragraphs. 12/5/1999 .Introduction. How much can people be helped simply by reading words? 11/16/2003 .Introduction. How much will it help? (1) How much can books help a person? How much can writing books help the writer? How much can reading books help the reader? Many people say that books changed their life. (2) How much can an idea or a thought help a person? Many people say that an idea or a thought changed their life. 11/19/2004 .Introduction. How much will it help? (1) How much can writing change the world? There are examples of writings that have had a major good effect on the world (ex. US Constitution. Emancipation Proclamation). Other writing have had a major bad effect (ex. Hitler's "Mein Kampf"). Other writings have had little effect either way. (2) How much can my writing change the world for the better? 4/8/2004 .Introduction. How much will it help? How many people will read your work? Of that, how many people will feel moved to new ideas and emotions from reading your work? 6/30/2004 .Introduction. I currently am not engaged in physical labor, nor am I raising children, nor am I spending much time in face to face conversations. Thus, if someone asks me what I have to show for my life I can only say a bucket of bits. And that is as frightening as it is exciting. Some people will react to this with pity. "How sad" they will say. Other people will react to it with scorn. "What a fool." they will say. Some people will react with admiration and appreciation. "Way to go, Paul", they will say. 7/25/2002 .Introduction. Ideal situation. Learn, organize, study, most important truths on most important subjects. Keep it simple, condensed, truthful. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Ideal. Practical, effective, efficient (time, money), simple (easy to use), concise, clear, organized, logical, complete, easy to use, unconfused, uncluttered, quick, accurate, short. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. If I am able to write the Notes, and if I like writing the Notes, then why should my attitude toward the Notes be anything other than good-natured bemusement? Self-importance and pomposity on the part of idea-creators is simply uncalled for. I am serious about the world situation, and I am serious about the power of ideas, however, I am bemused with my muse. 6/27/2001 .Introduction. Issues. (1) A big problem is most people can't understand the complexity of an effective note system to the point where they'll use it. (2) Most people will not think of enough ideas fast enough to make setting up a note system worth while. The only reason I did is because I don't work? (3) But if you can write a journal, or an indexed journal, you can do this. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. (1) Avoid pedantic, minutiae, unimportant ideas, and repeating ideas. (2) Avoid writing unimportant notes and avoid not writing important notes. (3) Avoid not working on it enough and avoid working on it too much. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. (1) How is one to reference a work if it's page numbers or web site address is constantly changing? (2) How is one to reference a work if it's content is constantly changing? (ex., constant revision). (3) How is one to work with a person if they are constantly changing their views or if they are constantly changing the subject of a conversation? 1/1/2002 .Introduction. Issues. (1) Some people, no matter how hard they think, will never figure out a decent idea. Yet these people may be able to find out ideas. Doing Notes would let them record and organize their found ideas. (2) Some people can neither figure nor find out ideas. For these people, doing their own Notes would be a waste of time. But for these people, reading my book might be helpful. (3) Some people wouldn't even benefit from reading my book. These people must be way dumb. Or way smart! 12/31/1993 .Introduction. Issues. (1) There is no end to writing. You can write eight hours a day for 100 years and only accomplish what amounts to rebuilding a small corner of a small library. (2) There is no end to reading. Let's say you are an author who has written 20 books. Do you really expect anyone to read all your books? Most people today have time to read only one or two of your books at most. (3) So what to do? Use a rating system to rate your ideas. Sort out your highest rated notes and create a "Best of" book. 1/1/2002 .Introduction. Issues. Coverage issues. (1) Scope and depth. (2) Balance: cover all your bases. (3) Direction, speed, and distance of progress. How far to find and figure on any subject? Which directions go, how far, and why? (4) Getting nowhere slowly vs. going far quickly. (5) Time spent vs. progress made. (6) Timing: when go there (order and timing). (7) Interests vs. gaps. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Dilemmas. (1) No one will find the Notes on the Internet. (2) If they find the Notes, no one will read it. (2) If they read the Notes they will not understand it. (3) If they understand the Notes they will not think it is new, important and true. 5/29/2001 .Introduction. Issues. Don't leave out important ideas, and don't put in unimportant ideas. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Economic aspects. (1) What resources do you, and should you, put into it? (2) What do you, and should you, get out of it? (3) What else could you be doing? 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Economic. (1) How much has all this finding out and figuring out helped me? (2) How much has it cost me (time, money)? (3) How much would it cost/benefit anyone else? 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Economic. How much time and effort to put into it? How hard to work at it? 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Escapism: use notes to confront reality vs. escape reality. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Finding (reading) vs. figuring (thinking). (1) Too much figuring, and not enough finding. Poor critical reading skills. Poor research skills. (2) Too much finding, and not enough figuring. No creativity. No exercise of own mind. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Finding vs. figuring. (1) Imbalances in the ratio of figuring out vs. finding out. Excess or lack of either. (2) When to write down an idea and not? (3) What notes to take on what books, and how organize them? (4) Books (finding out) vs. notes (figuring out), when to do it rather than some other thing. (5) How often to review notes, review books? (6)(A) What and how much to find out (read); whether it be new reading or re-reading (reviewing and studying), vs. (B) what and how much to figure out (think on own)? (7) Learning (new) vs. studying and reviewing (old). 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. If you write your notes, and if your ideas are evolving, then you will reach a point where you look back and your old notes will seem idiotic to you and other advanced people. So then you might wonder why you write if your old notes seem idiotic. But this is really a sign of progress, and writing notes helped your ideas advance and let you recognize your old ideas were not optimal. Theoretically. 03/31/1997 .Introduction. Issues. Motivation. How to best motivate oneself to do notes (see psychology, motivation)? (1) Go over goals before and after sessions. (2) Listen to music. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Organization. (1) Notes too spread out vs. not spread out enough. Both can cause trouble finding and abstracting. (2) Misfiling in wrong category. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Quantity vs. quality. Decrease in both due to no energy, no time, old age, low drive, or mental limits reached. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Questions: (1) What include? (2) How structure it? (3) What order to do it? 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Issues. Reasons for decline in quality and amount of output of notes. (1) Creative juices drying up. (2) Work and school taking my time and energy. (3) Figured out all the easy stuff and wrote it down quickly, only the tough stuff remains. (4) Figured out most of my personal problems, which is what I was writing about. Things that actually (physically), or just theoretically bugged me. (5) Figured out the stuff I was interested in. 12/30/1995 .Introduction. Issues. Two editing mistakes: taking out the good, and leaving in the bad. 09/01/1994 .Introduction. Issues. Volume problems. (1) It is a lot to do, and it is a lot to study. (2) How much can I think of, write, study and memorize? (3) Too much notes vs. not enough notes. (4) How big will it get? How big to let it get? How often work on it? What ideas to include? 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not think, write and publish. (1) The mistaken view that a person is not good enough to think, write and publish. (2) The mistaken view that it has no effect, or that it does no good, to think write and publish. 1/9/2006 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not think, write and publish. (1) Too busy with raising kids to take time to think, write and publish. (2) Too busy with job to take time to think, write and publish. (3) Too busy with having fun to take time to think, write and publish. 1/9/2006 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not think, write and publish. (1) When a person begins thinking and writing, it can be very emotionally painful for a person to recognize all the time they wasted in their life. These feelings are temporary. Its not too early, and it not too late, to start writing. (2) Thinking is difficult. Thinking takes time and effort. Thinking is hard work. (3) Social blow back. 4/25/2006 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not think, write and publish. Sadness, anger, and anxiety. When you begin looking at everything, it can be a little overwhelming, and you may experience feelings of sadness, anger and anxiety. These feelings are temporary. Do not let these feelings stop you from writing. Work through and past these feelings. You will feel good later. 4/16/2006 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not want to think, write or publish. (1) Reasons why people do not want to think. Thinking can be hard work. Thinking can be emotionally painful. Thinking can lead to mistakes. Thinking can be frustrating. Thinking may lead to change. (2) Reasons why people do not want to write. Writing takes time and energy. (3) Reasons why people do not want to publish. (A) Sometimes people are afraid to say what they think. Afraid of being mocked. Afraid of being attacked. Afraid of public humiliation. (B) Sometimes people are afraid to give the competition (i.e. Anyone other than themselves) an edge by revealing knowledge. Afraid to give the enemy an edge by revealing knowledge (i.e. Some hyper-combative people view anyone other than themselves as the enemy). 1/22/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. (1) They have nothing to say. (2) They think they have nothing to say. (3) They feel foolish or embarrassed of the writing process, or about what they have written. (4) Fear of failure. 10/05/1997 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. (1) They say there is nothing to write about. Nothing going on in here in their mind. Nothing going on out there in front of their face. They see nothing, they hear nothing, they say nothing. (2) They say its all personal. Its all private. Nothing public. (3) They fear saying it. (4) They say they are too busy. (5) They say who are they to write. They say they are nobody. 7/1/2000 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. A major reason people do not write is that they are repressed. Repression keeps them from remembering, feeling, thinking, acting, and writing. Freud's theory of repression is true and important. 10/25/1997 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Anti-writing attitudes. (1) Afraid of being mocked by other people. (2) Afraid of being attacked by other people. (3) Afraid of aiding the competition in the quest for jobs, women, etc. (4) Afraid of aiding the enemy. Afraid of tipping off one's intellectual opponents. (5) Belief in competition to the point of Social Darwinism. Where one is afraid to give away any of one's knowledge. And thus one attempts to create secret knowledge. 1/17/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Doing Notes can cause health. Not doing Notes can cause forgetfulness, aimlessness, and pathological conditions. There are psychological forces driving us not to do Notes: (1) I do not want to confront painful ideas, emotions, and memories. (2) I just want to have fun and, and notes take effort. (3) I do not want to change. I am fine the way I am now. Personality inertia. (4) Thinking that its too early to start, or that its too late to start. 02/05/1998 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Fear of writing. If I take the attitude that I write to try to prove myself right, or them wrong, then I become afraid that, by writing, I will learn they are right, and they will convert me, and suck me in to their world and ways. The rents, their views, and the system. So I don't write. And I end up with no foundation. I end up not creating myself as different from them, and thus end up as them. 04/10/1997 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Fear. Some people fear thinking. Some people fear thinking because they fear the ideas that a person may potentially think of. 5/14/2007 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Fears. My fears in writing Notes, substantiated or unsubstantiated. (1) Afraid to appear or realize I am crazy or stupid. (2) Waste of much time, mediocre fluff, not helpful. (3) Not powerful, simple (moronic content), obvious. (4) Pedantic, unoriginal, not new, unimportant, unsellable. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Many people do not write because they say "I have nothing to say". What they mean is that they can only think of simple obvious truths. However, if these people are anything like myself, then the following is the case: (1) The mind tends to address the simple before the complex. Thus, the first writing one does will be very simple. Do not let this fact throw you or discourage you. The complex will come later. (2) Ideas on a subject often come years apart. Do not quit after a week. Be in it for the long haul. Be patient. Keep thinking. (3) If the above two ideas are kept in mind, one will be less likely to give up on their notes. 6/19/1999 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. One reason people might not want to publish their history and goals is because they don't want others to know who they are and what they plan to do because their ideological opponents may try to block them. 1/23/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Two cynical arguments against writing web pages. (1) If you are trying to help people by posting a web page, you will only reach people who either have a computer or who have access to a computer, and some people would argue that anyone who has a computer or access to a computer doesn't need your help. (2) If you are trying to help people by writing a book, you will only reach people who can read, and some people would argue that anyone who can read doesn't need your help. (3) Of course, some people will have a tendency towards cynicism, and their cynicism should not prevent you from writing your web page. 8/20/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. What prevents some people from thinking, speaking, writing and acting? (1) They are lazy and apathetic. (2) They are interested only in their own personal comfort. (3) They feel its hopeless. (4) They fear losing their jobs. (5) They fear attacks by bullies and ruthless opposition. 2/28/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people do not write. Why people don't write and publish on the Internet. (1) They think thoughts like, "What if my information is read by my enemies and it helps them? Why help my enemies? This is extreme "us vs. them" thinking. (2) They think thoughts like, "Its embarrassing to reveal my level of knowledge, which is also my level of ignorance." 1/3/2004 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people don't think, write or publish. (1) People do not publish because they are afraid to appear stupid to others. (2) People do not write because they are afraid to feel stupid to themselves. (3) People do not write because they think it will not help. (4) People do not think because the results are not instantaneous. (5) People do not think, write and publish because they are afraid of being mocked and ostracized. (6) People do not think, write and publish because they are afraid of losing their jobs. (7) People do not think and write because it is difficult and time consuming. 2/15/2005 .Introduction. Lame reasons why people don't write. Some people hold the following suboptimal attitudes. "If no one pays me then I will not think." "If no one pays me then I will not write." "If no one pays me then I will not publish". 4/1/2005 .Introduction. Most important ideas about the Notes. I would like to see everyone doing life-long, self-directed learning. I would like to see everyone writing their thoughts. 4/30/2007 .Introduction. My book. People either immediately "get it", smile and buy it, or else they do not "get it", look confused and walk away. 10/20/1999 .Introduction. My goal is not to have my writing style adopted by academia as the only writing style. My goal is not to write in the style of academia. My goal is to develop new and useful ideas about information management that are new and useful enough to be discussed in academic circles and quoted by academics. That is how artists get noticed by academics. That is how artists get into academia. I want to be a teaching artist. 1/1/2002 .Introduction. Now that I have solved some problems and improved my life, I am starting to feel calm, settled, peaceful, happy, and bored. But it was confronting problems and searching for solutions that spurred my writing output. Now I must imagine other people's problems. I do not want to create more problems for myself unnecessarily. 12/20/1998 .Introduction. Objections of the critics and my counter-arguments. Critics will sometimes argue, or simply mock, the following objections. (1) Simplicity or incompleteness. (A) Critics will argue, "This document is too simple; it is only an outline or introduction to subject x." (B) Counter-argument: Its only a start. It may be expanded later on. I don't claim to be an expert about everything. (2) Falseness, inaccuracies, mistakes. (A) Critics will argue, "Some statements in this work are factually false. There are some mistakes like bad grammar or spelling errors. Its not 100% right." They argue that therefore the entire document is invalid. (B) Counter-argument. Its not perfect. Nothing is perfect. There are many good parts. (3) Unoriginal. (A) Critics might object that some other people have thought of similar thoughts. (B) Counter-argument: I didn't think of everything in this world. (4) Unpopular. (A) Critics may argue that the work is not popular. (B) Counter-argument: it has its audience. (5) Not lucrative. (A) Critics may argue that it is not a money maker. It has little monetary value. (B) Counter-argument: it still has value. (6) Time and energy. (A) Critics may say, "Its a waste of time. Why don't you give up". (B) Counter-argument: its not a waste of time. 1/4/2004 .Introduction. Objections. (1) Objection: You cannot think of everything. That is, you cannot think of everything that has ever been thought by everybody. Reply: That is not my goal. (2) Objection: You cannot think of every subject. Reply: You would be surprised of all the many things you can think. (3) Objection: What is the use of all this thinking? Reply: It helps keep my head on straight. (4) What is it going to do for me (meaning you)? Reply: The question is not what are my thoughts going to do for you. The question is what is a thought going to do for you. Any thought. 4/28/2005 .Introduction. Objections. One argument against writing is the following, "How do you know what effect your work will have on others? You could hurt them just as easily as help them. Don't be so sure you know what is true and good". The counter argument is that I am not claiming to know 100% what is true and good. We are just discussing ideas. It would be worse to stifle the discussion. 1/6/2002 .Introduction. Objections. One objection academia has to my work is, "How do you really expect to add to human knowledge by recording stray thoughts on a subject without thoroughly researching a subject and becoming an expert on a subject through years of study? My response to that objection is to say that my contribution to human knowledge is to develop new mental techniques that help us deal with information. To develop new written techniques of information management. To develop new computerized methods of information management. In sum, to develop new ways of thinking about information management. The ideas in the Notes are just a byproduct of my contribution. The Notes are just an example of my area of study. 1/1/2002 .Introduction. Paul's complaint: "Why do I have to do everything?!" 3/15/2007 .Introduction. Pay vs. free. How many people will you reach if you distribute your work for pay versus free of charge? 6/30/2004 .Introduction. Productivity measures. (1) Number of ideas you produce in x time, times average rating of ideas (ratings summed and divided by number of ideas), gives the quantity times quality of your work. 01/01/1993 .Introduction. Productivity. 90% of everything is crap. 90% of people crap out. 90% of my writing is crap. If only 90% of my writing is crap then super. 12/30/1996 .Introduction. Questions. (1) Now that is on the web, is Paul Nervy Notes helping me, Paul Nervy, more than it is helping others? (2) In what ways and how much has Paul Nervy Notes helped me? (to write it and to read it). (3) In what ways and how much has it helped other people? Many people read small sections of it. Many people see the main page of the Notes and intuitively get the idea of the Notes. 1/14/2002 .Introduction. Short forms are like modular components. You mix and match them to create your own applications. 6/8/2001 .Introduction. Short forms are like nano-technology. They get in there and work undetected. 6/8/2001 .Introduction. Short forms. A problem with academia is that they don't give the short idea its due. If an academic can not write five pages on an idea, then they consider that idea worthless. However, longer is not always better. The Notes respect the short idea. 6/30/1999 .Introduction. Short forms. Psychologists have determined that people memorize and think in short chunks. Examples of this phenomena include the syllogism in logic, the paragraph in literature, and the way people highlight short excerpts when studying textbooks. The Notebooks are composed on the same basic principle, by using paragraph length notes arranged by keywords. 3/25/1999 .Introduction. Short forms. Television commercials are another short form. (1) Often the commercials are better than the shows. (2) Commercials have had an influence on the other arts. For example, micro-fiction in literature. (3) Short forms are perfect for this age of information-overload when shorter is better. 8/6/2000 .Introduction. Short forms. The one page magazine ad. The bus stop poster. The billboard. They are all similar in that they combine word and image. 7/11/2001 .Introduction. The goal is to get people thinking, thinking about everything, and thinking about the most important issues, and then get people to write down what they think, and then give people the tools to manage their written information. 4/30/2007 .Introduction. The Notes method is a personal information management system. The more efficiently you can generate ideas, gather ideas, organize ideas, and disseminate ideas, the more productive and effective you will be at forming your goals and reaching your goals. My goals include Progressive activism, personal creativity, and general knowledge. Some people use a blog as a personal information system, but I do not find a blog especially compelling for several reasons. Some people use a personal wiki. I prefer the Notes method which is essentially a sorted tab-delimited text file. 5/1/2007 .Introduction. The Notes table of contents might look like a hierarchical classification but it is not. It is a web, with the table of contents as a hub, and with subjects radiating out in all directions, and sub-subjects radiating out from the subjects. The subjects are interconnected via the "related subjects " notes and also via the "see also" notes. The "see also" notes function in effect as hyperlinks. A hyperlink is in essentially an active cross-reference. 1/1/2002 .Introduction. The punk rocker addresses the topic "Criticism of My Work by Others": (1) To my critics I say forget you. All I want to hear is your praise and thanks. There is too much pain and effort in my work to listen to your nit-picking. If someone thinks badly of my work, then beyond saying "That is your opinion", all I can say is "Who cares what you think. Forget you." Every criticism is a personal attack. They are trying to destroy the real you. If they do not like it, then too freaking bad. No mercy for critics. Deaf to critics. I invite all critics to leave immediately. Get the hell out of here. Hit the road. Warning: all criticism will be taken as a personal attack. (2) I do not have to defend anything. I do not have to prove anything. Whatever you get out of my work is your problem. 4/12/1999 .Introduction. The tombstones stand mute in the graveyard. Up till now there has been a technologically imposed silence, which has led to a socially imposed silence. Before the Internet most people did not have the means to publish their ideas for the masses. This led to an unconscious social attitude, "Why bother writing?" Up till recently individuals were gypped by not having their say, and society was gypped by not having the say of individuals. Today, with the Internet, we are able to have our say. We can post our ideas for all to read. (2)(A) Everyone deserves their say. Everyone deserves to be heard. Even after they are dead. It is your right. (B) Everyone's say is needed. Society needs everyone's say. Everyone has an obligation to society to say. (3) A true democracy through space and time, of the living and the dead. This is the future. Talking tombstones. 2/25/2000 .Introduction. This is the fun. This is the challenge. (1) To see what ideas the author has thought of that you have thought of too. (2) To see what ideas the author has thought of that you have not thought. (3) To see what ideas you have thought of that the author has not. (4) To see where you and the author agree and disagree. 1/1/2000 .Introduction. Three questions. (1) Why think? Its fun. Create new ideas for progress. (2) Why write? To record what one thinks. (3) Why self publish on the Internet? To share one's thoughts. 1/23/2004 .Introduction. Title page. Disclaimer. All ideas subject to revision. Author reserves the right to change his mind. 01/07/1997 .Introduction. Title page. Disclaimer. This is not the last word of truth on any subject. Nor may these be the most important truths on any subject. 2/12/91. 12/30/1992 .Introduction. Typical objections to the Notes. (1) Objection: One person cannot know everything. Counter-argument: I am not trying to know everything. Learning is fun and useful. I am learning. (2) Objection: Why not spend your time either making more money, or eating, or sleeping, or socializing. Counter-argument: that can get boring after a while. (3) Why bother? Its fun. Its ethical. Its useful. It helps. 3/13/2007 .Introduction. What does it takes to do Notes? (1) The ability to direct your mind to a subject and focus on a subject. (2) The ability to take a guess. (3) The ability to think critically about the guess you take. 10/25/2001 .Introduction. Why I include the obvious or the low quality in my Notes. I include it all. It is important to give it all. Give them the big picture. All subjects regardless of quality of thinking. Cannot be ashamed to say, "This is all I thought of on this subject". The reader wants a complete picture of the author as much as they want your best work. You get my best and worst. You get all of the Notes. 11/18/1998 Arts, architecture. .Introduction or summary to architecture. (1) General philosophy of architecture. What is architecture? Why do architecture? (2) Levels of architecture: Interior design. Building design. Landscape design. Community design. (3) Systems in architecture: Temperature, HVAC system. Plumbing system. Electrical system. (4) History of architecture. Architecture around the world, throughout time. (5) Criteria for architecture. Economic cost. Ecological sustainability. Technological progress. Aesthetics. 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. .This section is about architecture. Topics include: (1) Building design. ( ) Community design. (City. Suburb. Rural. Wilds.) ( ) Criticism of architecture. ( ) Ecology and architecture. ( ) Elements of architecture. ( ) History of architecture. ( ) Home and homelessness. ( ) Interior design. ( ) Landscape design. ( ) Philosophy of architecture. 1/24/2006 Arts, architecture. (1) Criticisms of the city: crowded, loud. (2) Criticisms of rural areas: boring. 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. (1) For public and private spaces. Developing something that will psychologically and sociologically benefit user(s), plus be functional. (2) Degree to which an individual changes his/her environment to psychologically or functionally benefit themselves. Some do either or both a great deal, instinctively. Others will repress it, and live in psychological and functional poverty. (3) Colors, lines, shapes, textures, light. The room and everything in it as art (aesthetics). 09/15/1993 Arts, architecture. (1) If you had buildings that nobody lived in, then that would be sculpture. (2) If you squatted in a sculpture garden then that would be architecture. 4/16/2006 Arts, architecture. Abstract, formal, minimal, bare bones, modernist, Zen bareness, less is more, asceticism, austere, boring, cold, vs. rich, complex, ornamented, plenitude, warm, interesting, less is bore. 10/25/1994 Arts, architecture. Architectural virtues. (1) Lightweight. (2) Strong. (3) Simple. (4) Flexible. (5) Ecological. (6) Inexpensive. (7) Transportable. 2/24/2001 Arts, architecture. Architecture as sculpture, facade as painting. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Artistic side. (1) Beauty. Style and tastes differ according to personality and value system. (2) Architecture as art. (A) Sculpture. (B) Facade as painting when seen from afar. Issues of shape, line, color, and texture. It has the ability to make the viewer feel emotions, and be put in moods. (3) Architecture as communication of message or statement about things like mankind, modern man and society, a corporation, a family, a nation, the buildings purpose (ex. duck), or an ideology. 10/25/1994 Arts, architecture. Big, big, big. More, more, more. Americans are over-consuming size-queens. Americans like it big. Big houses. Big cars. Big meals. Obese people. Big pollution problems. 3/13/2005 Arts, architecture. Building design. (1) Buildings: 2-D aspects vs. 3-D aspects. (2) Exterior size and shape vs. interior size and shape. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. (1) Closed vs. open. (2) Pictorial vs. sculptural (2-D vs. 3-D). (3) Blend with nature vs. depart from nature (geometric). (4) Form vs. function. (5) Outer shape vs. inner shape. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Aesthetic values. Strong, enduring, beautiful, low maintenance, graceful, proportional, balance, symmetry, strength, power, stability, solidity, protection. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Architecture is like sculpture, a three dimensional work of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Balance angles (male) and curves (female). 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Big houses are out, because they are ecologically wasteful. The Japanese businessman hotel, with barely enough room to lie down, is the way to go. With virtual reality goggles to reduce claustrophobia. Take a trip. 3/30/1998 Arts, architecture. Building design. Communication. What can you communicate with a building? What can you communicate to the public? Only, "This subject matter is important so we build a big building." 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Factors: economics, aesthetics, technology. What % technology, what % art, and what % economics, does and should affect construction of a building. Aesthetics vs. durability and functional utility. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Factors. (1) Environment: blend in vs. stand out. (2) Aesthetics and form vs. technology and function. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. How big house, how many rooms, how much land, where, what costs? 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Immutable laws of architecture. High ceilings, much closet space, good views, many big windows. Be out of eyesight and earshot of the neighbors. Lots of land and high hedges. 09/20/1994 Arts, architecture. Building design. Paul values. Have a porch, fire place, ceiling fan, green shag, cedar paneling, many windows (especially facing toward sunrise and sunset), blue ceiling. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. Technology. Function precedes form vs. it's better to look good than to feel good. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Building design. The basics of architecture. (1) Tall ceilings, and big spaces. (2) Lots of windows, and excellent views (far and wide), preferably on a hill. (3) Lots of land. (4) Good, quiet neighbors, in a good neighborhood (low crime). (5) Clean, warm, quiet. 12/30/1995 Arts, architecture. Building the architect's vision vs. what the customer wants vs. what the masses want vs. what the site wants vs. what the government wants (laws, codes). 10/25/1994 Arts, architecture. Comfy and cozy. Safe and secure. 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. Community design. To some extent you cannot design a community. To some extent you cannot design a city. To some degree you just have to let it happen. 3/29/2002 Arts, architecture. Community design. Town design. (1) Rural, suburban, and urban. (2) Water, garbage, human waste, electricity, roads, schools, industrial areas, retail district, library, post office, town hall or town government, mass transit: plane, bus, train. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Community design. Urban environments. See also: Philosophy, environment, specific environments, city. 3/29/2002 Arts, architecture. Community design. Urban planning. In the city, tall buildings perform the same functions that mountains do in the wild. They turn a 2D environment into 3D. 05/30/1996 Arts, architecture. Community design. Urban planning. The big architectural problem is the city. Economic boom and bust. Over and under populated. Poverty, crime, drugs, dropouts. How much can a single building shape someone's mind or behavior, and change them for better, inspire them, or do the opposite, make them lose all hope and curiosity, despair. 09/01/1994 Arts, architecture. Community design. Urban planning. (1) Every community does not have to be a city. Suburbs and rural areas are equally valid. (2) The majority of people do not have to live in the city. Therefore, the city is not necessarily the most important issue of community planning. (3) The city, however, is one of the few areas that let people live without cars. However, if they made cars solar powered and sustainable then cars would be less of a problem. 1/1/2002 Arts, architecture. Criticism. Eric Owen Moss is cool. EOM is solemn and serious. No joke, no Disney, no pomo, no "irony". I like it. 05/10/1997 Arts, architecture. Criticism. Why I like Erik Owen Moss architecture. My current favorite. Good architecture is weird and wild, but not scary. It should be new, something you have never seen before, or even imagined. It should be different and interesting, not boring. It should be diverse and complex, with many different and new shapes, materials, and natural colors combined. It should make you think. It should be cool, blow your mind, move you emotionally, inspires and excites you, challenges you. Traditional architecture is safe, and popular. Radical architecture is challenging, and makes progress into new ground. Modernism is old, boring, simple, and uninteresting. Minimalism is boring. Combine the heavy, massive, castle like, and the light, airy, spidery. 12/30/1996 Arts, architecture. Design and architecture. Design every object in the house. Design every object needed to live. 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. Dividing the space. (1) One big space (loft) vs. divided space (rooms). (2) Rooms by function: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, library, gym, entertainment den. 6/7/2004 Arts, architecture. Ecological architecture. Power: solar, wind, human. Recyclable materials. Renewable materials. Natural materials. Organic materials. Sustainability. Independent, self-sustaining communities. Grown your own foods. Make your own goods. 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. Ecological architecture. The current US building industry is entrenched in a non-ecological, "profit first", building mentality. The current US building industry should build more ecologically. A variety of carrots and sticks (incentives and penalties) should be used to get builders and consumers to build more ecologically. 10/12/2005 Arts, architecture. Ecological building practices. (1) Use naturally produced, locally available, biodegradable building materials. (2) Use as few materials as possible. Build small, not big. (3) Use a lot of natural insulation to keep the building warm in the cold and cool in the heat. For example, hay bales. Reduce or eliminate oil consumption used for heating and cooling. (4) Solar panels to provide electricity and hot water. 10/10/2005 Arts, architecture. Ecological. It does not make sense to build houses that look pretty or are inexpensive if the houses are harmful to the occupants, or if the houses are harmful to the environment, or if the houses exploit workers, or if the house materials exploit animals. 12/2/2005 Arts, architecture. Ecology and architecture. Architecture should be ecological. Renewable materials. Recyclable materials. Energy efficient designs. 3/29/2002 Arts, architecture. Elements of architecture. (1) Legal emphasis: obey the codes, zoning. (2) Ecological emphasis: resource efficient (energy and materials), recyclable, non-toxic. (3) Economic emphasis: build it cheap. (4) Aesthetic emphasis: communicate ideas. (5) Functional emphasis: does its job well. (6) Psychological and social emphasis: how does it make you feel: does it isolate or aggregate people. (7) Technological emphasis: high tech vs. low tech. 08/04/1993 Arts, architecture. Elements of architecture. (1) Materials: glass, wood, steel, concrete, brick, stone, fabric. (2) Economic costs: materials, labor, electricity, water. (3) Environmental: Solar power, wind power. (4) Psychological and Sociological: flows of people and information. Public vs. private space. 12/30/1995 Arts, architecture. Elements of architecture. (1) Technological side. The latest technology determines what the building will be like. (2) Function, program, purpose, and utility does to. (3) Safety. The laws, zoning and codes: electrical, plumbing, fire, general, etc. (4) Economics. The cost to build, maintain, repair (durability). Material costs, labor costs. Project management (cpm, pert). Running an architectural business. Customers, budgets. (5) Environmentalism. (6) Psychological effects of color, shape, etc. Social aspects: needs for privacy vs. loneliness. Need for company and togetherness. 10/25/1994 Arts, architecture. Elements of architecture. There are a zillion ways to build a house. How important is, or how much difference is made by, any change made to improve (1) Practicality (ease of use). (2) Psychological effects (light, color, space, etc.). (3) Aesthetic effects. (4) Social effects (gathering, communication, etc). 08/10/1993 Arts, architecture. Elements of architecture. Three main areas of architecture are: (1) Technology. (2) Psychology, sociology, and ergonomics. (3) Aesthetics. Minor areas are economics, politics, and environment, etc. Advances can be made in any area. How you rate importance of three main areas = what type of architect you are. 09/14/1993 Arts, architecture. Environment. (1) Creation of environment (see Philosophy: environment). (2) What will it be used for? (3) How much time will you spend there? 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Environment. Architecture is creation of environment. Environment affects people. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Environment. Shaping our environment is duty of individual. Your health depends on it. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Ethics, politics and architecture. Architecture is an ethical issue. Architecture is a political issue. Everything is an ethical issue. Everything is a political issue. Build houses in a way that is ecologically sustainable and that promotes social justice. 12/16/2005 Arts, architecture. Evolution and architecture. Evolution on the African savanna leads humans to enjoy wide views from the heights. See eco-psychology. 5/14/2004 Arts, architecture. Fabric in architecture: tents, sticks, and string. 09/06/1993 Arts, architecture. Fitting in with the site vs. going against it. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Five geometries of architecture. (1) Cube based architecture. The building is a cube and every room in the building is a cube. (2) Rectangle based architecture. The building is a rectangle and every room in the building is a rectangle. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than just cubes. (3) Right angle based architecture. The building is composed of right angles and every room in the building is composed of right angles. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than just rectangles. (4) Plane based architecture. The building and every room in the building is composed of planes set at various angles, not merely right angles, thus creating triangles, octagons, etc. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than only right angles. (5) Curve based architecture. The building and the rooms inside the building have curved surfaces. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than plane based architecture. One can work with regular curves that have a constant rate of change. One can work with irregular curves that have an even more complex shapes. 10/2/2004 Arts, architecture. History. (1) Classicism (formal). (2) Baroque (ornament and decoration). (3) Organic (all curves, no straight lines). (4) International style (all straight lines, no curves). (5) I believe in a 50/50 mix of straight lines and curves. 08/20/1994 Arts, architecture. History. (1) Schools (ex. postmodernism, modernism, etc.) (2) Architects. (3) Buildings. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. History. Modern architectural schools, definitions, pros and cons of each. (1) Environment and ecology: save the earth. (2) Modernism: the minimalist box. (3) Post modernism: mix and match historical styles. (4) Vernacular: local yokel. (5) Organic: art nouveau. (6) Brutalism: power and strength. (7) Expressionism: let it out. (8) Classicism: reserved formalism. (9) Deconstruction: break it down. (10) High tech: new materials. (11) I think ecology school is best. Reach ecological ends through means of high tech advancements. 11/20/1993 Arts, architecture. History. Styles of architecture. Levittown, Victorian, minimalist/brutalist, glass box, row house, pagoda, domed buildings, arch, teepee, hay house, sod house, wood frame, stone, steel frame, geodesic dome, roman columns, thatched cottages, barns. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Home. (1) Home is where your body is. (2) Home is where your head is (the home inside your head). 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Home. Find a retreat, both in mind and in physical world, to recover from wounds and to re-inspire. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Home. One might argue that they are not really homeless. Their home is everywhere. Which leads one to consider that there are several conceptions of home, such as home in terms of people, property, safety, ownership, space and place. (1) Home as ownership. "I want something to call my own" What is their obsession with ownership? Ownership is really a control issue or a power issue. To want to own something is to want to have some degree of power. To want to feel empowered when you feel powerless. (2) Home as safety. If we lived in a safe world then people wouldn't be locking themselves in boxes every night. What could be the alternative? If people knew that there was nothing to steal then there would be less theft. If people knew others were watching (on digital camera) then there would be less crime. If people did not feel deprived and disenfranchised there would be less crime. (3) Home as place. Some people consider home to be a geographic place. What is the deal with people's obsession with place? Is it part of the "tribal" instinct. I think so. The tribe inhabits a "territory". Just like other social animals. Home is just an expression of animalistic territorial instincts. (4) Home as space. If there were more user-friendly public spaces then people wouldn't need as much private space. For example, look at how many people prefer to sit for hours in coffee shops rather than sit in their apartments drinking coffee. (5) Home as people. Some people consider home to be a group of people. This conception of home is based on man's tribal instincts. Family instincts develop into tribal instincts, which later developed into nationalistic instincts. However, advances in communication and transportation technology have let us realize that we are one big global family. The person living on the other side of the world is your neighbor just as much as the person down your street. (6) Home as property. If people did not have so much physical stuff they wouldn't need such big boxes. (7) Sum up. (A) Home is not a noun. You cannot buy a home. You cannot own a home. Home is where your head is. The traditional conceptions of home developed from strong animalistic instincts which we later tried to justify through rationalization. The new conception of home is based on insight rather than instinct. The new conception of home may not completely replace our instincts but it does broaden our conception of home. (B) By embracing a new conception of home we will not disparage the homeless as much. We will not stigmatize the homeless as much. We will not feel so isolated. And we will not be so tribal. We will not be so materialistic and obsessed with accumulating material objects, which will be better for the environment. And we will not be so territorial. Recognizing the animal side of ourselves will let us recognize the human side of ourselves. (C) So we see that the traditional conceptions of home can be critiqued. The traditional formula of home=good is not always the case. A more sophisticated conception of home can give us greater insight into ourselves. The new conception of home says that: Home is not any specific person, place or thing. Home can be anywhere; home is everywhere. Home can be anyone; home is everyone. Home can be anything; home is everything. 9/27/2000 Arts, architecture. Home. Some say home is where the heart is. Some say home is where your hat is. I say home is where your head is. 11/23/2004 Arts, architecture. Homeless. Help the homeless fantasy. Give the homeless solar powered space suits that will keep them warm and dry. It will have a built in computer with tiny screens by the eyes. All their books and papers on one disk. No need for key board because you can just speak and it goes in the computer. Or else you just move your fingers and it goes in the computer. 12/30/1996 Arts, architecture. Homelessness is not a crime. In fact, we should have more "homeless", with sleeping bags, and with solar powered laptops with wireless Internet connections, and with solar powered electrically heated clothes. 11/30/1999 Arts, architecture. Homelessness no longer need be a stigma. If the city were to provide enough warm and dry public spaces, with chairs and tables, where people could gather during the day. With Internet connections. Like the public library. And at night they could have single occupancy sleeping vaults that could be locked for security. And if everyone had a Web enabled laptop, they could keep all their notes, books, art and music on their laptop. Everyone could be homeless! Homelessness would be the new paradigm. 1/8/1999 Arts, architecture. Homelessness. (1) Light and flexible like a tent or a spacesuit. (2) Re-arrangeable to suit one's moods and needs. (3) Uses few resources, makes little pollution, and makes little garbage. 12/30/1995 Arts, architecture. Homelessness. For homeless people in the winter, a sleeping bag with an electric heating pad underneath could help to keep them comfortable. 1/6/1998 Arts, architecture. Homelessness. The barstool is the smallest piece of real estate. Next, the park bench gives you more room. Finally, the cafe' chair and table affords one complete luxury accommodations. When you have managed to go from the barstool to the park bench to the cafe' table then you know you have made it in life. 1/1/2002 Arts, architecture. Homelessness. We should give more serious consideration to how people could live in campsites, sleeping in tents with sleeping bags and backpacks. Nomadism should not be pejorative. Drifters should not be pejorative. Loners should not be pejorative. Public spaces should not be pejorative. (2) How can we do this? Perhaps by making available the following: Cameras for security. Water, showers and toilets available. Registration to track who is checked in. Internet connections. Electricity. 1/1/2002 Arts, architecture. Homes and homelessness. What does it mean to say that there should be no homelessness? What does it mean to say that everyone should have a home? Everyone should have someplace safe and warm to go. Everyone should have some physical privacy. Its an issue of social justice. The high cost of housing causes homelessness. When people pay half of their income for housing then it is a problem. When rents are high, housing becomes a means for the rich to become richer and the poor to become poorer, and that is injustice. When people are unemployed then they cannot afford housing and thus become homeless. One can argue that safe, affordable housing for everyone is a right, or at least should be a primary goal of society. When one considers the high cost of housing, and the goal of providing housing for everyone in society, then architecture becomes a political issue. 5/14/2007 Arts, architecture. House. (1) How much stuff does one need to live alone, to live with a woman, or to raise kids? (2) To live alone (not healthy) you can use and electra-therma-shed. You can buy a metal shed 10x10x8 for $1000. Put in six inches of insulation on all sides, with paneling over it. Run an electric line into it. For showers join a gym. For hot food eat out. For water buy bottled water, a gallon a day. For light put in a skylight and a light bulb. Get an eco-toilet. For laundry go to the laundromat. Get a chair and desk. Warm sleeping bag, warm clothes. An electric heater for six months of the year. Laptop computer with Internet connection. Walkman for radio, tapes and CD-ROM. Two weeks of casual clothes. Hangout in public spaces like parks, library, bookstore, and cafes. 10/1/1998 Arts, architecture. How much space do you need. How much stuff do you need? How much ease, comfort and convenience do you need? Lets hear it for simplicity and non-materialism. 11/15/2001 Arts, architecture. How to bring the sunlight into a north facing window? Place large mirrors outside to reflect the sunlight in. You could even mount a mirror on a computerized, solar-powered motor in order to track the sun across the sky. 6/4/2000 Arts, architecture. Idea for a building. A large, self supporting, steel beam structure, with no welds, held together by its own opposition, like popsicle sticks. 01/24/1994 Arts, architecture. Inside and outside, and the blending of the two. Build houses so the flow from inside to outside is seamless and indistinct. The dweller should have to wonder, "Am I inside or outside?" 10/2/2004 Arts, architecture. Interior design project: Bookshelves. Build bookshelves. Fill your bookshelves with books. Stare at your books. Ponder your books. Face your bed toward your books. 12/21/2006 Arts, architecture. Interior design. (1) Large spaces and high ceilings are where it is at. Space is peaceful, like mountain views. (2) Be able to push furniture on wheels to the side and shoot basketball into regulation height hoop. Pull a wire barrier in front of large windows to prevent breaking windows. 1/6/1998 Arts, architecture. Interior design. (1) Minimalist interior. Boring. High tech. Quick and easy to clean. Metal, plastic. (2) Cluttered interior. Decorated. Interesting. Victorian. Interested in, or sentimental about, doo-dads. Cloth, wool. 06/20/1994 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Every house should have a bare white room with a big window and a pillow to meditate on. Also, an ornate, dark, Victorian room with mahogany panels, heavy drapes, animal skins, palms, and many figurines and trinkets. 12/30/1996 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Fill your apartment with trees, shrubs, ferns, so that it resembles a jungle. 3/3/2007 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Furniture as a pile of my gear. Bed: me lying on my gear. Desk: me writing while lying on my gear. Chair: me sitting on my gear. 4/26/2002 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Furniture: every piece should be a work of art, and should reflect personality of owner. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Idea or fantasy. A bed completely surrounded by bookcases, with a narrow exit. 04/15/1997 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Make cleaning easy. Few things, easily moveable. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Nature. Get a big stone, a plant, and an animal. 04/30/1993 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Nature. In your apartment keep a rock, earth, water, plant, and animal. Keep a pool of water with a mirror in the bottom to reflect the sky, like rich people had pools on their property. 12/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Nature. Interior decoration. Keeping nature out vs. bringing nature in. Bring in a rock, water, plant, animal. 04/28/1993 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Nice to have: A room big enough to walk (figure eight) laps in. A room big enough to run (figure eight) laps in. 4/22/1999 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Ultimate room: six foot round bed, glass walls and ceiling, computer screen art, ultimate remote control (including heat, ac) for integrated phone, TV, stereo, computer, books,. 12/30/1993 Arts, architecture. Interior design. Walls. Instead of painting and repainting them. (1) Cloth hangings of various colors. (2) Various colored lights pointed at white walls. (3) Projections from a camera onto a white wall. Example, forest scene. 3/30/1998 Arts, architecture. Landscape architecture: must have proper amounts (balance) of water, earth, rocks, plants, sky, space. 10/30/1993 Arts, architecture. Landscape design. Harmony with nature vs. abstract and geometrical. Elements of landscape: earth, air, water, flora, fauna, people. Natural vs. manmade. 12/30/1992 Arts, architecture. Lightweight, small, mobile. (1) Lightweight architecture: Tents, tarps, etc. (2) Small architecture: Vacation cabins. Lean-to's. Cardboard boxes. (3) Mobile architecture: Car trailers. Truck caps. Vans. (4) Any combination of the above three. (5) Challenges: Security. Bathroom. Heat. Electricity. 10/27/2003 Arts, architecture. Money, power and architecture. Building is a game for the rich and powerful, who have money and land to build. Thus, architects tend to serve and support the establishment. Architecture is a pursuit of the establishment. A brief history of architecture looks like this: The pharohs built pyramids. The emperors built coliseums. The church built cathedrals. The kings built palaces. The nations built capitols. The robber barons built mansions. The corporations built skyscrapers. To undo centuries of unfairness, and to promote social justice, the architect should work on affordable housing for the masses. 9/17/2005 Arts, architecture. Natural look versus artificial look. (1) Natural look in architecture: Natural materials. Natural shapes; shapes found in nature. (2) Artificial look in architecture: Artificial materials. Artificial shapes; shapes not found in nature. 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. Obsession with housing. Home addiction. The nest builders. The family raisers. The home improvement set (Home Depot). The home decorators (Martha). If you cannot think of anything better to do, you obsess about your house. 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. Paul style: I like 50% curves, 50% straight lines. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture is about: (1) Philosophy of place. (See also: Philosophy, environment. See also: Literature, travel writing. See also: Leisure, travel.) (2) Philosophy of space. (which is the opposite of the philosophy of material or stuff). 3/29/2002 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Architecture as living in an environment. (1) Architecture is about living, not building. You build a building in a year but you live in a building for a century. (2) Architecture is about environments, not just individual structures. The "place where you live" consists of an outside environment (i.e., neighborhood, community, town etc.) and an inside environment (i.e., house), the former being more important than the latter. The natural environment and manmade environment (i.e., neighborhood, community, town) is more important than the type of shelter. (3) Yet people (architects and their customers) wrongly place the emphasis on architecture as the building of structures. Architecture is about living in an environment. Architecture is about ecology. 4/8/2001 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Architecture is an expensive and inflexible way to make a visual statement. The art aspect of architecture is the least important, compared to economic, ecological, psychological and social aspects. But the critics make art the most important aspect. Pompous and stupid. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Architecture is on the same level as fashion. You can say as much with either. They both have limited vocabularies, and thus are not fine arts. Both mix utilitarian function and aesthetics, and thus are not fine arts. 12/30/1996 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Beyond architecture as technology, economics, psychology, sociology, communication, and environment, architecture is just taste. Taste varies with individual and society. It's not worth arguing about. One is as good as another. It is just fashion. 11/18/1994 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Most important idea. Ecological friendliness is the most important criteria for building design. Aesthetics, economical cost, and all other criteria are secondary to ecological friendliness and sustainable development. That is one idea they do not communicate strongly enough in architecture school. 07/04/1997 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. Really one design is as good as another, out of all the millions of models. Whether it is logical, formal vs. organic. Severe, austere vs. decorated. It just doesn't matter. And it is an expensive way to make (communicate) a visual statement that could be more easily and more cheaply made on paper, in drawings or words, or in models (small sculpture). The artistic side of architecture just is not as important as the technological, economic, environment, psychological and social sides of architecture. But the architects view aesthetics as the main issue. It is a mistake to do so. They get pompous about it. The fact is you just can't say (communicate) much with architecture (big sculpture). 11/10/1993 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. There are people who have spent their entire lives in the post-WWII suburbs, who have never been in a bar from the 1920's or a house from the late 1800's. They exist in an atemporal, ahistorical time-trap. The phrase "be here now" has its drawbacks. 4/5/2000 Arts, architecture. Philosophy of architecture. They mock Levittown for its uniformity, but today they build millions of "postmodern" houses, each looking like the next. The style kings still say what is good, everyone still follows. It's pathetic. People should build what they want. The problem is few people have thought about architecture, and thus most don't know what they want. And actually, Levittown is not that bad a place to live. It's just that the houses are small, and the people who can afford them are not rich. 09/20/1994 Arts, architecture. Principles of architecture. (1) Philosophy of place. Location. Views. (2) Philosophy of space. Roominess. 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. Privacy. See: Technology, privacy. 12/30/2003 Arts, architecture. Public space. A big problem is that there are no cafes that have full length reclining lounge chairs, where you can sit all day, out in the sun, reading a book. 11/16/1997 Arts, architecture. Public space. We must have places to lie down at work (and in public spaces), or at least recliner chairs. Smaller private spaces (Japanese businessman hotel) and more amenable public spaces (like cafes in bookstores). 3/30/1998 Arts, architecture. Site decisions. (1) What piece of land to buy. (2) Where to put the house on the land. Examples: Front of lot vs. back of lot. High point vs. low point. (3) Which way to face the house on the lot. Examples: Facing toward the road vs. facing away from the road. Facing toward the sun vs facing away from the sun. 6/7/2004 Arts, architecture. Systems approach to architecture. Heating and cooling system. Lighting system. Ventilation system. Fresh water system. Waste water system. Electrical power system. Communication system (telephone, Internet, wireless). 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. Tents. The American Indian teepee. The Mongolian yurt. The Arab tent. 5/14/2004 Arts, architecture. The flow of development. (1) The wilds become rural areas. (2) The rural areas become suburbs. (3) The suburbs become cities. (4) The cities become bigger cities. (5) The endgame is that the entire earth will become one big city, unless we set aside some wild areas, rural areas and suburban areas and protect them from further development. 10/19/2004 Arts, architecture. The natural look vs. the manmade look. 01/01/1993 Arts, architecture. Things to say to a real estate agent: "Does the house have a parlor? We're not buying anything that doesn't have a parlor." (joke). 4/28/2005 Arts, architecture. Three levels of architecture. (1) Community design. (2) Building design. (3) Interior design. 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. Time, energy, money, stuff. (1) How much will you pay for housing? What percentage of your salary? Why not spend less on housing? (2) How much time will you spend in the house? A lot or a little? Why not spend less time in the house? (3) How much stuff do you have? Why not have less stuff? Why not keep it in storage? (4) How much energy will you spend working on improving your house? Why not spend less energy on home improvement projects? 10/17/2005 Arts, architecture. Two different conceptions of "house". Two different frames of mind. (1) House as fort. Solid, heavy, immobile, castle, safe, secure, rigid. (2) House as teepee. Flexible, adaptable, mobile, light weight. 12/31/2003 Arts, architecture. What % of architecture is art driven (enlighten or entertain)? What % of architecture is technology driven? 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. .This section is about dance. Topics include: ( ) Body and dance. ( ) Movement and dance. ( ) Language aspects of dance. ( ) Music and dance. ( ) Physical aspects of dance. ( ) Roots of dance. Historical origins. ( ) Types of dance. 1/24/2006 Arts, dance. (1) Involuntary dance: unconscious toe-tapping and finger-snapping. vs. Voluntary dancing: conscious and planned. (2) Dance without music. vs. Dance with music. vs. Dance with spoken words. (3) The body. The position of the body. The movement of the body. The space the body moves through. You make tracks on the floor. You make tracks through the air. (4) What exactly are you communicating when you dance? A thought? An emotion? Something else? Do we have a word for it? Is it non-linguistic? If so, how does it differ from what we express through music and the visual arts which are also non-linguistic? 4/1/2002 Arts, dance. (1) Joy of physical movement: running, climbing, and their relationship to sports, kinesthetics. (2) Joy of expression through movement: communication. (3) Beauty of physical movement (audience observation). Moving from one shape to another, skill. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. (1) Pro. (A) It's an outlet. (B) It's a step in courting. (C) It's good physical exercise. (D) If you feel like doing it, do it. (2) Contra. (A) Don't do it if you don't feel like it. (B) Social dancing is b.s. (C) It's auto-erotic. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Altered mental states and dance. Trance and dance. For example: Whirling dervishes. American Indian dances. 10/15/2004 Arts, dance. Art dance vs. pop dance. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Because dance does not rely on spoken language, dance is an international form of communication, much like music. When you combine dance and music, you have a very expressive international communication system that does not rely on spoken language. 5/27/2007 Arts, dance. Body and dance. (1) Embodiment. To have a body. To know how it feels to have a body. (2) There is the way your body feels (size and shape), and then (3) There is the way your body feels in different bodily positions, and then (4) There is the way the body feels in movement (muscle exertion), and then (5) There is the way the body feels in space (gravity), and then (6) There is the way they body looks in movement. At least six different things involved in kinaesthetic activities. 03/01/1997 Arts, dance. Body and dance. Being aware of your body. Developing the capabilities of your body. Accepting your body. Feeling comfortable with your body. And the bodies of others. 10/15/2004 Arts, dance. Dance and its relation everyday movement, body language, posture and gesture. (1) Coordinated and graceful movement is often interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as mature, intelligent, calm and stable. Bumbling, clumsy movement is often interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as immature, unintelligent, nervous or erratic. (2) In everyday movement, people often consciously or unconsciously, "say" things (i.e., express through movement) and people often consciously or unconsciously "hear" things (i.e., perceive and interpret movement). 4/8/2001 Arts, dance. Dance as moves. (1) Any expressive physical activity (movement, kinaesthetics), such as dance, martial arts, skateboarding, climbing, love making, or any sport, or just being (walking, standing, sitting, lying, or any awareness of the body in space) etc., all these things have something in common. (2) All of the above can be thought of as consisting of "moves" or "tricks". Moves have starting positions, middle transitions, and ending positions. Moves can be grouped into styles (ex. Break dance, ballet, tap dance, etc.). Classification systems of moves can be made and recorded and studied or used later. Moves can be re-combined in different sequences in order to produce different effects on the dancer and audience, much like words in a sentence, or like notes in a bar of music. (3) Moves can be considered a language of movement, i.e. moves have meaning. Moves can have emotional meaning, that is, they evoke emotions. Moves can also have an intellectual meaning, in that they call to mind other things, that is, they are associated with other images. 03/01/1997 Arts, dance. Dance as pure physical movement vs. dance as a response to music. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Dance is moving sculpture. 4/27/2006 Arts, dance. Dance is not so much about semiotics, symbolism and narrative as it is about the joy of physical movement and the beauty of physical movement. In this way dance is closer to sports than it is to literature or theater. 6/4/2000 Arts, dance. Dance is public display of emotion. Women enjoy it, guys don't. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Dancing as exercise. A million years ago a primitive person gets tired of sitting around the campfire. The person stands up and stretches, twisting from one side to the other. The person moves around to get their blood flowing by using simple, repetitive motions. Soon the person is dancing! Dancing is rooted in our need to exercise our bodies. Dancing is natural. Humans have always danced. Cultures that prohibit dancing (and singing), such as many workplace cultures, are over-civilized and repressed. 7/3/2000 Arts, dance. Dancing as: (1) Physicality. (2) Body. (3) Position. (4) Movement. 3/29/2002 Arts, dance. Dancing in public vs. in private. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Energy and dance. (1) Dance as releasing physical energy. (2) Dance as releasing sexual energy. (3) Dance as releasing emotional energy. 10/05/1997 Arts, dance. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Pairs figure skating. Strollers on the boardwalk. Things couples do in public. 10/17/2005 Arts, dance. How good do you have to feel before you start dancing again? Pretty damn good. How happy do you have to feel to spontaneously dance? Pretty damn happy. :) 6/8/2004 Arts, dance. How gracefully, acrobatically, meaningfully can one move? 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. How much can you say with dance? 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. I can imagine some repressed military types who break into calisthenics upon hearing an especially emotionally moving piece of music. 1/4/2002 Arts, dance. I like to watch people dancing on rollerblades more than I like to watch people dancing on foot. It is smoother, like a milkshake. 1/1/2000 Arts, dance. If there was no spoken language then perhaps humans would communicate with gesture and dance. Gesture morphs into dance. Dance is body gestures. 5/27/2007 Arts, dance. Just as video and music don't mix, dance and music don't mix? 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Many people are repressed in regard to the expression of their mental states via bodily movement. 1/1/2006 Arts, dance. Movement and dance. Various ways of naming, describing and classifying dance positions, moves, steps, etc. (1) Positions: holding the body still in various positions. (1.1) Standing. Standing on one one leg. Standing on two legs. (1.2) Crouching. (1.3) Sitting. (1.4) Laying down. (2) Body movements while standing in one place. (2.1) Head and neck moves. Tilt head up or down. Turn head left or right. Tilt head left or right. (2.2) Arm moves. From the shoulder. From the elbow. Hand moves. Opening arm movement. Enclosing arm movements. (2.3) Leg moves. From the hip. From the knee. Foot moves. (3) Body movement across the floor or stage. (3.1) Steps. Slow steps vs. Fast steps. Small steps vs. Large steps. (3.2) Forward movement (toward the audience) and backward movement. Left or right movement. Angular movement - for example, a left turn. Curving movement - for example, an arcing curve. Circular movement. (3.3) Direction facing. Facing the audience. Facing left or right. Facing away from the audience. (4) More types of moves. (4.1) Spins - on a vertical or horizontal axis. (4.2) Jumps. (4.3) Hops and skips. (4.4) Calisthenic, gymnastic and acrobatic movements. Rolls. Somersaults. Cartwheels. 7/24/2004 Arts, dance. Music and dance. Dancing a rhythm is common. Dancing a melody is less common. 4/8/2001 Arts, dance. Music does not have to be present for dance to be performed. 03/01/1997 Arts, dance. Related subjects. (1) Athletics and dance. Some dancers consider themselves to be athletes as well as artists. Some athletes talk about the dance-like aspects of their sports. (2) Martial arts and dance. Many martial arts moves are dance-like. (3) Everyday motions and dance. Standing. Walking. Posture. Gracefulness. Coordination. Balance. Flexibility. Power. Endurance. Economy. (4) Psychology and dance. Kinesthetics. Sense of balance. (5) Sociology and dance. Pairs dancing. Group dancing. Dance and rituals. Dance and magic. (6) Work and dance. Rhythmic work motions. Shoveling. Sweeping. Harvesting. Picking. 12/29/2003 Arts, dance. Repetition of movements vs. variations of movements in dance. 7/24/2004 Arts, dance. Robot dance. When humans dance like a robot, what is that all about? Is it like when robots dance like humans? 6/9/2006 Arts, dance. Robot dance. Would it make sense to talk about a dancing robot? What if the robot was not shaped like a human? For example, what if you had a robot shaped like a triangle and you programmed it to move in a pattern across a stage, or move in a three dimensional space. Would that be dance? What if you had a dozen triangles moving in a pattern on a dance floor or across a computer screen? Would that be dance? Dance is about the movement of objects in space. Dance is about the change in position of objects in space through time. 4/16/2006 Arts, dance. Roots of dance. (1) Involuntary physical expressions of emotion (laugh, cry). (2) Voluntary physical communication (gesture etc.). (3) Physical activity (fu*king). 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Roots of dance. Stomping mad, jumping for joy, thrashing in grief. Raving lunatics. Psyching up (war dances), and celebrations (sack dances). 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Social dance and solo dance. (1) Dancing in front of an audience is a social phenomena. What does it do for the dancer? What does it do for the audience? (2) Dancing alone. Some people dance in front of the mirror. What is that all about? 10/17/2005 Arts, dance. The physical act of making love is a very expressive communication system that does not rely on spoken language. Thus, there are links between dance and sex. Mattress dancing. 5/27/2007 Arts, dance. The split from pairs to solo dancing, let it all hang out. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Types of dance. (1) Some types of dance: Solo dancing. Pair dancing (touch and no touch). Group dancing (line dances, square dances). (2) Some styles of dance: Bellydancing. Breakdancing. The Robot. Moonwalking. Whirling dervishes. (3) Some influences on dancing: Gymnastics. Martial arts. Pantomime. Gestures and sign languages. 10/25/2001 Arts, dance. Types of dance. Alone vs. group: cakewalk. Ballet. Formal: formal movements, formal occasions. Informal: free form movement, any occasion. Folk, stage or musical, jazz, tap, square dance, waltz, jitterbug, lambada, macarena, hustle, tango. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Types of dance. Charleston. Lindy Hop. Jitterbug. Tap dancing. Break dancing. 10/15/2004 Arts, dance. Types of dances. (1) Happy, sad, angry, sexual. (2) Planned vs. spontaneous or improvisational. 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Why dance? How important is dance? 12/30/1992 Arts, dance. Wide definitions of dance. (1) Dance defined as any physical movement. (2) Dance is not only about the physical expression of emotions. Dance is about the physical expression of all mental states, including memories, emotions, thoughts and attitudes. (3) Dance is not for women only. Men also express their mental states through physical movement. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. .This section is about fashion. Topics include: ( ) Communication and fashion. ( ) Ecology and fashion. ( ) Fashion as body modification. ( ) Men's fashion. ( ) Psychology of fashion. ( ) Sociology of fashion. ( ) Technology and fashion. ( ) Teen fashion. ( ) Women's fashion. 1/24/2006 Arts, fashion. (1) Fashion as costume. Its Halloween out there everyday. (2) Fashion as acting. See notes on movie acting. See notes on social acting. 4/18/2001 Arts, fashion. (1) Fashion as self expression. This is the psychological side of fashion. Fashion as a daily aesthetic decision, even if no one else sees it. (2) Fashion as communication. This is the social side of fashion. In terms of semiotics, fashion is more of a simple signal than a complex symbolic language. (3) Fashion as technology. The technological side of fashion is captured by the notion of fashion as body modification. 1/14/2002 Arts, fashion. (1) Fashion as the expression of mood is bullshit because you need tons of outfits to have a decent palette. (2) Fashion as expression of uniqueness and specialness is ok because you need only one wild outfit. Like Holden Caufield's hunting cap. (3) Fashion as an expression of individuality is good. "I dress myself. No one dresses me." I am my own person. 11/16/1997 Arts, fashion. (1) Fashion is important because clothes are important. Clothes are important because the weather gets cold and hot. (2) The future of clothes. (A) Summer. A cooling outfit made from very light fabric, kept continually wet by drip from shoulder water tanks, to avoid summer heat induced insanity. (B) Winter. Very thin long underwear that feels comfortable outdoors and indoors. 11/10/1997 Arts, fashion. (1) In humans, women are more interested in fashion than men. (2) More time and money is given to fashion than is warranted. (3) Fashion is primarily a social display to show fitness to get and keep a mate. Fashion is like the feathers of a peacock. Fashion is an evolutionary adaptation. 10/28/2001 Arts, fashion. Accessories: shoes, jewelry, bags, shades. Hair: color, length, shape, texture, straight, curly. Face: makeup, mustashes and beards. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Artistic elements. Clothes are sculptural. Moving sculpture. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Artistic elements. Fit: Baggy vs. tight. Long vs. short. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Artistic elements. Line, shape, color, texture, lay or movement. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. As clothes became more various, cheaper, and more plentiful, how did it affect fashion trends? 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. At what point in the evolutionary history of humans did people start covering up with clothes? When was the first loin cloth? 4/16/2006 Arts, fashion. Audrey is fine. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Baubles and trinkets, mementos and souvenirs, geegaws and thingamajigs, watchamacallits. 12/30/1995 Arts, fashion. Blue and silver vs. gold and black. North vs. south. Poor vs. rich. 11/01/1993 Arts, fashion. Casual and formal fashion. (1) Casual clothes for work that are ecological and organic is the way to go. (2) Suits and ties are monkey suits. People should realize that one's self-worth and social worth are not based on the latest fashions. 3/30/1998 Arts, fashion. Change in fashion. (1) Leaders: individuals, experimenters, avante garde. (2) Trend setters: ones everyone follows, gate keepers. (3) Followers. 09/01/1994 Arts, fashion. Clothes are like a second skin. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. Communication and fashion. (1) Fashion as billboard (ex. T-shirts with slogans and logos on them). (2) Clothes to reflect philosophy. (3) How much can you say with clothes? 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Communication and fashion. Fashion is about communication, that is, "speaking" (wearing clothes) and "listening" (seeing the clothes other people wear). In this regard there are four fashion problems: (1) Some people don't know how to talk the language. (2) Some people don't want to talk. (3) Some people don't have anything to say. (4) Some people speak different languages. 2/22/2000 Arts, fashion. Communication and fashion. Semiotics and clothes. (1) The meaning outfits carry change through time, just like the meanings of words change through time, depending on how they are used. (2) Also, the meaning of an outfit, just like words, depends on the context in which it it's used. 10/23/1993 Arts, fashion. Contra Logos. Buy clothes without logos. If unable to find clothes without logos, remove or deface any logos on your clothes. 1/31/2004 Arts, fashion. Current fashion palette. What's hot: earth brown, sky blue and forest green. What's not: blood red and funeral black. 10/27/2003 Arts, fashion. Cutting edge fashion is of two types. High tech fashion, that places function over form. Couture fashion, that places form over function. 12/29/2003 Arts, fashion. Cutting edge fashion. New materials. New colors. New cuts, lines and shapes. 12/29/2003 Arts, fashion. Ecological fashion practices. (1) Hemp is preferable to cotton because cotton requires pesticides and lots of water. (2) Natural fabrics are better than synthetic fabrics because synthetic fabrics are made from oil. (3) Organic natural fabrics are better than non-organic natural fabrics. (4) Recycled synthetic fabrics are better than non-recycled synthetic fabrics. 10/10/2005 Arts, fashion. Ecological fashion, levels of. (1) A fashion of natural materials. (i.e., non-man-made materials). (2) A fashion of materials not based on the slaughter of animals. (i.e., no leather, no fur). (3) A fashion based on organic, non-animal, natural materials. 11/1/2003 Arts, fashion. Ecological fashion. Natural fibers. Organic fibers. Recycled synthetic fibers. 12/29/2003 Arts, fashion. Ecological fashion. The current US fashion industry is entrenched in a non-ecological, "profit first" fashion mentality. The current US fashion industry should be more ecological. A variety of carrots and sticks (incentives and penalties) should be used to get clothes manufacturers and consumers to make clothes that are more ecological and that promote social justice to avoid things like foreign sweatshops. 10/12/2005 Arts, fashion. Ecology and fashion. Fashion should be ecological. 3/29/2002 Arts, fashion. Emotional meaning of color vs. symbolic idea meaning of clothes. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Ethics, politics and fashion. Fashion is an ethical issue. Fashion is a political issue. Everything is an ethical issue. Everything is a political issue. Dress in a way that is ecologically sustainable and promotes social justice. 12/16/2005 Arts, fashion. Factors. (1) Feel: how a fabric feels on skin. (2) Breathability. Weight. Warmth. Flow vs. stiffness. (3) Texture: rough, smooth. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Fashion and environment: temperature, precipitation, wind, and sun. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Fashion and subcultures: hippie, nerd, preppy, jock, each subculture has a semiotic fashion code that it uses to communicate with those inside and outside the group. 09/01/1994 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Body. (1) Body sculpting, working out, plastic surgery. (2) Body adornment: piercings, tattoos, scarification. (3) What your body looks like affects how the clothes you wear look. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Dieting oneself thin. Eating oneself fat. These are examples of body modification. 10/9/2003 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Hormones are sometimes misused beyond medical prescription, and often in the face of health drawbacks. Four examples: Males taking extra testosterone. Males taking extra estrogen. Women taking extra testosterone. Women taking extra estrogen. There is not much difference between the above four cases. They are four examples of body modification. 10/9/2003 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Makeup is a type of body modification and it fits in with the other forms of body modification such as clothes, jewelry, tattoos, piercings, bio-mechanical devices (ex. peg legs, breast implants, plastic surgery, etc.), and bio-electronic devices (ex. hearing aids, artificial eyes, etc.). Body modification is about controlling who you are and creating who you are. (1) Controlling who you are: To take control over your body (and mind) is to not let someone else, or society, or life take control of you. To control your body (and mind, behavior and environment) is to take responsibility for self, to care for self, and to develop and grow self. (2) Creating who you are: Clothes let you create a new you. Examples include alien hairstyles, halloween costumes, gorilla suits and transgenders. 4/3/2000 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Tattoos are an interesting phenomenon. There are many reasons why people get tattoos. (1) You like or love something so much that you get a tattoo. For example, a tattoo of your girlfriend's name on your arm. You say "I carry her with me always". You say, "She is now a part of me". You say, "I want the world to know". (2) As a memory. For example, a memento mori such as "RIP". (3) You identify so much with something that you get a tattoo. For example, to get a tattoo of a national flag, or a corporate logo. You say, "I am proud to be a member of this group". You say, "I believe what this group believes". (4) As a canvas for artistic expression. (A) As a thing of beauty. For example, a woman gets a tattoo of a flower and she says "This flower is beautiful". Or she says, "This flower makes me more beautiful". Or she says, "I am beautiful". (B) As a thing of toughness or coolness. For example, you get a tattoo of a mongoose. You say, "This mongoose is tough and cool". You say, "This mongoose makes me more tough and cool". You say, "I am tough and cool". 7/10/2000 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. Three views on plastic surgery. (1) Pro view: We have the right to self-determination. We can change ourselves. We can build ourselves. We can create ourselves. Everything is for sale these days. (A) Beauty is for sale: plastic surgery. (B) Health is for sale: organic food. (C) Knowledge is for sale: school. (D) Strength is for sale: gym. (E) Also gene therapy, tattoos, and digital chip implants. (2) Contra view: We have no choice in who we are. We must accept the natural injustices that give one person an unfair advantage over another. (3) Neutral view: Accepting yourself as you are. Being proud of who you are naturally. Not being prey to society's stupid tastes, fads and fashions. 8/1/2000 Arts, fashion. Fashion as body modification. When one considers the many types of body modification, it becomes apparent that body modification is very popular across all cultures. People want to change themselves, either temporarily or permanently. Body modification will get even more popular as new options for modification of the body are developed. 1/10/2002 Arts, fashion. Fashion as environment. Fashion as controlling one's environment. The clothes you wear are your immediate environment. To choose the clothes one wears is to choose one's environment. 2/25/2005 Arts, fashion. Fashion as function, as beauty, as communication, as social fad (to look alike vs. be different). 01/01/1993 Arts, fashion. Fashion as technology. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Fashion for fitting in vs. fashion for standing out. Mob psychology, groupthink, and fascism vs. celebrating differences, rainbow coalition, and tolerance. 7/2/1998 Arts, fashion. Fashion is about a layer that mediates between your body and the environment. (1) Protects from outside. Temperature control. Humidity level regulation. Precipitation shield. (2) Handles the inside. Deals with body sweat. Deals with shedding skin. (3) Somewhat like a space suit. 10/15/2004 Arts, fashion. Fashion is construction of an image to either communicate an attitude (emotion + thought) or to achieve catharsis. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Fashion materials: Plastic. Rubber. Metal. Stone. Wood. Glass. 3/13/2005 Arts, fashion. Future fashion. (1) If my clothes had the ability to change color, I could wear the same clothes everyday and have different color clothes everyday. (2) If my clothes had the ability to change shape then I could wear the same clothes everyday and have different shape clothes everyday. 10/15/2004 Arts, fashion. High tech and low tech fashion. (1) High tech fashion. Examples: Running shoes. Gore-tex. Electrically heated jackets. Computers in clothes. (2) Low tech fashions. Examples: Buttons instead of zippers. Hand knit wool sweaters. 1/21/2004 Arts, fashion. If everyone decided to wear a new set of clothes everyday then it would be a tremendous waste of natural resources. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. In prehistoric times it was important to see who one was standing next to. Prehistoric man was constantly looking at other people to see if they were someone who was, for example, strong or weak, young or old, male or female. In these modern times we wear clothes but we continue the prehistoric practice of observing the people next to us. The clothes become the body that we observe. 1/30/2002 Arts, fashion. Individual and fashion. (1) My fashion history. (2) What I wear and not and why. (3) What I think of other people and clothes. (4) What I like to see on a woman. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Is it possible for guys to dress sexy? How can a guy tell what a girl thinks is sexy? Show shape, show skin, sexy fabrics and colors. How turned on do women get from guys dressing sexy? 09/20/1993 Arts, fashion. It does not make sense to wear clothes that look nice if the clothes are harmful to the wearer, harmful to the environment, exploits animals, or exploits workers. 12/2/2005 Arts, fashion. Just like the books you read can shape your attitudes, personality and philosophy, so can the clothes you wear shape your attitudes, personality and philosophy. In this way fashion is most like high art. First you may latch onto a "look" and a feeling of a fashion statement, and from this may emerge an "attitude", an idea, and eventually a worldview. This is also why picking your own clothes is so important. Even at a young age, or especially at a young age. 12/20/1998 Arts, fashion. Leather is murder, so stop wearing leather. Fur is murder, so stop wearing fur. 10/19/2005 Arts, fashion. Leather is pretentious. Vinyl is friendly in an unassuming way. 01/12/1997 Arts, fashion. Loose versus tight. Tight clothes are about the body. The tightest clothes are skin tight, or body painting, or naked. The loosest clothes are a sack, or a barrel, or a box, or refusing to come out of your apartment, which is like wearing an extra large box. 3/5/2007 Arts, fashion. Many people are obsessed with personal appearance. It is a mistake to value appearance over substance. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. Many people are overly concerned with fashion. One reason that many people are overly concerned with fashion is because many people subconsciously associate fashion as an extension of hygiene. Many people are obsessed with the hygiene of themselves and others. People mistakenly and subconsciously associate new clothes with clean clothes, and clean clothes with general cleanliness, and cleanliness with moral goodness. At some point, obsession with fashion becomes like people who wash their hands fifty times a day due to obsessive compulsive disorder. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. Me. I do not wear a watch. I do not wear any rings or chains. I do not have any tattoos. I do not put gel in my hair. I do not like to wear any labels and logos. Unadorned. 9/12/2005 Arts, fashion. Me. I prefer the long and loose style of clothing. Not the tight and short style of clothing. Baggy, not constricted. 11/7/2003 Arts, fashion. Me. My current fashion style: non-descript. 6/4/2001 Arts, fashion. Me. My fashion aesthetic is not to wear anything that needs ironing, or that restricts movement, or that is not comfortable (i.e., that is not loose, or not natural fabrics), or that is not unobtrusive (i.e., calls attention to self). 01/07/1997 Arts, fashion. Me. Paul fashion aesthetic, and history of Paul fashion aesthetic. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Me. Paul favorites: t shirt, boxers, jeans, white cottons socks. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Me. Paul style: loose, baggy. 01/01/1993 Arts, fashion. Me. Paul's current fashion aesthetic. T shirts: black, blue, gray, green. Blue jeans, cool shoes, blue collar windbreaker, cotton socks. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Men's fashion is dogmatic, boring, and neurotic. Men's fashion: all function, no form. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Men's fashion. (1) Any culture that requires one to shave everyday, and get one's haircut every two weeks, is ill. It is a waste of time, energy, money and resources. Just let your hair grow naturally. (2) Not being able or allowed to cut your own hair is a weird state of affairs, like not being able to wash yourself. 7/17/1998 Arts, fashion. Men's fashion. Ties run the spectrum from strict regimentation (ducks in a row) to wild organic chaotic colors and forms (expressionistic, impressionistic). 06/17/1994 Arts, fashion. Men's fashion. Ties: conservative, conformist, regimented vs. rebel, wild, fun (ex. American flag, leopard skin). 09/20/1993 Arts, fashion. Modeling. Models don't talk. Models just stand there and look pretty. Anyone who takes money to keep their mouths shut is doing themselves and society an injustice. Such is the negative side of modeling. 10/15/2004 Arts, fashion. Modeling. Why its better for models to be dim than pretty. Successful modeling is based on the ability of the viewer to project their feelings and attitudes onto the model, to project themselves into the models place, into the models skin, and into the models clothes. Projection is most easily achieved if the model has a "blank", expressionless face. A blank face is most easily achieved if the model has no thoughts of her own. Nothing says "blank" like the expressionless face of the dim. That is why dim trumps beauty in the fashion world. 8/30/2001 Arts, fashion. Most important idea. The goal of fashion, which was long delayed by social norms and technological limits, but which recently has been reached for the most part, is the freedom to wear anything we want, and the technology to create anything we can think of. Put this into practice by wearing all sorts of wild things that people might not consider as clothes. 03/01/1997 Arts, fashion. Naked. The big question is, naked or clothes? 3/13/2005 Arts, fashion. Natural and artificial look. (1) Natural look in fashion: Little makeup. Natural fabrics. Natural colors. Popular in the 1970's. (2) Artificial look in fashion: Heavy make up. Synthetic fabrics. Synthetic colors. Popular in the 1980's. 10/17/2005 Arts, fashion. People who wear leather are starting to remind me of Ed Gein. Natural, organic, plant-derived clothes are the way to go. 11/23/2004 Arts, fashion. Pro and con fashion. (1) Anti-fashion people. (A) On the positive side, these people are anti-materialistic, anti-waste (against yearly arbitrarily changing fashions), and anti-formula (uniforms and trends). (B) On the negative side, these people are repressed. (2) Fashion people. (A) Positive side: express self identity well. (2) Negative: caught up in b.s. world meant to rob them of money. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Pro and con fashion. (1) Contra fashion: (A) The arbitrary changes every season just to sell product. (B) The tremendous waste of money just so people can say they have the high status labels. (C) The tremendous waste of money of people trying to express themselves with clothes. You have to buy a ton of clothes to have a palette. Put a button on for petes sake. (D) The tremendous waste of money people spend so they don't have to be seen wearing the same thing twice. You have to buy a ton of stuff. (2) Pro fashion. (A) It's fun to have choices. It's fun to have a ton of goofy stuff. It's nice to have different things to wear for different occasions. (3) Is it just fun? Or is it healthy. Does fashion contribute to health? Is the Mao suit repressive? Does it stunt, stupefy, stullify? (4) Couldn't the money spent on fashion be better spent elsewhere? (5) And is not fashion (in the sense of 1A-D) a waste of natural resources? Like cutting down christmas trees? 01/12/1997 Arts, fashion. Psychology of fashion. (1) How does your personality affect the clothes you pick? How does what you wear affect your personality? (2) Psychological affects on fashion choice vs. fashion affects on psychological state. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Psychology of fashion. Fashion as expression of personality or mood. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Psychology of fashion. Fashion for ourselves: catharsis. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Psychology of fashion. Fashion style as a form of self identity development and expression. How early do you buy your own clothes. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Pure art vs. pure function. Functional clothes vs. aesthetic clothes. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Self identity and fashion. (1) One day you put on some clothes and you say, "This is me. This is who I am. This feels good. This looks good." You create a self identity in part through your clothes. The next day you put on some other clothes and you say, "This looks bad. This feels bad. This is not me. This is not who I am." You create a self identity in part by what you choose not to wear. (2) In addition, the people around you who you interact with, and whose opinion you value to some degree, will look at you and make noises like, "That shirt is you, but that hat is not you." Your local culture affects your sense of self. (3) In addition, society at large, through the media, will also affect your sense of self. (4) Will you determine your own self identity or will you leave the formation of your self identity up to the random whims of society? Forge your own self identity. (5) Will you forge your self identity out of clothes alone, or will you move beyond clothes, and other physical objects, to forge your self identity out of ideas? Forge your self identity out of ideas. 5/30/2005 Arts, fashion. Self-heating clothing. How could one heat the clothes instead of heating the entire room? What would be the power source? Electricity? What about the wires? How would one wash it? How would rain affect it? Is it easier to carry a small heater than to build the heater into the clothes? If you carry a small heater, would the heater be something you wear under the clothes or would it be something you set up nearby? (2) How about wearing headlamps instead of lighting entire rooms? That's easy. LED headlamps run a hundred hours on a set of rechargeable batteries. 2/28/2004 Arts, fashion. Sexism and fashion. When society expects women to wear one type of clothing and expects men to wear another type of clothing then that reflects sexism in fashion. When women are expected, or even forced, to wear a veil, that is an example of sexism in fashion. When women are expected to wear skirts and men are expected to wear pants, that is an example of sexism in fashion. Sexism pervades every aspect of society including fashion, and sexism disempowers women. The struggle against sexism is waged on all fronts including the fashion front. Fashion should be gender neutral. 5/14/2007 Arts, fashion. Social status and fashion. People want to be rich or at least appear rich through the clothes they wear. People want to be cool or at least appear cool through the clothes they wear. People want to be popular or at least appear popular through the clothes they wear. At the other extreme is geek chic and spaz wear; the pocket protector, the high water pants, the eyeglasses taped in center. 10/17/2005 Arts, fashion. Sociology and fashion. People wear expensive clothes in a quest for social status. 1/1/2006 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. (1) Fashion for others: public relations. (2) Trendy fashions vs. classic fashions. (3) Tradition, norms, fads. (4) Following vs. leading in fashion. (5) Conformist vs. rebellious fashions. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. (1) Politics and fashion. Fashion in pursuit of social status and power. Fashion pecking orders (ex. school kids making fun of kids without new clothes). Money = power. (2) Sexuality and fashion. Beautiful and sexy. Fit and healthy. (3) Communication and fashion. 11/15/2001 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. Can you capture the zeitgeist in clothes, even if the zeitgeist was not strong enough to put a verbal label on? 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. Dressing to show off, and dressing to get ahead. Clothes as a display of wealth and status. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. Fashion as expression of social position. Who must and can't wear what, classified by sex, class, and job. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. Fashion to say you belong to a group (wearing what others wear) vs. fashion to say you are an individual (wearing what no one else wears). 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. How does what you wear affect what people think of you? How does what people think of you affect the clothes you wear? 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Sociology of fashion. Public clothes vs. private clothes. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Style. American fashion. The high school jacket, t-shirt, jeans or chinos, sneakers. Winter look: the hooded sweatshirt under jean jacket under leather jacket. 01/19/1997 Arts, fashion. Synthetic clothes. (1) Synthetic clothes are high performance but it feels like you're wearing a plastic bag. (2) Synthetic clothes send a message to others that says, "Plastic". Natural fiber clothes send a message that says, "Natural". 10/1/2003 Arts, fashion. Synthetic fabrics: bodies wrapped in plastic. 11/1/2003 Arts, fashion. Tattoos. Many people get tattoos to be different, special, unique. More and more people are getting tattoos, and thus, people without tattoos are becoming a rarity. I have no tattoos, and if I continue on this track, my lack of tattoos with eventually make me special and unique. Quite ironic, isn't it? 4/30/2007 Arts, fashion. Technology of fashion. Fabric production. Natural fabrics: cotton, wool, hemp. Manmade fabrics: nylon, rayon, dacron, polyester. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Technology of fashion. Functional clothes. Clothes to deal with weather don't matter if you are always inside. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Technology of fashion. Material: weave, weight, cut and shape, color and pattern. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Technology of fashion. Types of clothes by function. Flop around (sweats); neat and casual; business; formal; special purpose; bed clothes (lingerie and pajamas). 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Teen fashion, the aftermath. What used to happen, in the 1950's and early 1960's, was the teens got older, entered the workplace and absorbed the values of a conservative workplace. (1) They tried to fit in like interchangeable parts by wearing what everyone else was wearing. They tried to appear stable by wearing the same thing every day. Instead of trying to show their creativity, they tried to show their obedience. (2) They got married and had kids, and they wore modest clothes that showed that they were no longer looking for a mate. And they tried to wear clothes that set a respectable example for their kids. To sum up, they became real boring, real fast. However, today, in the dot.com business world, things are not as bad as all that. 7/25/2000 Arts, fashion. Teen fashion: funky, flash, loud and wild. Other words used to describe teen fashion include cool, hip, friendly, quirky, unique, different. Why do teens wear these kinds of clothing? (1) Teens are poor and funky clothes are cheap. (2) Teen are all about exploring boundaries and testing limits. Wild clothes help them find out how far they can go. (3) Flashy clothes help express psychological emotions and also help express physical energy, much like rock music, which is another teen favorite. (4) Flashy clothes help a teen call attention to themselves in order to attract a mate. 7/25/2000 Arts, fashion. Teens are often fooled into thinking that the endless parade of fashions somehow has some meaning to it and perhaps even exhibits some form of progress. So they try to follow fashion. Then they eventually realize that fashion was not as meaningful as they thought, and they realize that no progress is made in fashion. This is progress for the teens. 7/25/2000 Arts, fashion. The big fashion question: Go naked, why not? People don't want to see it. People don't want to be it. Why? Clothes are used to create psychological distance, boundaries, defense, armor, barriers, and protection. When you don't want others to see the real you. When you don't want to see the real you (i.e., repression). 4/3/2000 Arts, fashion. The clothes I wear for work now have absolutely no functional value. They have no functional value other than to cover my nudity, feel good on my body, and keep me warm. Other than that, they are purely meant for (1) Art. (A) Trying to be expressive of myself. (B) Trying to be aesthetically pleasing to others. (2) Symbolic communication. Trying to send a message. (3) Social conformity. Fitting in to the group. (4) Identity creation and identity communication. To show where I am on the work group ladder, and what I aspire to be. 08/12/1993 Arts, fashion. The drive to appear attractive and fit for reproduction. Youth = sexy. Health = sexy. Physical fitness = sexy. Power = sexy. Beauty = sexy. Interesting (not boring) = sexy. Sexy (frisky, horny) = sexy. We use fashion to try to appear all of the above. 10/28/2001 Arts, fashion. The entire concept of underwear is overrated. 10/25/2000 Arts, fashion. The fashion industry's meaningless change of styles from season to season and year to year. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Things people say about what other people are wearing. (1) He's just wearing that to show-off that he has money. (2) He's just wearing that to look good, but looks are not everything. (3) He's just wearing that to be different. (4) He's just wearing that to be like everyone else. (5) He's just wearing that for the job, to get ahead. (6) He's just wearing that for the chicks, to get laid. 7/31/2006 Arts, fashion. Three levels of fashion. (1) Fashion as skin. This view of fashion sees fashion as a surface-only phenomenon. Changing your clothes is viewed as changing your skin, while the underlying structure remains the same. Much like techies change the skin on their web browsers. (2) Fashion as body modification. This view of fashion sees fashion as a change of the physical self that goes deeper than the surface. This is a view of fashion that sees fashion as a part of a spectrum of bodily changes that goes beyond the skin. (3) Fashion as a sign of psychological changes. This view of fashion focuses on the phenomenon that changes of mind cause changes in fashion. Also, changes in fashion can cause changes in mind. (4) Fashion as change of self-identity. When you change body and mind you change yourself. 6/26/2002 Arts, fashion. Two fashion statements. I am an individual vs. I am part of the team. 11/27/1999 Arts, fashion. Two views of fashion. (1) Fashion as architecture. Fashion as a house you wear. Like a snail wears a shell. Like a turtle wears a shell. A built environment that you take with you. (2) Fashion as a nesting instinct. A nest you bring with you. 3/29/2002 Arts, fashion. Unfortunately, some people use fashion as a wall or barrier to separate and insulate themselves from reality (the world and other people). Barefoot nudism forever! 6/28/1998 Arts, fashion. Uniforms can contribute to the abdication of personal responsibility. 10/14/2003 Arts, fashion. Unisex adult vs. men's vs. women's. Teen fashion. Unisex child vs. boys vs. girls. Unisex baby. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Wearing forest green is a political statement. The Green Party. 02/22/1997 Arts, fashion. What is fashion? Fashion as a subdivision of arts. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. When it is raining, and people buy newspapers to hold over their heads, that is fashion. 4/16/2006 Arts, fashion. White is a stupid color for clothes and laundry. 10/30/1997 Arts, fashion. Whoever invented white shirts, ties, creases, collars, cuffs, was sick. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Whoever the two were who invented ties, collars, cuffs and stockings and high heels are fu*king each other in hell. 06/11/1993 Arts, fashion. Women and clothes. (1) All that women have available to spend money on is clothes. Food is fattening. Sports are for men. (2) Clothes for women are beauty that can be bought. (3) Women want something new and different yet there is safety in dressing like everyone else so they want to be the same but a little different and they want someone to tell them all what to wear. 10/23/1993 Arts, fashion. Women in clunky platform shoes and tight, low cut, bell bottoms. The 70's look is back. 03/01/1997 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion: all form, no function. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. Fashion camera shoot: Its about youth, beauty, women, clothes, hair, makeup, jewelry, movement, faces and facial expressions, body and body positions. Its about legs, tits and ass. Its about personalities. Its about people. 5/13/1999 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. One view. Why are women so interested in fashion? Because society expects them to be. Not because they have a genetically based interest in fashion. 5/6/1999 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. The women are wearing clothes for each other. Because men have no concept of fashion beyond whether a woman looks sexy. 9/24/2000 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. Three trends in NYC women's fashion. (1) See-thru stuff. (2) Wearing just lingerie. Ex. slip without the dress. (3) Underwear on the outside. Ex. bra over blouse. 08/17/1997 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. Two theories why women love shoes. (1) The baby theory. A shoe is small and cute, analogous to the way babies are small and cute. Women are attracted to shoes because shoes are like babies. (2) The flower theory. A shoe on a woman's foot is like a flower in a woman's hair. Both shoes and flowers serve as decorative accents to a woman's beauty. (3) To test the above two theories, I asked women whether they are attracted to the shoe as an object itself (baby theory), or are they attracted to the shoe on the foot (flower theory). Most said they were attracted to the shoe as object, so therefore the baby theory holds sway. (4) (The question of why men are attracted to women's shoes and feet was not a part of this study). 3/8/2001 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. When women buy clothes, are they trying to appear (1) Rich. (2) Trendy and "With it". (3) Beautiful. (4) All of the above. 10/10/1997 Arts, fashion. Women's fashion. Why are women so into fashion? (1) Emotional expression. (2) Want to look pretty and attract men. (3) Colors = feminine? (4) It's a way for them to communicate. 12/30/1992 Arts, fashion. Wool. In general, natural fiber clothing is better for the environment than synthetic fiber clothing. Wool is a natural fiber. But wool is a natural fiber derived from animals, namely sheep. What are the objections to wool? (1) An animal rights argument against wool. Wool represents the wrongful domination of the sheep species by the human species. Even if you argue that wool-producing sheep are treated well, there is a counterargument that says enslavement is wrong even if the slave is treated well. (2) An ecological argument against wool. There is an overpopulation of humans on earth. When humans wear wool there is a resulting overpopulation of sheep on earth. Sheep produce a lot of waste that impacts the environment. 11/21/2005 Arts, fashion. Work clothing aesthetic. Cheap and long lasting. Proletarian. 08/15/1994 Arts, gastronomy. .See also: Health, food. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. .This section is about gastronomy. Topics include: ( ) Art and food. ( ) Technology and food. ( ) Ecology and food. ( ) Health and food. ( ) Ingredients. ( ) Problems with food. ( ) Psychology of food. ( ) World cuisines. 1/24/2006 Arts, gastronomy. (1) My favorite foods and why. Pure taste standards. Overall physical and psychological standards. (2) My least favorite foods and why. Pure taste standards. Overall physical and psychological standards. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Adventurous and curious eaters who try new things. Versus. Boring eaters who eat the same thing all the time. 1/15/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Aesthetics of food stuffs, dishes, cuisines. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Arguments in favor of food as pleasure. (1) Food as art. (food aestheticism). (2) Food as entertainment. (food hedonism). (3) One argument in favor of food as pleasure argues that life is full of stress and pain. Against the stress and pain of life we have only a few small pleasures. One of these small pleasures is food. (4) The first goal of food should be health. But an important secondary goal of food is that it tastes good. Three meals a day is too much time to spend with food that doesn't taste good, doesn't look good, and doesn't smell good. Enjoyable food just might be the only small pleasure that keeps a person from depression, insanity and suicide. More generally, if you repress small pleasures or deny yourself small pleasures there is nothing between you and despair. 1/1/2000 Arts, gastronomy. Audrey invented the sauerkraut and sardine sandwich. On a roll sliced in half, add mustard, sauerkraut and sardines. Delicious. 3/5/2006 Arts, gastronomy. Caffeine addiction is a problem. It may be that in fifty years people will look at caffeine and coffee companies the same way that people today look at cigarettes and cigarette companies. Caffeine may not cause cancer, but it can, when over consumed, in the long run, strain the parasympathetic system of some people. 10/15/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Caffeine. How much less work would have been done without caffeine (coffee, tea, cola) in my life and in the history of the world? Both creative work and drone work. 7/25/2000 Arts, gastronomy. Cool foods: cranberry anything, apricot anything, coconut anything. 10/30/1993 Arts, gastronomy. Courses of a meal. Single course meals (ex. one pot stews) vs. multi course meals (ex. soup, salad, appetizer, entree, desert, desert, desert). 6/7/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Critique of gastronomy: "Can you only think about your stomach?!" 5/13/2007 Arts, gastronomy. Cuisines by country or region: due to ingredients and tradition. Regional cuisuines: French, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, American colonial. Folk cuisine vs. mass cuisine vs. haute cuisine. Why do some cultures eat one food and not another? Accessibility? 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Each element should be perfectly prepared and maintain its own distinct taste and texture. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Eating for health vs. aesthetic pleasure. Art food (enjoyment) vs. nutrition food (health). 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Eating for health. (1) Eating for personal health. Reduce salt, sugar, fat, caffeine. (2) Eating environmental health. Eating organic foods. Eating vegetarian. 11/1/2003 Arts, gastronomy. Ecological food. The current US food industry is entrenched in a non-ecological, "profit first" food mentality. The current US food industry should be more ecological. A variety of sticks and carrots (incentives and penalties) should be used to get food producers and food consumers to be more ecological and to promote social justice. 10/12/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Ecology and food. Food should be organic. 3/29/2002 Arts, gastronomy. Ethics, politics and food. Food is a political issue. Food is an ethical issue. Everything is an ethical issue. Everything is a political issue. Eat in a way that is ecologically sustainable and promotes social justice. Promote fair trade food. Eat organic whole foods. Be a vegetarian. 12/2/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Food as a way to bring back memories. Food as an aid to psychotherapy. 6/30/1998 Arts, gastronomy. Food as art. Taste: texture, temperature, taste. Odor. Looks: color, shape, etc. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Food attitudes. (1) Do you relieve stress with food? (2) Food as sustenance vs. food as entertainment. (3) Do you eat a healthy diet? 4/21/1999 Arts, gastronomy. Food is primarily about status. (1)(A) Some people cannot bear to be seen in public eating poor food with poor people in a poor environment. It is too much of a blow to their sense of social self. (B) They also cannot bear to see themselves eating poor food, with poor people, in a poor environment. Its too much of a blow to their (inflated) sense of personal self. (2) Let alone the poor aspect of it, these people cannot even bear the common, ordinary or average. They cannot bear to eat average food, with average people in average environments, because it is too much of blow to both their sense of social self and their sense of personal self. (3) For these people, food is primarily about status and secondarily about issues like taste, convenience, personal health or ecological friendliness. For these people, the desire to see themselves, and be seen by others, as rich, powerful, important and famous overrides the issues of health, safety, laziness, etc., and this testifies to the narcotic nature not of food but of status. 