Landscaping. Natural yet...Not.

Why do we landscape?

It looks nice-- it looks neat, it makes for a pleasant environment around a home or building.

But who decided that grass should be cut? Why are we all obsessed with the clean-cut-greenest-possible-majestic lawn??? I thought of this, while realizing we all get aggravated when our neighbor doesn't "mow" often enough, or "fertilize" his hay-like weeds for a lawn.

WHAT's it all about? We have all of this vegetation on the planet, trees-bushes-thorns-ferns-moss, etc. etc., and we are taming it like mad-people. I love it.

When we landscape, we go for that "natural" look, yet its so damn tidy--- that it's not natural at all. Mounds of mulch perfectly straight-edged, lines of trimmed rectangle bushes... and green 4-5 inch grass surrounding our dwellings.

A Tool of Divination Linked to the Mind

I was thinking a lot about palmistry. I tend to look at my palms often, not to neccessarily evaluate the lines, but to just examine them. If this subject bores you---or if you are not a believer of palmistry (palm reading), take a look at its history:

Palmistry is an ancient practice that can be found dating back thousands of years. The prehistoric caves in France and Spain display hand drawings of palms with the major lines portrayed in amazing detail. Judging by the number of hands painted in prehistoric caves it would seem the human hand held a interest for humans since the stone age. Archaeological discoveries have discovered hands made of stone, wood and ivory by ancient civilizations. The use of the palm of the hand as a tool for healing, a link between man and god, as been repeated over and over again in history.

The basic framework for Classical Palmistry (the most widely taught and practiced tradition) is rooted in Greek mythology. Each area of the palm and fingers is related to a god or goddess, and the features of that area indicate the nature of the corresponding aspect of the subject. For example, the ring finger is associated with the Greek god Apollo; characteristics of the ring finger are tied to the subject's dealings with art, music, aesthetics, fame, and harmony. Aristotle (384-322 b.c) discovered a treatise on Palmistry on an altar to the god Hermes. The Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen (ad 130-200) were both knowledgeable about the use of palmistry as a clinical aid.

The ancient Vedas, the earliest sacred Hindu writings, studied the hands as a means to unveil and understand the self and relationships with others. Here began an understanding that the unique patterns of lines and signs in the hand are a direct result of the way we think - consciousness creating the human blueprint for experiece.

Julius Caesar is said to have judged his men by palmistry.

An early writing using the word Palmistry - spelled 'Pawmestry' - was written in 1420 by John Lyndgate in his Assembly of Gods documents.

The first book on Palmistry was Michael Scotts De Philsiognomia written in 1477 on the physiognomy of the human body with a chapter on all the aspects of the human hand. He wrote, Just as a pebble thrown into the water creates ripples, so our thoughts create similar effects on our palms.

In the seventeenth century many books were written that included the early gypsy ideas about the hand that had been handed down through tradition since the early 1400s.

The practice of palmistry was unfortunately forced underground by the Catholic Church who branded it devil worshiping.

By the eighteenth century books were written blending some scientific information about the hand with mysticism. Since then Palmistry was aligned with the idea that a person read the hand with a scientific eye and spoke from intuition. Palmistry then was a form of prediction that was as individual as the hand.

Just as today's consciousness is awakening from the darkness into the light - religious paradigms losing their ontrol over humany thinking - so too did palmistry awakening as a tool of divination linked to the working of the mind. One must never forget that consciousness creates reality.

Language Ingorance

Language blows my mind. What are these linguistic utterances and echoes and slurs that we all recognize within a tenth of a second?


Whenever I watch a movie with - for instance - in Native American tongue, I think about how everyone on the planet sounds in comparison to each other. Experts claim that there are between 3,000 and 8,000 languages spoken on one planet. Keep in mind that they are being conversed, re-taught to new generations, and constantly growing, on ONE rock. ONE minuscule community in space, called Earth.




Different languages cause communication barriers- however. The human race is split at seems because of ignoracen. Ignorance is a major cause of communication barriers. Whether language prejudices' exist beacause the language sounds different or "strange", it is all pure ignorance.

