Somehow I missed this yesterday/last night, but BoingBoing linked to some mp3’s of taped interviews with Philip K. Dick. Subjects range from God to Vonnegut to Mussolini. Should be good. I’m going to try to burn them to a cd so I can listen to them on the way to work tomorrow.
General
07
Jun 04
Feeling Existential
What makes life worth living? Is it better to believe in something imaginary or to not believe in anything? What is the best way to spend your time here? Why? Why do I sit around thinking about things I have no need to know and no means to control? I need to leave the house more often. :)
07
Jun 04
Interesting find
I came across an interesting article in my daily survey of the internet on a website about Bipolar disorder and depression, Taking it Personally. I’ve trimmed it up a little but you can read the whole thing by using that link:
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It started out as whim, but turned into an eye-opener. In May 2003, I asked my Newsletter readers to take an online Myers-Briggs personality test and email the results, along with their diagnosis. Although this was strictly a readers’ poll and not a scientific study, and bearing in mind the risks inherent in pigeonholing personalities, the findings were striking enough to indicate I might be on to something. …
Approximately 150 responses were received, and of these the first 100 were analyzed (a nice even number for this maths-challenged individual). Most readers also sent in their diagnosis, nearly all depressive or bipolar. Since most people with bipolar are depressed more than manic, it is safe to conclude that this poll was dealing with a mostly-depressed population, without further breaking down the figures. Approximately three-quarters of the respondents were women, which about matched the Newsletter’s readership. …
The first eye-popping result was 83 percent of those who replied were introverts, which sharply contrasts with the 25 percent to be found in the general population. According to one reader, who had a strong extrovert score four years ago and a much weaker one when responding to this poll: “Over the last four years I’ve sunk into a very isolated existence. The mania has worsened despite changes in medication/dosages and I spend most of my time sleeping and avoiding large social functions. I do slightly better in small social gatherings, but up until just a couple of months ago I didn’t go anywhere or see anyone other than my immediate family within our house.” …
07
Jun 04
Exorcising fortunes
Scraps of fortunes from fortune cookies have been accumulating in the various folds of my wallet. Today I decided to write them down and get rid of them.
They seem to fall into two categories, admonitions and predictions.
Admonitions:
“You’ll accomplish more if you start now.”
“Promise only what you can deliver.”
“Helping a friend is like helping yourself.”
“You stand in your own light. Make it shine.”
Predictions:
“You have an ambitious nature and may make a name for yourself.”
“You have executive ability.”
“You will make a name for yourself.”
07
Jun 04
Hi, my name is Chris…
…and I am an eBay addict. I even bought a digital postage scale. This is probably a phase that will pass as soon as I unload all my junk. The good news is, it is an obsession that is making me a little money while ridding me of some unnecessary stuff. Here are a few things I’ve learned while researching and through my own experience:
- Start your auctions on the weekend since they will end on the weekend (for 7 day auctions) when most people are using eBay
- Don’t use any of the auction upgrades. They may help, but the costs are prohibitive unless you are selling expensive items. Instead of auction upgrades, add more photos (using your own image hosting) to your descriptions and spend some time writing good descriptions.
- Set your opening fee low, that way you capitalize on the lower listing fees and attract more bids.
- Figure out the shipping costs BEFORE you submit the auction. A few times I’ve either overcharged and had to refund, or undercharged and got stuck with the remaining due postage.
- Accept most forms of payment. It will bring you more bids and may save paypal fees.
- Maintain a good rating. Some people won’t buy from anyone with a less than perfect seller rating.
- Communicate with your buyers even though they can be really time-consuming with their requests.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff, but that’s a good start. Ebay fees suck suck suck, but where else can you sell stuff to so many people?
07
Jun 04
Compulsive Hoarding
I was listening to something this morning on NPR when I was on the way to the doctor about compulsive hoarders. The thing that stuck out to me was that most compulsive hoarders are stricken by two or three different qualities which seem to promote compulsive hoarding. Namely, a notable lack of motivation, a reluctance or inability to make decisions or a lack of decisiveness, and the lack of social intercourse.
I often think about the relationship between social influences and the individual especially since I remember reading once about how insanity and lack of social activity seem to go hand and hand. Either the insanity causing social discomfort and anxiety or the lack of social stimulation promoting neurotic thinking and extreme self-consciousness.
Anyway, why the lack of motivation? Compulsive hoarders tend to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of maintaining order and therefore psyche themselves out, ignoring the growing clutter and mess. That feeling of not knowing where to start and feeling overwhelmed effectively saps any motivation. Those feelings demotivate.
The lack of decisiveness is similarly logical as decision-making is a mode of thought requiring action. The act of making a decision is a thought, but not just a thought. It is a thought and a committment to action. Decision-making is action. Since compulsive hoarding is not based on conscious decision-making but on the shadowy compulsion of ignoring action or responsibility it makes sense.
So, where does the social aspect of things come in. It seems to me that if you have a person who is in general indecisive and demotivated they may remain removed from other people to a certain degree. Also, if someone is socially active they increase their chances of being affected and coerced by others into maintaining order. Anyway, I’m just thinking out loud. I still need to think about this aspect of things. It is definitely interesting stuff.
04
Jun 04
Quotations
I’m feeling flummoxed today. That means it’s time for quotations.
“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” – Seneca
19
May 04
minutiae
I got a Netflix account recently, and this weekend I watched The Royal Tennenbaums again since I hadn’t seen it since it came out. It really inspired me to want to do more creative endeavors. Mainly during the parts of the movie involving all the little pet projects of the Tennenbaum children: painting, building model stage sets, writing, etc. Although I always seem to have an endless amount of work to do I have really missed my more creative side. Somewhere along the way I stopped devoting as much time to playing with pens and pencils, and I made drawing into something more like a burden or obligation, an activity where the expectation of a potentially dissatisfying outcome was foremost in my mind. But, I have missed drawing and making things. Making something can put you into a zen-like state. There are times when I’m drawing or doing something and I sit back in amazement at how the act of creation takes on a life of its own and how it can induce such a state of wordless wonder. Even if you have a particular vision of how things will turn out, the result is always a surprise. I think it is the talent for working with chance that makes an artist. You have to come to some sort of agreement with the medium that you will try to see things through even if the results deviate from your imagination. You have to be somewhat open and loose, receptive to a wide variety of possibilities. I think the importance of technique is in the expansion of possibility and the flexibility it lends to converting chance and possiblity into something surprising.
18
May 04
Fallujah: In The Hands Of Insurgents
From MSNBC:
The mujahed named Mohammed who detained us is a stocky, handsome man in his early 20s from a well-to-do Fallujah family. He had been studying foreign languages at Baghdad University when the U.S. military toppled Saddam Hussein last year, and he says he initially supported Saddam’s overthrow, but “the Americans should have left Iraq immediately [after the war].” When the Marines invaded last month, Mohammed was one of hundreds of neighborhood men and teenagers (including many former Iraqi soldiers) who answered the call to arms from local mosques. “How would you feel if French soldiers or Arab soldiers invaded your city, and killed your friends, your family?” he asks as he and his brother serve us kebab, pita and tea on the richly carpeted floor of a cousin’s spacious home. “We fought in the streets, in the houses, on the rooftops. Even the Marines’ tanks and helicopters could not stop us. My closest friends died beside me.” He says that his mother and his brother were shot dead by Marine snipers, and he scoffs at the portrayal of insurgents as “terrorists.” Mohammed and his comrades tell us that the prisoner-abuse scandal wasn’t a surprise. “We knew what was going on inside Abu Ghraib all along,” claims one young fighter with a badly burned hand. “You Americans can’t do anything good.”