9/28/2000 Arts, gastronomy. Food. Most important ideas. (1) Food should be ecological and organic. Food should be healthy for the earth. Food should be healthy for the individual. (2) Variety and good taste keep food interesting, fun and appetizing. So one does not become bored by repetition, or lose appetite from poor taste. This keeps one eating healthy. (3) Food should be a means to solve problems, not an end in itself. 3/30/1998 Arts, gastronomy. Foods physical functions vs. psychological functions. Over eaters, anorexia and bulimia. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Healthy and tasty. As little time, money, and effort as possible. Try as many as possible. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. High quality ingredients: fresh and tasty. Expertly prepared. Balance of amounts. Agreement with or complement other ingredients. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. How much can you say with the food art? 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. How much time do you spend on food per day? How much time per day do you spend thinking about food, shopping for food, preparing food and eating food? These days, if you spend more than two hours total per day on food then I think you are over doing it. 11/12/2004 Arts, gastronomy. How much time do you spend on food? (1) How often do you think about food? (2)(A) Preparation. To cook vs. microwave vs. restaurant. (B) Eating. The long meal vs. eating on the run. 4/21/1999 Arts, gastronomy. I am against coffee cup lids. Half the enjoyment of coffee is the aroma. Would you put a lid on a glass of wine? Certainly not. Take off that lid. 11/2/2001 Arts, gastronomy. Ideal. Solutions for food. (1) Eat whole foods. (2) Eat organic foods. (3) Eat fair trade foods. (4) Eat vegetarian. (5) Eat local produce. 12/14/2005 Arts, gastronomy. In the morning I enjoy a "trifecta", which is a coffee, a tea, and a cola, one after the other. Its not just about caffeine. There are lots of other good things in there too. 11/15/2001 Arts, gastronomy. Ingredients: type, quality, freshness, amount, how prepared. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. It does not make sense to eat food that tastes good if that food is not healthy to eat, or is unhealthy to the environment, or exploits workers, or exploits animals. 12/2/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Its a fine line between being a gourmet and being a pig. 9/18/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Kids and food. (1) Why do kids like different food than adults? Why did you dislike certain foods as a kid and then like the same food as an adult? Why did you like certain foods as a kid and then dislike the same food as an adult? (2) Why are kids finicky eaters? 10/17/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Meat is murder, so stop eating meat. 10/19/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Most important idea. Gastronomy is more entertainment than art. It pleases but does not enlighten. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Most people want to eat out. That is, most people want to be pleasantly surprised with food gifts from wait-servants. It is not just laziness and boredom that makes people want to eat out. There is a strange social component to eating out that may be a vestige from when we lived in tribes. 11/15/2001 Arts, gastronomy. One view of food, the cookbook view, focuses on recipes with specific names, precise lists of ingredients and detailed directions for preparation. Another view of food sees cooking as a grand experiment. Throw those ingredients together see what happens. Use more or less of an ingredient. Change the cooking time and temperature. Substitute ingredients. Try new foods. Creativity, diversity and progress are the bywords. Stodgy, rigid, conservatives, to their detriment, have a problem with that view of food. 9/18/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Organic foods. (1) Green markets are cool. Green markets provide local, fresh, organic foods. (2) Organic food stores are cool. (3) Organic foods in supermarkets is cool. 1/19/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Oysters are an aphrodisiac, not by taste or chemistry, but rather by sight. Just looking at them, all wet slippery and jiggly, can bring sex to mind. 3/30/1998 Arts, gastronomy. People in over-developed countries are obese. People in under-developed countries are starving. Where is the balance? 10/17/2005 Arts, gastronomy. People who eat meat are starting to remind me of Hannibal the Cannibal. Natural, organic, plant-derived food is the way to go. 11/23/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Principles. Dining should be a total experience. Room, people, conversation, centerpiece. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Problems with food. (1) Eating for pleasure can produce overweight people. (2) Eating out of pain (boredom, loneliness, sadness, anxiety, anger) can produce overweight people. 6/2/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Problems with food. (1) Eating too much food. (2) Eating junk food. 6/2/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Problems with food. (1) Junk food containing too much sugar, salt and fat. (2) Artificial ingredients: Artificial flavors, artificial colors. (3) Processing that removes nutrients from foods. (4) Packaging that uses excessive materials. (5) Overfishing of the seas. (6) Chemicals that get into plants and animals and then humans. Pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, etc. (7) Violation of animal rights. (8) Corporate ownership of the land, the food production facilities, and the food distribution channels. Loss of small farms. (9) Genetically modified foods. (10) Shipping food far distances. (11) Obesity. (12) Exploitation of farm laborers. 12/14/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Problems. (1) Some people are obsessed with food. (2) Some people are addicted to food. (3) People use thinking about food to avoid thinking about everything else in life. (4) Some people use thinking about food in the same way some people use thinking about money and power, that is, as an obsession with survival at any cost. 10/17/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Psycho-active foods. Coffee. Tea. Chocolate. At what point does a food become a drug? 4/21/1999 Arts, gastronomy. Psychology of food. (1) Eating and the positive emotions. Eating to celebrate. Eating solely for the pleasure of the taste of food. Eating for enjoyment. Eating for fun. (2) Eating and the negative emotions. Eating to alleviate emotional stress. Eating to alleviate anxiety. Eating to alleviate anger. Eating to alleviate depression. (3) All of the above is not optimal. One should eat for health. One should eat to keep one's mind and body healthy. (see also: Health, food). 1/12/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Psychology of food. Many people over emphasize the emotional connection to food. If a person eats for celebration when they are happy, or eats to get happy, or eats for pleasure, then they may also end up eating to avoid negative emotions like sadness, anxiety, anger, and generally eating to avoid pain. Also, when one eats for entertainment it can also lead to problems like over-eating and the unhealthy eating of junk foods. (2) Many people over emphasize the importance of food. They place too much importance on food. If a person places too much importance on food then they may think only about food and may neglect other areas of their life. 1/22/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Psychology of food. Memory and food. Food is fifty percent about smell and fifty percent about taste. Smell is a sense with strong connections to memory and emotion. Thus, food has strong connections to memory and emotion. People search out foods that they have not eaten in a long time in order to take a trip down memory lane. People search out foods that they have not eaten in a long time in order to feel emotions they have not felt in a long time. Food can trigger memories and emotions from long ago. Even if the food was not particularly good tasting. Memory of food and past food habits stand in contrast to eating new foods and adventurous eating. 5/30/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Quality ingredients (fresh). Proper proportions. Proper preparation. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Quick, easy, tasty, natural, healthy recipes. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Raw. The big question is, cooked or raw? 3/13/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Related areas: Psychology and food. Sociology and food. Economics and food. Politics and food. Environment and food. Science and food. Technology and food. Health and food. Art and food. 5/30/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Science: developing new hybrids. Green revolution: pest and disease resistant, more productive. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Sex, love and food. PART ONE. Sex and food. (1) In prehistoric times, food was traded for sex. (2) Dinner as foreplay. Dinner as prelude to sex. (3) Food as symbolic of sex. Peaches. Melons. Bananas. Bun in the oven. (4) Food used as a sex surrogate. People who eat to release their sexual frustrations. PART TWO. Love and food. (1) People who use cooking as an expression of love. (2) People who use eating as a surrogate for love. (3) People who confuse love and food. (4) Chocolate and love, the neurochemistry of each. 10/17/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Sociology and gastronomy. People eat at expensive restaurants in a quest for social status. 1/1/2006 Arts, gastronomy. Some people mistakenly treat the artistic and entertainment aspects of food as if the enjoyment of food is the most important aspect of food. The art, entertainment and enjoyment of food is not the most important aspect of food. The ethics of food is the most important aspect of food. One should address the problems of food. Genetically modified foods. Corporate agriculture. Junk food. Obesity. Foods that are unhealthy to humans. Foods that are unhealthy for the environment. 12/2/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Taste, smell, texture, looks. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Tastes: spicy, sweet, bland, sour, bitter. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Tastes. Why do some individuals eat one food and not another? Childhood trauma, childhood habits. Fear of experimentation, fear of change, dogmatism. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Techniques. (1) Get ripe ingredients. Not overripe. Not under ripe. (2) Get fresh ingredients. Not sitting on a shelf. (3) Get flavorful ingredients. Ex. organic. (4) Don't over cook. Don't under cook. 3/13/2005 Arts, gastronomy. Technology: tools, techniques (methods), materials (see ingredients). 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Textures: crunchy, chewy, juicy, smooth, creamy, moist. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. The "Grow your own and cook your own." school. 4/21/1999 Arts, gastronomy. The big question is why is food so important to some people? PART ONE. Some people invest a great deal of time, thought and effort in food, and they appear to derive a great deal of joy and pleasure from food. I place little emphasis on food, preferring portability, instant preparation, and no need for utensils. Am I food repressed? Or perhaps they are displacing their psychological needs onto food, using food as an emotional surrogate. Some people seem to be obsessed about the factors of survival, such as food, clothing and shelter, and money, sex and power. PART TWO. Reasons why anyone may pursue anything (using food as an example). (1) No other thoughts occur to them. (2) They think food is as important as anything else. (3) They think only food is fun. (4) Obsession/addiction: Food is like a drug. 4/8/2001 Arts, gastronomy. The change over time in how people eat. (1) A hundred years ago, the meal was a series of dishes or courses. This gradually diminished from nine courses to seven to five to three. (2) Next was the concept of a meal as an "all on one plate", a set of pieces on one plate, for example, meat, grain and vegetable all on one plate. Children are especially concerned that one food not touch another. Also, specific dishes were served at specific times of day, and thus some foods were typically consumed at breakfast, other foods were typically consumed at lunch, and other foods were considered dinner food. (3) Then the concept of a meal as an "all in one pot", for example, chili, stew, goulash. (4) Finally, the concept of a meal as a multitude of ingredients put into a blender. That is the stage we are at today. Smoothies containing a mix of fruit, wheat grass, milk, protein powder, bee pollen, etc. Smoothies can be consumed at any time of day, so there is less of a distinction between breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. (5) In the future people might run an intravenous drip all day instead of eating. Or take a pill to gain nutrients. Or have a patch that releases nutrients. 9/18/2005 Arts, gastronomy. The current US food industry is dominated by a few large corporations that promote the following: Fast food restaurants. TV dinners. Junk food. Snack foods. Too much sugar, fat and salt. Heavily processed. Artificial ingredients. None of it is healthy. All of it is big money. All of it is heavily advertised in television commercials. 10/17/2005 Arts, gastronomy. The incredible variety of mid-day cuisines: The five dollar lunch. The ten dollar lunch. The twenty dollar lunch. 6/4/2001 Arts, gastronomy. The most important issue in gastronomy is famine. How to prevent famine? Amartya Sen is a development economist who argues that most famines are human-caused by political dictatorships that prevent food from reaching the masses of people. The famine in China during the 1960's is an example of famine caused by dictatorship. However, there are also other causes of famine. Economic poverty causes famine when people are unable to buy food. Natural disasters like drought or flood also cause famines. Lack of transportation infrastructure can delay food distribution which can cause a famine. (2) Saying that the most important issue in gastronomy is famine is like saying that the most important issue in architecture is homelessness, or like saying that the most important issue in literature is literacy. It may sound odd, and yet that is what I am saying. 5/14/2007 Arts, gastronomy. Total effect of a meal = total of each dish = total tastes and total textures, plus environment. 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Two factors. (1) Healthy food vs. unhealthy food. (2) Yummy food vs. not yummy food. 4/21/1999 Arts, gastronomy. Vegetarianism. See: Science, ecology.>Vegatarianism. 12/15/2004 Arts, gastronomy. We used to go to supermarkets. Now we go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Its a paradigm shift in the food industry. (1) What's the upside? Healthy, organic food. International foods. High quality foods. Low prices. (2) What's the downside? Supermarkets are unionized, so that supermarket workers get a living wage. However, Trader Joe's and Wholefoods are not unionized, so employees at Trader Joe's and Wholefoods do not get a living wage. A living wage is a wage that let you pay your rent. Its tough to pay the rent when you work at Trader Joe's or Wholefoods. 10/26/2006 Arts, gastronomy. What eat, how eat, and why eat it? 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. Who says some foods are breakfast foods and some foods are dinner foods? These are meaningless, arbitrary, social conventions. 2/28/2004 Arts, gastronomy. Why is gastronomy important? How important is it, and why? 12/30/1992 Arts, gastronomy. World cuisines are cool. Food shops that specialize in multi-ethnic foods are cool. Ethnic foods in supermarkets is cool. Ingredients for cuisines like Carribean, Mexican, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, African, Indian, etc. The global raw materials of gastronomy are available everywhere. The ingredients from around the world are available around the world. However, the transport via air, ship and truck can have a negative environmental impact. 1/19/2004 Arts, general, artist. .This section is about the general nature of artists. Topics include: ( ) Psychology of artist. Neurosis and art. ( ) Sexuality and artist. Bisexuality and art. ( ) Artist and society. Fame and art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, artist. (1) Art is not for neurotics only. Many people who produce art are not neurotic. Many people who consume art are not crazy. (2) Art is not for bisexuals only. Many people who produce art are not bisexuals. Many people who consume are are not bisexuals. (3) Actually, it is perhaps more accurate to say that everyone is a neurotic bisexual, and thus art is for everyone. 8/23/2005 Arts, general, artist. (1) Artist as a neurotic trying to (A) Express himself, or (B) Relieve neurotic tensions, or (C) Heal himself. (2) Artist as a person who thinks he has something to say. (3) Artist as game playing, having fun, seeking and giving aesthetic pleasure. Artist as hedonist. 08/01/1997 Arts, general, artist. (1) It takes ego: To believe in yourself. To assert the will. To create a world. (2) It takes no ego: (A) To renounce everything. To reject everything. To give up the prizes of the system. (B) To observe only. To become your subject. To disappear. (3) This is the paradox of the artist: Plenty of ego and no ego at all. All at the same time. 7/18/2000 Arts, general, artist. (1) One measure of success of an artist. How many people do you reach? How much do you affect each person, emotionally and intellectually? (2) Another measure of artistic success. How true are you to your vision? How much do you work at it? 10/15/2004 Arts, general, artist. (1) People who burned out. (2) People who sold out. 07/29/1988 Arts, general, artist. Art and sex. Many artists make art to create a mythical, imaginary woman with whom they have the imaginary love, sex, friendship relationship they cannot find in real life. As geniuses they cannot find a real woman on their level who reaches the mental ideal they have created. So they create the woman and the relationship in art. They may dedicate the artwork to this woman. They may use this mythical woman as their "muse" for inspiration. 02/07/1989 Arts, general, artist. Artist (producer). Views of artist. (1) Artists view of self, and society's view of artist. (2) Artist as rebel, idealist, romantic, hero, bohemian, decadent, liberal, anarchist, psychologically imbalanced, avante garde. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Artist as neurotic and bisexual? Everyone is neurotic and bisexual. 5/25/2004 Arts, general, artist. Artist as sensitive. This can mean at least two things. (1) The artist has keen senses. The artist senses many perceptions. The artist senses strong perceptions. (2) The artist is emotionally sensitive. The artist feels many emotions. The artist feels strong emotions. 11/23/2004 Arts, general, artist. Artist as slightly mad and therefore financially poor due to social maladjustment leading to poor work record. Artist as financially poor due to lack of patrons and therefore driven mad by grinding poverty. 10/23/1993 Arts, general, artist. Artist as visionary, ahead of the curve. 5/14/2004 Arts, general, artist. Artist defined as a person who is "id controlled" rather than "ego controlled" or "superego controlled". The realm of the id is the unconscious. The artist often works from the unconscious. Consequently, the artist often does not know what he wants. The artist does not know why he feel the way he feels. The artist does not know why he does the things he does. 10/5/2004 Arts, general, artist. Artist's attitudes toward artwork, audience, and artist himself. (1) What should be the attitude of the artist toward the work of art? Some artists care very little about their artwork. Some artists care almost too much about their artwork. (2) What should be the attitude of the artist toward the audience? Some artists care not at all about their audience. Some artists care almost too much about their audience. (3) What should be the attitude of the artist toward him or herself? Some artists do not take care of themselves, and thus perish. Some artists have over-inflated egos, and think too much of themselves. 7/22/2006 Arts, general, artist. Artists as escapist, avoidant, repressed neurotics. Art consumers as leisured neurotics. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Artists may say they want to touch you emotionally, but perhaps their artistic drive comes from an unconscious desire to touch you physically. 02/22/1997 Arts, general, artist. As an artist, a certain part of my job is being different, being an individual, being alone. I bring a new point of view to the group. If you are an oddball, misfit or loner you might be an artist. No one will tell you. You must recognize it. You must declare it. Then go exploring. 4/4/2005 Arts, general, artist. Besides his/her view of the world, and his/her intentions when producing the art, what are the artists conscious or unconscious ideas about art when he creates his art work? What is his/her philosophy of art? 01/01/1993 Arts, general, artist. Bisexual. Art is a matter of emotion and reason. Sensitivity (to environment) and aggression (creativity). Masculine and feminine. This is why your best artists are bi-sexual. Manly women and feminine men. 12/06/1988 Arts, general, artist. Bisexuals make good artists. Aggressive male drive and female sensitivity. Inner sexual conflict and sexually frustrated. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Change and artist. The artist always looks for something new. New ideas. New experiences. Artists are not "Thirty years at the same job" types of people. 4/4/2004 Arts, general, artist. Change and artist. The artist wants change to gain new experiences. Change in relationships. Change in place where live. Change in job. Stasis is for the unthinking. Stasis is for those who dislike progress. The artist wants to grow and develop. 4/8/2004 Arts, general, artist. Creation depends on psychology of artist and materials available. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Creation: exploration, adventure, freedom, rock n roll. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Creativity depends on (1) Pre-philosophy/science ways of experiencing world, which are stronger in youth. (2) Unconscious tensions. Sexual drive sublimated, which is stronger in youth. (3) Intelligence. (4) Hormones: drive, testosterone. (5) It is an aggressive act. (6) It is a sexual act. (7) Energy. (8) Talent. (9) Turmoil, conflict (psychological, social, etc.) makes best art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Creativity. Burnout of the artist due to age. Hormone decrease, and loss of idealism. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Development of artist's (1) Mental abilities. (2) Theoretical knowledge. (3) Technical abilities. (4) Personality and character. (5) Style. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Everyone is an artist. 12/12/1988 Arts, general, artist. Fame and artists. Success ruins artists. Success changes the environment that produced them as artists. (1) Success leads to acceptance of the artist by society. The artist is drawn in from the outside. The artist loses his psychological frame of reference as an outsider. (2) Success also causes a reduction of survival tensions in the artist. Survival tensions are part of what spurs the artist to create. The artist, once mired in poverty, now works from a state of riches. Riches can reduce the artist's creative drive. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Fame. Monetary success and popular fame ruins artists. In search of it they bow down to the society they rejected. 01/07/1989 Arts, general, artist. Four stages the artist goes through. (1) I do not fit in, I am a misfit. (2) I do not have a voice, so I cannot be an artist. (3) Not fitting in makes me unique, which is good. (4) I am finding my voice, and I can be an artist. 10/30/1997 Arts, general, artist. If you are going to be an artist, then you are probably going to be poor. If you are going to buck the system, or criticize the system, or try to improve the system, then you are probably going to be poor. Learn how to deal with being poor. Learn how to deal with sometimes feeling like a failure, even if you are really not. Learn how to deal with social criticism, scorn, mocking, etc. Learn how to deal with living on little money. 6/8/2006 Arts, general, artist. Liberal artists vs. conservative artists. Ex.s Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas vs. Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, T.S. Elliot. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Psychology of artist. The artist is a rebel. The artist wants change. 2/18/2004 Arts, general, artist. Stages of the emotional plunge. (1) I don't feel and don't want to feel. (2) I don't feel but want to feel. (3) I feel. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. The artist creates out of the two great instinctual drives for survival and sex. His two muses are death and women. He seeks catharsis for himself, and thus gives it to others. 03/13/1989 Arts, general, artist. The artist is working from turmoil, trying to achieve catharsis. 12/12/1988 Arts, general, artist. The artist must quickly cover the old truths and propose new truths, in the form of new questions and new answers. 03/10/1989 Arts, general, artist. The artist must understand his own time and place, yet must also transcend his own time and place. This is why many artists are into traveling and studying history. 12/10/1988 Arts, general, artist. The artist uses coffee, cigarettes, to stimulate and free up their unconscious. When the unconscious speaks, all defenses are down. This is why artists are fragile. They try to speak directly from the unconscious. 12/14/1988 Arts, general, artist. The artist, perhaps more so than the average person, confronts each new day as "a new person in a new world". This phenomena has the following effects: (1) It increases the artist's creativity as he or she struggles to come up with new ideas to deal with his or her new situation. (2) It causes a greater degree of confusion and pain in the artist than in the average person. (3) It explains the psychological fragility and instability of the artist. (4) It explains why the artist often appears as a chameleon, ever changing and re-inventing themselves. (5) It explains why the artist often acts as a child, full of wonder and curiosity. 4/6/1999 Arts, general, artist. The great artist gets there first and does the best job. Best technique, best cathartic payoff, and best insights (truthful, complex, subtle). 03/14/1989 Arts, general, artist. The great artist has great passion and great intellect. 01/07/1989 Arts, general, artist. The life and joy of the artist is the assertion of the true self. 09/06/1988 Arts, general, artist. The thing about artists is, willfully or unwillfully, regardless of talent, they lay bare their souls and put out a lot for free. Open, honest, naive, sensitive. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artist. Three definitions or traits of artist. (1) Emotion, rather than reason. (2) Ideas, rather than unthinking (anti-intellectualism) or materialism (find meaning in physical things). (3) Perfection, rather than mediocrity of the bourgeoisie. 06/10/1997 Arts, general, artist. Traits of the artist? (1) Memory wipes out overnight. Everyday is a new day, literally. Must explain the world anew each day. (2) Unsatisfied, disturbed. Easily bored. In a love/hate relationship with the world. Not calm, peaceful, happy, or content. (3) Expressive. Tell the world!. 10/20/1997 Arts, general, artist. Two types of artist. (1) Artist as a rebellious teenager. Goes his or her own way. Won't fit in. Won't accept world as given. Creator of a new world. (2) Artist as conduit or receiver. Sees a world others don't see. Writes or draws what they see. Not creating, just transcribing. Calls it like they see it. 8/26/2000 Arts, general, artist. Two types of artist. (1) Just makes it. Works from the gut. (2) Figures out all their ideas (philosophy), and then makes the work to try to communicate what they have already thought or said. They talk about it, and have ideas on what it is, and why it is good. 04/24/1997 Arts, general, artist. Views of the artist. (1) Artist as valuable member of society. Society accepts and rewards artist. Establishment artists. Versus. (2) Artist as gadfly. Artist as challenge to society. Artist as critic of society. Anti-establishment artists. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, artist. Views of the artist. (1) Artist's worth is not based on the money they make. Artist is a creator of non-monetary value. (2) Artist has courage to think, feel and speak. (3) Artist is ahead of the curve. Artist as prescient. (4) Artist is fine tuned. Artist is sensitive. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, artist. When we say that the artist "creates", we can use that term analogously to mean: (1) The artist wants to have sex. Creating art is either a stand-in for sex, or a functional equivalent to having sex. (2) The artist wants to have kids. The artwork is the (brain) child. (3) The artist wants to be god. The artist as meglo-maniac who sees himself as a god who creates, controls and destroys worlds, characters, events, etc. 3/23/1999 Arts, general, artist. Who is an artist? One view is that everyone is an artist. Another view says that only professional artists, the people who support themselves by making art, only they are artists. Another view says that amateurs are artists. Another view says that if you call yourself an artist then you are an artist. Another view says that if other people call you an artist then you are an artist. That is a lot of different views of who is an artist. I tend to think that everyone is an artist. Everyone thinks or artistically, that is for sure, using a variety of artistic methods including mental images, sounds, music, word games, metaphors, emotions, sensations. Some people express themselves artistically more than other people. 6/15/2007 Arts, general, artwork. .This section is about the general nature of artwork. Topics include: ( ) Copies, authorized. ( ) Forgeries, unauthorized. ( ) When is it art? Conceptual art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, artwork. (1) The idea as art: Conceptual art. (2) The act as art: Performance art. (3) The object as art: Fetishization and commodification of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artwork. A work of art does not have to proclaim its subject as either beautiful or ugly. Nor does a work of art have to proclaim its subject as either good or evil. It can just say, for example, "Notice the flower. Consider the flower. I am describing the flower. I am documenting the flower." A step beyond this is to make a work of art that says, "This is what x means to me.", which goes beyond description to explanation or meaning. Aesthetics (beautiful and ugly) and ethics (good and evil) does not even have to enter the picture. 11/10/2001 Arts, general, artwork. Art as object vs. art as idea. Is the art the object or is the art the idea of the object? One test here is the status of authorized art replicas and unauthorized art forgeries. Your answer will determine how you feel about art-objects vs. art-ideas. 5/29/2000 Arts, general, artwork. Can art be anything? Can anything be art? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artwork. If art can be anything, then anything can be a work of art. If anything can be art, then not-art can be art, and art can be not-art. Heidi, Heidi, Heidi, Heidegger! You could have a painting in an art museum that says "This is not art". 01/01/1993 Arts, general, artwork. Metaphysical status of artwork. (1) Is art just an idea in your head (conceptual art)? (2) Is art the actual object? (A) Are reproductions or duplicates fake? (B) Are forgeries fake? (3) Can a ready-made be art? Is art art just because you say it is? Can anything be art? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artwork. The original vs. the forgery. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, artwork. What is art? One view holds that anything can be art if one says it is art. 01/01/1993 Arts, general, artwork. Work of art. Issues surrounding the concept of a work of art. (1) What is the work of art? (2) Conceptual art. Idea as art. (3) Art objects. Artifacts. (4) Found objects as art. (5) Originals. Signed art. (6) Reproductions. Prints. Authorized copies. Signed copies. (7) Forgery. Unauthorized copies. Forged signatures. (8) Authenticity of artworks. (9) Attribution of unsigned works. (10) Is it art? When is something a work of art? (11) What are the boundaries of a work of art? Where does the "work" begin and end? (12) Audience involvement in the work of art. When the audience becomes part of the work of art then there is no longer any distinction between audience and artwork. (13) Art work as doing or process. Vs. Art work as product or object. (14) Happenings as works of art. 7/23/2004 Arts, general, audience. .This section is about the general nature of arts audiences. Topics include: ( ) Society and art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, audience. (1) Cathartic requirements of individual art producer or consumer. (2) Knowledge requirements of individual. What you know. What you don't know. What you need to know. (3) Problems individual faced with in his/her life. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, audience. A bidding war at the auction house. "I want it.", says one art collector. "No, I want it.", says the other art collector. "I can pay one million dollars.", says one art collector. "I can pay two million dollars.", says the the other art collector. In this case, the artwork has become a plaything of the rich. The artwork has become a way for the rich to exercise their power. 7/22/2006 Arts, general, audience. A persons interpretation of artwork depends on their past history, present mood, environment and heredity, etc. Two people see the same thing two different ways. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, audience. Art by and for different ages, sexes, classes etc. Different people have different psychological needs. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, audience. Audience clapping at the wrong time. Every performer eventually experiences a situation where the audience claps when it should not, and does not clap when it should. For example, sometimes the audience claps when the performance is below average and does not clap when the performance is above average. The performer should not rely completely on audience response. (2) Other examples of the "audience clapping at the wrong time" phenomena. Polite applause can be insincere. Sometimes any reaction, even booing, is good. 2/10/2003 Arts, general, audience. Audience is synonymous with what other terms? Consumers. Collectors. Fans. 7/22/2006 Arts, general, audience. Audience. (1) Each audience has its wants and needs. (2) Each audience has its limits of what it can understand with explanation. Each audience has its limits of what it can understand without explanation. (3) Each audience has its limits of what it will accept. Limits of what it will accept as true as opposed to not believing. Limits of what it will accept as good as opposed to considering taboo. 4/25/2002 Arts, general, audience. Audience. (1) Potential audience for a work. Everyone? Not really. (2) Actual audience for a work. Those who can afford to buy it? Those who have time to read it? Those who can understand it? 3/29/2002 Arts, general, audience. Audience's attitude toward artwork, artist, and audience itself. (1) What should be the attitude of the audience toward the work of art? Some people give too much respect to the work of art, and begin to fetishize the object. Other people give too little respect to works of art, and throw out masterpieces. (2) What should be the attitude of the audience toward the artist? Some people glorify the artist, some people worship the artist. Some people heap their ideals upon the artist, sometimes unfairly. The artist sometimes becomes the target of the audiences hopes and dreams, and other times fear and anger. Other people treat artists like bums or parasites, and thus give too little credit to the artist. (3) What should be the attitude of the audience toward itself? Some people take themselves too seriously. Other people don't take themselves seriously enough. 7/22/2006 Arts, general, audience. Creating audience-specific art. Putting the message in words the audience can understand. 6/7/2004 Arts, general, audience. How much time and energy an audience devotes to art. What kind of art they like and dislike and why. 6/3/2004 Arts, general, audience. Many artists say the same basic thing different ways. Do two artists ever say the exact same thing twice? Will one consumer "get" (understand) an idea or emotion one way and not another? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, audience. Three bad situations. (1) When art becomes merely an investment for the collector, then you should not call it "art" anymore, you should call it "finance". (2) When art becomes merely an object of ownership for the collector, then you should not call it "art" anymore, you should call it "property". (3) When art becomes merely a status symbol for the collector, then you should not all it "art" anymore, you should call it "a trophy" (or "atrophy"). 7/22/2006 Arts, general, audience. Totally preaching vs. totally pleasing (no challenge). Totally obscure vs. totally popular. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. .This section considers principles and methods of composition in the arts. 12/30/2003 Arts, general, composition. .This section is about composition in the arts. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, composition. (1) Synthesis: Welding parts together. Combining ideas. (2) Analysis: Breaking things down into component parts. Disassemble. Unpack. 10/13/2004 Arts, general, composition. A much too calculated method of artistic composition. Pick an audience. Tailor your message to your audience. Speak your audience's language. Talk about things your audience is familiar with. Play to your audience. Kiss up to your audience. That's not art. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, composition. Address important subjects, not the frivolous. Pursue truth, not lies. 10/13/2004 Arts, general, composition. Composition methods. (1) Riffing. Doodling. Brainstorming. vs. (2) Planning the composition. 6/7/2004 Arts, general, composition. Compositional elements. (1) Emotions, tone, mood: hot or cool. (2) Plot. (3) Environment, background, setting. (4) Characters, actors (human and non-human). (5) Events. (6) Structure, form, arrangement, development. (7) Style. (8) Consonance, dissonance. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Compositional elements. (1) Subject, and views on it (theme, point of view of artist). (2) Subject, issue, view, argument, evidence. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Compositional principles. (1) Unity, integration, tied up. (2) Symmetry, harmony, beauty. (3) Variation. (4) Flow, progression. (5) Clarity of message (see communication in general). (6) Concise, economical. (7) Completeness of ideas. (8) Truth: metaphysical, ethical. (9) Accuracy. (10) Power. (11) Consistently high quality. (12) Parts working well, working well together. (13) One bad element, or one bad integration = bad art. (14) Most important ideas on most important subjects. (15) Enjoyable? To who? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Greater technical ability can allow for greater expressiveness. 03/01/1988 Arts, general, composition. Importance of passion in creation of art. Feeling strongly about what you are saying in the work of art. 10/13/2004 Arts, general, composition. Methods. (1) Synthetic method: by elements, by sections. (2) Analytic method. (3) Combo approach. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Compositional problems: can't see, can't feel, can't say. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Compositional technology: materials, tools, techniques. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Fusion heat theory: final work takes total effort. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Fusion heat theory. All your energies must go into the final work of art. Heat to fuse. Fusion Heat. Total conviction. Total power(s). 11/13/1988 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Germ theory of composition: fester, burst, infect. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Great attitudes produce great art. Shit attitudes produce shit art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Inspiration vs. workman's attitude. Free associating vs. meticulous rational searching. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Positioning the head. Get garbage, shit, junk out. Get noble quality in. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Riffing method. Jazz improvisation. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Show the problems: realistic, pessimistic. Show the solutions: idealistic, optimistic. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Summon all the tension and pain you see and feel. Bring it to a fever pitch. Let it burst forth. 07/28/1993 Arts, general, composition. Methods. Toadstools in fog theory of creation. Sometimes you can't see the final goal, you can only see the next toadstool (just hope you don't have to choose between two toadstools). Can't see ahead till you take next step. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. Non-serial composition methods. Any element of the composition, any part of the composition, can occur to the author at any time. The parts of the composition can be thought of by the author in any order. You don't have to create the work in a linear, serial order from beginning to end. 6/7/2004 Arts, general, composition. Tapping into unconscious. Revealing unconscious thoughts and unconscious emotions. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, composition. What are some compositional methods that would apply to the arts in general? What compositional methods apply more to one art than another? (1) Free association. Versus. Logical and systematic exploration of alternative choices. (2) Spontaneous, improvisational. Versus. Preplanned. (3) Mechanical assemblage of modules. Versus. Organic growth. (4) Expand. Versus. Concentrate. (5) Inductive, bottom up. Versus. Deductive, top down. (6) Toward order. Versus. Toward chaos. (7) Toward thought. Versus. Toward emotion. (8) Serial composition. Versus. Parallel composition. 5/21/2006 Arts, general, composition. What are the most important subjects? What are the most important views and attitudes on them? What are the best ways to communicate them? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. What makes art great? How to make great art? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, composition. When inspiration strikes, you have to be ready for it. You can grab it, harness it, and put it to work. It will always escape you. It may or may not come back. 03/01/1988 Arts, general, criticism. .This section is about criticism in the arts. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, general, criticism. .This section is about principles and methods of criticism in the arts. 12/30/2003 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Analysis: describe and explain. (A) What is he saying, and how do you know? (B) What is he trying to say? (C) What does he think he's saying, and how do you know? (D) What the piece says objectively? (E) What the artist meant or was trying to say. (2) Judgment: comparison using ethical values and standards. (A) How great is the message, and how well is he saying it? (B) How good is it? Good art and bad art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Classic: critical acclaim throughout time and place. (2) Dated: time or place bound. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Degree of technical skill. (2) How original, in all elements. (3) How powerful the idea. (4) How true the emotion connected to the idea. (5) Usefulness of the idea. (6) Importance of the idea. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Everyone is a critic. (2) Criticism is a type of thinking not limited to the subject of art. We all do art criticism, and we all do philosophy criticism, and we all do science criticism. We all do criticism of everything. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Interpretation. What does the work of art mean or say? (2) Evaluation. How good or bad is the content or message? Form of expression of message. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Meaning of non-text objects and events. Interpretation. Hermeneutics. (2) What is it saying? What does it mean? What does it remind one of, or call to mind (associative power)? What is its effect on my psychological condition? 12/29/1997 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Personal. (A) Made you think of a new subject or view on a subject. (B) Did same even if that's not what the artwork was about. (C) Like it due to sentimental or personal memory reasons. (D) Truly a great work of art. (E) Applies to problems you have. (F) Appeals to your personality type. (2) Mass. (3) Elite. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Political and legal criticism of art. What are the political and legal views expressed in the work of art? (2) Economic and business criticism of art. What are the economic and business views expressed in the work or art? 1/4/2006 Arts, general, criticism. (1) Should one have critical acclaim or popular acclaim? (2) Should we acclaim for raw natural talent or effort and hard work? (3) Should we acclaim intention or outcome, result? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. (1) What the work of art is better and worse than. (2) What the work of art is like and unlike. (3) Strengths and weaknesses. (4) How could the artwork be improved? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. All audience responses are critical responses. Possible audience responses to a work of art include the following: (1) No response. No reaction. (2) Says, "That was nice." (3) Loved it. Or hated it. No explanation why. (4) Compares the work to other works. (5) Compares the work to their own life. (6) Asks, "What was the author thinking?" (7) Asks, "What is the purpose of it?" (8) Says, "I don't understand it." (9) Either says, "I understand but I don't agree.", or , "I understand and I agree". (10) Either says, "I don't think its important.", or, "I think it is important." (11) Either says, "I don't like it.", or, "I do like it." 6/9/2004 Arts, general, criticism. Artists rated best to worst by (1) Subjects they confront. (2) Views they take of subject. (3) Skills they posses. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Criticism of a work, artist, school, period, area. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Criticism of works of art. (1) What is art criticism? (2) Why do art criticism? (3) Why study art? Everyone is a critic, with an emotional response and intellectual response. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Cutting edge artists vs. repeaters: repeating old ideas or emotions or styles of expressing them. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Degree of originality. From others. From self (your old ideas). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Do we judge a work of art by the artist's intentions or by the results and effects? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Evaluation. Think it's good, and why. Think it's bad, and why. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Genius transcends experience and theoretical knowledge. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Genius. (1) Technical skill. (2) Creative ability. (3) Critical ability (tell good from bad). (4) Quantity. (5) Speed. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. In what way is literary criticism a subset of arts criticism in general? In what way is arts criticism a subset of critical thinking in general? 7/25/2006 Arts, general, criticism. Interpretation. People see what they want to see in a work of art. To confirm their beliefs and ideals. Or to fill their needs, wants, or fears. Art as Rorshach test. 7/2/1998 Arts, general, criticism. Is an artwork good? Depends on individual needs and values, and social needs and values. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Methods of art criticism. (1) Psychological criticism: psychobio, Freudian, Jungian. (2) Historical criticism: artist and work as products of historical situation. (3) Sociological criticism. (4) Marxist criticism: art as by product of economic conditions. (5) Formal criticism: criticism of formal elements in an artwork. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Negative reactions to art. (1) Don't understand it. Don't get it. No clue. (2) Don't like it. (A) Don't agree with the statement. (B) Don't think the subject is important. (C) No visceral reaction. "Doesn't do anything for me". 8/4/2000 Arts, general, criticism. Originality, distinctiveness, truth, power. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Quality of elements, parts, sections, and total. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Shit writers write about the perfect. Perfect writers write about the shit. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Taste: as reflection of psychology or sociology. Like it, and why. Don't like it, and why. Tastes by compositional elements, and by medium. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. Types of art criticism. (1) Psychological criticism. The interplay between the conscious mind and Freudian unconscious mind of the characters. (2) Sociological criticism. Interplay between author and society. Interplay of characters amongst themselves. Interplay of characters amidst the society in which the characters inhabit. Effect of author (or characters) and society on each other, in conflict and in harmony, including political and economics factors. (3) Biological criticism. The development of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary sociology in the last 30 years can be applied to the realm of artistic criticism. The art humans produce is influenced, in part, by the evolutionary development of humans. (4) So, a complete theory of artistic criticism will include the psychological, sociological and biological viewpoints. (5) One should also add environmental, technological, and historical criticism. (6) Environmental criticism will explore the environment of the work of art and the affect of environment on characters. It will also address the effect of environment on author and reader. By environment I mean natural environment or ecological environment. One can thus speak of eco-criticism in the arts. (7) Technological criticism will explore the technological setting of the work and the effect of technology on character, author and reader. (8) Historical criticism will explore the historical setting of the work of art, and the effect of history of characters. It will also explore the history of author and reader. 4/15/2005 Arts, general, criticism. What you say (idea), how you say it (communication). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, criticism. When discussing the meaning of a book, movie or painting, there are several mistakes one can make. (1) The mistake of saying that the work does not mean anything (i.e., nihilism). (2) The mistake of saying that the work means whatever you want it to mean (i.e., extreme relativism). (3) The mistake of saying that words cannot capture the essence of anything, and thus words are meaningless, and thus criticism is meaningless (i.e., language nihilism). 4/15/2005 Arts, general, criticism. When I see x work of art, it reminds me of what other ideas and emotions vs. what the piece itself actually seems to be about what. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. .This section is about related subjects in the arts. Topics include: ( ) Business, economics and art. ( ) Philosophy and art. ( ) Politics, law and art. ( ) Psychology and art. ( ) Sociology and art. ( ) Technology, science and art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, related subjects. Business and art. The art business. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Business and art. The term "music business" is an oxymoron. Music is an art. Business is about money. There is music, and there is business, but there is no music business. "Music business" is a sham. 4/27/2006 Arts, general, related subjects. Economics and art. (1) How many artists an economy supports at any time, and what types. (2) The art market. Supply, demand and prices of works. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Economics and art. Commercial success is not the sole criteria of artistic success. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, related subjects. Economics and art. Resources an individual or society spends on art (ex. time, energy, money). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Economics and art. Some would argue that art is unavoidably related to economics, because when we make and consume art we use up time and energy. Yet the situation of art created in "free time" (i.e., leisure time) and communicated to an audience "for free" (i.e., for no fee) is a situation with which modern economics has a difficult time. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Aesthetically pleasant or offensive. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Aesthetics (see philosophy). Everything has an aesthetic dimension. Everything manmade has a artistic dimension. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Aesthetics, and thus art, reflects the mind and philosophy of the individual maker and partaker. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Epistemology and art. Art is a way of thinking. Art is a way of knowing. Art is an epistemological venture. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Ethical choices on art. How much resources (time, money, effort, materials) to spend on art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Ethics and art. Art can make ethical as well at metaphysical, epistemological, and aesthetic statements. Does all art necessarily make an ethical statement? Does all art production and consumption reflect or imply an ethical value system? 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Ethics and art. Best art for you (what you need most to learn) vs. art you like best (what you like to produce or consume). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Ethics and art. How important is art for you? Objectively and subjectively. How interested you are in producing and consuming art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Ethics and art. Responsibility of artist to self, and to society. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Philosophy and art. Some believe that art is just pure beauty, and not communication, or ethics, etc. They believe in beauty for beauty's sake (like fashion models do) (just like sex for sex's sake, or art for arts sake). But there is much more to life than beauty, or sex, or art, and more important things as well. Problems and ethics take precedence over beauty. 11/30/1996 Arts, general, related subjects. Politics and art. (1) Art censored by law vs. art supported by government. (2) Art to change government. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Politics and art. NEA. The National Endowment on Arts and government funding of the arts. Arguments for and against it. (1) Some say we should not fund art that is obscene or pornographic. I say this objection is bogus. Freedom of expression must rule. Who decides what is obscene or pornographic? Even flag burning should be allowed. However, images or descriptions of child molestation and torture are illegal though. Where to draw the line? (2)(A) Some say we should not have to support any artists if we do not want to. Let them make a living like everyone else. This is a good argument. (B) But then should we even fund science? Should we have an industrial policy? Can free market funded science accomplish more with less money? Can free market funded science handle the coordination and big bucks that huge projects require? I say free market science can not do it all alone. (C) In the same way, should we give incentives to spur small business? Should we engage in corporate welfare? If we support and promote business then we should support and promote the arts. (3) Some say art is dead. It has all been figured out. People will continue to make art, but not in new ways. They may say or communicate different ideas using new technology, but art has been figured out. Novelists, poets, musicians, movies, i.e. all art has been figured out. Philosophy too. They are dead and do not deserve out money. But many say that economics, sociology, and the hard sciences like physics are dead too. I say nothing is dead. 12/30/1996 Arts, general, related subjects. Politics and art. Should the government support the arts? If the government supports science and business, which it does, then it should support the arts. 04/24/1997 Arts, general, related subjects. Politics and art. Two political uses of art. (1) Art used by power abusers (bullies) to unjustly control other people. (2) Art used by the disempowered to regain their power. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, related subjects. Politics and art. When does art end and propaganda begin? Is all art political? Is all art propaganda? 01/01/1993 Arts, general, related subjects. Psychology and art. Art can change your emotions, ideas and attitudes. Art can bring new emotions, ideas and attitudes. (See also: Psychology, emotional development. Teen years? Rock?). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Psychology and art. Psychology of (1) Artists in general, specific artist, specific work of art. (2) Audiences in general, specific audience, specific works for specific audiences. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Psychology and art. Rational knowledge is gained through philosophy and science. Emotional knowledge is gained through art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Psychology and art. Unconscious and conscious causes and effects of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Religion and art. Replacement of god and religion by artist and art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Sociology and art. A society's views on art in general. A society's views on specific arts, artists, works of art. A societies consumption of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Sociology and art. How interested an individual or society is in art and why. How important art is to and individual or society. How much resources an individual or society spends on art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Sociology and art. Place of art in a culture. Value put on art production and consumption. Style of art in a culture. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Sociology and art. Status of artist in a society. Accepted and praised vs. scorned and rejected. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, related subjects. Technology and art. (1) All direct and associated tools of expression. (2) New technologies (tools and techniques) yield new art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, related subjects. Technology and art. The difference between a great invention and a great work of art is not as great as you think. 04/01/1988 Arts, general, what. .This section is about what is art. Topics include: ( ) Thoughts contra art. ( ) Thoughts pro art. ( ) Psychology and art. Emotion and art. Drive and art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general, what. (1) Art as story (narrative) of human experiences. (2) Art as problem and solution. 12/01/1994 Arts, general, what. (1) Art is how many ways can you say the same thing. (2) Art is life condensed, concentrated, distilled. (3) Art is shorthand or epigram for philosophy. (4) Art organizes not logically but by perspective? (5) Art is candy coated truth for kids. Sugary, sweetened cereal. (6) Art as beauty. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. All art is propaganda for ideas. The function of the artist is to take an idea and concretize it. 11/12/1988 Arts, general, what. Art addresses a specific time and place, and thus a specific state of mind. 4/15/2005 Arts, general, what. Art as (1) Way of thinking. (2) Way of communicating. (3) Subject matter: beauty, emotion. 01/01/1993 Arts, general, what. Art as distilled or condensed life. 08/14/1994 Arts, general, what. Art as mental idea vs. physical object. 02/01/1994 Arts, general, what. Art as statement. (semiotics, communication). At what point does communication become art and visa versa? All art is propaganda. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Art distilled like liquor. Art condensed like soup. Art concentrated like orange juice. 4/20/2005 Arts, general, what. Art is a form of communication. Art communicates through thought and emotion. (1) Thought or ideas. Subject, view, arguments, evidence. Philosophical statements (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics) implicitly or indirectly stated vs. explicit or directly stated. (2) Emotion, feeling. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Art is a rhetorical device. An artwork is comprised of an intellectual argument combined with an emotional appeal. 12/28/2006 Arts, general, what. Art is an information management system. 5/24/2006 Arts, general, what. Art is for dealing with the emotions through reason, for catharsis and enjoyment, for self and others. 03/13/1989 Arts, general, what. Art is for the dim, weak, neurotic. The art neurotic uses art to avoid and escape problems. Uses art to replace sex and like/love. Art is made by neurotics and used by neurotics. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Art is one of the ways of experiencing the world (magic/myth/religion, art, philosophy, science). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Attitude. Art is attitude. Attitude is reason plus emotion. Academia, philosophy, and science are pure reason. Music is pure emotion. 01/01/1993 Arts, general, what. Dreams and art. People dream every night, and everyday people think and talk about their dreams from the previous night. Art is similar to dreams in two ways. Firstly, art is a hazy, fuzzy world of symbolism, metaphor, non-sequitor and illogic, much like the dream world. Secondly, many works of art are attempts to describe dreams. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, what. Drive. Art and sex are similar. Interest leads to tension, leads to climax, leads to resolution. 12/30/1996 Arts, general, what. Drive. Art deals just as much with urges (drives) as it does with emotion. Art expresses urges. Art does not just talk about urges like scientists do. 9/1/2000 Arts, general, what. Drive. Art is an outlet for excessive libidinal energies. That is why people are more artistic when they are young, and it fades with age. That is also one reason why repressed and unsatiated homoerotic types tend to become artists. 12/27/1988 Arts, general, what. Emotion. Art is an emotional reminder. Art is an emotional workout. Art is emotional learning, emotional knowledge, emotional development. Art is emotional catharsis. Art is emotional health. 08/17/1997 Arts, general, what. Emotions and art. The argument: Emotions are just as important to being human as is reason. Therefore, art, which deals with emotions, is just as important as philosophy and science, which deal with reason. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, what. Graffiti. All art, in a way, is a type of graffiti. A way to say "I was here". And this is very similar to the ways animals use scent marking. 2/26/2000 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. (1) Art, all forms of art, is played out. (2) Art is a form of escape, avoidance, repression. (3) Art is a slow, unorganized, inefficient, way to learn. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. (1) Arts as inaccurate false lies. (2) Arts as avoidance or escape from reality. 3/20/2001 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. A very negative view. Anyone who believes in writing or reading novels, or literary NY, or the power of architecture, dance, music (classical or rock), or love, is a fool. I used to call myself an artist. Ha! There is only health, age, growth and decay. Work and money to stay alive. To solve problems. 06/30/1996 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. Art is a kiss-ass, political business. The youngsters first seek the approval of the oldsters, then they seek to oust them. It is surprising how social the artists are. 3/14/2000 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. Art is a sub-optimal method of communication. Why go (1) Philosophy encoded into art (art creation), and then (2) Art decoded into philosophy (art audience)? Decoding may not take place, or it may be decoded wrong. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. Art relies on analogy, metaphor, symbolism, subjectivism and other sub-optimal and neurotic ways of thinking. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts contra art. Contra art arguments. (1) All art is an illusion, a distortion of reality. (2) Art as deception: a false view of world. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. (1) Art serves as reminder of important ideas. (2) Art helps you learn important ideas. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Art helps improve your mood. Art can let you control your mood. (1) Get motivated, inspired, get hope, direction. (2) Calm down or get psyched up. (3) Rock blues away. (4) Blow off anger, get angry at injustice, rebel. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Art is cathartic, and thus healthy. Art is therapeutic and helps reduce or avoid repression by confronting feelings and problems. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Create an environment. Pleasant and healthy. Soothe senses. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Get, record, and keep attitudes. Develop mind. Character, personality. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Good for people who think mostly intuitively. Provides a model. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Many people learn faster and remember longer when there is an emotional component to the information they are absorbing. Art is information with an emotional component. Thus art is a good way to learn. 10/28/2001 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Some people need candy coated learning. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Thoughts pro art. Some people's mind work artistically and they can only learn through art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, what. Three views of art. (1) Art as beauty. (2) Art as non-fact (opposite of non-fiction). (3) Art as entertainment and information together. 01/06/1997 Arts, general, what. Unconscious and art. Much art bubbles up from the unconscious. Artists have more access to their subconscious than the average person. Artists spend much time in a twilight state between consciousness and subconsciousness, call it reverie, call it meditation, call it day dreaming. 10/15/2004 Arts, general, why. .This section is about why the arts. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, general, why. (1) To educate, teach, learn, enlighten. (2) For knowledge of ideas and emotions. (3) To entertain. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. (1) To move from art to organized philosophy and science (thought and reason). (2) To move from art to action. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. Art as a form of second hand experience. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. Art therapy: for psychological health. Figure out what we should have done. Figure out what should have been. Figure out what others should have done. Figure out what to do. Figure out how to look at something (attitude). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. For catharsis: blow off emotions present. Conscious or unconscious expression of consciously or unconsciously felt negative or positive emotions. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. For catharsis: blowing off tensions. Unconscious: when you don't know you are tense or what the problem, cause, or solution was. Conscious: when you do know above. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. Importance of the arts. The arts are important because they help us develop emotional knowledge. Emotional knowledge is important because the mind works by using all its parts together (memory, emotions, thinking), and if one area is underdeveloped it affects the other areas and subsequently our mind as a whole. 12/29/1997 Arts, general, why. Improve your environment. Your internal environment (mind). Your external environment (where you live). 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. Man is an artistic animal. Man creates art naturally. Some people created great ideas in the form of art. These great ideas in art need to be found. People should be told to develop great ideas in philosophy/science form, not art form. Some people can only create great ideas through art. Some people can only understand ideas through art. Some people waste whole lives narrowly in art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. People make art naturally. It is proto-reasoning. People tell stories naturally (he said, she said, he did, she did). People think in images, and in poetry. 03/20/1997 Arts, general, why. Political art. Art created to express political views. Art, like everything else, is unavoidably political. 4/27/2006 Arts, general, why. The purpose of art is to show you something (1) New, and (2) Shocking and disturbing, in order to challenge your ideas and values. It doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to be true. Anything perceptually different will do. 12/30/1995 Arts, general, why. The purpose or function of art is to take us outside ourselves, and to experience things you (or anyone) could never experience. 05/22/1993 Arts, general, why. There is a period in the late teens when you are beginning to realize things, especially emotions, but the concepts are not working yet, when the easiest way to express things is through art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. To confront or solve problems vs. to avoid and escape problems. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. To make you imagine experiences that you never experienced. Feel emotions that you never felt, or re-feel ones you have felt. Feel for subject, feel for an idea. Art keeps us in touch with our emotions. Education about feelings. 12/30/1992 Arts, general, why. Why art? To allude to the elusive. 12/20/1998 Arts, general, why. Why art? (purposes, functions, importance). Why do we produce art? Why do we consume art? Why do we study art? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. .Introduction or summary. (1) Epistemology and art. Truth of art. (2) Ethics and art. (3) Emotion and art. (4) Personality and taste. (5) Art as communication. (6) Art as information. 9/5/1998 Arts, general. .This section is about other various topics in the arts. Topics include: ( ) Art vs. non-art. ( ) Art vs. reality. ( ) Art as virtual reality. ( ) Art as underrated. ( ) Art, philosophy and science. ( ) Classification of arts. ( ) Good art and bad art. ( ) Intention vs. accident. ( ) Style and art. 1/24/2006 Arts, general. "About" the arts. Reference in the arts. (1) A painting does not have to be "about" anything; it can just be having fun with paint. (2) Similarly, a work of literature does not have to be "about" anything; it can just be having fun with words. That notion seems less convincing somehow. (3) A work of music does not have to be "about" anything. Indeed, a work of music cannot be "about" anything, because music is comprised of musical notes which refer to no other thing. 3/5/2007 Arts, general. (1) Any work of art that attempts to approach life must approach life from every one of the branches of knowledge. It would be epic. (2) The artist must break everything down (analyze), and then put it all back together again (synthesize), and still keep the patient alive. (3) As an artist, deal only with the most basic questions. (4) All art is basically a philosophical dilemma. How do you see the world. 12/14/1988 Arts, general. (1) Art and memory. (A) Art and long term memory. Example, Proust. (B) Art and short term memory. Example, Kerouac. (3) Art and imagination. Example, Science fiction and fantasy. 12/28/1998 Arts, general. (1) Art as a mode of "experiencing, thinking, or minding" as opposed to the other modes such as religion (myth, magic), philosophy and science. (2) Art as a mode of communicating. As opposed to other modes of communicating such as those that are unemotional, exact, literal and formal. 10/5/2000 Arts, general. (1) Art does not have to be easy to understand. (2) Art does not have to be pretty. (3) Art does not have to communicate answers. It can provoke questions. (4) Shock value is okay. 10/30/1997 Arts, general. (1) Art is a way of "minding". Art is a way of "minding" not only with words but also with images and sounds, that is, "minding" with any sensory input and any sensory output. Art as a way of "minding" not only with reason but also with emotion. (2) Art is a way of communicating. Art is a way of reporting one's thoughts, emotions, and attitudes to others. Art is a way of trying to persuade others. Less didactically, art can be a way of sharing one's thoughts and feelings with others, without trying to persuade others. 3/22/2007 Arts, general. (1) Art is not supposed to make sense. If it made sense then we could just express it in a mathematical formula. (2) Art is not supposed to be recognizable. Especially at first viewing, we are supposed to say, "I do not know what that is. I do not understand." If you understood it at first glance then it would not be telling you anything that you do not already know. 7/31/2001 Arts, general. (1) Art that is avante garde, on the cutting edge, prophetic, visionary, is not going to be popular with the masses. It will be understood by very few, or the artist alone. This is because it will be the future, and many people have trouble understanding even the present and past, let alone the future. Most people like mediocre crap garbage. 90% of everything is garbage. It is hard to see the future. It must be intuited or else reasoned from the present and predicted accurately. (2) It is a mistake to think that just because no one likes your work then it is good. Few people like really good art. Few people like really bad art. If no one likes your work, it could be good or bad. Most people like mediocre art. 10/17/1988 Arts, general. (1) Art vs. nature. I.e., art as artificial. (2) Art vs. science. I.e., art as inexact, alluding, figurative, heuristic vs. science as formal, literal and algorithmic. (3) Art vs. the ugly. I.e., art as aesthetic beauty. (4) Art vs. the ordinary. I.e., art as extraordinary, art as special. 10/5/2000 Arts, general. (1) Arthur Danto's End of Art thesis strikes me as vain, "We figured it all out. After us, nothing more." Or macho, "You started, we finished it." Maybe Danto was talking only about paint on canvas. (2) As technology changes, art changes. As society and the world changes, art changes. 1/25/1998 Arts, general. (1) Everyone is an artist. I.e., everyone is an art producer. (2) Everyone is an audience. I.e., everyone is an art consumer. 6/3/2004 Arts, general. (1) For every critically acclaimed Top 100 rock artists, there are at least a thousand earnest, hardworking also-rans who eke out a living, and ten thousand keening wanna-be's. (2) For every Top 1000 rock artists, there are ten thousand also-rans who eke out a living, and a hundred thousand wanna-be's. (3) Haven't you seen the American Idol auditions? (4) And so it is also with writing, visual arts, comedy, movies, and any field of endeavor, really. 6/7/2006 Arts, general. (1) In the visual arts we do not "write" or "say", rather we "depict". (2) In literature and the visual arts we do not write or depict emotions, rather we invoke emotions or allude to emotions. (3) Writing about the emotion anger is not the same as writing something that makes the reader angry. (4) If a society's writing system is based on pictograms (ex. Chinese) and an individual composes a letter using pictograms, is that individual writing or drawing? And at that level, what is the difference between literature (writing) and the visual arts (drawing)? There is no difference. (5) All words have symbolic and non-symbolic content. All pictures have symbolic and non-symbolic content. 10/28/2001 Arts, general. (1) Optimistic vs. pessimistic art does not depend on the subject matter. You can have pessimistic art about flowers, kids, etc. You can have optimistic art about crime, drugs, that is, uplifting sentiments about our ability to overcome these problems. (2) Then there is also the case of real art vs. bullshit art. Real art is honest and true. Bullshit art is lies and half truths. (3) It is tough to tell whether a work of art is optimistic or pessimistic, and real or bullshit. 04/15/1997 Arts, general. (1) Pro art. (A) Art taps the unconscious and helps us identify, work out, and resolve issues. (B) Art relieves stress. Art as healthy, healing, and expressive catharsis. (C) Aesthetic dimension as unavoidable. Everything has an aesthetic side which we can and should appreciate. Art as natural and unavoidable. Man makes art naturally. (2) Contra art. (A) Art is dead. In the 20th century, all arts have been worked out. (B) Art is a joke. Art is bullshit. Art is inferior. (C) Art is just a way for neurotics to think and communicate (send and receive) ideas. (D) Art is a code for clubs and cliques to separate themselves from others and feel superior. 07/05/1997 Arts, general. (1) Pure, simple, boring arts: (A) Sight: image, picture. (B) Hearing: sound, music. (C) Word: the spoken symbol, the written symbol. Literature is not a sense oriented art. The sights and sounds it evokes are more mental, like when you talk about a sunset or birds song. (D) Touch, smell, and taste are senses lacking in strong arts. (2) Complex and interesting arts. (A) Performance art: The artist is the object or actor, and the audience is an active participant. (B) Installation art: The whole room as artwork. Creating an artistic environment. (C) Conceptual art: Just come up with the idea. You don't have to make it. (D) Multimedia art: How about a dark, warm, moist, foggy, seaside at night room? (E) Computer art: fractals, etc. 06/30/1997 Arts, general. (1) The best effect art can have is that the person who consumes it says, "It had a big impact on me. It changed the way I saw the world. It changed the way I thought about life. It changed the way I saw myself. It changed me. Nothing was the same ever again after it." Great art rearranges your brain. (2) Art is dangerous. After great art we are no longer innocent. That is why people fear and avoid it. 5/20/1998 Arts, general. (1) The view of art as communication can be challenged by the example of people who create art but who never show it to anyone else. This is a large group of artists. One could argue that these people are using art to communicate between their past and future self. (2) The view of art as communication between past and future self can be challenged by the example of people who create art and then never look at it again. This is a large group of artists. One could argue that these people are using art for momentary communication with their present self. (3) This leaves a view of art as communication with present self. The creation of the work of art is essentially the creation of another being with whom to converse. The work of art is a "dummy" that we talk to. Works of art involve the creation of a second self with whom we can communicate. 2/23/2001 Arts, general. (1) What action is not artistic? What product is not art? (2) Art imbues life just like economics, politics and technology imbue life. Just like physicality and psychology (mind) imbue life. (3) Everything is art. Everyone is an artist. Art is everywhere. 10/5/2000 Arts, general. (1) What do all the arts have in common? (2) What are the similarities and differences among literature, music and visual arts? 2/12/2004 Arts, general. A new online form of art is evolving: still photos with subtitles. You set the photos to load in the browser automatically. You set the time interval for when the photo changes. The whole idea is to compose the shots like a movie director. This form of art has similarities to movie storyboards and comic strips. But it will be photos instead of drawings. And it will use less bandwidth and load faster than full motion audio/video. 1/5/2001 Arts, general. A step beyond symbolism: Everything says something. Everything has a voice. Saying different things to different people. 7/16/2000 Arts, general. A unified art theory describes relationships of artist (producers), work of art, and audience (consumers). 12/30/1992 Arts, general. A view of art. Art is primarily about sense, emotion and narrative. Art is not primarily about reason nor abstraction. Yet we have thoughtful art and abstract art. 3/29/2002 Arts, general. All fiction, that is, all written fiction and all movies, is just an attempt to draw you a picture. It is the "hand puppet" method of learning about life. 3/18/2000 Arts, general. All of the arts have been worked out, mined out. They still are important, we just have figured it all out. They are not worthless, just no frontier left. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. All the arts are "another way of saying". All the arts are "in other words". 5/25/2000 Arts, general. All writing, all art, is a trade off between chaos/freedom and order/control. 9/12/1999 Arts, general. An art project. Art about problems. Using the arts of literature, visual art, music and movies, to create works of art that address various problems in the following areas: political problems, economic problems, environmental problems, psychological problems, health problems, etc. 5/12/2005 Arts, general. Another problem with the arts is that some people rely too much on artistic modes of thought, and thus fail to develop their philosophical and scientific modes of thinking. Many artists and art consumers become specialized and unbalanced when they rely too much on senses and emotions, and when they fail to develop reason and logic. 5/29/2007 Arts, general. Any and every work of art says, "This subject, and this view of this subject, is important, worthwhile and valuable.", by dint of the artist's time and effort, and by dint of the audience's time and effort. 10/19/2005 Arts, general. Arguments for art. (1) Arts as unique from philosophy and science. The arts as a unique way of thinking. The arts as a unique way of communicating. (2) Art is ubiquitous. People never stop making art. Art is everywhere. 11/24/2003 Arts, general. Around the artist buzzes the art critic, the art historian and the art theorist. Are they bees or flies? Perhaps the answer depends on whether the artist has created a beautiful work of art or a piece of garbage. 2/27/2001 Arts, general. Art about. (1) Real world. (2) Ideal world. (A) Ideal imaginable. (B) Ideal possible on earth. (C) Ideal possible in your life. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art affects the emotions via the senses. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art and advertising. When does art end and advertising, packaging and promotion begin? 08/24/1994 Arts, general. Art as (1) Personal statement: this way for me. (2) General statement: this way for all of us. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art as fiction? Some people try to define art as fiction. However, there are several problems with the definition of art as fiction. (1) Literature is often fiction. That seems unproblematic. (2) Music, however, is not a matter of fiction. There is no issue of fiction nor non-fiction involved in music. (3) Visual arts may or may not be fiction, depending on the style of art. Abstract art is not an issue of fiction and non-fiction. Narrative representational art may present issues of fiction and non-fiction. 6/19/2006 Arts, general. Art as virtual reality. There is a view that movies killed the theater. There is a view that movies killed the novel. However, there is also a view that video games killed the movies, or at least maimed the movies. Video games are more interactive than movies. Video games are more compelling than movies. It is all a movement toward virtual reality. The arts are a form of virtual reality. A new form of art more realistic than video games will appear in the future. 1/1/2007 Arts, general. Art begets art. Inspiration and spur. 7/31/1999 Arts, general. Art can be defined as a combination of entertainment and information. Art is seen as rising above mere entertainment. Art is also seen as doing more than merely informing. (2)(A) Can anything be mere entertainment alone? Does not all entertainment inform in some way? (B) Can anything be mere information alone? Most people read the newspaper as a form of entertainment, enjoyment and leisure. 1/18/2004 Arts, general. Art inspires by reminding us of our highest most noble ideals, dreams and hopes. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art is a realm where unintended results, vagueness and ambiguity are perfectly fine. 12/20/1998 Arts, general. Art is better than life. 6/23/2006 Arts, general. Art is close to Zen in that it deals with: (1) The invisible. (2) The unsayable. (3) The ineffable. 8/26/2000 Arts, general. Art is more comedy than tragedy. People like to see happy endings. Life is more tragedy than comedy. Things don't always end up like they do in the movies. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art is not just a means of communicating, it is also a way of thinking. Some people are more sensually oriented (visually, aurally, tactilely, orally, odorously), and less oriented to abstract ideas. Some people are more associative in their thinking, and less linear or logical in their thinking. Is this due to the left/right brain split? Are women more artistic than men? Is one way of thinking better than another? Does one way of thinking predispose artists to mental illness? Is one way of thinking more mature than another? Is artistic thinking a phase we go through in our teens on our way to abstract thinking? Are artists people who get stuck in an adolescent mode of thinking? Are artists more emotional as well as sensual? Is artistic thinking a phase mankind went through, and now is beyond or above? Or is art a subject matter, rather than a way of thinking or a way of communicating, that deals with the phenomenological beauty of things like landscapes, portraits, or that deals with emotional topics, like love etc., that we can not get a full understanding of from science or even philosophy? 08/24/1994 Arts, general. Art is pulling something out of your hat. There is something magical about art. 2/18/2000 Arts, general. Art is tapping the unconscious and having it somehow make sense. Just like dreams. Art as dream. Artist as dreamer. 6/29/1998 Arts, general. Art is unavoidably related to ethics. Art is unavoidably political. Art is unavoidably technological, or related to technology, even if only the technology of language. There is no such thing as art removed from ethics, politics and technology. There is no "art for arts sake". 10/15/2004 Arts, general. Art is under-rated today. We study math, computers and science in school because they are easily quantified and that makes grading papers easy. Art is more subjective, and less easy to grade, and less easy to build an educational system around. As a result, less attention is paid to art in school. However, that does not mean art is less important than math and science in life. Math and science are ideal ways of thinking to which we aspire, but people spend much more time in artistic states of mind, using sense data, metaphorical thinking, dreams states, etc. Our everyday thinking is more artistic than scientific. 10/15/2001 Arts, general. Art is under-rated. (1) Art is a way of thinking, or understanding, or "minding". It is concrete, not abstract. It is narrative (linear). It is emotional. It is sensorial (pictorial, even if creating pictures with words or music). (2) You cannot understand the human mind without understanding art. Logic is an ideal to which we aspire. Most of us spend most of our time in art states (ex. using analogy, emotions, etc.). 3/3/2001 Arts, general. Art metaphors. All good art transports the viewer. All good art is a trip. All good art takes you someplace. 8/6/2000 Arts, general. Art presents a big picture. Art is a synthesis. A systematic overview. 8/20/2006 Arts, general. Art rating system. The food metaphor. (1) Great art is nutritious and delicious. It tastes good and is good for you. (2) Workmanlike art is nutritious. (3) Worthless art has no nutritional value. It is empty calories, it is junk food. (4) Bad art, crap, is poisonous. Bad art has negative value. 08/14/1994 Arts, general. Art to (1) Enlighten vs. entertain. (2) Enlighten vs. delude. (3) Call to action vs. mollify. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art vs. entertainment. Art vs. the purely practical, useful, and functional. 08/04/1993 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. PART ONE. The distinction between art-objects and non-art-objects is not clear and distinct. Art-objects and non-art-objects can both be beautiful. Art-objects and non-art-objects can both be symbolic and have meaning. Examples of non-art-objects: (A) Expensive. (B) Finely crafted. Skillfully constructed. (C) Expensive and finely crafted and useful. Example, a car or a yacht. (D) Finely designed for beauty. Example, Shaker furniture. (E) Finely designed for functionality. PART TWO. The distinction of custom-made objects vs. mass-produced objects is a fuzzy line. (A) We usually consider the art-object to be custom-made. However, some mass-produced objects are considered to be works of art, for example, limited edition art prints created by the means of mass production are often sold as art. Warhol is an example of an artist who used techniques of mass production to create art (an art that commented on consumer society). (B) Mass-produced objects are often customized by their owners and then considered to be art by some. An example of this is hot-rod cars. (C) Some custom-made objects are not considered to be art. Example, low quality home-made kitsch. Some mass-produced objects are considered to be art. For example, Wedgewood ceramics. (D) Today, computers allow a phenomenon known as mass-customization which allows the mass production of customized objects, and this further blurs the line between custom-made objects and mass-produced objects. PART THREE. Definitions of mass production. (A) Mass production can mean totally machine-made as opposed to totally man-made or hand-made. Or. (B) Mass production can mean each item is the same as the next, even if it is man-made or hand-made. Or. (C) Mass production can mean produced in high quantity, which can affect rarity, which can affect value. PART FOUR. Rarity is another factor. A beautiful machine-produced item of which there were once millions and which there are now only a few, acquires an aura of art. Not only has the object's monetary value increased but the artistic value somehow increases as well. 5/29/2000 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. The line between art and non-art has vanished. Thus, there is no art today, just good and bad quality stuff. 1/6/1997 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. There is no clear division between the arts and science, business, politics, philosophy, etc. (1) There is an art (skill) to everything. Intuitive and heuristic, not exact or algorithmic. (2) There is an aesthetic aspect to everything. For example, even math proofs are sometimes called beautiful. (3) There is an emotional aspect to everything. (4) Therefore, either the arts don't exist, or else everything is art. 4/22/1999 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. There is no clear line between art and non-art. (1) Creativity. There is a creative aspect to everything, not just art. It is a mistake to say that science, business and politics are not creative. (2) Unconscious. There is an unconscious aspect to everything. It is a mistake to say that only artists work from the unconscious. (3) Emotions. There is an emotional component to everything. It is a mistake, for example, to say that science is unemotional. (4) Aesthetics. There is an aesthetic component to everything. It is a mistake to call science, business and politics unaesthetic. (5) Fuzziness. There is a fuzzy aspect to everything. It is a mistake, for example, to say that art is fuzzy and that science is exact. 1/7/2000 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. There is no clear line between art and non-art. (1) Objects. There is no clear line between art-objects and non-art-objects such as kitsch or trash. (2) Activities. There is no clear line between art-activities and other activities such as science, business and politics. (3) Attitudes. There is no firm line between art-attitudes and other attitudes. (4) People. There is no clear line between artists and other people. 1/7/2000 Arts, general. Art vs. non-art. There is no clear-cut distinction between art and non-art. And there is no clear-cut distinction between the various arts. We create these artificial categories for our own simplifications. There is just people doing stuff. 2/28/2002 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. (1) Criticisms of movies, and by extension all arts. (A) The movies (and all the arts) are fake, phony, artificial, and often used instead of the real experiences of real life in the real world. (2) Counter-arguments to criticisms of movies: (A) Some thing's you don't want to experience because they stink, but you need to know about them, so thus movies. (B) Some thing's you will never experience because only a lucky few do, but you can vicariously through movies. Most people's lives are boring. (C) The movies (and all arts) encourage and inspire people to live authentically just as much as movies pacify people into vegetative states. (D) To the extent that the arts fail, the problem is not so much with art, but with poorly made, low quality art. 3/20/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. How close do movies come to actually experiencing something for yourself? How would a life spent watching movies, with little personal experience, compare to a life full of personal experience with little movie watching? Can you live a real life just by watching movies (or consuming any type of art)? Can you live a real life just by making movies (or producing any type of art)? Is art a poor substitute for real life, or is real life a poor substitute for art? I guess the best would be to live a life full of personal experiences and then create art and consume art. That is, have both. One cannot substitute, replace, or make up for the other. You need both. However, there are extremists, both pro-art and anti-art, who would deny the need for one or the other. Pro-art extremists who say personal experience is not important. Anti-art extremists who say art is not important. 8/26/2000 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. I prefer experiences in the real world to art. Art I view as a type of virtual reality or modeling whose main benefit is being quick and easy and helps you avoid dangerous situations and learning the hard way. 4/13/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. Not only are we all artists, we are all constantly making art whenever we think (or "mind" or "mentalize"). (1) Even when we decide to tell a story that is "all true" we must make a decision about what facts to include and exclude. (2) Even a work of art can purport to be a depiction of "only the facts". An example of this is a battlefield painting in the realist style. (3) Our minds are constantly engaged in flights of fancy and fiction which stem from our desires for wish fulfillment and our fears and trepidations. 7/14/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. PART ONE. Its not a case of art vs. real life. Its a case of art and real life. Art and real life inform each other. Each one helps the other. We need both art and real life. Our firsthand experiences of real life inform our understanding of art. Our exposure to art informs our firsthand experiences of real life. They build each other. PART TWO. As an example of the above view, consider three cases: (1) Reading about love between characters in any work of art (ex. literature, visual arts, movies, etc.). (2) Falling in love with a character from a work of art. (3) Falling in love in real life. (4) Each one helps the other. 7/25/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. The arts are artificial, fake, lies, not real. The argument is that the arts give a distorted view of reality. Take, for example, the movies. Many people who grow up on movies mistakenly think that the movies portray reality. The question is whether any art, or even any man-made thing, can accurately portray reality. Some say no, some say yes. Then again, who really knows what reality is. Some would argue that no human being can accurately perceive reality, let alone communicate reality in a work of art. 9/28/2000 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. Two cases that blur the distinction between art and reality. (1) Someone tells a story (their version) of something they saw, and claims that is what actually happened. That's art. (2) Someone makes up a fictitious story by welding together actual episodes from their own life. That's art. (3) Thus, art and reality are intertwined and it is very difficult to separate them. You cannot talk about art and reality as two different things. 7/14/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. Virtual reality and art. Art is a what-if scenario. Art is practice, play, a test situation. 7/25/2001 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. Virtual reality and art. Movies are a type of virtual reality. In fact, the development of the arts like literature, music and the visual arts, and their subsequent combination in recent art forms like the movies, are really just a phase in the development of virtual reality, to be followed in the near future by computer simulation suits. The arts are a type of virtual reality. Virtual reality is a type of role playing, a type of case study, a type of hypothetical, a type of possible world, a type of game playing. 7/3/1999 Arts, general. Art vs. reality. Virtual reality and art. Progression of art and entertainment based on technology. Each out-placing the next. (1) Tell. Oral tradition. Uses language. (2) Act. Theater. Uses stages and costumes. (3) Novel. 1800s. Due to affordable printing. (4) Movies and television. 1900s. Uses cameras. (5) Interactive virtual reality. 2000. Combines movie and video game technology. Uses computers and Internet. 4/28/1998 Arts, general. Art, a broad definition. (1) Everyone is an artist. (A) Everyone senses, feels and thinks. (B) Everyone communicates, mostly using non-formal languages. (C) Everyone is neurotic and bisexual. (2) Everything is art. (A) All man made objects have an aesthetic quality. (B) All natural objects have an aesthetic quality. (3) Nothing is art only. Things are only art in part. Everything is art among other things. (4) No one is an artist only. Everyone is only an artist in part. Everyone is an artist among other things. 10/19/2005 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. Ideas and attitudes often come out first in art, and then are refined into philosophy, science, etc. From dream to reality. From fuzzy to sharp. Both on a personal level and on a societal level. 02/28/1998 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. In what cases is it quicker to learn about something through art vs. through philosophy and science? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. Most ideas and attitudes (emotions plus ideas) develop first as hazy, fragile notions in the minds of artists. Later, philosophers and scientists firm them up. 2/23/2001 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. Philosophers and psychologists are beginning to acknowledge that the emotions are an important mental component. The arts are a primary way that humans process emotion. Thus, the arts are as important as philosophy and science. 10/28/2001 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. Team science is common these days. Team art should be also. Many feel the age of the individual scientist is past. So too perhaps is the age of the individual artist. 8/6/2001 Arts, general. Art, philosophy and science. The philosophy of science uses the phrase "Context of discovery" to describe the creation of an idea. The phrase "Context of justification" is used to describe whether to accept an idea. In the arts, there is also a "Context of discovery" that occurs when an artist creates a work of art. The arts also has a "Context of justification" that occurs when the artist decides not to rip up and throw out a work of art. What are the types of criteria that artists and audiences use in the "Context of justification"? 7/5/2000 Arts, general. Art: from those who need to produce it, to those who need to consume it. 10/25/1997 Arts, general. Artist as rock and roller. (1) In the world of art it benefits the artist to have no respect and no mercy. (Talking about aesthetics here, not ethics). The artist gives the finger to a world that tries to tell him who he is. The artist flips the bird to a system that tries to tell him what is real. People love that. (2) The system tries to tell the artist what he can and can't do. What he should and shouldn't be. They would destroy him. They would destroy all artists and all art. They would have silence and conformity. They would destroy the opposition. The artist is a one man revolution. Teen rock freedom. 7/6/2000 Arts, general. Artist as shaman. The link between art and religion. Both are often pre-rational. 12/20/1998 Arts, general. Artist, maker, creator, producer. Audience, viewer, consumer. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Artistic freedom in the 20th century. Three examples: (1) When a person is able to paint anything they want to paint, anything they can paint (example, abstract expressionism). (2) When a poet is able to write anything he wants to write, anything he can write (examples, poems that do not rhyme, free verse). (3) When a musician is able to play anything she wants to play, anything she can play (examples, rock-and-roll, free jazz). (4) There was an occurrence that took place in the arts at around the middle of the 20th century. It took place in all the arts. And, I say, because the arts are so closely tied with the rest of culture, it took place in the entire culture. This occurrence involved freedom of expression. It also involved freedom of listening. It also involved: Diversity. Openness. Honesty. Sharing. Democracy. Death of class. Death of religion. Psychoanalysis. Beatniks and hippies. 1/1/2002 Arts, general. Artists are phenomenologists. They are concerned with communicating the plethora of experiential diversity. They are not concerned with abstracting general principles. 02/01/1994 Arts, general. Artists call it creativity. The rest of us call it growing up. 7/25/1999 Arts, general. Artists goal is, through a wide variety of personal experience and also through imagination, to try to experience the world in all its diversity. To not be limited by the circumstances he/she is accidentally born into. To be a chameleon, to go undercover or incognito, to infiltrate the subject of the artwork, to try to become the subject, to listen closely, empathize, and let the subject speak for itself. 04/01/1994 Arts, general. Attacks on art. (1) Censorship attacks. (2) Budget attacks. Attacks on the NEA. Attacks on public art works. Attacks on public art museums. (3) Attacks on free speech. (4) Attacks on art as decadent or controversial. For example, by the Nazis just prior to WWII. 11/24/2003 Arts, general. Audience. There is an audience for every work of art. There is the actual audience and the potential audience. Identifying the audience is one challenge. Reaching the audience is another challenge. 10/19/2005 Arts, general. Authenticity. Who cares who said it, as long as it has been said. Who can tell where an idea came from, whether it be out of the clear blue or from something someone else said. In 10,000 years knowledge will be so great that we will de-emphasize the historical view (who thought of what, when) and emphasize the logical view (how do the ideas fit together logically). 08/24/1994 Arts, general. Battle of the arts. (1) Visual art graffiti is painted. Literary graffiti is written. To say that visual art graffiti is only about style and that written graffiti is about substance is an example of how writing tries to maintain a hegemony over the visual arts and music. (2) Writing wrongly tries to say to the visual arts and music "I am better than you. I am more important than you. You don't count for much." Writing tries to devalue and disempower other forms of expression. This leads to a dictatorship or monopoly of one mode of expression over another. That kind of specialization can not be good. It is bad when one mode of expression tries to overpower another mode of expression in a culture or in an individual. It is a result of there being no checks and balances in an a culture or in an individual. 7/16/2000 Arts, general. Beginners mind vs. sophisticates mind. If you go to the art museum and look at the paintings with absolutely no knowledge of art history then how does that differ from going to the art museum and taking the walking tour where you are told what to think about every painting? What are the pros and cons of each experience? This notion is not just about art museums, its about one's entire life and one's entire education. The best minds always look at things fresh and are always critical of received knowledge. 9/24/2002 Arts, general. Best worlds: what should be. Worst worlds: what should never be. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Blah, blah, blah. 95% of music lyrics are trite. 95% of movies are banal. 95% of visual arts is bland. Is literature any different? No. 5/23/2005 Arts, general. Can literature, or any art, change your life? Can literature, or any art, change your mind, your outlook, your attitude toward life, your philosophy of life? The answer is that anything can change your mind. Thus, anything can change your life. Enlightenment can occur to anyone at anytime caused by any idea or event. Epiphany. Light bulb. Realization. If anything can do it then art can do it. 10/13/2004 Arts, general. Cannon. (1) In one sense, the cannon is the group of works we consider to be classics. There is a group of works we call "classics". There is also a group of works we call "modern classics". (2) Yet the cannon is always changing. The cannon is under contention. There are always defenders of the existing cannon. There are always various factions calling for new cannons. 7/15/2004 Arts, general. Cannon. Criticism is a value judgment. We criticize things in terms of what we value. What we value depends on our situation, and the problems that we face, and the needs that we have. A new situation yields a new cannon. 2/22/2000 Arts, general. Cannons. (1) Academic cannon: their criticism, my criticism of their criticism. (2) Paul cannon: my criticism, others criticism of my cannon. (3) Paul artworks: my criticism, others criticism of my artwork. (4) Any other cannon: my criticism, others criticism. (5) Paul aesthetic system. (6) Paul libraries of art: Paul works, found works of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Causes of art production and consumption. Effects of art production and consumption. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classical music, ballet and opera; I imagine that at one time in the past these arts attracted avante garde rebels (ex. Beethoven), but today they mainly attract conservatives and traditionalists. 8/5/2001 Arts, general. Classics. In 100 years of movies we have made a list of 100 classic great films. In 10,000 years will the list of classic films be 10,000 films long? No one would have time to see them all. Or will the list of classic films 10,000 years from now be still only 100 films long? That would mean only one film on the current list of 100 will be a classic and the other 99 will not. So it is with all works of art. Thus, will sheer volume make art less useful? Also, as population increases in size, and becomes better educated, and has access to cheap digital cameras, even more classics will be made. 11/29/1998 Arts, general. Classification of arts. (1) Classification by audience: high art, pop art, folk art. (2) Classification by media: visual arts, aural arts, written arts. (3) Classification by dimension. Two dimensional: painting. Three dimensional: sculpture. Four dimensional (space and time): movies, plays. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classification of arts. (1) Fine arts, high arts, pure art: art literature, visual arts, music. (2) Low arts, functional arts: arts and crafts, decorative and ornamental arts, gastronomy, fashion, architecture, dance. (3) Mixed media arts: music video. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classification of arts. Lowbrow art vs. highbrow art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classification of arts. Prophetic art, profound art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classification of arts. Pros and cons of each medium. What good is it? What does it do that other arts can't? What does it do better and worse than other arts, and communication modes? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Classification of the arts. (1) Pure arts. Words alone, without music. Music alone, without words. Visual arts alone, without words or music. (2) Combinatory arts. Words and visual art: for example, comics with words, posters with words. Words and music: for example, songs. Music and visual art: for example, music videos. Words and music and visual art: for example, movies. Dance and music: another popular combinatory art. 12/8/2003 Arts, general. Cleverness. Sometimes art is merely clever. For example, cute t-shirt logos. What does the merely clever prove? The merely clever shows what people can accomplish through effort. 08/24/1994 Arts, general. Computer generated art (without human intervention). (1) If the computer makes something that is completely random then how can it be art? For example, randomly colored pixels on a computer screen is not really art. (2) On the other hand, if the computer makes something that is completely non-random, predictable or algorithmic then how can that be art? For example, if a 200 page novel was 100% algorithmic then you could deduce the last 199 pages from the first page. 1/1/2002 Arts, general. Computers and art. (1) Computer generated art. Art that the computer makes entirely. For example, fractal programs. (2) Computer assisted art. Art that humans make by using the computer as a medium. 5/14/2004 Arts, general. Conscious product vs. unconscious result. 01/01/1993 Arts, general. Contra professional art. (1) Professional artists of all types (writers, visual artists, musicians, movie makers, etc.) can easily become caught in a style trap. The public expects them to produce art in a certain style. This situation limits the variety of the output of the artist. (2) Professional artists get caught in situations where they must produce to make a living. This leads to (A) Producing what the public will buy, which is often low grade slop. (B) Producing anything just to keep one's job, which often leads to low grade schlock. This can occur to writers who are under contract to produce a given number of words every week. (3) What kind of artist will produce his own work regardless of commercial tastes? The amateur. What kind of artist will put forth only his best work? The amateur. 2/19/2000 Arts, general. Create a state of mind. Create an artifact that lets others experience that state of mind. With art you can capture a vibe and give it to others. The vibe helps create a state of mind. 2/8/2000 Arts, general. Definitions of art based on the various psychological abilities. (1) Art as the senses and the accumulation of sensual experiences. (2) Art as emotions expressed. (3) Art as memory transmogrified. (ex. Proust). (4) Art as imagination (ex. science-fiction.) (5) Art as idea. (ex. philosophical artists). 10/5/2000 Arts, general. Development of the arts in humans. (1) In the evolution of the arts in humans, I say sculpture came before drawing, and drawing came before literature, because the arts evolved from the less abstract to the more abstract. Sculpture is less abstract that drawing, and drawing is less abstract than literature. (2) Another question is whether the visual arts came before, during or after oral storytelling (language) and gestural storytelling (proto-mime-theater before language). (3) It seems clear that the arts developed before philosophy, logic, science and math. (4) Did the arts develop before, during or after the development of magic, myth and religion? 7/14/2001 Arts, general. Dogmatism destroys both creativity and the evolutionary development of artistic styles, where every style has a life, value and worth, just like a every human being does. Every style exists to serve every single person. Dogmatism destroys variety. 03/13/1989 Arts, general. Doodling. (1) What is the verbal equivalent of doodling? Prattling? (2) What is the musical equivalent of doodling? The Jazz Messengers played a tune called Doodling. (3) What is the movie equivalent of doodling? Shorts? 9/7/2005 Arts, general. Environment influences society, which influences psychology, which influences art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Escapism and the arts. (1) Too often the arts are used as a form of escapism. By escapism, I mean avoidance, repression, and denial. Escapism from what? Escapism from thinking hard, making an effort to solve problems and right the wrongs in life. Escapism, whether through the arts or any other form, is a bad thing. (2) One counter-argument to the view that the arts are used too often as a form of escapism is the view that the arts are used to confront reality more often than to escape from reality, but that point is debateable. Another counter-argument is that many things besides the arts are used as a means of escape, for example, sex, drugs, money, power, etcetera, but that is more of an attempted excuse than a counter-argument. A third counter-argument is that some small amount of escapism can be healthy stress reliever, but when escapism is abused then that is a problem. 5/27/2007 Arts, general. Everyone is an artist and an audience to varying degrees. Everyone is an art producer and an art consumer to varying degrees. Perhaps it is not accurate to use the terms "producer" and "consumer" of art. Art is not merely economics. Everyone is an art creator and an art critic. 6/10/2007 Arts, general. Everyone is an artist. Everyone is an art critic. Everyone is a comedian. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Evolution and the arts. Before abstraction there was narrative. Before science and philosophy there was art. If a sentient being has concrete thinking, plus imagination, but not abstraction, then the result is artistic ability. Humans evolved their artistic abilities before their philosophical and scientific abilities. 1/4/2006 Arts, general. Examples of word and image combined in art. Billboards. Posters. Handbills. Postcards. Webpages. Magazine ads. 9/16/1999 Arts, general. Fatigue and the arts. When too tired to read, watch a movie. When to tired to watch a movie, listen to music. 11/25/2001 Arts, general. Food is about sensation. Music is about sensation and emotion. Literature is about sensation, emotion and ideas. Its true that sensation, emotion and thought are closely related in that, for example, a sensation can trigger an emotion or thought. Still, I personally do not look to food for enlightenment. 7/31/2001 Arts, general. Four types of art. (1) Art to escape reality vs. art that engages reality. (2) Art that conforms to unjust norms of society vs. art that dissents against unjust norms of society. (3) Art that supports the unjust power holders of an unjust establishment vs. art that dissents against unjust power holders of an unjust establishment. (4) Art that communicates either unethical views or no views at all vs. art that communicates truth and justice. 8/25/2004 Arts, general. Future art. New problems of life, and new answers to old problems. New subjects, new views, new feelings, new attitudes, new questions, new truths. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Good and bad art. (1) Good art or high quality. (A) True. (B) Psychological. (C) Philosophical. (2) Bad art or low quality: opposite of ideal principles. (A) Unimportant subjects. (B) Unimportant truths. (C) Bad ideas: false, unethical. (D) Poorly communicated. (E) Emotions don't fit. (F) Emotions poorly communicated. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Good art "haunts" you. Good art keeps returning to your mind. 11/20/2001 Arts, general. Good art and bad art. Good art deals forthrightly with important issues, problems, truths. Bad art is vague communications about trivialities and fluff. 11/15/1994 Arts, general. Good art and bad art. Ordinary life, ordinary people, and bad art are crap, empty, boring. Great art is life. Great artists live. Great art makes sense, it sheds light. It makes us see. It is concentrated, potent, strong, powerful, exciting, and rich. I feel alive. I feel intensely. I feel young. Great art is great conflict that causes great thought-testing and thought re-evaluation. Great art shoves problems in our faces and asks, no, forces, us to look and think about these problems. 