Everyone one this planet has the same human thoughts, and the same questions about our existence; no matter the cultural background or social standing.





Here is a list of the top 10 languages in February 1999 according to Ethnologue:


1. Mandarin 885 million speakers
2. Spanish 332 million speakers
3. English 322 million speakers
4. Bengali 189 million speakers
5. Hindi 182 million speakers
6. Portuguese 170 million speakers
7. Russian 170 million speakers
8. Japanese 125 million speakers
9. German 98 million speakers
10. Wu 77 million speakers

Natural Colors- Do they exist???

Natural Colors seems soothing and calming to the eye. They evoke calm feelings as you can see from this picture:

We like natural colors. They make us feel human and in touch with something that is stable and eternal.

Colors like these ….gives us different feelings. They remind us of the chemical world in which colors are artificially synthesized to exacting specifications. They seen unnatural.
But can we divide colors into natural and unnatural colors? Is nature made entirely out of natural colors? Consider this for now, a box of organically grown flowers.

These are organically grown flowers:

Do these colors look natural to you?

It seems that what is natural color and what is not is a complicated affair. It also seems in nature such sharp colors occur only in small quantities. The vast expanses always seem to be in some kind of subdued colors. Nature seems to have special occasions for colors and seem to be using it sparingly.

People however talk about natural colors.

thanks to Sivam Krish

Designs in Nature

Ever notice that nature has such intricate, patterned designs? Whether they are geometrical or organic shaped, everywhere we look; the planet is covered in designs.

OCD and Tapped Animals That We All Love

Who decided that it would be cats and dogs that we domesticate?

Yes, I know birds, reptiles and other small pets are common---but dogs and cats raid our homes the most. Canines and felines are used to sleeping in between humans, on top of a plush couches, keeping warm during the winter (or cold summer nights), meowing and barking for instant food or attention, safe enviroments and shelter, and I'm pretty sure some bottled water if their owner makes a good living.

What is it that made humans universally choose dogs and cats to be our family companions, little furballs that greet us and dominate our schedules (admit it).

I would love to see a racoon curling up next to someone on the couch, or a squirrell eating a bowl of mixed nuts on christmas eve. SERIOUSLY THOUGH! It's pretty out there.

Yes, yes, yes; cats and dogs are personable. But that's only on good days. Sometimes cats are downright stubborn and moody; and dogs just obsessive compulsive.

Captured in Time - Human's Way

A photograph. A video. Memories, events, people, places and renderings from the past.

What is it that makes us so interested in old videos of our childhood. I do not know (correct me if I'm wrong) a single person who does not enjoy watching home videos.

The orange countertops, your mom's giant glasses, the pattern you memorized on the kitchen tiles.

But is isn't solely nostalgia. It's more than that. It's human nature to be curious about the past, about our childhood, and our parents' childhood, and our anscestry.

What about a photograph of your town from 150 years ago? What does that make you think?

What is the root of our need to hold on? Why do we capture all of these moments, and constantly pin them to scrapbooks, or tape them to albums. Why is it we love to hold on to all of these 2 dimensional renderings of a 'real' past?

In the day and age of photobucket, webshots, youtube, and kodak easy share printers, we now have hi-def, 12 megapixel, life-like memories that are being rapidly produced...

Before we knew what the sun was, scientifically.

Can you imagine exploring the world, before it was "claimed" or "understood"?

Can you imagine not knowing about it being a sphere, being....a planet...being among other planets/rocks/space?

Only 6 centuries or so ago, explorers were setting out on long voyages to venture new terrain, and claim land. They were meeting new tribes of people, living all different types of lives on the same ---different cultures, different ways of making food, shelter, and keeping sane.

It was a time when many worshipped the sun as a god, not as a giant star.

The sun gives life, warmth, and affects the way earth has evolved. People are reliant on the sun.

The sun was the only connection for early civilizations. It was all the hope there was.

I think about these things, when people worry about insignificant, petty, matters.

Music??!! Evolution related?

