ardgedee
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2010
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Yes death is a natural progression of the life cycle but while I'm here I intend to celebrate life and worry about my final moments when I get there. I only hope when those final moments come I'll be able to face it with dignity and my loved ones will all be around me to say goodbye.
Nah. The logic in mysticism is upside down. You have to die in this life if you want to live. Hence you need to think about death constantly, as often as possible.
Coincidentally I've been listening to the chapters on the Stoics in the History of Philosophy podcast, and personal liberation (in a manner of speaking) is a dominant theme in their work. Epictetus in particular believed that unless you can accept death as inevitable and impending -- literally, unless you are willing to tell your child, "You will die today," you do not have sufficient self-discipline to be free, or to deserve dignity.
They were pretty hard core. "Stoic" came to mean what it does in English for a reason.
Our fate is to die, of course. To accept it calmly and with dignity is to be ready when it's about to happen. It's not the same thing as being suicidal: If anything, they considered that cheap and self-demeaning. The old saying, live each day as if you're going to die and you will live your life to its fullest (which might derive from Stoic writings, for whatever that's worth). Wrapping yourself in the trappings of doom until they affect you no more or less than any other form of decoration is a way to prepare for the inevitable, though it's up to you to decide whether you're going to be insufferable around others or not.
And the Gothy kids tended to be some of the better-adjusted people I knew when I was in college. Not really a scene I could get into, myself.
Lil B is kind of similar in his inexplicable popularity, though in his case a big part of it is meme status. Some folks might like it because they see it as mocking hip hop, but I honestly don't think either artist is trying to mock hip hop. Or even certain elements within it. In Lil B's case, I like him a lot more than a Yung Lean because his personality is so effusive and he has such a positive outlook.
Yeah, I can't find anything in Lil B's stuff to form a strong opinion either way, but he found an angle for promoting himself that's downright entertaining whether or not the music's any good. And I'm OK with that.
Honestly, the best boots I've ever owned, by far, has been Dr Martens.
Docs are some of the only footwear that I couldn't get off my feet fast enough when I tried 'em. They are antagonistic to my weirdly-shaped feet. Although they make a lot of other people happy. Fit is the ultimate YMMV.
I like Blundstones and have a few pairs but they're not for everybody and they're not particularly good snow boots. The quality is wildly inconsistent, too. A lot of cobblers will refuse to repair them. If I still lived up north I'd probably have a pair of Red Wings by now, but the conditions in the American South are never bad enough to justify it.
If Docs have worked for you this well for this long, stick with 'em.
It's 5:50 am. Right now I'm parked in an empty lot, watching the blood moon eclipse with a friend.
Listening to the new Zola Jesus and Flying Lotus albums (w/ a bit of Caribou thrown in the mix).
Saw Caribou at Mergefest 25. A great show from a band I hadn't (knowingly) heard before. The latest couple albums are a little disappointing but I'll probably get the older stuff, since judging from YouTube those tracks do a better job of pushing my buttons.