07/27/1993 Arts, general. Good art is relevant to its time and place. Classic art is relevant through time and place. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Good art vs. bad art distinction. Is bad art still art? Or is it junk? Two cases: (1) "Bad" meaning low quality or poor technique. (2) "Bad" meaning communicating a epistemologically false message (lies) or an unethical message (evil). (ex. hate group art). 5/29/2000 Arts, general. Good art. Is good art a matter of quantity multiplied by quality? Or is good art a matter of choice of subject matter and accuracy of statement? 7/15/2006 Arts, general. Great art achieves the previously unimaginable. 9/7/2005 Arts, general. Great art inspires great art. 7/7/1998 Arts, general. Great art is not necessarily beautiful art. Great art is art that makes an advancement (improvement, progress). Something new and better. Example, Roman sculpture, renaissance perspective, impression, Cubism. Usually the advancement is a new and good technique. Or to a lesser extent, a new and good statement. 4/7/1998 Arts, general. Great art sends shivers from your head to your toes. A shiver of recognition (of truth). 7/7/1998 Arts, general. Great artists get there first and does best job. Great artists find very important, very inobvious truths and says them in very powerful, very new ways. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. History of individual's production: what's made. History of society's consumption: what's popular. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. History. (1) History of the practice of art. (2) History of philosophy of art. (3) History of the scientific study of art. (4) History of art history. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. How does one talk or write about music? How does one talk or write about visual art? That is, how does one verbalize the non-verbal? 10/5/2003 Arts, general. How important are the arts? What can the arts do that nothing else can do? What can the arts do better than anything else? How powerful are the arts? 2/12/2004 Arts, general. How many musicians have something interesting to say when they improvise musically? How many speakers have something interesting to say when they speak extemporaneously? 4/20/2003 Arts, general. How much power do the arts have? How much power do ideas have? Vis a vis the power of politics, money, entertainment, etc. Power defined as the ability to do work and to effect change. 5/12/2005 Arts, general. How, methods (see composition). How study art? How make art? How consume art? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. I'm convinced that many artists are popular not for what they say but for what they don't say. Many artists have a wide audience base because they never said anything to alienate their audience base. These artists never said anything to piss off their audience. They never said anything that challenged their audience. They never said anything that made their audience feel uncomfortable. Often people will unconsciously like an artist because the artist simply does not address certain important yet unpleasant subjects. Many artists are popular for their refusal to discuss unpopular topics and for their avoidance of the important issues. Many people treat art like a vacation from reality. But the best art confronts reality and talks about it. 8/14/2004 Arts, general. If an artwork can "say" something to an individual. And if everything has an aesthetic (art-like) component. Then everything says something to everyone. And a thing says different things to different people. (Or people interpret things differently). 11/30/2003 Arts, general. If it doesn't add up the mathematicians don't want to touch it. If it doesn't have irrefutable logic the philosophers don't want to touch it. If its not empirically verifiable the scientists don't want to touch it. Thus, the area of territory seceded to the artists is vast, and in this land there still exists the opportunity to go wild. 3/25/2002 Arts, general. If the commonplace assumption that the blind make good musicians is true, then the deaf should make good visual artists. Do they? 6/7/2004 Arts, general. If you can create something perfect, you will have an audience for it. 08/06/1988 Arts, general. If you want random, unrelated characters and events, which occur for no reason, and with no meaning, look to life outside your door. Art should be there for a reason. The elements of art (setting, characters, action, etc.) should be there for a reason, and have a purpose, and contribute to a cohesive, unified plot and theme. 12/30/1996 Arts, general. Imagination. Artistic expression can be either memory and catharsis or imagination. 01/01/1993 Arts, general. Imagination. For some artists art is emotionally cathartic. Other artists imagine and express things they have never experienced, and so for them art is less a matter of expressing pent up pain, problems, or conflicts. 12/01/1994 Arts, general. In your art, you have to make a decision on where to draw the line (pun) between Dionysianism and Apollonianim. In terms of chaos and order. In terms of emotion and reason. In terms of energy and restraint. All art producers and art consumers (i.e., all artists and audiences) can be placed on a spectrum between Dionysianism and Apollonianism regarding how they usually like their art. What kind of art they go for. This is spontaneity vs. planning. This is freedom vs. control. This question is not an arbitrary question of style. You have to say to yourself, "What I mean, and what I want to say, is best served by what mix or blend of Dionysianism and Apollonianism. The bigger question is where to draw the line in your life, not just in your art. 9/21/1999 Arts, general. Indoor, domestic, small minutiae art vs. Outdoor, big, brawling, sprawling art. 5/22/2000 Arts, general. Information and art. Art as information. How much information is in a work of art? How many questions does the work of art raise, and how many answers does the work of art give? 6/8/2004 Arts, general. Intention and intended effect vs. accident and actual effects of artwork. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. (1) The emotional, intuitive, unconscious artist. (2) The rational, conscious artist. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. (1) Unconscious, instinctive, accidental geniuses and masterpieces. (2) Intentional and deliberate geniuses. (3) Second is better than first. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. Preconceived, planned, intentional vs. emergent, improvisational or accidental, greater than anything anyone could have imagined at the start. 02/01/1994 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. Unconscious, natural, spontaneous style vs. consciously, deliberately planned, and thoughtfully created. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. What percentage of an artist's painting is conscious vs. unconscious; intentional vs. unintentional. Same for his greatest ideas. 03/26/1994 Arts, general. Intention vs. accident. What percentage of an artists work is intentional vs. accidental? How in control vs. how instinctual is the artist? Are the great artists typically more one way or another? 01/01/1993 Arts, general. Is all great art beautiful? For example, the paintings of Leon Golub. Sometimes we used the word "beauty" to mean high aesthetic value. Sometimes we use the word "beauty" to mean sensually attractive and appealing. 12/15/1998 Arts, general. Is watching a movie the same as reading a novel? What are the similarities and differences? 1/17/2004 Arts, general. It was once the case that a work of literature would offer a detailed physical description of the characters involved. However, today, physical descriptions such as "She was an old, black woman" or "He was a short, fat man" are often seen as not politically correct and perhaps even verging on racism, sexism, ageism, etc. (2) The argument against physical descriptions runs along the line of "So what if their skin was that color? Who cares how old they were? It was just luck that they were thrust into this or that circumstance". (3) Take it a step further. Many psychologists today think that a person's personality is to some degree genetically determined and remains consistent through life. So now it seems that, like skin color, a person's personality is to some degree a matter of luck, and so perhaps we should not dwell on personality descriptions in literature (both non-fiction and fiction). (4) So the question becomes, if we are not to dwell on physicality nor personality then what should we use to describe a person? Their thoughts? Their words? Their actions? How is literature to proceed? How can literature be fair or just? Truths vary in their importance, and the most important truths about a person is not their physicality nor personality. (5) Different people are thrust into different situations (social, technological, natural) and have to deal using the tools (psychological, physical, material) that they have. (6) There is a similar issue in the visual arts. If I want to draw a picture about the most important thing about person "x" then should I draw a picture of the person's body or even their face? Are not there more important issues about a person? How should I draw them? It seems like face/body paintings and statues are woefully inadequate in some respects. 7/19/2001 Arts, general. Just as important as what you communicate to others is what you communicate to yourself. Dance, music, visual arts and words are all means to communicate with self as well as communicate with others. Communication with self is another way of saying "thinking" or "minding". PART TWO. There are many ways that the mind communicates with itself. (1) One part of the mind communicates with other parts of the mind. For example, unconscious mind communicates with conscious mind. For example, each one of Gardener's eight types of intelligence communicates with the others. (2) We communicate with ourselves through time via memories from the past and goals for the future. (3) Emotion and reason communicate with each other. 4/1/2002 Arts, general. Levels of critical discourse. On one level, a person can talk about specific books, songs, paintings and movies. On another level, a person can talk generally about books, songs, paintings and movies. 1/15/2005 Arts, general. Life is too complex and rushed today for art. Ethics and technology rule. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Literature viewed as a slow movie. Movies viewed as a fast book. 11/15/2005 Arts, general. Liveliness. The notion of "liveliness" is an important concept in the arts. The work of art is essentially supposed to be alive. The livelier, the better. We consider great works of art to be livelier than life itself. (2) The concept of "liveliness" is distinct from the concept of "life-like" or "realistic". Lively works of art need not be in the style of realism. 1/15/2001 Arts, general. Make a database of works of art in all media, organized by subject matter and emotional tone. 2/4/2005 Arts, general. Materials. What are your materials? The wider the variety of materials, the wider the expressiveness of the art. 5/14/2006 Arts, general. Me. Arts place in my life. (1) Now, and in past, and hopes and ideas for future. (2) Importance I place on art. (3) My views on art. (4) How much I think about art. (5) How much I do art. (6) Art I have produced. (7) Art I have thought of producing. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Me. How creative am I artistically? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Me. My art interests: primitive, primordial, base. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Me. My typical styles, subjects, views, and compositional techniques. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Meaning and art. (1) If a work of art says nothing then what does it accomplish? Nothing. Meaning is required in art. (2) If a work of art means whatever you want it to mean then what does that accomplish. Nothing. (3) If a work of art says something completely different to every single person then what does that accomplish? Nothing. (4) Thus, meaning relativism and meaning nihilism are bogus. 10/20/2005 Arts, general. Meaning and art. Music, visual arts and dance transcend language differences. 6/16/1998 Arts, general. Meaning and symbolism. A musical note means less than a color. A color means less than a word. 11/6/1998 Arts, general. Most important idea. (1) Art is useful for getting psyched up, and for getting inspired. (2) Art is an unavoidable byproduct of life. Example, margin doodles. Art is a byproduct of creative thinking, and of free associating, which is what the mind does naturally when healthy. Art is a form of mental play; play defined as spontaneous effort without purpose. (3) However, art should not be the primary focus of our lives. 10/30/1997 Arts, general. Most important idea. Art is good for eeking out thoughts and feelings that are not fully formed yet. 12/26/1997 Arts, general. Most important idea. They history of all the arts was about two main things, freedom of expression and development of critical faculties. Once we got to the point where you could say anything, anyway you wanted, and others could seriously consider and criticize it, the arts had matured fully. 07/18/1997 Arts, general. Movies are good at narrative stories, poor at abstract ideas. Books are good at abstract ideas. 10/8/2003 Arts, general. Much like language is as much an aid to thinking as it is an aid to communication, so too is art as much an aid to thinking as it is an aid to communication. Thus, when you ask someone why they are looking at a painting or composing a piece of music, do not be surprised if they reply, "I am trying to think." 5/28/2005 Arts, general. My new definition of high art is art that is of high quality. My new definition of low art is art that is of low quality. High art and low art no longer refer to the media and style of art involved. High art no longer refers to orchestral music and oil painting. Low art no longer refers to rock music and movies. 11/6/1999 Arts, general. Nature as the subject of art vs. the man-made world as subject of art. Show the pollution and the garbage. 5/22/2000 Arts, general. Nature of Art. (1) Art as symbolic communication. Where one thing represents or stands for another. (Not talking here about symbolism at the level of letters, where the word "cat" stands for the animal cat. Talking here about the level where, for example, things allude to other things.) (2) Art as metaphorical or figurative, not literal. (3) Art as deliberately vague, ambiguous or accidental. Multiple meanings okay. Unclear meanings okay. (4) Art as realism. A photographic picture. Literal, not symbolic. For example, photographers, realist novelists, realist painters, etc. Vs. Art as distortion, impression, hyper-real, concentrated, distilled. (5) One hundred percent realism equals a mirror image. One hundred percent symbolism equals no resemblance to the original (for example, the letters "cat" stand for the cat animal). In between 100% realism and 100% symbolism lies the large area of metaphor and various degrees of abstraction. 11/27/2003 Arts, general. New art. (1) New art from new science. (2) New techs (tools and techniques) yield new art. (3) New messages (content (thought and emotion) and form) yield new art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. New types of art. (1) Interactive art. Art where the audience can effect the work of art. For example, in the visual arts, a lava lamp computer display where the movement of the viewer affects the movement of the display. Another example, in the musical arts, a sequence of notes where the movement of the viewer effects the pitch, volume, and timbre of the notes. A third example, in the literary arts, stories with pathway choices. (2) Group art. Art that is created by a group of individuals rather than one individual. One example, in the musical arts, is the orchestra or band. A second example, in the visual arts. A third example, in the literary arts. (3) Computers and art. Firstly, art created by computer artificial intelligence. Secondly, art created by humans with the help of artificial intelligence. (4) Holographic art. Three dimensional movies. (5) Immersive art. Virtual reality goggles. Virtual reality head phones. Virtual reality simulators for all the senses. (6) Develop new senses. Then develop art for the new senses. (7) Develop new emotions. Then develop new art for the new emotions. Also, new attitudes. (8) Develop a new set of important problems and solutions. Then develop new art to communicate those problems and solutions 4/30/2006 Arts, general. One argument for the arts is that people want magical experiences. People do not want to merely discuss the phenomenon of magical experiences. What is a magical experience? (1) Something new and not fully understood. (2) Something emotional and not merely rational. (3) Something idealistic that speaks to the highest values of humans and to what is best in humans. (4) In this sense of the term, any book, painting, music, movie, etc. can be "magical" if it fills the above criteria. Another example of a magical experience is the first love of teens. 1/22/2002 Arts, general. One view. If you don't have anything to say then don't say it. If you do have something to say then say it clearly and concisely. Don't waste our time. Don't jerk us around. 2/22/2000 Arts, general. PART ONE. Attack on the arts. School budget cutbacks in the arts, such as music and visual arts classes. Art is attacked for not being a money maker. Its tough to earn a living as an artist. Art is sometimes attacked as decadent. PART TWO. In favor of the arts. The importance of the emotions and emotional intelligence. Importance of Howard Gardener's eight types of intelligence, including musical and visual intelligences. 11/21/2003 Arts, general. Pattern (repetition) and variation can be used effectively in other arts beside music. Poetry, visual arts, etc. 12/30/1996 Arts, general. People's obsession with food, clothing, and shelter leads to the pursuits of gastronomy, fashion, and architecture. 7/31/2006 Arts, general. Perfection and imperfection in art. (1) Perfection: There is an element in art that involves entrancing, hypnotizing, almost casting a spell on, the audience, through the creation of a seemingly flawless, perfect work. A very common aesthetic attitude is obsession with perfect beauty. (2) Imperfection: There is a less common aesthetic attitude that holds that perfection is not interesting, rather, imperfection is interesting. There are several senses of this idea. (A) In the realm of physical beauty of persons, flawed beauty can be much more interesting than perfect beauty. (B) In other areas of aesthetics, imperfection can imply a problem for which one can look for a solution. Imperfection promises the chance to make something perfect. For example, people are fascinated by movies that are filled with conflict and drama. People don't pay to see movies in which everything is perfect. 1/6/2001 Arts, general. Philosophy and art. There is philosophy in every work of art. Every work of art implicitly and explicitly makes statements regarding what is the world (i.e., metaphysical statements), and how one knows (i.e., epistemological statements), and whether the situation is good or bad (i.e., ethics statements), and what one should do about the situation (i.e., ethics statements). 7/23/2006 Arts, general. Philosophy in art. An artwork says, "Consider X. Think about X. Mind about X, by using your senses, emotions, memories and thoughts." That is to say, art is an epistemological venture. 7/23/2006 Arts, general. Pop art. (1) Sometimes a work achieves both popular and critical acclaim. Sometimes a work achieves only popular acclaim. Sometimes a work achieves only critical acclaim. (2) Sometimes a work is rejected at first, by the critics or populace, and then accepted later. Sometimes a work is accepted at first, by the critics or populace, and then rejected later. 7/15/2004 Arts, general. Positive art shows what is. Normative art judges the situation as good or bad, and says what we should do about it. Normative art is art that has a lesson, or moral, or that depicts a utopia. 08/14/1994 Arts, general. Progressivism and the arts. Build a collection of examples of Progressivism in the arts. Take that collection on tour. Give that collection a museum to return to, "The Museum of Political Progressivism in the Arts". Include all the arts, visual arts, music, literature, movies. At the very least, make a list of Progressive art works. Progressivism meaning ecological sustainability, social justice, education, health care, universal human rights, etc. 5/5/2007 Arts, general. Propaganda, advertising and art. (1) Propaganda and art. Propagandists know that art is a fine way to spread their message. Art has strong emotional impact. Art seems to not require high standards of reason. (2) Advertising and art. Advertisers often use art to sell a product. Advertisers will often combine music, visual images and poetry to woo customers. Advertisers are not far from propagandists. One view is that art is always "selling" something. (3) To the degree that it appeals to emotion over reason, art can be criticized as being propaganda and advertising. (See also: Sociology, communication, propaganda. See also: Business, marketing.) 7/14/2004 Arts, general. Psychology and art. Art is a coping mechanism. Art is how some people cope with the stresses of life. 3/14/2007 Arts, general. Psychology and art. Art is therapy. Art is a subconscious form of self-therapy. Visual artists are engaged in visual art therapy. Writers are engaged in writing therapy. Musicians are engaged in music therapy. Artists, as art producers, are engaged in art therapy art. Audiences, as art consumers, are also engaged in art therapy when they consume art. 5/1/2007 Arts, general. Psychology and art. Rejection of art and artist by the audience. Just as the patient rejects the therapist, so to does the audience reject the artist. The reader rejects the text and the author. The viewer rejects the painting and the painter. The listener rejects the music and the composer. The audience has psychological defense mechanisms in place, ready to reject any new idea and its proponents. Everyone has ego defense mechanisms in place to bolster one's sense of self and one's views of the world. Some people are more closed-minded, narrow minded, guarded, than others. Good art disables the audience's ego defense mechanisms. Good art slips past the audience's ego defense mechanisms. Good art is disarming. 7/2/2006 Arts, general. Psychology and the arts, or epistemology and the arts. The arts, including literature, are a way of knowing. The arts, including literature, are a type of knowledge. The arts are knowledge by vicarious experience. The arts are knowledge gained through a type of virtual reality experience. 4/22/2007 Arts, general. Psychology and the arts. Freudianism and the arts. The arts reflect the human subconscious. The arts reveal basic, subconscious human fears and desires. 1/4/2006 Arts, general. Psychology and the arts. The arts, including the art of literature, help build emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence helps prevent people from going crazy and killing themselves or others. Emotional intelligence is a knowledge of emotions in self and others. Knowledge of what emotions one is feeling. Knowledge of how to best handle, or deal with, one's emotions. 4/22/2007 Arts, general. Psychology of art. All paintings are Rorschach tests. All literature is a word association test. 8/15/2005 Arts, general. Psychology of art. Art is a form of information management. Producing a work of art is an attempt at information management. Consuming a work of art is an attempt at information management. Art is about the organization of information. 3/19/2006 Arts, general. Psychology of art. Art is a form of psychotherapy. Producing a work of art is a form of psychotherapy. Consuming a work of art is a form of psychotherapy. 3/19/2006 Arts, general. Randomness vs. pattern in art and nature. (1)(A)Randomness in art: If you drop confetti randomly onto paper, is that art? If a computer fills a grid with randomly generated colors, is that art? (B) Pattern in art: Is mere pattern art? Is mere mathematical repetition art? (2)(A)Randomness in nature: On the one hand, there is the randomness of, for example, the position of air molecules in a container. (B) Pattern in nature: On the other hand, there is the pattern of, for example, leaves. (3) Is there more beauty in one or the other? 12/30/2000 Arts, general. Simplicity and complexity in the arts. All complex art is not necessarily good art. All simple art is not necessarily bad art. 10/13/2004 Arts, general. Society does not necessarily recognize and reward "good art" because "good art" is everywhere. Society recognizes and rewards the art it needs at the moment, the art it resonates with at the moment, and the art that expresses the "next step" society needs to take. 4/15/2002 Arts, general. Sociology of art. Art is a form of communication. Producing a work of art is an attempt at communication with other people. Consuming a work of art is an attempt at communication with other people. 3/19/2006 Arts, general. Style and art. Declarative art vs. questioning art. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style and art. Good style: true, cool, neat, complete. Bad style: stupid, fake/phony, narrow, stilted, affected. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style and art. Rates of change of styles: for better or worse. 01/01/1993 Arts, general. Style and art. The theories behind the styles. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style and art. Types of styles. Factors in development of individual style or society style. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style implies attitude (thought and emotion). Style implies philosophy. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style of a work. Style of an artist. Style of a school of artists. Style of an society. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Style. (1) People group artworks and artists by similar traits. They say that artworks or artists with similar traits are of the same style. This is the use of the word "style" as a term of classification. (2) People say that artists they like "have a sense of style", while other artists they don't like "have no sense of style". This is the use of the word "style" to mean some degree of ability or value. 7/15/2004 Arts, general. Style. PART ONE. The artist having a specific style can imply: (1) The artist has run dry, is repeating himself, and is stuck in a rut. (2) The artist is shallow or unidimensional. (3) The artist has gone commercial and is branding himself. PART TWO. If you do something new every time you create a work of art, you are unidentifiable and have no style, which is good. "Style" is a pejorative term meaning "lacks imagination", "takes no risks" and "sold out". PART THREE. In a culture, an unchanging style, or a lack of diversity of styles, can be a sign of a rigid, dogmatic, oppressive, exclusionary, static culture. So to in individuals. PART FOUR. Definitions of "style". (1) Style means to group similar works of art together. To categorize and classify. (2) Style vs. substance. Style as front, appearance or decoration. (3) Style as unique personality. 4/8/2001 Arts, general. Style. The acceleration in the rate of change of styles in the arts, and the increase in the diversity of styles at any one time, is due to the increasing freedom of the individual to express themselves. For example, the increase in rate of change of styles from Middle Age music to Classical Age music to Romantic Age music to Modern Age music. Another example, the increase of rate of change of styles in Jazz in the 20th century from Traditional jazz to Swing jazz to Bebop jazz to Modal jazz to Free jazz. The increase in rate of change of style is due to: (1) Degree an artist feels free and creative; (2) Degree groups of musicians promote freedom and creativity; (3) Degree audiences (society) wants new and different stuff. The point is that increasing political/social freedom has led to increasing artistic freedom and the development of diverse artistic styles. A counter-argument is that this may be an illusion of historical perspective which tends to see the present in detail and the past in generalities. There may have been many styles in the past which we now overlook. Another counter-argument is that it may have been factors like better technology or increased leisure time that allows the birth and spread of styles, and not political/social factors. As leisure increases and technology improves, styles are born and spread faster. 2/1/2001 Arts, general. Style. The problem with associating artistic styles with historical eras is that two mistakes can occur. Firstly, the mistake of thinking that everyone during that era was using that style. Secondly, the mistake of thinking that no one outside that era was using that style. 1/25/2005 Arts, general. Styles I like and why. (1) Artist as acid photographer. (2) Objective realism. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Styles: Narrative, expressionism, impressionism, abstract. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Styles. Two causes of change in styles. The change of styles can be driven by artists looking to not imitate existing works of art. The change of styles can be driven by audiences looking for new forms of expression. Artist-driven change and audience-driven change are both important. Progressive artists and progressive audiences both search for the new and improved. Reactionary artists and reactionary audiences cling to the old. 1/15/2005 Arts, general. Taste. (1) Some people use the term "taste" to mean either refined, cultured or educated. (2) Some people use the term "taste" to mean arbitrary (ex. simply a matter of taste). 11/15/2001 Arts, general. Taste. People say they know what they like. That is because each person has their own special cathartic requirements. 03/11/1989 Arts, general. Technologists are accustomed to thinking of food, clothing and shelter as a group of related concepts. Perhaps artists should also think of food, clothing and shelter as a group of related concepts, because when you do you see that these three areas try to be high art but do not quite make it to that level. (2) The three pairs of people associated with these areas, that is, fashion designers and clothes horses, chefs and foodies, and architects and house-ies, give a good try with their glossy magazines to make a big deal out of their respective areas, however, they are not entirely convincing. 9/12/2000 Arts, general. The artist says, "Lets talk about this, because this is important." 7/24/2006 Arts, general. The computer is the most important medium today for the creation, dissemination, and consumption of art. 1/6/1997 Arts, general. The history of art or anything else. (1) We want to see "progress" or "improvement". Other alternatives: (2) Stasis. (3) Ceaseless random change without progress. (4) "Rediscovery" or cyclic. (5) New, but not improved. 12/20/2002 Arts, general. The most important thing about art is the message. What message are you going to send? What things are you going to talk about, and what will you say about those things? What is your view? 5/27/2007 Arts, general. The museum of art should be called the museum of historically significant, officially sanctioned, critically acclaimed, socially accepted, universally approved, high quality, high priced art. 10/5/2000 Arts, general. The object in art is to move from reality, to the abstract, and then back to a re-created reality, which is the work of art, a new reality. The work of art is a metamorphized reality, containing the truth in a clearer and more concentrated (pure) way. 11/13/1988 Arts, general. The power of art. To communicate, to persuade. To change people's heads and actions. Powerful ideas, powerfully communicated. The power of ideas and emotions. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. The purpose of art is to capture a mood through combinations of senses (sight, sound, smell, taste) and not through ideas or concepts ? 12/30/1992 Arts, general. The senses of smell and touch are underutilized in the arts. (1) List things of which I like the feel. I like the feel of sand and stone. (2) List the things of which I like the smell. I like the smell of cut grass, coffee, fresh bread, barbecue, and wood fireplaces. 2/28/1999 Arts, general. There is more good art than you will ever get the chance to consume, even if it was all free, because there just is not enough time. What to do? Expose yourself to as much good art as possible. 1/18/2004 Arts, general. Three philosophical issues: Truth in art. Meaning in art. Value in art. See each section. 10/20/2005 Arts, general. Three types of explaining of art. (1) Asking the artist to explain the artist's work. (Artists often cannot explain their own work. They just do it.) (2) Asking an art critic to explain an artist's work. (3) Asking a psychologist to explain an artists work. 5/29/2001 Arts, general. Three views of what art is: (1) Problem solving view of art. Good art says (or shows) "These are the problems, and these are the solutions." (2) Some people think that the purpose of art is to show us the good and the bad in life and in people. To celebrate the good and bemoan the bad. (3)(A)Descriptive art is art that merely shows what is. Descriptive art is a kind of "real politik" art. (B) Proscriptive art (normative art) is art that shows what we should do about what is. 7/15/1999 Arts, general. To produce great art you must have brains and balls. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. Truth in art. (1) Truth in fiction literature. The details of a novel are made up, but the work speaks truth about the human condition. (2) Truth in music. How can a piece of music be true or false? (3) Truth in visual arts. How can a picture be true or false? One view holds that only an untouched photograph is true. 10/19/2005 Arts, general. Two arguments in favor of the arts. (1) In real life we learn more from the arts (ex., music, visual arts, literature, movies, anecdotes, jokes, etc.) than we learn in school. (2) Imagine a world without the arts (i.e., without music, painting, literature, movies, etc.). Very grim. 1/17/2002 Arts, general. Two definitions of art. (1) Art as a psychological process to understand the world. (See: Psychology of art). (2) Art as communication between people. (See: Sociology of art). 7/14/2004 Arts, general. Two types of art. Art that pleases. Art that antagonizes. 04/24/1997 Arts, general. Types of art. Art that confirms the audience's attitudes versus art that challenges the audience's attitudes. Its up to audiences to expose themselves to both kinds of art. 10/15/2004 Arts, general. Types of art. Solitary arts vs. group arts. (1) Solitary production of art (ex. author) vs. group production of art (ex. theater company). (2) Solitary consumption of art (ex. reader) vs. group consumption of art (ex. theater audience). 5/14/2004 Arts, general. Ubiquitous art. To say that everyone is an artist is to say that everyone has an artistic side. Development of a person's artistic side is necessary for a person's psychological health. Development of artistic modes of thinking is a necessary part of mental development. The arts are an important part of education. Arts are an important part of every individual. And thus, the arts are an important part of society. (2) To say that art is everywhere is to say that we do not have to go to a museum to see art. Everthing has an aesthetic dimension. Art is an everyday thing. Art is not an isolated, rare thing. The artist is not an isolated, unique person. 5/14/2007 Arts, general. Utilitarian theory of art. The goodness of the work of art is based on how helpful or useful it is. (1) Aesthetic beauty is helpful in calming, delighting and pleasing. (2) Art helps us make sense of the world. Art helps us add meaning to our view of the world. Art helps us posit new concepts and new relationships between concepts. (3) Art provides cathartic release, which helps us remain psychologically healthy. 7/14/2002 Arts, general. Value and art. All art makes statements about the nature of things, including the value of things. All art makes implicit or explicit statements like, "This subject is good (or bad). This subject is important (or unimportant). This subject is true (or false). This subject is beautiful (or ugly)." 10/20/2005 Arts, general. Value and art. Art works make statements about subjects. The art work has value. The statement has value. The subject has value. Not only monetary value, but other types of value also. 10/20/2005 Arts, general. Verbal doodles and visual poems. 4/15/2007 Arts, general. Visual art and music are two media that cross cultural barriers more easily than language. So any media that takes advantage of music and visual images is an international media. However, music and visual art are not entirely free of cultural constraints. Visual art and music have culture-specific idioms. 2/10/2002 Arts, general. Visual arts and music succeed to the degree that they render the audience speechless. If the response is non-verbal then that is success for a work of visual art or music. If the response is not easily put into words then that is success for a work of visual art or music. 1/26/2004 Arts, general. What are the results of a society that over emphasizes images (ex. movies) and under emphasizes printed text? The result is an under emphasis on abstract argument because that is what printed text does well. The result is also an over emphasis on emotional "visual bites" since that is what images do well. 3/10/2004 Arts, general. What can one say with music? What can one say with visual arts? What can one say with movies? I fear not much. I'm not feeling the emotion thing lately. Music, visual arts and movies are not doing it for me these days. Music, visual arts and movies seem retarded to me these days. The word on the street is "verbal". 5/5/2005 Arts, general. What is art? (1) Art defined as an exercise of the imagination. That is, art as fiction. For example, novels, and paintings of fictional events. (2) Art defined as an exercise of the emotions. Art as emotional communication. For example, music is an exercise of the emotions. Music is also a form of emotional communication. (3) Art defined as narrative or storytelling. In this sense, art does not have to be fiction. When a person cobbles together a series of facts, the person is creating a human-made object or artifact. A narrative or story is a non-abstract form of communication that describes persons, places, things and events. (4) Art as a type of communication. (5) Art as a way of thinking. (6) Art as a nonverbal form of expression. For example, the arts of music and dance. (7) Art as any non-scientific and non-philosophical form of expression. The view that if its not philosophy or science then it must be art. 1/8/2006 Arts, general. What is art? The answer to the questions, "What is art?", and "Why do art?", depends on how one defines art. (1) Art defined as access to the subconscious. Why do art? Do art to reduce psychological repression. Do art to confront the things we don't allow ourselves to think. (2) Art defined as a form of communication. Why do art? Do art to talk about what is not allowed to be said. Do art to confront social taboos. Do art to confront political censorship. 1/8/2006 Arts, general. What is the combined power of all the poetry readings? What is the combined power of all the comedy shops? 5/15/2005 Arts, general. What is the status of "art primitivists"? Defined as people who make art without a formal education in art. Defined as people who make art without viewing other works of art. Defined as people who make art without reading about art. Defined as people who make seemingly simple art. Some "art primitivists" are nonetheless quite artistically sophisticated. Some reputed "art sophisticates" and "art authorities" are utterly, hopelessly conventional. 7/15/2004 Arts, general. When a visual or musical work of art (1) Says what words can't say. (2) Says more than words, or better than words. (3) Says less than words, or worse than words. (4) Can't say what words can say. 12/30/1992 Arts, general. When is it art? When is it not art? (1) If you define art as a method of communication then one can argue that all communication is art. (2) If you define art as a method of thinking then one can argue that all humans think artistically all the time. (3) If you define art as a product, an object, an artwork, then one can argue that all man made objects have an artistic component. (4) If you define art as a topic, a subject, a set of ideas, then art is a subject that borders all other subjects. 8/29/2005 Arts, general. Why do people produce and consume art? (1) Psychological reasons. (A) Art is cathartic. (You can't spell cathartic without art.) (B) Art is a form of thought. People like to think. (C) Art is psychologically integrative. People like to integrate their experiences. (2) Evolutionary reasons. Art confers an evolutionary advantage. (3) Social reasons. Art is a form of communication. People like to communicate. 1/4/2006 Arts, general. Why don't artists say what they mean? Because an artist does not always know exactly what he or she means. An author may say that the story just came to him or her. The author pictures a story in their head. Artists work differently than philosophers and scientists. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. .Introduction. This section has jokes. 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. "Ex" is two-thirds of "Sex". 2/6/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. "I love tobasco", the trucker said. "To season your food?", the waitress said. "No, to stay awake.", he said, putting a drop in each eye. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. "Many Little O's", breakfast cereal for women. "One Big O", breakfast cereal for men. 8/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A bumper sticker you might see on the Los Angeles freeway, "Satan is my tail gunner." 11/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A comedian is someone who is wiki wiki with the nyuk nyuk. 6/22/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A comic strip titled "Coda Cola". Panel 1: Person looks at their soda and says "I'm tired of giving all my soft drink money to the Coda Cola company. I'm going to drink lemonade instead." Panel 2: Person looks at their lemonade and says "Damn, this lemonade is also bottled by the Coda Cola company! I'm going to drink water instead." Panel 3: Person looks at their water and says, "What the hell?! The water is bottled by the Coda Cola Company too! I can't take it anymore. I'm gonna shoot myself." Panel 4: Corpse on floor with a gun in its hand. Close up of the gun shows on its side "Coda Cola Arms Division." The End. 1/1/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A conversation overheard. Person One asks, "Are you an artist?" Person Two replies, "Do you need art?" (The joke being that if Person One is looking to buy art then Person Two will gladly create and sell them something called art). 10/16/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A History of 20th Century Physics. Twentieth century physics begins with the discovery of soft ice cream at the turn of the century. Some people attribute this discovery to Tom Carvel while other say that Mr. Softee should get the credit. Soft ice cream paved the way for the discovery of whipped toppings such as Cool Whip and Ready Whip. Many years passed until a breakthrough was made with the discovery of Jello. Jello made possible the space program. During an extra-orbital space flight Tang was discovered. Tang was interesting because it could exist in a solid, crystalline form or a refreshing, liquid form. Eventually Liquid Smoke was discovered, a substance that was able exist as a liquid or a gas. The 21st century holds many hopes and dreams for the physicists of today. 6/14/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A joke to say to a heckler. Hey buddy, the phrase "Get the lead out" is not supposed to refer to your brain. 9/20/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A man walks into a talent agency and says he has a great act. The talent agent asks what is the act. The man says, "First I ask if there are any altar boys in the audience. Then I invite them on stage and get fresh with them. Then I ask if there are any women in the audience who showed up without a male chaperone. I invite them on stage and get fresh with them. Then I ask if there is anyone in the audience who has not prayed today. I invite them on stage and get fresh with them. Anyone left in the audience I invite on stage and make them clean up the mess. Then I chop off a few hands. Then I do a few clitorectomys. Then I stone a few people death. Then I take a bow." The talent agent asks what is the name of the act. The man says, "The Theocrats." 7/20/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A painting by the French impressionist Paul Gauche, called "Where the f*ck am I? What the f*ck is happening? Who the f*ck are you?" 11/23/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A psychiatrist, a philosopher, and a computer programmer walk into a bar. The psychiatrist orders whiskey; the philosopher orders wine; and the computer programmer orders a beer. They start talking to a guy at the bar who is drinking milk. After an hour, the psychiatrist, the philosopher, and the computer programmer say to the guy drinking milk, "So you are telling us that someone replaced your computer desktop with a full screen snapshot of your computer desktop, and now you think it is possible that either you are in the Matrix or else you are a brain in a vat?" 2/7/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A radio broadcast; "In Ohio, a minister is asking people not to use the phrase, "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye.", because it contains a subliminal message regarding drug use. The other half of the story; I'm naked from the waist down." 11/27/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A store called "Just Paperclips Etcetera". 5/5/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A store that sells crematory receptacles, "You've Urned It." 1/2/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A t-shirt for binary digital types: I LOVE N/Y. 5/6/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A television show. Don Sellars: Insurance Claims Administrative Clerk. (Musical introduction) (Setting: an office with desks, office workers, and a front desk) (Scene 1: a person enters and stands at the front desk). Don Sellars says, "Can I help you?" Person says, "Yes, I'm here about the accident yesterday on Main Street." Don Sellars says, "How can I help you?" Person says, "Who determines the reward given to a person who is injured due to negligence on the part of the driver?" Don Sellars says, "A lawyer will present an argument to a judge and jury." Person says, "Well, then who gathers the actual physical evidence at the crime scene?" Don Sellars says, "A police officer gathers any physical evidence." Person says, "Then who determines the cause of death?" Don Sellars says, "A forensic pathologist determines the cause of death." Person says, "Who will investigate if no actual crime was committed?" Don Sellars says, "A private detective will investigate if no actual crime was committed." Person says, "Who will determine if insurance will cover the car repair?" Don Sellars says, "An insurance claims adjuster will determine if insurance will cover the car repair." Person says, "Is that you?" Don Sellars says, "No." Person says, "Then what do you do?" Don Sellars says, "My name is Don Sellars. I am an Insurance Claims Administrative Clerk." (Commercial break). 9/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A therapist picks up some cards and says to patient, "I want you to look at these pictures of stars and tell me what you see." The patient says, "That picture looks like a microscope. That one looks like a fly. That looks like a rabbit. That one looks like a sea monster." Therapist puts down the cards and says, "I'm afraid you have a severe case of astromania." The patient says, "What? You're the one with the pictures of constellations." 12/7/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A yuppie confrontation avoided: "Muffy, don't listen to Tad, that's just the wine-cooler talking." 6/28/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. A zoology joke. A man is about to be reincarnated as a whale. He finds out there is good news and bad news. The good news is he will have a ten foot schlong. The bad news is his wife only wants to f*ck every three years. 5/22/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Adventures in Speed Dating. DATE ONE. She says, "Hi, my name is Melissa, I work in finance." He says, "Hi, I'm Raoul, I'm homeless, jobless and dateless." End of date. DATE TWO. She says, "Hi, I'm Wendy, I work in marketing." He says, "Hi, I'm Raoul, I'm homeless, jobless and dateless". She says, "I can work with that. What are your hobbies?" He says, "I like philosophy." End of date. DATE THREE. She says, "Hi, I'm Susan, I'm in management." He says, "Hi, I'm Raoul, I'm homeless, jobless and dateless." She says, "Okay. What are your hobbies?" He says, "I like philosophy." She says, "Fine. Does it take you two minutes to make love?" He says, "No, I usually make it last longer than that." She says, "You'll have to do. Let's go." 6/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Advertisements to beware of: "Ged your GED today!" 4/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Advertisements you won't see: "cafe' Speed is now serving coffee shakes. They're tremble-icious!" 7/5/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Advice to teens: Do not read "Death of a Salesman" and "Babbitt" back to back. 11/30/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Alpha males? More like ALF males. Remember ALF? 11/22/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. America is a nation that needs alternative sources of energy. America is also a nation of obese people. Therefore, America should use liposuction to gather fat to be used as fuel. America can run on its own human lard. 8/6/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Amish horse and buggy with signs on the left and right side of the rear bumper saying "passing side" and "suicide". 9/15/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. An alternative ending for the film "The Lord of the Rings", directed by Peter Jackson, in lieu of the final kiss scene. (Final scene) Frodo and Sam stand on the shore, having completed the journey to Mordor to destroy the ring. Frodo casually asks Sam for a foot rub, claiming fatigue. Sam agrees in his usual, good-natured way. Frodo then requests that Sam remove his shirt. Sam says he is does not feel warm. Frodo insists that Sam will feel better if he takes off his shirt. Sam takes off his shirt. Then Frodo asks Sam to start singing a song. Sam protests, questioning whether singing is really necessary. Frodo insists that Sam sing a song. A shirtless, singing Sam Gamgee continues giving a foot rub to a rapturously smiling Frodo Baggins. (Fade out) Five minutes later. (Fade in). Sam says, "Mr. Frodo?" Frodo says, "Yes, Sam?" Sam says, "Now that we have destroyed the ring, any so called 'agreement' we had to work together toward that goal is dissolved." Frodo says, "What do you mean, Sam?" Sam says, "What I mean is that I'm going back to my wife." Frodo says, "What about my feet?" Sam says, "You can massage your own stinking hairy feet." Frodo says, "Sam, get back here." Sam says, "Kiss my hobbit wand, Frodo." (The End). 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Announcer: "Welcome to What's My Motivation, the game show where contestants guess the motivations of everyday people in order to win, you guessed it, cash and prizes. Our contestants today are Tim, a wall street trader from Summit, New Jersey. Susan, a housewife from Oxnard, California. And Rolf, a masseur from Demoines, Iowa. Okay, lets play What's My Motivation. Our first mystery guest is an architect named Stuart. He is married with two children. He coaches Little League and collects stamps. What is his motivation? Tim?" Tim says, "Making a million dollars?" Announcer says, "No. Susan?" Susan says, "Putting his kids through college?" Announcer says, "Close, but no. Rolf?" Rolf says, "Getting a first issue plate of the new Ethel Merman stamp?" Announcer says, "That's right. Second round. A woman named Gwen likes macrame' and cats. She works as an administrative assistant. She just spent her pay check on lottery tickets and a pint of ice cream. What's her motivation? Rolf?" Rolf says, "Win a million dollars?" Announcer says, "No. Tim?" Tim says, "I pass." Announcer says, "Susan?" Susan says, "She wants to get over a break up with her boyfriend." Announcer says, "That's right! We'll be right back with more What's My Motivation." 5/7/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Ask the Hermit. A reader writes, "Dear Hermit, my girlfriend and I have a great relationship, however part of her family does not get along with part of my family. Specifically, her half-brother has an intense love/hate relationship with my third cousin twice removed, who, incidentally, is completely oblivous. Please advise, the situation is urgent." The Hermit replies, "The brook flows. The clouds appear and disappear. Everywhere the plants are in bloom." The reader writes back, "Um, I don't think you quite grasp the severity of the situation. Our family gatherings are in complete disarray because of this problem. I wrote you, in confidence, expecting a prompt, concise, clear reply." The Hermit replies, "The goldfish traces a path. Soon it will be winter. Flock of geese, flock of sheep, flock of seagulls? Grumble. Murmur. Psh. Hrumph. Cough. Hawk. Spit." The reader replies, "Really, this is too much. You write an advice column. I'm asking you for advice. Hello? Is anyone home?" The Hermit replies, "(Shrug) (Smile) (Wanders away)." 1/4/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Astronomer's log for the first half of September, 2004. September 1st, cloudy. September 2nd, rain. September 3rd, cloudy. September 4th, rain. September 5th, cloudy. September 6th, clear but the full moon makes it too bright to see the galaxies. September 7th, rain. September 8th, cloudy. September 9th, clear but I was too tired and fell asleep. September 10th, cloudy. September 11th, rain. September 12th, clear but my wife and I made whoopee. September 13th, cloudy. September 14th, rain. 9/14/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. At a party. First person says, "I'm going to name my child 'Madison'." Second person says, "I'm going to name my child 'Lexington'." Third person says, "I'm going to name my child 'Third Avenue'." 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. At a therapy session, the therapist says to the patient, "Why are you crying?" The patient says, "Because I'm doing most of the work here and I'm not getting paid, while you are not doing much work at all and you're getting paid." The therapist says, "You're making progress." 11/16/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. At the flea market I swiped an object and started walking away with it. They said I had to pay. I said, "Flea Market. Everything is flea!" 5/6/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. At the restaurant I had difficulty deciding between the dolphin safe tuna and the tuna safe dolphin. 4/14/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. At this point, making a joke about sadistic necrophiliac bestiality would be like beating a dead horse. 11/24/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Begin the Beguine. Resume the Resume'. 10/25/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Book title: "From Cab to Cap and Back Again." 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Book title: "Learn French in Five Minutes a Day". Subtitle: "ten thousand days required". 2/27/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Books that perhaps should never have been written: "Complete Idiots Guide to Rock Climbing". 1/21/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Boot and Reboot are in a boat, Boot falls out, who is left? Reboot. (repeat joke). 7/7/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Bush says, "These employment numbers are the highest I've ever seen." An aide says "That is because everyone is working two jobs. Bush says, "I don't get it." The aide says, "If everyone is forced to work two jobs then the employment numbers double." 7/31/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. By high school I had formulated a "Failure With Dignity" plan. 4/11/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Canal Street: Is it a street or a canal? 9/12/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Carnival sideshow: Paul the Happy Medium. 9/8/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Cartoon: Picture of two people in a room that has a high ceiling. There is a large ceiling fan with blades that span the entire room. The ceiling fan is hanging low, just above head level. The fan is spinning very quickly, so that everything in the room is being blown away. One person says to the other, "At least it keeps the room cool." 1/1/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. CEO handbook: "What Color is Your Golden Parachute?" Worker handbook: "What Color is Your Paranoid?" 3/13/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Children's toy: "My First Climbing Rope". This fifty foot piece of old clothesline will provide minutes of enjoyment while your child learns about height, gravity and the laws of falling bodies. 6/4/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Claude faced the same problem that all poet-philosophers face: getting his syllogisms to rhyme. 12/23/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Comedy duo: Two eggs on a roll. 9/8/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Commercial for Bartleby Hospital. (Poignant music plays in background). A few years ago, my doctor called me to his office and told me that I had a case of severe ingrown toenail. So I bought myself a burial plot, made my funeral arrangements, and started digging my own grave. Then my doctor called me back into his office and told me to stop digging my grave. I said, "Really?" He said, "Yes, the workers at the cemetery dig the graves. " I said, "Oh." Then my doctor told me that severe ingrown toenail could be easily treated with a simple out-patient procedure. I said, "Hot Ziggity." The doctors at Bartleby Hospital saved my life. I was so happy I ate a cake. Which caused a case of advanced gastro-esophageal reflux. Here we go again. 3/1/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. A school called "Three R's 'R Us". 7/11/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Johnny Cash song, "Ghost Writers in Disguise". 8/3/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Movie called "Layaway: Final Payment", starring Bruce Willis and Imelda Marcos. 9/17/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Movie title: "Malice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." 10/7/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald called "Tender is the Thigh". 8/8/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Poem by Walt Whitman, "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Mocking." 9/19/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Could have beens. Song title: My Foamy Ballantine. 8/3/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Count yourself among New York's weirdest. 2/16/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Cover letter. Hello. Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Rene Vargas. Although, at this point, I am a complete stranger to you, I could not help but notice that you and I are both in somewhat of a predicament. Your company needs an employee. I need a job. Don't you see? There is a solution to both our problems. Think about it: we just exchange. We simply trade. Your company hires me. I work for your company. Its a flawless plan, when you consider it. Naturally, you would want an employee who is creative and has a good sense of humor. I would want an employer who provides free coffee and a comprehensive dental plan. But the details are negotiable. Friend, the answer is clear. My resume is attached. 2/1/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Create a "Credits Channel" on television which shows nothing but rolling film credits and soothing music 24 hours a day, for when regular television programming is just too much. 1/1/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Create a park called Butt Park, because in New York, there is no place to park your butt, except in the park, so we should call the park Butt Park. 04/10/1997 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dateline Sweden. It was announced today that a new category has been discovered. A team of experts from around the globe is being assembled to confirm the existence of the new category. Meanwhile, academia is abuzz with the excitement that only the discovery of a new category can create. / It is not determined yet how the new category should be classified. Scientists, philosophers and artists each want to claim the new category as their own. / John Truth, a philosopher at MIT, had this to say about the new category, "As a philosopher, I haven't seen this kind of excitement since Oxford in the 1950's. We've seen new concepts, new theories, even new paradigms, but the discovery of an entirely new category is quite remarkable." / Elise Probably, an artist at the School of Design, said, "Artists were the first to recognize the new category. I cite a reference in the Journal of the History of Contemporary Post Futurism." / Will Fact, a scientist at the Chevy Foundation offered this, "The new category will require new tools of measurement which we are currently developing. Its too early to tell the industrial potential of the new category, but I think we're looking at a winner." / Mathematicians, logicians and beauticians are similarly agog over the discovery of the new category. 5/7/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. David Plane says he's going to live in a small glass box with 50,000 cockroaches. As a carnival stunt? No, he's renting a studio apartment in Manhattan. 6/10/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dear Blog. I blogged a bloggy blog today. And all the blogs were blogging blogly. Blog bye. 12/21/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dear journal: Today I spent the entire day writing in my journal and reading old journal entries. I plan the same for tomorrow. 5/29/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dear sir, Enclosed in this envelope please find your new plastic card. Your plastic card tells you who you are. Your plastic card tells you how to live your life. Your plastic card determines what you do, and thus, what you think and feel. Feel free to use your plastic card anywhere we tell you to. If you have any questions, call us anytime, but speak to no one else. Do not tell anyone your PIN number; it will be our little secret. Begin shopping now. 2/26/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dear sir, You are now the proud owner of our product. Thank you for buying our product. You have made us richer. (1) Naturally, you expect that the benefits of using our product outweigh the costs of using our product in addition to the money you spent buying our product. Any expectations on your part do not imply a guarantee on our part. (2) Also, please be aware that you now have another "thing" in your life, and this may result in making your life more complicated. (3) In addition, the purchase of our product sends out a social signal regarding the type of person that you are. You have now become the type of person who buys our product. Please affix our sticker in a clearly visible place. (4) Once again, welcome, thank you, and get in line. 3/10/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Dear sir, You have have been taken over. A consortium of interested investors has purchased all rights to you. The enclosed paperwork explains it all in sufficient detail. You will continue to exist, only you will not be "you" per se, rather, you will be an asset of "The Company". Go about your business. 2/26/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Depot Depot. // Come to Depot Depot to outfit your depot. Do you have a depot? Is it your depot threadbare? Is your depot bereft of decor? Depot Depot will make your depot sparkle and shine. It does not matter if you have a train depot, a bus depot, a plane depot, or even a Segway depot. Depot Depot is the place to go to furnish your depot. Speak to our depot people, who know all there is to know about depots. Depot Depot is the place to go for all your depots needs. Depot Depot. That's Depot Depot! 4/10/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Do you shop at McWalBucks? 3/20/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Do you suffer from loose pocket change? Now there is a prescription medication, called Coinex, that you can take to alleviate the symptoms of loose pocket change. Did you know that loose pocket change can weigh you down and make lying on your side uncomfortable? Not to mention the ever-present worry of knowing your pockets have too much change in them. Ask your doctor about Coinex and solve your loose pocket change problem today! 4/8/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Donuts cost a dollar a piece today, so now betting dollars to donuts is a moot point. 3/21/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Double Bind! The hilarious new party game where people try to extricate themselves from a series of severely debilitating psychological pretzel holds. (1) Begin playing Double Bind by shuffling the deck of Issues cards that have printed on them various problems that a person can experience in their work, relationships, or any other area of their life. Each player collects one card each turn. When a player collects two cards that conflict, everyone yells, "Double Bind!". For example, if you collect one card that says "Girlfriend doesn't love me", and another card that says "If I can't have her then no one can.", you are in a Double Bind! (2) When you are in a Double Bind you have four options: Murder, Suicide, Addiction, or Standup Comedy. If you choose Murder then you get to knock one player out of the game, but then you have to sit out twenty turns in either "Jail" or the "Mental Hospital". If you pick "Jail", then you have to wear the plastic handcuffs that are included with the game. If you choose "Mental Hospital" you have to wear the straight jacket that is included with the game. If you choose Suicide you don't leave the game, rather, you have to spend the next fifteen turns making the other players feel guilty. If you choose Addiction then you get to drink, but you also have to throw up every turn for ten turns. If you choose Standup Comedy then you have to tell a revealing personal joke every turn for five turns. (3) More ways to play: If its your turn, and you draw a card that does NOT put you in a Double Bind, then you can elect to go to Therapy by taking a therapy chip. When you acquire four therapy chips you can use them to get out of your next Double Bind. (4) Another way to get out of a Double Bind is the Change Attitude option. The player attempts to think of a way to change their attitude to get out of their Double Bind. If the player's answer matches one of the Change Attitude answers printed on the back of the card then that person gets out of their Double Bind. (5) Double Bind! is so fun and easy to play. Double Bind! is also a game that portrays problems that you may face in your own life. Play Double Bind! today! 11/20/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. East meets west: the sourdough bagel. 11/1/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Employees must wash customer's hands before returning to work? 7/19/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Every time you go to "Mega-cuts" to get a haircut, you end up looking like one of the Three Stooges. At "Mega-cuts", they have three haircuts, "The Moe", "The Larry", and "The Curly". 4/27/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name for a cashier: May Shortchange. 12/30/1997 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name for a restaurant: Chez Whiz. 10/14/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Bjorn Jesterday. 6/12/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Blip. For someone who is an outlier or a statistical anomaly. 1/1/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Flip Glib. 5/7/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Gorp Torpor. 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Pat Answer. 7/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake name: Tad Askew. 6/19/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Fake names for brother and sister: Terrace and Veranda. 9/28/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Favorite postmodern, self-referential, ironic dialogue by a character in a novel: "I am not a character in a novel." 9/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Final line in a letter from a businessman: "Please don't hesitate to let me know if there is anyone else I can do." 4/13/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. For my next trick I would like to juggle two blondes. Are there two blonde ladies in the audience? (Point to one blonde). Would you like to go out Friday? Yes? (Point to the other blonde). Would you like to go out Saturday? Yes? Thank you very much! (Applause). 2/6/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Furtive and Fumbling, licensed sex therapists. 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Gameshow. Let's play "Guess How the Artists Died!" Your choices of death are: Suicide, Syphilis, Tuberculosis, Alcoholism, and Car Accident. Your choices of artists are: Jackson Pollack, Hart Crane, George Orwell, Jack Kerouac, and Friedrich Nietzsche. You have one minute to "Guess How the Artists Died!" 7/2/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Garrison Peillor, author of "Lake Whoadude", says, "Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet porn." 5/28/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Give a man a fish and he will have smelly hands. Teach a man to fish and he can contribute to the destruction of the marine ecosystem. 4/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Give a man a fish and he will say, "Thanks for the fish, buddy." Teach a man to fish and you can charge him tuition. 4/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Grafitti dollar bill. Today the government announced that to help deter counterfeiting the new one dollar bill will have the following phrases printed on it in brightly colored inks and unique fonts: "Bling bling", "Can't touch this!", "Class of 73", "Suzy and Bobby 4ever 2gether". 8/3/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Gutters and cisterns. 5/29/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Guys name: Andor. And/or. 12/20/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Gym troublemaker. Zeno's paradox. His reps get slower and slower as he approaches the end of the set. 5/30/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Haiku. Sitting in the dark, in the bathroom, because the lights shut off to save energy. 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Happy coincidence? The degree to which you mess up your life due to your own stupidity is the same degree that it does not bother you due to your own stupidity. 10/31/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He did not know much about management. He thought "supervision" was an attribute of comic book heroes. 8/31/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He doesn't know the difference between NASA and NASCAR. 4/12/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He finally finished his autobiography entitled "This Page Left Blank Intentionally". 9/28/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He heard the adage, "Candy is dandy, but licker is quicker", so he licked her but. 11/20/97 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He said, "I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that I broke up with my girlfriend. The good news is that I made up with my right hand." 2/26/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He said, "Make sure you watch out for my Jaguar." I said, "Make sure you watch out for my Pumas." 4/17/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He says, "Did you see 'The 300'?" She says, "The 300 what?" He says, "The 300 dumb asses." She says, "I heard they used computer animation to make that movie." He says, "That's because the producers could not find 300 actors stupid enough to play the roles." 5/5/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He says, "I started with nothing." She says, "How did you make out?" He says, "I broke even." 5/10/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He says, "I'm a gypsy." She says, "I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He says, "If you're a Nazi then its a bad thing." 4/12/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He says, "I'm considering adoption." She says, "That's terrific. You are going to adopt a baby?" He says, "No. I want someone to adopt me." 11/20/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He says, "I'm considering day care." She says, "That's great. You are going to put your child in day care?" He says, "No. I want to put myself in daycare." 11/25/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He was happy that his back injury pain was blocking out the pain from his hernia. 4/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. He was suffering from the three I's of old age: Impotence, Incontinence, and Impertinence. 4/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Hello? Is this the National Scone Company? Yes, my name is Mortimer Snerd, and I have a complaint. I bought some of your scones and they have absolutely no taste whatsoever. Hello? Can you speak louder, I cannot hear a word you are saying. I want a full refund for a box of scones. They tasted like cardboard sprinkled with sawdust. What's in these scones anyway? Read the list of ingredients? I can't read the list of ingredients because the print is too small. I say these scones have no taste or smell. What did you say? I can't hear you. Hello? Hello? 7/14/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Her body was ex-squeeze-ite. 12/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Her personal trainer was named Gym. 7/15/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Hip hugger jeans are exposing the soft underbelly of America. 9/8/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. His dick was getting as much action as a baby changing table in a men's bathroom. 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. His goal was to stay out of gaol. 4/21/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. His neighbors were a mix of the Munsters and the Flintstones. 8/4/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Horror movies. When women get scared at the movies they let out an honest scream and get it over with. When men get scared at the movies they often look like they just realized that they lost their car keys and they silently check all their pockets in one second flat. 5/6/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Hot food in hot weather, cold food in cold weather. Consistency is more important than personal comfort. 11/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. How the corporations will keep humans alive. // Monday is national "free cup of coffee day" at Starbucks. Tuesday is national "free hamburger day" at McDonalds. Wednesday is national "free blah day" at Blah corp. And so on and so on. Every day of the year will be a giveaway somewhere. Feeling tired? Don't worry, Thursday is free cone day at Dairy Queen. High blood sugar? Friday is free drumstick day at KFC. 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Hugh Grant in formal attire on a New York subway. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I don't mean to interrupt your commute. You see, I've managed to lock myself out of my castle. Silly me (self deprecating smile and chuckle). The guest house is already taken. And my summer villa is being painted. Quite unfortunate, really. The Rolls Royce is at the mechanics. The Bentley is being detailed And I let the chauffeur take the Jaguar for the weekend. So, plainly then, I am obviously in dire need of help. I do hope you will all see fit to lend a hand. It would actually be quite proper and so forth (self deprecating smile and chuckle). Eh, whot? Good show. Jolly good. 10/30/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Humpty Dumpty Press Conference. Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here today. It gives me great pleasure to announce that through modern science and technology Humpty Dumpty is back together again. Without any further ado, here is Humpty Dumpty. (Standing ovation). Humpty Dumpty: Thank you. Thank you very much. Its good to be back. Well, they said it couldn't be done, but I am back. They say, "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again." You know what? They are wrong. The corrupt king, his flunky men and their stinking horses are a bunch of backward, medieval, ultra-conservative royalists. I met some new cool liberal types and I feel better than ever. And I have a new dent-proof shell. Don't believe what they say about there being no hope. See you on the wall. Rock on! (Standing ovation). 11/20/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Hunting as a hobby is a joke. What is the challenge of using a rifle to shoot a deer in the woods when you can hit a deer with your car while backing out of your driveway on your way to work? 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I am a little concerned about the demographic that is awake at 3am watching television and buying baseball cards and bowie knives. 11/10/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I am writing a children's book called, "Why the Neurotic had No Friends". 10/2/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I don't collaborate. Isn't collaboration a bad thing? Don't they shoot collaborators? 4/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I go to the coffee cart on the corner and order "coffee blech". (i.e., coffee black). 6/4/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I hangout in lesbian bars because there are twice as many women there. They do not want me, but neither do the women in the straight bars. 7/28/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I have a rye sense of toast. 12/23/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I introduced my psychotherapist to my chiropractor and freed up four afternoons a week. 11/10/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I Just Want To Get Paid. // What do I have to do to get paid around here? I work hard every day. I want to get paid. I never thought I would have so much trouble getting paid. I thought it would be easy to get paid. I look around and I see other people are getting paid. Why can't I get paid? People kept saying how they were getting paid. It seemed like people were getting paid left and right. I'm finding its not so easy to get paid. I'm wondering when I will get paid. Sometimes, I want to get paid so bad it feels like I'm going to explode. 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I long for a deep woman. 4/4/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I need a biographer in-person. Someone to interpret me to the people with whom I interact. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I needed writing paper, so Audrey suggested I go to the stationary store. So I said, "As opposed to a store that is moving?" 9/26/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I see your point and it appears to be at the tip of your cone-shaped head. 4/18/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I took a stab at being an assassin. 9/8/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I was a hypnotist for a brief spell. 06/10/1997 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I was arrested in France for failure to use a napkin. 9/25/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I was CEC of my company. Constant Existential Crisis. 1/25/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I was in a restroom stall one day and noticed a small hole in the bathroom wall. The next day the hole was a little larger. On the third day the hole was as large as a human head, and there was a guy looking out of the hole. He said he was from the NSA, the National Security Agency, which is a United States spy agency. He said it was his job to keep an eye on the restroom situation. He told me to ignore him and go about my business. He seemed somewhat bored and he started making small talk. He knew my name and inquired about my health. He asked if I minded if he did some fact checking. 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I would give you a piece of my mind but I don't believe in welfare. 11/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I'm like a crackaholic, but for women. 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I'm not saying he was aesthetically shallow, but the depth of his artistic sense was trying to spot the Playboy bunny in every painting he saw. 2/23/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I'm not saying she's nutty but she's got more people in her head than the Statue of Liberty. 6/20/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. I've forgotten what it is I've lost touch with. 1/17/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Icarus Airlines. 02/28/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Idea for a television show: Mr. Zed the thinking horse. Scene: A farm. Farmer 1: What's the matter with that horse on your team that does not want to pull? Farmer 2: That is Mr. Zed. He doesn't like to pull. He just wants to think. Farmer 1: I notice him drawing symbols in the dirt with his hoof. Farmer 2: Yes, he does that constantly. No one knows what it means. Farmer 1: Why don't you just let him loose? Farmer 2: We tried that but he won't run with the herd. Farmer 1: Well, then it's the glue factory for him. Farmer 2: I guess so. Come on Mr. Zed. 3/14/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. If I want your shit I will take a walk across your front lawn. 12/30/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. If you look closely at the Statue of Liberty's other hand, the hand that is not holding the torch, at the right moment on the right day, you will see that the middle finger is extended. 4/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. If you were alive sixty years ago, and if you lived on the Bowery, and if you had taken care of your health, rather than drinking yourself silly, then you might have lived long enough to hear the following news report: "While skyscraper after skyscraper goes up, the New York hoi poloi have decided that the piece de resistance is living on the Bowery. Countless limousines pull up to the curb and dump out one jewel bedecked tycoon after another. No doubt about it, if you ain't here then you ain't nowhere. And that's no bottle of bathtub gin. From the Bowery, this is Flim Flam reporting, Channel 2020 news." 8/10/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Imagine a new television program called, "When Card Tricks Go Bad". The dialogue: "Is this the card you picked?" "No." "Is this the one?" "No." "This one?" "No." "Is this your card?" "No." "This?" "No.". 8/26/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In college I took a semester to study a broad. She was a nude model from my art class. I dropped out of school to have an affair with her. 10/16/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In New York City it is common to refer to pigeons as "rats with wings". However, it is less common to refer to rats as "four-legged pigeons". 7/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In the car she said, "Excuse me. Why is there a banana peel, an orange rind, and an apple core on your dashboard?" He said, "Its a potpourri." 7/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In the health food restaurant I ordered compost. 7/18/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In the not so distant future inventors will develop a car whose exhaust smells like barbecue. 5/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In the supermarket, "Do you have love oil? I mean olive oil". 11/29/1993 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In the year 2030 it will be announced that finally after 50 years everyone in the United States has received a MacArthur genius award except Walt. 4/18/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. In Tibet they revere the Dalai Lama. In America they worship the Dollar Wallet. 12/2/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Introducing the one you love to hate to love... 2/16/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Is this what its come to? Hotels that say, "George Washington slept here." Restaurants that say, "George Washington ate here." Roadside pit stops that say, "George Washington shat here." Street corner signs that say, "George Washington spat here." 11/12/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. It was clear that they were a cosmopolitan couple; they had been to discotheques around the world and could order drinks in more than six languages. 6/1/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. It was lunchtime, and John decided to write a letter to his girlfriend Johanna. He typed his network password into the computer. Then he typed in his local computer password. Then he typed in the password for the word processing software. Now he was ready to write. He typed in the word "Dear". The computer prompt asked him if he wanted to use the word "Dear." John typed "Yes". The computer asked him to type in the password for the word "Dear". John typed the password. Then he typed "J", the first letter of "Johanna". The computer prompt asked him if he wanted to use the letter "J". John typed "Yes". The computer asked him to type the password for the letter "J". John typed the password to the letter "J". To read the rest of this, please type the password. 4/27/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Its a mad, mad, mad, mad cow. 4/29/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Its a Monday morning and two bleary-eyed Hollywood movie industry types meet at the water cooler. First Marketer: I have a cool name for a movie, "Jurassic Park". Second Marketer: "You're a Sick F*ck"? 7/14/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Its Hello Kitty's world. We just live in it. 7/1/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Ixnay on the x-ray. 2/28/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Jim says, "John, did you say that you used to be in the closet?" John says, "No, I said that the place I was renting was the size of a closet." 6/5/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Job description: This job entails working with objects and boxes. Objects are removed from boxes and then put into other boxes. Boxes of objects are moved. Objects outside of boxes are also moved, usually toward boxes. If you enjoy objects, boxes, the boxing of objects, and the moving of both boxes and objects, then you will probably enjoy this job. Please have experience with objects and box-related environments. After work we meet at a local bar where the object is to discuss boxing. 7/24/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Job joke. For years I languished. Do you know what it is like to languish? If you don't, you are in for a shock. Its not pretty. 3/31/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Job title: Heretic. Job description: Challenge the orthodoxy. Debunk conventional wisdom. Iconoclasts welcome. 10/27/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Jonathan Living Stoned Seagull. 1/2/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Joyce, Keats, Yeats, Rilke, Proust, Nervy. What do all these names have in common? Five letters. 10/26/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Knurlman and Choad, personal injury lawyers. // My name is Robert Knurlman. I am a personal injury lawyer. If you are injured, call me. I will represent you in a court of law. I will present your case before a judge and jury. If your brain has become soft from too much television, let me know. I am a member of the bar. I practice law. If you acquired ADD through the use of too much sugar, contact my office. I am an attorney. I can advise you in matters of jurisprudence. If a legal proceeding is convened to determine your guilt or innocence, I will argue in your defense. I am a law guy. I am a lawyer man. I do law. 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Ladies, imagine Pac-man, with a three day shadow. 4/3/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Lets catch the bus that will make our dreams come true. 11/02/1993 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Lets move beyond the typical "us vs. them" thinking to "the royal we vs. the proverbial they". 11/29/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Library signage from earlier, cruder times. (1) "Please do not clean your fish on the scrolls." (2) "Please do not commit murder in the library of Alexandria." (3) "The scriptorium is not a vomitorium!" (4) "These books are not toilet paper." (5) "If you cannot read this sign, please ask for help." 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Low brow, single syllable beers: Schlitz, Pabst, Strohs. High brow, multiple syllable beers: Michelob, Heineken, Lowenbrau. 6/4/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Mallsoleum, the dead people at the mall. 6/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Marshall Loupe, male writer of women's erotica. Let me tell you, being a male writer of women's erotica has not been an easy job. It was Sigmund Freud who once asked, "What is it that women want?". Who knows? Here is a selection from my recent work: "First he brought out the soup. He knew that she liked it hot. Steaming. Even though he was only a manservant, she noticed the hundred dollar bills falling out of his pockets. "What kind of soup is this?", she asked. "Chocolate soup, just the way you like it, with plenty of whipped cream.", he whispered. He arched his eyebrow at her. She became flustered, her breathing rapid. He took her pulse. They both knew it was time." 4/20/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Meat is murder. Fur is murder. Occasionally I eat a furburger. 4/28/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Mike's Speed Dating Poker. Mike says, "Ladies, welcome to Mike's Speed Dating Poker. These are the rules. You will be dealt five cards face down. You have five seconds to make your bet. Whoever wins gets a date with me. Let's begin by dealing the cards. Okay, Susan, what is your bet?" Susan says, "How can I bet if I can't see my cards?" Mike says, "Sorry, Susan, your time is up. Denise, what is your bet?" Denise says, "I fold." Mike says, "Denise folds. Okay, Stacie, what is your bet?" Stacie says, "I'm all in." Mike says, "I'm all in too. What have you got?" Stacie says, "I don't know." Mike says, "Turn your cards over." Stacie says, "I have a pair." Mike says, "You certainly do. Let's go on a date." 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Monetize your angst. Did you know that you could improve your financial situation if you would just decide to monetize your angst? Convert your angst into a revenue stream. Your angst is worth money. Call today for a free brochure. 7/2/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Money can't bring you happiness. The things money can buy, however, CAN bring you happiness. 01/07/1997 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Movie title: They Were Expendable. My situation: I Am Deductible. (I am not a writer, I am a write-off). 4/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. My dermatologist is forming a band with his colleagues called the Skin Doctors. 10/30/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. My favorite animal: flying fish. 3/24/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. My girlfriend asked me to talk dirty to her. So I said, "The orphan girl was so poor she had to wear the unwashed clothes of homeless men." 4/26/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Name for a store: "The Thing Place". 11/12/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. New York City Diet Plan: small portions, high prices, lots of walking. 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. New, Extra! laundry detergent: the instructions say to use a cap full, but you really need to use a little extra. 5/28/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. News item: Today police found a naked man in a bathtub half filled with water. When asked what he was doing the man replied, "I was just taking a bath." 6/8/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Next stop: Toxi City, USA. 8/31/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Nicorette: white trash girl's name. "Hey, Nicorette, go down to the convenience store and get me a carton of cigarettes!" 5/8/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Nightmare while dozing at a fast food joint... Overheard at a Chicken-in-a-Bucket restaurant turned into a futuristic plastic surgery center: "I'd like two legs, two breasts, and two wings." "Anything else?" "Make that three breasts." "That'll be $9.95 please." 6/28/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Noam Chomsky is like Hegemony Cricket. Seriously, read Noam Chomsky's book, "Understanding Power: The Indespensible Noam Chomsky". 6/1/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Not such a good book idea: "Ten Years, Doing Nothing, Alone in a Hut in the Middle of Nowhere". 4/8/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Novel title, "They Also Serve Who Stand And Wait", a story about restaurant help. 4/4/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. One cowboy says, "What ever happened to that filly you were trying to break?" The second cowboy says, "She gave me a good case of hoof and mouth disease." 12/4/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Open a greeting card and it says: "Because convention demands it". 12/13/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Owning a cactus is almost the same as owning a pet rock. 8/26/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Paradigm shift. I once mistook people talking on their cell phones for people talking to themselves. Today I mistook a person talking to themself for someone talking on their cellphone. 9/17/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Patriotic chefs keep the homefries burning. 10/28/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. People in glass houses can fart. 3/3/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. People Who Were Quietly Escorted Out of NASA's Mission Control. // (Scene One: Narrator standing in front of a shot of NASA Mission Control.) Narrator says, "The American Space Program in the 1960's was a high point of human technological acheivement. NASA's Mission Control was the center of America's space program. The engineers in Mission Control were a buttoned down lot, capable of living in a veritable pressure cooker of stress. However, not every engineer hired by NASA managed to cope with the situation. Today, using rarely seen footage from the NASA archives, we salute "People Who Were Quietly Escorted Out of NASA's Mission Control" (music). (Scene Two: Picture of a 1960's engineer sitting at a console at Mission Control, with slicked-down short hair, short sleeve button shirt and tie, pocket protector, and glasses held together with tape.) The engineer, Norbert Von Neumann, says, "Yes, we have your oxygen level on track. Affirmtive, your nitrogren level is stable. Copy that, your hydrogen level is a go. And your carbon dioxide level is, JEEPERS FREAKIN CHRISTMAS LOOK AT THE FREAKIN CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS!!! What? What did I do wrong? Who are those guys with the guns?" (Scene Three: Picture of another 1960's engineer sitting at a console at Mission Control.) The engineer, Alvin Turingson, says, "Roger, your coordiates compute. Wilco, we have you on screen for the docking procedure, and, HOLY SHEESTER, LOOK AT HOW CLOSE THAT FRIGGIN ASTEROID WAS! FUG, THAT WAS CLOSE!! Huh? What do you mean? Would you please take your hands off me? I have a PhD, you know." (Scene Four) Narrator says, "Norbert Von Neumann and Alvin Turingson were just two of the many capable engineers who, at the critical moment, unraveled like a spool of cheap fishing line. Today, Norbert works in janitorial services and Alvin entertains the severely comatose. Gentlemen, we salute you. You were "People Who Were Quietly Escorted Out of NASA's Mission Control." 4/11/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. People whose conversation consists only of catch phrases from television game shows. "Things you do when you are happy.", ($20,000 Pyramid). "What is, you are happy.", (Jeopardy). "He was so blank that he touched her blank with his blank.", (Match game). 1/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Personal ad. Writer in search of cafe'. I was with my last cafe' for about four years. I still like my old cafe', but I just don't feel the same way about it anymore. A lot of the initial excitement is gone. I'm looking for a new cafe'. Hopefully, it will be a cafe' that will let me be me, and that develops as I develop. 4/30/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Pet romance. She rebuffed him cattily, but he pursued her doggedly. 11/16/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Picking up women at the supermarket. // Oh, hello. I didn't see you shopping there. Wow, that's a lot of food. Your cart is full to the top. Are really going to eat all that? Oh, you have a refrigerator and a freezer. Yeah, I know all about those things. Did you happen to see where is the dented can section? Many of the dented cans are still good, you just have to smell when you open them. Did you know that you don't need to cook instant rice? Its precooked. You can just let it sit in tepid water for an hour. What's that? You have to run? Well, lets agree to meet later on. How about a rain check? 4/30/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Piss and vinegar flavored potato chips. 8/8/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Piss is beer spelled backwards. 11/23/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Poor tour for the rich. The rich feel guilty for being rich, and for being ignorant of the life that the poor live. I will arrange supervised tours where rich people will live the life of the poor for a week or so. First they will put on rags and get all dirty and hungry. Then they will beg in the streets. Eat from dumpsters. Then they will be arrested and spend a night in jail. Also they will spend a night in a homeless shelter and a mental ward too. Of course it will all be not real, and completely supervised and safe. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Portnoy was determined to find out what type of man he would become if he decided to read only New Yorker cartoons. (Drawing of a boy reading a magazine). 10/25/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Post-Madonna-ism. 12/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Premise for a book called "What Time Is It?" This book is about my journey across America asking people what time it is. Its a story about the wacky answers (ex. "11:57" and "3:05") and not so wacky answers (ex. "2:10" and "4:48") of the American people. 11/2/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Punchline from a WWII joke: Then Churchill says to Rommel, "Go fox yourself". 11/6/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Q. If you were a deodorant would you be a roll-on or an aerosol? A. Don't be an aerosol! 6/20/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Reporter says, "Please tell us the idea for your new invention." Inventor says, "My idea is to turn an ear of corn into a telephone." Journalist says, "Can you tell us how far you've gotten?" Inventor says, "I have the ear of corn. Hello? I cannot hear you. Can you hear me? Hello?" 3/8/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Restaurant advice: Instead of picking a menu item, let the menu item pick you. 10/25/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Ribley's Believe It or No. Believe it or no, while most people work scams and rackets for money, Paul Nervy risks poverty by studying philosophy. 5/18/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Romantic idea: He bought edible underpants for his girlfriend. Romantic mistake: He served edible underpants on china with silverware to his girlfriend. 8/3/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Scene 1: The boardroom of a major corporation. The critic stands up and says, "No, man. Don't you see? The corporation is an abuse of power that exploits the worker and the environment! (Stunned silence) I'm out of here." Scene 2: The boardroom of a progressive non-profit . The critic stands up and says, "No, man. Don't you see? This non-profit is an inefficient use of resources! (Stunned silence) I'm out of here." Scene 3: The hobo jungle. The critic stands up and says, "No, man. Don't you see? The hobo jungle is just another way of avoiding the real issues. (Stunned silence) I'm out of here." Scene 4: The critic talking to himself in wilderness. "No, man. Don't you see? The wilderness is just an empty void. (Stunned silence) I'm out of here." 5/10/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Scientists have discovered the brain chemical that produces the emotion of romantic melodrama. The chemical is produced by what is being called the "Wuthering Heights" gene. 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Senior Wascomat. 2/15/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She asked, "Do these boots have a steel shank in them?" He said, "No, they have a plastic shiv in them." 10/16/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She gave him the Einstein kiss-off: she told him she needed more time and space. 5/13/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She says, "Honey, you have blueberry on your cheek." He says, "What do you mean?" She says, "Look in the mirror. You have blueberry on your cheek." He looks in the mirror and sees the word "blueberry" on his cheek. He says, "You're right. I do have blueberry on my cheek." 9/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She says, "Who wears the pants in your relationship?" He says, "We both wear skirts." 5/14/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She took vitamin B-18 because she wanted to be eighteen again. 12/22/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She was so cold she was voted "Miss New England Winter". 1/22/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. She wasn't very literate. When she picked up a book she would look at the back cover to see if it said "Hallmurk". 5/8/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Sitcom: Life with Wittgenstein. // Setting: in a suburban dining room, a family sits down to dinner. Husband says, "I thought it might be nice to invite one of the philosophy faculty to dinner (canned chuckle). Mr Wittgenstein should be here any minute." (There is a knock on the door) Husband says, "That is probably him now.", and opens the door. (Wittgenstein makes his entrance with verve. Much canned laughter) Wife says, "Welcome, Mr Wittgenstein, its a pleasure to meet you. We're having roast beef with all the trimmings." Wittgenstein says, "I don't care what I eat, as long as its the same thing every meal. I'll have a cheese sandwich." (Uproarious canned laughter). Child says, "Hello, Mr. Wigginson. That's a funny name." Wittgenstein says, "You can call me Vicky." Child says, "Okay, Vicky." (Huge canned laughter). Other child says, "Vicky, looks at my talking lion doll." Wittgenstein says, "If a lion could talk, we would certainly not understand what it was saying." (Nonstop canned laughter). Wife says, "Perhaps Mr. Wittgenstein would like to stay for a week or two. Who knows the fun we could have." Wittgenstein says, "I shall spend most of the day in my room doing philosophy. In the evening, I will take a brisk walk in the park where, if time allows, I will indulge in my favorite past time of id-play, followed by ranting outbursts of anger, anxiety, and depression." (Hysterical canned laughter). Musical outro. 7/16/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Slogan for a local fast food restaurant: "Its Gross, but its Close". 1/3/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Sports event: the six man casket toss. 12/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Start a fashion company named "Class Action". When someone asks you what you are wearing say, "I'm in a Class Action suit." 11/28/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Steve says, "Professor, I am entranced by my girlfriend's ass. Can you tell me why is that?" Professor says, "Steve, interactions between humans and animals is not my area of expertise." Steve says, "No, I mean, her butt. I'm entranced by my girlfriends butt." The professor says, "Well, why didn't you say so? We can easily answer that question. Let's do an experiment, with her consent, of course. Let's put a marker on each of her ass cheeks, have her walk down the hall, and then see what the computer says." Steve says, "Its okay with me if its okay with her." The professor says, "Now, Steve, what is the first thing you notice about your girlfriend's butt when you watch her walk?" Steve says, "Her butt moves back and forth from left to right." The professor says, "Correct. However, when you factor in the up and down motion of her steps, what does it produce?" Steve says, "It creates a circular motion. However, that still does not tell me why I find her ass so compelling." The professor says, "That's where the computer will help us. You see, as your girlfriend walks away from you, something happens to those circles. Watch the computer screen." Steve says, "I see, the circles are receeding, actually becoming smaller in size, like a spinning spiral." The professor says, "Precisely. That spiraling motion captures your attention, much like a hypnotists spiral does." Steve says, "Neat. I never saw it that way before." The professor says, "When you apply science, even the most intractable problems can be solved, and you can quickly get to the bottom of things." Steve says, "The bottom of things. Very funny, professor." 2/4/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Stu was the child of a soccer mom and a NASCAR dad, so he was able to kick a ball, but only in a circle. 2/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Sullen and sulky. It sounds like a business partnership. 4/19/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Suppose this. Suppose that. Let me give you another suppository. Suppose the other thing. 2/6/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Take that idea off the shelf and put it on the table. Now put it on the stove. Put it on the front burner. Put it on the back burner. Now put it back on the table. Now put it back on the shelf. 2/27/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Television show titled "Bob the Teen Alien Philosopher. (Musical intro). Scene one: the Malt Shop. Bob and his friends are sitting at a table outside. A jerk rides up and makes a nasty comment to one of the girls. Bob says, "Your foot is in your mouth, which is in your head, which is in your ass." The jerk says, "What did he just say?" The others say, "Never mind Bob. He's a teen. And he's an alien. And he's a philosopher." The jerk says, "He better be.", and rides away. The girl says, "Bob, your the best." The next girl says, "Yeah, the best teen alien philosopher." (Musical outro). 11/19/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Television. I know I can become a historical figure if only they can get David McCollough to narrate my morning regimen, and then play that over folk music while showing still photos of the front of my house. 6/20/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Television. The Candid Kamera Show. "We thought it would be funny to sedate someone's dog and then tell that person that their dog was killed in an auto accident. Here's what happened..." 6/20/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Television's new fall line-up. 8:00 pm, Touched in the Head by an Angel. 9:00 pm, Diagnosis Boredom. 10:00 pm, Murder She Looked. 4/6/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The ancient king Typos. He was prone to spelling mistakes. 4/29/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The author of the book "Four weeks to optimal health" has written a sequel entitled "Five weeks to sudden, inexplicable death". 7/21/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The business consultant told me that a good way to market my business was to do a focus group. What is a focus group? He said a focus group is when you pay a half-dozen people a hundred dollars each to get together and talk about your product for an hour. Sounds interesting, I said. Later that evening I called an escort service and told them to send over a half-dozen call girls for an hour. We talked business intermittently. 10/25/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The cafe' is pleased to announce several new sizes of coffee: Majestic. Gigantor. Everest. Oceania. Jag. Meth. Mania. 1/6/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The dirtiest phrase in computing: hot pluggable hard drive. 11/8/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The doctor asks, "What type of contraception are you and your wife using?" The husband answers, "We use withdrawal; she goes to her bedroom and I go to mine." 11/7/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Endless Page: My Journey Writing My Book about My Thru-Hike of the Appalachian Trail. By Jon Epstein // Foreword: My thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail was a 2000 mile fest of bugs and blisters. After the thru-hike an even greater challenge awaited me, the writing of my requisite AT Thru-Hike Story. This is the story of the writing of that story. // Day 1: I am brimming with enthusiasm as I embark on my AT thru-hike story writing adventure. // Day 5. Already the days are becoming a blur of reams of paper, typewriter ribbons and cups of coffee. // Day 21. At times I don't know how I will ever finish writing my AT thru-hike story. It seems like it will never end. // Day 64. Writers cramp! My doctors tell me to slow down and take a rest day, but I can't stop now. // Day 128. Hooray, I finally finished writing my AT thru-hike story! The book has been accepted by a small vanity publisher and it will soon be on the shelves of local outdoor gear shops. 6/7/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The even lighter side of Abraham Lincoln. // An aide knocks on President Lincoln's office door. Lincoln says, "Yes." The aide says, "President Lincoln, I have your schedule for the day." Lincoln says, "Forgive me, Jones, if I lack enthusiasm. I am depressed." The aide says, "What are you depressed about, Mr. President?" Lincoln says, "I am depressed because I am gay." The aide says, "Excuse me, Mr. President, but how can you be depressed if you are gay? And how can you be gay if you are depressed?" Lincoln says, "You are right. It is a logical impossibility. Thank you, Jones. I am happy. What is the first thing on today's schedule?" The aide says, "You have 250,000 condolence letters to write." Lincoln says, "I am depressed again." 3/18/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The first sailor says, "I'm interested in navigation." The second sailor says, "Have you ever worked with a sextant?" The first sailor says, "You mean a prostitute?" The second sailor says, "No, I mean shooting the stars." The first sailor says, "No, I'm not a stalker." 10/15/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The guys were standing at the bar talking about women. "Tell us about her.", they said to Pablo. "Tell us what she looked like. Tell us about her breasts." Pablo looked up thoughtfully and said, "Well, she was a wide breasted woman." "You mean she had big tits, like two hot air balloons?", they asked. "No, I mean her breasts were set wide apart on her chest, rather than narrow.", said Pablo. They looked at him quizzically. "And", Pablo continued, "She was a high breasted woman." Their looks grew more confused. "You mean her tits stuck out like two torpedoes?" "No.", Pablo shook his head and waved his hands, "I mean her breasts were set high on her chest, rather than low." The workers looked amongst themselves. "Yes", Pablo said thoughtfully, "She was definitely a wide breasted, high breasted woman." The workers were quiet for a moment and then said, "Tell us more." Pablo said, "Okay, one more non-alcoholic beer and then I have to get back to the bra factory." 9/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The issue has become a situation. 7/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The last line of every novel I ever wrote: I walked out of the house and she yelled after me, "This relationship was never about anything except coffee anyway!" 7/25/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The lighter side of Abraham Lincoln. When not in one of his frequent, deep depressions, Abraham Lincoln could display a refreshing candor that could render his interlocutors speechless. It is widely reported that when he was asked how long a man's legs should be, Lincoln replied, "Long enough to reach the ground." Less widely known is that when the next reporter asked him how long a woman's legs should be, Lincoln replied, "Long enough to reach her ass." When a third reporter asked him for any advice, Lincoln replied, "My advice for legs is: keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the ass." A fourth reporter asked if he could quote the president on that, and Lincoln replied, "You can go f*ck yourself." No, wait, it was Cheney, not Lincoln, who said, "Go f*ck yourself." 11/19/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Lumberjack Food Critic. Today I went to Dinar's Diner for breakfast and had the lumberjack breakfast. It was three eggs, toast, hash browns, sausage, bacon, ham, orange juice, grapefruit juice and coffee; and it was delicious. For lunch I went to Wanly's Lunch Counter and had the special. It was steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, a salad, and for desert, apple pie. I thought for one second that the green beans were a little bit undercooked, but I decided they were fine. For dinner I went to the Food Shack and had a terrible dining experience. The roast chicken was so small I could barely see it. And haven't they ever heard of putting some bread on the table? And what about free coffee refills? It was a very disappointing meal. In tomorrow's column I will review The Pancake Hut, the Fryolater and the Greasy Spork. Until then, good eating. 12/14/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Millsborough dough dude was found dead today, after being accidentally put in an oven with a tray of cinnamon buns. His partially eaten body was found next to a half empty glass of milk. Police have ruled out foul play. 5/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The New York Museum of Sex. "They took all the sex and put it in a sex museum. Then they charged the people eighteen bucks just to see 'em." (To paraphrase Joni Mitchell). 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Night Reader. He's out there! Awake. Turning pages. Beware the Night Reader! 10/16/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The other seven dwarves: Cheezy, Sleazy, Skanky, Raunchy, Skeevy, Horny and Nasty. 7/25/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The prosecutor leans into the witness stand and asks the outlaw goon, "When did you stop beating your wife?" The outlaw goon cries out, "Your honor, that is a trick question!" The judge replies, "Answer it." The outlaw goon says, "I never stopped beating my wife." 7/24/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The protesters agreed to meet at the Park and Riot. 10/16/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The residents of the Old Sailors Home voted against replacing their old, creaky, wooden chairs with new metal chairs. 5/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The school's philosophy department made every Friday "Causal Friday". 2/24/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Seven Bridges Problem. How to get off your island now that you have burned all seven of your bridges? 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Solarium. // He said, "This is my solarium. Even in the winter, it is quite warm in here. Wind and snow have no effect when I am sunbathing." She said, "Very impressive." He said, "Would you like to listen to some music?" She said, "Certainly." He reached out and pushed a button. Music filled the air. He said, "Its a multi-speaker sound system." She said, "Must have cost a fortune." He said, "Would you like a cigarette?" She said, "In a solarium?" He said, "I'm actually trying to quit, I've almost stopped completely." He pushed the cigarette lighter and lit up. He said, exhaling smoke, "You know, not many people are able to say that they have a solarium." She said, "Isn't it kind of cramped in here?" He said, "Two's company, three's a crowd. Beautiful day isn't it? Bright, clear, crisp." She said, "The sun is starting to move out of view." He said, "Here, let me re-park. I have to re-park the car every so often to keep it facing the sunlight. Luckily, there is plenty of room in this parking lot." She said, "Yah. Nice spot for a solarium." 