Why do we make music?

You could give me the same reasons 99% of the population would give me, but seriously: why did human's originally feel the need to make music?

Music is universally loved by all humans. It is a sound wave and rhythm combination that can change our emotions in a few seconds. Our emotions are so deeply effected by music.

Whether we get pumped up by music, or get sappy by music, it definitely has an effect on our emotional selves. You could get into your car, and turn on the radio, and get extrememly irritated by a song, or you could hear a song that lifts your mood the next level.

It's crazy.

Then there's those people who go to opera's and cry their eyes out. Or the music played at a funeral that makes the day much more unbearable. It is also comforting, though. Do you agree? It sort of adds to the whole grieving process.

Then there's the music at every wedding in America. The corny, familiar beats that always lure us to the dance floor with every aunt and great aunt at the reception.

Why is it we tap when we hear music? It's as if when we tap, snap our fingers, or dance to the beat, it makes for a "more pleasureable music experience". Even little kids tap to the beat. They were never told to do so, it's in their nature.

Heading back a few hundred thousand (or more) years ago, I would love to investigate the first tribal songs, native american hums, and homo sapien claps.

When did this begin, and was it evolved when our ears further evolved??

Dry as can be.

Do you ever think about this, when you are driving through the pouring rain...
Do you ever think about how you are racing through streets and passing by trees
and being spitted on by cold, wet, precipitation.

You are staying completey dry in a aluminum capsule.

It is a little barrier that keeps you dry, is air tight, and always reliable in doing so.






Another question I will propose is why are we always running to get through rain? I know,
I know, some times it is nice to stand in the rain and get soaked. But that is only the case
if you are not going anywhere, you aren't doing much of anything, and you are a free spirit.
But seriously, humans hate rain. The worst thing is, some of the rain haters take for granted
the whole dry car capsule thing. I mean, we're lucky. Back a century, and you'd be getting
wet no matter what you traveled in. If you traveled, you probably had a carriage or walked.

Too Laid back?

Being laid back is thought of as a positive thing.

It really is.We all want to be surrounded by laid back people, who go with the flow of things, and make life less stressful.



But when is laid back, too laid back? If we are too laid back, we often become lazy. When we are lazy, we often procrastinate (but it's ok right? because we're laid back). When we procrastinate, we get behind in things. We start to then (climax) reach a point where we think we are laid back but we are actually a hair away from being stress balls.






Is there a happy medium? What's your view?

Your subconscious mind never rests.

Did you know our conscious mind is only one-sixth of our brain’s thinking and power?

Our subconscious mind represents five-sixths of our thinking and power. The whole mind, conscious and subconscious, possesses the power to solve any problem that may come up, or provide the necessary ways and means through which we can achieve our ends. The conscious mind holds only about 7 pieces of information in short-term memory.

Your sub-conscious mind, however, stores all the knowledge you have ever acquired. Everything you have ever read, heard, thought or imagined is held within its immense memory. Brain researchers estimate that your unconscious mind outweighs the conscious on a scale of ten million to one. This is the source of your hidden, natural genius.

In other words, this part of you is much smarter than you think you are. This is where the great artists, writers, and poets to get their inspiration. Albert Einstein once said, “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you, and you don’t know how or why.” “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

The subconscious mind is useful in two ways. The first way involves receiving information, solving problems, and receiving inspiration. The second way deals with programming your mind to supercharge your confidence, your self-image, and your desired beliefs. This can take a little time at first but like many things gets easier with practice. Programming your subconscious works best through visualization. Pictures and symbols are by far the most effective way of impressing your subconscious. Speaking of symbols and pictures, this is why dreams are largely symbolic in nature. While you sleep your mind processes information and presents it back in the form of symbolic pictures.

What’s great about your subconscious mind is that it never rests. Whatever goal or problem you give your subconscious, it will work on continually, day or night. Whatever you think and ponder about deeply with strong emotion makes a strong impression on your subconscious.

Richard Kimball

What exactly are our brains capable of?

Flying in a helicopter along the ThamesRiver, Stephen Wiltshire memorized the appearance and position of hundreds of London's buildings.

Over the next week of so, the man drew the panorama in incredible detail on a 13ft curving canvas, never referring to written notes, sketches or pictures.



The buildings were drawn to scale and in perfect position, with the exact number of floors and other structural features included on landmarks such as the Swiss Re tower, known as the
Gherkin, and Canary Wharf.



The challenge marks another chapter in his remarkable life, 30 years after being diagnosed as autistic. As a boy, he could not speak and threw tantrums in frustration at not being able to make himself understood.The only thing that seemed to pacify him was being given a pencil and paper.

This is one story that made me think: are we all capable of this? Our brains are capable of determining what day of the week it was in August 3rd, 1893, or what baseballl player pitched a game for New York on a specific day, in the past century.

The movie Rain Man is another example of the genuis characteristics of those with austism.



Stephen's story captured my particular interest however, and complete shock. Being an artist, I know that sitting infront of my subject matter, whether it be a person, landscape, or buildings, is the best way to capture the essence of the subject; accurately.


Our minds are constantly picking and sampling little bits of information in life, but austistic people may be engulfing the entire atmostphere and ultimately the 'big picture'.

What is your brain capable of?






03/04/2008 Telegraph.co.uk, picture By Stephen Adams

Depressed by nature?

Why is it we as humans get so down all the time?

It is almost as if all of the poets in history were down all the time, that they poured all the greyness out in prose. And all of the artists' chose to lock themselves in an attic to paint still lifes and ponder every day life. I wonder somedays, why I feel down for no apparent reason. It is quite a depressing thing, getting depressed about nothing particularily depressing.


Take Holden Caulfield, my favorite character of all time. He is the boy in Catcher in the Rye that gets depressed when sitting with phonies or talking to phonies. Lousy conversationalists make Holden depressed, and I feel the same way.


Another example of a depressed human is Adam Duritz, the lead singer of Counting Crows. He not only writes depressing music, but he blogs about his depressive state on his blog. Two reasons I may love his lyrics root from his obsession with rain and the color grey.






That sparks the mystery of why it is we love depressing people, depressing poetry, and depressing songs? Do they make us feel less depressed? Or do they make us feel like it is okay to be rather somber on a lively day?

Counting Crows happens to be my favorite band, and Holden Caulfield happens to be my favorite character, and I will confide in you that Paul Gauguin and van Gogh are two major influences on my painting. Them two were more depressed in their lifetimes than this trebuchet type style could attempt to express.



As a very optimistic, family blessed, fortunate human, I am not depressed a lot; But I am depressed by nature.


I will leave you with Counting Crows' most depressing single.

Thoughts

We are slaves to our brains.


Isn't it worth THINKING ABOUT-- that we never stop thinking? Our brains are never-ceasing thinking machines. Each attempt to relieve yourself of a thought inevitably results in more, and more, and more thoughts.

With the exception of death (even sleep results in dreams, whatever those are), it's extremely difficult to shut off our thought processes. There's music, drugs, and sneezing, and even then, we cannot fully escape ourselves.

Humans know.

Are humans really the only creatures to know what is really going on? There are so many creatures on this planet of ours and it seems that we are the only ones to realize that we are actually living on a giant orbiting planet within a seemingly endless universe.

You see, there are a lot of thinking animals in the world. Dogs think, horses think, and squids think. I bet they don't think about their futures, about where they really are, or about atoms. No other living thing has any clue about atoms or anything else they consist of.

It's really difficult to come to terms with the fact that people are the sole understanding creatures on the entire planet. Our brains are unbelievably complex systems of electrical impulses so that we can sit here and ponder life as we please. It feels good to know things.

SkyDiving? Nature's Thrilling Experience

Picture yourself as an alien being; some other life form, viewing earth from far away.

You see humans.

They are in a giant vessel with wings and windows.

The are moving fast in this "cannon with wings" but it appears they are very still.

They are suited in goggles and protection garmets. They are opening a door in the 'plane'.