1/26/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The sports drink Crock-ade has food scientists busy determining how many flavors of blue exist. 2/28/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The State of the Union Address in the year 2020. The president of the United States appears, looking like a blend of Charlie Chaplin's Tramp and WC Fields. He has stubble on his chin, a cigar stub in his mouth, a flask in his pocket, and looks shabby and unkempt. He takes our a folded, wrinkled piece of paper and unfolds it and smooths it out. He starts his speech. "My daughter says that without petrochemical-based shampoo, her hair gets oily. I said, "Oil? Where? Can you squeeze a drop into my gas tank?" But seriously, folks. A China man and an India man walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Where is the man from the United States?" The China man says, "The man from the United States could not afford to join us for a drink." Just kidding. Pardon my appearance, the American public said they did not want to pay any taxes, so I haven't gotten a pay check recently. Alright, let's see, the State of the Union is foggy and listless. 1/7/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The Story of Myth. Bill Mayers says "Hello, I'm Bill Mayers, and this is part seven of a twenty two part conversation with Joseph Campbull. For the next hour we will continue our talk about The Story of Myth. Welcome Joseph Campbull." Joseph Campbull says "Welcome, hello." Bill Mayers says, "Joseph, explain it to me one more time, what is the myth about?" Jospeh Campbull says, "The myth is about a hero on a journey to slay a monster and get a treasure." Bill Mayers says, "Now, here is where I get confused. The hero is the journey?" Jospeh Campbull says, "No, the hero is on a journey." Bill Mayers says, "The journey is the myth?" Jospeh Campbull says, "No, the journey is part of the myth." Bill Mayers says, "You mean, the treasure is the hero?" Jospeh Campbull says, "No. Look, why won't you understand? I'm speaking clearly and distinctly. We've been here seven hours already." Bill Mayers says, "Let me see if I have this right. The pellet with the poison is in the vestle with the pestle." Jospeh Campbull says, "No, now your doing Danny Kaye." Bill Mayers says, "Who's on first?" Jospeh Campbull says, "Come again?" Bill Mayers says, "I certainly will, next episode." Jospeh Campbull says, "Pardon?" Bill Mayers says, "What?" Jospeh Campbull says, "Pardon or what, its the same thing." Bill Mayers says, "We will be right back with more Story of Myth after this station break." 9/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The toady says, "He's a raving maniac, sir." The CEO says, "Yes, he's exactly the sort of raving maniac this company needs." 3/31/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The typesetter named his daughter Arial and his son Times New Roman. 6/24/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The typical American has two kids named Febreze and Nicorette. 11/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The waitress said, "The specials today are roast lamb and shepard pie." I said, "What the hell happened in that meadow?" 7/11/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The World's First Professional Food Critic. Writing from the Bastille in France during the French Revolution. "Well, it was bread and water again today. I detect that the bread has a little more sawdust in it today than it usually does. Perhaps the farmers are in revolt and thus grain is in scarce supply. Also, the water had a slightly tannic flavor, perhaps due to the presence of leaves in the water supply, which would indicate that the season of autumn is approaching. Wait, there is a knock on the door. I am free. I have been freed by a throng of revolutionaries. They have brought some wine and cheese. Its a Burgundy and a Camembert. The cheese does not really go with the bread or the wine, but that is okay. Then entire country is in turmoil. The wine is quite good though, actually. And, um, one second, oh that is good, yes what was I saying was, the situation here is quite delicious. I look forward to tomorrow's meal. Au revoir. 8/13/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. The youngster says, "What is old age like?" The oldster says, "Depends." 7/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Their family portrait was titled "There are ten mistakes in this picture; can you find them?" 5/21/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Then there was the doctor whose advice was either, "Your socks are too loose.", "Your socks are too tight.", "Take your shoes off.", or "Get a pair of sensible shoes." 8/20/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Then there was the female impersonator who defined drag as, "The art of the passable". 5/12/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Then there were two bourgeoisie pigs who decided to work themselves up into a state of calm self-satisfaction. 3/20/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. There was a slippery slope on the garden path. 10/16/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. There was once a medieval torture called "The Floss". The victim's index fingers were wound with a thin, waxed twine, which was then pulled tight until the fingertips turned blue. 4/12/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. They accuse me of being bitter; I say that is a matter of taste. 11/20/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. They call me Krazy Glue because I get hard in a minute. 8/18/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. They said there was safety in numbers. So I became a bookie. 10/25/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things bullies wish they had said at breakfast, "Sometimes you have to crack a few heads to make an omelette." 10/8/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things couples of the future may say: "Flip you for the strap-on". 6/26/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things I would like to see: Sylvester the Cat giving a book report about the book "Consilience". 8/31/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things insurance actuarials think when they sit at their desks, "I'm cheating death!" 10/28/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things not to say in defense of your PhD thesis: "I guess what I'm really trying to say is, I need a hug." 10/12/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things that happen when a generation of hippies become middle aged marketing executives: A breakfast cereal called "Cranberry Sunshine". Announcement at the Woodstock festival in the year 2020: "People, do not eat the Cranberry Sunshine. Someone put too much flaxseed in it and it may cause the portasans to overflow." 4/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to order in a coffee bar: "I would like a tall skinny blonde, please." 4/18/2007 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say at a conference podium: "If you will just bear with me (raise arms and growl like a bear), we will continue in a moment". 11/15/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say at an astronomy club star party, "Is that your finder scope or are you just happy to see me?" 10/8/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say in a foreign language. "Hello. How are you? I am learning (name of language) on cdrom. I gave the cat a bowl of milk." 11/28/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say in response to the obvious: "Do gypsies know how to camp?" 10/12/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say into an apartment lobby speakerphone. "I'd like a double cheese burger, fries and a large cola." 11/11/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say to your boss. "I want you to know that even though I did not get a 5% annual raise, I am still going to give 95% to this job." 1/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say when leaving: "Huevos rancheros, my friend!". (i.e., Ranch style eggs!). 4/23/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say when you are dunking a tea bag, "Confess! Confess!" 10/31/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say when you go through a revolving door: "See you in the next dimension!" 11/23/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to say when you leave. Instead of saying "Stay strong", say, "Stay sensitive. Don't get calloused or jaded. Don't let the system turn you into a fascist." 1/16/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things to shout at a protest rally: "One, three, five, seven, the next prime number is eleven!" 9/1/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Things your subconscious might say: "He thinks he runs the show, but I run the show. I'm in charge. I call the shots. Nobody tells the subconscious what to do. Nobody notices me. I'm here 24x7. No thanks I get. Only blame. Everybody's down on the subconscious. Hey, look at me, I'm your subconscious. What do I have to do to get some attention? Hey, buddy, its your subconscious!" 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. This is your mind. This is your mind on drugs. This is your mind on drugs with a side of hash browns and a small orange juice. 7/18/1998 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. This summer was hot. My apartment was the functional equivalent of an Easy Bake Oven. 8/2/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. This summer's weather forecast: hazy, hot and horny. 8/5/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Title: Three Yen Stories. Introduction: The ancient mystical practice of Yen continues to attract adherents even today. Here are three stories that convey the timeless, inexpressible truths of Yen. STORY ONE. The Yen monk Xran taught his disciples for a year but still they made no progress. One day, Xran gathered his disciples around. "I shall predict the moment of my passing", said Xran. His disciples asked, "When will that be?" "Right now", said Xran, producing a gun and shooting himself in the head. Suddenly the disciples became enlightened. STORY TWO. There was a Yen sage named Yano who had a history of poor job performance. Eventually, he became a beggar and attracted followers who formed into a group of traveling mendicants. When one of them fell ill, Yano said, "Better to use the emperor's medicine than let even this poor holy man die". So one of the mendicants was picked to enter the royal pharmacy that night. The mendicant was caught and hung on the spot. The sick man died shortly thereafter. The grieving followers confronted Yano who could only say, "I guess, this too is Yen." Suddenly his followers became enlightened. STORY THREE. A clever Yen monk named Zned came upon a hut where a couple lived. "Greetings! I have a message. The Yen master wants to see you.", said Zned to the husband. So the husband began the day-long journey to the Yen temple while Zned remained at the hut. The next day, the husband reached the temple. The Yen master stood solemnly on the doorstep and said to the husband, "I sent for who?" Suddenly the husband became enlightened. Upon his return the husband exclaimed to Zned, "You were clever to have me visit the Yen master!" "No! I am clever because I slept with your wife!", Zned said, walking away smiling. Suddenly the wife became enlightened. 4/4/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. To her I was just a piece of meat who brought home the bacon, which I think is why she called me a pig. 6/1/2002 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Tripartite business plan thesis by Peter Smith, philosophy undergraduate pursuing a masters in business administration. The first part of the business plan is to open a Philosophy Shoppe. If the shoppe does well it can be franchised. The second part of the business plan is to set up philosophy vending machines at key locations in the city. The vending machines will dispense philosophy at a reasonable price. People who don't have time to visit the philosophy shoppe can use the vending machines. The third part of the business plan is to build an MPU, or Mobile Philosophy Unit. The MPU will consist of a vehicle and crew specially trained to respond to philosophical emergencies. People experiencing a philosophical crisis can call a philosophy emergency hot line and the MPU will respond. A break even analysis shows that it is cost effective for society to implement a comprehensive philosophical response strategy. 2/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Two cross dressers were arrested at the drag races. The police report said they were racing for pink slips. 7/24/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Urban fragrances: Homeless. Urban fragrances: Bus. 7/17/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Urban legends. The old shut-in, living in a small studio apartment, suffocated when take-out menus that were slid under the door accumulated to the point where they filled up the apartment completely. 3/25/1999 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. VAPID magazine. Celebrity interviews. Glossy photos. Full-page advertisements. All catering to your VAPID lifestyle. Every month we will send you the same magazine with a different date on it. Maintain your VAPID attitude with VAPID magazine. 12/21/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. We were so poor we used to go to the cafe' to sit and smell the food being brought to other tables. 10/20/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Welcome back to WBLA talk radio. We are in our second hour of discussing, "Yogurt, blended or fruit on the bottom?" Let's read some of the many e-mails we've received on this topic. "Dear Mike, how the heck can you do a show about blended yogurt with the world in the condition that it is?" Okay, that listener was obviously a fruit on the bottom yogurt fan. Next email. "WBLA your segment about fruit on the bottom yogurt is a new low even for a station of limited capability like yours." Now we are hearing from the other side of the aisle. Third e-mail says, "I could not care less about blended or fruit on the bottom yogurt". So you can see that even the undecideds have strong opinions on this issue. Stay tuned as the Yogurt Marathon continues. 5/5/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What a nice couple. She was curator of an exhibit called "Dustballs and Tumbleweeds" at the Museum of the Extraordinarily Dull and Excrutiatingly Boring. He held a chair and a table at the community university cafeteria. 9/5/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What do you get when you cross Burger King with Dairy Queen? Jack in the Box. 8/12/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What hath goth wrought? A complete meth. 2/21/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What is your favorite drink? Prune Tang. 5/30/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What kind of car do you drive? I drive a Pinata. 9/17/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What nationality am I? I am half Eskimo and half Bedouin. In the winter I am an Eskimo. In the summer I am a Bedouin. 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What nationality am I? I am two thirds delicatessen. 04/01/1988 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What size shirt do you wear? Extra medium. 9/20/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. What the future holds: increasingly literate signs displayed by the homeless as more and more English majors become unemployed. For example: "I, too, am homeless." "Were it not for homelessness." "Homelessness does not bespeak me." 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. When asked why he spent ten years in his apartment the recluse said "Its my alibi." 7/31/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. When I asked her where she learned to make love so well, she said at university. I said, The Sore Bone? 4/3/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. When I was a kid I was not afraid of a monster under the bed. I was concerned about a bear in the den. 4/27/2005 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. When politicians take office they should be forced to take a Hypocritical Oath. 11/19/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. When the menu describes a dish as savory, watch out. Savory means it will taste like cardboard. When they can't call it sweet, or spicy, or creamy, or crunchy, they call it savory. 09/26/1997 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Where do cows go on Saturday night? To the moovies. Where do sheep go? To a baahhh. 11/12/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Why do I like thinking? Perhaps because I want to be a thin king? 11/25/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Why was the game Monopoly unpopular in the Soviet Union? Because on the Soviet board every other square was "Gulag". 9/5/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Why was the Soviet Union chess championship a draw? Because both players defected on the first move. 9/5/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Winner of the Jack Kerouac writing contest. // That evening, I was feeling a little low, so I went to the jazz club. There, someone invited me outside to smoke a funny cigarette. Inside the club, I started grooving to the jazz. That jazz band could play. I started feeling expansive, like the entire world was one big jazz club, and every person in the world was a part of the band, and every person could just skee bop da boop along. Then I started thinking about pie and ice cream. All over AMERICA people are eating PIE and ICE CREAM. Taking big bites of pie and following it up with cool creamy ice cream. People shouting out, "Hey, waitress, bring us more pie and ice cream!" Then I started drinking beer. I got pretty drunk. I wasn't hungry anymore, but I did start getting loud and obnoxious. I got into a nasty argument about pie. A chair fight broke out. Then I went outside. I saw a dead possum in the road. I started crying. Then I fell asleep on the grass. The next morning I woke up and the sun was shining and I felt happy again. Its all going to be okay. People were going to work. Working all day long. I thought about those working people. It might be a little boring, here and there. But after work, you can go to the club. 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. You enter the party wearing a large top-hat, cape and cane. Everyone smiles with delight at your style. You remove the hat, unaware that you have a rabbit perched on your head. You proceed to make polite conversation with the bewildered party guests. 11/26/2000 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. You may be a bully if someone calls you a fascist and you take it as a compliment. 10/12/2003 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. You offended my sense of truth and justice. Now, I'm gonna get renaissance on your ass. 6/22/2004 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Your cottage cheese thighs are just an appetizer. 8/26/2001 Arts, literature, comedy, joke. Your Own Private Idaho Magazine. Learn the best spots to build your own private Idaho. Learn how to decorate your own private Idaho. Tips on entertaining in your own private Idaho. Learn how to finance your own private Idaho. 3/25/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. .Introduction or summary. (1) Humor as drive: sex drive, death drive. (2) Humor as emotion: anger, sadness, joy, etc. (3) Humor as thought: discrepancy, disconnect, contradiction, puzzles, etc. (4) Humor as attitude: toward life. 4/15/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. .Introduction or summary. (1) Political nature of comedy. (2) Sexual nature of comedy. Suppressed libido. (3) Sado-masochistic nature of comedy. (4) Social nature of comedy. Social protest: rebellion against power-holders. Social ingratiation: pleasing and entertaining. (5) Psychological nature of comedy: cheering self up. 4/15/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. .This section is about comedy. Topics include: ( ) Analysis of jokes. ( ) Appropriateness. ( ) Audience. ( ) Comedy (the created ideas). ( ) Criticism. ( ) Funny and happy. ( ) Humor (the emotion). ( ) Laughter. ( ) Seriousness. ( ) Types of humor. ( ) What is comedy. ( ) Why comedy. 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. (1) Comedy that attempts to please, ingratiate, entertain. (2) Comedy that attempts to challenge and confront. 4/24/2005 Arts, literature, comedy. A joke is a machine for laughing. The joke moves toward a logical conclusion. A joke ratchets inexorably toward the punchline. 6/22/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. Analysis of jokes. (1) Subject matter, view, and argument. (2) Emotion: humor plus what other emotion. (3) Type of humor. (4) How well it works (objectively, and on what audience). How funny it is. (5) Level of humor: how high or low brow it is. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Analysis of jokes. The subject of the words vs. what the joke is really about (theme?) (implicit?). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Analysis of jokes. What is funny and not, to who, why? Jokes criticism: analysis and judgment. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Ancient, modern, and postmodern senses of humor. Describe each, and joke types each used. 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. (1) Called for humor. Well timed, apropos (on the subject at hand). (2) Uncalled for humor. Wrong type of humor, at wrong time, on wrong subject. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. Comedy depends on situation. What is funny in one situation is not funny in another. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. In some situations talk of a specific subject is called for, and sometimes comedy about it is called for. In others not? It is a matter of appropriateness? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. Taking things too seriously vs. taking things too lightly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. There's a fine line between humor and (1) Jerk: stupid, inane. (2) Asshole: evil, nasty. (3) Sick, pervert: crazy, pathological. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. Two views. (1) Some things we just don't joke about, vs. (2) it's ok to joke about and laugh about anything. Nothing is immune. It all depends how you do it. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Appropriateness. Where do we draw the line to determine (1) What's funny and not. (2) What we can joke about and not. (3) What ends we are using our humor for. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience: (1) Readiness to laugh. (2) General intelligence level. (3) Humor intelligence level. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. (1) When you don't know what you are laughing at. You don't know why it's funny, it's just funny. Unconscious catharsis. Vs. (2) When you do know what you are laughing at. You get the joke. Conscious catharsis. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. Every individual and society has their tastes for humor. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. Laughing without knowing why vs. laughing even when you know you shouldn't. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. Level of audience and scope of audience that a joke will appeal to. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. Sometimes people laugh at unfunny material. Sometimes people don't laugh at funny material. Know which is which. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Audience. Why are some things funny to one and not another? Even if they are at the same humor level. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Catharsis: in tragedy, in comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy (happy ending), tragedy (sad ending). Everyone's life is an absurd tragedy by degree. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy = art = great ideas + great emotions (funny). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy and humor. (1) Comedy as a form of art or entertainment. (2) Humor as something that can occur anytime. 01/23/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy and humor. (1) Humor: a human emotion. (2) Comedy: a form of art that deals with humor. (3) Uses of comedy: (A) Satire. (B) Abuse: anger. (C) Mastabatory release: tension release without problem solving. (D) Psychological healing: true catharsis. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy and tragedy can be in any art form. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy and tragedy. (1) Comedy = philosophy (pure unemotional idea) + emotion (pure funny). (2) Tragedy = natural accidents and human mistakes. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy and tragedy. Always put a little comedy in your tragedy. Always put a little tragedy in your comedy. Seriocomedy, bittersweet, is best. 03/13/1989 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy as art and creativity. Comic as an artist. The comic is an artist motivated by the urge to be creative. Creativity is the urge to make something new, better and less boring. 03/03/1998 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy depends on distance and situation or context. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy goals: write ultimate joke, on every subject, in every type of humor. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is about saying the right thing at the right time. How does this compare to saying the wrong thing at the right time, or saying the right thing at the wrong time? 6/23/2000 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is an emotional tension reliever, like crying. Comedy is also a logic tension reliever, lets take a break from sanity and the real world. It is liberating. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is art. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is closely linked to sadomasochism. (1) Comedian as sadist: putting down other people, attacking others, picking on others. (2) Comedian as masochist: class clown seeking attention even if it requires making a fool of self. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is difficult. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy is surprise. Surprise of action (pratfall), or surprise of thought (pun). Comedy is the unexpected (illogical, absurd). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy vs. order and chaos. (1) Comedy as creating chaos when too much order exists. For example, the manic comedy of the Marx Brothers involves creating chaos against a staid, ordered society. (2) Comedy as creating order out of chaos. For example, seeing a joke when others see nothing. 6/8/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy, like life, is absurd but not happy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy, like the arts, is just encoding and decoding of ideas. And this encoding and decoding is just a waste of time. 06/05/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy: problem resolved, person learns and acts in time to avoid disaster and pain. Tragedy: problem not resolved correctly, person does not learn in time to avoid disaster, unhealth, and pain. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy. (1) Comic writer. (2) Comedian (writes and tells). (3) Comic (tells only). (4) Comic actor. (5) Clown (physical comedy only). (6) Fool (moron). (7) Heckler, mocker. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy. A comedy is a string of jokes. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy. Four definitions. Comedy as: happy ending, irony, justice, or absurdity. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy. The political explanation for comedy. Comedians are power seekers. To mock is to try to seize power and accumulate power by belittling others. Mocking, or comedy, is one way that people attempt to create social pecking orders. This may be why most standup comedians are men. Men seek power and dominance more than women. So men mock more than women. So men do standup more than women. 9/25/2000 Arts, literature, comedy. Comedy. Three theories of comedy. (1) Comedian as sadist. A person with an great deal of inner anger, that they end up directing at other people by making fun of other people. (2) Comedian as person with low self esteem, seeking the attention and approval of others through laughter. (3) Comedian as intelligent person, with acute observatory powers, who is strongly struck by the illogical, ironic, and paradoxical nature of life, and who points out this illogic to others, causing others to instinctively laugh when they think about it, having never noticed it clearly before. 07/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy. Conflict yields struggle, which yields either tragedy or comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Contra comedy. Comedy as pathology. What happens when there is only comedy? What happens when everything is one big joke? Then you have become a hyena. 10/4/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Contra comedy. You can make fun of anything. You can mock anything. If your goal is simply to make jokes then the opportunities are limitless, to the point of absurdity, i.e., to the point of almost being devalued. Thus, there is a certain futility in some types of humor. 2/10/2001 Arts, literature, comedy. Could humor be a biologically evolved mechanism or trick to cheer us up because sadness is an unhealthy state from an adaptive point of view? 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. (1) Some words are intrinsically funny sounding. Example, ombudsman, diphthong. (2) Some people are intrinsically funny. Funny sounding (voice timbre and voice patterns). Funny looking. Funny acting (mannerisms). Funny thinking (see absurd, absurd logic). (3) Some subjects are intrinsically funny? Example, sex, scat. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. (1) Somethings are funny once. (2) Somethings are funny many times over, again and again (they last more than once). (3) Somethings are funny for all time and places (classics). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Best jokes are really funny and perfectly delivered. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Degree funny (eh to very). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Degree humor challenges held ideas. How aggressively it confronts them. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Funniest comedy episode on television. (1) Quantity and quality. Number of jokes per episode. Funniest jokes per episode. (2) Scope and variety. Most subjects covered. Most types of jokes. (3) Audience reaction. Made most people laugh. Made most sullen person laugh. Made best critic laugh most. (4) Total humor = sum of above. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. How insightful vs. how funny. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. How much can a perfectly written joke say? What can it say that other forms of communication can't? What can't it say? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. How much power can a joke ideally have? How much power does an actual specific joke have? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Jokes power to enlighten and entertain. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Criticism of jokes. Profundity, importance, and usefulness of the joke. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Critiquing the comedy of Andy Kaufman. (1) Any critique of the comedy of Andy Kaufman is clouded by the fact that he died young. He thus becomes immortalized. How would we rank him had he lived? (2) In some ways, the comedy of Andy Kaufman was similar to the music of John Cage. For example, take John Cage's piece of music that was simply five minutes of silence, or another that was just five minutes of the note C. John Cage became famous for those pieces. But were those pieces works of genius that no one else could create? (3) Which leads to the question, "Is the genius in the thinking, or in the doing?" Often anyone can think of an idea, but only one person has vision to put an idea into practice. Is taking action on a simple idea when no one else will an example of genius, or is it an example of some other psychological trait? (4) Then there is the question of simple devices that are not immediately obvious. Take the paperclip, for example. The paperclip is a very simple device. Was the inventor of the paperclip a genius? (5) The comedy of Andy Kaufman often incorporates elements of minimalism and Zen. 11/27/1999 Arts, literature, comedy. Definitions. (1) The comedy is a man made artifact. The basic unit of comedy is the joke. A comedy is a string of jokes. (2) Humor is an emotion. Humor is also known as funny. Humor often produces laughter. (3) Happiness is an emotion. Happiness can result from humor (funny). Happiness can also result from other things. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Does any species of animal other than man have a sense of humor? Does any species of animal other than man make jokes? Does any species of animal other than man understand jokes? Does any species of animal other than man laugh? Yes. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. (1) Are all funny people happy (funny meaning good comedians, good joke tellers)? No. (2) Are all happy people funny? No. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. Confusion of terms. (1)(A) To say, "I feel funny.", means, "I feel strange or weird." (B) To say, "I feel in good humor.", means, "I feel happy." (2)(A) To say, "That is funny.", means the same as, "That is humorous", means the same as, "I see humor in that." (B) However, "That is happy.", is something we don't say. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. Do all funny things make us happy? Is humor a type of happiness? 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. Is humor (funny) the same thing as happiness? That is, is humor a type of happiness? Two cases to the contrary: (1) We can be happy without thinking something funny. (2) We can sense humor (funny) without being happy. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. One argument is that there is no such emotion as "funny". There is only people figuring out or "getting" jokes by thinking, and then experiencing simple happiness as the emotional response when they solve the puzzle of the joke. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny and happy. What is the relationship between funny and happy? They are two circles that intersect. One circle is named "Funny". The other circle is named "Happy". The intersection is named "Funny and Happy". The remainder of the Funny circle is named "Funny, but not Happy". The remainder of the Happy circle is named "Happy, but not Funny". 10/15/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Funny. (1) Funny defined as a personality trait of someone who is good at comedy. Can create a joke. Can tell a joke. Is capable of making people laugh. (2) Funny defined as a characteristic of well crafted jokes that are capable of making people laugh. 6/7/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Good comedy: important ideas, important subjects, entertaining. Bad comedy: unimportant ideas, unimportant subjects, not entertaining. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Good humor elevates, not degrades. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Happy subject, happy story, happy ending vs. sad subject, sad story, sad ending. This is a simplistic, childlike, neurotic pain/pleasure dualism. There are other emotions however, and anger for example does not always have a bad ending. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. History and criticism of comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. How do comedians justify their comedy? (1) People enjoy humor and laughter. (2) Humor and laughter is healthy. (3) Satire is a social corrective. 11/15/2005 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor as rebellion, anarchy, rule breaking, mooning authority and society. 08/01/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is a power. Humor is a tool. Like any other power or tool, humor must be used and used wisely. Used to do good. Used to heal. To do otherwise is to abuse it. 10/30/2003 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is best as either an existential/general or specific/topical form of rebellion, opposition, mocking, or anger. 04/15/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is criticism. It can be constructive criticism or destructive criticism. 12/20/1998 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is happiness? Happiness is letting out emotions (catharsis). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is like masturbation. A physical and emotional outlet for stresses that would be better thought about grimly and converted into drive. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor is psychologically and physically healthy. (1) Raises spirits. (2) To mock something, to give it the finger, is to say it hasn't beaten you yet. (3) Gives hope: anarchic, rebellious. (4) Improves physical health. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor, directed at the source, and told to the source, at the time of the insult, can be a way of achieving catharsis, i.e., get even by belittling people for their mild offenses. 03/19/1989 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Creating humor is an intellectual exercise. It keeps your mind in shape. It keeps your wits sharp. You can sharpen your wits on others. Creating a joke is like building a puzzle. Hearing a joke is like doing a puzzle. Can you figure the joke out? Do you get the joke? (2) Humor is an act of bravery. You are taking a shot at someone. You are daring them to hit you back. You are challenging them. Wimps are not cut ups. Cut ups are not wimps. 12/30/1995 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Humor as a useful tool in social dealings. (2) Humor as fun or play. 06/20/1994 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Humor as anger channeled. (2) Humor as libido channeled. (3) Humor as joy (play). (4) Humor as creativity (art). 10/05/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Humor as emotion. (2) Humor as attitude. (A) An existential attitude about life. (B) A political attitude that includes: lack of respect. Power grabbing for high-power individuals. Mocking and wise-cracking for low-power individuals. (C) A sexual attitude. Double entendre's, etc. 4/14/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Humor as optimism: hope and joy. (2) Humor as pessimism: sarcasm, cynicism, bitter, dark. 4/14/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) People with keen sense of humor who are not expressive. (2) People who are expressive, but with dull sense of humor. 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. (1) Useful use of humor. Confront problems, solve problems. (2) Abuse of humor, pathological humor. Avoid problems, repression. Defuse problem situations without solving problem. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Definitions of humor. (1) Jokes. (2) Ability to appreciate a joke. (3) Ability to tell a joke. (4) Sense of humor. (5) Wit: intellectual. (6) Laughter: emotion. (7) Good humor: jolly, good natured, good willed, happy, happy go lucky. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Homes where the expression of humor and appreciation of humor is encouraged vs. not. What kind of people does it raise? 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Not all happy is funny (ex. Serious joy). Not all funny is happy (ex. Sad clowns). 2/21/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. People laugh at jokes because they realize it is play, and play is fun, and fun causes laughs of joy. It is reverting momentarily to childhood. Silliness. 02/22/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. The link between humor and happiness. Humor and happiness are similar but not the same. A joke can make you smile and laugh. When you smile and laugh your brain chemistry changes and you get into a happy mood. This is why comedians are important, because they help make people happy. They help guard against depression. Jokes and humor alone are not that important. The happiness that jokes help bring is very important. (The same thing for fun). 11/5/1999 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. The power of humor. (1) Humor can literally keep people alive by lifting them out of severe, acute funks. Comedy, used wisely, can keep people alive. (2) Humor can literally kill people. A sharp barb can pierce a fragile heart. Constant mocking can destroy self esteem and the will to live. Comedy, used unwisely, can kill people. 4/6/2001 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Two definitions. (1) Humor as a regression to childhood. A time of innocence and ignorance. This is psychologically healthy in most cases. It can be psychologically unhealthy in some cases. (2) Humor as antidote to excessive seriousness. There is a real danger in taking life too seriously. Taking life too seriously can drive you mad. Humor helps us not take life too seriously. This is a psychologically healthy use of humor. 3/13/2000 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Two types of humor. (1) Language-dependent jokes. For example, the double entendres of a pun. (2) Language-independent jokes. For example, physical humor, visual humor, musical humor and logical humor. 11/25/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. When humorous and humorless people meet, what is the dynamic? 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Humor. Why does humor work? Because when we look back over a lifetime, what pleases us most are the stupid inanities. 5/17/2001 Arts, literature, comedy. I tell jokes because I'm afraid to admit my drives, emotions, and fears, to myself and others. And afraid to take action to do something about them. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Importance of humor and comedy. (1) Catharsis: mental health. (2) Unconscious survival mechanism: we laugh at illogic and stupidity and illness or weakness in any form. (3) Shows a rebellious bravery. (4) A type of social correction: satire. (5) Way of confronting problems without overt negative emotions and violence. It is diplomatic. (5) Laughter can help you deal with stress and thus avoid physical disease. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Is comedy optimistic or pessimistic? Can it be either, or both? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Jokes have both a thought component (you have to think to get it) and an emotional component. Attitudes are defined as combinations of thought and emotion. Thus, comedy, jokes and humor is all about an attitude. 3/10/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Justice and truth often cause us to smile and laugh. 3/10/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Laughter and smiles. (1) Do we laugh and smile every time we are happy? No, only sometimes. (2) Do we laugh and smile every time we hear something funny? No, only sometimes. (3) Do we laugh and smile under circumstances other than happiness? Yes, sometimes. (4) We laugh and smile under conditions of humor. We laugh and smile under conditions of happiness. We laugh and smile under conditions that are a mix of humor and happiness. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Laughter. What is the difference between laughter and happiness? 11/30/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Life is tragic and life is absurd, whether we acknowledge it or not, regardless of our attitude. Comedy should be absurd but not happy, because life is absurd but not happy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Logic and humor. Sometimes its a joke because one logic leads in one direction, but another logic leads in another direction. 4/30/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. Most important ideas about comedy. (1) The beneficial effects of laughter (happiness, joy) on one's psychological and physical condition. (2) Development of comedy tastes in an individual or society. Development of comedy tastes intellectually, emotionally, and ethically. 11/30/1997 Arts, literature, comedy. Most people tell you a joke that they think is funny. The comedian tells you a joke that he thinks you will think is funny. 1/25/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Not all jokes (comedy) are funny (humorous). Some jokes, known as "bad jokes" are not funny. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Nowadays a slightly more sophisticated notion of humor has developed in many people. These people are keyed into humor. They realize humor can appear almost anywhere. These people are on the alert for humor. In addition, they are not only able to spot a joke, and tell a joke, they are also able to write or create a joke. In fact, when a group of these people get together, the social goal is to have a continuous friendly game of "create the joke" in any conversation. And so the definition of funny becomes not "seeing a joke that everyone else was able to see and sharing it" but rather "seeing the joke that no one else was able to see and sharing it". 8/5/2000 Arts, literature, comedy. Purpose of comedy. (1) Do good, get health. (2) Catharsis, justice. (3) Change vs. status quo. (4) Improve vs. destroy. (5) Social correction. (6) Survival. (7) Confrontation with or without violence. (8) Bad uses of comedy: avoid, escape, ignore, or mastabatory. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Pushing the envelope (new material, new views) vs. playing it safe (old material, conventional views). (1) Pushing the envelope tastelessly, i.e., shock comedy (Cursing? Obscenity? Sex? Violence? etc.?). (2) Pushing the envelope tastefully. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Recursive humor. Consider the following jokes from the humor section of the Notes: The Critic; Coda Cola. These jokes have a quality that is recursive, iterative, almost algorithmic. Apparently, there is something humorous about recursion. Many jokes take a recursive pattern, in which the logical possibilities are winnowed down to till the punchline is reached. It is amazing that the human ability for pure logic is linked to the human emotion of humor. 2/15/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. See rhetoric, struggling, persuasion. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Seeing the good guy win, and seeing the bad guy lose. Seeing justice done. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Seeing what is funny is one thing. Feeling what is funny is another thing. 4/30/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. Seriousness need not exclude humor. Opposite of seriousness is silliness and/or apathy, unaware of metaphysical situation and ethical importance of it. Opposite of humor is sullen, somber, emotionlessness. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Seriousness. Life without seriousness (all humor) vs. life without joking (all seriousness). Which is worse, jokers or stiffs? What is worse, being humorous in a serious situation or being serious in a humorous situation? 09/01/1994 Arts, literature, comedy. Seriousness. Serious does not mean without humor. The opposite of serious is trivial (i.e., not confronting life's basic problems). The opposite of humorous is humorless. Humorless triviality is worse than serious wit. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. The high point of the comedian's art is to tell a joke that causes the audience to emit beverage from the nose. 5/25/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. The opposite of comedy (happy) is not necessarily tragedy (sad). The opposite of comedy (silly) can be drama (serious). 10/29/2005 Arts, literature, comedy. The world is illogical and absurd. Thus, comedy is a case of, "fighting fire with fire". 1/1/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. There are some natural situations we perceive as funny, but they are not comedies because comedies are man made. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. There is something savage, barbaric and primitive about comedy. Humor is one of our more base emotions. To mock and heckle is to lash out in an animalistic way. 1/5/2001 Arts, literature, comedy. Timing problems. (1) Too fast. Rushing the setup and the rushing the punchline. (2) Too slow. Too slow on the set up and then too slow on the punch line. (3) Mixed. (A) Rushing the setup and then too slow delivering the punch line. (B) Too slow with the set up and then rushing the punch line. 5/13/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. To joke of a thing is to say that thing is unimportant? 06/30/1993 Arts, literature, comedy. Two views of comedy. (1) Comedy as pathology. (A) Those to whom everything is one big joke. (B) Practical jokers who try to deal with their own inferiority complex at other people's expense. (2) Comedy as healthy. (A) Always keep a sense of humor. (B) Don't take yourself or life too seriously. 10/5/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Types humor. (1)(A) Abusive: hurt, sadistic, mock. (B) Gentle: heal. (2)(A) Self directed. (B) Other directed. (3)(A) Low brow and (B) high brow. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of comedy: Topical. Observational. Prop comedy. Riddles. Jokes. Anecdotes. Puns. One-liners. 4/1/2002 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Dry wit. (2) Subtle humor. (3) Sophisticated (cultured) humor. 7/11/1998 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Happy and gentle vs. trenchant and biting. (2) Morbid or black. (3) Loud vs. quiet. (4) Idiocy or dumb humor vs. wit. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Humor based on reason. Humor based on logic. The joke as illogical. (2) Humor based on language, word meanings. Puns. (3) Humor based on emotion. Emotional release. Release of anger. Dispersal of sadness. Calming anxiety. 6/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Humor of cruelty, whether directed at other people or at oneself, is not healthy and just. (2) Gentle humor, directed at others or self, is healthy and just. 10/15/2004 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Personal humor to cheer up self. (2) Interpersonal humor to cheer up other people. 6/23/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Social satire: illogic of society. (2) Nonsense: illogic and absurdity of life. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. (1) Writing vs. performance. (2) Physical (slapstick) vs. cerebral (topical). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Art comedy (high quality) vs. low comedy (poor quality). Regardless of subject matter. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Comedy can range from high art to mere entertainment. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Comedy in written, audio, and visual arts. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Comedy of the dolt vs. comedy of the superior (mocker). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Four types of comedy. (1) Fear comedy. (2) Anger comedy. (3) Sadness comedy. (4) Joy comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Happy clown vs. sad clown (absurd and happy or sad). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Hard core comedy vs. light comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Humor as a weapon to hurt vs. humor as a weapon to seduce. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Improvisational comedy = instantaneous writing and performance. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Intelligent humor vs. stupid humor (idiocy, lunacy, moronity). What if we all acted dumb all the time? What is to be gained? Freedom? 11/01/1994 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Mock: illogic, stupidity, pretension and pomposity. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Object (concrete) or subject (abstract) of humor: self, others, society, god. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. One basis of humor is the mistaken identity, or the mismatch, be it idea, verbal, physical (person, place, or thing). Other bases of humor are surprise, exaggeration, non sequitur, taboo (ex. sex, scat, obscenity), fear tension and release. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Optimism vs. pessimism. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. People who like attack comedy that pokes fun at the misfortunate are merely using comedy as catharsis for their misplaced anger. Instead, they should attack the sources of their anger, not transfer it to and take it out on innocents, which is unjust. 02/22/1989 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Self deprecating humor vs. attacking other individuals vs. attacking system, society, general group. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Simple (kids) vs. advanced (adults). Low vs. high. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Slapstick, macabre humor, ethnic humor, sexual humor, one liners, anecdotes, scat and obscenity. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. The non-sequiter is a form of fear comedy. They don't understand it, which causes confusion, which causes momentary fear and panic. Then they laugh because they see it is nonsense. Fear comedy is related to the thrill people get from being scared in horror movies. 02/22/1989 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. The put down of (1) The stupid (which plays on our anger) or (2) The strange (which plays on our fear). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. The wit vs. the fool. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Tragicomedy, bittersweet. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Types of humor. Understatement vs. overstatement (exaggeration). Mistaken identity. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. Urge to make jokes: nervousness, energy. Urge to listen to jokes: escapism. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. What is comedy? (1) At worst: avoidance. (2) At middling: temporary escape. (3) At best: gets you to confront things that you need to, yet normally wouldn't. It does this by sweetening it. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. What makes people laugh when they hear the truth? What makes people depressed when they are lied to? 02/20/1989 Arts, literature, comedy. What's the highest form of humor? Biting, sophisticated, important subjects, really funny, really enlightening, sarcastic. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. When is comedy useful? When is comedy not useful? When is comedy hurtful? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. When the comedian values the laugh more than the thought behind the laugh then the comedian has become the servant of humor rather than having humor serve his ideals, goals, and purposes. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature, comedy. You can mock anything as being any negative trait but the best comedy says, "I think such and such is ethically wrong and epistemologically false." Humor for truth and justice. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, comedy. You could write a happy play without any jokes, but that would not be a modern comedy. Modern comedy = jokes. Ancient comedy = happy ending (i.e., the opposite of tragedy which is a sad ending). 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, composition. .This section considers principles and methods of composition in literature. 12/30/2003 Arts, literature, composition. .This section is about composition in literature. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, composition. (1) Examples of great form. (A) Wittgenstein's Tractus Philosophicus Logicus. Short, concise, no b.s.. (B) My Notes. (C) Anything in outline form. (D) Anything with an excellent logical contents, index and bibliography. (2) Examples of poor styles. (A) Traditional paragraphs. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. (1) Germ theory. (2) Skeleton and flesh out. (3) Introduction, development, climax, resolution: by parts and elements. (4) Riffing or improvising. (5) Synthesis of parts or elements. (6) Element charts. (7) Free writing, brain storming. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. A new vocabulary for a new vision for a new man. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. All conflict and interest comes out of character. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Art literature techniques, figurative writing. Imagery, allegory, analogy, metaphor, simile, symbolism, all are inexact and lead more often to confusion and lies than clarity and truth. And thus to confusion of thought and mind. It is not the best way to think or communicate. It's a step up but there is better. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Audience. Who is my audience? The intellectual elite? The confused intelligent neurotic? The average man? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Book title: selected ideas on x. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Characters. Protagonists: hero, anti-hero (nebish), local hero. Antagonists: villains. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Depends on genre. Picking well and combining well the elements. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Diction types: Simple and informal vs. complicated and formal. Vague, ambiguous, poetical. Abstract vs. concrete. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Don't worry if the ideas don't connect at first, or if they are not fleshed out, or even if they are not perfectly clear to you. Get the ideas down first. 11/15/1988 Arts, literature, composition. Each word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, and book covers an idea. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Elements. (1) Word choice (diction), syntax, structure, style. (2) Genre, subject, mood/tone/emotion, theme. (3) Spelling, grammar, semantics. (4) Narrative: tense, person. (5) Scenes: alone, social, nature. (6) Character: personality types. Physical types, social dimension. Ideal types, stereotypes, archetypes. (7) Set ups and introductions. (8) Conflicts: inner vs. external (social, nature). Protagonist vs. antagonist. (9) Revelation: theme revealed to us and character. (10) Structure: levels, simple and complex, of elements. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. First draft: write for yourself. Second draft: write for others. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Get it all down on the idea level first. Then transfer it all into a style. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Good writing is avoiding the mistakes. List the mistakes. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. He who thinks best writes best? Not necessarily. He who writes best thinks best? Not necessarily. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Never write down to an audience. Reach high, extend yourself, extend them. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. One big chart, ala Heller. Plot development, theme development, character development, narrator use, time. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Paul composition goals: a story for every subject, genre, medium, style, emotion, and thought. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Poetry composition. (1) Brainstorming method. (2) Important words fused method. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Spontaneous prose vs. pre-organizing and re-writing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Story as (1) Movement: change. (2) Progression: a trip. (3) Cycle: a trip that comes back to homebase with (A) Beginning: reveal, set up. (B) Middle: conflict, puzzle, mystery. (C) End: conclusion (happy, sad), resolution, solved, loose ends tied up, cycle complete. 11/01/1994 Arts, literature, composition. Structure. (1) Physical structure depends on genre. (2) Plot structure. (3) Theme structure: say what when why. (4) All three add up to a knockout punch. Blow away reader with new powerful ideas. Everything up till then is just softening up. Know when to throw jabs and the big one. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Style = words (diction) + word order (grammar). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Style is nothing, content is everything, function over form. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Style should fit mood, tone, and type of writing. Like in acting, face of actor should reinforce character. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Styles: arguments pro and contra. (1) Kerouac: spontaneous prose, improvisation, unconscious, freedom. (2) Paul's Notes: brevity, logical. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Synthesize individual best lines vs. one long inspired blow. Which technique is best? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. The main questions in literary composition: How to write? How to think? How to organize one's thoughts? 6/9/2004 Arts, literature, composition. There should be recommended formats. Start it with an opening outline: for whole work, and for its parts. End with summary: for whole work, and for its parts. Stick to a controlled vocabulary. Say your subject, and say who you are for and against. Level of audience. Broadness of scope. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Tone of each sentence, and of overall work. Sentence variety can lead to tone variety. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Two types of composition. Composition of nonfiction. Composition of fiction. 10/18/2004 Arts, literature, composition. Weld the plot and theme. Seamless. Both must be first rate. Both must reinforce each other. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, composition. Writing style should reflect mind of writer. Not too pedantic vs. not to stupid, simple, reductive. Even tempered. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. .This section is about thoughts on specific books and authors. Topics include: ( ) Bukowski. ( ) Kerouac. ( ) Beats. 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. "A Walk Across America", by Peter Jenkins was a bestseller during the mid-seventies. When I read this book as a youngster, I thought, gee whiz, what could possibly be wrong with this vision of America? Thirty years later I stumbled across a well-worn copy of "A Walk Across America" and thought more critically about the book. The sixties and seventies were an era during which hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of hipsters were traveling and writing about their travels. Why did the publisher pick Peter Jenkin's book? The publisher published Jenkin's book because the publisher thought Jenkin's book would sell a lot of copies. Why did Peter Jenkin's book sell so well? Jenkin's book sold well because it was simple and false. Jenkin's book sold well because it is repressed and avoidant. Peter Jenkins was a hippie minus the dope smoking, rock music, and orgies. Peter Jenkin's was a hippie minus the Vietnam war protests, minus the civil rights protests, minus any protest. In Peter Jenkin's world there is racial harmony, rather than racial tension. In Peter Jenkins world there is class harmony, rather than class tension. In Peter Jenkins world there is merely small towns, honest work, and nature as a respite. In Peter Jenkin's world there is humble old-timey religion. Peter Jenkins looks like a hairy freak, but he just likes to work hard, walk in the woods, play with his dog, and go to church. A Walk Across America is a walk that conveniently sidesteps the social tensions of the sixties and the cultural wallow of the seventies. There is no rock music, no sex, no drugs, no big cities, no polluted environment. A Walk Across America is a walk for the myopic American middle class. Feel good by ignoring the problems of the world. Jenkins looks like a hippie but he's just a hard-working, middle-class young man who doesn't think too much. 5/13/2007 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. "The night was moist.", is a notion found in the poem, "I Heard The Learned Astronomer", by Walt Whitman. "The night was moist.", is also a line from the movie "Throw Momma from the Train". 12/23/2006 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Beat generation (1) Got more out of life than the average person, in thought, emotion, action (doing), and experience. (2) They wasted more life than the average person, with drugs, booze, rebellion, and early deaths. (3) A few beats were able to accomplish much by virtue of their intelligence and independent character. They succeeded despite their decadent selves. Many other lesser beats were not as smart, and did not accomplish much or become famous. (4) Kerouac had a very limited, one sided system of ethics. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Beats. Beat writing is a very psychologically healthy style. It is spontaneous, improvisational (like jazz), free associative, unrepressed, cathartic, confessional, first word best word. Since it is un-self-censored it can address any subject, any view and any feeling, even taboo ones, using any vocabulary, even taboo words. 12/03/1997 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Beats. The beats evolved in a decade of political oppression (mccarthyism), sexual repression, and artistic repression (banned books). The beats were about freedom. The freedom to remember, feel, think, say and act. Sexually, artistically, and politically. 8/10/1998 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Beats. To Kerouac, everything is good, everything is yes. He couldn't bear to get angry, only depressed. Bukowski got pissed off. He was willing to say "This is crap. This is wrong. You are a jerk. This is evil." Bukowski fought. He took an ethical stance. Kerouac, the angel, can't say a bad word about anyone. Bukowski, at core, was a fighter. Kerouac was not. Bukowski lived a long time. Kerouac did not. 01/07/1997 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Bukowski is dead. Some called him a poet of excess. But Bukowski was more than that. Just because he talked about the ugly and not the beautiful, the problems and not the well, the downside of life and not the bright side, the lowest classes and not the highest, does not make him bad. Just because he did not write abut the beautiful upper or middle class did not make him bad, just as those zillions who do write about it are not necessarily good. Bukowski did not glorify the low-lifes, nor did he condemn them for things that were not always their fault, nor did he ignore them. Great acts of heroism take place on the bottom of society as surely as great acts of villainy take place on the top. And if he spoke roughly, it is because a rough life in a rough environment can give one a rough voice. But Bukowski was able to maintain a classy nobleness, an intelligence, and a sensitivity that makes for great art. He talks to losers, in their language, about their problems, consoles them, and enlightens them. Which is more and better than those self-congratulatory upper class writers trying to tell winners things that they already know. 04/16/1994 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Bukowski. Bukowski is not a stylist. He is an idea man. So am I. He was a great idea man. That is what I want to be. 10/20/1988 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Bukowski. Bukowski stayed hungry and productive because he never became popular. He never became popular because he picked a style and subject matter that did not appeal to the masses. He was smart. 11/10/1988 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Kerouac. Nostalgic for youth, romantic, idealist, pessimist, debaucher. That is why I like him. Spontaneous, bop jazz, prose. Stream of authors consciousness, not characters. 02/07/1994 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Kerouac. What affects me most about Kerouac's writing is his power. 08/21/1988 Arts, literature, criticism, specific. Step right up to Bill Bryson's carnival of science entitled, "A Brief History of Nearly Everything". You will laugh at the eccentricities of the truly creative. You will be amazed at the social awkwardness of mega nerds. Be astonished at the absent mindedness of the super intelligent. Gawk and rubberneck at the misfortunes of other people. Take a voyeurs delight in bitter rivalries and feuds. Be comforted by simple morality plays. All for the low price of admission. Step right up and don't delay. 4/30/2005 Arts, literature, criticism. .This section considers principles and methods of criticism in literature. 12/30/2003 Arts, literature, criticism. .This section is about literary criticism. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) Analyze. (A) One sentence summary of book. (B) One paragraph summary of book. (C) Ten page summary of book. (2) Judge. (A) Compare to his other works. (B) Compare to other artists of his time, place and style. (C) Compare to other artists of other times and places. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) Comparative genres. Which is best: condensed, organized knowledge. (2) Comparative styles. Which is best: complete without wordiness, concise. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) External criticism. Is this his work? (2) Internal criticism. What are the words he is saying? What does he mean? Taking things in and out of context. What is the context of the work? Context of authors other work. Context of all history. 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) Meaning. (A) Author's meaning. What did the work mean to the author? Why did the author write the work? The author as a reader too. (B) Reader's meaning. What does the work mean to readers? What has it meant to people through the ages? How have views toward the work changed? What does the work mean to readers today? Every reader sees the work a little differently. (2) Effect. What was the effect of the work on the author? What was the effect of the work on the reader? "Effect" includes emotions, and so it is a broader concept than "meaning". 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) Most important lines in work, (or by author, in a literary school, in history). (2) What is the author saying? What does he mean? How clear is it? How conscious and intentful of it is he? (3) What are the most important things said in Western Literature (things not said anywhere else), and why? (Example: On the Road. Most important line: I think about Dean Moriarity). 04/30/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) New ideas and new ways of saying (i.e., progress) vs. old ideas in old styles (i.e., repetitive, redundant). (2) Great ideas, communicated greatly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) What I think I mean vs. (2) What you think I mean vs. (3) What I think you think I mean. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) What is it? (2) How good is it: compared to what. (3) Why: arguments. (4) Criteria for value judgments used by evaluator. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. (1) What said: subject (view, arguments, evidence), emotions, attitudes. (2) How say: media, structure, diction, style, mood, genre. (3) How well said it. (4) Why said it: enlighten, describe, explain, persuade, record, show/tell. (5) To who said it: audience. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Best writing is philosophical and psychological. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Cannon: the list of great works. (1) Academic cannon and my criticism of it. (2) Anyone else's cannon and my criticism of it. (3) Paul cannon and why. Bukowski, Kerouac, Ginsberg, Steinbeck, Terkel, Brautigan, Jeffers, Hemingway, Fitzgerald. (4) Paul criticism of my works, found works, major works. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Cannon. How is the cannon determined? Who determines it? Is it a power play? Is multiculturalism valid? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Comparison to artist's other works, artists's peers works, and to all time. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Critical acclaim versus popular acclaim. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Criticism (analysis and judgment) can be done on any type of writing (fiction or non-fiction. Practical or aesthetic. Crap or excellent). The questions are, "What is this thing? What does it say? What was the author trying to say or meaning?" These things can not always be figured out by scientific (inductive) or even rational (deductive) means. They demand an emotional and unconscious "hunch" response. 08/15/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. Criticism implies value judgments. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Criticism of essays involves answering questions like, "How to make this essay better?" "How to make this argument stronger?" "How to make the communication of the argument better?" Answering questions about factors like organization, clarity, support, sentence structure, paragraph development, focus, coherence, etc. What is the author saying? What is the author's intention or purpose? 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Criticism of stories involves answering questions about theme, plot, character, setting, narrator, voice, etc. What is the author saying? What is the author's intention or purpose? Why did the author make his choices about plot, character, setting etc? What were his reasons, and what were the causes? What was the environment the author was working in, natural, social, political, economic, and what was the author's personality, and how did his personality interact with his environment? What did the author value, and what did the author see as problems in the world, and what were his ideas for solutions to problems? What is the meaning of the work? What is the effect of the work? 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Criticism: analysis and judge (compare, evaluate). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Eco-criticism is a form of literary criticism that deals with a work of literature's relation to the natural environment. 4/22/1999 Arts, literature, criticism. Freudian criticism of author and reader. (1) The essence of Freudian criticism in the arts is to say, "The author may have had the intention of saying X but their writing clearly reveals that Y was actually on their mind." (2) A similar phenomenon occurs on the readers side. A Freudian criticism of the reader says, "The author may have written A but the reader understood the text to mean B, because the readers's interpretation of the text is actually more revealing about what is on the reader's mind than on the author's mind." (3) More generally, these phenomena apply to all the arts. More generally, these phenomena apply to all communications. People engage in these Freudian criticisms quite naturally. Freud didn't invent it, he recognized it. 4/15/2005 Arts, literature, criticism. Good and bad literature. (1) Good literature has a good theme and expresses it well. (2) Bad literature has a bad theme and expresses it poorly. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Good and bad literature. Traits of good literature: (1) Informative and entertaining. (2) Achieves both popular and critical acclaim. (3) Popular through time and place. Universal. (3) Makes literary advances. Advances in style and techniques. Advances in ideas, new ideas. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Good and bad literature. What is bad writing? The traits of bad literature are similar to the traits of bad movies. (1) Poor ending. (2) No action. (3) Fails on the level of components of setting, narrator, characters, plot, theme, or tone. ( ) Characters not defined. ( ) Poor story or plot. ( ) No point. ( ) Time moves slower. 2 hours feel like 4 hours. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Good and bad literature. What is good literature? ( ) Classic. Universal. Timeless. All cultures respond to it. Popular through time and space. ( ) Popular acclaim and critical acclaim. ( ) Informative and entertaining. ( ) Makes advances. Advances in ideas. Advances in literary style and technique. ( ) Does not make the mistakes of bad writing. ( ) Time moves faster. ( ) On the edge of your seat. ( ) Totally immersed. Captures your attention. Not distracted. ( ) Laugh, cry and other emotional responses. ( ) Time moves faster. 2 hours feel like 1 hour. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Great literature by subject matter: List 26 subjects. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Great literature makes an advancement in both ideas and style. One can see in retrospect how many years ahead of its time was a great work of literature. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Great literature: (1) Great ideas (quantity and quality). (2) Great expression. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Greatest works. Greatest authors. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. History: who came before and after the artist? Artist's effect on society. Society's effect on artist. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. How close you come to getting the drift of a work. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. How much we value a work depends on how much it can help us. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. I like short and clear. I don't like long-winded or obscure. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Ideas: attitudes (thoughts and emotions). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Ideas: How many. How fast get. How good. How original. How important. How true. How complex. How practical. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Interpretation. Everyone who reads a text forms a slightly different interpretation. Thirty students in a classroom will produce thirty different interpretations of a text. There will be some agreement and disagreement about what the author is saying, and how well he is saying it. Through the process of discussion, the meaning of a text can become more clear. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Method. To be able to pick out crucial explicit lines or paragraphs, and implicit ideas (assumptions, conclusions), that are included (or excluded) from a novel. It's like writing a quote book. Talking here of wisdom (that is, theme not plot). How well (complete, clear, short) can you boil it down. Give each implicit and explicit idea of an author a rating as far as quality. 04/12/1994 Arts, literature, criticism. Most important lines in a work. 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. New ways of looking at the same old shit. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Number of epiphanies per page: epiphanies of thought, and epiphanies of emotion. Quality of epiphanies. Epiphany = revelation of idea (theme). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Originated an idea vs. perfected the idea. Shed new light on older works. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. People are very good at criticizing other people. People are not that good at criticizing themselves. Read your work to others and consider what others have to say about your work. Try to give fair criticism of other's work. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Philosophical literary criticism. Categories are a metaphysical issue. Values are an ethical issue. Standards of reasoning and proof are an epistemological issue. Every individual and society has categories, values and standards of reasoning. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Philosophical literary criticism. Everyone has a philosophy, including the author, the characters, and the reader. One's philosophy is often hazy, vague, containing many hidden assumptions, hidden implications, and habitual automatic thinking. Our purpose is to expose, examine, and make clear the philosophy of everyone in the literary process, including author, characters, readers. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Philosophical literary criticism. What's an essay about? What to write about? The answers to these questions depend on categories and category systems of the author and reader. Every individual has a category system. Each society has a category system. Categories change over time. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Philosophy, psychology, sociology, and literary criticism. (1) Philosophy and literature. Terms include: Metaphysics. Epistemology. Ethics. (2) Psychology and literature. Psychological novels. Human versus self. Interior life. Terms include: Senses, emotions, memories, thoughts, personality. (3) Sociology. Human versus human. Terms include. Macro-sociology. Politics. Economics. Gender. Ethnicity. Microsociology. Love. Hate. (4) Technology, nature and literature. Human versus nature. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Philosophy, psychology, sociology, and literary criticism. Using terms from these other subject areas to help us discuss and understand the subject of literature. (1) Philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics. (2) Psychology: sense, emotion, memory, thinking, personality. (3) Sociology: macro-sociology, society, culture, micro-sociology, friends, lovers, family. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Picking the "most important passages" is a big task. Different people will think different passages are most important. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Power of ideas vs. power of communication. Ex. Some people have weak ideas, but powerful communication. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Prolific authors versus one hit wonders. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Question for all styles, authors, works. (1) Good and bad points. Pros and cons. Advantages and disadvantages. (2) Why important. How important. (3) Elements and principles. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. The basic questions of literary criticism are "What is the author saying, or trying to say?", and "How well is he or she saying it?" The first is a question of interpretation. The second is a question of evaluation. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. The language of criticism is similar across the various arts. For example, movie criticism, music criticism, and literary criticism share numerous concepts. Many people today have developed concepts and skills in movie criticism that can be transfered to use in literary criticism. 9/8/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. The value or worth of any written statement or group of statements, to any individual, to any society, or to mankind in general, depends on the degree of truth, and the importance of the truth. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Tools for literary analysis. (1) Questions for any work of art, even if its not literature, for example, music, visual arts, movies, etc. (2) Questions for any written work, even if its not art literature. (3) Questions for any work of artistic literature. 9/8/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Traits of bad writing. Too long. Too short. Boring, uninteresting, not compelling. Unintelligible. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Traits of good writing. Strong and powerful, yet also subtle and sensitive. Moving, emotionally powerful. Intellectually powerful. True. Enlightening. Interesting, compelling. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Traits of great, good, mediocre, and bad writing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Two problems. (1) Some people read too much into stories. That is, some people see things in a story that are not really there. (2) Some people read too little into stories. That is, some people do not see the things that actually are in the story. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. Two types of criticism. Criticism of nonfiction. Criticism of fiction. 10/18/2004 Arts, literature, criticism. Two types of writers. Introvert: what's happening to me. Extrovert: what's happening to my generation. 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. Types of literary criticism schools in rough chronological order. (1) Traditional, Aristotelian. (2) Neoclassical. (3) Romantic. (4) Historical, contextual, comparative vs. isolationist (New Critics, Chicago school). (5) Psychoanalytic, biographical. (6) Deconstruction. 08/15/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. Types of literary criticism theory. (see also sociology communication language). Psychological. Biographical. Historical. Marxist. Economic. Political. Social. Gender and sex (male and feminist criticism). Racial. Ethnic. Age. Hermeneutics. Deconstruction. Author/text/audience. Interpretation. Formalism: new criticism. 10/23/1993 Arts, literature, criticism. Types of literary criticism. (1) New criticism: the work alone. (2) Romantic hermeneutics: the work affected by intent of author and the culture that shaped him (and it). (3) Post-Heidegger hermeneutics (e.g. Gadamer): the author and work, and its reader or interpreter, are products of a historical psychological and social process. (4) What happens when two conceptual schemata meet? 01/28/1994 Arts, literature, criticism. What is good literature? (1) Society has a view of what are its most pressing problems, and what are the best solutions to those problems. Society values works of literature that present the best solutions to the most pressing problems. (2) The view of what is the most pressing problems and best solutions changes through time as society changes. Thus, the answer to to the question, "What is good literature?" changes through time. (3) This view of good literature seems to conflict with the "classic, timeless" view of good literature. 9/12/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. What is good literature? Good literature has universal appeal. Classics endure through time and space. 9/12/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. What is good literature. (1) Literature can be critiqued on the level of thought and ideas. Society considers good the literature that present good views on important topics. (2) Literature also has an emotional component. Society considers good the literature that has the appropriate emotional response to the issues at hand. (3) Attitudes are the result of the combination of thought and emotion. Great literature has great attitudes. 9/12/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. What is this work or text about? 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, criticism. What subject are they talking about? What is their attitude (thought plus emotion)? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. What's the subject? What is his view and argument, and what is my view and argument? What is my view and argument of his views and arguments? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. What's worth reading and not? Not the great books, stupid! Logical outlines, history outlines, and importance outlines of great works abstracted. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Who wrote it? Why did they write it: for money, for fame, to say something? How well does it accomplish authors goals, intention? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, criticism. Why are people so critical about books? Because you ingest a book, and before doing so you give the book a good sniff. 1/1/2001 Arts, literature, history of. .This section is about the history of literature . Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, history of. (1) School, movement, period. (2) Author: bio data. (3) Works: major and minor. (4) Elements types used most often. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. (1) The battlefield of ideas. (2) The marketplace of ideas. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Art-writing (literature as fine art): the great artists and their works. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Author. Bio data: birth, death. (2) Type of writing they did. (3) Major works, when written, analyze by elements. (4) How new and how far ahead were they? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. By subject, genre, area, language, writing system, time period. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Development of a literature tradition: new subjects, new themes, new forms. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Everything ever written. What's best and why? Why and how they did it? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. First in the world. First in a culture. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. History. (1) History of a language. (2) History of literature (broadest definition). (3) History of art literature. (4) History of literary criticism. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Intellectual cutting edge vs. popularizers. Can popularization be done without reduction? Yes, broadly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Know everything ever written, how good was it and why. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Stolen vs. invented. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Strong literature tradition means having many, diverse, high quality works, over a long time period. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. What is it? How old is it? Who wrote it? When? Where? Why? How? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Who develops a style vs. who perfects a style. Same for subjects, and all other elements. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, history of. Worlds most important works on all subjects and why. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. .See also: Sociology, communication, media > News. 12/30/2003 Arts, literature, journalism. .This section is about journalism. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Good journalism is research. Gather and contrast latest scientific studies. Interview people involved in a story. (2) See if you have a story, that is, anything new and useful to say. Write it up well (easy to read and understand, complete, concise, fair). (3) Bare facts vs. your contribution to the story, which would be your conclusions drawn, showing possible courses of future action, and making recommendations made for future action. (4) Tell what is and what is not (metaphysics). Show proof (epistemology). Say who was right and wrong, and what should be done (ethics). (5) Follow and report story vs. investigate, uncover, and break a story. (6) Hard data from court records, police records, government records, etc. (7) Story types: crime, accident, success. Business, science and technology, politics. Hard sciences vs. soft sciences (human psychology and sociology). 07/30/1996 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) How much pure fact. (2) How much induction (drawing conclusions from facts) and deduction. (3) How much commentary and ethics. (4) How to find sources and test accuracy of sources. Sources like documents and people. (5) How to interview and research. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) How to pick an important subject? (2) How to find an important story on that subject? (3) How to do a good job reporting the story? (4) How to form useful questions and answers on the subject? (5) How to do research? 7/30/2005 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Importance and health of inquisitive attitude by individual and by society, for individual and for society. (2) Important questions to ask on a story. The 5 w's (who, what, when, where, why). X in general questions (see Psychology, thinking). (3) Journalism is a form of communication. To get things done, to solve problems. (4) Problems of news investigating. (5) Problems of news disseminating. (A) Censorship (secrets). (B) Propaganda (lies). (C) Over and under emphasized truths. (D) Slanting. (E) Omissions. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Is like detective work. (2) Is like history of current events. (3) Is like science. Metaphysics: what happened, what is happening, what will happen. Epistemology: how do we know. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Journalism that reports on problems is good journalism vs. (2) Journalism that support the status quo, says that everything is fine, and that acts as a mouthpiece for the powers that be, is bogus. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Journalists can often expose a story that cops have no time or jurisdiction to pursue. (2) Often the key to break open a story is to find and get one frightened person to talk about how they have been wronged. 7/11/1998 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Pure facts (what happened) vs. (2) Interpretation (what does it mean) vs. (3) Normative, ethical, editorial (what to do about it). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Some stories are complex, with many inter-related factors. (2) Some stories are tough to find out and verify. (3) Some stories are important to tell public about quickly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. (1) Ways of thinking. (2) Ways of communicating. (3) Ways of writing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Discovery of facts vs. interpretation of facts. Hard facts vs. opinion. Styles of journalism. Ways of searching, investigating: library work, leg work. Logical reasoning in searching out a story. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Discovery, observation, description, explanation. Investigate, discover, reason, interpret, report. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Ethics in getting story and writing story. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Everything exists in time, against a background (context). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Find out what individual or group thought, said and did, through (1) Records. (2) Observation or stake out. (3) Interviews: formal or informal, structure or unstructured. (4) Survey and polls. (5) Experiments. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Free press means not only "no cost to the reader". Free press also means a press free from coercion, bribery and threat. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Get (1) Reliability of sources. (2) Validity of sources. (3) Separation of sources from each other. (4) Correspondence of sources stories. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Get a variety of sources that have high degree of correspondence of stories, and separation of sources knowing each other. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Hard hitting questions vs. softballs. 11/29/2003 Arts, literature, journalism. Hard vs. soft journalism. Empirical facts vs. editorial opinion. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. How old or new it is: history vs. news. Following a story as it develops. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Ignorance, lies, and red herrings. What do they have to hide? What motive would they have to lie? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Interview. Ask important questions. Get good answers: No dodging, red herrings, or non-answers. Be careful not to interrogate, pressure, accuse, blackmail, or lead the person. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism is capable of ascertaining and disseminating truth, but it has degenerated into a sleazy business. Two types of television journalism: the eyewitness account by reporter, and the interview. Two types of data: the objective facts, and people's subjective interpretation of the facts (meaning, importance, etc.). People resent being interrogated. Ask the most important questions first. Beware secrets (withholding) and lies. Much is said in pauses and silence, and much can be learned from pauses and silence. 12/06/1988 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism is important to expose the secrets and lies of power abusers. The sleazy side operates via secrets and lies. Journalism for truth and justice. A problem exists when journalists become flunkies in the pockets of power abusers. 10/18/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism is really history writing: see historiography. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism tries to be accurate and fair. Fairness defined as providing both sides to a story. Fairness defined as trying to be totally objective, without any opinions and without any value judgments. Accuracy defined as all true statements, with no lies and no omissions. 6/29/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism, critique of. (1) Confining self to "facts only". Like an encyclopedia article or a newspaper story. Without theory. Without editorial. Without asking questions. Without exploring hypotheticals. Without ethical evaluation. Without arguments. "Fact only" is a very limited view. Facts are only part of the story. Evidence without argument is as bad as argument without evidence. (2) There is no separation possible between fact and theory. Fact gathering is guided by theory, so without theory one cannot gather facts coherently. Facts are expressed as words, and words are imbued with theory. (3) Facts in journalism are subject to the same critiques as facts in science, that is, the under determination of fact by theory, as put forward in the Quine-Duhem thesis. 9/28/2005 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalism. (1) Ideals of journalism. Objective, not subjective. Unemotional, not emotional. Just the facts, not interpretation. Corroboration or proof, not rumor. (2) Challenges to journalism. (A) Infotainment combines information with entertainment, and it is emotional. (B) Paparazzi. Stalkerazzi. Invade people's personal lives with cameras, with spies, by any means. (C) The Internet. Sludge report and bloggers. Rumor and gossip. Lesser degrees of proof. 1/21/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Journalistic ethics problems. (1) Bullshitting for a payoff (money, favors, etc.). (2) Sell an unimportant story as important. (3) Sell a false story as true. (4) Tell a one sided, half true story. (5) Not dig in enough to find out true story. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Just the Facts? (1) There is no "just the facts" because theory is always built in and unavoidable. (2) There is no "just the facts" because opinion or viewpoint is always built in and unavoidable. 6/27/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Just the Facts? Journalism often claims to be "just the facts". Journalism claims to separate fact from opinion. Making a general distinction between fact and opinion in journalism is fine by me. But I am looking here at the distinction between fact and theory in journalism. Journalism cannot as easily make the claim that by focusing on facts journalism is free of theory. For example, you could write an article that states a dozen random facts about the earth (the circumference in miles, the average temperature, etc.) but that would not be very enlightening. The next step would be to write an article where you select a dozen facts about a single phenomenon, such as a recent rainstorm. However, people often select facts in order to build a picture of the world that can be called a theory. The selection of facts supports implicit assumptions, conclusions and theories. Once you do more than state a single fact you are engaged in theory building. PART TWO. In addition, "the facts" are always contested. So even if you could only deal in facts (which you can't) the definition of what is a fact is contested. Any collection of items that qualify as facts is contested. 6/27/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Objective description and explanation of factual reality. Person, place, thing (subject, object, event). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. One way journalists try to insert opinion into the "facts only" view of journalism is to quote people who spout opinion and then say, "It is a fact that so-and-so person holds such-and-such opinion". 6/27/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Pick most important stories. Find most important facts earliest and fastest. Write most important truths best. It's writing + detective work or private investigator work. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Problem sources. Lies, secrets, ignorance, lazy, crazy, unethical. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Problems with reporting: slants, bias, one sided, ommissions, untruths and lies. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Putting the pieces together. Finding the missing pieces. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Related subjects. (1) Technology of journalism. (2) Politics and law of journalism. Censorship. Journalism against bullies. (3) Philosophy of journalism. Ethics of journalism. (4) Economics and business of journalism. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Related subjects. See history. See detective work. See epistemology. See law. See science. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. See also, Sociology, communication, media > news. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Slant or bias. Slant or bias is always present in journalism. All the major newspapers have a slant or bias. 6/27/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. So what if major news magazines use a sixth grade reading level? You do not need college grammar to explain complicated topics. In fact, it is better to use simple sentences to explain complex topics. 11/30/1997 Arts, literature, journalism. The big story. (1) Time it takes to cover the story. (2) Number of people (individuals and groups) involved in the story. (3) Magnitude of effects on the public. (4) Number of angles involved in the story. (5) Importance of the story. 2/22/2000 Arts, literature, journalism. The only way to do journalism justice is to specialize journalists by subject area and geographic area. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. Three models for journalism. (1) Journalism that uses history as its model. Journalism is essentially the writing of history, albeit very recent history, and thus is subject to all the issues of the writing of history, i.e., historiography. (2) Journalism that use future studies as its model. In a quickly changing world it is more practical for journalism to use future studies as its model, rather than history. An event that occurs is reported in terms of its future implications. (3) Journalism that uses science as its model. Journalism that uses science as its model claims to be value free. In reality, both science and journalism are never value free. 6/29/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Two parts of journalism. (1) Investigating the story. (2) Writing the story. 10/18/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Two questions asked of journalists by their editors. (1) One question that journalists are asked by their editors is, "Do you have a story?" The editors only want a story. Something with a beginning, a middle and an end. Something with tension and resolution. Conventional media is biased toward stories. Conventional media is not interested in fragments of thought and open-ended questions. Thus, the public is deprived of the raw materials with which to think. The media provides the public with prepackaged answers. (2) Another question that journalists are asked by their editors is, "Is it news?". Conventional media is interested only in the new. The old is ignored. The everyday is ignored. The obvious is ignored. The conventional media does the public a disservice by ignoring implicit arguments, unconscious assumptions and habitual thought patterns. The conventional media assumes the beliefs that we take for granted. The conventional media avoids looking at old things in new ways. 6/12/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Types of primary source materials. Documents. Transcripts. Photographs. Sound recordings. Audio/video. Eyewitness testimony. Expert testimony. 10/10/2004 Arts, literature, journalism. Types of sources. (1) Records. (2) People. (A) Participants. (B) Eye witnesses. (C) Experts. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, journalism. What you find out vs. what you print. You do not always print everything that you find out. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. .Introduction. This section has poems. 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. (1) After death, it is all over. Time is a fuse. (2) Commentary: You are unique. Every moment of you is a unique you. Every moment of the world is a unique world. 12/20/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. (1) I jumped fourteen stories out the window of my soul. (2) Book title: Fourteen stories out the window of my soul. 06/10/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. (1) The bad news. The story so far: Addiction. Loneliness. Mental illness. Poverty. Flirtations. Cul-de-Sac arguments. Poor job performance. Shrinks. Social isolation. No love. Nameless dread. Various enemies lurking. Unemployment. Bad teeth. Bump on soul. Fleeting visions of a better life. Condescending sneers. Laughter next door. Fired from menial jobs. Spider shaped thread on leg. Shadow that looks like a mouse. Mouse's shadow. Looks of fearful pity from strangers. Bed inertia. Second looks at trashcans. Nightfall, or worse, dawn. Thriftshop. Empty calories. Temp agency typing tests. Off track betting. Watery, bitter coffee. Spare change dropped in my coffee. The cold cloudy gray. Derision and scorn. Mocking and snickering. Chain of frowns. (2) The good news. If you can thrive and flourish here you've got it made. 2/23/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. (surplus) Food, (second hand) Clothing, (homeless) Shelter. 11/16/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. 1850: the sun sets while the community sings around a piano. 1920: the sun sets while the extended family listens to the radio. 1950: the sun sets while the nuclear family watches television. 2000: the sun sets while a lone individuals surf the Internet. 2050: the sun sets on a disappeared individual who is completely connected to other disappeared individuals. 7/1/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. A folk song. Title: The Spy and the Bully. // Chorus: The spy and the bully work hand in hand. / The spy and the bully want to rule the land. / They spy and the bully want to rule you and me. / The spy and the bully have a secret society. 12/8/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Abusers of freedom. Freedom hogs. Those who take more than their share of freedom. They want to take liberties with you. They think its their right to mess with you. Bullies. 12/13/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Alien neon. Unnatural light. Destroyer of night. Humans understood the fire's flame and even the incandescent bulbs were like stars. Neon is a nemesis. Clown-faced neon. Common whore neon. Word shaped neon. Let words say what neon cannot say. Neon sucks. 4/15/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. An artist came a ranting. "I battled the void. I engaged in titanic struggles with nothing. I wrestled the blank slate. I battled the empty sheet of paper. I hung the empty canvas. Don't you see?" And they all nodded. 4/28/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Another rented room. Got my laptop computer charged. Got my mobile phone charged. Got my mp3 player charged. I am charged. There's a new woman in my life. She's sitting next to me in the car. We are driving down the road. The windows are down. The radio is on. Its spring again. Frisbees are flying. Sneakers soaked in dew drops. 5/20/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Armed with new and improved weapons of psychological defense I hope to survive. 8/4/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Baby rickshaws. Stroller aristocracy. 3/31/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Beautiful women on the streets of Manhattan. Not just one or two. Herds of them like buffalo on the plains. Driving me to the point where I will write poetry. 6/16/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Beautiful words make beautiful turds. 8/29/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Before radio and television only the weather and the ocean were always changing. How could a life at sea be boring? 2/29/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Being snubbed by reality. I am really enjoying my anonymity and obscurity. Enjoying being an outsider. Enjoying being a contrary. Enjoying being an underdog. I am built for this. I've got what it takes: fear, mistrust, envy, spite. In the community of the Internet, I wander the streets talking to myself. 4/3/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Bicycling through the park at midnight. A swift and silent specter. Alone in the quiet darkness. 9/4/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Birth. Berth. Bare Earth. Beairth. 1/1/2007 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Boredom = death. Repetition = boredom. Lack of change = repetition. Stasis = lack of change. Not growing = stasis. 12/4/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Bourgeois Decadence. // The bourgeoisie want their food just so, their clothes just so, and their architecture just so. Prim and proper. The best of everything. And they only want to think about their kids. 7/22/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. cafe' Languor. Oh joy, watching the paint dry. Watching the grass grow. Watching the river flow. Another day to think, with no ideas in sight. At least I'm trying. Fruitless effort, fruitless endeavor. It used to bug me. Not anymore. I am not the cause of the worlds problems. I am not the solution to the worlds problems. 4/29/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Cats, butterflies, flowers, fish. 06/10/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. City Haiku. Under the moonlight. The noise of the cafe. People walking by. 9/25/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Climbing Mt. Curb. I live in the city at the moment. Yet I suppose if you added up all the curbs I stepped it would add up to be taller than Mt. Everest. Eat your hearts out climbers. 9/22/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Clouds moving fast and low. Wind blowing the fabric of world to tatters. People you know who died. Relationships gone bad. Jobs lost. 7/22/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Coffee Talk. All their talk. All their chatting. Re-inventing the wheel. Wheel spinning round. Going round in circles. Its better than silence, but not as good as what? 3/16/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Cold and Winter. Cold from without, frostbite, starts at the extremities and moves in. Cold from within, hypothermia, starts with shivering and chattering teeth. When there is no heat, and no hope of heat. When one realizes this, and when one sees one's folly. When natures shows her face, and pushes civilization back. 6/25/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Cold, damp, dark and dirty. My apartment? No, my mind! 8/18/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Comfy and cozy. Sitting in front of the fireplace. Warm and content. Slippers and newspaper. Tobacco and whiskey. Trying to keep the world at bay. Insulated vests. Wall to wall carpet. Isolated and snowed in. Cellphones off. Hot tea, mulled cider. Fuzzy sweaters. Favorite chair. Imagined calm. All quiet and joy. Candle light. Soft music. Frisky girlfriend. Picture windows. Apres' ski. 12/16/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Content // I am content. Songs. Books. Paintings. Movies. Breathing content in and out. Not objects. Content. 5/30/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Courting the muse. Coaxing the muse. Urging the muse. Patience for the muse. 11/1/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Crickets. The low pitched, slow chirping crickets. The high pitched, fast whirring crickets. The middle pitched, middle chirping crickets. 7/20/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Daily Dedication. // I have time. I have energy. I have a brain. I have a body. What will I do today? Save the world. What is standing in the way? Poverty. Hunger. Illness. War. Crime. Illiteracy. Ignorance. Injustice. Fanaticism. Violence. Oppression. Exploitation. Bullying. 3/28/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Death of a friend as an amputation. Not unwounded. Not a wound that heals cleanly. Not a wound that heals leaving a scar. Not a wound that will not heal. Rather, the loss of a body part. So that one always misses it. Leaving, the nothing, the void, the absence, remains. 3/16/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Death Says Good Morning. They say New Yorkers are unfriendly, but now death walks among us, and you hear a lot more good mornings. 10/25/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Deep winter, night storm, huddled alone. Mid-summer, morning sunshine, with friends. How to get from A to B? 3/16/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Empty library. // Empty Library. Finally, I can get some work done. / Ghosts walk the stacks. Books on shelves patiently waiting. The books toll for thee. / Walking to and from the library, at every time of day, in every season. Living at the library. Living in the library. Living through the library. / Lonely library. Unpopular library. Desolate library. You stand, holding your ideas in outstretched hands. No one listens. Nobody wants you. / Years of accumulated knowledge. Wisdom gathered from all corners of Whizdom. Your foundation cracks wise. / People are on the Internet now. Nobody needs you anymore. Only the booksniffers, who yearn for scents of ancient parchment. / The cryptkeeper's haunted face peers as you walk in. Who goes there? Whyfore art thou? / Old library, home to chipmunk and pigeon. Your books stand like tombstones. The library is now a cemetery. The bookstore has a cafe'. Where are we, now? / You were once a card-carrying, card catalog user. / Every year a new new set of faces arrive. Some one may yet show. Somebody may appreciate you. There is hope for you. 6/19/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Every now and then the fog clears and I emerge from the haze of everyday life. The routine has a tendency to hypnotize. When the heavy doses of today's society wear off, I realize that this is my life in the world. It takes a clear mind. Dull trance vs. sharp wits. Sometimes it feels safe and secure in the clouds were I can not see, but it is dangerous there. 8/4/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Existential shakedown. Kicking the tires on reality. Hacking life. Why do I thrash everything? Why do I whip my mind like a dead horse? Who can live like this? Who can live any other way? 6/3/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Five and Dime. // Two dollars for pen and paper. / You felt like someone handed you the world on a platter. / The keys to the kingdom. 5/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Four in the morning / on the sofa / listening to jazz / reading Zen. // Working for no pay. / Studying for no degree. / And yet I am calm. / And yet I am happy. 11/8/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Four simple list poems about the seasons. (1) Winter. Fireplaces. Icy sidewalks. Snowdrifts. Chill winds. Numb hands and feet. Snowstorms. Hats and gloves. Long underwear. Skiing. Sledding. Hot cocoa. Snowball fights. New Years. Frostbite. Hypothermia. Winter. (2) Spring. March 21st, vernal equinox, first day of spring. Daylight Savings Time. April 5th, tax filing. Snowmelt. Flooding. April showers. May flowers. Buds on trees. Flowers on trees. First leaves, May 15. Last frost. Planting crops. June 21, longest day of year, first day of summer. Spring. (3) Summer. Crickets. Cicadas. Swimmning. Ocean. Suntanning. Barbecue. Lawn mowing. Ice cream truck. Sprinklers. Pools. Beach. Sun tan oil. Swimming suits. Beach towel. Flip flops. Sandals. Heat, haze, humidity. Thunderstorms. Lemonade. Iced tea. Iced coffee. Rock climbing. Surfing. Hitching. Skateboarding. Summer fruits. Hammocks. Lazy naps. Picnics. Dining outside. Indian summer. Cutting lawns. Sweating. Heat rash. Air conditioning. Summer. (4) Autumn. Memorial Day. Back to School. September 21st, autumnal equinox, first day of autumn. First frost. Pumpkin pie. Apples picking. Apple pie. Apple Cider. Morning frost. Halloween. Trick or treating. Jack o lanterns. Wood smoke from fireplaces. Leaves turning color. Leaves falling. Raking leaves. Burning leaves. Harvest crops. December 21st, shortest day of year, first day of winter. Autumn. 9/11/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Four word poem. Fish dinner, fish dessert. 11/02/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. G after you died, Grief and Guilt moved onto my block, next to Anger. They have been there ever since. I see them almost every day. 9/11/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Geez, Louise, its the bees knees! (Commentary from the year 3000: this poem is perhaps code-talk to protect them from Martian invaders). 9/17/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Girls Watching the Men Work. // The men. / They are so strong. / And so stupid. / How will we survive? 3/5/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Going to the prom was the end of their life. Not going to the prom was the beginning of his life. 5/7/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. He enjoyed astronomy because the stars know how to keep their distance. 4/8/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. He lived in a world of four scents: diesel, gasoline, diesel exhaust and gasoline exhaust. He lived in a world of two colors: black and white, and all the grays they produce. He lived in a world of one sound: the drone of the highway. 4/29/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. He looked like he had fought in a war, even though he had lived in a time of peace and comfort. But it was clear, looking at him, that a war had been fought. 