They then leave the giant metal thing and are spread eagle fall towards the planet.

They are spinning slowly, their long arms apart.

They are none other than PLAYING WITH GRAVITY.



You,

are an alien.

You do not know anything about the blue, green and white planet you see.

What are you thinking about this falling towards the planet for thrill thing?

We Rely On Preventions

I was thinking today about brushing our teeth. We all do it. We all scrub the projecting bones that poke through the gums in our mouths. We all use a pastey substance of some sort. It's a cavity prevention. Cavities lead to rotting. Rotting could lead to infections. Infections lead to death.

Back in the day, people's teeth were not brushed. They were used for eating, then over time rotted away, and by the time you were in your late thirties, you were lucky to have any teeth left in your mouth.

This leads me to the fact that we Humans, rely on preventions from things that lead to death. We are inventive, preventative MACHINES! as a matter of fact.

Other ways of preventions include thermometers (you could easily die from a fever), antiobiotics (thanks to that fuzzy little plant found in the rainforest we do not die from infections from something as tiny as a paper-cut), soap; is a big one...it keeps us from germs harmful to us that may lead to death, sun-screen (who the heck made a formula to repel UVB rays anyway? Smart shits they are), and so on, and on.

Let me go side track on the note of soap.

We shower everyday. We feel "gross" if we don't.
That's insanity. It's because of all of our preventions that we are so damny dependant on these everyday preventatives to quote on quote "let us live longer."

Who decided, by the way, that sodium floride- the anticavity ingredient in 99.9% of toothpastes, is just what we need for our mouth's health? Keep brushing, keep on brushing, keep-keep-keep on brushing away with that sodium floride fellow humans.

Teeth are beautiful when they are whitest possible, and straightest possible.
Who decided that? You can have a clean mouth of crooked teeth. You could have a clean mouth of stubby off-white molars.


Think, people. Don't just mindlessly brush your teeth.

Think.

What's behind the involuntary preventatives we humans practice everyday?

Side Note.

I just wanted to mention how crazy it is to think about how many involuntary processes are going on in your body at all times. Breathing, blinking, heart pumping, hair growing, nerves firing, and electron transport chains supplying energy for it all...



Humans are so cool.

Shower Sounds

I showered, I heard the shower noises.

For a minute, they really sounded like they could make a song.

And so I ponder sounds. Wavelengths-- is that all they are? And our brain cells are able to interpret them, and we sing, and we hum, and we speak of them.



Seriously. Listen to the shower sounds, and let your atoms run wild.

It's All In the Cells...

John Allman spends a lot of time counting brain cells. He often sets out from his home turf at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena to visit pathology labs, museums and anthropology departments around the world on the lookout for interesting brain tissue, so he can count some more. Sometimes he'll be after samples from gorillas or chimps, at other times a collection from a psychiatric hospital or from a stillborn infant. Allman practises the old-fashioned discipline of histology, and has a rare kind of patience to stare down his microscope for hours on end, often documenting tens of thousands of cells in any one brain. "Let's say it's absorbing," he admits.

In this age of brain scanners, genetic profiling and bioinformatics, Allman's absorption sounds pretty low-tech, and frankly, quite dull. What possible scientific interest could there be in counting brain cells?

His answer is surprising. He thinks he has found an important key to our humanity — an explanation for our ability to love, empathise, feel guilt or embarrassment, to understand deception and cooperation. While the definition of what makes us human may include language, our large brains and intelligence or the ability to use tools and fire, these complex social emotions set us apart from other animals too. They are judgements made not by reasoning or logic but by a type of rapid intuition which allows us to function in the most complex social environment faced by any animal. And this social intuition is special, Allman says, because, of all the traits that make us human, only these quick-fire signals seem to be carried by a recently evolved type of brain cell, unique to higher primates.

is anyone out there? is anyone reading these mindless words?

Signals turned... Photos

pictures... we somehow capture images. when otherwise they would only be memories in our brains.





speaking of that-- what are memories? Stored information in the vast network of electrical signals between neurons. Memories are what make up your past. Your past is what you remember, or what other people remember. Anyway, yes, everything basically is because of MEMORIES. Ponder that. (Or should I say, open up K+ and Cl- channels between neurons, etc., and enjoy.)

Damn, I've got Jet Leg

On the subject of time, I must enter the realm of time zones.

What are time zones exactly?

Who decided which "time" was the standard for the entire globe.

What is this daylight, nighttime thing?

Who discussed dawn, dusk, noon, midnight?

No body questions this.

We all just say "John's in California and its three hours ahead of us, so I am going to call him at dinner before he is asleep," OR "I have jet leg, because I am in moscow and I flew in from Japan."

Go deeper, fellow humans, into the phrase 'jet leg' and the concept of having different times for television programs - - - while residing in the same country.

tick, tock.

Time never stops for anything or anyone. "Time" is just a name we gave to the moments that pass endlessly. Humans have used time since the beginning of everything. So tell me, when we-- atom-based beings-- live in a universe where time really is just a unit of measurement that humans have fabricated, why do we feel that such short times (1 minute, 3 hrs, or 59 years...) are so LONG?!

I am pretty sure our galaxy is about 10 billion years old. [So what if we don't know the exact age?] Why do we feel like our lives drag on and on, when we all know perfectly well how 'fast' time flies? A 100-year life span compared to a 50 billion year-old star seems just trivial. And so does a one hour long exam and a half an hour lunch break and a five minute commercial and a 20 second sprint.




By the way, does TIME really exist...? Think about it.

Rewashing our External Cells; What Lies Beneath Shampoo and Soap

You ever think about how dirty/soiled/gross you could get? Yet taking a shower, and using a little shampoo and soap will turn you into a brand new being!

I was thinking about people who work in morgues. And people who get their hands dirty. And people who are homeless. These people's skin gets pretty soiled. But soon enough, they are eating with those same hands, and rolling in sheets at night with that same skin, and blow drying that same hair (well..maybe not the homeless people in that case).

We are able to renew ourselves whenever we want! What a crazy thing it is.

Hair is greasy at 4 days old, skin is moist with germs, and fingernails get dirt tucked beneath them.

But our EXTERNAL Cells are renewable! Reuseable layers of dead cells that spring out of our head (apparently we all grow these dead cells rather long and style them) is what we refer to as hair. And shedding layers of dead and living cells that bond together (we moisterize these layers with cremes, purfume these absorbing layers with sprays, and block these pours daily with deodorants & antiperspirants) are what we refer to as skin.


Take a minute to think about that.

You could roll in cow manuer and put vinegar in your hair...
but it will all come clean with a little shampoo and soap.

tasty!

If we are all members of the same species and we all have similar basic genetic makeup, why do we prefer certain TASTES over others? Some people like broccoli, mustard, caviar, sesame noodles... and I, for exaple, hate them.

In general, the bulk of living things on the planet today share the same food/taste interests. Lions like to eat zebras, venus fly traps like to engulf flies, whales eat all kinds of sea creatures, and vultures eat rotting carcassas. Nonetheless, they all eat the same thing. Why don't some wolves prefer to eat only brown rabbits? How come snails don't pick and choose what crap they eat?

Ok, I suppose wild animals must eat whatever is available, without preference, to survive. But why are humans... so picky?

A Ringing In Our Subconscious

Birds chirp fiercely in a backyard. A man works on his lawn, while his children swim in their pool, and his wife reads a book on the hammock. They go about their day and stimulate their minds with ritualistic activity.

What is the point of this story?

The background noise is.

Birds.

They are always chirping. They are loud, beautiful, singers that constantly make lots and lots of noise. If one were to listen all day just to the noise of birds, one may go mad.

What I am saying is that we as humans rarely, if ever, speak of the sound of birds. It is almost as if we do not register that the chirping is actually happening.

"I have a long sleeve underneath so I'll be fine."

When it comes to clothing, we all can relate.