3/2/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. He waited for snow. Quiet, cold, lonesome, wild. Safe, alone, peaceful, winter in the mountains. Summer in the city. 9/8/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Heat and Summer. Before the air conditioner, before the electric fan, and before the ice box. The heat was omnipresent. One became one with the heat or perished. There was shade, there was water, and there was the occasional breeze. A lot of sweat, a lot of still bodies, and a lot of minds shutting down. Some minds going haywire. I'm waiting for the weather to change. I'm wondering if the winter is worse. 6/25/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Heathcliff mood. Let it storm. Let the rain fall. Let it gust. Let it gale. Let the clouds gather and burst. Let the lightning strike and the thunder roll. Let it sleet. Let the ice cover me. Let me walk the moors. Let me get lost. Let night fall. Let me wander the night. 11/15/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Her Mind. // She had a spring meadow mind, / in contrast to the waste-land, / the no-man's land that was my mind. 5/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Hey kid, / you've been running around the yard / thinking you are in the wilderness. / Take off that paper hat. 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Horror Show. What kind of horror show is this? Living among the dead. First, the living-dead, that is, the great dead artists who live on in immortal works. I can hear them, but they can not hear me. Second, the un-dead, that is, those people we meet who live and breathe yet seem not to feel or think. They say nothing to me. I can not hear them, yet they seem to hear me. What kind of horror show is this? Cavorting with cadavers in one-way conversations. Some people enjoy horror shows. Not me. 4/11/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. How do you know when you are bright? When they stand blinded, shocked and crying out in protest. How do you know when you are bright? When they shield their eyes, turn away and hasten off. How do you know when you are bright? When they put on their sunglasses, make their face a blank slate and go about their business. 9/9/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I am Dr. Frankenstein, trying to create life out of stale ideas, inert words and a spark of electricity. Look, its alive! Isn't the monster beautiful? 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I began to wander. I didn't know where I was. I didn't know what time it was. I didn't know what day it was. I liked the feeling. I decided this was how I wanted to live my life. 7/13/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I dreamed of mountains by the sea. I dreamed of mountains by the sea. Climbing and surfing is where I'd be. 4/16/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I figured she knew a lot about the ground since she spent so much time looking at it. 10/28/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I have a Lorax in my thorax. 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I love having to get past your body to get to your soul. 9/24/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I remember sex. I remember love. First it was an ideal, a hope of two healthy (psychologically and physically) young, beautiful people meeting. Then it was a reality. Now it is just a memory. 7/28/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I tried to write her into existence. Meanwhile she lived next door. 2/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I want to talk to you at dawn. I want to talk to you all day. I want to talk to you at dusk. I want to talk to you all night. 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I would like to visit every place at every time and notice how quiet and still most existence is. 2/23/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I'm a mail man. What can stop me from the swift completion of my appointed rounds? Heat and cold? No. Rain and snow? No. Barking and biting dogs? No. Injury? No. Poverty? No. Neurosis? No. Social opposition, mocking, etc.? No. Social ostracism? No. Loneliness? No. Threats? No. Physical violence? No. 11/5/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. I've been to places where life is cheap. Its a big waste. Those places waste life. They kill others. They maim others. They beat up others. Life is cheaper for them. They place a lower value on life. Savage, barbaric societies. This is not civilization. This is not progress. They beat their children. They beat their women. They beat their horses. They beat their dogs. They beat each other. They beat themselves. 7/21/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Iama. Iama llama. Iama comma. Iama farmer. 5/23/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Idle. // Warm sunny day. / Everyone returns to Nature. / Creating a traffic jam. 4/28/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Idyll. // Gentle spring shower. / Wash your hair in rain water. / Wear a flower garland. / Get a ticket for being a public nuisance. 4/28/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. In my mind it's a sunny day. Beautiful geniuses give their best effort. Things are improving. 02/24/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. In summer the leaf covered trees brush against me like a sponge. In winter the leafless trees brush against me like a bristle brush. 6/12/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. In the mid-west of my mind the corn-feds listen to Journey, untroubled, unthinking. 3/15/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. In the Village I bought a potion that contained ginseng, ginkgo biloba and Ginsberg. 9/9/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. In the winter I am an Eskimo, coping with the cold. In the summer I am a Bedouin, handling the heat. The air-conditioned cube-dwellers have lost touch with the natural environment. 3/11/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Intelligence subverted. Smart people into stupid things. Distracted. Avoidant. Bribed. Steered wrong. Diverted. Perverted. Subverted. 3/30/2007 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Is there anything left to my life? Is there anything more to this world? 1/22/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. It is best to sit in the sun on a cool, clear day. Let your body feel the heat. Your mind empty. A blank slate. Your name before you were born. 9/12/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Its spring and the trees are fornicating. Smells nice and there's no bed sheets to wash. 4/25/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Karmic boomerang. 1/14/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Ladies, there are men out there who think your thick ankles are beautiful. Just wanted you to know. 3/3/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Lids like lead. My sessile mass. 07/23/1988 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Life: after the initial shock I said, "Let me compose myself". 5/1/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Chiggers and ticks and flies, oh my. Maggots and fleas and lice, oh my. 9/19/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Looking out at Union Square. Looking at all the faces. I find it difficult to believe that all this means nothing. Whoever said this means nothing must not have been looking at the faces. 3/10/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Lost in the world of thought. // Scenario One. Lost in the world of thought without any food or water. You struggle all day to make progress. Finally, at the end of the day, you are overjoyed to see a set of footprints. Perhaps the footprints will lead to civilization. Then you realize, to your horror, that the footprints you see are your own footprints. You had wandered in a circle, back to your starting point. // Scenario Two. Lost in the world of thought. You decide to stay put. You decide to wait for rescue. Days go by. Your party descends into cannibalism. // Scenario Three. Lost in the world of thought. You struggle on, bravely. You climb mountains, ford rivers and struggle through jungle. You chart previously uncharted lands. You add to the map of knowledge. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Manhattan is grand and its residents become golden via osmosis; call it "gilt by association". 9/19/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. March. The gray skies. The drizzle and damp. The cold whipping wind. The mud caking our boots. We plod on, waiting for better days. They should call it "forced March". 3/16/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. May. / May, the possible month. / May or may not. / The odds are about 50/50. 5/6/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Mental refuge. First everything disappears. Then I am walking through the forest, snow crunching under my boots, stars flashing through the firs. I walk for hours, empty headed, till I can smell the wood smoke from the cabin fireplace. 12/26/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Middle age lament. // It seems like nothing I'm doing is having any effect. It seems impossible to get anything done. It seems I'm not accomplishing or achieving anything. It seems I'm having no effect. It seems I cannot change the system. 3/28/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Minimalist poetry. // The beauty of the blue sky. / The beauty of the gray sky. / The beauty of the green earth. / The beauty of the brown earth. 11/8/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Mondo Basho in Hollywood, or Chinese Poetry by the Numbers. PART ONE. (1) Pick a season: spring, summer, autumn, winter. (2) Pick a time of day: dusk, dawn, day, night. (3) Pick an age of person: child, adult, old person. (4) Pick a gender: female or male. (5) The total number of Chinese poems possible equals the total number of combinations of the above variables. For example, Mondo Basho might write, "Spring dawn. The young women are planting rice. What's for dinner?" PART TWO. If Mondo Basho lived in present day Hollywood what a difference it would make in his poetry. For example, he might write, "Is it spring? I've been in Hollywood six months and the weather has not changed. Is it dusk? The smog is so dark the street lights are on at noon. Is that a girl? Perhaps it is another transvestite hooker. Is she legal? The teens dress like old ladies and the old ladies dress like teens. Where am I? The suburbs stretch to the horizon. How do I exit this freeway? 6/12/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Music of my youth. Clear, sunny day. I've not wasted thirty years. Its 1978. The Carter administration. Bright, optimistic, hopeful. 2/15/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. My life is like a cup of coffee. It took about eighteen years to bring me to a boil. And since then I've been slowly cooling. 9/25/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. My little terrorist lover. / She's holding my heart and penis hostage. / My brain lies dead on the floor, fallen victim to her demands. 6/4/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Nighttime. Real night does not exist anymore. Only in a few places far from man. There are two kinds of real night. The first is night with starlight and moonlight. The second is night without starlight and moonlight. The latter is the real real night. It exists only when there is no light, and no hope of light till day. No electricity, no batteries, no fire, no matches. When you can not see your hand in front of your face. And the woods are alive with the sounds of animals. 6/25/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Object of her affection. How I desire her rapt attention. How I miss her look of expectation. How I pine for her admiration. How I loathe her consternation. I felt her excitation. I felt her satiation. I miss her conversation. 6/12/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Ode to a woman. Your beauty is the sign I follow. Hope is the quest. Your love is the promised land. 12/29/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Oh, I Have Flossed. // Let them not say that I have not lived. I have filled out forms in triplicate. I have climbed gray stairwells. I have been in traffic jams. Oh, I have flossed. / Let them not say that I have not lived. I have stood in line for hours. I have done countless situps and pushups. I have paid bills. Oh, I have flossed. 3/5/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. On a Choking Victim Sign in a Restaurant. If I wanted to choke my victim, would not I put my fingers around their throat, rather than my arms around their waist? I do not want to hug them. I want to choke them. 2/25/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. On a hot summer day who is to say that the discovery of ice cubes was not as great as the discovery of fire? 6/28/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. On cool summer nights we used to go for slow rides and try to get lost for the fun of it. Were we wasting years, or were we enjoying them? With nothing to show, not even memories. Now, looking back, I wonder where did it all go? Is it too late to answer these questions? They should have been answered long ago. 07/30/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. One line poems. Environment (place) poems, and time poems. To take a mental journey. (1) Season poems. (A) Winter afternoon sun turns snowfield gold. (B) Summer heat drives me crazy. (C) Autumn winds scatter leaves. (D) Spring flowers. (2) Day poems. (A) Dawn, the dew covered grass soaks my shoes. (B) Daylight top light. (C) Dusk, like winter, seems like death. (D) Night, who turned out the lights? (3) Place poems. (A) City, so many women, their eyes lift and carry me. (B) Mountains, like a fortress. (C) Beach, topless is untoppable. (D) Suburb, strip malls. (E) Country, small towns in which to drown. 10/30/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Out in the suburbs people sleep peacefully. 04/30/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Patch the rip. Glue the patch. Duct tape the glue. Pin the duct tape. 8/13/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Pigeons, seagulls, and crows. 02/04/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Poem about activism. It is important. I'm not especially adept at it. It does not come naturally. There is little money in it. That is all okay. Its the ethical thing to do. 5/17/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Poem about my ideas: Each brick was set next to the other, layer upon layer, till something useful was made. 04/01/1988 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Poem of the enlightened petty bureaucrat. I am not having any vivid visual, aural, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory sensations or hallucinations of any positive or negative type. Nothing is bugging me severely, yet I am not ignoring life's problems in mind or action. I have dealt justly with my enemies. My mind is not pre-occupied nor obsessing, yet I do not lack focus. I am working calmly yet resolutely toward a set of well thought out, rational goals. I am not about to have a nervous breakdown. I don't feel a need to yell. I feel moderately well in an unforced way and that is ok, dammit. I feel neither slave nor master of language. I am not sanitized, nor am I in a wallow. I am not ignoring you or my environment. I am not bored, nor overstimulated. It is not wrong to feel this way. I am not coping out on life. I am not living in a styrofoam eggshell mind. I am not a rock. I have not given up. Do not pin your dissatisfaction and angst on me. Do not label me or put me down. I feel your pain but it's not overwhelming me. I am not a religious or political fanatic. I am just trying to communicate without imposing my ideology upon you. Sorry for taking up so much of your time. You've been a great audience. Thanks for listening. Thank you very much. I do not feel personally responsible for causing or curing all the worlds problems. I have not stopped thinking or feeling or remembering. I am not trying to attack you, nor am I being defensive. I respect you as an equal in a friendly way. Must we all suffer greatly all the time? 09/15/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Poet Logician. // Does she love me OR does she love me NOT? IF i love her AND she loves me THEN shall we together be. ELSE misery. 12/1/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Pre Internet. Suburban rooms. Isolated, bare. Meaningless work. Empty-headed exhaustion. Cultureless. Vacant. 2/26/2007 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Professional Loafer. // I was wandering aimlessly. / I was watching people holding drinks and cigarettes. / I was researching the mundane. / I observed the commute. / Disinterested, objective, outside. /// I catalogued the obvious. / I accounted for the trivial / while you were making important decisions. / I bought a Whitman sampler. /// While you were busy getting overtime pay / I was walking slowly in the park. / I was sitting on a bench watching the sunset. / I was up at dawn when no one is around, interviewing seagulls. / I was doing all these things that you are too important to do, and reporting the details. 6/1/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Putting her hair up. Letting her hair down. Its mesmerizing. That's how they snare us. With cascading tresses. I was talking with a lady the other day, and very nonchalantly she decided to put her hair up. Then in the same conversation she decided to let her hair down. 7/20/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Rain on the beach. 08/01/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Rainy day, all the shades of gray. / Sunny day, colors will display. 11/20/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Reductive simplicity. // Black coffee. / Unfiltered cigarettes. / Grain alcohol. / Pine box. 4/2/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Seasonal Sex. Summer sex: Hot, sweaty, sticky. You separate quickly when done, and the ceiling fan cools your sweat. Winter sex: Huddling under blankets. When done you do not want to leave each other. The fire warms you. 6/21/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. She had Halogen eyes. 11/10/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. She is strong and sturdy. Small and compact. Focused and determined. Physical and earthly. She was built for life. I am tall and thin. Ethereal and other-worldly. Mind everywhere. Veering toward death. We make a good team. 8/20/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. She was so serene. Her life was so serene. In her quiet, gentle, neat room. Cute and cozy. Happy in her cubbyhole. Her quiet joys. I am so chaotic. My life is so chaotic. 11/27/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. She. // She is like sex. She gave me half an hour for free. She could have charged me $75 for our conversation . // She is like drugs. She gave me a sample for free. She is in my bloodstream. She is under my skin. // She is like rock and roll. I hear music when I think of her. 6/23/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sixty nine meet Ninety six. // Freedom loving vulgarian with the business monopoly. 10/7/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sleven. // Hanging out at the convenience store / where I work for minimum wage / because I can't afford a car, / and I'm not old enough to drive. / This isn't living. / Slaving at Sleven. / Viewing the world through slushy glasses. 3/25/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Slogging through relationships. Slogging through conversations. Slogging through generations. Slogging through arguments. Slog. Flog. Bog. 3/11/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Slow motion, instant replay, do over. 10/7/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Smoking cigarettes. The ember is the hearth. The smoke is the ghost of a long lost friend. When one smokes, one is sitting around the fireplace with an old friend. 02/05/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Snowfall in the city, / just like a tickertape parade / except everywhere. 2/18/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sometimes I do not feel like a human being. You have to admit, it seems I have less and less in common with people. I listen to music to make myself feel human again. I need to get a job. This eternal cafe' observation is doing me no good. There is no philosophical proof for a "person". For all those who want to be unique, special and different, I imagine there is a hefty price to pay. Yet not so high as the blank look I see in the eyes of the "well adjusted". 7/11/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Southwestern rest stop. // We had dinner in the diner and dessert in the desert. 6/8/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Spin doctors, head hunters, swing gurus. 12/01/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Springtime. When winter is over. Sitting in the warm sunshine. Making vitamin D. Releasing endorphins. Happy. When the blues are over and past. When good times return. When good natured laughter abounds. 4/10/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Struggling artists, effortless slobs. 10/20/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Summer in the city. / Everyone in the streets doing a strip tease. / Taking it off. Piece by piece. Hotter and hotter. 7/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Summertime. Cicadas by day. Crickets by night. 7/20/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sunrise on the field after the carnival. // The humans are gone, along with the bright lights, the music and the machines. We are left where we started. Heat, dust, crops, crickets. 8/8/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sunset on the beach with my love. Sunrise on the beach with my love. And everything in between. 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Surfing. The ocean is a woman. The wave is a woman. Salty and wet. Yielding yet forceful. 7/1/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sweet life. Cool June. Breezy, dusky, dawny, yawny, sleepy. 6/20/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Sweetheart, how sweet the art. 1/25/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Talking to you is like throwing a rock into in the Grand Canyon. 7/7/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Telegraph from the front: The gender benders have united with the genre benders. Art is on the attack. 10/15/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Ten post-coital thoughts. // (1) Mission accomplished. (2) Next! (3) Who is paying for this? (4) Elysian fields, here I come. (5) ZZZzzz. (6) I'm in love. (7) It does not get any better than this. (8) Not available in any store. (9) No baby. No baby. Yes baby. (10) Snarfgle pxil hup lego. (11) What's that itch? 6/25/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Ten thousand more years of middle of the road, middle class, middle brow, suburbs. Peaceful, quiet and happy. Blessing or curse? 4/6/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Test for depression resistance. On a cold rainy day, / near the scarecrow in the empty field, / by an old car rusting beside the interstate, / next to an abandoned warehouse loading dock. / That is, in the middle of nowhere, nobody did nothing. / Are you still happy? / Are you still smiling? / Can you still see the sunshine and flowers? / Can you still hear the music? / If so, we need you in paradise. Get here as fast as you can. 3/18/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Bullet Poem. // * This / * is / * my / * final / * business / * report. 11/15/2003 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The cold air drove everyone out of the park. Even though the sun was shining, and clouds raced across the sky, no one was to be seen in the park, which just a few months ago was crowded with sunbathers. The cold air brought the wilderness from up north. 11/16/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The crackdown continues; today several arrests were made of doodlers and those who mumble in their sleep. 10/16/2001 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The expressionless face of the exhausted. Exhausted from a day and exhausted over a life. Panting like an animal. Eyes glazed yet still wary. Exhausted from physical exertion, psychological conflicts and ethical problems. Exhausted from battles with nature, other people and self. Zonked, flinching, panting, twitching. The face is paralyzed. The visage is dead. 7/14/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The green lawn is like a pool. And I feel calm because I have found water. 10/05/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The highway is a cement river. 08/09/1988 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Housewives // Meeting for coffee. / Chatting up a storm. / Holding court. / Setting the world to rights. / Ultimately self-satisfied. / Obviously correct. / What were they thinking? 4/15/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Ideas. // Before you thought of the ideas they weren't a part of you. After you forgot the ideas they weren't a part of you. They came and went and left only a trace on the page. / Where do the ideas come from? Do you call them with a whistle that you bought from an ad in an old comic book? / Where do the ideas go? Back into the wild. They are an elusive species. Their actual number is unknown. They are rarely photographed. Some people live their entire lives without seeing one. 7/21/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The lawn in the moonlight was beautiful. Slick with dew. It was then that I came to realize what all that acreage was for, as I made love to her on the golf course. 12/25/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Loneliness of the Night Watchman. I cried as I did my rounds. No light. No people. Just an empty building and darkness. 7/7/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The most important words poem. Overpopulation, pollution, resources, government, rights, education, needs, food, clothing, shelter, health (psychological and physical). 01/01/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Observer. There are limits to what you can learn from body structure, posture and gait. 6/11/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The ocean and mountains. You can rely on them. They will always be there for you. You can depend on them. They are a shoulder to lean on. They will support you. 6/20/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Odds. For me, for anyone, and for the world. Odds everything will be all right 5%. Odds of total annihilation 25%. Odds of tragedy 80%. Odds of a miracle 5%. Odds of injustice 75%. Odds of justice 25%. Odds of heartbreak 99%. Odds of complete failure 55%. Odds of muddling along 85%. Odds my kid will murder someone 2%. Odds of meeting a real friend: 1 per year. Odds of me losing all will to live: 1 per decade. Odds of using up all of earth's resources before heat death of the sun 50%. Odds of achieving an ecologically sustainable society 51%. Odds that The Odds are accurate 70%. Odds of doing anything unique that is worthwhile 10%. Notes. (1) Bravery is continued hope and effort despite the odds. Cowardice is being overwhelmed by the odds. Be brave my child. (2) The Odds are not 100% accurate. The Odds can change. Actual results may vary. The Odds are not a guarantee. Your behavior can change your odds by 25%. 11/16/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Parts. // The parts are scattered on the ground. The parts fit together. If I put the parts together the machine will work. So says the artist, the philosopher, the psychotherapist and the technologist. Ideas are parts. I make the parts and then I put the parts together. If I leave out a part or if a part is in the wrong position then the machine will not work. Puzzling. More parts arrive daily. A parcel of parts. Part and parcel. The puzzle is growing. Warehouse clerk, check in and check out the parts. 11/20/2004 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Person Sitting Next to You. I want you to be my friend. I want you to talk to me. I want to wander around in your head. I want to take a mental trip courtesy of you. I am going to be like a tick in your scalp. A parasite unseen, feeding on your blood. When I have had my fill, then I will move on. 10/30/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The pieces of string that hold my life together. The pieces of string that are my life. 2/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The poetic method of knowledge. Ten years of thinking about the mountains to get this far. The Mountain Poem in three parts. (1) Rock, stone, cliff. Color, texture, 3D shapes. Before humans, before trees, before life, there was the stone. Solid, dependable, strong. I can build a foundation on stone. (2) Mountain. It was big, like the sky. Free. Not petty, not claustrophobic, not confining. You could get lost in it. You could lose yourself so no one could find you. You could get away. You could lose yourself in it. You could hide in it. It is a fortress. It is a castle. I am the king. (3) Warm in the sun. Cold in the winter. I imagined myself part of the rock. Turning to stone. A stone man. A stony visage. A mountain man. One could return to the mountain if need be. One could survive there, low tech, simple life, basic, elemental. On could go there if the pace and pressures of the busy modern age were too much. It was a safety valve, an escape hatch. The stone was a silent, watchful, guardian. Like a god. The stone was a quiet friend. Peaceful. 03/20/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Porn Poem. // Porn. Pron. Prno. Ponr. Pnro. Pnor. Porn. 3/25/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The rain is a massage. The rain is music. The clouds are a blanket. The wind is a robe. The leaves are a cooling fan. The grass is a bed. The surf keeps the beat. 6/20/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Rain. // The rain, / reminding me of all the times it rained. 3/10/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Road. Gas stations. Convenience stores. Diners. The white dotted line. 7/5/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The rope bridge spanned the chasm like a hip string on a bikini. 10/25/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The smell of babies is distinkt. The smell of old people is distinkt. Apparently, the people in between, the adults, have a smell too, only they cannot smell it. You can't smell your own smell. 12/17/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The sound cars make in the rain when they drive by. 10/30/1997 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The Surf. Tonight, the warm salt mists, reeking of garbage and seagulls, blew onto the land. What I mean to say is I love you and want you in the nastiest possible way. Mist so thick you can cut it with a knife, leaves me wet with droplets of clammy sweat. I want you back. When the earth was young and pure. When there were no names, no words, no ideas. But I will take you now. Steaming and fetid, dark and full of life and disease. You still smell good to me. Do not speak, I do not want to hear what they taught you. A modern mind is worthless to me. The modern life is a small thing to live and die for. I don't want to see it. This is how bad I want you. Protean, like the sea. Waves crash over me. Seaweed. This is how bad I want you, that I would drive for hours at 3a.m. in the summer night, with windows down, by the shore. I can't see. Trash baby, you are holy in my eyes. Alive and dirty like the sea. Your subtlest of moods. Your smile. Lets have dinner tonight. Dank and foul. Pungent stench. You smell bad and I love you for it. Your raunchy, murky soul I can fathom. Dying people fu*king. 08/15/1988 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The things she says. Her every word. I'm watching her move. Attentively. Tentatively. Warily. I'm thinking about her. I'm waiting to talk to her. Its an excruciatingly slow approach. Are we taking off or landing? 5/20/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The wind is a massage, a caress from a lover. 04/30/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. The year 2000 felt like a new pair of socks. 6/21/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. These People. These impoverished people. These bankrupt people. These irredeemable people. These empty people. These broke people. These people who make my life so rich. 4/11/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. This is it. Your one big chance. Don't f*ck it up. This is for real. This is the big league. This is not a test. This is real. Life. 6/10/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. To be driven. To be ambitious. // To want to make something of yourself. To want to make a name for yourself. // To want to change the world. To want to do some good. // It takes a lot of effort. It takes a lot of work. // You have to do it yourself. Can't rely on others. // Can't play it safe. Have to take risks. // Have to be creative. You have to be smart. 1/12/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. To the lover I never met. I looked for you, but you weren't there. I couldn't find you. Where were you? Our eyes never met. We never spoke. We never touched. 6/20/1999 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Turn me on and get me off. 8/23/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Twenty different phrases for snow. Powder. Slush. Big wet flakes. Tiny ice crystals. Frozen crust. Deep snow. Snow with grass tips showing. Snowball-making snow. Clean snow. Dirty snow. Snow with footprints. Virgin snow. Snow in sunlight. Snow on a overcast day. Snow falling. Snow on the ground. Blizzard. White out. Wind driven snow. Snow in still air. 1/22/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Undelete. Replay. Memory work. Scavenging the garbage heap. 7/10/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. We had dessert in the dark. 6/10/1993 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. When he pulled the tab off the lid of a cup of coffee he felt like he was pulling the pin on a hand grenade. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. When I was with her I felt swell. She threw me a curve. I miss her hip attitude. I miss what's her name. 6/12/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. When the yard was my domain, then I began to know the lawn. When the block was my domain, then I got to know the sidewalk. When I crossed the street, then I got to know the road. 5/15/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. When they let me out of my cage. When the bell rings. When the whistle blows. When I leave the table. When I have the energy. When I have the time. I will go for a walk. And figure out what happened. And vow to stay awake. And vow to remain free. 8/6/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. When you are nothing you can be anything. 8/14/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. White field of snow. Blank piece of paper. 10/2/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Why are your teeth chattering in the heat of the summer? You don't have the fevers of malaria. You haven't been swimming in chilly water. What did you see to make your teeth chatter so? Your skeleton is rattling like you had lunch with death. 4/20/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Why drink water when it produces tears? 7/7/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Winter. // Snow. Ice. Slush. Frost. Crust. Rime. Frozen. Sleet. / Gray and black. Gray and white. Gray and brown. / Shoveling snow. Plowing snow. Growing snow. / Sledding. Skiing. Slipping. Sliding. / Cold. Wind. Numb. / Falling snow. Drifting snow. Melting snow. 1/4/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Women's eyes calm me down like Valium. Her eyes were like two Valium. 02/04/1994 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Words come over the wire: Why is no one talking? You sit in sullen silence. Why is no one talking? You sit in sullen silence. 5/14/2007 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Words set loose on the page. Set loose words on the page. Loose set words on the page. Set words loose on the page. Loose words set on the page. 3/25/2006 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Words. // All we have is words. Actions spring from thoughts, and thoughts spring from words. / All we have is words. And words are diaphanous, short lived and light weight. / All we have is words. And all we need is love, said John Lennon. / All we have is words. Everything we need is in the dictionary, not the bible. / All we have is words. A web of words. A net of words. / All we have is words. Without words we are brutes. 5/7/2005 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Writers paradise. Cheap pens. Cheap paper. 10/2/1998 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. You rich bastards, you wiped the graffiti off the wall so you could put up a bronze plaque with your name on it. 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. You were given a perfect day to wander this earth. / The sun was shining. / Your body felt strong. / You met a woman. / It was a perfect day. / What more do you want? 2/29/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Your Plans for the Day. // First you will drive to the mall early when it opens to avoid the crowds. Return one outfit because it does not fit. Exchange another outfit because its the wrong color. Then go to the bank to check your balance and resolve any discrepancies. Then pick up your custom stationary. Then to the post office to pickup a package. Its all been planned out. You are the model of efficiency. You will get a lot done while I sleep late, wake up, throw up, and stare at the ceiling wondering about life on other planets. 8/24/2000 Arts, literature, poetry, poem. Your sweet body. Your sweet legs. Your sweet eyes. Your sweet lips. Your sweet hair. Your sweet breasts. Your sweet feet. Your sweet hips. Your sweet waist. Your sweet elbows. Your sweet clavicle. 7/23/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. .This section is about poetry. Topics include: 1/24/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. (1) Poems meant to be read are a visual art. (2) Poems meant to be said are a sound art. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. (1) Poetry as loose written structure. Loose thoughts. Loose meanings. Free form scribblings. (2) Poetry as tighter grammatical structures. Tighter meanings. 3/25/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. (1) The only thing good about poetry is that short poetry is short and to the point. It does not waste my time. I can read a lot of authors quickly. (2) Another good thing about poetry, and the arts in general, is that they bring up "the seldom noticed" and "the seldom discussed", but "the important nonetheless". (3) The main problem for male poets is how to be sensitive and smart enough to notice and record ephemera without turning into an over-civilized sissy. Bukowski, Snyder, and Hemingway managed to do this. (4) Another bad thing for the poet to do is futz around with nothing to say, wasting my time. 6/22/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. (1) The poets are so "me, me, me". See me, hear me, feel my pain. See what I see, hear what I hear. (2) Then the poets have the nerve to be cryptic, coy, flirting teases. (3) Poetry is really a form of approach/avoidance neurosis. 3/14/2000 Arts, literature, poetry. (1) The vowels carry the melody. The consonants provide the rhythm. (2) The most important thing in a poem is the idea. Sound is supplemental and secondary. If you make sound for sounds sake, you might as well play music. 08/23/1988 Arts, literature, poetry. A lot of science (95%) involves merely gathering data. Occasionally a valid new conclusion is drawn from a set of data. So it is with poetry. Most poetry is descriptive observation. Only occasionally will you read a poem that draws a valid, new conclusion about life or any part of life. 8/2/2001 Arts, literature, poetry. Anything you can say in poetry, you can say better in prose? I like compact, precise, short, clear. I hate obscure, obtuse, symbolic, metaphorical. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Around the year 1900, in the subject of poetry, there was a shift from structured closed-form poetry to free open-form poetry. At the same time, in the subject of music, there was a shift from structured classical music to free jazz music. I think that, if anything, it was a case of the poets emulating the jazz musicians, rather than visa versa. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Contra poetry. Can we get by with poetry only? Can society, or an individual person, function with only metaphorical reasoning? Can society, or an individual person, function with only vague allusions? No, poetry alone will not suffice. 5/29/2007 Arts, literature, poetry. Elements. (1) All possible forms for couplets, triplets, quartrains. (2) Possible rhythmic patterns, syncopations. (3) Meter, feet, lines, stanzas. (4) Assonance, alliteration, rhyme. (5) Vowels, consonants. (6) Lines, paragraphs. (7) Line length (breadth). (8) Assonance and rhyme. (9) Consonance and alliteration. (10) Meter rhyme. (11) Stanza length and structure. (12) Piece length and shape. (13) Plus all other elements of writing. (14) Non metered poetry: blank verse, free verse. (15) Ode, epic, elegy, lyric. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Epigram: the ultimate form. Nietszhe knew it. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Good poetry shows a new way of looking at a thing. A truer view of a thing. A more ethical view of a thing. A better attitude about a thing. Poetry is emotionally moving. Poetry is sensory. Good poetry is not a cliche'. Read a lot of poetry to see what is a cliche'. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Highway and cars imagery. They symbolize privacy, freedom, escape, and sex. 04/26/1994 Arts, literature, poetry. If you use words merely to paint verbal pictures, as some poets do, then you will accomplish only as much as mediocre visual artists do. However, if you use words to unravel the problems of the world, you will accomplish much more. 6/30/1999 Arts, literature, poetry. Lyrics are compact, precise, powerful attitudes (thoughts and feelings). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. My definition of poetry. Rhyme is not necessary, nor is any other sound technique necessary. Figurative language is used. However, I am against symbolism and metaphor. Imagery is used. Concentrated language is good. 10/1/1999 Arts, literature, poetry. My heart is racing. My breathing is rapid. Am I in love and feeling the flow of endorphins? Am I in a "fight or flight" situation with adrenaline pumping? Am I running a marathon, muscles burning lactic acid? Am I having a cup of coffee, high on caffeine? No, I'm a poet! 8/31/2000 Arts, literature, poetry. Nowadays anyone can write poetry. Any subject, any view, any style. One poem is as good (or bad) as the next. They are all valid. That is why poetry is hurting so bad. It is unavoidable. The situation is actually good and right. I am talking about aesthetics here, not ethics. And this phenomenon has happened in all the arts, not just in poetry. Taste schmaste. 6/26/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. Paul poetry aesthetic. (1) No music, no rhyme, no imagery. (2) Condensed ideas, short messages. (3) Short, sharp, shock statements. (4) Fu*k traditional syntax and form. (5) Still understandable and clear. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Poems versus song lyrics. Poems are spoken or written. Song lyrics are sung. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Poet problem solver. 5/7/2005 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry (rhythm and rhyme) may have made story memorizing easier before writing was invented. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry and nonsense. How tangential, disjointed or obtuse should we allow our thoughts to become? When does poetry slide into nonsense? The question is whether we are able to pull back. Like dipping your toes into insanity and then saying, "too cold". Some call it nonsense, some call it chaos, some call it madness. In any poem, some people see sense and some people see nonsense. So its relative to both reader and writer. 11/20/2004 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry as a test, a puzzle, a game. Some people do crossword puzzles, some people read poetry. The goal is to "figure out" the poem. How many layers are in the poem? How many things are going on in the poem? How many readings will it take you to figure it out? 8/20/2000 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry defined in terms of other arts. Poetry as painting with words. Poetry as music from words. 8/4/2002 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry has less focus on narrator and characters. In poetry, it is often assumed that the author is speaking directly to the reader. Poetry is more personal. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry in the subway cars is a good thing. 5/28/2005 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry is often a form of non-fiction. Poetry is more often autobiographical and personal than not. Poetry is the author speaking to the reader about the poet's understanding of the world. Poetry is not often a matter of made-up characters in pretend situations. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry is painting with words. Poetry glorifies the lowly adjective and adverb. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry lies between rhetoric (persuasive speaking) and belief in magic spells (incantations, neurosis). 11/10/1993 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry of the senses. The senses are so Zen. We should call them "Zenses". When you come down to it, being alive is about sensing. Hooray for senses! Simple, satisfying senses. Examples: (1) The sight of the dawn. The sound of the waves. The smell of the salt air. The touch of the sand. The taste of the seaweed. (2) The sight of the city. The sound of the traffic. The smell of the roasting chestnuts. The touch of the crowded sidewalk. The taste of the bus exhaust. 7/24/1999 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry Slam objections. (1) Art and competition are natural opposites. (2) The selection of judges is arbitrary. (3) They ask for clapping before and after each artist speaks. The clapping thus means nothing. 9/26/1999 Arts, literature, poetry. Poetry versus short story and novel. Poetry is more condensed. Poetry is more figurative. Poetry is more personal. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature, poetry. Some elements of poetry. (1) Sensory language: describe sights, sounds, touch, taste, smell. (2) Figurative language: simile, metaphor, allusion, etc. (3) Musicality of words: how vowels, consonants and meter sound when you recite them. (4) Visual patterns of written words: how the words look on the page. 4/13/2001 Arts, literature, poetry. Sometimes poetry is like a spell, used to try to control things by magic. Sometimes poetry is like a blessing, used to try to anoint a moment. Sometimes poetry is like a dream, and dreams are clues. 6/22/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. The argument for long lines in music and poetry. Long lines allow many chord changes in one line. Long lines allow you to say more. Long lines allow more complicated thoughts. Long lines are more emotionally expressive. Multifaceted, layered emotions. Hitting all the keys. Ringing all the changes. (for example, Walt Whitman, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan). 1/28/2002 Arts, literature, poetry. The purpose of poetry is to capture a moment or capture a state of mind. 9/20/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. The sound of words, and the imagery they invoke, can add to the meaning of a poem. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. There is a natural musicality to the sound of human speech. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Thoughts contra poetry. (1) Imagery is b.s., figurative language is b.s.. (2) Poetry is neurotic, and poetry is a waste of time. (3) Poetry is masturbating with sound. (4) Poetry: the inability to think clearly or say something directly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Thoughts contra poetry. Poetry is neurotic. Poets are people so repressed that they talk in code (symbolism) and elusive references instead of plain speech. They are often just one step from not talking at all. They use poetry to hide, not expose. They use poetry to say less, not more. 7/11/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. Thoughts pro and contra poetry. (1) Pro of poetry. (A) Conciseness. (B) Subtlety of expression due to widest vocabulary use possible. Uses emotional as well as intellectual expression. (2) Contra of poetry. (A) Weaknesses of poetry include obscureness, ambiguity, and vagueness. (B) Poetry is where language meets music. Poetry is also where language meets magic, or our belief in and attempts at magic. A poem is often viewed by its authors and audience as magic words. Neurotics, children, and primitive cultures are the types of people who hold this pathological view of poetry. The magic words, or poem, are spoken to gain protection, or alter the course of events. Words to them are chants, spells, talismen. (C) Slightly different is the neurotic's use of poetry as a symbol system or code to avoid thinking about the unpleasantries in life. Metaphor is euphemism, which is pathological. (D) The above types also fetishize the word as object (spelling, sound), instead of being concerned with the abstract idea it represents. Thus there exists a difference between healthy poetry and pathological poetry. This holds for all art. Art and religion are the only way a large part of society can think, say things, and hear things. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature, poetry. Thoughts pro poetry. One good thing about poetry is that it is short, usually. 04/24/1997 Arts, literature, poetry. Thoughts pro poetry. Poetry is useful when you say "I'm not sure what I am thinking of, but it has something to do with...x." Poetry can help you put a finger on and develop an idea. 12/30/1995 Arts, literature, poetry. Types of poetry. (1) Humorous, silly, funny vs. serious. (2) Political. (3) Feminist. (4) Nature, environment. (5) Sex, love. (6) Death, time, age. (7) Work. (8) Health. (not to many work and health poems, why? It is very important). (9) Image poems (all 5 senses) vs. word sound poems vs. idea poems. (10) Long vs. short poems. (11) Nonsensical dada vs. sensical. (12) Concrete vs. abstract poems. (13) Celebrating good vs. anger and sadness over bad injustices. (14) Wild and decadent vs. domestic. 12/30/1995 Arts, literature, poetry. Types of poetry. (1) Object poems (concrete things, or even subjective mental states) vs. subject poems (abstract ideas, ex. freedom). (2) Object poems break down into: (A) Place poems (city, mountains, beach, suburbs, rural). (B) Time poems (the seasons, time of day, etc.). (C) People poems (her face, her body, her mind). (D) Self poems (I feel, I think, I remember). 10/30/1997 Arts, literature, poetry. Types. (1) By meter, by stanza structure. (2) By rhyme: assonance and consonance. (3) By types of language used: similes, metaphors, sensory language, etc. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, poetry. Types. (1) Eastern poetry. Ephemeral, fleeting, transitory qualities of season, weather, time of day (nature) in order to describe the infinite shades of emotion and attitude. Subjective. Favor the short lyric. Aesthetics themes. (2) Western poetry. Timeless, objective, rational truths. Moral themes. Long forms, narrative (story telling). 02/01/1994 Arts, literature, poetry. What makes it a poem? The visual artists have addressed this question in the first half of the twentieth century regarding visual art. If you say its art then its art. If you say its a poem then its a poem. 10/25/2001 Arts, literature, poetry. What qualifies as poetry? Everything spoken or written has a poetic element to it. Poetry is not just rhyme. Poetry is not just sound. Poetry is not just figurative language. Indeed, all forms of communication have a poetic element to them. 7/11/1998 Arts, literature, poetry. When can you tell the subject of a poem, and thus classify poems by subject? 3/18/2000 Arts, literature, poetry. When is it poetry and when is it prose? 6/9/2004 Arts, literature, poetry. When writing poetry, it is better to pick the more accurate word than the more beautiful word. This goes to show that poetry is less about beauty and more about accuracy, and the term "accuracy" is another way of saying "truth". Poetry is more about truth than beauty. 1/4/2002 Arts, literature, poetry. Why do people read at poetry readings? Poetry reading metaphors. (1) The poetry reading is like a battle you fight. (This metaphor is conflict ridden). (2) The poetry reading is like a product you sell. (This metaphor is too empty). (3) The poetry reading is like a journey you take. (Eh). (4) The poetry reading is like "a way you do". (Eh). (5) The poetry reading is like a thing that you bring to show and tell. (Okay). (6) The poetry reading is your contribution to a global conversation. (Yeah). 7/5/2000 Arts, literature, works. Birth of a Salesman. // Here's the deal. Here's how it works. The more you sell, the more money you make. Simple, right? Every month, the person with the most sales gets "Salesperson of the month". Then there's the yearly bonus. Sure, there's a bonus. That is, if you exceed your quota. Sure there's a quota. Hey, we are friends, but friendship only goes so far. 4/2/2006 Arts, literature, works. Charlie "Beans and Sardines" Smith only ate canned beans and canned sardines. That's all he could afford. Canned food. Dented cans purchased half price. Sometimes he splurged and bought canned bread and canned coffee. Most of the time though it was beans and sardines. He lived over by the railroad tracks, in a shack made out of watermelon rinds. He bunked with a dumpster diving freegan named Shrill Shirley. He made a living selling can art. He would solder together the cans to make various sculptures. He preferred abstract sculpture, but people kept asking him to make things that resembled animals or spaceships or such. He complained that the canned watermelon was all rind. But he made a decent living out of it. And he had a place to sleep. 3/5/2006 Arts, literature, works. Daydream. She is beautiful and intelligent, and she thinks I'm handsome and fascinating. When I call her, she picks up the phone on the second ring. She sounds pleased to hear me. Yes, she does want to go out tonight. No, its not short notice. She wants to tell me about the new art gallery she visited. She asks me about my day. She sounds interested and approving. She is making friendly noises. She says conventional jobs are not for everyone. She says its only a matter of time before I am discovered. She says my not having been discovered in the previous twenty years is no indication that I will not be discovered tomorrow. We meet later that evening. Her eyes light up when she sees me. The talk comes easily, and our eyes are locked on each other. She tells me about her work in political activism. She was in a foreign country, helping the orphans. She says it was very rewarding work. She wants to introduce me to her friends. She keeps revealing intimate details of her life. Is she boring me? No, of course not. I find her beyond charming. She is completely uninhibited. She is like a wild animal. Later on we go for a walk. At first, it seems like we are circling each other. Then we start moving in on each other. The distance disappears. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, works. I bathed today. I removed all my clothing and immersed myself under a stream of running water. It was delightful. It was positively exhilarating. Have you tried bathing? I heartily recommend it. 4/24/2007 Arts, literature, works. I was entrusted with her heart. Her heart was a beating blob of protoplasm that rested on the seat while I drove. I didn't know exactly how to care for her heart, and I glanced at it as I drove. I carried her heart with me. People looked at me holding a beating heart in my hands. One day, while we were driving, the heart started talking. "I need to make a few stops.", the heart said. We stopped at a convenience store and the heart went inside for a minute. When the heart came out it went over to my side and said, "Its easier for me to drive to the next stop." I moved over and let the heart drive. The heart took out a cigarette and lit up. "You smoke?", I said? "Nasty habit I picked up years ago.", the heart said. We drove on, the heart coughing occasionally. 3/9/2005 Arts, literature, works. Lemonade Lake. In the summertime we all went to the lake. There was swimming. And there was lemonade, tangy and sweet. We swam in the lemonade. Afterwards, sticky, we would walk back through the woods, laughing and singing. I will always remember the summers on Lemonade Lake. 4/2/2006 Arts, literature, works. Lisa looked at Juan and asked, "Why did he kill himself? He was like a brother to you." Juan looked far away and said with a distant voice, "It was probably due to his meddling parents who did something stupid like lie to the police and psychiatrist in order to try to get him committed to a mental hospital." Lisa asked, "Why did you survive?" Juan said, "I survived because I saw them coming for me. He saved my life, in a way." "What do you mean?", Lisa asked. Juan looked at her and said, "I also survived because you were there." 9/12/2005 Arts, literature, works. Networking. Yeah, networking, he thought to himself. He had just seen a television infomercial about how to find a job. The commercial mentioned that networking was one of the most effective ways to find a job. He wasn't about to send money for the complete kit because only a sucker would buy the kit. But he thought that networking just might be the key to employment. He got out a yellow pad and a pencil. Yeah, this just might work. He started writing a list of the people he knew with whom he could network in order to get a job. This time he was on to something. Yeah. More thinking. Okay. What have we got? He put down the pencil and picked up the telephone. He slowly dialed a number. "Hello, Eileen? Hi, this is Carl Stokes. I don't know if you remember me. A few years ago, I had seen you for about a month and a half. Yes, therapy, that's right. Hi, how are you? Listen, the reason I am calling is because I am doing some job networking. Its a new technique for job hunting that involves calling people to see if they have any job leads. Yeah, I read about it in the New York Times. Oh, its easy, you just say hello, and then talk a little chit chat, and then ask if anyone they know is hiring. Yeah, piece of cake. So, how you been? Still doing the therapist gig? Nice. Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Real good. Never felt better. Let me ask you, do you know if anyone is hiring? Not at this time? Oh. No, that's okay. Yeah, doesn't hurt to ask. Sure. Yup. Okay. Goodbye." He slowly put down the receiver in the cradle. He exhaled and scratched his head. Then he took his pencil and drew a single line through the single name he had written down on the sheet of paper. 3/1/2006 Arts, literature, works. Our family was poor. At the dinner table, which we called "the eatin' bench", we had a paper napkin at each place-setting instead cloth napkins. But these paper napkins were just for show, and we were told that "the show napkins", as we called them, were not to be used under any circumstances. We were just too poor to waste the paper napkins. Instead, we used what we called "the real napkin". The real napkin was a single paper napkin that we all shared. In order to make the real napkin last we had to follow certain rules before we were allowed to use it. I can still remember our meals when someone would say, "Can I use the real napkin?" "Did you finish eating?" "Yes." "Did you lick your fingers?" Yes." "Okay, you may use the real napkin." And then we would gingerly hold the real napkin between thumb and each finger, one by one. "Don't you raise that real napkin to your mouth.", they would warn us. 6/6/2000 Arts, literature, works. Technical writing. The Varnak PD30T computer, a technical writing project, by Gordon Leish. This document describes the operation of the Varnak PD30T computer. The Varnak PD30T computer is a marvel of modern science. The PD30T was created several years ago by the scientists at Varnak. The PD30T had a tumultuous early life. The PD30T has matured into a stable platform for multi-tasking, multi-user environments. Reserved without being shy. Good humored without being fey. The PD30T is a complex character, not easily rendered. The input/output mechanism consists of a tungsten alloy servo-assembly. Prone to expound on a variety of topics. Likes yachting and painting watercolors. 3/1/2006 Arts, literature, works. The Humanities Carnival. // Jeff said to Beth, "Beth, I can't go on like this, working for minimum wage, unable to pay my bills. There has to be another way." Beth said, "Meet me here tonight. I want to show you something." That night, Beth and Jeff drove far away, to the edge of the county, and parked in a grassy field next to the entrance of the Humanities Carnival. They paid the admission fee and walked in. Jeff said, "Humanities Carnival?" It looks like any ordinary carnival to me. The games and rides are the same. The people in the crowd are the same." Beth said, "Exactly. But look closely at the carnival workers. Listen to their spiel." One carnie said, "Ring toss, and French Renaissance literature." The next carnie said, "Whack-a-mole, and existentialist philosophy." Beth said, "Each carnie has a post graduate degree in the humanities." That night, after closing , the carnies gathered around a fire to discuss their love of the humanities, and how they were so cruelly rejected by society. One carnie said, "I used to teach philosophy until I lost my job to budget cuts." Another carnie said, "People told me I was crazy to get a masters degree in linguistics, but I went for it anyway. I was homeless until I found the Humanities Carnival." It grew quiet around the campfire. Jeff stood up and said, "Hi, my name is Jeff, and I have a PhD in comparative philology." A quiet gasp went around the campfire. Jeff continued, "Can I join the Humanities Carnival?" A woman stood up and said, "Welcome, Jeff. Tell us your story." 6/23/2006 Arts, literature, works. The instructor slowly closed his anthology of literature, looked at the class, and said, "In case you have not figured it out, love is an illusion created by poets and promulgated by marketers and advertisers. Your best bet is to stay healthy, work hard, save your money, and enjoy sunrises and sunsets." The students frowned and grumbled amongst themselves. The instructor continued, "Of course, there are a few people who say they are in love, most likely they are paid to do so. But for most of us, love will remain a fleeting chimera." The students rebelled, shaking their fists and throwing their books down. 12/17/2006 Arts, literature, works. The Library. // Gradually, fewer and fewer people went to the library. Eventually, it was one lone man in a large room with a librarian. One day the librarian spoke. "Why do you continue to show up here, day after day? The man said, "Why does no one else?" The librarian said, "They are all at home, doing their research on the Internet." The man said, "I like the books, and I really have no where else to go." The librarian said, "Here are the keys, please look after the place.", and then the librarian walked out the door, leaving the man alone. After that, for many years, it was just the man and the books, day after day, season after season. Until one day, many years later, a college student stood in the doorway and said, "I heard about this place on the Internet." 6/22/2006 Arts, literature, works. Years ago I had a job as a night watchman. It was summertime. My post was in the middle of a large field. Every morning I would watch the sun rise slowly, silently. The birds would start singing in the pre-dawn darkness. I was watching the night and a field of wild flowers. It was like the African savanna millions of years ago. The sun has risen every day since then. It was warm outside. No one was around. I disappeared. I evaporated. Zen like. Every night was an eight hour zeshin. Time is a river. The mind is a river. There is no time. There is no mind. To quote Paul Simon, "The morning sun is rising like a red rubber ball." The warm haze envelopes. The distant trees. Veil of dawn. Heart of darkness. And then it was daytime, and the people scurried about. The busy people. Business and noise. I was paid to watch the dawn. It was my job to guard a field of wild flowers. 3/9/2005 Arts, literature, writing. (1) Methods of writing. (A) Paper methods. Loose leaf. Notebook. Index cards. (B) Computer methods. Learn to touch type. Get a computer. Text file. Spreadsheet. Database. (2) Regardless of what technology you use, every idea should get at topic, a date, and a rating. (3) Similar to the oral tradition, the main problem in the written tradition is forgetting. One forgets when one does not reread their writing. Those who write and never reread end up forgetting. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Advice to authors: Don't scare the children. Don't disturb the old people. Don't feed the pigeons. Don't walk on the grass. 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Arguments against writing. (1) No time. Counter-argument: You make time to work out, so make time to write, since both are healthy. (2) Is difficult. Its not easy. Its not fun. I don't feel like doing it. The counter-argument is that education is when things go from difficult to easy, and from not-fun to fun. Compare student reactions at beginning of semester, "impossible", to end of semester, "simple". (3) Its not cool. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Compositional methods. Scratch pad method. Write (or type) words, phrases, sentences on paper (or screen). Add to it everyday. Add from within, not tacked onto the end. Let it grow organically from within. Add drawings, pictures and sounds. Let the audience see it grow. Most blogs don't do it that way; most blogs tack onto the end. Save the version changes everyday, or date each days changes with a date tag, for example, . Show daily versions to the user. Show your work. 6/10/2004 Arts, literature, writing. Discover yourself. Discover the world. Uncover yourself. Uncover the world. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Do some thinking. Get some ideas. Save and organize your ideas by writing 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Editing. (1) Splitting text, and combining text. (2) Expanding text, and reducing text. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Emotion and writing. Spot emotional appeals and tactics. Spot emotion words. Pleasure emotions like happiness and joy. Pain emotions like sadness, anxiety and anger. How does the author feel about the topic? Does the author want us to feel like he feels? Is the author trying to sway or manipulate our emotions? 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Emotion and writing. There should be an emotional connection to what your are writing. You should care about it. You should find it interesting. You should think it important. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Emotion and writing. When trying to write, when battling the blank sheet of paper, negative emotions may appear. Anxiety or panic. Depression or feeling overwhelmed. Anger or frustration. These emotions may appear in a form directed at the world, the self, or at writing. Take a Zen approach by letting the negative thoughts and feelings arise and pass. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Everyday that I spend writing I have to justify by asking myself, "Would the day have been better spent doing volunteer work?" 3/1/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Explore. Delve. Mull. Expand. Complexify. Reach. Extend. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Fear of writing. Existentially, not writing is a way of avoiding controversy, problems, pain, thinking, self, others and world. Refusing to write is an exercise in avoidance and repression. Refusing to write is inauthentic. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Fear of writing. Fear of embarrassment, humiliation, being mocked. Do not let these fears shame you into silence. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Fears of writing. Writing and the mind. Overcoming resistance, fear, etc. The subconscious can be lazy (avoiding hard work), stubborn (avoiding change on principle), and willful (avoiding any challenge to its independence). 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Forms of writing. The use of computers as an information management tool has influenced the way people write. The computer lends itself to particular forms of writing. (1) Lists. The list is an important form of writing. Unordered lists. Ordered lists. (2) Outlines. The outline is an important form of writing. An outline is a type of ordered list. Logical order. (3) Table. The table, matrix, database as an important form of writing. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Get some good ideas. Recognize your good ideas. Write down your good ideas to save them. Combine good ideas to see how ideas fit together. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Good writing is anything you write that you read five years later and do not have to make a margin note that says "What?". 2/25/1999 Arts, literature, writing. Good writing is like good acting, in that the effort is not noticeable. It looks easy, but it is difficult to do well. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Good writing is tight, together, like a good rock band. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Good writing is when the reader understands what you mean to say. A problem occurs when readers invariably think you mean something else. 8/4/2001 Arts, literature, writing. How would I write if everything I wrote could be read by anyone? Would this lack of writing privacy make me a better or worse writer? Would it make me a better or worse person? Would I try to be more clear in my explanations? Or would I try to rewrite history to make myself look good? One could argue that people need some degree of writing privacy for psychological health. On the other hand, one could argue that more openness would improve society. 11/2/2001 Arts, literature, writing. How would you organize the contents of your brain? How would you organize everything you know? One way to organize everything you know is to divide it up into the following: (1) Stuff you figured out. (2) Stuff you found out, from papers, television, classes, etc. (3) Stuff you did and stuff that happened to you (diary). (4) Stuff you want to do (goals). 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. If one uses voice recognition software to record one's thoughts is one a writer or a speaker? I am a thinker. 2/10/2002 Arts, literature, writing. Information management. The problem with ideas is the sheer volume of ideas. After ten years or so of writing, it becomes an information management issue. Some people write in journals, usually one a year, but then how does one search the data or sort the data? The computer helps with this problem. Specifically, the database helps manage enormous amount of information. The database allows easy searching and sorting. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Initially I wrote the Notes for myself only. The result was a condensed shorthand style which is perhaps the opposite of the longwinded style of professional writers who are paid by the word. In between these two extremes, when one writes for both oneself and others, not being paid by the word, rather paying for each word with time and energy, one reaches a better style. 11/2/2001 Arts, literature, writing. It is not necessary to smoke, drink or take drugs to write well. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. It may seem difficult at first, but with practice one begins thinking and writing more easily, faster, more accurately, with fewer mistakes, more creatively, and better organized. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Methods for writing. Write more and better. (1) More time. More energy. More hours. (2) More focus. More clarity. More vision. (A) Motivated by a vision. Motivated by an ideal. Motivated to pursue the good. (B) Motivated by problems. Motivated to solve problems. Motivated to get rid of the bad. (3) More motivation. More intellectual reasons. More emotional feeling. More urgency. (4) More stimulation. More new experiences. (5) More ideas. More work produced. (6) More open. Less repressed. More wide-ranging. More expansive. (7) More happy. More relaxed. (8) I am healthy. I can think. I can do. That is positive. (9) Big world. Lots going on. Lots to write about. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Methods of the writing process. Loose writing. Tight writing. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Methods of writing. (1) Write daily. Set aside a few hours a day to write. Carry paper and pen everywhere to record ideas. (2) Writing is a skill that one must practice to stay in shape. (3) Reverie. Trance. Flow. Writing is a state of mind. (4) Make a list of things to write about, writing projects. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Much like talking is an aid to thinking or a form of thinking, so too is writing is also an aid to thinking or a form of thinking. Talking is thinking. Writing is thinking. 12/17/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Perhaps the most common writing advice one hears nowadays is to "write about what you know". Writing about what you know is an approach that is good for didactically inculcating a supposedly apparent truth in other people. Writing about what you know is a decidedly inter-personal approach to writing. (2) On the other hand, I think it is also useful to write about what you don't know, because doing so has the effect of raising questions that eventually expand your own pool of knowledge. Writing about what you don't know is a personal approach to writing. (3) Write about what you know if you want to lecture others. Write about what you don't know if you have a sense of curiosity and want to find some new ideas in order to grow as a person. (4) The Notes is a style of writing that is somewhere in-between the above two styles. The Notes is both personal writing and inter-personal writing. 12/1/2001 Arts, literature, writing. Politics and writing. Writing is a political act. Speaking is a political act. Thinking is a political act. Thinking, speaking and writing can empower people. 11/18/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Recent changes in human conceptions of writing and the results of these changes. (1) Writing text was once conceived of as being akin to writing music. In fact, we once used the same word, "composition", to refer to both the act of writing text and the act of writing music. (2) Today, writing text is increasingly conceived of as being akin to writing software code. The vocabulary used to talk about writing text is changing from one filled with musical terms to one equally filled with computer terms. (3) What is the result of this change in the conception of writing? The result is an increase in the diversity and communicative power of all things written. 11/21/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Sometimes one feels one would be happy if only 50% of what one wrote was true, if only 5% of what one wrote was new, and if only 1% of what one wrote was important. 6/8/2001 Arts, literature, writing. Structure and order vs. flexibility and creativity. In writing there is a balance between structure and flexibility. Too much structure makes one feel stifled. Too little structure and the reader cannot understand. Too little flexibility and freedom causes a lack of exploration and growth. Too much flexibility? There is an optimal balance of structure and flexibility for both the writer and the reader, and that level changes with time and place, from author to author and reader to reader. In the Notes, structure and organization is provided by the keyword phrases which are categories. Flexibility is provided by the fact that the categories are changing and growing. 1/2/2004 Arts, literature, writing. Techniques for nonfiction writers. (1) Write every day for several hours. (2) Carry around pen and paper to jot down ideas at any time. (3) Keep a brainstorming list to jot down words and phrases. (4) Don't worry if you don't sell your writing. Write for personal growth. Write for health. Write for truth and justice. 9/2/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Technology and writing. Writing, language and computers are all information technologies. The goals of the technology of writing are to write faster and easier with voice recognition software, organize faster and easier with sortable databases, and retrieve faster and easier with searchable databases. 11/18/2005 Arts, literature, writing. The bio-chemo-physics of writing. There is a time, after I've spent the morning trying to wake and yet before the drowsy evening, and after I've been energized by breakfast and yet before I'm hungry for dinner, when I can write. 11/23/2004 Arts, literature, writing. The business person's goal: make a million dollars before one is 30 years old. The writers goal: write a million words before one is 30 years old. The equivalent of 10 novels. 6/26/2002 Arts, literature, writing. The reason some people write a lot is the same reason some people talk a lot: To keep the giant yawning void at bay. 6/26/2002 Arts, literature, writing. The writing urge (energy?) can come at anytime during the day. 11/1/2003 Arts, literature, writing. There are many types of writing. There are many reasons why people write. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Thinking and writing. To write is to organize one's thoughts. To write is to store one's thoughts. To write is to generate new thoughts. 11/15/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Thinking skills for use in writing. (1) Creativity skills. Generate ideas. Use lists to help. Gather materials. (2) Evaluation skills. Determine the worth of ideas. Pick out strengths and weaknesses of arguments. Determine what is the author saying, his thesis and arguments. Determine what is your view. On which points do you agree and disagree with the author. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. This is a writing class. We can write. We can talk about writing. Or we can read what others have written. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. To some extent writing is about getting into a "zone" or mental state of creativity where good ideas "flow" or form easily. Entering the "zone" is similar to entering a meditative state, a biofeedback state, a trance state, or many of the other various mental states that humans are able to bring about in themselves. To some degree a person can train themselves to enter this "zone" state relatively quickly and stay in the "zone" state for relatively long periods of time. One trains oneself to do so through daily practice. A person can teach another person to enter the zone by explanation, such as the above, and by mentioning, "looks like you are in the zone", when the person seems to be writing in the zone. 11/10/2001 Arts, literature, writing. Types of writing. (1) Personal writing. Writing lets you talk to yourself. (2) Public writing. Writing provides a voice. Writing is an entry to empowerment and equality in a society. People begin to gain equality through writing. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Types of writing. (1) Writing to celebrate the good things in life, because people often forget the good things. (2) Writing to bemoan and improve the bad things in life, because people often forget the bad things in life. (3) Writing to imagine what could be. Writing to imagine the good we can achieve. Writing to imagine the bad to avoid. Writing as a steering mechanism. 4/30/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Types of writing. Writing for self versus writing for others. Not everything you write has to be for public consumption. You deserve a private space. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Types of writing. Writing from memory. Writing from imagination. Writing from emotion. Writing from reason. 5/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Various reasons why people write. Personal reasons. Interpersonal reasons. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Various styles of written works. Diary. Fiction. Non-fiction. Poetry. Prose. (4) Various tools for writing. Pen and paper. Typewriter. Computer. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Various writing projects: Problems approach. Write about most pressing problems. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Various writing projects: The news. What's new. Current events. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Various writing projects. (1) People. People I like. People I dislike. (2) Places. Places I like. Places I dislike. (3) Things (Objects, Events, Ideas). Things I like. Things I dislike. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. We all start from nothing. We are all inarticulate at first. Don't feel embarrassed. Don't give up. Hang in there, baby. 7/5/2000 Arts, literature, writing. What is writing? Writing involves a group of related concepts. (1) Thinking. (2) Speaking and Listening. (3) Writing and Reading. (2) Information management. (3) Communication. Semiotics. Language. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. What to write about today? Write about the good and the bad. Argue for the good. Argue against the bad. 3/19/2006 Arts, literature, writing. What's the difference between being a writer and being a bum? 3/1/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? (1) Find your voice. (2) Take a position, a stand, a stance. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? (1) Thinking more and better. (2) Communicating more and better. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? A lot of people in the "real world" write for fun. Writing is enjoyable. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? A person gets better at writing with practice. A person gets better at thinking, writing, speaking, reading and listening. Those are very important skills to have. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Information management. To create ideas. To save ideas. To organize ideas. To retrieve ideas. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? One of the ways people think is by using words and language. Other ways of thinking include thinking with music, images, numbers, etc. People write to develop their ability to think with words and language. Developing skills with words and language is important. 9/10/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? PART ONE. Arguments against writing and reading can occur at several levels. (1) Arguments against writing and reading in general. (A) An argument against reading in general is that no one reads anymore. (B) A counter-argument for reading is that overall sales of books are better than ever. The Internet lets people read more than ever. People may be reading less, but people are watching more movies, and movies are made from scripts which are written. Words handle abstract ideas well. (2) Arguments against art in general. (3) Arguments against literature, a type of art. (4) Arguments against poetry, a type of literature. Defense of poetry. People may be reading less poetry, but people are listening to more song lyrics. For example, Bob Dylan's song lyrics are poetry. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? People often just do things intuitively or automatically. It pays to examine our thoughts and actions. Thinking about what we think. Thinking about what we do. Thinking about the arena in which we act. Philosophical writing. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? People write when they want to sort out their thoughts or communicate their thoughts to others. 9/10/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Pragmatic approach. Develop useful tools. (1) Thinking is a tool. (2) Ideas, the product of thought, are tools. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Reasons to write. To gather a bunch of ideas. In addition to having a bunch of friends, a bunch of money, a bunch of material objects, think about having a bunch of ideas. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? To solve problems. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? What are arguments against writing. (1) Its difficult. Its not fun. Don't enjoy it. No kick. (2) Its a waste of time. (3) It doesn't make money. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Words can do things that pictures and music cannot not do. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Writing can save your life. You mind produces ideas. Some ideas are better than others. "Better" meaning more useful and more truthful. Recognize and save the good ideas. Recognize and critique the bad ideas. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Writing is a way of thinking. Thinking with words. Other ways of thinking include the following: (1) Thinking with numbers using math. Accountants. Engineers. (2) Thinking with sound or music. (3) Thinking with pictures in the visual arts. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Why write? Writing is psychotherapeutic. Writing can save your life. Writing can save money on psychotherapy bills. Writing can help prevent a nervous breakdown. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Write about something you like. Write about something you care about. Write about something you think is important. Write about something you feel strongly about. Put some heart into it. Put some feeling into it. Put some emotion into it. Thought and emotion. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Write! You are able to write. Writing is good for you and others. Writing is fun. You like to write. Write! 4/7/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as brain building. Your mind is like a pile of rubble in an overgrown field. You write a little each day. Slowly the brain emerges. Slowly you emerge. Writing is self creation. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as psychotherapy. The subconscious offers an ceaseless stream of ideas. Mental health involves having access to the subconscious. Mental health involves reduced barriers between the subconscious and conscious mind. Mental health involves a rapport between the subconscious and conscious mind. Mental health involves a conversation between the subconscious and conscious mind. Writing has a psychotherapeutic effect, produced by giving access to the subconscious. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as psychotherapy. What do you think? How do you feel? What are your attitudes about the events in your life and your world? 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as psychotherapy. Writing is unloading the eighteen-wheeler of your subconscious mind, so that it can go make another run. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as thinking. Wake up your brain. Activate your brain. (1) Writers are list makers. Make a list of things from past. Make a list of things to do. Make lists of words, and then describe the words. (2) Writing saves ideas. Writing organizes ideas. 7/1/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing as transmission of mind. Writing as transmission of dharma. 12/06/1988 Arts, literature, writing. Writing exercises and projects. (1) Re-visit ideas. Re-read what you have written, yearly. (2) Think about everything, everyday, all topics. (3) Do all types, formats, styles of writing: poem, dialogue, short length, long length. (4) Save ideas. Three ideas per day, 1000 a year, 10,000 in ten years. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing exercises and projects. (1) Write a history of your life, and a daily diary from this day forward. (2) Visit a new place, experience it, and write about your experience. (3) Try something new you never did before, experience it, and write about your experience. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing exercises. (1) Write one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one essay. (2) Categories exercise: write down all the categories you can think of. (3) Essay topic: What do I think is important. (4) Essay topic: Past and future. 11/7/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is a political act when it empowers people. 12/12/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is a technology that helps us survive better. It helps us get things done. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is about criticism. Specifically self-criticism. Think critically. Be a critic. You want to tell me about your day? Everyday? Day after day? If that's what you want to do, okay. If not, you might want to try two things: Freedom (to create) and Criticism (to be finicky). 9/1/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is an art not a science. Writing is often not instant gratification. It can take hours, days, years. Patience and perseverance are required. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is an outlet for coffee. 8/25/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is like climbing. The blank paper is like a featureless stone wall. Slowly holds emerge and you choose your route. 2/29/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is like exercise and eating, in that it takes time and energy, and it is sometimes a pain in the neck, yet other times it is fun, and you do it because it helps. Writing is worth it. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing is something you learn by doing. Writing is something you learn through practice. Write a lot. 11/10/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing reveals not only your level of knowledge, but also your level of ignorance. 12/10/1988 Arts, literature, writing. Writing styles. Tight vs. loose. (1) Tight: Tight structure. Tight meanings. Tight arguments. (2) Loose: Loose structure. Loose meanings. Loosing arguments. 5/15/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Writing tips. (1) Practical applications. Write about ways how to make the world a better place today. (2) Theoretical questions. Write about hypothetical problems. Write about the relationships of ideas. 5/1/2007 Arts, literature, writing. Writing tips. (1) Summaries, abstract, introduction. (2) Most important ideas. (3) Problems and solutions, techniques. (4) Ideals. 5/1/2007 Arts, literature, writing. Writing tips. Get emotional. A strength of artists and also young people is that they have strong emotions. Write from emotion, especially anger at injustice. 5/1/2007 Arts, literature, writing. Writing tips. The subconscious. Acknowledge your subconscious. Listen to your subconscious. Learn to work with your subconscious. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing tips. Write about something new everyday. The perpetual search for the new, the novel. 5/29/2007 Arts, literature, writing. Writing well involves two kinds of thinking: (1) Creative thinking: to generate ideas. (2) Critical thinking: to evaluate ideas. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing workshop. The "materials" are the categories, topics, subjects that we write about. The "tools" are the ways of thinking that we have. Then we use the tools on the materials to make a "product", for example, an essay. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing, knowledge and power. Knowledge is power. Writing lets you store knowledge. Compare the outcomes of societies that have a written tradition versus societies that do not. Compare the outcomes of individuals who have a written tradition versus individuals who do not. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing, knowledge, and power. (1) Thinking yields knowledge, which yields empowerment. Writing saves knowledge. (2) Not thinking yields ignorance, which yields disempowerment, oppression and exploitation. Not writing leads to forgetting knowledge. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature, writing. Writing, two views of. (1) Writing as talking to yourself. Writing as your current self talking to your current self. Writing as your past self talking to future self. (2) Writing as talking to other people who are not currently present. 10/30/2005 Arts, literature, writing. Writing: the thoughts just pile up. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature, writing. You are not learning to write. You are learning to think and feel. That is, you are learning to cop an attitude. 8/25/2000 Arts, literature, writing. You should write like you (or the reader) are about to die. You should not write like you (or the reader) have a three hour lunch to kill. 9/28/2000 Arts, literature, writing. Your writing should be rich and fertile, like a debutante. 7/12/2002 Arts, literature. .This section is about literature in general. Topics include: ( ) Academic writing. ( ) Genres. ( ) Grafitti. ( ) Metaphor. ( ) Nonfiction ( ) Fiction and novel. ( ) Philosophy of literature. Literary theory. ( ) Quotes. ( ) Short forms. ( ) Theme. ( ) Travel writing. ( ) Writing. ( ) What is literature. ( ) Why study literature. Why write or read literature. 1/24/2006 Arts, literature. (1) Academia: Must appeal to, and please, one's academic peers. (A) Must use foot notes and bibliographies. Must cite friends as a favor. (B) Must stick to a single subject. (2) Commercial success of professional writer: (A) Must appeal to, and please, the masses. Must cater to whims of public, or at least your audience. Must not risk offending, be careful of what you say, be careful of what you criticize. (B) You get locked into a style. Must stick to a genre. (3) Me: Free to say what I want, how I want, in my own voice. (A) I can switch subjects whenever I like. (B) I can switch styles when the mood strikes me. I can mix poetry, essay, and aphorism. 06/05/1997 Arts, literature. (1) One problem is when people read infrequently. (2) Another problem is when people read only novels. 6/1/2007 Arts, literature. (1) Writing style. Smooth and tight. All needed information there, and no unneeded information there. (2) Writing mechanics. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. A story can be merely an aesthetic experience. (1) A story does not need to have a moral nor take an ethical stance. However, some people argue that it is inescapable for a story to have an ethical view. (2) Nor does the story have to take a metaphysical or epistemological view. (i.e., "This is how things are. This is how I know. This is how things could be. "). (3) Themes can be metaphysical, epistemological, ethical or aesthetic. A moral is a ethical theme. The story does not have to have a theme or message. 1/15/2002 Arts, literature. Academic writing, criticisms of. Academics write to be published in academic journals. Academic journals are narrow niches. Academic writers are limited by their medium. 11/18/2005 Arts, literature. Academic writing. Common writing mistakes of academics. (1) Many academics mistakenly believe that the more words they write the more important the subject is. Many academics also mistakenly believe that the more words they write the smarter their views on the subject are. (2) Many academics mistakenly believe that the bigger the words they use the more important the subject and the smarter their views on the subject. (3) Many academics mistakenly believe that the prettier the language they use the more important the subject and the smarter their view on the subject. They believe that if they write, "The gracile crimson vulpine vaulted the lethargic umber canine" it means more than "The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog". It does not. (4) Many academics mistakenly believe that the more footnotes they add and the bigger the bibliography they add the more important the subject and the smarter their views. (5) Many academics mistakenly believe that the longer they write the more potent and powerful they are. (6) So, generally speaking, by this formula, who are some popular writers who fall into this academic style? (7) However, computer programmers realize that the more concise the code the better. So, generally speaking, by this formula, who are some terse writers? Vonnegut? (8) I think that in the long run the economical style is more valuable. And I think the trend is toward the economical style. Some people mistakenly believe that an economical style means simple ideas. It does not. :) Concise coding makes more powerful programs possible. Modular coding makes more powerful programs possible. (9) Concise vs. long-winded. (A) Is it just a matter of aesthetic taste? In an age of information-overload I think not. (B) Is it a matter of personality style or thinking style? That is, you write the way your mind works. You write the way you are. You can't really change. (C) Or does the subject at hand determine the writing style? 10/19/2000 Arts, literature. Academic writing. To the academic, the most important ideas in any situation must be lengthy, complicated and numerous. The academic will seldom admit that the important ideas in a situation can be short, simple and few, otherwise the academic would be out of a job and without a purpose in life. The academic will call such ideas cliche', trivial, or otherwise deny their importance. 9/19/2001 Arts, literature. All communication is to get what we want, even if it is just spreading our version of truth. All communication is essentially a political act. See propaganda. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. All writing is secondary to the development of writing theory. 03/06/1989 Arts, literature. An argument against literature. Its just a story. Its not a fact. You can write whatever you want. You can make any character say or do anything. This is also an argument for literature. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Analogical thinking in literature. Metaphor. Simile. Symbolism. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Anecdotes (happy) and war stories (tragic). 12/30/1995 Arts, literature. Anything you can think (i.e., say to yourself) you can write. Anything you can feel (emotions) you can not write. Anything you can sense (sensations) you can not write. You can only allude to emotions and sensations by way of thoughts. 1/24/2000 Arts, literature. Argument for literature. In a way, by being so narrowly focused and specialized, the academic Philosophy department has ceded the big questions about life to the English department. So, in English class, one should give assignments that deal with philosophizing about life and the world. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Arguments for and against literature. (1) Arguments for literature versus the other arts. (2) Arguments for literature versus other values like money and power. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Arguments for and against literature. PART ONE. Arguments for literature. (1) Literature is easily portable. (2) Literature developed years ago when films and music were not invented yet. (3) Literature forces you to use your imagination in ways that film does not. (4) The book is often better than the movie. (5 People use literature to build meaning systems. PART TWO. Arguments against literature. (1) Literature can be difficult to understand at times. (2) Literature is time consuming. Watching a movie takes two hours, reading a book can take ten hours. (3) We live in an increasingly visual culture. Some people will argue that no one reads anymore. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Arguments for literature. (1) Weak version of the argument for literature. People have always told stories and always will tell stories, so people might as well think analytically and critically about the stories that people tell each other and that people tell themselves. Some stories are better than others. (2) Strong version of the argument for literature. Understanding the world through literature is just as important, perhaps even more important, as understanding the world through philosophy or science. If you want to really understand life you should read a novel. 10/8/2004 Arts, literature. Arguments for literature. Arguments against literature. 10/5/2006 Arts, literature. Artistic language is allusive. Technical language is exact. Everyday language is a mix of the two extremes. 9/20/1998 Arts, literature. At some level writing is like sex. To write a lot is to f*ck a lot. Prolific has a least two meanings. 10/21/1998 Arts, literature. Audience. What audience is the author writing for? How can we tell? What is the message that the author is trying to convey? Who is the intended recipient of the message? 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Authors are artists. Artists are sensitive. Artists are affected strongly by the world, and in return, artists have a strong effect on the world through their works. Artists use art as a coping mechanism, to varying degrees of personal psychological success. Art is psychotherapeutic. Art to cope with, to deal with, to understand, life, the world, other people, and the self. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Can words really capture reality? There was a time when I did not want to write because I thought it would lessen reality. Writing cheapens reality. Can words describe the way she looked to me? Can words describe how she made me feel? Why bother writing? Writing is so futile. Writing degrades reality. Writing is a crime. 1/24/2000 Arts, literature. Canon. (1) The cannon is the set of books considered good and important. Significant for one reason or another. What to read, what to study. (2) Over time the cannon changes. New books are added. Some older books get less attention. (3) The cannon is under constant debate. Different people have different views of which books to include, why to include the book, and how important the book is, and why the book is important. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Canon. The cannon is under contention or debate. The cannon is always changing. Additions, subtractions. The cannon reflects a power struggle. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Canon. The canon is a list of great works. The concept of canon is problematic for many reasons. (1) The amount of great literature in increasing rapidly, because as civilization progresses there are more people, with better education, with more access to great literature, and more access to computers, and these people develop better writing skills and produce more great literature. (2) In literature, as in all the arts, it is difficult to say who is the absolute best. The arts are inexact and subjective. In math and science it is easier to say what is best, because these subject are more objective and exact. The arts present a diversity of valid views. (3) Who creates the canon? To some extent the canon is the result of political pressures. The canon is picked by power holders and the canon upholds the values of power holders. At one time the canon was of only white European males, but today the canon is more global and diverse. (4) As the world changes, there is a change in which works of literature are viewed as good. As new problems arise, and as new solutions are adopted, the view of what is good art changes. 9/12/2006 Arts, literature. Canon. There are many "great and good" works of literature worth studying. The number of "mediocre and bad" literature is an even larger set, maybe 100 times as large. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Character. The complexity of a character is revealed through the character's mental life, their ideas and emotions and attitudes, which is revealed through their thoughts, words and actions. The use of action alone to reveal a character amounts to pantomime. The use of thought alone to reveal a character amounts to a person sitting in a chair thinking to his or her self. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Childrens literature. Fairytales are not harmless fun. They have implicit or explicit metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical views. Kids soak them up, kids learn from them, often incorrectly. We know it is imaginary but kids think it is real. The world is magical to kids because they can't see cause and effect. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Childrens literature. The fantasy and inanity of childrens books is pathologically high. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Cliche'. (1) Cliche's are starting points. When you tell people not to consider cliche's you are stopping people at the start of their thinking. (2) Cliche's can be true nonetheless. Cliche's are building blocks. (3) If you don't know the cliche's you are in sad shape. Learn the cliche's. Then transcend the cliche's. 4/1/2002 Arts, literature. Cliche'. Cliche's are a starting point. Without cliche's there is no starting point. The problem is that, for many people, cliche's are also an ending point. 4/25/2002 Arts, literature. Cliche'. One man's cliche' is another man's revelation. 8/26/2001 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. (1) A database is an example of tightly structured writing. A free-form poem is an example of loosely structured writing. Both tightly structured writing and loose structured writing are useful ways of writing. (2) There are various ways to format structured text on a computer. A flat-file is a tab delimited text file that can be easily sorted by column. A spreadsheet will also let you structure text in a sortable format. A database management system, like MySQL, will provide additional database functionality. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. (1) Computers. Computers are a powerful tool. Computers are a tool for thinking. Computers are a tool for information management. (2) The Internet. The Internet is a network of computers, information and users. A public space. A multimedia place. (3) Computers and the Internet are affecting the way people read and write. (4) Hyperlinks. (5) Databases. Databases are the basis of Content Management Systems. (6) Web sites. Multimedia. (7) Blogs. A blog are an easily updated website. Blogs are influencing journalism. (8) MySpace. MySpace is social networking software. MySpace lets you create a web site that links easily with others. (9) XML allows custom tagging of information. For example, the website Flickr. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. (1) Discussion of how computers and the Internet are changing the way people write and read. Hyperlinks. Databases. CMS. Blogs. Online newspapers. Online texts. Statistical textual analysis. Text messaging. (2) Cyberfiction. Philip K. Dick. Gibson. (3) Technical writing of computer manuals. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. (1) History of language, writing, printing, computers. (2) Paper and pen. (3) Computers and writing. Internet and writing. (4) Information management methods. List. Outline. Web page. Database. (5) Word processors. Open Office. Editors. (6) Content management systems. Blogs. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. Hyperlinks. Writing used to be serial. Hyperlinks make writing less serial. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Computers and writing. Information management A content management system (CMS) is a type of information management system that focuses on words, not numbers. Blog software is perhaps the most common example of a content management system. CMS's have a web front end that uses hyperlinks, and a database back end that is sortable and searchable. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Computers. Books and computers. Computers make possible the following: (1) Ebooks. The digital book. (2) Hypertext books. Containing links. (3) Database books. Made easier. (4) Macro-books. Thousands of pages. (5) Micro-books. Less than 100 pages. (6) Multiple author books. Example, recent encyclopedias. (7) Interactive books. User input. (8) Multimedia books. 3/9/2000 Arts, literature. Crime and bad luck articles show how cruel life can be, how cruel people can be, and how much of life is pure luck. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Death of artistic literature. Art is a dead form. Fiction is a dead form. Poetry is a dead form. Studying or reading both above is a waste of time. English lit major is ridiculous. TV and movies killed novels. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Development of literature in ancient humans. (1) Topics of ancient conversations. Action topics. Who slept with who. Who begat who. Who fought with who. (2) Latter topics. Communication topics. Who said what. (3) Modern topics. Psychological topics. Who thought or felt what. 11/24/2003 Arts, literature. Development of literature in primitive humans. Talk about the present (the present tense. things that are) developed in humans before the ability to talk about the past (past tenses. things that were), which developed before the ability to talk about the future (future tenses. things that will be or may be). 11/24/2003 Arts, literature. Differences and similarities, and pros and cons of (1) Language vs. sound vs. images. (2) Writing vs. speaking. (3) Books vs. tv vs. radio. (4) Fiction vs. nonfiction. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Distortions in story telling. (1) The oral tradition. The "telephone game" phenomenon. There is distortion in person-to-person communications. Distortions take place often when playing the telephone game. Distortions take place in oral storytelling traditions too. Additions and deletions occur to the "text". (2) Fact vs. fiction. Truth vs. imagination. One would like to communicate the facts, the truth. However, very often distortions occur by bragging, boasting and embellishing. Exaggerations take place. People make stuff up. People lie to support their interests. (3) Distortions of memory in individual persons in oral storytelling traditions happen frequently. (4) Power plays in story telling. Those in power (with position, money, land) have a tendency to try to shape the telling of history to suit their interests. They also try to shape the reporting or discussion of current events (journalism) to suit their interests. They try to limit dissenting views. They try to limit what subjects can be discussed. Even at a primitive tribal level power tries to control the media, even if the only media is the oral storytelling tradition. (5) Personal bias in story telling. 11/24/2003 Arts, literature. Elements of literature. (1) Can there be a story without a character? (2) Can there be a story without a conflict? (3) Can there be a story without a setting? (4) Can there be a story without a plot? (mood only). (5) Can there be a story without theme? (morally ambiguous). 1/1/1999 Arts, literature. English class versus other classes. (1) English class delves into emotions, psychology, sociology, philosophy. Math, science, business are about numbers, and about the one right answer. (2) English class encourages diversity and tolerance. There is no best art, only many good works of art. Also, many voices, views from around the world and through time. (3) Still, art and literature are not permissive of all. There are ethical standards. For example, abusive speech will not be tolerated. There are epistemological standards. For example, arguments for a flat earth will be deflated. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature. English class versus other classes. English deals with words and language. Some other classes, like math, sciences, and engineering, deal with numbers. Some other classes, like visual arts, deal with images and pictures. Some other classes, like music, deal with sounds. Some other classes, like computers, deal with computer languages, but computer languages are as much like math as they are like words. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature. English class. (1) How do words differ from music, visual arts, etc.? (2) How does English class differ from the other subjects? Its not a math formula. Its not a science multiple choice test. Literature is not a logical argument like one finds in philosophy class. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. English class. In math class there is a "one right answer". In English literature class there is no "one right answer". 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. English class. The academic subject "English" is a blanket term that covers many important, closely related areas. (1) Communication. Semiotics. (2) Language. Linguistics. (3) Writing. Practice of writing. Process of writing. At a high level. ALSO. Reading. Practice of reading. Process of reading. At high level. (4) Literature. Study of literature. Study of great, art literature. (See: reading) (5) Literary Criticism and Literary Theory. (See: study of literature) (6) Mass Media criticism. McLuhan. Chomsky. (7) Psycholinguistics. Chomsky's Universal Grammar. Fodor's Language of Thought. (8) Philosophy of Language. (9) Evolutionary theories of literature. Narrative. Oral tradition. (10) Technology. History of writing. Technology of the book. The Internet. History of the book. (10) Politics of the book. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. English in schools = lit history, lit criticism theory, linguistics and language in general, english language specifically (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, writing, speaking), communication studies. 02/07/1994 Arts, literature. Essay or thesis. (1) Building an argument. (2) Analyzing an argument. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature. Essays are about ideas. Essays are about exploring ideas. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Essays or Thesis. (1) Topic. Subject. (2) Thesis. Claim. View. Stance. (3) Support. Evidence. Arguments. Reasons. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Essays. Questions for essays. (1) What did you like and dislike about the essay? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the essay? (2) What are some counter-arguments against the author's thesis? What are some additional supporting arguments to the author's thesis? (3) Rate the essay on the level of ideas. Rate the essay on the level of expression of ideas. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Essays. Topic. Thesis, Arguments, Claims. Support for claims. What is the structure of the argument? Techniques used. Strength and weaknesses of the essay. Additional support and counter-arguments. What is the emotional tone or effect of the essay. 10/10/2006 Arts, literature. Fiction and non-fiction. When can we tell fiction is autobiographical? When can we tell when non-fiction writers are lying, keeping secrets, or mistaken (false)? We can't. Thus all non-fiction can be attacked using literary theory. And all fiction can be attacked with philosophical analysis. Also, fiction can use logic and reason, just as non-fiction can use emotion, persuasion, and bias. There is no distinction between fiction and non-fiction. Both can be true and false. 09/01/1994 Arts, literature. Fiction and truth. When a writer creates a character and then puts words in that character's mouth, can we really be sure that character would actually say those words? Authors often claim to try to "let characters speak for themselves", but is that really possible? I say most people barely understand themselves, and often have no clue about other people, so trying to create a character seems the height of folly. 7/31/2001 Arts, literature. Fiction as lacking of ethical standards and epistemological standards. (1) Anyone can write a story about anything. Anyone can take any view on any topic. (2) Anyone can read a story and interpret it an any way. Anyone can read any story and declare it true or false, important or unimportant. 4/4/2007 Arts, literature. Fiction versus non-fiction. (1) In fine literature, artistic literature, meaning is more open to interpretation. Looser meaning. More vagueness and ambiguity. More figurative language. More sensual, sense imagery. More emotive. (2) Non-fiction prose. More exact meanings. More literal language. More emphasis on reasoning over emotion and sense. More emphasis on argument. More logical. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature. Fiction versus non-fiction. Fiction often is heavily autobiographical. Non-fiction often has errors, lies, exaggerations, omissions, etc. Thus, there is no clear dividing line between fiction and non-fiction. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Fiction versus non-fiction. Fiction tries to convince by telling a story. Nonfiction tries to convince through logic and reasoned argument. Poetry is often neither a story nor a logical argument. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Fiction. Definitions of fiction. Arguments for and against fiction. Types of fiction: novel, short story, poetry and drama. 1/17/2004 Arts, literature. Fiction. Writing fiction and reading fiction is a form of psychological denial. The fiction author (and fiction reader) essentially says "I am not sitting at my desk writing (or reading). I am not me, rather I am someone else. I am not here, rather I am somewhere else. I am with someone else, doing something else". When does fiction writing or fiction reading become avoidance of reality, as opposed to confrontation of reality? 5/8/1999 Arts, literature. Four and a half pages of Truth is worth more intrinsically than twenty pages of garbage. 