I saw a girl today, walking and talking with another girl. She said "...I have a longsleeve underneath so I'll be fine," and the other girl replied while nodding her head, "Oh, Yea definitely."

Soft clothing feels good on our skin. When we talk about it with other humans, it does not matter of what gender, race, or difference they obtain; we all agree.

We all have this layer of flesh. What is flesh? We are lucky that it protects us. We are lucky it heals. We are lucky it renews, sheds, and builds back up.

Back on topic, all humans are unified by our common fondness of soft clothing. Cotton maybe? Or polyester. These are materials that the humans before us created and came to make as clothing. Like the girl I heard today, we all understand that a longsleeve shirt will help keep us warm from this particular planet's colder days.

Climate affects our skin also. We get goosebumps when we are cold. What are goosebumps? I can assume most of us do not know the technical name for goosebumps. We just give them a name, and don't really wonder why we get them. We just see them rise up in cold temperatures and say, "I'm cold. Look, I have goosebumps."

take a minute.

History of Life on Our Planet (years before present)

The universe, and time, begin: 12,000,000,000

Earth is created: 4,600,000,000

Oldest known rocks: 4,200,000,000

The origin of life: ~4,000,000,000

Oldest known fossils: 3,500,000,000

Oxygen atmosphere develops: 1,900,000,000

Multicellular life emerges: 800,000,000

Cambrian explosion: 540,000,000

First fish appear: 500,000,000

Vascular plants evolve: 400,000,000

Age of dinosaurs begins: 250,000,000

Age of dinosaurs ends [K/T comet]: 65,000,000

First hominids walk the Earth: 3,500,000

Stone tools are invented: 2,500,000

Homo sapiens emerges: 500,000

Humans first leave Africa: 100,000

Domestication of animals: 10,000

Earliest writing--civilization: 5,000

Invention of the computer: 50

So next time you think that "9th grade was like, omg so long ago!!!"... Shut up and remember how insignificant your ~100-year life is.

colors

What exactly is color? Our eyes view colors as a reflection of light... but what IS color? Is it particles, is it wavelengths, or is it something that smart beings create in our brains? [With the exception of color blind individuals], we all see it, talk about it, make art with it... and there is no way to describe anything tangible about it.

What is neon pink? What are neon colors--why are they neon to our eyes? Why on first glance does it kind of make your eyes hurt?!

Why does nature create organized organisms like flowers and coral reefes and insects that have brilliant and appealing colorations, when they are comprised solely of molecules and such?

How is color CREATED? is color createable? How do we make colors for cosmetics, house paint, or sheets?

Perhaps-- its all in the atoms.

shoreline

when you stand at the coast line, stand back and think about where you really are.




you are on a giant, orbiting planet. you are being held down by gravity, and so is the water...

what is the ocean?! its a mixture of H2O and NaCl, and many other things. and it just sits on our nearly-round planet, with carefully orchestrated waves and tides, and trillions and trillions of living things, many that we don't even know about. dont forget about erupting volcanos, where the inside of our planet spews out molten rock, all underneath this WATER.



and its all just atoms. and atoms? they are just particles.

Beyond

"Space contains such a huge supply of atoms that all eternity would not be enough time to count them and count the forces which drive the atoms into various places just as they have been driven together in this world. So we must realize that there are other worlds in other parts of the universes with races of different men and different animals."

- Licretius, De Rerum Natura, First Century B.C.

Zzz

when i woke up today i thought, where was i for 9 hours?... what is sleep? every night we lay down, close our eyes, and shut our minds off to all outside life. why do we need sleep? why do humans (and most animals) have to recharge for hours and hours at a time?!


sleep:
"a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended"

sleep has also been described as a behavioral state marked by a characteristic immobile posture and diminished but readily reversible sensitivity to external stimuli.

crazy.

Let's Simplify This.

What are we?

What are we doing here?

Why does anything matter?

All we are, are atoms.

We are a small sphere floating and spinning in a giant area of matter.

Held by gravity, mind you.

What is gravity anyway?

Nobody questions why we can bounce a ball.