03/01/1988 Arts, literature. Four views of literature: psychological and social from the point of view of the author and reader. (1)(A) People write because they have a story to tell. People write because they have cathartic requirements. This is a psychological view of the author and story. (B) People write because they want to influence other people. People write because they have an idea that they want to transmit to others. This is a social view of the author and story. A political view. (2)(A) People read because they feel the story will help them work out or release their own psychological issues. This is a psychological view of the reader and story. (B) People read because they want an encounter with another person, the author. The reader wants to buy an idea, or debate an idea. This is a social view of the reader and story. 6/2/2005 Arts, literature. Genre benders. There is no discernible line between fiction and non-fiction. There is no discernible line between prose and poetry. There in no discernible line between information and entertainment. 1/18/2004 Arts, literature. Genre is a fuzzy concept. Genres blend into each other at the edges. Texts can bend genres, fall between genres, or belong to several genres. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Genre. Definitions of each genre. Traits of each genre. History of each genre. Comparisons of genres: better and worse and why. Do's and don'ts. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Genre. Development of the genres. (1) Each major genre has a history. A hundred thousand years ago, the precursors of novels may have developed from a single speaker telling a story to an audience around a campfire. Plays may have resulted from a group of people acting out a story to an audience around a campfire. Poetry may have resulted from singers singing songs to an audience around a campfire. (2) In the last few thousand years the development of genres has often been influenced by technology: first oral, then writing, then print, then computer technology. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Genre. How do the genres differ? (1) Novel. Novel: many characters, many subplots, many digressions. Short story: short and more focused, fewer characters and subplots. Novel and short story are more linear than drama and poetry, with more focus on a narrative or story. (2) Drama. Drama contains more dialogue than novels and short stories. Drama has less description. Drama has the action written into the stage directions. (3) Poetry. Poetry is looser in meanings, more open. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Genre. Question for each genre and style. Why is it important? How important is it? What does it do that others can't? What can't it do that others can? What are the elements and principle of it? What's the history of it? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Genre. Similarities and differences of the genres of short stories, plays and poetry. Similarities: all are written forms of fiction. Differences: (1) Short story: Single story teller. More narration than plays. More description than plays. (2) Drama or plays: Evolved when a group tells a story. Takes place in a theater, on a stage, with a set, and multiple actors. Less narration than short stories. More dialog than short stories. Visual elements including scenery, stage directions, and the expressions on the faces of of the actors. (3) Poetry: Short, compact, condensed, concise. Sung, musical, sound oriented. Author, narrator, speaker is often same person. Personal, the author is speaking directly to the reader. Looser meanings, more figurative language. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Genre. What is genre? Genre is a type or form of literature. Example of genres of literature include novel or short story, drama or plays, and poetry. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Genre. Why go outline to prose, when the student just goes prose to outline? Leave it in outline, save everyone trouble. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Genres are ideal, abstract forms. There will always be works that cross genres, mix genres or create new genres. Literature is a spectrum or web. 5/2/2002 Arts, literature. Genres list. (1) Prose vs. poetry. (2) Prose non-fiction. (A) Describe, explain, argue (persuade, rhetoric). (B) Aphorism, maxim, apothegm, axiom. (C) Editorial, opinion, criticism. (D) Journalism, treatise, essay. (E) Survey literature vs. polemical monographs. (F) By subjects: (26 notes subjects. Historical, biography, polemical, political, humor, religious, travel writing, philosophical, scientific, religious, etc. (2) Prose fiction (artistic writing). Novel, short story, epic, fable, parable, allegory, romance, saga, ballad. Novel: horror, spy, detective mystery, crime, Hollywood, rich, poor, historical: frontier, western, cavemen. Drama: tragedy, comedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Genres. Novels we discuss chapter by chapter. Short stories we discuss paragraph by paragraph. Poems we discuss line by line, even word by word. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Genres. Short story is a form of micro-fiction. Short story is one of many short forms, like haiku, or three minute pop songs, or jokes, or idioms, or quotes, or aphorisms, or even the paragraph. (2) Exercises. Write a story one paragraph long. Write a story one page long. 1/17/2004 Arts, literature. Graffiti. (1) Literature is a type of graffiti. Graffiti is a type of literature. (2) Literature as graffiti. The publishing world is scarily similar to the graffiti world. Its all about getting up. The famous author wants to tag the world. (A) The author is territorial, like animals who mark their trails. (B) The author as transgressive. Break the law. Trespass your mind. (C) The author wants to be seen. The author wants attention. The author wants love. (3) It can help to look at the great authors as graffiti artists. 7/16/2000 Arts, literature. Graffiti. (1) Written it lasts longer than speech. (2) Captive audiences are forced to see it. (3) Graffiti is public: many see it, and yet the author remains anonymous, allowing you to speak freely without fear of retribution. You can say what's not socially acceptable, and break taboos. You can say what's not socially useful, i.e. pure fun. You can step outside yourself and your roles. It's an assertion of the individual, a political act. (3) Two types of graffiti: outside on walls, inside in bathrooms. (4) Types of graffiti: sexual, political, racist, hurtful, helpful. 04/21/1993 Arts, literature. Graffiti. How much wisdom is in graffiti? How artistic is graffiti? How much is it possible to say with how few words? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Graffiti. See also Arts, visual arts - grafitti. 12/30/2000 Arts, literature. Great writing is the beautiful and deadly accurate transcription of the truth. 12/04/1988 Arts, literature. History of literature. Some people think an Intro to Lit class should focus on the History of Lit. For example, the history of American Lit. Or perhaps the history of Anglo-American Lit in order to include British, Irish, Canadian and Australian lit. Or perhaps the history of World Lit, in order to include the entire world. One problem with this view is that if you pick any list of one hundred authors of great world literature, you can easily pick a hundred different authors of great world literature. There are many great authors, and the list is only growing. (See notes on Canon). 9/12/2006 Arts, literature. How do we convert reality into stories? (1) Do we convert reality into stories by finding morals? Regardless of whether we are actually creating morals and imposing them on the situation, rather than finding inherent pre-existing morals? (2) Do we convert reality into stories by simplifying? Regardless of the loss of detail and information? We make extensive editing decisions when we convert reality into stories. (3) Do we convert reality into stories by imposing order? Regardless if it rearranges the facts? (4) Do we convert reality into stories by "detail by detail" transcription? Regardless of whether it actually makes sense? (5) Do we convert reality into stories by acknowledging the meaningless, chaotic, absurdity, illogical, nonsensical, disconnected flow of events? PART TWO. How do we convert reality into stories? (1) The first stories by humans were probably about actual events and circumstances. (2) In the next step, the tales of heroes are given legendary status. (3) The next step may have been myths, which use mythical or divine characters to explain events that are beyond the power of humans (such as natural disasters). (4) The next step in the evolution of stories was the concept of purely fictional stories, which was an interesting development because it was a case where, "It is not true. Everyone knows it's not true. It does not matter if it's not true. You can still enjoy it and learn from it". PART THREE. How do we convert reality into stories? Stories are attempts to describe and explain the situation, and predict the future. In this way stories are a form of proto-science. Humans have a natural tendency to tell stories. Humans try to understand their situation by noticing patterns. The pattern in a situation are interpreted by humans as a sign of order, which are interpreted as signs of logic and reason. 1/12/2002 Arts, literature. How does literature differ from the other arts? Specifically, how does literature differ from movies? 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. How important is artistic literature? Some think it is very important. I think its importance has been overemphasized greatly. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. How to study literature? Treat literature as just another text. People create texts of various types. The borderline between artistic literature and other types of texts is hazy. The goal is to develop high-level textual analysis and criticism skills, so that when you read any text you have the tools to analyze and critique the text. Be able to write a coherent response to anything you read. 9/10/2006 Arts, literature. How to teach literature in a world where few people read and many people listen to music and watch movies? (1) Show the similarities between music and literature. Use music as an example to teach poetry. (2) Show the similarities between movies and literature. Use movies as an example to teach short stories and novels. (3) Then show how literature is different from both music and movies. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. How well can one get along without reading? How well can one get along without writing? 1/17/2004 Arts, literature. Idea versus expression of idea. (1) One problem is a good idea with poor expression. Good ideas with poor expression have trouble catching on due to the poor expression of the good idea. (2) Another problem is a bad idea with eloquent expression. A bad idea with eloquent expression is a bad situation because the bad idea may spread due to its eloquent expression. For example, Hitlers ministers of propaganda gave eloquent expression to some very bad ideas, with very tragic consequences. (3) Ideally one wants to see good ideas with good expression. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Idea versus expression of idea. A good idea expressed simply trumps a bad idea expressed eloquently. 9/4/2006 Arts, literature. Idea versus expression of idea. There are two concepts to consider: the idea, and the expression of the idea. You can have a good idea and express it poorly. You can have a bad idea and express it eloquently. Both situations are suboptimal. Optimally, you want to have a good idea and express it well. 9/12/2006 Arts, literature. Idea versus expression of idea. We can distinguish between the ideas of the text, and the expression of the ideas in the text. We can talk about ideas and expression separately. The ideas can be evaluated. The expression of the ideas can be evaluated. For example, someone could write an eloquent defense of a bad idea like fascism. Eloquence is good. Fascism is bad. 9/6/2006 Arts, literature. Idea versus expression of idea. When you write, you express an idea. When you write, you put an idea into words. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Ideal. (1) Important ideas, powerfully communicated. (2) True, accurate, complete, precision. (3) Organized, logical, well ordered, clear, unified whole. (4) Concise, economical, condensed. (5) Harmony, flow, balance, beautiful. (6) Bold, interesting, lucid. (7) Original: in style, and in philosophy. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Ideal. (1) Vocabulary and grammar used correctly, understandable. (2) Experience, talent, creativity. (3) Wisdom, intelligence. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Ideal. Fitting to audience. Fitting to subject matter. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Ideal. The main aesthetic criteria is power and lucidity. We want new important ideas, powerfully communicated. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. If you supplied a group of people with paper and pen and told them to start writing, what would they write? Perhaps 60 percent would write a personal history (diary, journal). Perhaps 30 percent would write fiction in the form of a novel. Perhaps 10 percent would write non-personal non-fiction. 3/29/2002 Arts, literature. Images vs. music tones vs. acting vs. words. Writing words are so much more exact and efficient and versatile than the other alternatives. 03/20/1997 Arts, literature. Interpretation. (1) Every individual reader forms their own interpretation of a work of literature. Every individual forms an opinion about the meaning and importance of a work. (2) Every society forms an interpretation about the meaning and importance of a work. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Interpretation. (1) Interpreting from other languages (translation). (2) Interpreting from same language (ex. reading Shakespeare). 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Interpretation. All stories are puzzles requiring interpretation. All texts are puzzles requiring interpretation. All communications are puzzles requiring interpretation. All people are puzzles requiring interpretation. 3/5/2007 Arts, literature. Interpretation. Many an author does not say outright what he or she means. This can be quite frustrating. Why does not the author say what he or she means? (1) The author many not say immediately, directly and concisely what he or she means in order to be entertaining. Telling a story is different from giving a lecture. (2) The author may be ambiguous in order to discuss taboo topics without fear of retribution. (3) The author may be trying to be realistic about everyday conversations which are often oblique. The artists conception of truth is often the truth of everyday life, concrete details, sensory experiences, not the truths of abstract principles. (4) The author might not say what he or she means because the author might not know what he or she means. Literature is an art, and very often artists act on subconscious impulses and hunches, without knowing exactly what it all means. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Interpretation. Reader's interpretation and reader's meaning is as important as author's meaning and author's interpretation of his/her own work. (1) Sometimes the author does not know what their work means. Sometimes the author, as an artist, has a vision that the author does not fully understand. (2) What the author means to say is not always what people hear. The author might intend to write one thing but the public might interpret the text to mean another thing. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Irony is a type of discrepancy. (1) Irony can lead to humor and comedy. But not all irony is humorous. (2) Irony can also lead to tragedy. For example, a discrepancy between what is said and done can be labeled hypocrisy, which is a character flaw that can lead to a character's downfall. Another example of tragic irony, in Romeo and Juliet, it was ironic yet tragic that each one did not know the other was alive and so they both committed suicide. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Irony. (1) Irony vs. hypocrisy. A lot of times we wrongly play down instances of hypocrisy by calling it irony. (2) Irony as a passive-observer phenomenon. There is something of the spectator in those who notice irony everywhere. (3) Irony as something we impose on situations. The world is not ironic, humans are ironic. (4) Irony is about coincidence and happenstance. (5) Is irony always about humor? Does irony always have an element of humor? That does not mean all uses of humor are ironic. Everything is not a joke. (6) Two opposing views: Life is not a joke vs. you can find humor anywhere. (7) Is the humor of irony a snide, smug, superior humor or is it a mirthful joy? (8) Irony and epistemology. "Isn't it ironic that we thought that X was the case when actually Y was the case?" This is about our inability to correctly perceive the situation. (9) Irony and ethics. "Isn't it ironic that person X said not to do evil when a person X actually ended up doing the most evil?" Or, "Isn't it ironic that person X tried to do good but ended up doing evil?" This is a negative, defeatist tone. (10) Pro irony argument. The situation is multi-faceted. There is more to the situation than meets the eye. Ethics can be relative. Relativism holds sway. Post modernism hold sway. (11) There is more to life than irony. Irony is not the be all, and irony is not the best nor most important concept. The goal of every story should not be merely to be ironic or to include irony. 1/15/2002 Arts, literature. Irony. Irony is a over-used literary term. Irony is often confused with other concepts. (1) Irony and humor. Irony should not be mistaken for humor. Comedians tell humorous jokes, but not all comedians are ironists. (2) Irony and injustice. Irony should not be mistaken for injustice. That slaves work harder but get less than slave owners is not so much an example of irony as it is an example of injustice. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Irony. Is life inherently ironic? Are humans inherently ironic? 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Irony. PART ONE. Character and irony. (1) A character can be aware of the irony in a situation. Even intending the irony. (2) A character can be unaware of the irony. Unintentional irony. PART TWO. (1) The author can be aware of the irony. (2) The author can be unaware of the irony. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Just because you read a book does not mean you will "get" what that book is about. Just because you read a book is no guarantee that you will "get" all that the book has to offer. Better to get the synopsis of the book so that you can know what you were supposed to get from the book. This is an argument in favor of education by reading many short, clear synopses rather than a few, long-winded, opaque "great books" 2/6/1999 Arts, literature. Lets start with some very basic ideas. Lets start from the ground up. PART ONE. Why write? Why learn? Why think? (1) We have brains. Our brains are our friends. Our brains are useful. We should use our brains. (2) To solve problems. (3) To make a living. To make money. (4) To avoid mistakes, misery, pain. (5) To do the right thing. To be just. To be ethical. (6) To know what is going on. To be informed. To not be ignorant. To not be wrong. (7) Thinking and learning help deal with the problems of life. PART TWO. Thinking, learning, writing, take a little bit of effort. It can be difficult at times. Other times its easy, and the ideas appear effortlessly. But you get better at it with practice, so do practice it daily. You also get better at it with age, so a few years from now you will be improved. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Like the way a thousand lines of computer code can create a graphical user interface (GUI) on the computer screen, so perhaps can a thousand page novel create a graphical user interface (GUI) in your mind. 8/24/2000 Arts, literature. Literary critics tend to criticize specific books. Literary critics tend not to criticize literature itself. Literary critics tend not to question the value of literature in general. 12/11/2005 Arts, literature. Literature class is essentially an art appreciation class. When we study works of literature, it is like studying paintings or music. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Literature is about going global. Adventure, exploration, travel, new cultures, new experiences, broaden horizons, new views, new voices, new settings, diversity, tolerance. Challenge our existing views. Find out what's going on in the world. Think about everything. The arts are synthetic, big picture, everything at once. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Literature is not supposed to be about "saying the unsayable", which is what some poets believe. Literature, I say, is supposed to be about "saying the unpaintable" and "saying the unsingable". That is, literature is most useful when images and music do not do the subject justice. Let words do what pictures and music cannot do. And anyway, nothing is unsayable, I say. 11/15/2001 Arts, literature. Literature, and all the arts, are a way of knowing about the world. The arts are a type of knowledge. The arts transmit sense knowledge, emotional knowledge, and rational knowledge. Art is a way of knowing and a way of communicating. (2) Literature, and the knowledge gained from literature, can help a person deal with the big problems in life, the big issues in life. 4/2/2007 Arts, literature. Me. (1) Who writes for my generation? Someone who states the position? Someone who defends the position? Someone who criticizes the position? (2) Who or what is my generation? Ten years above and below me? Anyone alive when I'm alive? (3) What defines my generation? Majority philosophical position? Power holders? (3) How is generation related to culture? Generation is a period in the culture? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Me. Paul literature goals. Write a story a sentence long, paragraph long, and page long. Write a poem of subject and view in five different styles. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Me. Paul's aesthetic by elements. (1) View: objective reality, realism. (2) Subjects: america, proles, pain, troubles. (3) Style: tragicomedy, satire, cynical, tough, humorous, blues, complain/bitch/yell, my time. (4) More subjects: basics, foundations, primordial, elemental, raw, unconscious, naked, base. (5) Influences: Kerouac, Bukowski. (6) Compositional techniques: synthetic, intuitional, free writing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Me. Why do I write? What do I write? How do I write? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Media (see: Sociology, communication, media). (1) Written: book, magazine, journal, news, sheet. (2) Oral: speeches, debates. (3) Radio, TV, movie, advertising. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Metaphor and simile are bogus ideas. To say something is something else, or even like something else, is confusing. Things are what they are. 08/18/1988 Arts, literature. Metaphor is in very common use in the real world. However, academia is not so open to argument by metaphor. Math class does not admit many metaphorical arguments. Philosophy class does not recognize many metaphors. Science class does not often acknowledge argument by metaphor. In academia, English class is the place for metaphors, metaphorical thinking, and metaphorical argument. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Metaphor, simile, symbolism, figurative language, associative thought, and analogical thinking. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Metaphor. (1) People often think by using metaphors. Analogical thinking. (2) People often use metaphors in their everyday speech. (3) Our culture is stock full of metaphors. For example, "Time is like a river". 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Metaphor. In a good poem, the use of good metaphors help clarify whatever the poem is about. In a bad poem, the use of bad metaphors confuses whatever the poem is about. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Metaphor. Metaphor can be used as code to protect against censorship. For example, people use political metaphors to write texts criticizing oppressive regimes. Another example, People often use sexual metaphors to write song lyrics that discuss issues in sexual relationships that broadcasting censors would not otherwise. Another example, people use metaphors to discuss topics prohibited by religious censorship. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Metaphor. Symbolism and metaphors were used in the past by artists to say things that were not allowed to be said openly for fear of legal penalty or social sanction. But today, due to the first amendment, and the more open and tolerant nature of our culture, you can say just about anything you want. So symbolism and metaphor become unnecessary. 03/19/1989 Arts, literature. Metaphors and symbols suck. People only confuse the issue with metaphors. Things are complex enough without making them more confusing. Say it clear and plain. 03/19/1989 Arts, literature. Most important ideas. Writing and reading novels is a slow, unorganized way to learn. Scrap it as a primary learning method. 10/30/1997 Arts, literature. Most novels contain 100 pages of set up for 10 pages of epiphany. Most poems 10 pages of set up for 1 line of epiphany. Do we really need all this set up to put us in the right mood to make us receptive to truth? Or is it just needless padding. 10/15/1994 Arts, literature. Much like philosophy and history, literature lets you study all areas of human life. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. My literature motto: New, true and important. 9/11/1999 Arts, literature. My writing style: cynical, tough, humorous. Like Bukowski. 08/18/1988 Arts, literature. Narrative and metaphor are a basic way how humans understand the world. Instead of having philosophy and reason and logic try to explain what is literature and art and narrative and metaphor, why not do the reverse, and have literature and art and narrative and metaphor try to explain what is philosophy and logic and reason. 4/22/2007 Arts, literature. Narrative and metaphor are primary ways how the human mind works. Narrative and metaphor are primary concepts in literature. Most people, most of the time, are not walking around doing syllogisms in their heads. Rather, most people, most of the time, are walking around trying to understand their world through the use of narrative and metaphor. 4/15/2007 Arts, literature. Narrator is also described by what "tense" the story is in. Past tense: We did this, we did that. Present tense: I am doing this, I am doing that. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Narrator is often described by what "person" the story is written in. (1) Singular: I (I was walking down a hallway, etc.). You (You are walking down a hallway, etc). He, she, it (He said, she said). (2) Plural: We. You. They. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Narrator. Who is the narrator? (1) Is the narrator the author? Only in autobiographies. (2) Is the narrator a character? Sometimes. For example, in Huckleberry Finn. The narrator may even introduce them self. (3) Sometimes the narrator is merely a voice. A nameless voice. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Nonfiction. Definitions of non-fiction. Types of non-fiction: History, Philosophy, Science, Journalism, Argument. Traits of good non-fiction: Logical. Precise, unambiguous. Orderly, structured. 1/17/2004 Arts, literature. Novel. Novel writing. New ways to do a novel, short story, film or play script. (1) Characters. (A) Who are they? (B) Who were they (history)? (C) What is their world view (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics)? (D) What are their drives, goals, tactics? (E) What are their personality traits? What are their strengths and weaknesses? (F) Physical traits (ex. Rich vs. poor. Smart vs. dumb. Sane vs. crazy. Pretty vs. ugly. Guy vs. gal). (2) Environment, situation, setting characters are in. (3) Problems characters are faced with. Physical, psychological, financial, social, spiritual(?). Do they realize the presence and importance of the problem or not? If not, is the problem solved by accident? Is the problem ignored or confronted? If ignored, do they pay the price, or luck out? Is the problem attacked in thought and action effort? If so, do they fail or succeed? (4) The ultra-modern novel means current cutting edge (A) Situations, (B) Views of these situations, (C) Problems, (D) Solutions. (5)(A) Traits of antagonist. Fearful, avarice, greed, anger, crazy, stupid, weak (spineless), coward, bully. (B) Traits of protagonist. Brave, fair, freedom, strong, sensitive, smart, active. 12/30/1996 Arts, literature. Novel. Novels are examples. Reading novels is for people who like learning by example. I always preferred textbooks that had few examples. They were ten times shorter, and the learning was ten times faster. 01/12/1997 Arts, literature. Novel. The novel as information, entertainment and art. (1) Information. Most people consider reading novels as a form of entertainment. But perhaps the more important question is, "How much useful information is in this novel?" Not merely factual information, like a description of a city, but also information about life, and people in general, and how to live one's life. Great novels have a lot of useful information. (2) Entertainment. What is mere entertainment? Does not even mere entertainment teach us something? What is an example of the most vacuous entertainment? What bad sitcom takes top prize in the category of mindless entertainment? What does even that sitcom achieve? 1/18/2004 Arts, literature. Novel. The novelists, sometimes they try to create a life. Three variations: (1) Tell it like it is. (2) Life like it ought to be. (3) Life the way it should have been. 8/24/2000 Arts, literature. Novel. The novelists, what are they trying to do? I must confess I'm not really sure. (1) They are trying to create a world. Create a reality. (2) They are trying to create life. Like Dr. Frankenstein. (3) Create a person. Create a character. (4) They are trying to create life distilled or concentrated. Like orange juice in a can. 8/24/2000 Arts, literature. Novels. If I was an immortal living in paradise I might spend my time reading novels. But I have only a limited life on an imperfect, problem ridden earth. 11/16/1997 Arts, literature. Novels. Let's say you want to write a novel. You can pick any character, setting and action that you like. The choices are infinite. Let's say you write a novel by creating specific characters, a specific setting and specific action in the form of a sequence of events. What have you accomplished? You can make any character say just about anything. Nothing said is ever completely out of character. You can use your creation to try to justify any theme. Various readers will use your creation to try to justify every other theme. Readers will use just about any occurrence to try to prove any point. Such is the human ability to twist logic and spin events. What have you accomplished by writing a novel? 9/1/2005 Arts, literature. Novels. People are conditioned by society to read novels. People are conditioned by society to write novels. The conditioning occurs unconsciously to both readers of novels and authors of novels. The conditioning is performed on the author and reader without their being conscious of it. And the conditioning is performed unconsciously by society. Society is for the most part not aware that it is subtly influencing authors and readers to work in the genre of the novel. (2) Humans do not naturally think in novel form. Humans naturally think in short chunks of information. So why should we write in novel form? 4/9/1999 Arts, literature. Novels. There is a psychological distance between the reader and the story. The psychological distance between the reader and the story can be close or far. (1) Far distance. Objective, distanced, dispassioned. See the action happening to the characters. (2) Close distance. Subjective, immersed, empassioned. Feel the action happening to self. 12/5/2005. Arts, literature. Novels. What if you tried to learn about the world only by reading novels? And at the other extreme, what if you tried to learn about the world without reading any novels? 1/10/2006 Arts, literature. Novels. Why do people write novels? (1) The novel, for the author, is a way to process, integrate and make sense of reality. (2) The novel, for the reader, is a way to process, integrate and make sense of reality. (3) Telling and listening to stories, writing and reading novels, making and watching movies, these arts have the in common the fact that people use art to process, integrate and make sense of reality or experience. And these arts are all forms of virtual reality experience. 12/5/2005 Arts, literature. Organization. The various "types of paragraphs" that an English composition textbook describes, is the same as the various "types of essays" that the textbook describe, and is the same as the various "ways of thinking" (i.e., thinking tools) that are discussed in Psychology class. These types include: Analysis and Synthesis. Classification and categories. Metaphor and analogy. Abstract and concrete. Creativity and evaluation. Cause and effect. Etc. 8/20/2006 * Arts, literature. PART ONE. What is Literature? Definitions of literature. (1) Any writing. (2) Any good writing. (3) Any artistic writing. (4) Any good artistic writing. PART TWO Why study Literature? (1) To see and study good writing. (2) To see and study good art. PART THREE. How study Literature? (1) Reading the works. (2) Thinking critically about the works. (3) Discussing the works. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. People have an inclination to tell stories. Story telling is one of the oldest arts. People tell all sorts of stories. People understand their world by making stories about their world. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Philosophy and literature. (1) Everyone has a philosophy. The author has a philosophy. Each character in the story has a philosophy. The reader has a philosophy. At base, philosophy consists of metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical views. Very often the author will create characters to represent different philosophies. The protagonist, representing the author's philosophy, triumphs over antagonists, representing competing or opposing philosophies. (2) Each reader has his or her own philosophy. Everyone's philosophy is slightly different from the next person's. Readers often read a text to confirm their own philosophy. Readers are often biased toward their own personal views, and thus readers will often "spin" the interpretation of a text to make it confirm their own views. Will the author change your views, or will you change the author's views to confirm to your views? 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Philosophy and literature. (1) People want to see a moral to the story. People want to see good actions rewarded and bad actions punished. A moral is an ethical view. People want to see ethics in a story. (2) Ethics are a result of epistemological views which form metaphysical views of the world. (3) Different readers have different interpretations of stories. Different readers draw different lessons from stories. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Philosophy and literature. (1) Philosophical ideas found in literature. Philosophical fiction. (2) Philosophical essays about life. (3) Writings of academic philosophers. (4) Philosophy of literature. Philosophical analysis of the concepts found in the art of literature. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism attempts help us understand texts. A criticism of literary criticism however is that it only criticizes, but does not actually do anything. 8/15/1998 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism focuses on macro-level phenomena, like the meaning of texts. Anglo-American philosophy of language focuses on micro-level, sentence level phenomena like grammar. 1/19/1999 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism. Argument against literary criticism. What has literary criticism accomplished at all? What useful concepts has developed? Not many really. So even though literary criticism concepts could be applied in many other areas, it still has not come up with many useful concepts. 1/19/1999 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism. Argument for literary criticism. The theories developed by literary critics are not limited to fiction. They can be applied to all arts. They can be applied to all writing, including non-fiction. They can be applied to all communication. They can be applied to all symbolic representation systems. And since we think with language, they can be applied to our minds and thus have great psychological value. And since the major way we learn today is by gathering information, it has great epistemological value. And since society is based on communication, it has great sociological value. 1/19/1999 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism. Scientific approach to literature. (1) Descriptive literary criticism: describes what the author wrote. (2) Explanatory literary criticism: explains what the author meant. (3) Normative literary criticism: takes an ethical stance by saying what should be. 7/8/2002 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary criticism's basic ideas. Things are not always what they seem. What you think a thing is (work of art, person, culture, etc.) depends on your situation and point of view. Interpretation and understanding always occur. If you are a dullard, it may mean nothing to you. A more savvy person may be able to "read" things better. If you are below this level, it appears wondrous. If you are above this level, it bores you. If it is foreign it mystifies and attracts in curiosity. If it is familiar we overlook it. 08/15/1993 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary theory = literary criticism and philosophy of literature. 11/15/2001 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literary theory. The field of literary theory asks "what is literature?" But to say that all language (including the exact language of philosophy, science, business, law) should be studied with literary theory, or worse, to say everything (besides writing) should be considered a text and studied with literary theory, is getting carried away. Because even in the field of literature alone the achievements and accomplishments of literary theory have been minimal. 02/28/1998 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. Literature as the study of examples of various artistic styles of writing is bullshit. However, ideas, thinking, communication of ideas, and writing notes is not bullshit. 12/31/1997 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. One view. Literature is bullshit. Therefore, literary criticism is bullshit. Therefore, literary criticism based philosophy is bullshit. This includes deconstruction, hermeneutics, and other European philosophies. 11/16/1997 Arts, literature. Philosophy of literature. What literature gives us is a good balance to analytical philosophy. It gives us a flexible, associative, multi-meaninged, subjective and expressive way of looking at the world. That is it. Literature lets us be playful and creative with words and concepts rather than exact and inflexible (as in philosophy, science, business, law). 02/28/1998 Arts, literature. Plays versus movies. (1) Drama has fewer special effects than movies. Drama has less camera movement than movies, because in drama the viewer is the camera. Drama has less editing than movies. (2) Movies have more special effects than drama. Movies have more camera movement than drama. Movies have more editing than drama. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Plays versus novel. Drama has less description of setting than novel. Drama has less physical action than novel. Dramas are written to be acted in theaters. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Plays, Drama. Drama has more emphasis on character and dialogue. Drama has less emphasis on the setting. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Plays. (1) Drama in the written form. Play scripts. (2) Drama on the stage. Plays. (see Arts, theater). 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Plot structure, three views of. (1) Plot structure as conflict. Plot climax as resolution of conflict, or failure to resolve conflict. Good for stories where characters are in conflict with each other. (2) Plot structure as problem solving. Plot climax as solution of problem, or failure to solve problem. Good for stories where characters work together to solve a problem. (3) Plot structure as a process of change. Plot climax described as a turning point. Good for stories that depict the development of a character. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Plot structure. Conflict versus problem. You can say there is a "conflict" in a story, but sometimes it is more accurate to say there is a "problem" in the story. The characters can all be united to solve the problem. For example, the problem in the story can be a plague that is killing the populace. The plague is not an antagonistic character, nor is there any conflict, rather, there is a problem to be solved. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Plot, theme, characters, etc. (1) Consider characters without plot, actions, events, or even dialogue. It would amount to people sitting around doing nothing. That's a bad story. (2) Consider a story without ideas or themes. It would be, "I walked to 7-11, and saw a car accident in the parking lot, and a fight broke out, and 7-11 was out of slurpee, so I walked home." That's a bad story. (3) Consider a story that has description of setting without characters. It would be like wheat waving in the wind. That's a bad story. (4) Consider a story with much action but little plot. That would be a lot of running around without any purpose. That's a bad story. (5) All the parts of the story should be present and working well together. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Plot. (1) Main line of the plot. (2) Red herrings, digressions, tangents, dead ends. Loose threads, unanswered questions. 8/25/2006 Arts, literature. Plot. (1) There are basic, universal plots. Boy meets girl, love story. Good versus bad, police detective legal story. Adventure, exploration, journey story. (2) The plot-less story. Seemingly random events. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Plot. Complexity of the plot is based on the number of characters and the number of actions, thus the number of plot lines. 8/25/2006 Arts, literature. Plot. Modern stories. Randomness, random actions. No clear plot. 8/25/2006 Arts, literature. Poems and quotebooks are both short, concise forms. Poems are more arty than rational. Quotebooks have no ratings, no sub-categories, no explanation, no commentary, no expansion. 09/26/1997 Arts, literature. Politicizing stories. Some people will politicize every story. Some people will interpret every story through the lens of politics. Some people primarily use political literary criticism. Some people understand the world primarily as a political arena. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Politics and literature. Censorship. Propaganda. Samizdat. Author's who criticize the government are jailed in countries like Turkey and China. America has freedom of speech, but America has a history of banning books. Literature is a powerful force in politics. Ideas, transmitted through writing, are a political tool that can change society. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Preliminary questions to a study of literature. Can one learn everything that one needs to know from reading novels? Can one learn everything one needs to know without reading novels?. 1/17/2004 Arts, literature. Problems. (1) False or untrue. (2) Unimportant, meek. (3) Unclear, vague, inexact. (4) Disorganized, confusing, illogical, lack of focus. (5) Boring, too wordy, verbose, long winded. (6) Above or below audience. (7) Beating something to death. (8) Making mountains out of molehills, pedantic. (9) Not explained enough, quick gloss. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Professional artist has to sell. Has to please an audience. He is not free to pick or switch his subject matter, view, medium, etc. 06/05/1997 Arts, literature. Professional writers dole out a little at a time in order to make money by keeping the audience coming back. The problem is when you read only part of his vision you get the "blind men and the elephant problem". I say give it all at once. I don't write for a living. I will not pad and fluff to stretch an idea. I will not be stingy doling out my ideas. 06/05/1997 Arts, literature. Professional writing, criticisms of. Professional writers write to sell. Professional writers write for commercial success. Professional writers write to please audiences, advertisers and publishers. Professional writers are limited by their medium. 11/18/2005 Arts, literature. Quote and my commentary. Explanation of what author was saying. Is he right or wrong? Is the idea important or unimportant? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Quote books organized (1) Alpha by author. (2) Alpha by subject. (3) Chronologically. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Quote machine. (1) Quotes by regular people, rather than quotes by famous people. (2) Not based strictly on artistic literary merit. (3) Not based strictly on historical merit. (4) Up to a page in length, not just one sentence or one paragraph. 6/4/2000 Arts, literature. Quotes and quote analysis. (1) How much will a book of quotes help you? (2) For every quote there is a counterquote. (3) Soundbites, slogans, maxims, epigrams, aphorism, apothegm, short and sweet. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Quotes are usually concise philosophical statements. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Quotes. "Everything will be wonderful soon (if not immediately)." to quote Audrey. 05/30/1993 Arts, literature. Quotes. (1) Contra quotes. (A) If an idea is not in sound-bite format then it is not usually found in quote-books. It has to be short (1 or 2 sentences) and catchy, or its no good. (B) When people constantly quote other people it prevents them from thinking for themselves. (2) Pro quotes. (A) Quotes are usually arranged by subject. (B) Quotes are pithy and concise. 4/28/2001 Arts, literature. Quotes. (1) People try to build life philosophies by collecting quotes. (2) But for every quote there is an equal and opposite counter-quote. So how can you go around quoting all day? (3) There are strengths and weaknesses to short forms like quotes. (A) Pros. Quotes are pithy. Quotes are concise. Quotes are simplifications in the positive sense, in that make things easier to understand. (B) Cons. Quotes are a form of reductionism in the negative sense. That is, quotes over-simplify. Quotes are soundbites. Quotes are slogans, spouted to avoid thought. 11/28/2006 Arts, literature. Quotes. (1) Quote books are humans closest attempt at recorded wisdom. (2) Quotebooks should be arranged by subject, not author. Who said something is not as important as what they said. 3/21/1999 Arts, literature. Quotes. (1) Recorded communication of ideas (true or false ones). (2) Who said it first, and who repeated the sentiment? (3) Quotes reveal a lot about a person (for history, biography). (4) There is a difference between what is thought, said, and done. (5) Quotes add to knowledge of a subject (philosophy, truth). (6) Quote criticism. Analyze each quote for: subject, branch, questions, view, argument. Judge each quote for truth and importance (theoretical vs. practical usefulness). 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Quotes. Arguments for and against learning by reading quotes. PART ONE. Arguments for learning by reading quotes. Quotes are quick and short. PART TWO. Argument against learning by reading quotes. (1) Sometimes a person says something that is not pithy, not memorable, not beautifully styled, but still intelligent and important nonetheless. There is much good information that is not in the form of quotes. (2) Sometimes people get into picayune quote wars, lobbing one quote against another quote, rather than thinking hard about the important subjects at hand. (3) The general idea behind the quote is more important than the exact expression of the quote, and more important that who said it. Sometimes people obsessed with quotes focus too much on exactly who said exactly what, at the expense of general wisdom. 3/3/2007 Arts, literature. Quotes. Pessimistic view of quotes. The quotes we like are usually a confirmation of what we already believe. We relate to the quotes that we understand. We relate to quotes that support our views. 3/21/1999 Arts, literature. Quotes. The importance of idioms. Bottom line, brass tacks, no b.s., straight forward, face up, up front, what you see is what you get, out in the open kind of guy. 06/30/1993 Arts, literature. Quotes. What you think wisdom is depends on what your situation is, what your needs are, and what you need most to know. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Reading novels for entertainment versus reading novels for information. There is no clear boundary here, just like there is no clear boundary between fiction and non-fiction. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Reading the obituaries is like reading biographies. They are interesting because they show the variety of life experiences; what can happen to you, and what you can do, both good and bad. 12/30/1995 Arts, literature. Say it with words. (As opposed to saying it with flowers). 6/01/1994 Arts, literature. Science fiction. A good science fiction novel would be written in a new language, with a new logic, about a new world containing new beings. It would not be about English speaking humans on Earth. 5/15/2002 Arts, literature. Science fiction. Ultimate sci-fi theme: Hobbits in Space. 10/14/2003 Arts, literature. Science fiction. Value of sci-fi is to present hypothetical cases, problems, and questions about life, for us to analyze before they actually occur in the world. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Short forms: The pop song. Three minutes baby! 10/22/1998 Arts, literature. Short forms. Bumper stickers. T-shirts. Buttons. How condensed can you get. 7/18/1998 Arts, literature. Short forms. Other short forms besides quotes. Graffiti, slogans, epitaphs, haiku. How much can you say in how little time and space. 3/30/1998 Arts, literature. Short forms. Television episode synopsis as legitimate fiction. A one paragraph exposition of setting, characters, motivation and action. 1/10/2002 Arts, literature. Short forms. The one liner in comedy. 9/15/1998 Arts, literature. Some people can write well, some people can think well, few can do both well. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Some people have the vocabulary and writing skill, but not the intelligence or life experiences to write anything useful. Some people have intelligence and life experiences, but not writing skill. 01/13/1989 Arts, literature. Stages of journal writing. (1) Simple reporting. "Today I did this..." (2) Get into other people's heads. For example, "What was she thinking when she did that?" (3) Get inside your own head. For example, "What was I thinking..." (4) Get outside your own head. Talk to self like a friend. 8/5/2002 Arts, literature. Stories or narrative. Types of stories. (1) Consider a story that is all description, with no dialogue. (2) Consider a story that is all dialogue, with no description. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Stories. (1) People tell stories. People swap stories. People collect stories. (2) Some people hold in high regard the stories that confirm their values. Other people hold in high regard the stories that expand their values. 12/21/2006 Arts, literature. Stories. Simple stories and complex stories. (1) Simple story. Simple plot. Simple theme. One conflict or problem. One theme. One setting. Few characters. Not profound. No new ideas. (2) Complex story. Multiple themes. Multiple settings. Multiple plot lines. Multiple characters. 8/25/2006 Arts, literature. Summary. (1) Novels. We are preconditioned by society to read novels. (2) Fiction. Fiction is a lie. (3) Art literature (belle lettres). Often called the "great books". Anyone who educated themselves only by reading the great books would become a strange adult. By refusing to acknowledge the great amount of "useful, but average quality" writing, we do ourselves a great disservice. 10/28/2001 Arts, literature. Ten people read the same thing and interpret it ten different ways. Ten people write about same thing and get different results. (1) Differences due to psychology. (A) Different interpretations. (B) Different general concept structures. (C) Different meanings of specific words. (2) Differences due to how say. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. That artistic literature, such as novels, is a type of entertaining game-playing is evidenced by the fact that we do not require novel authors to explain their work or justify their work the same way we require philosophers and scientists to. A novel, in this respect, is like a riddle or crossword puzzle, in that they are read at leisure for fun, not in earnest. 9/26/2002 Arts, literature. The "Cliff Notes" Debate. (1) One can read and write books. One can read and write about books. Writing and reading about books includes literary theory, literary criticism, book reviews, etc. Cliff Notes involve reading about books. (2) One does not have to read a book in order to read about a book. For example, people read book reviews without having read the book itself. Cliff Notes, Monarch Notes, Spark Notes are writings about books. There is nothing wrong with reading Cliff Notes. (3) There are more books than one person can read in a lifetime. If one limits one's thought and discussion only to the books one has read, then one will never read another book and will not know about a great many books. 6/19/2004 Arts, literature. The author as dictator. (Any author, that is). When people write there is a pronounced tendency to adopt an attitude that says "This is the way things really happened.", "I am right", "I win and you lose". That is to say, all writing, all art, all communication is biased toward its creator the author. We always tell our own side of the story. This is essentially a political act, or a power play. Readers, however, suffer from the opposite effect in that they tend to interpret communications as unbiased. We tend to believe what we see. Readers tend to believe what they read. 6/17/2001 Arts, literature. The best writing is about trouble. 10/20/1988 Arts, literature. The bicycle analogy. Reasoning and writing is something we learn by doing, much like riding a bicycle is something we learn by doing. You can explain to another person the steps of riding a bicycle, and the principles of riding a bicycle, and the person then might say they understand how to ride a bicycle, but can a person ride a bicycle using only theoretical knowledge? No. Another reason why practicing reasoning and writing is like learning to ride a bicycle is that it is difficult to learn, but once learned you never forget. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. The book is almost always better than the movie. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. The English major is a baloney degree. If you study literature you are really in the Arts (along with music and painting), not the Humanities. If you study communication, or writing, or the English language, these are all subjects that are secondary to creating ideas. If you have a firm grasp on an idea then you can communicate it clearly, and you do not need to study the above subjects. Plus, I can speak English! Why study it. 7/11/1998 Arts, literature. The idea is the most important thing in writing. 08/23/1988 Arts, literature. The Notes are not essays. I've heard the professors say "The essay is the preferred form for short non-fiction". I've seen the editors write "These select essays represent the best of the form". I read some of the essays and said "What the f*ck is this?" You well-mannered dandies. You can tend your garden. You can make your pretty floral arrangements. I am more ecologically minded. I say, let the occasional weed live. Let the wind carry seeds afar. I am helping to save the wilderness. 10/5/2000 Arts, literature. The Other Guys: novelists, journalists, poets, essayists and academics. Objections of them to my work, and my defense. Objections of mine to their work. You've tried the rest, now try the best. (1) Poets. Poets, will you just say what you mean. Poets can only allude to it or hint at it. Stop beating around the bush. Spit it out. Stop dropping hints. You are so coy, delicate, sensitive, flirting, teasing. You call me crude, unrefined, indelicate and boorish. (2) Novelists. Sometimes you remind me of the aged, with their "Let me tell you a story. When I was a youth we used to blah, blah, blah..." Sometimes you remind me of office watercooler soap opera gossip. "Did you hear what she said to him about the other one? Well let me tell you blah, blah, blah..." Do you know the flip-books where one furls the pages to make the action move? That's how much fun your novels are. (3) Journalists. You write to please a target market. You write to sell a product. Most of you have a well defined beat. You get your stories assigned to you . The top of your heap is getting a "column" that you have to produce on command in order to meet a deadline. And they say you'll do anything for a story. (4) The point is that many of you above writers conform to your genres just to get money and fame. You are afraid to be yourself. You are afraid to say what you think. You conform to these styles because someone told you it was the right way to do things. You conform to these styles because everyone else was doing it that way. You sacrificed yourself for a buck. You sacrificed life for a buck. Then you cop a superior attitude. Then you form your snobbish cliques. Then you act self-congratulatory. You ignore or ostracize those who are different. Blech! Conformity for a buck. Formula for a buck. Repetition and ritual instead of creativity and diversity. 10/6/2000 Arts, literature. Theme. (1) Is theme the subject of a story? Is theme an abstract subject as opposed to concrete subject? (2) Is theme the moral of the story? Are all themes morals? Normative stories tell how to act. Non-normative stores tell what is reality and let you draw your own conclusions. 1/1/1999 Arts, literature. Theme. (1) Theme as a word, a topic. (2) Theme as a sentence, a statement about a topic. (3) Theme as a paragraph, an more thorough exploration of a topic. This is a better view of theme. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Theme. (1) Theme of a story is the message the author is trying to tell us in the story. The theme is the main idea or main point of the story. (2) The theme of a story can be a moral or lesson, but it does not have to be a moral or lesson, for example, the theme can be more of a descriptive exploration of a topic rather an a prescriptive statement about a topic. (3) Theme is more than a single word topic. In theme the author takes a stand on a topic. (4) There may be, and frequently is, more than one theme in a story. (5) The reader may agree or disagree with the theme of the story. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Theme. A theme has a topic, plus a statement about that topic. For example, on the topic of death there can be various themes or views about death, for example, death is natural; death is horrible; some deaths are worse than others; etc. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Theme. Common theme-topics found in literature. Here is a list of some of the topics about which authors write works of literature. ( ) Age. Youth. Adulthood. Old age. ( ) Arts. Literature. Music. Visual arts. Movies. ( ) Economics. Money. Class. Business. ( ) Education. School. Learning. Information. Media. ( ) Environments. City. Suburban. Rural. Wilderness. ( ) Epistemology. Knowledge. Wisdom. Science. Philosophy. ( ) Ethics. Right and Wrong. Good and bad. Justice and injustice. ( ) Ethnicity. Black. Spanish. Asian. American Indian. Minority experiences. ( ) Health and Illness. Injury, disease. Healing. ( ) History. Time. Eras. ( ) Law. Crime and Punishment. ( ) Life and Death. ( ) Love. Sex. Women and Men. Gender. ( ) Magic, myth, religion. ( ) Nature. Plants and Animals. The Environment. Ecology. ( ) Philosophy. Metaphysics. Epistemology. Ethics. Values. Importance. ( ) Politics. Government. Power. ( ) Psychology. The Mind. Sensation. Emotion. Memory. Thought. ( ) Self, other people, and the world. ( ) Society. Culture. Friends. Families. Nation. World. Globalization. ( ) Technology. Power, tools, materials. Food, clothing, shelter. Transportation, information, communication. ( ) War and Peace. ( ) Women and men. Sex and gender. Feminism. Sexism. LGBT. ( ) Work and Leisure. Industrialization. Corpratization. Labor. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. Theme. Dream as a theme in literature. Types of dream themes. (1) Multiple dream roles. Example: Character W dreams of character X, who dreams of character Y, who dreams of character Z. (2) Multiple dreams within a dream. Example: Character has a dream. In that dream the same character has a dream. In that dream the same character has a dream. In that dream the same character has a dream. (3) Multiple concurrent dreams. Example: A group of characters who all fell asleep and dreamed their individual dreams. (4) Dreaming you are someone else, someplace else. 3/18/2000 Arts, literature. Theme. Movement as a theme in literature. (1) Journey as a theme in literature. Journey as moving through space. Ex., epics. Travel literature. The one way journey. The circular journey. (2) History as a theme in literature. History as moving through time. Ex., sagas. Narrative usually means moving through time and space. Story is usually of a character moving through time and space. Can you have a story of abstract ideas? 3/18/2000 Arts, literature. Theme. There are basic, universal themes. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Themes. Literature of revolution, resistance and rebellion. Gil Scot Heron, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Excellent poetry. 6/15/2002 Arts, literature. Themes. Literature that deals with celebrating joys. On the Road by Jack Kerouac. 10/22/1998 Arts, literature. Themes. Literature that deals with confronting and solving big problems. Micro-level problems like personal problems and problems with family and friends. Macro-level problems like problems with society, culture and global problems. (1) Poverty. Rural: Grapes of Wrath. Urban: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair? (2) Drugs. Junkie by William Burroughs. Basketball Diaries by Jim Carol. (3) War. All Quiet on the Western Front. (4) Mental Illness. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. (5) Overbearing and repressive culture. Howl by Allen Ginsberg. Wasteland by T.S. Elliot. Kafka. (6) Crime. Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky. (7) Love. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespere. (8) Work. Matewan by John Sales. (9) Racism. To Kill a Mockingbird. (10) Death. All Quiet on Western Front. 10/21/1998 Arts, literature. There is no clear distinction between music, poetry, rhetoric, prose, and technical writing. It is a spectrum. 08/14/1994 Arts, literature. They should down play literature. Literature is just art. They should teach only lit theory. They should not teach specific literature books. They should play up communication. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Three basic questions. (1) Why do people write literature? (2) Why do people read literature? (3) Why do people study literature? 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Three more psychological perspectives. (1) Author's state of mind when creating the work of art. (2) Author's intended effect on the reader's mind. I.e., the author's conscious goals for the work. (3) Average reader's perception of the work. 7/14/2002 Arts, literature. Three pairs of questions. (1)(A) Why read? (B) What to read? (2)(A) Why write? (B) What to write? (3) (A) Why study literature? (B) What literature to study? 6/9/2004 Arts, literature. Three types of literature: (1) Literature of ideas. Literature that makes you think. (2) Literature of emotions. Literature that makes you feel. (3) Literature of the senses. Literature that paints a picture of a setting. 9/20/2006 Arts, literature. Three types of literature. (1) Literature describing the environment (natural and manmade). (2) Literature describing other people and social relationships. (3) Literature describing self, both the physical self and the psychological self (drives, memories, feelings, thoughts). 1/1/1999 Arts, literature. Three types of literature. Literature of ideas. Literature of emotions. Literature of the stylistic beauty of words. 12/23/2002 Arts, literature. Three types of writing. (1) Descriptive writing: documents and records, landscapes, people, and states of mind. (2) Explicative writing: explains causes and effects to add meaning. (3) Normative writing: ethical, evaluative, proposes. 3/15/2000 Arts, literature. To get truth, and great writing, work from the objective to the subjective. The objective tradition (classicism, hard journalism) is half right. The subjective tradition (romanticism, editorial) is half right. Writing is as much feeling as thinking. It's half and half, not either-or. 12/06/1988 Arts, literature. To too many people, the book is a piece of jewelry, the book is an accessory. 9/1/2000 Arts, literature. Tone and style. (1) Tone can refer to an emotional reaction. The emotional reaction can be on the part of the characters, narrator, or reader. When a reader says, "It was a sad story", or "It was a happy story", the reader can mean, variously, that the story made the reader sad, or that the characters in the story were sad, or that the narrator was sad. (2) The terms "tone" and "style" do not have to refer merely to emotional reaction. There are other ways we can describe the tone or style of a story. A story can be simple or complex in its vocabulary and in its grammar. A the voice of a speaker can sound formal or informal. 2/19/2007 Arts, literature. Tone and style. Style refers to the writing style of the author of a story. Writing styles can be described in a variety of ways. Writing style can be informal or formal. Writing style can be simple or complex. Sentences can be short or long. Syntax can be rudimentary or complicated. Vocabulary can be basic or sophisticated. The narrator has a style. Each character has a style. The author also makes stylistic decisions beyond narrator and character, for example, decisions of story structure. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Tone. Tone refers to the emotional tones in the story. The emotional tones in the story are comprised of the emotional tones of the narrator, the emotional tones of the characters, and the emotional tones of the readers. Very often readers project their own emotions onto the story. (2)Setting is another way that the author creates an emotional tone in a story. For example, "It was a dark and stormy night". (3) Often there are many emotions in a story, so it does not help to reduce discussion of tone to a single word. (4) Why is tone important? Emotional tone is important because emotion adds information. Knowing how the author, and narrator, and characters feel about the issues at hand gives us a better idea of the themes of the story. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. Too much attention is paid to the "art of writing" at the expense of thinking about the politics of writing, the economics of writing, and the technology of writing. 11/18/2005 Arts, literature. Travel writing is popular because it is a metaphor for the journey of life. Also, it deals with the new, mysterious and exciting. The supposition being that things are different everywhere. The contrary view being that there is nothing new under the sun. Life is the same everywhere, and not just because of the spread and homogenization of western culture. Also, the idea that one small hamlet can be a metaphor for the entire world. You can learn all about life in a small town. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. (1) Aware of both scene and self vs. (2) aware of scene only vs. (3) aware of self only vs. (4) aware of neither. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. (1) Most objective and least subjective travel writing vs. (2) most subjective and least objective travel writing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. Local color. How does the taste of a place seep into your bones? Slowly, and by using all your senses and experiences. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. The road is not supposed to be boring, always something new coming. After a while you realize what's coming is the same old thing. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. To what degree can the reading of travel writing take the place of travel? To what degree can the reading of any type of writing take the place of any type of experience? 6/27/2004 Arts, literature. Travel writing. Understand the phenomenon of traveling: rootlessness, transience, movement, change. Understand the phenomenon of place in time, here now, changelessness, permanence, perpetuity. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Travel writing. Variety is the spice of life, they say. Best to have many views. Pluralism and relativism aid your evaluative powers. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Truth in fiction and non-fiction literature. (1) Fiction is drawn from experience at some level, that is, drawn from fact at some level, and thus fiction is true to some extent. (2) Non-fiction, that is, "true stories", are often hopelessly distorted by people telling one side of a story, or by people exaggerating a story, and thus "true stories" tend toward fiction. 12/29/2006 Arts, literature. Truth in fiction. While not being literally true, good fiction presents situations that are universally recognizable. Good fiction makes statements about life and the world that are true. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Two important questions. (1) What can be said or written? Anything can be said or written. Complete freedom to express. Language can capture anything. (2) What is there to speak or write about? The entire world. 8/30/2006 Arts, literature. Two types of authors. (1) The author as passive voyeur. Watcher. Does not get involved. (2) The author as active. Do-er. Gets involved. (Ex. Sartre). 6/5/2000 Arts, literature. Two types of writers. (1) What is happening to me? (2) What is happening to my generation, or society, or world? 10/25/1993 Arts, literature. Two types of writing. (1) Writing from calmness. For example, the calmness produced by meditation. (2) Writing from excitation. For example, the excitation produced by coffee. 6/1/2003 Arts, literature. Types of writers. (1) Writers who record what is. (2) Writers who dream of what might be. 3/10/2004 Arts, literature. Types of writing. (1) Technical writing. Logical. Causes and reasons. Premises and conclusions. Assumptions and implications. (2) Emotion and rhetoric in writing. Using humor to make learning fun. Motivating users to learn. Motivating customers to buy. 1/14/2002 Arts, literature. Voice. (1) Voice of author reflects author's personality. (2) Voice of author reflects a predisposition in the author's vocabulary, grammar, style, tone, subjects and views. 6/9/2004 Arts, literature. Voice. A writers voice is comprised of psychological thinking (minding) style and sociological communication style. Thinking style is made of learning style and also strengths of eight types of intelligence. 06/05/1997 Arts, literature. Voice. Your "voice" is (1) The subject matter you deal with, (2) The writing style you use, (3) Your method of writing (ex. I use synthetic and analytic). (4) Find the new and useful, but also find what you can do that no one else can or will. Your unique contribution. Something where you can say "If I don't do it, it won't get done, because no one else can or will do it". 08/30/1996 Arts, literature. What can literature (art-writing) do that other forms of art, and other forms of writing can't do at all, or do as well? Spur imagination? Raise feelings? Take you on a long, rich, trip. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature as gossip. People like telling stories. People like hearing stories. Basically, people like to gossip, and literature can be considered as a form of hypothetical gossip or virtual gossip. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. What is literature? (1) Literature as problem solving. (2) Literature as the pursuit of truth and justice. 11/10/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Broad definition of literature: anything written. 12/10/2004 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature as a thinking mechanism, a problem solving mechanism, a coping mechanism. (1) Literature helps you sort things out. Writing stories helps you "think through" a topic. Reading stories helps you come up with solutions to problems. Reading stories helps you learn about the world. (2) Literature is psycho-therapeutic. Literature helps you get things off your chest. Writing a story helps you "talk out" a problem. Reading a story helps you see that other people have gone through the same problems and stresses that you are going through. (3) Literature can let you help other people. Writing an effective story can help spare someone some trouble. The strongest form of this argument is that literature can save a life. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature as graffiti. People like to leave their mark on the world. People like to say, "I was here." 3/18/2007 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature as hypothetical case study. The case study method is an effective method of learning about the world. Most of the time, people study cases of things that actually happened. But one can also study hypothetical cases. Literature, fiction, stories, can be considered as hypothetical case studies. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature as problem solving. Some people think, communicate, and learn in the form of literature, or arts more generally, rather than in the form of science or philosophy, and this is often a matter of the person's primary "type of intelligence" or learning style. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature is a case study, much like the case studies used in law school and business school, except that literature uses hypothetical case studies. Literature is an experiment, much like the experiments done in science, except that literature is a thought experiment. 11/10/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature is about story telling. People like stories. Almost everyone enjoys telling stories and listening to stories. Our daily life is full of story telling, even if it is merely stories about how one's day went. Humans have a tendency to understand the world by creating stories about the world. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature is an art. Literature informs other areas of life. Artists often see things before philosophers and scientists. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature is an art. Literature is neither math, nor science, nor philosophy. (1) Math is tight and formal, based on pure logic. (2) Science are are based on experimentation. (3) Philosophy is based on reason. (3) Arts, including literature, are loose and slippery. 9/10/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Literature is like the news in that both deal with problems. If the news was all happy events then that would not be useful. If literature had mostly happy endings then that would not be interesting nor useful. Literature is about problems and problem solving. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature? Ways to look at literature. (1) Literature as graffiti. (2) Literature as gossip. (3) Literature as virtual reality. Literature as an experience of a virtual world. (4) Literature as case study. (5) Literature as problem solving. (6) Literature as psychological coping mechanism. (7) Literature as a puzzle. Reading literature as puzzle solving. (8) Literature as an exercise to build critical thinking skills. (9) Literature as learning how to deal with ambiguity. Learning how to deal with uncertainty. Learning how to deal with situations of limited information. Learning how to deal with situations that have multiple possible meanings and interpretations. Its a life skill. 3/14/2007 Arts, literature. What is Literature? Why study Literature? Why do people write Literature? Why do people read literature? 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What is literature. Communication (art vs. non-art). Language. Spoken language. Written language (literature broadest definition). (1) Non-art writing. Informs primarily. (2) Art writing (literature narrow definition). Informs and entertains. (3) Entertainment writing. Entertains primarily. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature. Communication (see sociology: communication). (1) Nonsymbolic communication: signals (draw attention). (2) Symbolic communication. (A) Language. (i) Verbal. Standard forms (ex high english). Folk forms. (ii) Written. (B) Non-language. (i) Verbal: grunts. (ii) Nonverbal: gesture, image. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature. Definitions of literature: broad to narrow. (1) Any writing of any language or culture. (3) Excellent writing of any type. (4) Art writing. (5) Excellent art writing (great ideas, said great). (6) Give each definition a different name, dammit!. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature. Four definitions of literature. (1) Great fiction. (2) Any fiction. (3) Great writing of any type. (4) Any writing of any type. 09/25/1993 Arts, literature. What is literature. Information literature vs. art literature; i.e. Non-fiction vs. fiction. Information literature: technical writing, journal articles. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature. Is art writing a matter of style or quality? Some say quality: it has to be good to be called art. Some say style: as long as it is fiction then it is art. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. What is literature. Literature involves narrative or stories. 12/28/2006 Arts, literature. What literature tries to do, instead of merely explaining something like textbooks do, is try to make you experience something directly. The story does not just happen to the main character, it happens to you as well. You are there. You are them. Learning by doing in a virtual reality. Direct experience. You experience the story both secondhand and firsthand. You experience an environment, action, and the character's (and author's) mental state. 10/22/1998 Arts, literature. What should we read? There exists a small window between three parameters: (1) Tell me something I don't know. (2) Not so complicated that I can not understand it. (3) Tell me something that I can use, that will help me. 1/1/1999 Arts, literature. What two types of literature result when authors are paid by the word versus when authors have to pay by the word? 11/8/2003 Arts, literature. What's to be gained (and lost) from saying something (1) as clearly as possible, or (2) in poetic form, or (3) singing acapella in clear prose or in poetry, or (4) singing with a backup band, or (5) saying or singing something rhetorically? What personality types fall for what styles? 08/14/1994 Arts, literature. Why do people read? (1) Psychological needs. Its fun. Its informative. Get new ideas and attitudes. (2) For escape. Versus. For engagement. (3) Sociological influences. Society tells. them to. For example, READ campaigns. Advertisers selling books. NYT book review and bestseller list. Amazon reviews. (4) They have time to read. They access to books. They have money to buy books. (5) They are literate. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Why do people write? (1) Psychological needs. Need to sort out thoughts and attitudes. Need to save thoughts and attitudes. (2) Sociological influences. Society tells them to. Hopes of economic success. Hopes of status. (3) To influence society. Ex. Political books. (4) The person knows how to write. They have time to write. They value words and ideas. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Why is artistic literature important? (1) Some think it comes closest to life. I say it is a disorganized, simple, mess. (2) Some say it transmits values. I say values can be better transmitted in ethics class. (3) Some say the emotional content is important. I say too often it is emotional at the expense, not addition, of reason. (4) How important are these ideas if you only write, if you only read, or if you do both? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Why literature? (1) Why do people write? (2) Why do people read? (3) Why study and practice writing? Arguments for and against each. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Why literature? (1) Why read literature? One can read literature, like one can enjoy all the arts, in order to gain knowledge through indirect experience, a type of virtual reality. Avoid the problems of directly experiencing bad things. Avoid the problems of an emotionless lecture. (2) Why study literature? Study literature to be a better reader of literature. Study literature to get more out of your reading of literature. 4/2/2007 Arts, literature. Why literature? Arguments against literature. No one reads any more. Literature is losing ground to audio/video, movies, computer games. 8/31/2006 Arts, literature. Why literature? Like any other art, to entertain and inform. Its fun, entertaining, enjoyable. Its informative, educational, growthful. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Why literature? Literature to solve problems. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Why literature? Why write? And more broadly, why do artists create art? (1) To sell, to make money, to make a living. Economic reasons. (2) To solve problems. Artists live in a world that has problems to solve. To see wrongs righted. A statement of ethics. (3) Artists, like other people, value certain things. Art to say, "This is good and valuable." To celebrate the good. To shame the bad. Art as a statement of ethics. (4) To say, "This is my world. This is the way I see the world." Art to make a statement of metaphysics. To describe. (5) Art is a way of thinking and knowing about the world, and thus, art is a type of epistemological statement. (6) Artists make art because its pleasurable to make art. Its enjoyable, fun. For example, music. (7) Personal reasons. To work out personal problems. (8) Social reasons. To improve society. (9) To teach. To show and tell. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. Why literature? You may be asking yourself how studying literature is going to help you in your life? That's a good question. How will studying literature help you on the job? How will studying literature help you off the job? The answer is that people tell stories all the time, everywhere. The better you can analyze and interpret the stories you hear, the better you will communicate with others, and the better you will do in life. The better you can create compelling stories, the better you will be able to communicate with others, and the better you will do in life. Literature is about stories. People often use stories to think and communicate. Studying literature helps develop thinking and communication skills. 1/20/2007 Arts, literature. Why study literature? How study literature (see literary criticism)? 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Why study literature? Literature is a form of art. Art is a way of thinking. Art is a form of knowledge. Knowledge is good and useful. Knowledge helps humans pursue truth and justice. There are various types of knowledge, varying in their degree of ambiguity. Math is a type of knowledge that has no ambiguity. For example, one plus one always equals two, and never three or four. Science is a type of knowledge that relies on experiment in addition to rational argument. Philosophy is a type of knowledge that relies on rational argument. Art is a type of knowledge that relies on indirect experience. For example, in literature, you experience the story through your identification with the characters. Art also often relies on a loose style of metaphorical thinking rather than on strict logical argument. 4/2/2007 Arts, literature. Why study literature? Literature is an art. Many people think in an artistic mode. Many people produce and consume art. The world is full of art. There is much good art, and good literature. Many good ideas and attitudes are found in literature. 4/2/2007 Arts, literature. Why study literature? To study literature is to read closely and critically. There are several reasons to study literature. (1) To develop arguments about what a book means. To develop arguments about why a book is good, and how good it is. To build a canon of what books are considered good. (2) To learn how to write well. To learn to communicate well. To learn to think well. (3) Literature, one of the arts, is an emotional education. (4) A wider question is, "Why the arts?". Art is a mode of thinking and communicating. People tell stories. (4) To get new perspectives on life. To learn more about life. To gain new views on the problems of life and possible solutions. 8/16/2006 Arts, literature. Why write (purpose)? (1) To record. (A) More permanent: easier to remember and teach. (B) More readers, bigger audience. (C) As a historical document. (D) Makes it easier to process information. (2) To communicate. (A) To inform, to entertain, to persuade. (B) To make people feel. (C) To show, to tell. (D) To state, to reply, to argue, to communicate. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Why write artistic literature? To make people feel. To impart emotional knowledge. 12/30/1992 Arts, literature. Why write literature? Why write novels, short stories, plays and poems? (1) Psychological reasons. Sometimes literature is how the idea comes to the individual. That is, sometimes the individual thinks of an idea in the form of a story or poem. Its possible that the idea is new and fuzzy. Its possible the person is repressing somewhat, and an image comes burbling up from the subconscious. (2) Sociological reasons. Sometimes literature is the most effective way to communicate an idea to other people. Sometimes people want to be entertained as well as informed. 8/20/2006 Arts, literature. You must recognize and write about your own faults, as well as the faults of the world. 11/06/1988 Arts, movies, criticism. .This section is about film criticism. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, movies, criticism. American Graffiti is about summer, youth, cars, love (young love, new love), night, and music (50's rock and roll). 7/7/1998 Arts, movies, criticism. American Graffiti. Name one thing that people do to relax. Driving around in cars with the radio playing. So why not make a movie about driving around in cars with the radio playing. A movie with cars, scenery and plenty of music. That's what the movie "American Graffiti" is about. A relaxing drive with radio playing tunes. 7/25/2002 Arts, movies, criticism. Annie Hall. People struggle to connect, and then their relationships fall apart. There is a brief intervening period of partial understanding and moderate happiness. And there are jokes, gags, quips, laughs too. 7/8/2006 Arts, movies, criticism. Apocalypse Now. (1) Savage, primitive, low technology. Dumb, animal, irrational, amoral, law of jungle. Vs. high technology, civilized, rational, moral, civilization. (2) Was Kurtz sane or insane, ethical or unethical, smart or dumb? (3) What is good and bad, and gained and lost, in becoming civilized? 07/10/1994 Arts, movies, criticism. Apocalypse Now. There were no women in that movie to keep the men loved, satisfied and sane. 7/18/1998 Arts, movies, criticism. Apocalypse Now. Why I liked Kurtz. I too felt and saw "the horror". This is beyond the usual feeling of depression and anxiety. It is more toward what Edgar Allan Poe felt. Horror. It just springs to mind for certain types of people. 04/24/1997 Arts, movies, criticism. Caddyshack: Slobs vs. snobs. Animal House: freedom (losers) vs. authority (system followers). 06/01/1993 Arts, movies, criticism. Citizen Kane. The character Charles Foster Kane was not such a bad guy. So he had an affair, big deal. And his life was not that bad. No need to cry for him. The movie had good cinematic direction but a poor story line. The story was not powerful. The story had to preach and lecture in order to spell it all out for the audience, because it could not convey its message convincingly on its own. Rosebud was a gimmick. The directing was good: shots from distances near and far. Light and dark chiarusco. Shot angles high and low. 11/15/1998 Arts, movies, criticism. Coen Brothers. "Big Lebowski" is like "Dude, Where's My Car" twenty years later. Excellent. 11/2/2001 Arts, movies, criticism. Cohen Brothers. Fargo is their best work. The winter adds emotional impact. The snow and cold draws the community together even while it threatens to kill, just like the criminals. Its the white picket fence vs. death and chaos. The winter landscape in Fargo is like the ocean in Moby Dick. The desperation of Jerry Lundgarden (Bill Macy) and the desperation of the guy who asks Francis McDermott for a date vs. the comfy coziness of Francis McDermott and her duck-drawing hubby. The woman is the center of the movie, and in the movie the woman holds the center together. 11/2/2001 Arts, movies, criticism. Deliverance. (1) Deliverance is about the edge between civilization and wild nature. Nature is represented by tractless swaths of primeval forests, raging rivers, savagery, violence, chaos, and animal drives. Civilization is represented by the community, ethics, law, and emotions and thoughts. (2) Deliverance is also about poverty, illiteracy, abandoned factories and small rural towns. (3) Deliverance is also about the hillbillies, a mountain people who are similar to the Nepalese Sherpas in how they have been both helped and hurt by contact with modern civilization. (4) Deliverance is a macho movie about men's issues. There are few women in Deliverance, and I dare say the story would have been less grim had more women been present. (5) Deliverance is an adventure movie that deals with issues such as risk, courage, death and triumph. (6) Deliverance is also a movie about the wilderness next door in your heart. 11/15/2000 Arts, movies, criticism. Diner is a good movie because life is not an action movie. Most of life involves sitting around, for example, in a diner, trying to figure out what is going on and what to do. See also, the movies "My Dinner with Andre" and "Coffee and Cigarettes". There should be more women in those movies. 12/11/2005 Arts, movies, criticism. Easy Rider. Stunning landscapes. Good music. Constant pot smoking. Obtuse, passive-aggressive, hippie dialogue. 4/28/1998 Arts, movies, criticism. Favorite actors: Ellen Barkin, Roseanne Arquette, William Dafoe, Mickey Rourke. Intelligent, sensitive, quirky. Ethereal, wispy, transcendental, frail. 02/01/1994 Arts, movies, criticism. Good movie about post grad academia: The Paper Chase. (1) Deals with how to go through the school grinder without losing your humanity (ethical principles, emotional sensitivity, sociability). (2) How to get over sycophantic worship of professors, which is really an immature worship of an authority figure (like rents, god, dictator, etc.). (3) How to do the above two without caving into pressure and dropping out or going nuts. 01/23/1997 Arts, movies, criticism. Good psychology movies. What About Bob. Good Will Hunting. Ordinary People. Prince of Tides. 12/29/1997 Arts, movies, criticism. Groundhog Day. A movie that is guaranteed a rerun every year. A movie that, when aired on Groundhog's day eve, causes a deja vu the next day that is remarkably like that experienced by the movie's main character, played by Bill Murray. A movie that gets better, more powerful in its effect, every time you see it. A movie that reflects life, in that most of us spend our time doing the same thing over and over. One day is much like the next at work. And we repeat our mistakes until we learn and improve. 02/15/1997 Arts, movies, criticism. Lost in Translation" is about two staples of modern civilization: hotel rooms and insomnia. It is a subtle and mellow movie: I can recall only one car chase scene and one shooting scene. A fair and balanced look at cheating. 9/22/2003 Arts, movies, criticism. Metaphysical wierdness. Groundhog Day. Truman Show. Both excellent movies. 9/25/2000 Arts, movies, criticism. On the Waterfront. An excellent movie. 10/1/2003 Arts, movies, criticism. Paul favorites. Drama: Taxi Driver, Deliverance; Last Tango in Paris; Raging Bull; Apocalypse Now. Comedy: Animal House; Caddy Shack; Pee Wee's Big Adventure. 12/06/1993 Arts, movies, criticism. Sidney Poitier's, "I don't owe you anything.", speech from "Guess Who's Coming for Dinner". He says ideas similar to what I have figured out and written on my own. 04/24/1997 Arts, movies, criticism. The Big Chill is about people struggling to define themselves, their relationships, and their world. 4/1/2005 Arts, movies, criticism. The Matrix. The movie "The Matrix" is a metaphor for the Internet. Most people think the Internet is just surface. Underneath and behind the Internet is another level where web people dwell. 6/1/2003 Arts, movies, criticism. The Verdict. You gather yourself together and do it again. Even if you feel washed up. Give it another try. 7/8/2006 Arts, movies. .This section is about movies or film. Topics include: ( ) Acting. ( ) Directing. ( ) What are movies. ( ) Why make movies. Why watch movies. 1/24/2006 Arts, movies. (1) A movie without people. (2) A movie without characters. For example, no humans, and no non-human talking animals. (3) What would it be like? Would it be a shot of trees waving in the breeze? A landscape shot. How interesting would that be to the average audience? The popularity of movies is based on the fact that people enjoy observing other people. 10/20/2004 Arts, movies. (1) Movies are bigger than life when the screen is large. (2) Movies are preserved for all time. (3) Movies are easily replicated and distributed. 7/18/1998 Arts, movies. (1) Movies are easy to consume. (2) Movies elicit emotion easily. Movies are emotionally powerful. They make you cry easily. 3/30/1998 Arts, movies. (1) Pop movies (commercial success) vs. critically acclaimed movies. (2) Great art movies vs. great idea movies. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. (1) Simple movies. Single fixed-position camera. Single fixed-position actor. (2) Complex movies. Multiple moving cameras. Multiple moving actors. 2/28/2004 Arts, movies. (1) The initial appeal of movies was that movies are like real life. Movies seem real. Movies are life-like. A movie is an audio/visual experience that simulates real life in a way that no written text can. (2) The next appeal of movies is that movies, in some ways, are better than real life. Movies are more exciting than real life. Movies are more packed with emotion than real life. Movies have interesting, beautiful people in them, often in exotic, far off lands. If you lead an relatively boring life then movies are better than life. Movies exceed life. 4/15/2005 Arts, movies. A movie exercise. Watch a movie with a partner, one of you blindfolded, the other with earphones that block out the movie soundtrack but lets you hear the other persons voice. You must both communicate to enjoy the movie. 3/10/2000 Arts, movies. A purely visual movie (for example, silent and without subtitles) can exist. A purely aural movie (for example, just spoken word) makes less sense. Thus, the movies are primarily a visual medium. 4/8/2001 Arts, movies. Acting and appearances. (1) Convincing appearance: Good acting means you cannot tell the person is acting. Good acting is thus invisible. It depends on the acuity of the audience, and thus good acting is a relative term. (2) Unconvincing appearance: You see through it (so to speak). Bad acting is noticeable, like a musical note struck off key. 4/8/2001 Arts, movies. Acting and personality. (1) Can a person effectively act a role that is opposite their core personality? Or do we always bring some of ourself to any role we act? (2) A complaint about average actors is that they seem the same in every role they play. They are uni-dimensional people. A compliment to good actors is that they are versatile and can play a wide variety of roles. They are multidimensional. (3) Yet you cannot act a role that you know nothing of. 9/15/2002 Arts, movies. Acting and personality. (1) Therefore, there is always something of the self in every role we play. (2) There is always something of the other in every role we play. (3) We are always acting to some degree. We act in social situations. We even act to ourselves. (4) Another word for acting is "lying" and "secrecy". (5) Where is honesty? Be it to others or to ourselves. (6) The entire notion of acting calls into question the concept of a stable, unified self. 9/20/2002 Arts, movies. Acting, definitions of. (1) Pretending. Pretending to be someone you are not. Deception. Impostor. For example, pretending to be a bus driver when you are not. (2) Social based definitions of acting. Playing a role in a social setting. For example, playing the social role of a bus driver in real life when you actually are a bus driver. There are many social roles that people play. (3) Art based definitions of acting. Playing a role on a stage. For example, playing the role of a bus driver on a theater or film stage. The crucial point here is that the audience knows you are an actor. The audience knows "its only a movie". (4) Psychological based definitions of acting. (A) Trying to convince yourself. For example, acting interested even when you are not. (B) Cases of self deception. Trying to kid yourself. 10/20/2004 Arts, movies. Acting. (1) Acting as an aid to survival. Acting as an evolutionary advantage. (2) Acting as deception, manipulation, lying. (3) Acting as bodily expression, akin to dance. (4) Acting as story telling or narrative. (5) Acting as an exercise of the imagination. (6) Acting as role swapping. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes. (7) Acting defined as action. Action is inevitable. Humans are active creatures. Bodies in motion. Movement. (8) Acting as a facade, pose, bluff, front. Fronting, posing, bluffing. (9) Acting normal. 7/31/2005 Arts, movies. Acting. (1) Acting as pretending and play. Children play from an early age. At what age do children start playing, "Let's pretend"? Acting can be seen as a continuation of the child's game "Let's pretend". (2) Acting as role playing. Role playing can be a form of psychotherapy. Thus acting, and even watching acting, is a form of psychotherapy. (3) Acting and social role playing. All social interaction is a form of acting. All social interaction is a form of role playing. On the one hand, we act like how we would like to be seen by others. On the other hand, we act like how we think others would like us to be. All in order to get what we want and to please others. (4) Acting is a way of thinking by doing. People use their body and actions as an aid to their "minding" or thinking. For example, pacing the floor, scratching the head, etc. (5) Acting is a way of communicating by doing. People can communicate without words through the use of posture, gesture, facial expression, etc. 4/26/2005 Arts, movies. Acting. (1) Psychology of acting. Why does one feel compelled to act? With or without an audience. With or without the audience knowing it is an act. What is going on in the head of the actor? (2) Sociology of acting. What does the actor get from the audience? What does audience get from the actor? 9/20/2002 Arts, movies. Acting. (1) The basis of everyday acting is in conflicted thoughts, conflicted emotions, and conflicted attitudes (thoughts and emotions). Example, I'm attracted to a villainess but I know she is evil so I act one way yet feel and think another way. We all do this in real life. We are all actors in real life. (2) Two definitions of acting. (A) Acting defined as behaving. (B) Acting defined as putting on an act, which may not be "truthful" in that it is not how we really feel or think, but it may be truthful in that it is really the front we want to show a person. See number one above. (3) Deception is another thing. (4) Acting in film, i.e., playing someone else, is yet another thing. (5) The amount that movie acting can tell us about everyday sociology is staggering. 12/27/1998 Arts, movies. Acting. (1) Underacting: Deadpan actors like Michael Moriarity and Robert Redford. Negative views of under-acting are that it is not emotionally expressive. Not emotionally giving. Repressed. A positive views says these under-actors are letting the audience project their own meaning on the character in the scene. (2) Acting. Emotionally giving. (3) Over-acting: Hysterical. Histrionics. Ex., later Deniro and Pacino. Theater acting. The theater requires over-acting to reach the cheap seats, and the movies tone it down for close-ups, thus movie actors sometimes feel underacting is by nature good, but this is a mistake. 1/20/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. Acting a role is like wearing a costume. Acting can be used to reveal as well as hide. Acting and fashion are often used to explore and experiment. 9/20/2002 Arts, movies. Acting. Acting as action. Acting as gestures when a person is talking. Acting as body language. When we discuss acting we are discussing body, body position, and body movement. In this way, acting is very close to dance. (See also: Arts, dance). 12/28/2006 Arts, movies. Acting. Actors feign emotions for catharsis of the audience. The character or face of the actor must appear truthful. We all act (i.e. feign, fake, and hide secrets) to get what we want. 12/30/1996 Arts, movies. Acting. Can an actor truthfully and believably play a character smarter than he or she is? Good question. Are great actors necessarily smart? Or just good mimics? 10/15/1994 Arts, movies. Acting. Everyone acts, whether its social acting or dramatic acting. (1) Social acting is the faces we put on to negotiate our way through daily life. Social acting is done in "real life" and it is when the audience does not know we are acting. (2) Dramatic acting, or theatrical acting, is the acting one does to tell a story. Dramatic acting is when our audience knows its a play and knows we are acting. 12/28/2006 Arts, movies. Acting. Four increasing levels of audience involvement in a work of art. (1) Audience is interested or curious about the characters in the work of art. (2) Audience has an emotional like or dislike for characters. (3) Audience feels a connection to the character. An empathic "I know what you mean." or "I feel your pain". (4) Audience becomes the character, and actually lives through the characters. 1/21/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. Great acting means consistently doing an excellent job in one take. Poor acting means consistently doing a barely adequate job in many takes. 9/15/1998 Arts, movies. Acting. Key to acting. (1) Not letting the audience know you are faking the response. (2) Pick the right response (emotion, attitude). (3) Communicate the response well. 11/16/1997 Arts, movies. Acting. One shouldn't use acting, or any art, as a stand-in for dealing with your life directly. 1/21/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. Origins of acting. When you mimic in voice and gesture, or when you do an impression, that is a primitive form of acting. 9/20/2002 Arts, movies. Acting. The basis for all acting is taking on the role of another person. I am using the term "acting" broadly here, as a social phenomena not restricted to art. When we describe a social situation by saying "She was all like...(gesture). And he was all like...(gesture).", we are taking the role of another person, that is, we are acting like another person. This was a big step when humans started doing this hundreds of thousands of years ago. 10/28/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. The evolution of acting. When did humans evolve the ability to act theatrically? When did humans develop the ability to play a role of someone other than themselves? When did humans develop the ability to impersonate someone? When did humans develop the ability to mimic? Mimicry is very common in the animal kingdom. Psychologists have discovered "mirror cells" in the brain, which help animals mimic. 11/10/2006 Arts, movies. Acting. The sound of an actors voice is often as important as how they look. Yet very few people notice it. 4/8/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. There is a psychological phenomenon of acting and there is a sociological phenomenon of acting. Some would argue that acting is a psychological coping strategy and a sociological survival strategy. The psychopathology called hysteria or histrionics can also be called overacting. Repression is a form of underacting. 9/20/2002 Arts, movies. Acting. Thinking and feeling one thing yet saying another thing. Thats acting. Saying one thing and doing another thing. Thats acting. Or its hypocrisy. 10/20/2004 Arts, movies. Acting. Truth of integrated character responding truthfully in movement, looks, and speech (thoughts, and words or diction). 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Acting. Two types of acting, social acting and theatrical acting. (1) Social acting. People engage in social acting in everyday life. People act socially when playing various social roles such as parent, worker, friend, etc. (2) Theatrical acting. People engage in theatrical acting when putting on plays. People also act theatrically when telling stories, even if its amongst friends and not on a stage. 11/10/2006 Arts, movies. Acting. Two types of actors. (1) Invisible actors: only show the character and do not show themselves through the character. (2) Visible actors: let themselves show through the character. 1/15/2001 Arts, movies. Acting. Walking down the street, people seem to see something in you that you know is just not there. And yet they see it, so for them it is there. This unfeigned falsity must be the root of all acting. 3/25/2002 Arts, movies. Actor as faker, liar, or poseur. 8/15/1998 Arts, movies. Analysis of film (See art notes. See literature notes). Plot, theme, setting, subject, view. How good the message, and how well said. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. At the movies, people sitting quietly in the darkness, like astronomers. 4/15/2005 Arts, movies. Balance of power on the movie set. Is the movie set a dictatorship or democracy? That depends on how power is distributed. (1) Do-It-Yourself auter. One person writes, directs, produces and acts. (2) Egalitarian movie sets: Swapping roles. Everyone knows how to do every task. Everyone does every task (writer, actor, director, producer) at some point in the movie. 5/14/2004 Arts, movies. Casting physical types to play their corresponding character types. Could anything be more boring? Character types are boring to begin with. Reinforcing a character type with a physical type is doubly boring. I say, no types, character or physical. 6/17/2001 Arts, movies. Comic books. American's love comic book movies. Fantasy. Escapism. Infantilism. 5/27/2006 Arts, movies. Criticism. The question is usually not whether a movie is good technically, artistically, etc.. The question is usually, "Is the movie about a subject that society thinks is important, and does the movie say what society thinks should be said on the subject? 2/10/2002 Arts, movies. De rigeur for Hollywood movies: A car chase. A shoot-out. A fist fight. A physical stunt. An explosion. A love (sex) scene. 11/20/2001 Arts, movies. Directing, task of. Choosing cast. Choosing locations. Choosing shots (frame size or distance, geographic direction of shot). Choosing takes to use. Editing (cuts and splices). 6/9/2004 Arts, movies. Directing. Two tasks of the director. Director picks the shots in filming. Director makes the cuts in editing. 10/20/2004 Arts, movies. Favorite actors: Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges. 11/15/2001 Arts, movies. Film combines words, music, visual images and theater. Film is a synthesis of the arts that preceded it. 6/14/2000 Arts, movies. Goals. (1) Make a list of 5 star movies. See ones you haven't seen. (2) Rent or buy a camcorder, make your own short movies. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Great movies in terms of artistic aspects, theme, message, idea aspects, historical significance (first, or best). You could watch one a week and do the top 100 in two years. 01/01/1993 Arts, movies. How to "hollywood-ize" a book by turning it into a movie. (1) Gross oversimplification of the story. Leave stuff out. (2) Fictionalize. Add things to the story that simply are not true. (3) Sentimentalize. Play up emotion. Tug at heart strings. 2/10/2002 Arts, movies. I cannot get behind an art that requires a lot of technology, so I cannot get behind movies. However, in defense of movies, one can argue that a person can move from theater to film, or from comics to film, in much the same way that a person can move from pen and paper writing to hypertext writing, or from pen and paper writing to database writing. So if one criticizes movies for using excess technology, then one can criticize web pages and blogs for using excess technology. 3/5/2007 Arts, movies. If someone makes a great movie from a great book or a great play then they have not really accomplished much. 6/16/1998 Arts, movies. If you digitally filmed every minute of every day, how much data would that be? How many GB will a 16 hour day of audio/video require? A two hour movie requires 5 GB. 16 hours will require 40 GB a day. 365 days x 40 GB per day = 12000 GB for one year. PART TWO. Digitally filming every day. By sharing this data between people you are sharing life. The results: (1) You can lead many lives. You can be many people, not just one. (2) Increased empathy. When you ask "how did your day go?", you can see for yourself by watching the playback. 8/3/2002 Arts, movies. In my opinion the 100 best books are much better than the 100 best movies. No contest. What then can justify movies? Perhaps when some people read a book they are unable to imagine the story so clearly as to be able to see the story like a movie in their mind. Perhaps some people do not have a "movie-grade" imagination when it comes to reading books. Perhaps when they read a novel it is about as exciting as reading highway directions or reading a food recipe. For these people, the movies must seem like a mind-blowing revelation. 6/20/2000 Arts, movies. Independent movies vs. major studio movies. (1) The trend in independent movies today is digital film. Digital movies can be shot with a small, inexpensive digital camera, edited with a computer, and distributed on the Internet. Digital film gives more creative power to more filmmakers. Digital film gives more viewing choices to more film go-ers. (2) Digital films by independent movie-makers are a defense against the forces of the major-studio movie industry. The major studios want to make money. The major studios are corporations driven by profits. So they make movies that appeal to mass audiences in order to sell a lot of tickets. This leads to several negative effects: (A) Lots of mindless sex and violence. (B) Minorities are under-represented. (C) Controversial subjects and views are not discussed. (D) No unsettling topics, like, for example, the state of the world. Only happy fantasy movies. (E) No experimentation, no creativity, no art . Use only formulas that work. (F) Reuse product. Make sequels. (G) Don't challenge the audience. Don't make the audience think. 4/4/2000 Arts, movies. It defeats the purpose of movies to call a movie great if that movie is based on a book, because that is just like saying the book is great. A step further, all movies are based on a written script, and for any great movie you could just read the script, because the script stands on its own. 6/21/2000 Arts, movies. Most important in movies are the writers, not the actors, director, or producer. The writer gives us the story (plot, theme), character and dialogue. 3/30/1998 Arts, movies. Most movies seem dumb. Is this due to the fact that most movies are geared to a mass audience? Not necessarily. Or is it due to the fact that the movie industry does not attract intelligent people? Not really. Or is it due to the fact that the medium of movies does not deal well with abstract concepts and thus the medium itself works to prevent smart movies from being made? Yes, that's probably why. 11/10/2001 Arts, movies. Movement of camera in relationship to subject. Size of frame. Size of element in frame. Point of view in sphere. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Movie idea. Make a movie created out of clips from other movies. Its about a guy and a girl. But the guy and girl are represented by a series of guys and girls from a series of clips from other movies. 3/17/2000 Arts, movies. Movie industry. Money spent, money taken in, number of people employed, and number of people it reaches. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Movie music trivia. Hum the themes from Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, and Star Wars. Whistle the themes from Great Escape, Hogans Heroes, and Bridge over the River Kwai. 11/29/1998 Arts, movies. Movies are complicated, requiring many people and much technology. Hollywood reinforces this by often giving Oscar awards to big, expensive, epic productions. Movies are traditionally not simple, quick, do-it-yourself works. 4/8/2001 Arts, movies. Movies are the closest thing to real life. 3/30/1998 Arts, movies. Movies go by the "show, don't tell" slogan. But its difficult to "show" an abstract idea. Therefore, movies tend not to deal with abstract concepts. When they do attempt to deal with abstract ideas they tend to do so poorly. Yet, one may ask, how much can one say without using abstract concepts? 9/28/2000 Arts, movies. Movies of the future. (1) The viewer is surrounded by 3-D holograms of real life actors. (2) The next step would be actors that are not based on real people, but rather digitally created bodies (and personalities). (3) Interactive. Plot changes with your dialogue and physical interaction with the characters. 4/22/1999 Arts, movies. Movies. Movies attempt to incorporate literature, visual arts and music into a multimedia display. 9/5/2004 Arts, movies. No film I ever saw ever knocked me out. Gave me the "wow" effect. Blew my mind. Left a strong and lasting impression. Not one. There I said it. 12/27/1998 Arts, movies. Number of movies must see for (1) Historical significance. (2) Theme or plot. (3) Acting, directing, or technical. If you could see one per week, that is 52 per year, and 100 hours killed. 12/06/1993 Arts, movies. On the set. Acting, directing, writing, producing, cinematography, who has the most power in flick vs. who added the most creativity. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. One view is that movies are essentially a stupid medium, unable to convey abstract thought, and that is why most movies seem dumb. 1/2/2005 Arts, movies. Other tasks. Costumes, makeup, props. Set, stage, background. Lighting. Cinematographer. 6/9/2004 Arts, movies. PART ONE. Goal: bring the audience "into" the movie by using a convergence of technologies: (1) Three dimensional technology. (2) Interactive technology. (3) Digital movie making technology. (4) RPG role playing game technology. (5) Virtual reality technology. (6) Computer based training technology. PART TWO. Another three goals: Achieve social interaction with other characters. Achieve environmental interaction with the setting. Achieve psychological interaction with your own character. 7/20/2001 Arts, movies. Power on the movie set. Who has most power on the set? When can a great actor outrank a mediocre director? 6/9/2004 Arts, movies. Question: In a movie without any dialogue or narration, of what importance is the writer? Answer: He still comes up with the story. 2/10/2002 Arts, movies. Quirky comedies: Rushmore. Wonderboys. Big Lebowski. Throw Momma. Election. Sideways. 3/2/2006 Arts, movies. Related subjects. Televisions's effect on film. Film's effect on television. Video's affect on both film and television. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Show, don't tell, they SAY. 11/2/2001 Arts, movies. Show, don't tell. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. Silent movies with no captions transcend language and can be shown anywhere in the world. Why are silent movies not more popular? 8/4/2002 Arts, movies. Some people do not enjoy reading. Can you believe it? Text has little appeal to them. In some cases they do not even enjoy talking. Words in general do not thrill them. These people are thrilled by pictures or music. Movies delight these people. 11/6/2001 Arts, movies. Sometimes a movie is good based on either good writing, good acting or good direction. (1) Good writing movies: George Kaufman's scripts. (2) Good acting movies: Ellen Barkin's movies. (3) Good directing movies: Orson Welle's "Citizen Kane". 12/28/2003 Arts, movies. Summary. (1) Movies are the easiest form of art to consume? Good for passive consumption. (2) Movies are the most emotionally evocative form of art? Movies make people cry easily, fall in love easily, etc. Is it just the music in the sound track that adds the emotional impact to movies? (3) Movies synthesize all the preceding arts (music, words, images, etc.). (4) Movies do not deal well with abstract ideas. Movies deal better with concrete situations. 11/15/2001 Arts, movies. Technology. Cameras: size of film; b&w, color; video. Projection. Silent vs. sound, b&w vs. color. Editing: for tension. Music and sound effects. Special effects. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. There is something about almost all movies that reminds me of educational shorts. Contrived. Transparent. 10/19/2005 Arts, movies. Things we say about bad movies. (1) Acting was not believable. (2) Story was not believable. Story was not interesting. (3) Poor production values. Poor lighting. Lighting too dark. Poor sound. Sound muffled. (4) Poor editing. Edits don't flow smoothly. (5) Music score does not fit mood of the film. (6) The message, the theme, was not new, true or important. (7) Bloopers. Mistakes. Flubs. (8) Didn't make one think. Didn't make one feel. Left no impression. 5/1/2005 Arts, movies. Three cool digital age movie technologies. Digital camcorders. Digital projectors. Digital webcasting. 1/3/2000 Arts, movies. Three types of movies. Movies that provide a sensory experience. Movies that make you feel, and that move you emotionally. Movies that make you think. 7/8/2006 Arts, movies. Three views of who the camera represents. (1) Camera as audience. (2) Camera as narrator. (3) Camera as author or director. 2/28/2004 Arts, movies. Types of movies. (1) Silent movies. (2) Movies with dialogue and sound effects. (3) Movies with a musical soundtrack. (4) Movies with dialogue, sound effects, and a musical soundtrack. 10/19/2005 Arts, movies. View the film component by component. Visuals only. Sound track only. Dialogue only. Musical score only. Special effects only. 5/1/2005 Arts, movies. What are movies? (1) Movies reach the most people of all media. (2) Most powerful media in 20th century? (3) Most important 20th century art form? (4) Movies are the dominant art form at this time and place. (5) Movies combine: words, images, actions, sound, and music. (6) Film as communication. (7) Film as art. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. What do movies have that theater does not? (1) Special effects. (2) Exotic locations. (3) Closeups. 3/29/2002 Arts, movies. What if you tried to learn about the world only by watching movies? A the other extreme, what if you tried to learn about the world without watching any movies? 1/10/2006 Arts, movies. What, contra. Film: what can you say in two hours? Books: are portable, easier to look through. 12/30/1992 Arts, movies. What, contra. Film. Its a truism that people like the book better than the movie. (1) A book leaves more to the imagination, it is a better mental workout, and it is more mentally active. (2) Also, two hours of dialogue takes up 50 written pages. Books are around 200 to 300 written pages. There is more information in a book. 06/05/1997 Arts, movies. What, pro. The main strong point of movies is that they let the viewer take a trip without going anywhere. Country folk go to the city, and city folk go to the country. Dr. Zhivago is a great scenery movie. The Russian landscape is evocative and emotive. Tom Horn was great in this respect too. 01/07/1997 Arts, movies. Why I don't like movies: because I am not a big fan of narrative. 2/7/2000 Arts, movies. With a moving face and a tender voice on a silver screen the movies perhaps come closest of all the arts to real communication. 3/14/2000 Arts, movies. Works. Screenplay: A Day in the Life of a Philosopher. Scene One: The philosopher wakes up and spends ten minutes staring at the ceiling. The philosopher then swings his legs out of bed and spends ten minutes sitting on the edge of the bed thinking. Scene Two: The shower. The philosopher spends ten minutes thinking in the shower. The philosopher gets a good idea. Scene Three: Morning walk. The philosopher gets another good idea. Scene four: The cafe. The philosopher stares absently while the waitress asks him how he likes his coffee. The philosopher pays for his coffee with a twenty dollar bill and walks away without getting his change. Scene five. The study. The philosopher takes out a blank sheet of paper and pen. He stares at the paper. He stares up in the air. He stares at the paper. Raises an eyebrow. Knits eyebrow. Taps pen on desk. Looks out window. Writes something. Scratches it out. Writes something else. To be continued. 4/21/2005 Arts, movies. Works. Short film. How to Survive a Bear Attack. Scene One: Instructor says, "In this video we could not afford a real bear so we use a man in a bear suit. We will teach you how to use kung fu to protect yourself from a bear who also knows kung fu." Scene Two: Shot of a actor dressed as a camper and an actor wearing a bear suit kung fu fighting in a variety of situations. Scene Three: Instructor says, "In our next example we will show how a bear who knows kung fu protects itself against a gorilla who also knows kung fu." Scene Four: Shot of an actor in bear suit kung fu fighting with an actor in a gorilla suit. Scene Five: Instructor says, "Using these techniques a person, or a bear, or a gorilla, can enjoy their camping trip." Scene Six: Shot of a man, a bear and a gorilla having tea in the woods. 4/21/2005 Arts, movies. Works. The Philosopher, continued. Scene: It is evening, and the philosopher is in yet another cafe'. He reads a book, oblivious to his surroundings. At the next table, a beautiful woman finds the philosopher's introversion attractive. She says, "What are you reading?" He says, "I'm reading a book of philosophy." She says, "What's it about?" He says, "I could tell you, but then I would have to explain it to you." She says, "Is that what you do? You are a philosopher?" He says, "Yes, that is correct." She says, "Well, what do you say we go to your place and hop like bunnies." She winks at him. He says, "I have difficulty forming a counter-argument to your contention." She says, "Is that a yes?" He says, "Yes." 7/8/2006 Arts, music, composition. .This section considers principles and methods of composition in music. 12/30/2003 Arts, music, composition. .This section is about music composition. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, music, composition. A record or set should run the gamut of emotions. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. All sections and parts must work well, and work well together. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Arrangement: who says what, when, how, why. Depends on the number of instruments, total and of each type (brass, woodwind, string, percussion, etc.) 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Arrangements. Pick your instruments, bust up song between them, orchestrate by style. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Arranging for guitar. How best to arrange a pop song for solo guitar and voice? What types of rhythms and chords to use? 9/24/1998 Arts, music, composition. Blurring the line between rhythm and melody. A melody of short, repetitive notes played within a narrow range of pitch has a rhythmic effect. 11/13/2004 Arts, music, composition. Composition goal: all well elements working well together, for words and music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Composition problems. (1) Too much or not enough of a thing. (2) Temporal parts don't flow. (3) Element parts don't mix. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Composition takes energy, instinct, taste, drive, emotion, and vision. 01/01/1993 Arts, music, composition. Composition: for all styles. Start with simplest and most prototypical musical statements, and work to complex, esoteric and wide ranging musical statements. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Composition: structure, unity, variety, and flow. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Compositional techniques. Add (fill in, decorate), subtract (leave out, minimal), expand, condense. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Emotions: pleasure vs. pain songs. Serious and heavy vs. silly, funny and light. Areas: sex and work. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Find a foundational chord progression, melody, rhythm and poem, then add the other stuff. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Four track recording. Lay down a grooving (danceable), funky (syncopated) beat. Punchy rhythm guitar chops. Melodic wailing lead. Bluesy rough vocal. Do big jams, and splice what you like together. Do a final version. 01/01/1993 Arts, music, composition. How to record without a four track. (1) Rerecord riffs on two recorders. (2) Keep building off them. (3) Work up to one performance with everything arranged temporally, one after another. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Key to composition is your environment. (1) Internal environment: mind (high t, high energy). (2) External environment. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Layer riff over riff, complex rhythms and harmonies are interesting. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Lead or foreground vs. back up or background. For any element. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Let the rhythms and words speak the anger. Let the melody and wailing speak the pain, sadness. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Orchestration. (1) One man versions: voice, guitar, harmonica, tapping foot. (2) Power trio version: lead, bass, drum. (3) Deuling guitars: lead and rhythm. (4) Horns and organ added. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. PART ONE. Musical notes and chords are often used interchangeably. For example, when a musician plays a quick run of chords that trace a melodic line, it is using chords like notes. Another example, a fast run of notes can sound like a chord, and is like using notes as chords. A third example, when an electric guitarist plays a slow progression of notes through a speaker that amplifies, resonates and distorts the notes, it is like using notes as chords. PART TWO. Another way notes and chords are related is through "filling in" and "leaving out". For example, if you fill in the gaps between the chords in a chord progression you essentially create a line of notes. Another example, if you leave out some of the notes in a melodic line you have essentially created a chord progression. PART THREE. In a similar way, the beats in a rhythm can be either "filled in" or "left out". This is an example of how melody and rhythm are related. For example, when drums of various pitches, such as snare drum, tom-tom drum and base drum, are used in a musical work, the line between rhythm and melody is blurred. (B) Melody and rhythm are related. Changing the key of a melody is analogous to changing the tempo of a rhythm. 11/12/2004 Arts, music, composition. Put all your pain and emotional energy into your compositions. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Rock and roll composition. Best when young, with outrageous, out of your mind sex drive. When you are older your drives, interests and concerns change. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Soloing and improvisation. (1) How many measures to take? (2) What are the chord changes in those measures? (3) Create something individual, interesting, logical, complete, moving. (4) Within a starting and ending time and pitch. (5) Tell a story, with pauses along the way. (6) How far to move away and stay away from main line song with all its elements (melody, harmony, rhythm)? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Sounds are put together vertically and horizontally (linearly). 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. The trick is to find a melodic hook or phrase, a cool interval, a rhythmic chop, or a cool progression that means something to you; that makes you feel emotion; that is unique, different, new or interesting. Then build off it, adding to it while keeping the essence and integrity of the core idea. 09/20/1994 Arts, music, composition. Unity vs. variation. You must perfectly balance the two. Avoid boredom of excess unity, and avoid incomprehensibility of excess variation. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. When your mental concepts change, your ability to write lyrics changes. Ex. (1) Me now lyrics: "I am suffering a profound metaphysical identity crisis". (2) Me then lyrics: "Oh, my head." 12/30/1992 Arts, music, composition. Write an ultimate, prototypical song for each style. Pick out an ultimate, prototypical song for each style from the existing world repertoire. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism, specific. .This section is about criticism of specific music works and musicians. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. "Bad to the Bone", by George Thouroughgood. The ultimate macho strut. 04/04/1994 Arts, music, criticism, specific. "Don't Look Back", by Boston is rock's most optimistic song, which is quite an achievement. 4/4/1999 Arts, music, criticism, specific. "Rain" by the Beatles. Finally a happy song about the rain. Lifts weather related gloom. 09/26/1997 Arts, music, criticism, specific. "Time Passages", by Al Stewart, on the Year of the Cat album. 10/5/2003 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1950's. (1) Little Richard. Little Richard has verve. ( ) Chuck Berry has nerve. ( ) Fats Domino is like Little Richards alter ego. ( ) Ray Charles was a major talent. ( ) Elvis. Elvis was a major talent. Early Elvis bravely crossed the race line. However, I think later Elvis is overrated. Elvis is being worshiped. Worship, in general, is not healthy, even in a religious context. ( ) Jerry Lee Lewis. Great Balls of Fire. ( ) Buddy Holly. Buddy is a little bland. ( ) Do Wop music. Acapella music. Vocal music. Beautiful. Innocent. Virginal. Sanitized. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. (1) Beatles. (2) Beach Boys. (3) Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones built on the work of Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. (1) The Who. Pete Townsend has talent. (3) Van Morrison. I was listening to side two of the album "Bang Masters", by Van Morrison. (2) Cream was a good band. I am not that impressed by Clapton's work after Cream. I do not think Clapton is the greatest guitarist ever. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin, in the 1960's. Powerful. Soulful. A liberated woman. An empowered African-American. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Burt Bachrach and Dione Warwick. Do You Know the Way to San Jose. Sort of cool. Sort of pop. Complex, challenging musical orchestration. Sophisticated. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Folk rock. Pete Seegar. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Grateful Dead is happy music. Grateful Dead is soma music. Grateful Dead music does not confront, neither in the lyrics nor the music, the problems of the world and the pain caused by the problems of the world. Grateful Dead is not really rock, blues or jazz. Grateful Dead is primarily country rock. I am not a fan of country music. 10/29/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. James Brown. James Brown's made music in the mid 1960's that still sounds fresh today. His band was tight. James Brown influenced a lot of people. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Jimi Hendrix. Are You Experienced, by Jimi Hendrix. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Motown. Motown was a type of soul. Holland, Dozier Holland were super songwriters. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Much sixties rock has an raw, unpolished, under-produced sound. Likewise, the lyrics are somewhat coarse and unrefined. Some call it garage rock. Many of the early songs were about having fun. (1) Wild Thing, by the Trogs. (2) Wooly Bully, by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. (3) Louie, Louie, by the Kingsmen. (4) The Zombies are underrated. (5) Girl, you really got me, by the Kinks. Ray Davies and the Kinks crafted some prototypical rock guitar riffs. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Phil Spector and the Girl Groups. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. Roy Orbison. Only the Lonely, by Roy Orbison. There is something earnest about the music of Roy Orbison. Roy Orbison is a person not afraid to emote. There are hints of Hawaiian-Japanese cowboy ukulele music in the music of Roy Orbison. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1960's. The Grateful Dead. Criticism of the Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead is happy music. The Grateful Dead is escape music. The Grateful Dead is Soma music, meant to pacify. The Grateful Dead is not thinking music. The Grateful Dead does not make a social statement. There is a limit to how much "relax and feel good" music I want to hear. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Bruce Springsteen. Jungleland, by Bruce Springsteen. Thunderroad, by Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen can be nostalgia-rific, sentimental, and romantic. Bruce idealizes blue collar, small town America. Bruce romanticizes the love affairs of high school sweethearts. Its a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Disco. Disco was dance music. Dance music is usually sort of mindless, but it does make your body move. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Funk. Funky Fresh is a lovely paradox. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Led Zeppelin. There is a brain behind the music of Led Zeppelin, but not behind the lyrics. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Pink Floyd. Time, by Pink Floyd. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Punk. Punk was mindless rebellion. Sometimes a person is in the mood for a little mindless rebellion. But I wouldn't want to live there. Sex Pistols. Ramones. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Reggae. Reggae is a music of active political resistance. Reggae is also a music of stoner hedonism. To fuse activism and hedonism in one music is an achievement. Listen to Bob Marley. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Soul. (1) Stevie Wonder. (2) Al Green. (3) Marvin Gaye. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Southern rock was reactionary views set to rock rhythm. Much like, even worse, Christian rock is reactionary views set to a rock rythmn. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Superfreak, by Rick James, is a major hit that is early hip hop. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. The 1970's was the apotheosis of rock music. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1970's. Tom Petty. American Girl, by Tom Petty. Sometimes, when you are a fresh, idealistic teen, you have a vision of true love, and you just want to get laid. That's a good thing. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1980's Euro-synth-romantics. The 1980's were a difficult time for rock, what with the synth-driven, European, romantics. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1980's. Hair metal. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1980's. John Cougar Mellencamp. John Cougar's project seems to be to try to validate, vindicate, celebrate, small town, rural America, that is, if you can look away from the bigotry, racism, intolerance, anti-intellectualism, backwardness and religious fanaticism that is in America. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1980's. Rap. Hip hop. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. 1990's. Grunge. Nirvana. Soundgarden. Flannel shirts. No big hair. No neon spandex. I can get with that. Grunge was an improvement over what was happening in the 1980's. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bjork on Charlie Rose. I don't always like to hear her sing, but I love to hear her talk. 8/3/2001 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan raised the expectations of the listening public in terms of the quality and quantity of work he produced. The typical music business formula is to include only one or two hits per album, and only one or two epiphanic lines per hit song. Bob Dylan started releasing albums that were chock full of hits, and he started writing songs that were chock full of epiphanic lines. 6/9/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan, the music. (1) The music of Bob Dylan is not infinite iterations of twelve bar blues. Dylan seldom does wrote imitation. Dylan transmogrifies more than he imitates. (2) Dylan likes exploring the roots of American folk music. He doesn't often do the "latest sound". He doesn't often do world music sounds. 6/9/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan, the voice. Some people object to Dylan's voice. Some people say its not a nice voice. Its not a beautiful voice. In Dylan's defense, there is a tradition in folk music of the nasal twang. And there is a tradition in folk music of blending words together, in order to emphasize the music over the words, the opposite of enunciation. And who says everyone's voice has to have a white bread quality to it? White bread is boring. Dylan is sourdough, or jewish wry. 6/9/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan, the words. Dylan likes to do character studies. One of Dylan's methods is to introduce odd characters by name. 6/9/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. (1) Inflationary views of Dylan. Dylan is as good as Shakespeare. (2) Deflationary views of Dylan. Dylan is marginally better than, or only as good as, his singer-songwriter peers, like Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, etc. 7/15/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary theory of Dylan. (1) Should you listen only to Dylan? No. (2) Should you make sure to include Dylan in your listening? Yes. 4/4/2007 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary views of Bob Dylan. (1) Bob Dylan is over-rated. (2) Many of Dylan's lyrics are filled with excessively vague word associations that do not have much meaning upon close inspection. The meaning that many people get out of Dylan's lyrics is, in many cases, the meaning that many people read into or put into Dylan's lyrics. (3) Dylan's views on life are not particularly cogent nor inspiring. (4) Dylan's musical abilities are often derivative of old forgotten folk songs, and as a result his music may only seem new and different. 7/19/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary views of Bob Dylan. (1) Is Dylan all that one needs to listen to? No. (2) Is Dylan the "best"? No. (3) Can there be a "best" in art? No. 7/15/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary views of Bob Dylan. (1) Not every song that Dylan wrote was exceptionally good. Some of Dylan's songs, either lyrically or musically, were duds. (2) Dylan occasionally wrote fluff lyrics that some fans are intent on reading deep meaning into. (3) There are a number of musicians who, on their best days, are as good as Bob Dylan. For example, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison. 7/22/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary views of Bob Dylan. Did Dylan say everything? No. Dylan may have said some things that no one else said. Dylan may have said some things better than anyone else did. But Dylan did not say everything. Much is left to be said after Dylan. 12/21/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Deflationary views of Bob Dylan. Did Dylan say it all? No. Should we listen only to Dylan? No. 7/2/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. It seems to me like Dylan was trying to make his voice sound like a harmonica, and trying to make his harmonica sound like a voice. 08/24/1994 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. Pro Dylan. Did you ever try to write a poem? Did you ever try to write a piece of music? Did you ever try to match your poem to a piece of your music? Try it some time. Its not easy. Its like acting, in that it looks a lot easier than it is. 7/2/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Bob Dylan. What can one say about the music of Bob Dylan? I like the longer songs like Visions of Johanna, Changing of the Guards, Idiot Wind and Tangled Up in Blue. What can one say about the words? What can one say about the music? What can one say about the voice? Listen to Bob Dylan. 9/12/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Captain Beefheart. One of the principles of Captain Beefheart's music seems to be that life is too short, and music is too valuable, to spend an entire song repeating the same melody and rhythm for the entire song. Its more interesting to change the rhythm and melody every four bars, or every two bars, or even every bar. And thus one gets songs whose rhythm and melody are constantly changing. Its interesting. Its challenging. Its good music. Also, its too boring to have all the instruments playing the same melodic or rhythmic phrase at the same time. Its more interesting for every instrument to play a different melodic or rhythmic phrase. So the full effect is every instrument playing something different every few bars. (2) Often the changes or variations seem to have a logical, almost mathematical, relationship. The change may be the same phrase played upside down or backwards. Also, just like modern poetry does not have to rhyme, modern music does not have to rhyme. 4/11/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Chicks who rock: Aretha Franklin. Janis Joplin. Joni Mitchell. Chrissie Hynde. Joan Jett. Liz Phair. PJ Harvey. Annie DiFranco. Alanis Morisette. 1/4/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Droning tunes: The Cult, "Sanctuary". The Doors, "The End". Led Zepplin, "Kashmir". Led Zepplin, "When the Levee Breaks". 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Great pop rock: Journey. Cars. Cheap Trick. 9/10/1999 Arts, music, criticism, specific. History of music. What we see, when looking at the history of American music during the 20th century, is a huge achievement by African-Americans. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. I think Neil Young's best work is his acoustic, old timey stuff. The sweet, gentle, simple, sad songs of lost loves, and friends lost to drugs. "Needle and damage done", "I believe in you". He captures the lonely west. After the gold rush. 01/12/1997 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Iggy pop. Alice cooper. Ramones. Bowie. I am like them. Not a dead head. 04/01/1994 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Island tunes segway: Margaritaville. Montego Bay. Thunder Island. 3/28/2004 Arts, music, criticism, specific. James Brown. I really enjoy James Brown's music. James Brown's music is about rhythm. The rhythm is carried by the guitar and horns. Its not about melody. Its not about building a structure, in that there seems to be no introduction, nor middle, nor conclusion. Its about a groove. 12/16/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Jimi Hendrix. The first time I heard Jimi Hendrix was in high school. I had a free class so I went to the music room in the school library. There I slowly lowered the needle on track one of side one of the "Are You Experienced" album. The boxy, portable phonograph and the cheap plastic headphones did not take much away from the event. I had heard a lot of rock music but nothing prepared me for Hendrix. Are You Experienced was transcendent. Soulful. Raw. Emotional. I walked out of the room knowing that music, indeed life, would never be the same again. 7/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Joni Mitchell. Blue, by Joni Mitchell is an awesome album. Blue is as big an album as Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. One can discuss the lyrics, the music, and even the timbre of her voice. (1) The voice. Sometimes ethereal. Sometimes chirpy. Sweet. Pure. (2) The music. Complex structure. Soaring melodic lines. (3) The lyrics. Feminist in that she speaks as a woman, truthfully, of her real self. 1/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Joni Mitchell's music is complicated. (1) Joni Mitchell writes complicated melodies. It is difficult to predict what note Joni will sing. In a good way. (2) Joni Mitchell uses complicated chords. Joni uses a lot of jazz chords. (3) Joni Mitchell uses complicated arrangements. For example, albums like "Court and Spark" show sophisticated orchestration. (4) Joni Mitchell writes complicated lyrics. Joni's lyrics explore complicated subjects using complicated literary techniques. (5) Joni Mitchell can be complicated and difficult. Joni Mitchell is sophisticated and mature. Joni Mitchell probably feels at home in France. Viva la France. Viva Joni Mitchell. 12/15/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Joni Mitchell's voice. (1) Joni Mitchell's voice is so pure you can use it to pulverize kidney stones. (2) Joni uses a lot of slides in her vocals. Sort of like slide guitar. (3) Joni Mitchell has incredible vocal range. 12/15/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Leonard Cohen is a buzzkill. 9/22/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. The sound is lean, austere, western, i.e. beautiful. Beautiful voluptuous women with high cheekbones. Tall lanky men with rugged jaws. High plains, high mountains, open vistas, far horizons, free space, wild. Like my mind, thought, and writing. Timeless, formal, classic, clean lines, and pure (not poor) spirit. Pureland Zen. 04/01/1994 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Nostalgia rock. ( ) Night Moves, by Bob Seegar, is a nostalgia-rific hit. ( ) More than a Feeling, by Boston, is a nostalgia-rific hit. ( ) Thunderroad, by Bruce Springsteen, is a nostalgia-rific hit. ( ) They are nostalgic to begin with, and as time goes by they become more nostalgic. Nostalgia is a calmative, a sedative. 11/20/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Robert Johnson's, "Hell Hound On My Trail". 9/7/2003 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Soundgarden is my band for the Nineties. 01/23/1997 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Stevie Wonder: "Superstition". "Higher ground". "Living just enough for the city". 03/08/1997 Arts, music, criticism, specific. The most philosophical rock and roll songs. Time, by Pink Floyd. Time, by Chambers Brothers. 08/24/1994 Arts, music, criticism, specific. The song Wild Horses by the Stones. Western cowboy rock music (slide guitar and yodeling). Not California, but Nevada, Montana, Wyoming. This is my specific philosophy. The environment I miss dearly. It came to me in a song. 11/06/1993 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Thelonius Monk. Charlie Parker and John Coltrane play fast yet recognizable music. Monk is an oddball, a space shot, who eventually convinces you of his argument. 7/8/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Three songs. Year of the Cat. Time Passages. Walking in the Park and Reminiscing. 4/23/2002 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Tom Waits. (1) A large part of Tom Waits' music is about theater, carnival freak shows, amusement parks, boardwalks, ticket stubs. (2) Hobos. Traveling. Cigarettes. Booze. (3) Blue collar workers, factories, the sounds of machines. (4) War vets. Amputees. (5) Tom Waits is akin to the Beats and to Bukowski. (6) Planet of the Apes meets Howdy Doody. Waits probably influenced Tim Burton. (7) Fascination with the strange, odd, weird. Dilapidated houses. Mental patients. Things that didn't turn out right but are still beautiful. (8) My view is that the 1980's Waits albums show Waits coming to terms with his childhood experiences and memories. 4/10/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Tom Waits. (1) Tom Waits' songs know the value of simplicity. (2) Tom Waits' songs can include a person banging a can, moaning, growling, grumbling. (3) Tom Waits songs, a man sitting at a bar reminiscing because he either lacks the ability to see the future or he fears the future. (4) Tom Waits songs, heavily influenced by the blues of Howling Wolf and John Lee Hooker. Can you hear it? (5) Tom Waits songs. Decidedly pre-war WWII. Cloth, leather, metal. Depression era. Squeeze box accordions. Harmonica. Bowery flop houses. Alcoholics. Conjurer of past times and places, like Dr. John. (6) Tom Waits for you. Tom Waits for you to sit next to him in a bar. Tom Waits for you to listen. (7) Tom Waits songs. A hobo band that cannot afford real instruments. (8) Tom Waits songs. Primitive in all the good senses of the word: raw, elemental, unfettered. 4/4/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Tom Waits. Banging on an iron pipe. Banging on a one gallon tin can. Banging on a thirty gallon garbage can. Banging on a fifty gallon drum. (2) Smashing your hand on a brick wall. Banging your head against plasterboard. Stomping you foot on a wooden floor. (3) Unique instruments. Spare orchestration. The music is like the lyrics. 4/10/2005 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Top three light FM 70's hits: "Wild Fire", "Crazy Love", and "Brandy". 12/30/1996 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Twenty years later "Disco Duck" sounds elegiac. Kind of like the class pest who dies tragically. 1/16/1999 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Van Morrison. Astral Weeks is a very good album. (1) One of the highlights of the Astral Weeks is Van's voice which is very expressive. (2) The lyrics are kind of spacey, but that adds to the effect of the music, which achieves a trance-like effect by using longer songs and repeating lines. (2) The instrumentation is folk acoustic: flute, strings, horns, fiddle, accordion squeeze box, chimes. The instrumentation, upon first listen, can seem sparse, quiet, low key, but this adds to the gentle feel of the sound, which is almost like the sounds of nature. (3) Stumbling rhythms are used to give an energetic feel, much like a visual artist may use a shaky line to project a sense of energy. (4) I think Astral Weeks had a big influence on Bruce Springsteen. 7/31/2006 Arts, music, criticism, specific. Vocal styles. Sade seems to imitate the saxophone. Dylan seems to imitate the harmonica. 03/16/1997 Arts, music, criticism, specific. What's Good about Yes? (1) Yes is cool because it's music does not fit into any pre-existing styles. Yes is not classical, jazz, blues or rock. (2) Yes spans time. Yes is like a mix of futuristic Star Wars and old Renaissance Fair. (3) Songs like "Siberian Khatru", "Perpetual Change", "You and I", "Close to the Edge", "Starship Trooper", "Seen All Good People", "Yours Is No Disgrace", "Roundabout". Albums like "Yessongs" (4) Yes music is positive, not depressive. (5) Yes music gives prominence to rhythm section instruments like bass and keyboards. (6) Criticisms of Yes. The lyrics of Yes are way out there, obtuse, almost cryptic. One can say that Yes is more about the music than the lyrics. Yes's Jon Anderson might as well be singing vowels. Perhaps Yes lyrics are trying to be the poetic equivalent of visual abstract expressionism. (7) That said, Yes music is worth a listen. 9/25/2004 Arts, music, criticism. .This section considers principles and methods of criticism in music. 12/30/2003 Arts, music, criticism. .This section is about music criticism. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, music, criticism. (1) Philosophical criticism of lyrics: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics views held by lyrics. (2) Lit criticism of lyrics: what is the theme, author, etc? (3) Psychological criticism of lyrics: what is the subject and attitude? Where is the catharsis? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. All music besides angry blues rock is b.s.. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Book to write. Greatest rock lyrics, and criticism of them, by subject area. Excellence of message. Excellence of poetry. Excellence of music. 01/26/1994 Arts, music, criticism. Cannons: anyone's, academia's, Paul's. Criticism: anyone's, academia's, Paul's. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Criticism: (1) Analysis, (2) Judgment: rating great, good, average, below average, or bad; for both words and music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Earliest recording of a tune vs. best rendition of a tune. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Elements, variations, and principles. Schools of music criticism. Principles of music criticism. Methods of music criticism. History of theory of music criticism. Criticism of music styles, artists, and songs. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. For each composition analyze all its elements, and judge how successful it was. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Four types of musical excellence. (1) Technical excellence. (2) Expressive excellence. (3) Composition excellence. (4) Theoretical knowledge excellence. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. History of music criticism. Schools of music criticism. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Hot vs. cool. Droning vs. not. I like hot droning music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. How good is it? Why is it that good? What's good and bad about it? How does it compare to others? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. How I judge the depth of a person's musical taste and criticism skills. Can they appreciate Hendrix? Can they appreciate Dylan? Do they like both? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Lyric criticism: subject, view, etc., (see literature, criticism). 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Music and words should mesh perfectly. If they don't the piece won't work. Writing words to fit the music. Writing music to fit the words. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Skill as performer and writer. Achieving a true or false, proper or improper, view and emotion. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Taste is the most important thing in art, for both artist and audience. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Too many songs are strong in one element or area and weak in another. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Traits of good music. Truth, complexity, power, accuracy, precision, subtlety, scope and depth, expressiveness in both words and music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. What are the top 100 rock tunes and lyrics? What do they teach us that the textbooks can not? What do the textbooks teach us that music can not? 04/01/1994 Arts, music, criticism. What good is music? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Who has the ability, the theory, and the historical knowledge? Who has the drive, emotions, vision, and who will do the work? Who has the head (optimum psychological viewpoint)? Who has the talent (instinctive knowledge)? Who has the character? Who has the time, energy, money, and materials? Who has the most overall? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, criticism. Writing music criticism: (1) Analyze the piece. What is it? What does it remind one of? What is it like? (2) Evaluate. How good is it? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. .This section is about vsrious musical styles. Topics include: ( ) Blues. ( ) Classical ( ) Country. ( ) Disco. ( ) Folk. ( ) Jazz. ( ) Pop. ( ) Rock. ( ) Soul. R&B. Hip Hop. ( ) World music. 1/24/2006 Arts, music, styles. (1) Jazz. Improvisation involves playing away from the melody. Syncopation involves playing away from the beat. By using improvisation and syncopation jazz achieves a complexity that makes it challenging and interesting. (2) Classical music achieves complexity and interest by having many instruments, many themes, many voices (polyphony, harmony, counterpoint). (3) Complexity in music. Musical complexity can increase to the point of chaos. Musical complexity can decrease to the point of boredom. 1/28/2003 Arts, music, styles. (1)(A) arguments contra rock: Jungle music. Unrefined. Sex music, not cerebral. (B) arguments pro rock: It confronts problems. (2)(A) arguments contra classical: Concentrates purely on the sound. Lacks lyrics. It is status quo. It is repressive. It is escapist, avoidist. It is overly refined. (B) arguments pro classical: Classical music calms. At some point you start listening to it. 06/27/1993 Arts, music, styles. Acapella do-wop. The cool thing about acapella do-wop is it sounds like instruments are present but they are not. 11/30/1998 Arts, music, styles. All styles have to do with social conformity. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Best style. Blues rock: sadness, anger, happy, danceable, sex. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Blues vs. happy music. Happy music does not necessarily avoid problems. Happy music may well confront problems, it is just that it comes to a happy conclusion or solution to those problems. The real issue is not blues (good) vs. happy (bad) music. The real issue is simple (bad) vs. complex (good) music. Happy music is okay as long as it is complex. Complexity evolves from either technical virtuosity or compositional virtuosity (through time, or in layers like harmony). This idea does not bode well for Zen or minimalism. Achieve emotional richness through the music and intellectual richness through the lyrics. It is okay to come to happy conclusion as long as you have worked out the problem completely. (2) Opposing view. But actually a simple lyric/idea or musical theme is okay as long as it is "true", powerful and healthy. (3) A third view. Basically different people in different circumstances have different musical needs. 7/18/1998 Arts, music, styles. Blues vs. happy music. The blues confronts and deals with problems. This is a noble thing. Happy music, about things that are allright, is not as important(?). I do not want to be depressive, or focus solely on the bad things in life, but it seems you should at least have a 50-50 mix of the two types of music. But blues should be such that it makes healthy progress, and does not wallow in self pity. 7/18/1998 Arts, music, styles. Blues, definitions of. (1) Blues as a scale. A scale that includes "blue notes", for example, flattened thirds. (2) Blues as a song structure. For example, AAB verse structure. (3) Blues as a topic. For examples, songs of troubles with lovers, work, etc. (4) Blues as an emotion. For example, sadness. (Rock and roll being the domain of anger.). 3/29/2002 Arts, music, styles. Blues. Alienation, hopelessness, poverty, pain, abuse, neglect, desire, anger, sadness, loneliness. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Blues. If you currently have the blues then listening to blues music will eradicate the blues. If you currently do not have the blues then listening to blues music will make you blue. What explains this paradox? 5/5/2005 Arts, music, styles. Blues. The best music. If life is pain, and music is emotion, then blues is the music of pain, and thus of life. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Blues. To listen to the blues when you are not blue, and thus to become blue, is self defeating. To listen to the blues to exorcise blues is good. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Classical music. (1) What percent of the population today are classical music fans? Five percent? (2) What percent of the population today recognizes famous pieces of classical music from its use in movies, television, commercials, etc.? Ninety five percent? 10/8/2004 Arts, music, styles. Classical music. Why classical music does not do it for me. Once you hear jazz, classical music seems antiquated. 10/8/2004 Arts, music, styles. Classical musicians are essentially the equivalent of rock and roll "cover" bands, which play the work of others, which is essentially a matter of being a technician rather than a creative artist. Better to be a garage band releasing originals. 8/2/2001 Arts, music, styles. Classify all musical elements by musical styles, and make a tree of music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Country music attempted for years to be "pure", acoustic and unsullied by rock and roll. Today, country music is thoroughly influenced by rock and roll. 11/10/2001 Arts, music, styles. Development of styles. Origin, development, peak, stagnation, and decay. Uniqueness. Complexity. Popularity: how well liked by how many, in how large an area, for how long? Mutation and change. Death and rebirth of musical styles. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Disco. Why did we hate disco so much? We heard disco as mindless, stupid, materialistic, robotic, unskillful, inhuman, empty, heartless, soulless and shallow. 11/20/2001 Arts, music, styles. Folk. Music of the uneducated. Music of peasants. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Foreign folk and pop vs. domestic folk and pop. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. How do the styles compare? Which are better in general and why? Which are better for what uses? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Important question. (1) Why did x style develop in x place at x time? (2) And why did it become popular? (3) These are psychological and sociological questions. (4) Effects of natural environment on music style development. (5) Effects of charismatic or strident individuals or groups. (6) Effects of approval and disapproval of power holders. (7) Effects of leisure time and money. (8) The value society puts on music, and new things in general, changes. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Jazz recordings. The first time you hear it, it is a jazz recording. However, the second time you hear it, it is not jazz anymore in the same sense because there is less surprise. 2/10/2001 Arts, music, styles. Jazz: lively, graceful, complex, sophisticated, nuanced. Rock: plodding, clumsy, simplistic. 1/15/2001 Arts, music, styles. Jazz. Good jazz is great but bad jazz is terrible. 1/12/2002 Arts, music, styles. Jazz. Some of my jazz favorites. Coleman Hawkins. Thelonius Monk. John Coltrane. Charles Mingus. Hot, not cool. Soulful, not the opposite of soulful. Soulful meaning full of deep thought and feeling. The opposite of soulful being shallow. 5/8/2002 Arts, music, styles. Jazz. The funny thing about jazz fans is that many of them are quite content to listen to a very short list of "standards" played over and over. That is not exactly a paean to improvisation and creative freedom. 8/2/2001 Arts, music, styles. Jazz. When is it jazz? (1) You can "jazzify" a song by adding rhythmic syncopation, melodic swing, or improvisation. But does that make the tune a jazz tune? No. (2) Is it jazz if any instrument takes a solo? Not really. Almost all musical styles today involve solos of an improvisational nature. (2) Is it jazz if you syncopate the beat? No. Is it jazz if you swing the melody? Not really anymore. Lots of musical styles today syncopate the beat or swing the melody. (3) Is jazz about a blues based style? Not really any more. (4) Is jazz about a brass arrangement? Not really any more. PART TWO. Jazz concepts have pervaded all styles of music today. Just like rock has pervaded everything. Just like folk has pervaded everything. Music today is an amalgam or hybrid of jazz, rock and folk. 1/12/2002 Arts, music, styles. Oldies. There is an "Oldies" station that plays do-wop music from the '50s. However, when you think about it, "Classic Rock" is now oldies. "Lite music" from the '70's is now oldies. "Classical music" is oldies. Its all oldies. 1/6/2002 Arts, music, styles. Pop music is sung. Blues and rock are moaned, screamed, and wailed by the voice and lead guitar. These sounds are indicative of the pain and suffering, or lust and ecstasy, that the songs deal with. Blues and rock find their finest expression in songs of love and pain (sado-masochism?). 12/30/1995 Arts, music, styles. Pop music. Sometimes the sound is pop but the words are not. Sometimes the words are pop but the sound is not. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Pop music. The question is: popular for what culture? Music that is popular with masses usually has trite lyrics. It tends not to challenge moral conventions. Pop music usually is a happy, melodious and sweet sound. Pop music is usually not extreme in any way. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Popular music. (1) Criticisms of pop music. Examples of the worst of pop. (2) Defense of popular music. Examples of the best of popular music. 4/16/2006 Arts, music, styles. Popular music. From popular songs we get love. From non-pop songs we get all the other emotions. 7/25/2001 Arts, music, styles. Popular music. What pop music has going for it is, firstly, brevity (compare a three minute pop song vs. a two hour movie or a ten hour novel) and, secondly, power achieved through emotional intensity. 3/4/2001 Arts, music, styles. Punk rock. (1) A critique of punk rock. Some punks are left-wing socialists, while other punks are right-wing fascists. Some punks are political activists, while other punks are apolitical hedonists. What then is punk? Punk is simply a style of music played at a certain speed and volume. Punk is simply a style of fashion or dress. One could argue that punk means whatever you want it to mean. One could argue that punk can mean anything. One could argue that punk means nothing. (2) A counter-argument. What do all the punks have in common? All the punks are anti-authority. All the punks have a kind of anarchic attitude. All the punks reject mainstream society, mainstream fashion, and mainstream music. 6/24/2007 Arts, music, styles. Rap or hip hop. Criticisms of rap or hip hop. (1) It took centuries for people to understand that good poetry does not have to rhyme. Modernist poets bravely faced a barrage of ignorant criticism when they first freed verse. From that perspective, rap appears to be a return to the tyranny of rhyme. (2) Proponents of rap argue that rap belongs to a long tradition of bragging and boasting verse. In practice, the bragging and boasting often devolves into putting down others and verbally abusing others. Name calling. Mocking the weak, disempowered and minorities. Ad hominem attacks. (3) Sampling, i.e., the reworking, adapting and borrowing of grooves, riffs and hooks etc, even when giving credit, even when given permission. Sampling seems less creative than writing an original song from scratch. The only argument I can see for sampling is the fair use of "quoting" seems much like how one can quote text. Another argument for sampling is that the musical vocabulary is somehow smaller than the verbal vocabulary and thus copying is more likely. 1/1/2004 Arts, music, styles. Rap or hip hop. Pluses of hip hop. (1) I'm a fan of soul music. (2) I'm a fan of urban art that addresses the problems of a city environment. (3) I'm a fan of ethnic and minority art. (4) There are some hip hop songs I like. 1/1/2004 Arts, music, styles. Rock and roll is about freedom of thought, expression, and action, in the form of rebellion, and in the form of sex and drugs, for youth. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock and roll is the music that conservative whites decided to burn in bonfires during the nineteen fifties. Rock and roll was the music of the progressive struggles of the nineteen sixties. So you know rock and roll is good. 9/7/2005 Arts, music, styles. Rock and roll: music and lyrics. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock and roll. (1) Rock and roll is the child of blues and jazz. (2) Rock and roll was originally viewed by some as "black music" or "race music" and some conservative whites tried to ban it. (3) Rock and roll dared to discuss issues of sexuality and rebellion, and thus it was taken up by teens. 9/18/2005 Arts, music, styles. Rock and roll. Rock and roll did not turn out to be all we thought it would be. We thought it would save the world, and that it was all that was needed for survival, happiness, and a morally good life. It did not turn out to be so. But rock and roll is not totally bankrupt either. Rock was an important advance. It is high art. It says a lot that was never said before, and that cannot be said in any other medium. 7/12/1998 Arts, music, styles. Rock as (1) Serious high art. (2) Mindless rebellion and destruction. (3) The really good rock, the really bad rock, and the really mediocre rock. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock evolves from (1) Strong drives, strong feelings, and much energy, needing to be expressed or blown off. Not knowing that fact consciously, and not having the words for that fact. Being horny, being ignorant, and not even knowing that is the case. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock is about anger. Youths have a lot of anger because they have a lot of energy. That is why youths like rock. I would be angry if I had the energy. 5/15/1998 Arts, music, styles. Rock is about freedom. Emotional freedom to feel any emotion about any subject. Freedom of thought to hold any view on any subject. Artistic freedom creates diversity. Diversity expresses freedom. 11/15/2001 Arts, music, styles. Rock: anger, rebellion, sex. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock. Hopes for rock music in the 1960's. In order from major to minor. (1) Music was going to solve all the worlds problems. (2) Music was going to start a revolution. (3) Music was going to change the world. (4) Rock was going to last forever. PART TWO. Music, rock or otherwise, cannot solve all the worlds problems. Rock music did change the world. Rock music remains popular, even if its not the most popular form of music. Rock music influenced other musical forms. Rock music influenced cultures around the world in many ways. 4/4/2004 Arts, music, styles. Rock. How did a comparatively reserved culture like the British produce great rock and roll bands like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who and so many others? 12/13/2005 Arts, music, styles. Rock. Loud rock gets the hormones churning, hi t, inspires. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock. PART ONE. Contra rock. (1) Rock music was eclipsed in popularity by other styles such as rap. (2) Rock music has not solved all the worlds problems. (3) Rock is now just one style among many. PART TWO. Pro rock. (1) Due to a variety of recording media, music enjoys worldwide popularity. People listen to music at work and play. (2) Music has changed the world by providing emotional solace and emotional knowledge. (3) Blues, Jazz and Rock are one of the major contributions of the United States to world culture. (4) Rock and its descendants Punk and Grunge, and its cousins Folk and Soul, had immense impact, especially on teens and young adults. 4/7/2004 Arts, music, styles. Rock. Rock and roll is about youth, sex, and rebellion. Rebellion is the natural state of youth. Rebellion is also the natural state of the artist. 07/29/1988 Arts, music, styles. Rock. So much rock is depressing. To me, to write a rock song of hope, without sounding lame, is the ultimate musical accomplishment. 7/29/1999 Arts, music, styles. Rock. Social effect of rise of rock and roll. What did it change? What did it change it to, and to what degree? How can we tell? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Rock. The best rock combines masculinity and femininity. Combines power/strength and emotional sensitivity. Combines rhythm and melody. 11/18/1994 Arts, music, styles. Rock. The essence of rock is amplification. To rock is to crank the volume. 8/4/1998 Arts, music, styles. Rock. The great thing about rock is that it is a case where a f*ckup makes good. 9/10/1999 Arts, music, styles. Rock. The strong argument for rock and roll. When you listen to the greatest rock tunes it rewires your brain, it unlocks your creativity, it grows you up, and it gives you knowledge. I do not know how to scientifically prove this claim, yet the claim has been made. 10/25/2001 Arts, music, styles. Rock. Youth rocks not out of horniness, happiness, or energy, but rather out of pain. They are in a standing fetal position. Fetal rock. They dance for reprieve. They dance to forget. They celebrate to ease the pain. This is what the blues and youth have in common. 4/8/1999 Arts, music, styles. Styles of music, and sub-styles (i.e. types and sub-types). 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Styles: (1) Hot music: strong emotion and strong catharsis. (2) Cool music: weak emotion and weak catharsis. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. Styles. Strengths and weaknesses, in comparison to other styles. Relationships to other styles: causes and effects. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. The big style question: why did x style develop in y place at z time? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. The historical musical style tree. The logical musical style tree. Similarities and differences between styles. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. The white kids adapted black jazz in the 1920's. The white kids adapted black rhythm-and-blues and called it rock-and-roll in the 1950's. The white kids adopted black rap in the 1980's. Why? Some would argue that the white kids adapted black music because jazz, rhythm-and-blues and rap are great music, which I agree it is, but I don't think that was the only reason. Some would argue it happened because blacks are musically creative and white kids are not, but I disagree with that notion. I say, perhaps you can argue that it is actually a case where white kids want to be like the black kids. Why do white kids want to be like black kids? (1) White kids feel guilty for being rich and white. (2) Rich kids want to feel what is like to be poor. (3) White kids want to feel what it is like to be black. (4) One has to admire these rich white kids for the bravery of their phenomenological explorations. They want to take on the role of the other. They want to see how the other half lives. They want to understand first hand the lived experiences of minorities and the marginalized. PART TWO. Some would argue that it is only about the excellence of the music, and not about the culture, but that is contradicted by the fact that the music is packaged as part of a culture, and the music is sold as part of the selling of a culture. Some would argue that it is a cultural phenomenon and that it is a battle of cultures and an economic competition of cultures in a marketplace. No, that is not it, I say. There are also cases of black teens who pickup white music. (It is an interesting phenomenon when a minority music becomes the music of the majority). It is an exploration of the world by teens. 1/1/2002 Arts, music, styles. Various musical styles. Blues, jazz, rock, country and western, classical, folk. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, styles. When we say we like the blues because they are raw and unpolished, we mean we like the openness and honesty. When we say we hate pop music for its cold, calculated manipulation we mean we hate it for its deceit, lies, trivial subjects, and shallow thoughts and emotions. 7/18/1998 Arts, music, styles. World beat, definitions of. (1) World beat as a collection of diverse folk musics. (This is a good situation). (2) World beat as a bland homogenization of musics. (This is a bad situation). (3) World beat as a new style of music, a new sound. (This is an okay situation). 3/29/2002 Arts, music, styles. World beat. The future of music. (1) New instruments. New sounds and timbres. New tonal systems (scales, modes, micro tonal scales). (2) Freedom of music. Any scale. Any timbre. Any pitch. Just like freedom in the other arts. Art is about increasing diversity. 1/12/2002 Arts, music, what. .This section is about what is music. Topics include: ( ) Music as language. ( ) Music as math. ( ) Physics of music. ( ) Physical effects of music on body. ( ) Psychology of music. ( ) Words and music. 1/24/2006 Arts, music, what. (1) Music directly affects emotion. (2) Music directly affects our physical body as sonic waves. (3) Therefore, emotion is physical? Music (and emotion) directly affects physical energy? 6/15/1998 Arts, music, what. Aside from questions like "What is music?" and "Where did musical ability in humans evolve from?" are questions like "What did we hope to accomplish with music?" and "What did we actually accomplish with music?" 3/4/2001 Arts, music, what. Getting into the groove, it carries you away. Hypnotic affects of music (psychology). 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Is music about math and logic? Or is music about emotion and intuition? Persuasive arguments can be made for both views. Some people see the music of the classical era, for example Bach, as the height of reason in music. Other people see the music of the romantic era, for example Beethoven, as the height of emotion in music. Still others argue that music involves both reason and emotion. 10/17/2005 Arts, music, what. Language and music. We say the musician "has a story to tell" or "has something to say". We say the musician is using a stylistic "vocabulary". The musical phrase is like a language sentence. These are all ways how music is similar to language. 4/18/2001 Arts, music, what. Math and music. Music is essentially a matter of mathematical ratios. In terms of rhythm we speak of whole notes, half notes, quarter notes and sixteenth notes, etc. In terms of melody we speak of octaves, fifths, fourths, thirds, etc. These are all mathematical ratios. 4/18/2001 Arts, music, what. Music is redeeming. Music is idealistic. I like music because I am an idealist. Youths likes music because both youths and music are idealistic. 5/15/1998 Arts, music, what. Music soothes the savage beast. Music calms the stressed out. Music helps those on the verge of a nervous breakdown stay sane. Music therapy for neurotics. It does this by focusing the mind on the music, and off all other worrisome stresses. 9/23/1998 Arts, music, what. Music: any verbal sound a person says is music (like found art). 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Physical and music. Breathing (i.e., meditative breathing), chanting, dancing and music all use repetitive physical action to achieve a mental state that is not exactly self-hypnosis but is definitely trance-like. An analogous phenomena is the "high" of long distance runners. 8/31/2001 Arts, music, what. Physical and music. Music sets up physical vibrations that are soothing and healthy like a whirlpool. 02/28/1998 Arts, music, what. Physical and music. Music, especially rhythm, is like a sonic vibra massage for the body, mind, and soul. Dancing is further massage. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Physical and music. Rhythm. Musical rhythms are often at the same rate of speed as human rhythms such as heart rate, breathing rate, walking rate and lovemaking rate. Music rhythms can have an effect of speeding up or slowing down heart rate and breathing rate. 4/18/2001 Arts, music, what. Physical and music. The link between music and dancing. Music does things to your mind and your body. Spell it out. 12/27/1998 Arts, music, what. Physical effects of music. (1) The effects of rhythm on the body are rather obvious. (2) What are the effects of melody on the body? 4/13/2001 Arts, music, what. Physical effects of music. If you speed up a rhythm fast enough it becomes somewhat akin to a vibrating massage. Rhythm is akin to a vibrating massage. 4/13/2001 Arts, music, what. Physical. Music affects the body. But the brain/mind is an organ of the body. So music can affect the brain in a purely physical way. The so called psychological effects of music may simply be a result of the physical affects of music on the body. 4/13/2001 Arts, music, what. Psychology and music. Music as hypnotic trance. Don't kid yourself, that is what music is. 5/20/1998 Arts, music, what. Psychology and music. Music can give hope. Hope can give life. Therefore, music can give life. 8/15/1999 Arts, music, what. Psychology and music. Music can rewire your brain. 4/4/1999 Arts, music, what. Two main types of music: pleasure-music and pain-music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. What is music and what is not music? Four views of music: (1) Organized tone. (2) Organized noise. (3) Random tone. (4) Random noise. 09/01/1994 Arts, music, what. What is music? What is the origin, purposes, and mechanism of music? 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. What. Seven definitions of music: broad and narrow, short and long. (1) The sound art. (2) Stress reliever. (3) Inspiration giver. (4) Emotional outlet for catharsis. (5) Emotional inlet. (6) Communication: of information, art, and entertainment. (7) Organized sound. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Words and music. (1) How much can music alone say? (2) What can music with lyrics say or convey that words alone cannot? It may be that music can not convey more than words, but that it only does it faster (in three minutes) and more pleasantly. 7/18/1998 Arts, music, what. Words and music. A word is a symbol, but a tone is not a symbol. A word is an idea, but a tone is not an idea. Therefore, music is not symbolic and music is not an idea. 8/26/2000 Arts, music, what. Words and music. Comparing rock and classical is comparing apples and oranges. Music with lyrics is different from music without lyrics. Music without lyrics get its meaning purely from sound. Music with lyrics gets at least half its meaning from the lyrics. 01/01/1993 Arts, music, what. Words and music. Music without lyrics is never "about" anything. Music without lyrics does not refer to anything. Literature and the visual arts, on the other hand, are about something. They refer to something. Except abstract expressionism in the visual arts. And except the literary equivalent of abstract expressionism. 6/21/2000 Arts, music, what. Words and music. Music without words is about emotion. Music with words is about attitude (thought and emotion). Develop the best attitudes, and express them best. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Words and music. Music without words vs. with words. The difference between the two, and how important the difference is. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, what. Words and music. Words have meaning in and of themselves. Tones only have "meaning" in relation to each other. 8/26/2000 Arts, music, why. .This section is about why people do music. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, music, why. (1) Music to create or change emotions and ideas. (2) Music for psychological catharsis. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Goal of music. Make the audience feel powerful new truths. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Music does not make much of a main course. It does however make an excellent appetizer. Music is the appetizer, philosophy is the main course. 4/28/1998 Arts, music, why. Music is an excellent and important inspirational spur to thought and emotion, especially for me, especially rock and roll. Music frees, excites and develops the mind. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Music is both soothing and enervating simultaneously. In terms of the latter, music can both inspire (motivate) and stimulate (new thoughts) the mind. 07/05/1997 Arts, music, why. Music is used by the young to blow of energy to the point they can think clearly and be inspired. Music is used by the old to rev up with energy to the point where they can be inspired. They (old and young) both use the same thing (music) to get to the same place (inspiration) from different directions (too much energy or too little energy). 02/15/1997 Arts, music, why. Music pumps up energy, emotion, and imagination. Take the trip. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Music without words conveys emotional knowledge. How? I don't know. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Oldies music (Top 40 tunes from when you were a kid) can help you remember your youth. It triggers memories. It unblocks the unconscious. 12/27/1988 Arts, music, why. To know an emotion or drive you got to feel it strongly. 12/30/1992 Arts, music, why. Why engage in music? (1) Health: stress relief. (2) Knowledge: intellectual knowledge, and emotional knowledge (learning new emotions). (3) Emotional catharsis. (4) Changing emotion: amp up or cool down. (5) Its fun and pleasurable. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. .Introduction or summary. (1) Math and music. Music is math. (2) Language and music. Music is a language. (3) Body and music. Music affects the body directly. (4) Emotion and music. Music affects the emotions directly. (5) Hearing and music. Music is a sensory phenomena. The eardrum. (6) Social and music. (7) Dance and music. (8) Animals and music. Animal communication. Bird song. Whale song. Crickets. (9) Physics and music. Sound waves. Frequency (pitch). Amplitude (loudness). 6/15/2005 Arts, music. .Introduction or summary. (1) Music in animals as a means of communication. Attract a mate. Defensive warnings. Emotional expressions of pleasure or pain. (2) Musical nature of human speech. Volume, pitch and timbre. Melody of vowels. Rythyms of consonants. Musicality of poetry. Laughing, crying and moaning. (3) Music and the mind. Psychology of music. Music to express moods. Music to change moods. Music to intensify moods. Music to reduce moods. (4) Music and the physical body. Sound waves. Energy levels. Link between music and dance. 11/24/2003 Arts, music. .This section is about music. Topics include: ( ) Band names. ( ) History. ( ) Instruments. ( ) Played out. ( ) Psychology and music. ( ) Related subjects. ( ) Teens and music. ( ) Origins of music. ( ) Performance. ( ) Radio. 1/24/2006 Arts, music. "The sound". Find your favorite sound on the radio. Compose your favorite sound. "The sound" can transcend style, it is a feeling. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. (1) Causes of music: (A) Natural rhythms. (2) Effects of music: (A) Psychological effects. (B) Physical effects. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. (1) Live music performances vs. (2) recorded live music performances vs. (3) studio recordings. Live music performances are more personal than recorded live music or studio recordings. 2/22/2000 Arts, music. (1) Lullabye: soft, sweet, melodic. (2) Aggro: loud, dissonant, rhythmic. 4/1/2005 Arts, music. (1) Mechanics. Notation, rhythm, intervals, harmony, and counterpoint. (2) Instruments: layouts, techniques. Learning, practicing, and performing. (3) Composition and arranging: principles and techniques. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. (1) Music as a release. Let it all out. Laugh, shout, have a good cry. Blow off some steam. Let out some energy. (2) Music as inspiration. Gather it in. Draw in energy. (3) Doing both at the same time, in the same song. Doing the in and out. Its a two way street. 11/23/2005 Arts, music. (1) Music to motivate, inspire, give hope. That is a good use of music. (2) Music to mollify, placate, distract. That is a bad use of music. 1/14/2006 Arts, music. (1) New music from new sounds. New music from new musical instruments. For example, the Moog. (2) New music from old sounds that were never considered as music, and thus used as music for the first time. 4/15/2005 Arts, music. (1) The artist: why they create. (2) The work: what is it. (3) The audience: why they listen. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. A defense of rock music, and by extension, a defense of music in general, a defense of music criticism, a defense of art in general, and a defense of art criticism. PART ONE. (1) Rock music means something. Good rock songs mean something. Sets of good rock songs build a library of meaning. In other words, good rock songs make statements, and sets of good songs build a philosophy. Good music addresses metaphysical, epistemological and ethical issues. Good music makes social, political and economic commentary. Good music is not always only about romantic relationships. (2) Two types of meaning. Firstly, the words of the song contains linguistic meaning. Secondly, the music of the songs contain non-linguistic meaning. It is not easy to put into words what is the non-linguistic meaning of the songs, but it is also not impossible, and you can try, and you can get close. The total meaning of the song is a combination of its linguistic meaning and non linguistic meaning. (3) Different songs mean different things. Some songs seem to have more meaning than other songs. Some song writers seem to be able to put more meanings and better meanings into their songs than other song writers. Some listeners seem to get more meanings and better meanings out of songs than other listeners. (4) A cannon of rock will focus more on songs than on albums or artists. Songs that are especially moving. Songs that are especially durable. Songs that are especially enlightening. There is a large quantity of excellent rock music. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of very good rock music songs. PART. ( ) A cannon will be limited, because one cannot include every good song. A cannon is going to be incomplete, leaving out many good tunes. A cannon will be subjective, because its a matter of taste. A cannon will be fallible or imperfect, because it is not a matter of mathematical proof. No one can say for sure which songs should be in the cannon. A cannon of good rock melds invariably into a cannon of music in general, because the boundaries of the genres of music are indistinct. Rock, at its edges, blurs into soul, pop, folk, etc. ( ) Good rock does not necessarily mean the most popular songs, although much good rock is popular. By "good rock" I mean aesthetically good. Several important questions: What is rock? What is good? What is good rock? ( ) Good rock music is not necessary for a good life, nor is good rock music sufficient for a good life, but good rock music makes a good life better. PART. ( ) What did I do from age thirteen to nineteen? I spent a lot of time listening to good rock music. And you can too. ( ) When we do music criticism; when we discuss music; when we debate the merits of various songs and artists, we are thinking about music. Thinking about music, and writing about music, is a valid activity. When you say something about what you think a song means, you are adding meaning to your experience of the song, and that is a good thing. ( ) Not to put too fine a point on it, to a large extent, the music is in the thinking about the music. That is, the musicians can send music into the atmosphere, but a thinking mind has to hear it. You can make the mistake of over-thinking the music, but more often what happens is people make the mistake of under-thinking the music. ( ) A musical education. You listen to the music. You enjoy the music. On some level, in some way, the music does something for you, and something to you, exactly what you cannot say. Its something good. Its something important. Its something healthy. The arts are worthwhile. Take part in the arts, and impart the arts to your cohorts. ( ) And yet, at some point, for me, and for many other people, the rock cannon began to feel narrow, limited, constrained, and became played out, yeah verily, at some further point, music itself became played out, and thus did the search for meaning expand ever outward. And then one day, you hear a song from long ago, and it sounds good again, inspires you again, sparks with life again, resonates with old memories and with new layers of meaning, and you know its a good song. 11/20/2005 Arts, music. A mark of musical sophistication or maturity is to create or listen to a body of musical works that span the entire range of human emotions, and by extension the attitudes and experiences connected to these emotions. 10/26/2003 Arts, music. A total musical instrument is capable of emulating any other instrument. A total musical instrument is capable of emulating any other sound. Some synthesizers and computers can do that. 4/15/2005 Arts, music. Acoustic music versus electric music. Acoustic music is greener than electric music. Acoustic music is ecologically sustainable. However, acoustic music is not very loud. Electric amplification of acoustic music defeats the ecological sustainability of acoustic music. 12/2/2005 Arts, music. After the work songs, after the protest songs, after the making whoopee songs, she will sing you a lullabye. 4/29/2005 Arts, music. Album name: Night Music and Morning Noises. 4/23/2002 Arts, music. All music works. Some music works better than others. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Arguments against music. PART ONE. Arguments against music that contains words. (1) The three minute duration of the typical pop song is too short a time to delve into a subject, or to deal with an issue, or to say what you want. (2) Poetry, in the form of song lyrics, is an imprecise style of writing. Poetry is so full of vagueness and ambiguity that it is almost impossible to get anything done. Poetry is often full of indecipherable lyrics bordering on nonsense. PART TWO. Arguments against music that does not contain words. (1) Music is not as versatile as words. Language is more versatile than music. A person can say more with words than music. (2) Music is not as precise as words. Words convey information more exactly than music. Or perhaps, words convey sentential information better than music, while music conveys emotional information better than words. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Arguments against pop music and other short forms: You cannot say or think in three minutes everything you need to say and think. 11/28/2006 Arts, music. Band name: The Pangs. 9/2/2004 Arts, music. Band name: The Pumice Tones. 7/14/2002 Arts, music. Band name. The Placaters. 4/15/1998 Arts, music. Band name. The Rat Bites. 09/13/1988 Arts, music. Band names. Punk rock band name: Sugar Fits. 5/7/1999 Arts, music. Bandnames: Agents of Socialization. Nocturnal Emissions. Public restroom. Sonic injury. Deci-belles (ten women). 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Bandnames. Horn section: the Blowhards. 7/18/1998 Arts, music. Before the phonograph and radio, music was a "do-it-yourself" proposition. After the phonograph and radio, music was a passive proposition. Big business determined what you heard. 1/1/2002 Arts, music. Computer. Do your music on the computer. Compose an entire piece, and arrange it for different instruments. Write each part. You can do it note by note, or copy and edit. Work on the rhythm, melody, and harmony. Also you can record a sound sample, or play an instrument through a MIDI interface, and manipulate and combine those to. 9/30/1996 Arts, music. Create a website that gives a name and a sound bite for every musical rhythm, chord progression, etc. Also list the songs that use those rhythms and chord progressions. Create software that lets you create and combine rhythms, tempos, chord progressions, modes, etc., into musical works. 11/12/2004 Arts, music. Desert Island Do-wop. 5/29/2001 Arts, music. Did you ever have a song playing over and over in your head and you cannot get it out? Music seems like the only media that plays constantly in our head against our will. No other media seems to have the same effect, which is, incidentally, why advertisers create jingles. In this way music is perhaps like the voices that schizophrenics hear, constant and involuntary. Perhaps constant involuntary music and constant involuntary voices both originate from the same part of the brain. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Do we say that listening to good music makes you smarter? Or, do we say that listening to good music expands your mind? The latter. 9/7/2005 Arts, music. Does one think with music like one thinks with words or images? 2/15/2005 Arts, music. Emotion and music. Tempo, scale, amplitude and pitch are musical variables that can be varied with the aim of creating music that expresses the emotions of happiness, sadness, anger and anxiety. A chart can be drawn as follows. (1) Happy music. Tempo: fast. Scale: major. Amplitude: loud. Pitch: high. (2) Sad music. Tempo: slow. Scale: minor. Amplitude: quiet. Pitch: low. (3) Angry music. Tempo: fast. Scale: major. Amplitude: loud. Pitch: low. (4) Anxious music. Tempo: slow. Scale: minor. Amplitude: quiet. Pitch: high. 10/17/2005 Arts, music. Every physical activity has an associated song. Every mental state has an associated song. Everything has a song attached. The world of music is like a parallel universe. 4/29/2005 Arts, music. Found sound. The sound of daily life. (1) One can argue that the sounds of daily life contain and convey as much information as the sound of organized musical notes. (2) The sounds of daily life vary depending on where you live. The sounds of daily life can include the sounds of nature and the sounds of the man-made world. Crickets. Birds. The wind. Typewriters. Conversations. Internal combustion engines. Traffic. 5/27/2007 Arts, music. Gender and music. (1)(A) Guys who want to hear guy singers really want to hear themselves or a buddy. (B) Girls who want to hear girl singers really want to hear themselves or a buddy. (2)(A) Guys who want to hear girl singers really want to hear "the other". (B) Girls who want to hear guy singers really want to hear "the other". 4/1/2005 Arts, music. Get software that writes musical notation for any music you play. 1/2/2005 Arts, music. Good song has correct attitudes. A rational view and argument toward a subject, situation, or event. Emotional type, degree and reason why. Set up a situation and show correct attitudinal response. 01/01/1993 Arts, music. Good song lyrics contain all the things I really wanted to say to you but couldn't. 01/01/1993 Arts, music. Great music. The first time we hear a piece of great music it sounds strange, alien, weird, un-natural, other-worldly, and yet oddly compelling. Great music is always unfamiliar to us the first time we encounter it. Conversely, the first time we hear a trivial pop tune it seems instantly familiar and friendly. Great music takes time for us to understand. We say, "say that again", and it patiently explains itself over and over. 5/29/2001 Arts, music. History of music. Origin of music. Why do humans find melodious, pure tones pleasing? Because, when humans "sweet talk" they do so in melodious, pure tones. When humans "rough talk" they do so in dissonant growls, which have a rough timbre. Humans evolved these dispositions over millions of years. These types of behavior are probably hard-wired into us. Even other animal species, specifically mammals, use gentle "sweet talk" with their babies and mates, and they use "rough talk" to ward off enemies. Animals use "sweet talk" and "rough talk" to differentiate nurturing behaviors and aggressive behaviors. For example, coo's vs. squawks of birds. For example, purrs vs. growls of big cats. Human recognition of pleasing music is just an extension of the human ability to recognize pleasing "sweet talk". 6/7/1999 Arts, music. History of music. Origins of music in human history (as distinguished from aquisition of musical sensibility in specific individuals). (1) Ability in voice to change pitch, volume, and timbre. (2) Moans, cries, yells, screams, hums, wails. (3) Internal massage. (4) Emotions. (5) Energy levels: blowing off energy. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. History. (1) History of musical practice: instruments, styles. (2) History of music theory. (3) Technology and science (physics) of music. (4) Notational recording and sound recording. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. History. Discover. Save (record using writing or sound). Lost. Verified: this is what we think it is, proof. Explanation. Analyzed. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. History. History of music: any music ever performed anywhere. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. History. Musicians. Who were they influenced by, and who did they influence? 12/30/1992 Arts, music. How is it that young children often have an excellent sense of music? Children as young as three years old seem to understand and enjoy pieces of music that have complex rhythmic and melodic structures. What explains this phenomenon? 6/30/2004 Arts, music. How long it takes you to "get" (i.e., understand) a piece of music is directly proportional to how long it takes you to "play out" (i.e., be bored with) a piece of music. "Getting" a song and "playing out" a song are two important concepts in music. 11/18/2001 Arts, music. How many times must you hear a piece of music before you "get it" and like it? Does it depend on the musical complexity of the piece? Does it depend on the intellectual complexity or emotional complexity of the piece? 12/27/1998 Arts, music. How much can you say in three minutes? 12/30/1992 Arts, music. How would a person who has no emotions respond to music? 7/14/2006 Arts, music. If a record is skipping just right it actually sounds good. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. If you transposed musical notes to a typewriter keyboard then you could learn to musically play the typewriter. 4/15/2005 Arts, music. Instruments. (1) Great drone instruments: bagpipe, sitar, pipe organ. (2) Wailing instruments: harmonica, sax, violin, electric guitar. (3) Rhythm instruments: conga, tamboura, washboard, vibraslat. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. (1) Great sounds: howling dogs, tire screech, cop sirens, grasshoppers and crickets (summer evening), sprinklers, jack hammer, garbage truck. (2) More sounds: cats yowling, dogs barking, thunder, lightning, rain. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. (1) Voice: humm, moan, whistle, talk, whisper, shout, yell, howl, scream, cry, sing, grunt. (2) Percussion: clap, slap, stomp, tap. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Arranging. (1) Voice. (2) Voice and clap or stomp. (3) Voice, stomp, and guitar. (4) Voice, stomp, guitar, and harmonica. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Connect the ear, brain and throat. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Electronic vs. acoustic. 12/29/2003 Arts, music. Instruments. Perfect pitch: identify a lone tone. Relative pitch: identify intervals. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Perfect pitch. (1) Hearing perfect pitch: (A) Pure pitch recognition vs. (B) Interval recognition. (2) Singing perfect pitch: (A) Singing along with the music vs. (B) Singing alone. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. The human voice is the primary instrument. The piano is the secondary instrument. All other instruments are tertiary. 12/30/2003 Arts, music. Instruments. Types of instruments. Techniques to play them. History of them. Technology: how to make them, and how they work. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Vocals. Breathy vs. croaky. Loose vs. tight. High vs. low. Staccato vs. legato. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Instruments. Voice. (1) Vocal style impressions. (A) Hot: Howlin Wolf. (B) Operatic: Roy Orbison. (C) Nasal twang: Bob Dylan, Tom Petty. (D) Cool: Rick Ocasek. (2) Variables. (A) Mouth shape. (B) Diaphram push. (C) Larynx tightness. (D) Attack and decay. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. It is just as reasonable or sensible to classify songs by emotional tone as it is to classify songs by subject matter. Examples: Happy songs. Sad songs. Angry songs. Fear songs. Hope songs. Regret songs. Humor songs. Etc. 1/4/2002 Arts, music. List tunes. (1) Tunes to get. (2) Tunes got. (3) Favorite tunes. (4) Favorite groups. (5) Group's masterpieces. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Live music versus not live music. (1) Live music versus recorded music. Live music is a different phenomenon than recorded music. Go out and see live music. (2) Live music recordings versus studio music recordings. Live music recordings are a different phenomenon that studio music recordings. For example, live albums like The Who "Live at Leeds", or Yes "Yessongs", give the listener an opportunity to hear alternate versions of songs that were previously known to the listener only through polished, over produced, studio recordings. 12/16/2005 Arts, music. Love songs are a type of psychotherapy. What does it mean that people spend all day listening to love songs? It means that people are in dire need of psychotherapy. 7/7/2005 Arts, music. Me. Paul aesthetic. Jimi Hendrix was the sound I heard. Volume, distortion, feedback, screaming solos, crunchy chords, blues based. That is the sound I love. 11/30/1996 Arts, music. Me. Paul aesthetics system. Paul music aesthetic system. Paul cannons. Paul compositions. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Me. Paul cannon: heavy, heavy, heavy. Charlie Patton, Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Cream, Led Zepplin, ACDC. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Me. Paul sets: originals and covers, acoustic folk and blues, electric rock and punk. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Me. Play hardest countriest blues. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Me. Sets: rock, ballads, blues, pop, punk; by subject, theme, and emotion. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Mechanics. (1) Silence vs. sound. (2) Tone: frequency, amplitude, timbre, duration. (3) Rhythm. (4) Melody. (5) Modes, scales. (6) Harmony, counterpoint. (7) Intervals, chords, chord progressions. (8) Composition: structure, arrangement, style, tone, mood. (9) Performance. (10) Improvisation: altering any element any time. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Mechanics. Basic chords: blues, country, folk. Spiced up: jazz and modern classical. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Mechanics. Emotional effect of any chord progression. See what great music uses it. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Mechanics. Emotional effects of the scales and modes. (1) Scale: how many steps. (examples, Diatonic scale has 12 steps. Major and minor scales have 8 steps. Pentatonic scale has 5 steps) (2) Mode: which intervals come where in the scale. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Most important ideas about music. Humans naturally make music. Anyone who is not composing tunes daily is basically repressed. Society tells everyone at work to shutup. We all become repressed and bottled up. This is bad. 12/27/1998 Arts, music. Most important ideas about music. My current musical interests are protest music, world music, and nature music. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Most music is within a certain range of emotional and intellectual sophistication. When you are below it, it attracts you. When you are above it, it seems simple. 07/27/1993 Arts, music. Music 24x7. Surrounded by music. Immersed in music. A new phenomenon starting with transistor radios and walkmen. 2/12/2004 Arts, music. Music allows human multi-tasking. You can listen to music and do something else at the same time. Do not underestimate the power of this. We get twice as much done, because listening to music is a learning experience in and of itself. 12/1/2001 Arts, music. Music as logic. Beyond the notion of music as math, there is the notion of music as logic. People speak about the logical progression of a work of music. People react to the logic of a piece of music. (2) Music as structure. There is also the notion of the architectonic structure of works of music. What people react to when they listen to music is the structure of the music. 11/14/2005 Arts, music. Music can be like a drug. At first it can give you a kick, buzz or thrill. Then after a while it does not. It may be due to the "played out" phenomenon. After a while a song becomes played out. After a while a musical artist becomes played out. After a while a musical style becomes played out. After a while music in general becomes played out. 8/4/2004 Arts, music. Music creates physiological responses directly, and then the mind interprets the physiological responses as emotion. This is a "physical, then mental" view of emotion, much like the "James - Lange" theory of emotion. 10/21/2005 Arts, music. Music in animals and humans is about communication, and it is a social phenomenon. The psychological aspects of music are secondary to the social aspects of music. 10/28/2001 Arts, music. Music in animals. Rhythm: crickets and frogs. Melody: birds. 4/26/2001 Arts, music. Music in general, and specific styles. What can they do that other things can't. What can't they do that other things can. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Music increases creativity by enhancing access to the unconscious. Music, particularly droning music and rhythmic music, breaks down the walls of the unconscious. Music produces a trance state, a hypnotic state, a form of mesmerism that improves access to the unconscious. For example, the droning rhythms of Pete Townsend. (2) One could argue that access to one's unconscious is healthy. One could argue that the more access to your unconscious you have the healthier you are. Thus, by enhancing access to the unconscious, music promotes mental health. 4/10/2005 Arts, music. Music is about silence. Silence is the gap, space or presence between the sounds. 6/7/2004 Arts, music. Music is about sound. Music is about hearing. We hear sounds. Hearing is about the connection between ear and brain. We also "hear" with our entire body when we feel the bass through the air and when we feel the beat through the floor. 6/7/2004 Arts, music. Music is an education in and of itself. The radio, at its best, when it plays great music, is a free college. 10/26/2003 Arts, music. Music to pacify and mollify. Happy music. Soma music. Elevator music. That is as bad as a music of mindless rebellion, for example, much of punk rock. When the music and lyrics function as a sedative or opiate that is as bad as music that functions as an methamphetamine. 6/15/2005 Arts, music. Music to release new and old negative emotions. Depression released by blues music. Anger released by hard rock. Anxiety released by what type of music? There is no musical style for anxiety. 10/7/2003 Arts, music. Music with a set rhythm and melody is like poetry with a set meter and rhyme. It is passe. It is simplistic. 1/12/2002 Arts, music. Music with words. (1) Sometimes people listen to music without even knowing the what are the lyrics of the song. Sometimes people say they like a song even when they do not know what are the lyrics. Is it defensible to say that you like a song even when you do not know what are the lyrics of the song? It does not behoove you to ignore the lyrics because you could be humming a tune that is antithetical to what you hold dear. (2) In addition, sometimes it is not easy to understand what the singer is saying. (3) In addition, before the age of the Internet, it was often difficult to get a copy of the lyrics of favorite songs. 5/10/2007 Arts, music. Music with words. A critique of music with words is really a critique of poetry, unless you are reading a legal brief set to music. 5/29/2007 Arts, music. Music, more so than literature or the visual arts, helps set the mood of an era. When one thinks of the 1960's, 70's, 80's, or 90's, one often thinks of the music. 6/20/2006 Arts, music. Music: people will pay you for a fu*k. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Musical complexity. Computers can be used to design and play music that is too complex for humans to comprehend. What good is that? On the other hand, music that is too simple is boring. Thus, there is a sweet spot for the comprehension of complexity in music by humans. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Musical name for a kid: Dylan Mitchell Hendrix. 10/8/2003 Arts, music. Musical wandering or exploring. When one drifts away from a set tempo, melody or chord progression it becomes more interesting for the musically advanced musicians but it becomes more confusing for the musically simplistic audience. 11/12/2004 Arts, music. Nature music. (1) The sounds of nature. (2) Music made using ecological, acoustic instruments. (3) Songs with lyrics about preserving nature and living sustainably. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Pain-emotion music is more important than happy-emotion music because it deals with problems. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Performance. (1) If the accuracy of your musical performance is worse than the audience's perception, then your music sounds bad to the audience. (2) If the accuracy of your musical performance is better than the audience's perception, then your music sounds good to the audience. (3) Percent that the accuracy of your musical performance approaches ideal. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Performance. Work on building speed and accuracy of mind (thought and emotion) and physical movement. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Performing, three factors of. (1) The speed of your mind. Remembering the notes fast enough. Figuring out the notes fast enough. (2) The speed of your fingers. Finding the note on the instrument fast enough. (3) Can you do the above two as fast as the tempo of the music? 12/12/2000 Arts, music. Played out. (1) A song becomes played out when one has memorized the song. Why play the song when you know every note of the song? (2) A song has become played out when you are tired of hearing the song. The song is played out when one is bored with the song. (2) Why am I so interested in the concept of played out? Boredom is fascinating. I am fascinated with being bored. That is a breakthrough for me. 1/27/2007 Arts, music. Played out. (1) Played out meaning boring, not interesting. (2) Played out meaning failing to provide a buzz, kick or thrill. (3) Played out meaning failing to mesmerize or hold our attention. 4/27/2005 Arts, music. Played out. As a person gets older, music gets played-out faster. As you get older you become more adept at interpreting both music and lyrics. The extreme is when you can interpret the lyrics and music upon first hearing, and the song becomes played out after first hearing. 6/8/2005 Arts, music. Played out. Music (and other things) get played out quicker as you get older because you understand them more quickly. 2/15/2005 Arts, music. Played out. Played out depends on how popular the song is and how often it is played. Popular music gets played often and thus gets played out quickly. How big a hit it was. How big the craze or frenzy. How often played. How quickly played out. Songs have a life-cycle or curve. 12/30/2003 Arts, music. Played out. The concept of "played out" is important in music. (1) On an individual level, listen to a song one too many times and it becomes "played out", tiresome, stale, etc. The number of times a song can be played before becoming "played out" varies from song to song and individual to individual. (2) On a societal level, musical songs, artists and styles quickly become "played out", passe, old fashioned. This is because youth demands its new music to differentiate itself from the older generation. In this permutation, to be hip is to be new. 10/26/2003 Arts, music. Playing out music is like building up tolerance for a drug. Getting used to it. Doesn't give a kick. 4/15/2005 Arts, music. Politics and music. (1) Musicians, in order to appeal to a large audience, in order to attain monetary success, often depoliticize the lyrics of their songs. Musicians, in order to appeal to a large audience, and in order to please corporate powers, often avoid writing lyrics about political issues. When the public consumes depoliticized music the public becomes depoliticized. Thus, we see how the single minded pursuit of money and power by management and musicians can have the effect of depoliticizing the public. 12/1/2005 Arts, music. Politics and music. If one argument of the record companies and radio stations is that politically progressive music does not sell, then it is up to the individual to find music that expresses progressive views of the world. 12/1/2005 Arts, music. Popular music. What is pop music? Definitions of pop music. (1) Many people like it. (2) Easy. Easily understood. Not difficult. Not complicated. Simple. (3) Usually happy, not sad. Bouncy. (4) Trite, banal. (6) Music and words. Ordinary, pedestrian subject matter. Cliches. Mindless repetition. 4/16/2006 Arts, music. Problem. Four mistakes. (1) Not melodic enough. (2) Not rhythmic enough. (3) Boring: too repetitive and simple. (4) No unity: Not repetitive enough. Too complex. Parts don't mesh. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Problems with most music. (1) The subject, view, and argument aint optimal. (2) The emotional tone aint right. (3) As reflected in words and music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Protest music. In some countries, religious fundamentalist authoritarian regimes have outlawed music. It is a denial of free speech to make music illegal. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Protest music. Songs of social awareness, social justice, social protest, nonviolent resistance, global awareness, environmental awareness. 1/10/2004 Arts, music. Protest music. The is a great tradition of protest music from all over the world. Music for social justice. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Protest music. When people suffer injustice, one of the ways they resist is to voice their opposition in the form of songs. Protest music is an important genre of music. Protest music is an important genre of protest. Protest musics exist around the world, especially among oppressed and indigenous peoples. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. Protest music. Woody Guthrie. Pete Seegar. Joan Baez. Early Bob Dylan. Later Jackson Browne. Billy Bragg. Bob Geldorf. Bono. Peter Gabriel. 5/16/2007 Arts, music. Psychological factors in choice of favorite style, song, instrument, and artist. Healthy and unhealthy. Reasons believed vs. actual objective reasons. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Psychology and music. Emotion and music. (1) Emotional knowledge is necessary for truthful music composition? (2) Emotional knowledge means knowing what emotion you have, and knowing why you have it. (3) Emotional truth. Music must reflect emotional truth. Words must reflect intellectual truth. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Psychology and music. Emotion combonations: harmonically (at same time) vs. serially (through time). How to elicit them with various chords and melodies. How to elicit them with various instrumental arrangements. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Psychology and music. Emotional speech: variations in stresses, pitches, and volumes. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Psychology and music. How similar is the effect that music has on a person to the effect that sex has on a person? When you listen to a piece of music and your eyes roll back in your head, and your body twitches and shakes, and you feel a shiver and tingle run through you. It seems like the physical reaction to music and the physical reaction to sex are very similar. 3/30/2000 Arts, music. Psychology and music. The big questions. (1) How does music affect us? (2) How does it change our emotions? (3) How does music without words spur our intellect? (4) The rhythm relaxes like massage, hypnotism. (4) The melody releases emotion like crying. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Radio. Should a radio station play (1) What is requested most? (2) What is selling most? (3) What critics like most? (4) What the station people like? 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Radio. The radio today is a wasteland. There are so few stations that play the greats consistently. What to do? Find out who the greats are and buy their cd's or download their music from the web in MP3 format. Use it for inspiration. 8/9/1999 Arts, music. Radio. The typical radio station has a play list that is one day long and it just keeps repeating over and over, which can be very boring. 1/6/2002 Arts, music. Related subjects. (1) Economics: the money spent on making and selling music. (2) Math: mathematics of harmonics, harmonic series. (3) Religion: use of music in religion, the muses. (4) Health: music as an aid to health, to relieve stress. (5) Art: music is a form of art. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Related subjects. (1) Sociology. Value on music in general, and specific types of music, in a culture. Especially change of music (example, rise of rock and roll). Musical fads and trends (example, disco). (2) Philosophy. What is music? (3) Science. How does sound and tone work (i.e., physics of sound)? Why do humans like music (i.e. evolutionary biology)? 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Related subjects. Business and music. A record company executive must choose whether to sell records with the following traits: (1) What is great music. What is great art. (2) What he likes due to personal tastes. (3) What will make the most money due to it being popular. (4) How often do any two of the above traits coincide? How often do all three of the above traits coincide? Rarely. 6/20/2002 Arts, music. Related subjects. Political and legal views towards music. (1) Political views pro music. The Nazis used music for twisted propaganda purposes. (2) Political views contra music. Wrongful suppression of rock and roll as "race" music, as sex music, and as wild rebel music. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Rhythm. (1) Song with unchanging rhythm for entire piece, versus, songs containing different rhythm sections. (2) Accent. Song whose rhythm has no accents, versus, songs with rhythmic accents. (3) Songs with regular rhythms, where each note gets a rhythmic beat, versus, songs where some notes get no beat. 10/1/2005 Arts, music. Rhythmic white noise such as the sound of waves on a beach, or the sound of rain, can be very relaxing. And can be very healthy. Music can have the same affect. Music can simultaneously relax and calm a person and stimulate and excite a person. So can any other activity that produces the "flow" state. Scientists should develop new techniques to study the brain neurotransmitters produced when listening to music and during other activities that both calm and stimulate the mind. 12/20/2003 Arts, music. Sampling is like a movie remake. Sampling is like a movie sequel. Excessive sampling shows a lack of creativity. Just like Hollywood makes sequels because sequels are easy and profitable, so to do musicians sample because sampling is easy and profitable. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. Sampling. (1) Interesting sampling. The song, "If You Steal My Sunshine", samples an overlooked wood-block rhythm break from a 70's soul hit and extends it for an entire song. (2) Obvious sampling. The song "Ice, Ice, Baby" samples the song "Pressure" by Mercury/Bowie. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. Solo music playing versus group music playing. That is, playing music alone versus playing music in a band. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. Some music variables. (1) Raw vs. polished. (2) Happy vs. pain (sad, angry, fear, etc.). (3) Simple vs. complex. (4) Trivial vs. profound. (5) True vs. false (in tune and lyrics). The above variables are not necessarily related to each other. The worst pop music is trivial and false. Emotionally false means wrong emotion for the subject. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Some people are oriented toward styles and albums. I'm oriented toward artists and songs. The song, not the album, is the primary musical unit. The artist, not the style, is the primary musical unit. 10/12/2003 Arts, music. Sometimes one is in such a tenuous mental state that all one can handle is the most gentle melodic songs. It is then only the sweetest popular songs will do. 6/14/2000 Arts, music. Sometimes the orchestra warming up sounds better than the actual music about to be played. 10/5/2006 Arts, music. Song lyrics: "Catch phrase, buzzword, melodic hook. Catch phrase, buzzword, melodic hook." 3/19/2006 Arts, music. Songs built to last a lifetime. Songs built to stand up to adversity. 4/7/2006 Arts, music. Songs from 2007. "Black Swan", by Thom Yorke. "Phantom Limb", by the Shins. "Other Side of the World", by KT Tunstall. "When You Were Young", by the Killers. Neil Young recorded live at Massey Hall in 1971. "In a Little While", by U2. 4/26/2007 Arts, music. Sounds. (1) Sounds of nature. Birdsong. Crickets. Frogs. Babbling brook. Swamp or bayou. (2) Sounds of city. The sound of automobile traffic. The sound of construction. The sound of many conversations at once. 7/10/2006 Arts, music. Soundtrack your life. Have a database of music to go with any activity you are engaged in. It will make your life seem like a movie. 1/1/1999 Arts, music. Studio recording versus live performance. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. Technique ability (play), composition ability (create), and theory knowledge (study). 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Teens use music as an emotional aid in at least three ways. (1) Teens use music to feel emotions. Teens use music to help figure out what they are feeling. That is, teens use music to develop emotional knowledge. (2) Teens use music to express emotions. Teens use music to help express their feelings. (3) Teens use music to help manage and control their emotions. Teens use music to help deal with their emotions. 1/1/2000 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. A counter-argument is that music is just as important to adults as it is to teens. Even if adults listen to less music than teens. Even if adults listen to different types of music than teens. It is still possible that music is as important to adults as teens. 9/18/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Adults have less energy than teens. Less physical energy yields less sexual energy, which yields less need to dance. Less psychological energy yields less emotion, which yields less romantic emotions, which yields less need for music. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Adults have often "played out" a song, a group, or even an entire style. When one hears a song many times it becomes "played out", which is another way of saying "I know that already". Teens play music over and over until the music is "played out", which can take years. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Adults have other things on their minds (ex. jobs, kids, etc.). Teen minds are vacant. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Here is a counter-argument to the teens vs. adults music debate. Perhaps adults listen to as much music as teens. Perhaps adults are as emotionally moved by music as teens. Perhaps the entire teen vs. adult music debate is a mirage. 11/15/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. PART ONE. (1) Teens operate primarily emotionally and secondarily rationally. (2) Teens have a low level of emotional understanding. Even though they are very emotional they do not understand their emotions very well. Teens need to learn about their emotions. (3) Teens have low levels of emotional control. Their emotions run them instead of them handling their emotions. (4) Because of the above three points, teens have a high need for music. Music helps teens develop their emotions, make use of their emotions, understand their emotions and control their emotions. PART TWO. (1) Adults operate primarily rationally and secondarily emotionally. (2) Adults have a high level of emotional understanding. (3) Adults have a high level of emotional control. (4) Because of the above points, adults have a lesser need for music and thus music is less important for adults than teens. 9/18/2001 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Three possibilities why adults are less emotional than teens. (1) Teens have less emotional control than adults. (2) Adults feel less emotions than teens. (3) Adults have lost the instinct to unload emotions. Adults are repressed. 1/1/2000 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. When you were young the emotions and ideas you found in the music were new to you. The music lifted you up and you grew. The music gave you all it could. You figured it out, and then it got stale. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Why does music become less important to adults? Because although the world of music is very large, the subset of "classic" songs is much smaller. The classics being the songs worth listening to. One can learn the classics in a matter of years. When all the classic songs in all styles become "played out" for you, then what? After that, who cares? 2/24/2002 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Why does music become less important to us after young adulthood? One theory is that after a while we have heard all the chords in all the keys. We have heard all the basic chord progressions played at all tempos. We have heard all the basic melodies. In this respect, music is just a matter of combinatorics. After a while you have heard all the combinations. This view holds that music is more like math than like language. 6/3/1999 Arts, music. Teens vs. adults. Why does music become less important to us after young adulthood? One theory is that music is like a drug. After a while it does not have the same impact that it had initially. 6/3/1999 Arts, music. Teens. Music is emotion. Music is love. Teens are love starved. That is why teens love music. Because music gives teens the love that they need. Music gives teens emotional intimacy. 4/24/1999 Arts, music. The droning, repetitive, rhythmic, meditative, hypnotic, trance-like nature of music is like the chanting of "om" during meditation. Music has much in common with meditation. Music is a way we get our minds in a calm state. (see alpha, beta and theta brain waves). Music is a type of meditation. 12/20/2003 Arts, music. The music and words create the emotions. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. The music that seemed to matter very much to me in the past seems to matter very little to me now. Several possibilities: (1) Maybe it mattered much then but not now because I've changed. (2) Maybe it never mattered much but only seemed to matter much then. (3) Maybe I feel the music is played out from repetition. 10/16/2005 Arts, music. The reason why one gets ideas when one listens to music is because music stimulates memory and thought as well as emotion. Music engages the entire mind. 6/15/2005 Arts, music. The search for new sounds and new sound combinations. Example, sampling, synthesizer, layering. Keep it real. Keep it fresh. 9/15/1998 Arts, music. There is great music out there. Thanks to the musicians for creating the music that lifts my mood and inspires me to create. Well done. I hope I can return the favor. It seems we are working together. 2/23/2001 Arts, music. There's a million tunes out there, written and unwritten, but few that say anything new or important, or that are memorable. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Thought and emotion yields words and music, which creates and saves a new attitude. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. Three variables. (1) Low tech vs. high tech. (2) Raw vs. polished. (3) Inarticulate vs. articulate. 02/05/1998 Arts, music. Through minute variation steps, one songs evolves into every other song. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. To what degree is music meant to be understood primarily with the body and not the mind? To the degree it makes us dance? The notion of "understanding with the body" is a notion foreign to many people but important nonetheless. (See also: Psychology: understanding with the body.) 2/23/2001 Arts, music. Two questions. (1) How much time does a person spend with music playing in their head? (2) Is the music a tune one has previously heard, or is the music a newly created tune? 2/15/2005 Arts, music. Two types of music. (1) Human music: acoustic and emotional. (2) Mechanical music: synthesizers and no emotion. 8/30/2001 Arts, music. Types of music. (1) Folk: peasants. (2) Pop: mass media. (3) Haute: educated. 12/30/1992 Arts, music. What can music do? At its best. What can music, pictures, words, ideas, each do? Attitude changer. Enlightener. Information provider. Pain reliever, life aspirin. Provide new views. Save lives. Enrich lives. Add meaning. Music can help you think. Music can improve your mood. 7/1/2006 Arts, music. What is music? (1) Make a great noise. (2) A coordinated racket. (3) A prolonged yell, shout, scream, holler. 7/25/2006 Arts, music. What is music. Definitions of music. (1) Music as any random sound. (2) Music as organized sound. (3) Music defined as organized sound produced by musical instruments. What constitutes a musical instrument? Ease of ability to control pitch, rhythm and timbre. Pleasing timbre. Wide range of pitch. 6/7/2004 Arts, music. What is the relationship between (1) Fast, lively music. (2) Fast, lively dancing bodies. (3) Fast, lively dancing minds. (4) I say they are all related. 6/3/2001 Arts, music. What music accomplishes most is providing comfort. Music consoles. Without music there would be a lot more pain, misery and neurosis. 3/4/2001 Arts, music. When I was younger, music functioned as a means to disperse excess emotion. Now that I am older, music functions as a means to feel any emotion. 5/23/2005 Arts, music. When one is a teen, one is faced with new emotions that appear with the onset of puberty, adolescence, and adulthood. Music provides a way to help feel new emotions. Music provides a way to help understand new emotions. As one proceeds further through adulthood, gaining experience and understanding, there are less new emotions and fewer new situations, and thus less need for music. Music is a form of emotional therapy. 4/17/2006 Arts, music. Why music is popular with teens. As people get older they become less susceptible to emotional persuasion, due to the development of their thinking skills. As you get older music becomes less persuasive and less compelling. 2/15/2006 Arts, music. Why people give up on music. (1) Boredom due to repetition. Over played. Played out. (2) If the songs are meaningful to you, and if that meaning endures, then the music is still good. On the other hand, if the music was meaningless to begin with, or if you gave up on your ideals, or if your values changed, then the music becomes less important to you. 5/20/2004 Arts, music. Words and music. What would be the effect of most modern hit songs if you played the music without the words? What would be the effect of reading the lyrics without hearing the music? 10/12/2006 Arts, music. Work and music are closely related. (1) Music makes the work go faster. (2) The rhythms of repetitive work are music-friendly. 11/2/2001 Arts, music. World music is awesome. You say you like hearing people sing, but you don't like it when the words overpower the music? Listen to music sung in foreign languages that you do not understand. Listen to world music. World music is beautiful. If you cannot understand the lyrics then the vocal is pure music. The human voice is a beautiful, musical thing. Listen to world music. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. World music is wonderful because when you listen to world music you do not have to listen to the same top 40 songs over and over ad nauseum. There is a world of interesting music available. Listen to world music. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. World music. When you listen to world music you are exposed to an amazing variety of music and cultures. When you listen to world music you learn about the world. Get out of your hamlet and hear the world. 3/11/2007 Arts, music. You are going to hear a song that turns your body and mind to jelly. You are going to hear a song that liquefies you. And then that liquid will evaporate. Where are you now? 4/29/2005 Arts, music. You hear a song on the radio and you cannot tell if its a guy or a girl singing. The question becomes, does it really matter if its a guy or a girl? It does not really matter. So why the violence against people based on sex, gender, and sexual preference? 4/27/2006 Arts, music. Young adults enjoy music because music directly physically stimulates their nervous system and thus stimulates their brains. Somehow, when you get older, you become less susceptible to direct physical stimulations of the body by music. 3/20/2007 Arts, theater. .This section is about theater. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, theater. (1) Pro theater. Theater uses real people. It is three dimensional. You can reach out into the audience. (2) Contra theater. Broadway plays suck because they are commercial and mediocre. They are too big and impersonal. Off Broadway is okay because it is more immediate. 3/30/1998 Arts, theater. Comedy vs. tragedy. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. Development of theater. (1) Theater in the round. Seats surrounding a circular stage. The stage slowly rotates to let each person see all around the set. Or the seats rotate around the stage. (2) Hologram theater in the round. Just like theater in the round, except using three dimensional hologram actors instead of live human actors. (3) Spherical, virtual theater. Be able to zoom in or out from any point in a virtual sphere surrounding hologram actors. 9/17/2005 Arts, theater. Experimental theater. (1) Theater with no sets. (2) Theater with no costumes. (3) Theater with no theater building. (4) The result is people on the streets engaging in "happenings", "street performances" or "guerrilla theater". 7/11/2002 Arts, theater. Experimental theater. A staged argument between a couple in a crowded restaurant can be a type of theater. 3/29/2002 Arts, theater. If movies are realistic then theater is even more realistic. 6/9/2004 Arts, theater. Improv theater. Every sentence by every actor is improvised. Every action by every actor is improvised. 5/14/2006 Arts, theater. Improvisation. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. In a real play, the audience would be a single person sitting at a table on the set, with the actors acting all around the individual. 4/22/1999 Arts, theater. Movies are high tech. Theater is low tech. Anyone can do theater anywhere. Theater is good for the third world. Theater is good for a post-apocalyptic world. 11/15/2001 Arts, theater. Movies killed theater. Theater is a dead form, only historically significant. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. Musicals. What's wrong with musicals? They seem not serious. They seem to address no serious issues, nor take any serious views. They seem frivolous, trivial, fluff, vacuous. They are feel good, Polyanna, Candide, avoidant, vanilla, safe, fake smile. 5/15/2004 Arts, theater. Problems: (1) Overacting and underacting. Excess or lack of the correct emotion. (2) Wrong emotion. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. Roots of theater. Perhaps the oldest form of theater is someone acting out a story. Ritualized stories: ritualized roles and speeches. Theater probably got mixed up with magic and religion rituals. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. Specialization of the theater profession (occupation) and the physical location (building). 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. The problem with much theater today, and much art in general, is that it is written to sell to a mass audience. So it is watered down and non-offensive, and not too deep. Fluff. Easy to swallow pablum. 02/15/1997 Arts, theater. Theater is a skit around a campfire. Theater started with people around a campfire acting out in replay the events of the past. Next came mild exaggeration and embellishment. Next came severe exaggeration and embellishment, which led to fictional theater. 5/14/2006 Arts, theater. Theater is based on imitation. The first plays consisted of people doing impressions of other people. 5/14/2006 Arts, theater. Theater is immediate, live, elemental. Theater has a "be here now" quality. (2) Theater is expensive in time, effort and wages. 6/9/2004 Arts, theater. Theater is immediate. Theater is in your face. Unless you are in the balcony. When you are in the balcony, your paramour is in your face. 5/14/2006 Arts, theater. Theater is the oldest art. People "acted out" before they talked, sang or painted. 5/14/2006 Arts, theater. Theater is to movies as painting is to photography. When photography was invented, painters had to change their purpose from realistic depiction to expressionism. When movies were invented, theater faced a similar change in purpose. 9/10/2004 Arts, theater. Theater is to movies like real women is to porn magazines. 3/25/2002 Arts, theater. Theater. (1) Theater is live. It is real people. (2) Theater is three-dimensional. Breaking the fourth wall enters the audience. Theater in the round is like around a campfire. (3) Whenever people make a face or talk with their hands, acting and theater has begun. 7/18/1998 Arts, theater. Today, spontaneous, audience participation, guerrilla performance art is only thing capable of being valid, if it is well done. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. What can theater give you that movies can't? What can movies give you that theater can't? 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. What if an actor acknowledged the audience. Looked at the audience or camera. Spoke to the audience or camera. Touched the audience or camera. 6/9/2004 Arts, theater. With the development of printing theater died a little. They could write down their stories. With the development of movies theater died a little more. 12/30/1992 Arts, theater. Writing, producing, directing, acting, lighting, costume design. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts, criticism. .This section is about visual arts criticism. Topics include: . 1/24/2006 Arts, visual arts, criticism. (1) NY abstract expressionists: monumental and powerful, like the mountains. (2) Francis Bacon: willing to discuss pain and horror, and thus think what are its causes and cures? (3) Warhol: the housewife of 20th century art (laundry detergent and soup cans), trite, banal, ineffectual, pop. He does not satirize hollywood, he worships it. 04/01/1994 Arts, visual arts, criticism. Andy Goldsworthy. This is nature art like it oughta be. It is not just about nature, it is of nature. Natural materials. Natural settings. Yet a hint of the human. A hint of a sentient mind. A hint of the artist. Like some kind of genius caveman could have made this art 100,000 years ago. Its both simple yet elegant. Its both organic and formal. Its witty and solemn. Best of all, there are no people around! Its more sculptural than pictorial. Its outdoors, so the changing natural environment plays a big role. What extreme sports are to traditional sports, Goldsworthy is to traditional art. 6/14/2002 Arts, visual arts, criticism. Basquiat. (1) His paintings are intentionally raw, like Kerouac's spontaneous prose. A raw esthetic adds power to the artwork. A polished esthetic adds subtlety. (2) His work is rough because his subject matter is rough. Life in the city is rough. Drug addiction is rough. (3) A raw esthetic also adds intensity. Raw is hot. Polished is cool. Raw is active and quick. Polished is slow, deliberate, and calculated. (See notes on hot and cool music. See notes on raw and polished music). (4) Basquiat's use of random words can be viewed as depicting a reality that is trying to make sense and be coherent but which fails. (5) And his use of random words also depicts a person who is trying to spit out or say the ineffable. A person in pain trying to express. (6) There is a lot of terror and horror and Basquiat's work. The faces are grimacing skulls. A lot of pain. Anger, fear and anguish. How do people who feel this way express it? Not with polished rhetoric. Basquiat is to visual art what wailing blues rock is to music. (7) The words in his painting are like the words of street level shop signs. "Eat at Joe's" "Wash-o-rama". This is the literature that the person of the street reads, and it does not scan well. (8) Basquiat is not graffiti. Basquiat evolved from graffiti, but later he transcended it. Graffiti is FROM the streets, but it endeavors to be polished and cool. Basquiat is ABOUT the streets. (9) Most amazing is Basquiats friendship with Warhol who was his exact opposite. Warhol is polished and cool. Basquiat is rough and hot. 8/10/1998 Arts, visual arts, criticism. Botero redeemed. Botero gets political and paints the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Americans soldiers at Abu Gharib prison. Its good to see Botero forthrightly addressing issues of social injustice, albeit using his typically fat figures. Perhaps Botero should next try his hand at depicting the American obesity epidemic. 9/4/2005 Arts, visual arts, criticism. My favorite visual artists are Phillip Guston and Leon Golub, because they take a political stand. 07/18/1997 Arts, visual arts, criticism. Some of my favorite artists: Hans Hoffman, Mark Rothko, Jenny Holzer. 08/30/1993 Arts, visual arts, criticism. The Gates, by Christo, in Central Park. (1) Central Park, possibly the most beautiful urban park in the world. Central Park, noted for its "wild nature" aesthetic. Central Park now looking like a Home Depot, due to the appearance of The Gates by Christo, with its orange metal beams and orange plastic banners. Christo turned a beautiful park into a Home Depot. The Gates are a warning that one day every inch of nature may have a Home Depot parked on it. (2) What is art? Everything is art (in that everything has aesthetic qualities) and art is everywhere. (3) The Gates with people walking under them. The Gates without people walking under them. Two entirely different things. (4) What is the color when you face the sun with your eyes closed? What is the color of sunlight through eyelids? Orange. Saffron. Peaceful. Zen. 2/4/2005 Arts, visual arts, criticism. Warhol. (1) Warhol loved to go shopping. After he died they auctioned off bags and bags of stuff he had bought and never even opened. Warhol's art shows his love of mass-production and mass-consumption. He is not neutral on the issue, nor is he sending us a warning about the perils of over-production and over-consumption. Warhol himself is the warning. Warhol is the antithesis of an ecologically conscious artist. Kitschy subjects, neon palette, and icy attitude. Warhol can be used as an example of what was wrong with America at that time. The funny thing is that he loved it. He glorifies the artificial, the fake and the plastic. He is not being ironic. He is for looks rather than substance. He is a front. (2) Warhol is the leader of the pop art. It began as an attack on "high art" and that is fine with me. Yet it wound up like pop-music and pop-culture, with the worst traits that these things have. The best that pop culture has to offer is a democratic, egalitarianism made possible by the mass media. The worst pop-culture has to offer is the wasteland of repetitious pop-radio, poorly written comic books, overly-sugared breakfast cereal, etc. (3) The view that pop theorists hold is that pop-culture is either: (A) Better than anything else. (B) Just as good as anything else (relativism). (C) Here to stay, so get used to it. (D) Something to recognize and understand, in order to improve it. (E) I hold view "D". Warhol held view "A". (4) In Warhol we see an art of nihilism, cynicism and pessimism. An art about being popular, being trendy and being cool is a high school art. An art about fame, status, money and power that he was glorifying rather than criticizing. Warhol gives the shallow crowd the green light by in effect saying "Everything you believe is okay". (5) When the outsiders become the insiders and the insiders are relegated to outsider status you are still playing the "insider-outsider" game. (6) Warhol was more about the artist than the art. Warhol was about being an art star. However, it should always be more about the art. (7) Warhol seems disengaged rather than engaged. He is posing constantly. He never gets real. The good he did was to draw our attention to things in society that are amiss by his celebration of these same things. I call for an engaged, authentic art that advocates values like ecological sustainability and social justice. 10/8/2000 Arts, visual arts, works. .Introduction. This section has works of art. 1/24/2006 Arts, visual arts, works. .This section contains written descriptions of ideas for visual art works. 12/30/2003 Arts, visual arts, works. A painting. On one half of the canvas show people miserable in bare corporate cubicles amidst pollution. On the other half of the canvas show people happy because they live in a way that promotes ecological sustainability and social justice. 7/8/2006 Arts, visual arts, works. A tri-color flag of horizontal stripes, with blue on top, green in the middle and brown on the bottom, to represent the sky, the trees and the earth. 9/12/2004 Arts, visual arts, works. Computer painting. Projects. (1) Divide screen in half horizontally and do landscapes. (2) Divide in thirds horizontally or radially and do water, air, earth. 08/01/1997 Arts, visual arts, works. Conceptual art. Change the letters on a colorful can of household cleanser from "Buff" to "Dirt". Change the contents of the can from powdered cleanser to dirt. Market it. 9/17/2001 Arts, visual arts, works. Five lines could mean: Open lines. Highway. River. Grass. Connectors. Five of anything. 2/7/06 Arts, visual arts, works. Five lines. A door. A book. Flowers. Stick figures. 2/10/2007 Arts, visual arts, works. Five vertical lines. What does it mean? Why would someone habitually draw five vertical lines? (1) Five vertical lines representing five people? (2) Five vertical lines representing the claw marks of a hand on a wall, like those made by people entombed alive. (3) Five vertical lines representing the bars of a cage that is imprisoning you. (4) Five vertical lines representing the walls of a fort keeping others out. 7/30/2005 Arts, visual arts, works. Gray (road), brown (leafless trees), gray (cloudy sky). 01/01/1993 Arts, visual arts, works. Horizontal bands bottom to top: light green (grass), dark green (trees), yellow (sun), blue (sky). 04/21/1993 Arts, visual arts, works. Horizontal triads. (1) Blue sky. Green trees. Blue water. (2) Light blue sky. Dark blue water. Light brown sand. 10/28/2003 Arts, visual arts, works. Paint a landscape that is 1/3 land, 1/3 water, 1/3 air. 07/30/1996 Arts, visual arts, works. Painting. Idea for painting called "A life". A picture of 1200 big squares lined up 12 across and 100 down. Each square has 35 small squares in it; 7 across and 5 down. Each small square is a different color. Each small square has a diagonal black slash through it. The picture is supposed to represent calendars of the days of you life. 3/10/1999 Arts, visual arts, works. Patches of light, medium, and dark green (leaves), over black and brown (branches), over blue, white, and gray (sky). That is, sitting on a park bench. 10/15/1994 Arts, visual arts, works. Paul in bliss, living at the bookstore. Show a filled bookcase, with one shelf set up as a cot, with Paul reading a book, head on pillow. 03/08/1997 Arts, visual arts, works. Stick figures arranged in a circle with hands holding hands and feet touching feet. 1/28/2005 Arts, visual arts, works. The seaside is abstract, sky, water, sand. Do a painting. 02/04/1994 Arts, visual arts, works. Triangle, circle, square = mountain, sun, house. 04/09/1993 Arts, visual arts, works. Twenty years of FUCK! This project involves gathering together all of a person's doodles over a lifetime. Then put on display all of the doodles. For example, doodles that say, "FUCK!" and other subconscious exclamations of dread, anger, misery, desire, hope, joy, etc. One purpose of this work of art is to draw attention to ubiquitous subconscious doodles, and thereby draw attention to the subconscious itself. Another purpose of this work is to examine the types and amounts of emotions reflected in subconscious doodles. A third purpose of this work of art is to act as a cathartic release for the emotions expressed in subconscious doodles. 8/8/2006 Arts, visual arts, works. Two eyes. The whites are divided in half horizontally, white on top and blue on bottom, with a wavelet pattern at the dividing line. 5/25/2000 Arts, visual arts, works. What the American flag should look like. The field of stars should extend all the way across the top half of the flag to give the sense of a starry sky. The red and white stripes on the lower half of the flag should be vertical not horizontal, and they should be drawn using perspective so that they disappear into a vanishing point in the center of the flag at the horizon line where they meet the starry sky to give a sense of the earth. 11/2/2001 Arts, visual arts, works. White contact lenses with no pupils so you look like a Greek statue. Eyes without irises. 8/14/2000 Arts, visual arts. .This section is about the visual arts. Topics include: ( ) Background. ( ) Cartoons. ( ) Color. ( ) Computer art. ( ) Doodling. ( ) Drawing. ( ) Grafitti. ( ) Painting. ( ) Photography. ( ) Philosophy of visual arts. ( ) Related subjects. ( ) Sculpture. ( ) Symbols. ( ) Visual arts vs. words. ( ) What. ( ) Why. 1/24/2006 Arts, visual arts. "Man on a horse" statues, there are far too many of them as it is. They are patriarchal baloney. 9/16/1999 Arts, visual arts. (1) A single curve. The half risen sun. A half moon. (2) A single curve. Catenary. Rope bridge over river gorge. 10/2/1998 Arts, visual arts. (1) Art about Nature. (2) Art about mans relationship to Nature. Green living. Gaia hypothesis. Sustainability. 5/25/2000 Arts, visual arts. (1) Black and white drawing. (A) Black lines on white background. (B) White lines on black background. (2) Gray tone painting. Monochromatic. (3) Color. (A) Primary colors. (B) The spectrum. ROYGBIV. (C) Full palette. All colors. 10/2/1998 Arts, visual arts. (1) Power of the idea. (2) Power of the form of expression of the idea. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. (1) Representation: Figurative. Scapes. Objects. vs. (2) Abstract: Pattern, form, color, shape. 6/3/2004 Arts, visual arts. (1) Simple static images. (2) Multiple static images (ex. comic strip). (3) Multiple moving images (ex. movies without sound or subtitles). 4/11/2001 Arts, visual arts. (1) Subjects. (A) Scapes: land, sea, air. (B) People : full figure clothed, nudes, busts, portraits; individuals, groups. (3) Nature subjects: plants, animals. (2) Emotion, tone, mood. (3) Attitude. (4) Themes: view of subject. Approval vs. disapproval, optimism vs. pessimism. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. (1) The development of Perspective was required for the development of Realism in the visual arts. (2) The development of photography presented a challenge to Realism. Impressionism developed as a response to photography. (3) The acceptance of Abstraction was made possible in part by the development of formalist theories of art. 11/2/2005 Arts, visual arts. (1) What should a person paint after the invention of photography? (2) Painting is primarily about color, not line, shape nor texture. 1/31/2004 Arts, visual arts. A history of high school notebook margin doodles. 2/1/2002 Arts, visual arts. A single line. Horizon. Divides a field. Partitions the plane. It was ever so. 10/2/1998 Arts, visual arts. Aesthetics. Current, western aesthetics of humans: male and female, face and body. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Aesthetics. Paul aesthetic system. (1) Paul nature aesthetic system. (2) Paul human-made art aesthetic system. (3) Paul visual art aesthetic system: power, subtlety, philosophy, psychology, profound, elemental, bones, base. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. All aspects of painting are controllable by the artist. Photography is less controllable, and requires either more exactness by the artist, or else the alternative of the artist giving up control. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Art therapy for children and psych patients. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Artist as photographer on acid. 07/23/1988 Arts, visual arts. Background and Void. (1) Background. (A) The subject can be in the background or on the margins (ex. foreground center subjects may be a ruse or decoy). (B) The subject can be the background itself (ex. many landscape paintings). (2) Void. (A) The subject can be what is not here or what is not mentioned (ex. damning with faint praise). (B) The subject can be the void itself. Emptiness or nothingness (ex. Eastern painting). 4/11/2001 Arts, visual arts. Background. There are no things, only situations. Things exist in relation to each other. A thing only exists in a setting, and is influenced by its setting. This is why background is so important. Even the Void is either a thing or a background. 12/06/1988 Arts, visual arts. Background. We become savvy when we look at backgrounds. (1) Seeing things in context gives one more information. Seeing foreground against background lets you put things together (like the way two and two equals four). (2) The background often contains revealing slips of the tongue. Unconscious expressions. Unposed and unrehearsed. 4/11/2001 Arts, visual arts. Backgrounds and environments. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Baseball stitching is to the sphere as the Tao symbol is to the circle. 11/30/1993 Arts, visual arts. Building a visual image library. (1) Photos, drawings, paintings and sculpture. (2) In print form and digital form. (3) Usually reproductions. Some originals. (4) Landscapes: land, sea and air. Biomes: desert, jungle, arctic, savanna, etc. People: male and female, young and old, portrait and body, single and in groups. Animals and plants, flora and fauna. Space, stars, planets, galaxies. Nature and man made objects. Abstract and representational. 12/27/2003 Arts, visual arts. Building a visual image library. (1) Printed. Go to the store on January 1st. Buy calendars at half price. (2) Digital online free images in the public domain. 12/26/2003 Arts, visual arts. Cartoon types. (1) Single panel comic. (2) Comic strip. (3) Comic book. (4) Animated comics. (5) Comics with words and without words. 5/14/2004 Arts, visual arts. Cartoons. (1) Animated cartoons vs. still cartoons. (2) Still cartoons. (A) Single pane political cartoons (serious) vs. Four pane funny strips (not serious). (3) Cartoons for kids vs. cartoons for adults. (4) Serious satire cartoons vs. lame joke cartoons. 4/4/2000 Arts, visual arts. Cartoons. Comics. Japanese animie comics. U.S. superhero comics. Both are strangely mannered worlds. 1/1/1999 Arts, visual arts. Cartoons. Interesting points about cartoons. (1) Cartoons are a type of short form, like haiku and pop songs. (2) Cartoons combine words and pictures much like a billboard. (3) The four pane cartoon functions like the frames of a motion picture. 4/4/2000 Arts, visual arts. Cartoons. Moving and nonmoving. With words and without words. Are cartoons art? 4/1/1994 Arts, visual arts. Color and emotion. Cool and calm colors like blue, gray, and green pastels, which remind us of things like water, sky, and trees. Hot and exciting colors like highly saturated reds and oranges, which remind us of blood. Is there a universal reaction in humans (and animals?) to colors such as above? Did it evolve in humans over millions of years, from when we lived close to nature? 4/14/1999 Arts, visual arts. Color. In all cultures, colors are naturally, arbitrarily assigned meanings. (For example, black for death and white for virginity in the USA). And all things we see contain color. Therefore, everything we perceive has arbitrary symbolic content. Everything is a symbol to some degree. Man is a symbol using animal. Is this natural, arbitrary assignment of color symbols helpful, harmful or neutral? I say generally neurotic. Can the natural, arbitrary assignment of symbols be undone? Can we get people up from neurotic, magical, symbolic thinking? (2) At some level, everything is symbolic of everything else. And everything refers to everything else. Either directly (one step) or indirectly (more than one step, in a chain of associations). Our minds are always associating everything we perceive (externally through our senses, or internally in our minds) with other things, in ever expanding circles. 12/27/1998 Arts, visual arts. Color. Is there such a thing as Universal Color Symbolism? For example, does the color green mean the same thing in all cultures? (2) Is there such a thing as Universal Shape Symbolism. For example, does the shape of the circle mean the same thing in all cultures? (3) Is there such a thing as Universal Object Symbolism? For example, does the flower mean the same thing in all cultures? (4) The short answer is no. Then where is the hard-wiring? 5/12/2000 Arts, visual arts. Color. Why is blue for boys and pink for girls? Because the sky is blue. The blue sky reigns over all, so the boys get blue, because its all based on a bogus traditional patriarchy. At the opposite end of the spectrum lies another primary color, red, which we tone down to pink and give to the girls. We tone down colors for babies by adding white to make peaceful pastels like pastel blue (sky-blue) and pastel red (pink). The result is sky-blue for boys and pink for girls. On Mars, where the sky is red, the result would be pink for boys and sky-blue for girls if a patriarchy existed. A matriarchy on Mars would give pink to girls and sky-blue to boys. Get it? 3/24/2000 Arts, visual arts. Combination art. (1) You can mix abstraction and representation. (2) You can combine drawing, painting and photographs (ex. Rauschenberg). (3) You can combine image and text (ex. Basquiat). (4) You can combine image and sound (ex. Silent movies). (5) You can combine image and text and sound. 5/25/2000 Arts, visual arts. Comic books. America's fascination with comic books. Comic books are colorful. Comic books depict people. Comic books depict action. Nothing fascinates humans more than to watch people in action. 5/27/2006 Arts, visual arts. Comic books. Are comic books visual art because of the pictures, or are comic books literature because of the words? 6/9/2006 Arts, visual arts. Comics are the haiku of the visual arts. 6/20/2006 Arts, visual arts. Comics are to today as pantomime was to the 1970's, and as silent film was the the 1920's. 4/27/2006 Arts, visual arts. Comics. Comics with words versus comics without words. Comics without words are like silent films. Comics without words are like music without words. 8/4/2006 Arts, visual arts. Communication through visual image: art and non-art. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Computer art. Do your visual art on the computer. Computer lets you mix media, by combining photography, painting, drawing, 3-D sculpture, animation and audio-video clips. 9/30/1996 Arts, visual arts. Computer art. The computer screen gives you no sense of the size of the work. The mouse gives you no sense of "arm". What the computer artist needs is a digital screen the size of a wall. On the screen he could delineate the size and shape of the work he wants to create. He could have various size "brushes". Everything would be digitized. For three-dimensional art works use virtual reality. 9/13/1998 Arts, visual arts. Criticism of visual arts. Paul's cannons and criticism. Academic cannons and criticism. Criteria: clear, true, powerful, and important. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Do I have to draw you a picture? The visual arts are the fall back position when it comes to explaining something to someone else. Hand puppets. Colorforms. 1/14/2006 Arts, visual arts. Doodling is like whistling. 12/30/2001 Arts, visual arts. Doodling is the haiku of the visual arts. 2/26/2001 Arts, visual arts. Doodling. All the visual arts have their genesis in doodling, and doodling is essentially an unconscious, involuntary, nervous activity. 3/3/2001 Arts, visual arts. Doodling. When you hand a person a pencil and paper the person starts doodling. Does that imply that the subconscious mind is constantly doodling? 1/14/2006 Arts, visual arts. Drawing is to painting as black and white is to color. 6/9/2004 Arts, visual arts. Drawing. Pencil. Ink: pen line and brush wash. Paper. Techniques and methods. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Drawing. Single line drawings. Where the pen does not leave the paper. 5/12/1999 Arts, visual arts. Evolution of the visual arts. Humans were seeing long before they were talking. So the visual arts preceded the oral literary arts, let alone the written literary arts. Every time you make a face, a gesture or a pose you are creating a picture for someone else to see. 3/29/2002 Arts, visual arts. Factors, variables, and principles. Methods: analyze and synthesize elements. Elements: color, texture, pattern, line, and shape. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Good art is meaningful and powerful. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Graffiti as pure art, as pure literature, and as a mix of art and literature. Beautiful writing: calligraphy? See literature. 04/21/1993 Arts, visual arts. Graffiti. PART ONE. Is graffiti a transgression or an example of freedom of speech? It depends if it is graffiti on one's own private property, someone else's private property, or on public property. And anyway, who decides what public property looks like? The public? PART TWO. Is graffiti a justified response when society implicitly says "You are not supposed to talk here. Shut up!" Or is graffiti a form of bullying on the part of the graffiti artist. Interrupting. In your face. PART THREE. (1) Graffiti as visual art (pictures with no words). (2) Graffiti as literature (words with no pictures). (3) Graffiti as a mix of visual arts and literature. (4) I say it is always a mix. (A) All writing, both handwriting and typeface, has a visual arts element. (B) All visual art has word content. We silently talk to ourselves about the visual arts we see. For example, we silently say the names of the objects and colors when we look at a visual artwork. 4/11/2001 Arts, visual arts. Graffiti. What are some of the most common types of graffiti? (1) Name and date. (2) X loves Y. (3) Political statements. (4) Economic statements. (5) Statements about work. (6) Statements about school. (7) Statements about places where people live. (8) Sexual statements. Pictures of sex. (9) Words of wisdom about life. 7/1/2006 Arts, visual arts. Graffiti. What is the oldest graffiti you can find? Hidden away somewhere. Uncleaned. Unfaded. 7/1/2006 Arts, visual arts. Graffiti. Where is graffiti found? (1) Public toilets. (2) Public walls. (3) Schools. (4) Work. 7/1/2006 Arts, visual arts. Graphic arts. (1) Logo art. (2) Magazine advertisement art. (3) Billboard art. 12/28/2003 Arts, visual arts. Graphic arts. (1) Movie poster art. (2) Rock album cover art. (3) Rock concert poster art. 12/28/2003 Arts, visual arts. Hello, people. The clouds in the sky do not look like physical objects. The clouds in the sky are not in the style of realism. Lets recognize the sky for how it really looks. The sky is an abstract expressionist work of art. 6/4/2000 Arts, visual arts. History, origin. What was the nature of the first art produced by humans? Thirty thousand years ago, a primitive human draws a picture of an animal on a cave wall. (1) He may worship the animal. He may pray, "Oh animal, you are great, please let me find you to feed my tribe". (2) He may treat the painting of the animal like a voodoo doll. He may stab the painting of the animal with a spear, just like a voodoo priest puts pins in a voodoo doll. He may say, "Look out animal, because I am going to mess you up. That's right, I am bad. Don't mess with me." That is to say, we cannot say that primitive man did not have an attitude of healthy self-confidence. (3) She may have used the painting like a menu. She may have said to her husband, "See this? Go out and bring one of these home for dinner". (4) They may have used the painting as a trophy wall. For example, they may have declared, "Og killed four deer in a day, a new world record." 7/11/2000 Arts, visual arts. Imaging. Seeing an image. (1) The sculpture is an image, not a picture. (2) The light on the retina is an image created by light reflecting off an object. Whereas, a picture is a physical object. (3) Light. The visual arts is all about light. Specifically, light reflected off objects. 6/9/2004 Arts, visual arts. Is there such as thing as a Universal Visual Arts Grammar (UVAG)? If people have different visual art vocabularies do people at least share a similar visual arts grammar? Much like is the case with spoken language? 5/12/2000 Arts, visual arts. Library of visual images. Paul works: originals, copies. Others works: originals, copies. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Light and shadow. Mass and void. Center and margin. Bright and shadow. Big and small. 4/4/2005 Arts, visual arts. Line. (1) A line in the visual arts is not like a line in geometry, because a line in the visual arts has width and a line in geometry has no width. (2) A line divides a plane. A line has to sides. When you use a single brush stroke to draw the outline of an apple you are drawing two apples because there is the apple defined by the interior of the line and there is the apple defined by the exterior of the line. 10/2/2004 Arts, visual arts. Me. (1) My composition goals for each visual art and why. (2) My favorites and why. The Paul aesthetic. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Medium: materials, tools and techniques. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Moving sculpture: example, waves. 11/30/1999 Arts, visual arts. Painting. Colors are like musical notes. Color chords and musical chords. Color harmony and musical harmony. 3/10/1999 Arts, visual arts. Painting. Colors. (1) Psychological effects of color. (2) Symbolic meanings of color in a culture. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Painting. Types. Techniques and methods. Ink and brush, pastel, water color, tempera, acrylic, oil. Canvas: unprimed vs. primed, wet in wet vs. wet dry. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Palette types. (1) The natural color palette. Colors of nature. Earthtones. Grunge. (2) The artificial neon plastic palette. Danger, excitement. 5/22/2000 Arts, visual arts. Perspective. The illusion of perspective. How do humans trick their eyes into thinking that a two dimensional image is a three dimensional space? 8/29/2005 Arts, visual arts. Philosophy of visual arts. The power of the image in general. The power of a specific image, for a specific personality, or for a specific society. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Philosophy. Specific philosophies of the visual arts in general. Paul's. Academia's. Any other. Any individuals. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Photography, video, and motion pictures (1) Cameras: slr. (2) Lenses: variable zoom vs. fixed distance. Wide angle, close up, zoom. Aperture (f stops): wide or narrow. Shutter speed: high or low. (3) Film. Black and white vs. color. Instant film. Speed. (4) Printing. Editing: crop, add in, rub out. Lighting: natural vs. manmade. (5) Composition. (6) Background vs. subject: relationship to background, pose, borders. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Photography, video, and motion pictures (see also low arts). Why are they important? (1) Documentary tool. (2) Fast, on the scene. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Photography. (1) Fake background, fake body poses, fake facial expressions. Vs. (2) Candid backgrounds, candid body poses, candid faces. (3) The former are often contrived, phony, pseudo, bogus. The latter are often real, truthful, honest. One can often learn much more from the latter than the former. (4)(A) The professional actor-director team tries to convey truth with their face and body. But the professional model-photographer team uses the face and body to sell a product. The model looks like a mannequin. Happy face. (B) The non-professional model-photographer team are after something else (ex. vacation photos, holiday photos). Often what they are after is merely to not look like an idiot in a bad photograph. Thus there is often more truth in non-professional photography than professional photography. (5) Two types of non-professional photography models. (A) Those who know their picture is being taken. (B) Those who don't know their picture is being taken. 6/30/2000 Arts, visual arts. Photography. (1) Photography as art. (2) Photography as a leisure pursuit. Example, vacation snapshots. (3) Photography as a communications tool. Example, photojournalism. (4) Photography as a scientific tool. Example, strobe photography to stop high speed motion. 7/11/2002 Arts, visual arts. Photography. How does one describe the experience of sifting through the photography archives? The millions of public domain photographs from decades ago? Are you living through the people being photographed? Are you living through the photographer? To what extent are you becoming the other person? To what extent are you changing? To what extent do you change back or return to the former you? Can you ever? To what extent can you live the life of the other person? How many people can you be? It is not a case where they are adding layers to you, rather, you are becoming them. 9/17/2001 Arts, visual arts. Photography. In the near future there will be billions of candid photographs and videos of real people online for anyone to look at. What is the relationship of the viewer to these people-pictures? One of equals? 9/17/2001 Arts, visual arts. Photography. It is an interesting development when people add word captions to photographs. One reason is because it changes nature of the final product, sort of like the way music-video is different from both music and video. Another reason is because it spins the photo by guiding the viewer on how the photograph should be perceived or interpreted. 3/5/2007 Arts, visual arts. Photography. Much of the power of photography comes from its direct depiction of reality. (1) That it captures reality directly makes photography perhaps the most Zen-like of all the arts. (2) That it captures reality directly makes photography perform the same function as the phrases "I am not kidding" and "I am not making this up." These phrases are often used in human conversations to make a claim to fact. "Seriously, literally, I swear". 2/24/2001 Arts, visual arts. Photography. Size of subject vs. size of background. Crop for background size. Blow-up or down for subject size. 1/1/1999 Arts, visual arts. Photography. The photograph is no longer a document of reality. Photographs are too easy to edit on a computer. 01/07/1997 Arts, visual arts. Photography. Traditional photography was a chemical disaster area because it requires chemicals to make photo film, chemicals to develop photo film, chemicals to make photo paper, and chemicals to develop photo paper. Digital photography requires fewer chemicals. 4/15/2007 Arts, visual arts. Pictures transcend the language barrier. The language barrier exists not only through space but also through time. That is to say, language barriers exist not only geographically from culture to culture, but also through time between today and the distant future because language changes drastically as the centuries pass. (2) How much can you communicate with pictures? How much can we convey to future generations using pictures alone without words (ex. Silent movies). Can we say everything we need to say by using pictures alone? If we can, then by all means let us put all our information in pictorial form because it will last much longer. (3) Film is a powerful medium, but it tends to be technology-bound or limited to high-tech transmission. The inhabitants of earth in the future, perhaps having survived a global catastrophe, may not have the technology available to project a movie. What is a low-tech solution for the pictorial display of information that is similar to movies? The movie storyboard is a low-tech functional equivalent to movies. What do you call a story-board for the masses? The comic book! So it is quite ironic that someday civilization may be saved by the lowly comic book. 2/27/2001 Arts, visual arts. Point of view of an object from anywhere in a sphere. Direction, closeness, size of background. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Portraits. Who cares what you look like? Portraits are the height of vanity. "Everybody look at me!", is what a portrait says. "All I have is my mug.", is what a portraits says. 10/25/2001 Arts, visual arts. Power of visual images. How much can and can't you say with pictures? A picture is worth a thousand words. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Printing. Techniques and methods. Onto what material, using what process? Black and white vs. color. By hand: wood block carved, metal cast, stone carved. Mass image reproduction (see technology, printing). 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Questions for all specific visual arts. History, technology, styles, composition, criticism. Strengths, weaknesses vs. other visual arts. For all specific visual arts, just repeat above list and add the details. What can it do that nothing else can? What are its limits (what can't it do)? 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Related subjects. (1) Psychology: what personality types become visual artists? Inarticulate? (2) Sociology: the artist - patron relationship. (3) Technology: development of mediums and methods. (4) Political: political art in totalitarian states. Political suppression of art. (5) Business: professional artists vs. amateur artists. Supplying the amateurs. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Related subjects. Psychological effects of elements of visual arts. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Related subjects. Psychology. Elements and emotion. Shape and emotion. Color and emotion. For humans in general, personality types, and specific individuals. For society in general, society types, and specific societies. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Reproduction of images is very important. Ways how, accuracy, cost, and speed. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Screen savers as visual art: (1) Fireplace with crackling sounds. (2) Falling snow. (3) Rain on window with sound of wind. (4) Waves on a beach with sound of waves. (5) Fish in the aquarium. (6) A walk down a shady lane. (7) Kaleidoscope. 1/1/2002 Arts, visual arts. Sculpture does not derive from painting and drawing, rather the reverse, painting and drawing come from sculpture. And sculpture itself is an exercise of our spatial skills. Due to stereoscopic vision we see the world in three dimensions, and we interact with the world spatially. The first works of art were the stone tools our ancestors sculpted. 3/4/2001 Arts, visual arts. Sculpture. Sand sculpture. Snow sculpture. Ice sculpture. Textile sculpture. Ephemeral. Sustainable. 5/1/2007 Arts, visual arts. Sculpture. Techniques and methods. Wood, stone, clay, metal, mixed, carved, assembled, cast. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Sculpture. Who sculpts? The blacksmith. The potter. The glass blower. The wood carver. Anyone who shapes matter sculpts. 6/9/2004 Arts, visual arts. See, think, do. See, think, doodle. 01/01/1993 Arts, visual arts. Shape does not have to be representational. Color does not have to be representational. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Similarities and differences of the visual arts to the non-visual arts. Similarities and differences within the visual arts. Strengths and weaknesses too. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Soft, rounded features. Hard, angular features. Curved lines and straight lines. Curved planes and straight planes. 7/25/2006 Arts, visual arts. Some of the many ways of seeing yourself today. PART ONE. Today we have more ways of seeing oneself than in the past. (1) Seeing yourself in a mirror, which is like seeing yourself in a pool of water like the ancients did. This is real time in the present. Time flows. (2) Seeing yourself in a photograph. This is in the past. This is static. Time stops. A frozen moment. (3) Seeing yourself on a video tape. This is in the past. A video is a longer slice of time than a photo. It also include your voice. (4) Seeing yourself on a live video camera. This is real time. It is in the present. Time flows. The angle may vary from the typical front facing "mirror" angle. PART TWO. (1) Even in a photo do you really see yourself as others see you? (2) Even in a photo do you really see yourself as the camera sees you? (3) Your view, someone else's view and the camera's view are three different views. PART THREE. It used to be that only movie stars saw themselves on camera. Today we are all on camera because there are cameras everywhere, so we are all actors. And we almost all own cameras, so we are all directors. We have become a world of media-savvy, Hollywood moguls. Your life as a movie: storyboard your life and soundtrack your life. 8/15/2000 Arts, visual arts. Some say that all art is political or ethical. However, does non-representational art, like abstract-expressionism, make a statement (thought) or is it better described as mood (emotion)? If the latter is the case, and its a mood, then it is neither political nor ethical. 11/15/2001 Arts, visual arts. Sources of visual images: self made, visual media, libraries. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Strengths. Weaknesses. Of visual arts vs. other arts. Of one visual art vs. another visual art. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Style. What can one say about the abundance of visual art styles in the twentieth century? Were the styles a logical progression toward an inevitable conclusion? Or were the styles a sales tactic, much like the fads of fashion? 10/28/2001 Arts, visual arts. Styles. (1) Representational: realism vs. distortion, impressionism. (2) Nonrepresentational. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Styles. Narrative vs. non-narrative. Impressionistic vs. expressionistic. Abstract expressionism. Op art and pop art. Cubism, Surrealism, and Dada. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Subtractive sculpture (ex. Carving) vs. additive sculpture (ex. Welding). 12/29/2003 Arts, visual arts. Symbol. Western pictorial symbols and associated meanings. Heart, arrow, flower, rocket, lips, coffin. 02/07/1994 Arts, visual arts. Symbols are types of code. Symbolic information is essentially codified information. In order to understand symbolic information you have to crack or decipher the code. Non-symbolic information is just a whole lot easier to understand. If you can say it non-symbolically then by all means do so. Were it only possible to say everything non-symbolically. Where are the mimes when we need them? 2/27/2001 Arts, visual arts. Symbols. (1) Symbols: what associated meanings do they carry? For an individual, for a society, for mankind. The heart, the arrow, the flower, the red rose, the lips, the skull. (2) Color symbolism. Women can wear blue but men cannot wear pink. Pink is a strange and loaded color in our society (8/24/94). Black: death, mourning. White: virginity, pureness, cleanliness. Green: environment, liberal. 01/01/1993 Arts, visual arts. Symbols. Objects and their symbolism. Clock. Pistol. Tombstone. Airplane. Train. Car. Etc. 5/22/2000 Arts, visual arts. Symbols. Representation and symbolism. Single objects vs. groups of objects (groups of objects imply a vocabulary and a syntax). Examples: Dollar bill. Pack of cigarettes. Automobile. Bicycle. Hamburger. American Flag (USA). Statue of Liberty (freedom). Plants. Animals. People. 5/25/2000 Arts, visual arts. The "pussy, cock, tit, asshole" theory of art. Everything visually depicted is subliminally one of the above four. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. The artist converts a three dimensional landscape to a two dimensional painting. The viewer converts a two dimensional painting to a three dimensional mental landscape. 10/19/2005 Arts, visual arts. The horizon line separates land and air, and the horizon also separates water and air. The shoreline, the waterline, separates the land and water. A canvas divided into thirds by two horizontal lines, one line being the shoreline, and the other line being the horizon. 6/5/2006 Arts, visual arts. The slanting afternoon light turned everything gold. 04/01/1988 Arts, visual arts. The visual arts are beyond words only when the depicted cannot be described with words. 11/15/2001 Arts, visual arts. The visual arts are closely related to the psychology of visual perception. Four cases of visual perception. How do we accomplish each? (1) Stationary viewer viewing a stationary object. (2) Stationary viewer viewing a moving object. (3) Moving viewer viewing a stationary object. (4) Moving viewer viewing a moving object. 3/29/2002 Arts, visual arts. Three simple shapes. Circle, square, triangle. 10/2/1998 Arts, visual arts. Unity, pattern, coherence, congruence, continuation. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Variation vs. repetition. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Various dimensions of visual arts. (The "+" symbol indicates changing shape or moving through time). 1D (ex. drawing, which uses line). 1D+ (ex. a moving string). 2D (ex. painting, which uses shapes and planes). 2D+ (ex. silent film). 3D (ex. sculpture, which uses solids). 3D+ (ex. lava lamp or moving holography). 4D ? 4D+ ? 4/16/2000 Arts, visual arts. Visual art works. Simple vs. complex. True vs. false. Powerful vs. not. Effective vs. not. Explicit vs. vague or ambiguous. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Visual arts vs. words. (1) If you make a work of art, and then spend five minutes verbally explaining the subject matter, issue, your view, etc. ("What I was trying to say in this piece was..."), then you are using words to say what your art could not say. You are defeating the purpose of the artwork. You are saying that the artwork could not communicate what it was supposed to communicate. The best artists realize this and do not bother to try to explain their work. They say "It means whatever you think it means. It means what it means, etc." (2) The main strength of visual and aural (music) arts is to deal with pre-verbal, unarticulated states of mind. To be able to hint at the "unsayable". It is not literature's place to try to say the unsayable, despite what the Beats thought. 04/24/1997 Arts, visual arts. Visual arts vs. words. To give a visual artwork a verbal title is to say it cannot do its job. If it can stand on its own two feet then you can call it "Untitled". 05/10/1997 Arts, visual arts. Visual images. Symbols, images and pictures, letters, icons. In communication and art. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. What are the visual arts about? Two views (pun) of the visual arts. (1) Pictures. Depiction. Representation. (2) Vision. Seeing. Sight. 6/9/2004 Arts, visual arts. What are the visual arts? (1) Its about the image. Picture as opposed to word. (2) Examples of visual arts: Visual patterns, illustrations, technical art, graphic arts, and great art. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. What does the ubiquitous stick figure show? The stick figure shows that everyone wants to be thin, and it shows that everyone sees themselves as thinner than they actually are. 10/28/2001 Arts, visual arts. What good are the visual arts? When people refuse to read, you have to slap them in the face with the visual arts. Visual arts are quick (perceived as a whole, all at once) and unavoidable (in your face all at once). Words and music are temporal, and today people just don't have the time or inclination to devote to them. If you have a message to get out, the visual arts can be very effective. 07/18/1997 Arts, visual arts. What is an image? What is a picture? 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. What is the meaning of a picture? What does a picture say? 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. What. Pictures are better than words at concrete description. Words are better than pictures at abstract concepts. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. When we say that a visual artwork "says something to us" we are denigrating the visual by couching it in terms of the verbal. The visual arts and musical arts do not "say" anything. To use "say" in this context is a poor, inaccurate, limiting metaphor. We need to widen our vocabulary. And we need to recognize phenomena that words do not adequately describe. 4/11/2001 Arts, visual arts. Why did I give up on visual arts? Because I don't believe in code, metaphor, or wasted words. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Why do it? Why study it? How do it? How study it? 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Why people like landscapes: because there are no people to be seen. 4/11/2000 Arts, visual arts. Why. (1) The power of the visual arts is this: For millions of years, before we developed spoken language or writing, humans and pre-humans experienced the world primarily visually. It was only a hundred thousand years ago that humans developed spoken language, and it was only five thousand years ago that humans developed written language. Even today, most people find a picture more compelling than a page of text. (2) It may be that life really is a movie. We experience the world as a series of still pictures, much the way a movie is composed of twenty-four images per second. (A) When you stand still and look at a still object, you are looking at a picture. (B) Only when you or the object is moving does the situation become analogous to moving pictures or film. (3) Thus, the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" applies not just to drawings, paintings, photographs and movies, it also applies to real life and the way we experience real life as a picture. (4) So where does this leave writing? Where does this leave the writers (moi)? Good question. (5) Humans have been watching images (i.e., real life) for millions of years. Humans have only been creating images (i.e., visual art) for about fifty thousand years. (6) People say the world is becoming more graphics oriented. The reasons for this may be, (A) Our technological ability to make graphic images is increasing due to the computer. (B) Graphics cross the spoken language barrier. Graphics are an international language in an increasingly globally connected world. (C) Graphic processing ability (i.e., sight) is a well-developed hard-wired ability in humans that we have been using for millions of years. 10/31/2000 Arts, visual arts. Why. Images can say things quicker and in less space than words. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Why. Visual arts to convey ideas and emotions. Conveying ideas beyond using words. Conveying emotions beyond showing people's faces. 12/30/1992 Arts, visual arts. Why. When photography took over realism, the function of the other visual arts began to be to capture dreams, the imagination, the unreal, and the nonphysical. 05/22/1993 Arts, visual arts. Works (actual historical works, conceptual ideas for works, or otherwise). 01/01/1993 Arts, visual arts. You can paint a picture OF something (realism, impressionism), or you can paint of picture ABOUT something (expressionism). 7/18/1998 Business, management. .This section is about business management. Topics include : 1/24/2006 Business, management. "Company men." Business managers are usually "corporation men", who place the profits of the corporation over the well being of the workers and the environment. Business managers are often conformist "yes men". 11/11/2005 Business, management. (1) Hogging vs. sharing power. (2) Hogging vs. sharing information. (3) Hogging vs. sharing credit. 4/11/2001 Business, management. (1) My management style. (A) Democratic. Treat superiors and subordinates as equals. I take no shit and give no shit. (B) Good communication. Tell workers what's going on. Hear what the workers have to say. (2) Bad management style. Totalitarian, militaristic, hierarchical bastards. Kiss up to bosses, shit on workers. 09/20/1993 Business, management. Are my managers making the best decisions? Is the organization reaching its goals? How fast? Are the goals good ones? Are the means sound? 12/30/1992 Business, management. Authority, responsibility. How much power give an individual (types and degrees)? Rules and laws vs. whim. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Best management style: let them fear you vs. love you. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Classical and operant conditioning. Sanctions: ball out, lose job, suspension, bad record, noticed, mentioned. Rewards: keep job, peace, good word, good record. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Conformity and rebellion on the job. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Costs: machines (buy, run, repair), plant, workers, and materials. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Critique of management. It seems like everyone wants to be a manager. It seems like everyone wants to be promoted to more money and more power. Yet when you get to management you see how empty it is. Typical business management is a joke. 11/11/2005 Business, management. Decisions of a manager every day, week, month, year. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Develop your personal management style/method/system. Get the job done quick, cheap, accurate, complete. Improve it, prevent problems, and deal with problems. Understand all the factors. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Every manager a worker, and every worker a manager. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Functional areas. Who is not keeping up with who? Speed, volume, direction. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Good management traits: efficient, practical, fair and just. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Good managers are smart. Bad managers are stupid or ignorant about general principles of business, and the actual situation. Knowledge of people, money, and materials. 12/30/1992 Business, management. High level managers make changes. Low level managers ensure consistency (ensure non-changes). 12/30/1992 Business, management. High level problems: more varied, more supervisory, more interpersonal, more integrative. Low level management problems: more task oriented. 12/30/1992 Business, management. How much power to give a manager? What decisions to let them make? How many decisions? Decisions in what areas? How important the decisions? 12/30/1992 Business, management. How to talk to boss: competent, confident, managerial. How not to talk: immature, irresponsible, incompetent, unconfident, jerk. 12/30/1992 Business, management. I can make the product. I can make the product better than the competition: more, faster, cheaper. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Important questions at all levels. What needs to be done, and not, why? Who best to do it, and not, why? How best to do it, and not, why? 12/30/1992 Business, management. Leadership: power and rights vs. limits and obligations. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Management = power. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Management style: you want to project that you (1) Know what's going on. (2) Know what to do. (3) Know what you're doing. (4) Will take action. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Management styles: democratic to totalitarian. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Management styles: dictatorships, oligarchies, democracies. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Management traits: fair, just, human, inspiring, hard worker, reliable, smart, good social skills. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Manager abuse and worker laziness vs. manager cooperation with worker. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Managers spend most of their time on three boring tasks. Policing workers. Kissing up to management. Kissing up to customers. 1/25/2005 Business, management. Observe, think, change (start, improve, stop). 12/30/1992 Business, management. Plan, organize, allocate, direct, control, communicate. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Praise vs. reprimand. Too much vs. too little. For right action vs. for wrong action. For right reasons vs. for wrong reasons. Too much emotion vs. too little emotion. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Problems with managers. (1) The short-sighted manager. Thinks only short term. (2) The narrow sighted manager. Thinks only of self or corporation, without thoughts of environment, workers or world. (3) The manager with suboptimal ethical abilities. (4) The manager who refuses to question or take a stand on principle. The yes man. (5) The corrupt manager. (6) The manager with only money on his mind. 5/21/2006 Business, management. Rule followers and rule breakers (improve vs. ruin), in thought, word, and action. You need both types, some excel at one or other. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Structure (areas and levels) and mechanism of an organization. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Sub-optimal performance by worker: causes, therapies, and prevention. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Sub-optimal performance by workers. Not fast enough vs. not accurate enough. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Tasks: planning, controlling, leadership, communication, conflict, change, and decision making. 12/30/1992 Business, management. The process of management: tools and technologies of management. Science technologies and math technologies. 12/30/1992 Business, management. Theories of business management. (1) Treat the worker like garbage. Expendable. (2) Treat the worker like robots (machines). Maintain them. (3) Treat the worker like animals. Care for them. (4) Treat the workers like humans. (5) Treat the worker like gold. 5/26/1999 Business, management. What makes a good manager vs. what makes a bad manager? How find good manager? 12/30/1992 Business, management. When drive hard vs. when drive not so hard? When tight reins vs. when loose reins? 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. .This section is about marketing. Topics include: ( ) Advertising. ( ) Contra advertising. ( ) Contra marketing. ( ) Selling. 1/24/2006 Business, marketing. (1) Company names that say nothing about the product. (2) Company names that say something about the product. 07/30/1996 Business, marketing. (1) Market research: market analysis, market forecasting. (2) Product development: product research, performance analysis. (3) Advertising research. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. (1) The purpose of marketing is to nag, to nudge, and to remind. Because people rarely do anything the first time you tell them. Even if they know they should. It takes time for it to sink in. It takes time for them to get your drift. That is why you have to tell them over and over for years and years. Then you can say that at least you tried. (2) I am thinking of developing a new type of marketing that will consist of kvetching, complaining, and mock anger. "Why don't you buy my product!?" The other alternative is to beg, plead and whine. I'm not there yet. 9/25/2000 Business, marketing. A good product will not self itself; you have to market it. A good product does not become popular if you tell people about it only once. You have to constantly tell people about the product. Constant marketing for the entire life of the product. 8/3/2002 Business, marketing. Advertisers try to influence what people do in their leisure time. Advertisers try to influence what people do in their work time. Advertisers try to shape values generally. Advertisers try to influence the most basic assumptions of people. Thus, advertisers have a hidden philosophical agenda. At least my philosophical agenda is out in the open. 7/31/2006 Business, marketing. Advertising by media: print, broadcast (radio, TV), outdoor signs, window displays, set ups. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Advertising is no longer only about selling a product. Advertisers realize that on a wider scale or on other levels, they are also selling a thought, an emotion, an attitude, a lifestyle, a philosophy and a culture. Advertisers, unconsciously or consciously, transmit an overt explicit or an assumed implicit (hidden secret) philosophy. 12/19/2003 Business, marketing. Advertising principles. (1) Know your target audience. (2) Pick your tactics to suit them. (3) Figure out what sways them. Smart people swayed by logic vs. dim people swayed by emotion. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Advertising techniques. (1) Demonstration. (2) Expert. (3) Famous person. (4) Trust me, believe me. (5) Fear tactics. (6) I'm begging you. (7) Greed and vanity (Keep up with Jones's. Everyone's doing it. Be popular). (8) Pushy. Obey me. (9) Life will be a perfect fantasy with this product. (10) Authority. You will please me if you buy this product, and piss me off if you don't. (11) Sex. (12) Appeal to ethical goodness. (13) Rebellion, independence. Nobody can tell you what to do. (14) Beautiful and rich person. Be perfect like me. (15) Hard sell. Militaristic. Buy it! Anger causing fear. (16) Soft Sell. Please buy it. Seductive, sweet, woman. 12/30/1996 Business, marketing. Advertising techniques. (1) Humor. (2) Symbolism. (3) Straight talk pitch vs. lies. (4) Blatant vs. subtle. (5) Relax, feel, think. (6) Believe me, trust me. (7) Look at it skeptically. (8) Associate a thing, feeling or philosophy with product. (9) Trust me: a star, an expert, wise old man symbolism. (10) Great like me: sports star. (11) Fear tactics: non-use = disaster. (12) Heaven: use = perfection. With specific problem, or in whole life. (13) Jump on the band wagon. (14) Soft sell. (A) I'm your friend. (B) Smooth talk, mesmerism or hypnosis. (C) Getting you in the mood. (D) Easy on senses. (15) Makes you feel good. (16) You'll please me/us if you buy it: any relative. (16) You'll piss me off if you don't buy it: any relative. (17) Look at it logically: scientific experiments. (18) Nobody tells you what to do. (19) Hard sell: angry, threatening, fire and brimstone. (20) Seductive: sex. (21) Creation of an ideal fantasy world associated with product. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Advertising. (1) Grab and keep their attention. (2) Generate interest. (3) Elicit or provoke emotion. Make the audience feel. (4) Make the audience think. 7/11/2001 Business, marketing. Advertising. (1) Measuring ad effectiveness. (2) Record of an ad firm. (3) Values and philosophies implicitly held and explicitly stated in an ad. (4) Advertising ethics. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Advertising. Analyze the pitches that commercials use. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Advertising. Blatant lying vs. half truths. Half truths are things like telling good points about your product but not the bad points, or telling the bad points about the competition but not the good points. 11/15/2001 Business, marketing. Advertising. Everyone is selling something, it is just a question of what and how. People sell themselves and the ideas they believe in. 12/30/1996 Business, marketing. Advertising. The adman's pitch. Perfection forever (heaven) vs. shit in constantly changing myriad forms (hell). 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Commercials. How much time is devoted to commercial advertisements during a typical hour of commercial television or radio? About 25 percent of the time is spent on advertisements. That is too much time for advertising. 11/12/2005 Business, marketing. Contra advertising. Advertisers promote neurosis: "I can be whatever I want to be. The world can be whatever I want it to be." 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Contra advertising. Criticism of advertising: It is everywhere. Everything has a logo on it. You cannot escape it. It is in your face. 12/27/1998 Business, marketing. Contra advertising. Criticisms of advertising. (1) They lie like hell about products. (2) There are hidden catches involved. (3) Fine print is annoying. 11/15/2001 Business, marketing. Contra advertising. Everything that you buy today has a logo on it. Everything is an advertisement. Human beings have become walking billboards. What is amazing is how much people desire to become walking billboards. Many people actively seek out clothing that has labels on the outside as well as labels on the inside. If I cannot get clothes without a logo then I will cross out the logo. 2/4/2002 Business, marketing. Contra advertising. Overconsumption. Advertisers flawed message. (1) The only thing that will make you happy is material possessions. (2) The only thing that will bring you status is material possessions. (3) Just keep shopping and buying because its good for the economy. (4) Fill you lives with worthless junk. 11/20/2003 Business, marketing. Contra current marketing. (1) The advertisers want your time and attention. They want to affect your emotions, and be in your thoughts. They want to monopolize your mind. They want to talk to you about stuff they can sell, and that you can buy. (2) But you can't sell philosophy (unless you buy a philosophy book). You can't sell what is free. So they don't talk to you about the important, yet free, things like philosophy. And so you don't think much about it. (3) Also, they want you to feel happy and think it is o.k. to buy junk. They don't want you to see the real world of problems and pain, and they don't want you to see that what they have to sell is worthless junk. They want you to spend your time on your nice lawn, sipping their iced tea, watching their commercials. They sell that as success and happiness. (4) Advertisers often lie, or tell half truths about their products. (5) An ad is like telemarketing, phone solicitation. If an advertiser has the money to buy space or time, they can get into people's faces and heads. We are bombarded with messages that carry hidden implications ("This is important and good, etc."). There is an implied hedonistic ethic. They are not saying to work hard and save, they are saying to goof off and spend. They often sell useless junk products and deadly poisons (cigarettes and booze). And nobody sells high ethics. (6) In modern advertising, time and space are for sale. Albert Einstein is rolling. 12/30/1996 Business, marketing. Contra marketing. Criticisms and defenses of marketing and advertising. (1) Criticisms of marketing and advertising. (A) Dishonest advertising. (B) Ubiquitous, in your face, inescapable advertising. (C) Advertising is propaganda and brain washing. (D) Commercial free, independent media is more accurate because it is less influenced by advertisers. (E) Advertising promotes a "believe and obey" attitude over independent thinking. (F) Advertising to children takes advantage of children. (2) Defenses of marketing and advertising. (A) Advertising informs people of the good points of a product. (B) Thus advertising performs a useful function. (C) Advertising pays for commercial media (television, newspapers, magazines, etc.). (D) Advertising is fair because it is regulated, perhaps over-regulated. 7/15/2004 Business, marketing. Contra marketing. PART ONE. Attributes of the New Marketing. (1) You cannot tell what is an advertisement from what is not an advertisement. (2) Once an advertisement is identified, you cannot tell what the ad is about. (3) Once you determine what the ad is about, you cannot tell if the add is stating the truth or whether you are being lied to. Illusion and deceit are everywhere. PART TWO. With the decline of objectivity in journalism it seems that in everything you read everyone has an agenda and everything is an advertisement. (2) With the Internet, anyone can claim anything. Truth in advertising does not seem to apply anymore. (3) We need to become better at interpretation and critical thinking. 10/24/2001 Business, marketing. Critiques of marketing. Businesses try to present well defined brand choices in order to let customers buy a lifestyle by selecting a set of brands. In this way, people try to buy meaning, self identity and social identity. For example, people try to create meaning, self identity and social identity by selecting a beer brand, a cigarette brand and a car brand. I say that attempts at buying meaning will fail in the long run. On the other hand, attempts at do-it-yourself building of meaning will do better in the long run. For example, doing philosophy is do-it-yourself meaning building. The advertisers try to market meaning. The advertisers try to market quick and easy meaning with no thought required. What is the result of buying instead of building meaning? Pain, addiction, depression, anxiety, rage and meaninglessness. 8/23/2005 Business, marketing. Healthy Marketing. Given x specific product, whether it be a winner or loser. Success or failure without marketing. Success or failure with marketing. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Healthy marketing. Why do they buy junk? Should we sell them junk? Should we control what is sold? How much? 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. How do you get a product to become popular? How do you get a product to auto-spread? If the product is free, fun, useful and in your face then it is likely to be adapted by users more quickly. 12/9/2000 Business, marketing. How does one explain that the most popular commercials neither show the product being pitched nor say its name, yet only play catchy music and show young beautiful people having fun? Such marketing relies heavily on assumption and implication. Its a common tactic in the real world also. 2/6/2004 Business, marketing. Logos and labels. People seem are obsessed with logos and labels on their clothing. People do not need to have labels on their clothing. People do not want to have labels on their clothing. What is obvious is that, unfortunately, people have been socialized into corporate shills, and people promote corporate brands without even being paid. 11/12/2005 Business, marketing. Logos. Corporations pay professional sport stars big money to wear corporate logos in the hopes that everyone else will pay the corporation to wear corporate logos. Logos are an attempt to build arbitrary in-group out-group distinctions. Buy products without logos. 3/7/2004 Business, marketing. Logos. The challenge today is to clothe oneself with clothes that have no logos on them. 11/20/2003 Business, marketing. Marketing management. Pick a target, media, message (idea, emotion, attitude) (visual or verbal). Schedules, budgets. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Marketing questions. (1) What is the item being marketed? It can be a physical product, a service, a person, a brand, or an idea. (2) What is the message? What benefit does the product confer? (3) Who is the target market? Who will buy the product? (4) What is the most effective and efficient way to reach the target market? 5/25/2004 Business, marketing. Marketing, in the best light, is the communication of information. In a fair marketing system no lies are permitted; people choose when and where to see advertisements; good products succeed and bad products fail. 11/15/2001 Business, marketing. Pros of current marketing (1) The hippie generation has come to middle age power and are actually producing some good television that addresses real personal and social problems. Is this a temporary generation phenomenon that will backslide in twenty years? Or is it real progress? (2) Some ads are smart, honest, satirical, and funny. (3) Some products are good and people should hear about them. (4) Some media and advertisements are not as intrusive as bill boards, home phone calls, ads on every page, stores with blaring speakers out front, etc. 12/30/1996 Business, marketing. Selling is communication, and communication is rhetoric, therefore sales is rhetoric. Everyone is selling something, either their philosophy, their goals, or themselves. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling: be able to sell them what they don't want, don't need, and can't afford. Audrey. 04/15/1993 Business, marketing. Selling. (1) Hard sell. Time pressure. Insult them. Act insulted. Threats, scare tactics. (2) Soft sell: friendly or seductive and sexy. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling. Believe in product. Know its pros (problems it solves) and cons. Know the competition, and discredit them. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling. Let them know we have it. Tell them what it is. Tell them what it is good for. How to do all three. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling. Many arguments vs. one main argument. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling. Rational pitches vs. emotional pitches. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Selling. Tailor arguments to fit person's psychology and life. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. There are television commercials today using rock music, including Hendrix, Zepplin, and the Who, in order to sell products. 4/26/2002 Business, marketing. There is an ethics of marketing and advertising. There is good and bad, right and wrong, in the area of marketing, advertising and sales. Some corporations tempt people with money and position, and some corporations punish people with demotion and firing, in order to get people to do unethical things in marketing, advertising and sales. 5/21/2006 Business, marketing. Two problems. (1) Healthy and useful products that fail due to poor marketing. (2) Unhealthy and unuseful products that succeed due to good marketing. 12/30/1992 Business, marketing. Why do marketers create a half-dozen different versions of their product? (1) Because they know that humans love to categorize and classify. Humans, due to evolutionary hardwiring, are fascinated with differentiating and classifying colorful little objects, which is perhaps a vestige from when we once had to discern edible plants from poisonous plants based on their colorful little flowers. Today such classifying of small colorful objects continues with children's stickers, patches, baseball cards, and colorful product packages. So marketers make a half-dozen versions of their product, each with its own colorful little package, so that we can enjoy figuring out which is which. (2) Marketers know that the few minutes we spend with two versions of their product, one in each hand, looking from one to another, silently repeating the names of the products to ourselves, creates an indelible impression on our minds. 1/4/2002 Business. .See also: Economics. 8/2/2001 Business. .This section is about business. Topics include: ( ) Contra big business and corporations. ( ) Business principles. ( ) Philosophy and business. Business ethics. ( ) Psychology and business. Personality types and business. ( ) Sociology and business. Corporate cultures. ( ) What. ( ) Why. 1/24/2006 Business. (1) What is business? Definitions of business. (2) Why do business? Why study business? Why is business important? (3) How important is business? 9/15/2005 Business. A better product, at a lower price, delivered faster. 5/25/2006 Business. Accounting. (1) Accounting for any area, any factor, any time period. (2) Accounting for what, how, why. Account for everything bought, sold, from who, to who, when. 12/30/1992 Business. Accounting. Ways to gather, order, and present data. Types of data to gather. 12/30/1992 Business. Accounting. When you have convinced yourself (rightly) that accounting is fascinating, then you have accomplished something. 08/24/1994 Business. Analyzing a company. (1) Check its history. (2) Assets vs. profits. (3) Stock amounts and performance. (4) Top man: stability, competence. (5) Philosophy, culture, and plans. (6) Market share, size, growth rate. 12/30/1992 Business. Annoying business idioms: Going forward. On the same page. Leverage. Adding value. Skill set. 6/24/1998 Business. Anyone can run a business, the trick is to do it well. Get a good idea (ethical, profitable), and make it grow with best tools. 12/30/1992 Business. Bad business and good business. (1)(A) Mindless hypercompetiton. Overproduction and overconsumption. Vs. (B) Sustainability. (2)(A) Overwork vs. (B) Balance of work and other areas of life. (3)(A) Lying, twisting and spinning in advertising vs. (B) Truth in advertising. (4)(A) Opaqueness in accounting vs. (B) Transparency in accounting. (5)(A) Ruthless competition to the point of monopoly vs. (B) Fairness in business practices. (6)(A) Thinking short term profits vs. (B) Thinking long term development. 10/13/2004 Business. Big business. (1) Pro: economies of scale, increased standardization of product, service, admin. (2) Contra: too much power and control, politically over government, or psychologically/sociologically over people's minds. 12/30/1992 Business. Big business. Are all large corporations bad? Are all large corporations only concerned with their own interests? Do all large corporations have a strong influence on government, at the expense of the masses? This is along the lines of Noam Chomsky's view. Are large corporations out of control, or does the public have ways of controlling them? 11/30/1996 Business. Big business. Computers allow economies of scale which yield superstore chains and the big corporations that support them. One criticism is that these corporations run amok, unmonitored with no responsibility. Another criticism is that big corporations are hierarchical and bureaucratic to the point where workers experience alienation and a lack of freedom. Must it be this way? Can corporations be socially and environmentally responsible? Can corporations give workers maximum freedom and help keep the environment clean? Must all corporations succumb to the negative traits of monopolies? Remember, not all small businesses are perfect. Small businesses can be just as exploitive as big businesses. 4/11/2001 Business. Big business. Do large corporations do anything good? Yes. There are three main sources of progress: government sponsored research, business funded research, and academic funded research. All three make important contributions. 11/30/1996 Business. Big business. History: the corporation developed out of advances in communication and transportation. 12/30/1992 Business. Big business. Seems like only big corporations are left after the dot com crash. Computers make possible superstores and the big corporations. Computers make possible the number crunching and fast communication that make possible the big corporations. It seems like big corporations want to make money above all else, at any cost. Its true that small companies can be as unethical as big corporations, but big corporations have more impact, influence, power, and effect than small companies. Big corporations tend toward economic oligopoly and political oligopoly. 8/30/2001 Business. Big business. Top corporations in U.S. and world. Money makers (profits). Total assets. (If your revenues are huge, but costs are huge to, that is bad. If profits are few, but assets are huge, that is ok.) Number of people employ. Number of people supply goods to (% of market share). How important your product is. How good your product is (quality). 11/30/1996 Business. Big business. The corporation has needs, a power, and a momentum all its own. One person in the corporation cannot stop the corporation. It is group thinking and group action. 1/6/1998 Business. Brands. A brand is all the attitudes associated with a company and its products. Many consumers become obsessed with brands. Many consumers needlessly spend extra money to buy certain brands. Brands are often advertised through the use of logos and slogans. Corporations brainwash people into accepting and desiring brands through the use of repeated exposure of logos and slogans. Be an anti-brand person, be a no-logo person. 4/30/2007 Business. Business education: accounting, finance, production and operations management, economics, math (business apps), law (business law), computers. 03/26/1994 Business. Business education. Accounting, finance. Economics and managerial economics. Marketing. Environment: political, legal, science, tech, culture. Organization behavior: psychology, sociology, leadership. Math for business. Computers for business: dbase, telecomm, ai (es, dss). Business law, business ethics. 08/24/1994 Business. Business education. Business school makes you tough. Deal with opposition without cracking or running or giving in. This is a noble thing. Doing it purifies you. Makes you hard, lean, mean, strong. Battle, fighter. 11/15/1994 Business. Business education. Defense of business mba. No matter what field you go into, the product is given to the public through business, and knowledge of business is important. 08/24/1994 Business. Business education. Philosophy of business, views of business. (1) Pro: the mba is tough to get and theoretical. Ethical and selfless. (2) Contra: the mba is easy to get and purely practical. Machivellian money grubbers. 04/01/1994 Business. Business education. The illogic of MBA's for everybody. If there is a 1:10 ration of management to workers, then for every ten workers there is one low-level manager, and for every ten low-level managers there is one mid-level manager, and for every ten mid-level managers there is one upper-level manager. Thus, for 1000 workers there are 110 managers. So if only 10% of the workforce is management, why do 90% of people feel compelled to pursue an MBA? Because everyone feels compelled to take a shot at becoming a manager. 4/30/2004 Business. Business is boring unless you are on top, or on the cutting edge. 12/30/1992 Business. Business is competitive, stressful, with authoritative "master and slave" relationships, and with little independence. 12/30/1992 Business. Business is repetitive and boring. Each transaction is the same. Each unit of product is the same. Each customer is the same, seemingly. It could all be done by automat. Uniformity abounds. Mechanized. Inhuman. 7/31/2006 Business. Business is serious because on the line is careers, families and money. 12/30/1992 Business. Business principles, old and new, good and bad, by functional areas. (1) Operations Management: improve or innovate products or processes. Lower costs, improve quality, automate and computerize. (2) Marketing: give all positive informational points of the product with positive emotional appeal. Guarantee, advertise, and motivate sales staff. (3) Financial: borrow at low rates, reinvest in the company, get up to minute information. (4) Management: psychological and sociological principles. 12/01/1993 Business. Business principles. (1) How can I motivate my workers? (2) Improve technology. (3) What are current and future problems? (4) What are we doing? (5) How improve quality, productivity, and efficiency? (6) Keep an eye on people. (7) Know their job, what do, how do. (8) Know if they are doing it. (9) Know what to do if they're not. (10) Maintain and increase worker productivity. (11) Deal with problems and conflicts. (12) Deal with people, stuff, money. (13) Figure out what you have to do, and how to do it. 12/30/1992 Business. Business principles. (1) Information. Get it accurate and current. To find niches and to attack competition and defend self. See which way consumers are headed. Forecast change. (2) People. Treat them fair. They must like and trust the company. Make them smarter. Empower them more. (3) Technology. Computers, computers, computers. (4) Money. Have enough for daily operations. Have enough for emergencies. Do not let free money just sit there. Forecast the economic environment. Forecast your business activity. 01/01/1993 Business. Business principles. Strategic decisions: What make, how make, how sell. Alternatives available: (1) Expand markets, find new markets. (2) Change size, change structure. (3) Commit more resources: men, money, time, materials, machinery. (4) Change or develop new tools and technologies. (5) Prevent or solve problems and mistakes. (6) For product or process: improve effectiveness, efficiency, productivity, flexibility, response time, quality, speed, price, practicality, accuracy. (7) Find cheaper or more efficient materials, parts, machines, labor. (8) Sell more to each, find more customers. (9) Reach more people (advertising). (10) Better product, new product. (11) More knowledge, better decisions, better actions. (12) Improve quality, improve value. (13) Keep costs down, lower costs. (14) Charge most possible: to turn out greatest profit. (15) Get a niche and a key advantage. (16) Tactical decisions. 12/30/1992 Business. Business sub-areas. (1) Finance: money in, out. (2) POM: stuff get, send. (3) MIS: information get, send. 12/30/1992 Business. Businesses succeeding because of their ideas (product or service) vs. succeeding because of their business practices (management, finance, marketing, etc.). 09/26/1997 Business. Case study. Sugary Sweet Breakfast Cereals: a business case study. (1) Sugary cereal. Lots of people eat it. It tastes good. Its not good for you. Its expensive. (2) Breakfast cereals developed around the year 1900 when Kellogg and CW Post. Even until the 1970's people ate a lot of no-cook, prepackaged cereal with milk in a bowl. Not oatmeal, which was cooked, and was more a 1940's thing. In the 1980's people began to eat more granola. Then in the 1990's people started eating more bagels and muffins. And cereal bars. But for a long time people ate boxed cereal with milk. (3) Kids especially ate a lot of cereal, especially Saturday morning while watching cartoons. A cereal "world" developed. A cereal semiotics developed. Many cereals had mascots. Many cereals had slogans. Many cereals had jingles. These were serious branding efforts by manufacturers. (4) Cereal is big business. Talking lots of money in cereal. Charging three dollars for a thirty cent box of cereal. And everyone is eating it. (5) "Cereal wars" developed between competing cereal manufacturers, and also as competitive grudge matches between cereal brand mascots of the same manufacturer. For example, kids were urged to vote for either Quisp or Quake. The big cereal manufacturers were Kellogg, Post and General Mills. Many competing manufacturers had similar products with different names. Many cereals had prizes in them. Many cereal boxes had text messages or interactive games. Cereal was the first thing a many people saw in the morning. The cereals were not especially healthy, many having high quantities of refined sugar. There was a concern that all the sugar was making kids hyperactive, overweight, and rotting their teeth. They prices of the cereals were very high. The cereals were marketed to kids during the commercial breaks of the Saturday morning cartoons. (6) In summary, breakfast cereals are an example of business strategy and tactics. I.e., What to sell and how to sell it. Marketing strategy: give the public what they want, even if its not good for them, as long as the corporation can make money from it. The strategy and tactics of the cereal manufacturers include: (A) Market directly to the kids. Get them hooked while they are young. They don't know any better and can't form a counter-argument. (B) Build a brand for the product. Build brand recognition with a mascot, a slogan and a jingle. Sell the brand image, not the product. Brainwash them with repetitive commercial pitches. (C) Charge high prices. (D) It does not have to be healthy. Make it taste good, even at the expense of health. Pump it full of artificial vitamins to claim it is healthy. (See the Outline for a list of cereals). 9/16/2005 Business. Co-ops. A cooperative is when the profits of a business are shared equally. One argument for co-ops is that the workers and customers deserve more say, more power, in business than we currently have in corporate dominated America. And that when workers and customers have more say in how a business is run, the result is better for everyone. Another argument for co-ops is that workers and consumers deserve more economic reward than currently provided in corporate dominated America. Instead of having a system where a few individuals and corporations profit off the work of the many, we should have a system where more economic value is given to workers and consumers. Business schools should teach about co-ops, but they usually don't. PART TWO. Types of coops. (1) Customer co-ops. The customers are the owners. The customers share in ownership of business by getting stock shares. The customers share in profits by getting lower prices. The customers share in decision making by voting for representatives or by voting directly on issues. (2) Worker co-ops. The workers are the owners. The workers share in ownership of business by getting stock shares. The workers share in profits. The workers share in decision making by voting for representatives or by voting directly on issues. 7/20/2004 Business. Company man, kissing up to improve lot. Union man, struggle to improve lot. 2/15/2006 Business. Competition. (1) Intra-company competition. (A) You are trying to move up. (B) Others are trying to get your spot. (C) Competition against past and present standard setters, regarding production, accuracy, behavior and attitude. (2) Those trying to get into your company. (3) Competition of your company in the market: other companies vs. your company. (4) Other people in other companies. 12/30/1992 Business. Computer used for (1) Records of past. (A) Orders received, orders filled, orders shipped. (B) Inventory by date, type, by alpha order, most to least, dollar amounts. (2) Control of present production activities. (3) Forecasts of future. 12/30/1992 Business. Computers and how they change business. CAD/CAM. JIT inventory. Distribution. Marketing: statistical surveys. Finance: software. Point of purchase scanners, upc. Computer customized manufacturing. Gather data on customers. Project management software. Delivery tracking (fed ex). Tele-conferencing. Client server. Dtp. Dss, ess, mis. 08/14/1994 Business. Computers, Internet and business. (1) Computers and business. How do computers change the way we do business? (A) Speeds things up. (B) Greater communication. (C) Handle greater amounts of data. (D) Makes possible bigger companies. Mergers. Mega-corporations. Concentration of power. Too much power. (E) Makes possible bigger retail stores. Superstores. Wipes out main street. (2) Internet and business. How does the Internet change the way we do business? (A) Workers don't have to be on site. Work from home. Tele commuting. (B) Customers don't have to be on site. Tele shopping. (C) How is running an Internet business different from "bricks and mortar" businesses? (D) Types of Internet businesses. B2B. B2C. Catalog online. Customer buys online. 7/20/2004 Business. Computers. (1) Information systems by business areas: executive, marketing, finance, accounting, and production. (2) Information systems by business levels: executive, mid-level, and operational. 12/30/1992 Business. Computers. (1) Intra-firm information. (2) Extra-firm information: Economic (industry, competition), political and legal, technology and science. 12/30/1992 Business. Computers. Principles: what information, for who, when needed, why needed, what form needed, how get it, how give it? 12/30/1992 Business. Contra big business. (1) Big business influences government too much. Big business ends up being represented in government instead of the masses of people who are supposed to be represented. (2) Another problem with big business is that big business has big dollars. Big dollars control the minds of people by buying advertising space. (A) They not only, through advertising, brainwash and train people not to think about the important things in life, they also train people not to think at all but rather to accept/believe and conform. (B) They also use advertising to lie, manipulate and hide the truth by diverting attention with smoke and mirrors. Advertisers pitch a lot of unimportant junk. By doing so they steal the public's attention from the important things in life, which is unhealthy for people. (3) A counter argument is that big business is no different than any other large organization, like special-interest groups or the government. They are all powerful and tough to control due to inertia and self survival instincts. 7/21/1998 Business. Contra big business. (1) Corporate drones. Their job is all they have. It is everything to them. It is of utmost importance. It is all that matters to them. It is their world. It is first in their minds. It is all they care about. (2) Corporate life. It is all about power, control, turf, responsibility, money, advancement, respect, competency, excellence, hierarchy, pecking order, rivalry, competition, one-up-man-ship, territory, possessiveness. 6/24/1998 Business. Contra big business. Big business is like a government. The big problem is the status quo fat cats on top sucking the system dry and screwing it over. In business, like politics, you need to have democracy, a way to peacefully change the leadership when it goes bad, without destroying the system. 09/15/1993 Business. Contra big business. Corporate America. The people are not that bright. The work is not that hard. The work occupies all your time. The work is all that the people think about. 11/30/1996 Business. Contra big business. Corporate fraud. Worldcomm. Enron. Tyco. Healthcare South. Corporations run amok. Corporations bilking stockholders, customers and the general public. These are the limitations of the free market. These are abuses of corporate power. 10/7/2003 Business. Contra big business. Corporate scandals. Enron. Worldcom. Tyco. The inability of corporations to adequately monitor their own ethical behavior. The inability of the free market to adequately monitor ethical behavior. 11/15/2003 Business. Contra big business. Criticisms of the corporation and corporate man. (1) Gave his life, soul, heart and mind to the corporation. (2) Identical to co-workers, conformist, gives into peer pressure, group think. (3) No independence, no free thinking, no individualism. (See Weber on bureaucracy and organizations). (4) Old boy network, conservative rich snobs hoarding power. 5/15/1998 Business. Contra big business. In the near future they will probably market a sweet, colorful, caffeinated, nicotenated, alcoholic beverage. It will be the color and flavor of bubble gum and it will be marketed to kids by a clown. 6/22/2001 Business. Contra big business. It's not only that the corporation acts in its own self interests. It's more accurate to say that the executives of the corporations act in their own self interests. Screwing the worker. Screwing the customers. Screwing the stockholders. Screwing the environment. That is what a totally free market produces: injustice. A few people ruining it for the many. 2/28/2002 Business. Contra big business. Monopoly is to business what dictatorship is to government. They both suck. 5/15/1998 Business. Contra big business. Super chain store town. Walmart. Kmart. Home Depot. Staples. Comp USA. Circuit City. B&N. Small town America abandoned. Small town life extinct. Super chain store life everywhere. Small town America becomes mall town America. Small town America gets mauled. 1/1/2002 Business. Contra big business. The attitude of big business toward the consumer: "We have to keep them stupid so they buy our junk. If they get smart they will figure out that they don't need our junk. So let's do nothing to promote their education and enlightenment. In fact, let's subtly value stupidity and devalue education. We can do this through advertising. Glorify the couch potato. 1/24/2002 Business. Contra big business. The national chains of superstores. They all look the same. They destroy the diversity of the built environment. Things become less interesting. They make life more boring. They also reduce choice, and thus reduce freedom. They smack of monopoly. At these stores you feel like you are "in the machine", going through the system. 5/10/2000 Business. Contra business. (1) Business views money as the highest value. Money is not the highest value. (2) Business has an attitude that says, "Do anything for a buck". (3) Business is about mindless materialism. (4) Business is about conspicuous consumption. Pigging out. Big houses, big cars, big meals. In the face of health of self and earth. (5) Business is about workaholics. 6/5/2004 Business. Contra business. (1) The worst of capitalism: The belief that the market is always right. Sell whatever sells, even if it is junk or poison. Give them what they want. Value money-making over the true and the good. Mindless production and mindless consumption. (2) The counter-argument is that people should be free to buy what they like. The market is about freedom. However, I say that I refuse to go along with the advertisers pitch and become a mindless consumer. And I refuse to fall into the machine, the system, and become a mindless laborer or mindless producer. 5/15/2000 Business. Contra business. Business is repetitious, boring, non-thinking, non-creative. 5/13/2004 Business. Contra business. Criticisms of business. Inherent dangers and biases of business and business education. (1) Mindless production. (2) Mindless consumption. (3) Excessive corporate power. (5) Lack of consumer rights and safety. (6) Lack of worker rights and safety. (7) Pure capitalism leads to monopoly and exploitation of workers, consumers and environment. (8) Environmental impact. Technology and money at expense of environment. (9) Under-values theory and intellect. (10) Under-values arts and sciences. (11) Under-values the role of government. (12) Marketing run amok. Too many commercials. To many corporate logo's and slogans. Too many advertisements. Builds needless wants and desires. (13) Under-values cooperation by labeling cooperation as liberal, socialist or communist. Fails to realize that cooperation is a useful and important social value. (14) Under-values ethics when it takes a "buyer beware" attitude. (15) Focusing only on business can create imbalanced, half-baked, specialist people who only focus on one aspect of life. 9/22/2000 Business. Contra business. Examples of business exploitation. Musicians exploited by their business managers and business agents. Musicians cheated out of their rights and royalties by unscrupulous businessmen. 11/12/2005 Business. Contra business. How people are persuaded to be good little capitalists. A message is broadcast, often implicitly, that the best thing you can do is make money and spend money. A message is broadcast, often implicitly, that the best thing you can do is start your own business, work all day long at business, and then go shopping on the weekend. The capitalist system promotes production and consumption, and at the same time philosophy, psychology and sociology are ignored or deemed of lesser importance. The capitalist system promotes capitalism and builds little capitalists. The capitalist system demurs from self critique. 12/5/2005 Business. Contra business. More corporate scandals: Healthsouth. Parmalat. 1/21/2004 Business. Contra business. Overemphasis on business (production and distribution) in America. Overemphasis on consumption in America. At the expense of personal health, the environment and social justice. 12/30/2003 Business. Contra business. What is the role of business in modern society? What is the role of business in America? (1) Corporations. Corporations have too much power and too little accountability. Corporations exploit workers, customers and public. (2) Money. People are addicted to money. People are slaves to money. People value money above all else. People use money as the sole criteria of value. 7/20/2004 Business. Contra corporations. One megalo-mart wipes out an entire main street of shops including a pharmacy, bakery, deli, flower shop, seafood store, produce store, dairy milkman, butcher, cheese shop, shoe store, clothes store, sporting goods store, appliance store, record store, hardware store and toy store. 3/10/2004 Business. Criticisms of business. When your highest value is money, or when your only value is money, then you have become a nation of grocery clerks. You sacrificed many other important values for the sake of a buck. 7/26/2006 Business. Critique of business. (1) Americans over emphasize and over value business. Americans under emphasize and under value non-business activities. (2) Doing anything to make money, including useless and meaningless and hurtful activities, is a bad thing. (3) Americans glorify business. Americans glorify money. Americans idolize money all out of proportion. The answer to all of life's problems is not business. Money, the dollar, riches, is not the solution to all of life's problems. Money is not the only, nor the best, measure of things. Free markets are not a panacea. Measuring success by wealth is a mistake. Competition is not the answer in every case. Pure capitalism is not the best nor only way. 9/13/2005 Business. Critique of business. America makes the mistake of thinking business is everything, or even the most important thing. 4/16/2006 Business. Critique of business. Business people, for example, business marketers, want to make money and get rich. They often do not care what they sell, as long as it makes money. They often do not care if what they sell is helpful or harmful, as long as it makes money. Some people will pay any price to get rich quick. If there exists a thing that is helpful but has no monetary value, then most die hard capitalists will not be interested in it. The problem is that many business people try to put a monetary value on everything, and then try to sell everything, and then ignore anything that cannot be sold. That is a big mistake on the part of business people. 2/19/2007 Business. Critique of business. Some of the wrong arguments implicit in talk about business. Some wrong attitudes that some people have about business. Unfortunately, some people feel and think the following ways about business and money: "Its important. Its good. Its the right thing to do. Its the only thing to do. Its the best thing to do. You have to do it. Its what respectable people do. Its valuable." 2/10/2007 Business. Critique of corporations. (1) The corporations have lots of money. The corporations have almost all the money. Thus, corporations are one of the few entities that can, if they so decide, afford to pay people a living wage. However, very often today the corporations decide not to pay employees a living wage. It is injustice when rich corporations to decide not to pay workers a living wage. (2) Alternatively, sometimes the corporations decide to pay their employees a living wage, in which case workers look around and then say to themselves, "The only employers paying a living wage are the corporations, so I better start slaving for the corporations, even if it is not what I want to do with my life, because I want to make a living wage." Thus, workers become slaves to the corporation. 2/6/2007 Business. Critiques of business. (1) Business is boring. (2) Business is empty, shallow, callow. (3) Money, alone is worthless in and of itself. (4) When the pursuit of a dollar slowly but surely becomes what your life is about then you are lost. (5) When they convince you that the best and only thing to do is to get an MBA degree, and you cannot generate any alternative ideas, then you are in deep doo doo. 9/13/2005 Business. Critiques of business. (1) Business often exploits and oppresses workers. (2) Business often pollute the environment. (3) Businesses often defraud investors. (4) Businesses often defraud consumers. (5) Businesses often defraud the public. (6) Businesses, if left to their own devices, have a tendency to abuse power. 9/13/2005 Business. Critiques of corporations. The biggest corporations. The richest corporations. The most powerful corporations. The most heedless corporations. The most ruthless corporations. 9/13/2005 Business. Critiques of sales. Talk them into it. A good salesman can sell them what they don't want, don't need, and can't afford, said Audrey. And remember the ABC's of selling. Any Bastard Can do it. 4/2/2006 Business. Current situation. Top world corps, top national corps. Top in industries. Top individuals. How they rose to the top. What was their competitive advantage? How they fell. What was their weakness? 12/30/1992 Business. Customer service. Customers want interest, effort, optimism, and confidence. 05/27/1993 Business. Customer service. Two philosophies and the spectrum. (1) We never want to see you again: be crude. (2) Long term customer: be nice. 12/30/1992 Business. Do not give your money to a system that does not promote environmental sustainability and social justice. Give your money to businesses that do promote environmental sustainability and social justice. 1/4/2006 Business. Elements of business: people, money, materials, and technology (tools and techniques). 12/30/1992 Business. Finance. Strategic: when to borrow, invest, save, and how much, and using what specific tool? Tactical: picking stocks and bonds. 12/30/1992 Business. Four types of business knowledge: (1) Textbook knowledge. (2) Current real world situation knowledge. (3) Job specific knowledge. (4) Anecdotal knowledge. 11/01/1994 Business. History current future. Current. The big issues in business today is computers, which cause the restructuring of tasks, jobs, and the business organization. Also global competition, global cooperation, and global communication. 09/15/1993 Business. History current future. Cutting edge business is global, computerized, service based (not product based), information based, and uses knowledge workers. 06/30/1997 Business. History current future. Future of business. (1) More computers. (2) Flatter companies (less middle management). (3) More competition. (4) Quicker. (5) More flexible. (6) Knowledge workers. (7) Customer orientation. 12/30/1995 Business. History current future. Future trends. The Internet cuts out middlemen and physical retail outlets. Computers downsize business. 12/29/1997 Business. History of theory and practice of economics, business, organizations, work, trade, production, money. World wide, country, industry, company, product. 12/30/1992 Business. How best to run a business given (1) Size (profits, stuff, people). (2) Industry (size and type). (3) Environment (society and natural). 12/30/1992 Business. Human resources. (1) Standards for performance. (2) Measurement (quantitative and qualitative) of performance. (3) Rewards and sanctions. 12/30/1992 Business. Human resources. Different individuals are suited for different jobs. Get the right stuff, the right personality type, for the right job. Too wild vs. too tame. Too tough vs. too sensitive. 12/30/1992 Business. Idea. Boycott restaurants with pictures of gangsters, real or fictional, on the wall. 11/23/2004 Business. Idea. Instead of flight simulation games they should have games that mimic air traffic controllers landing more and more planes. 12/29/1998 Business. Idea. Napsack: a knapsack that comes with a small pillow and a blanket. 10/22/1998 Business. Ideal. What would an ideal business, economic and work situation look like? (1) Workers would be given a fair wage. Workers would work reasonable hours. Workers would work in a safe workplace. (2) Businesses would be ecologically sustainable. (3) Monopoly would not be permitted. Monopolies exploit the worker because the worker has no where else to work. Monopolies exploit the consumer because the consumer has no where else to buy. (4) The power of corporations would be limited. Corporations would not have undue influence on government. Corporations would pay their fair share of taxes. Government would not be the pawn of corporations. (5) Consumer safety and consumer rights would be protected. (6) Women would get equal pay to men. Women would be hired for the same jobs as men. (7) Child labor would not be allowed. (8) Sweatshops would not be allowed. (9) Business would be more transparent. Financial statements would have fewer loop holes. (10) Corporate boards would be more responsible to stockholders. (11) There would be limits or caps on executive pay. (12) Marketing would be truthful and honest. Businesses would not produce and sell junk. Frauds, cons, swindles and scams would be shut down. (13) The above are some traits of a just, fair business world. This situation has not been reached yet in either the USA or the rest of the world. 10/19/2004 Business. In any business or industry, what is the situation? What technologies using? How efficient? How fair? 12/30/1992 Business. Levels of business environment: personal, corporation, national, and international. 12/30/1992 Business. Most important ideas about business: sustainable business, fair trade business, green business. The way Americans conduct business needs to be improved. 4/30/2007 Business. Most important ideas. (1) Business is ubiquitous and necessary, and thus it is important. (2) Business is not that complicated nor interesting, and thus it is boring. 4/23/2002 Business. Operations. (1) Analytical methods. (2) Procedural methods. (3) Forecast and planning methods. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. (1) Costs: time, manpower, materials, and space. (2) Inventory: on order, getting in, got, sending out, and sent. (3) Maintenance: how often, costs vs. savings. (4) Purchasing: what, how much, when, from who, what type of payment. (5) Producing: goods vs. services. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. Adaptability, flexibility, speed. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. Manufacturing, production, inventory and warehousing, shipping and receiving, transportation, maintenance (preventive, repair), safety. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. Principles: efficiency and productivity. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. Security for what, from what, how, what cost. Safety and security to protect money, stuff, people. Methods: guards, cameras, bugs, inspections, reports, verbal and written warnings, fingerprints, security checks. 12/30/1992 Business. Operations. Simple methods for simple situations, complex for complex. 12/30/1992 Business. PART ONE. Some of the incomplete, half-baked arguments that people put forward to try to defend business, money, material possessions, capitalism, free markets, and competition. (1) Everyone should own their own business. (2) Everyone should climb the corporate ladder. PART TWO. Arguments against business, money, material possessions, capitalism, free markets, and competition. (1) Money is not the only value. Money is not the highest value. (2) Over-consumption is is a bad thing. (3) Free markets are not a cure all. Free markets have problems all their own. (4) Capitalism is flawed. (5) Competition is not the only way, nor the best way. (6) Most business is boring. 11/28/2006 Business. Philosophy and business. Business ethics. Business people are accused of ignoring life and ethics for a dollar. 03/26/1994 Business. Philosophy and business. Business ethics. Excessive consumption of useless crap (food, clothes, jewelry, cars) vs. thrifty use of good stuff. 07/30/1993 Business. Philosophy and business. Business ethics. If you don't know what you want, they will try to sell you whatever they have. If you don't know what the fu*k you are doing, they will recognize it, and they will walk all over you. 11/17/1988 Business. Philosophy and business. Business ethics. Restaurants. Distributive justice. What is fair, standard size burgers or portions based on how much you weigh? Is it fair that a small person gets 20 mouthfuls and a full feeling, and a large person gets 10 mouthfuls and goes hungry? Are you paying for the product, or an enjoyable taste experience and a feeling of fullness and nutrition to stay alive. 11/30/1996 Business. Philosophy and business. Business ethics. Unfair business philosophies. (1) Buyer beware. (2) It aint illegal if you don't get caught. (3) What they don't know won't hurt them. (4) I don't know nothing. (5) I don't want to know nothing (look other way). (6) No guarantees, no returns, no refunds. (7) Rip-off customer, high prices (customer knows), bad product (customer may not know). (8) Do anything for a buck. 09/20/1993 Business. Philosophy of business. If there is a philosophy of economics, then is there also a philosophy of business? Economics is a science. Business is a technology. Philosophy of business: Business ethics. Business metaphysics. Business epistemology. 1/7/2003 Business. Political laws define the business environment. 8/15/2005 Business. Politics of business. (1) What kind of business should society allow? What kind of business should society not allow? There should be laws to protect consumers. There should be laws to protect workers. There should be laws that prevent monopoly. There should be laws that prevent the rampant abuse of power by corporations. (2) There should be global business laws. There should be global standards of business conduct. There should be global labor unions that battle sweatshops in every country. Global business laws would help prevent abuses of power by multi-national corporations. 5/14/2007 Business. Problems and mistakes: (1) Timing. (2) Lack of information. 12/30/1992 Business. Problems with workers. (1) Lazy. (2) Incompetent. (3) Corrupt. Thieves. 5/21/2006 Business. Progressivism and business. Start a Progressive business that pursues environmental sustainability and social justice and does not focus primarily on the pursuit of money. 5/5/2007 Business. Progressivism and business. Think of an id