I'm looking for topics that could be of use for future #tngpodcasts. I just finished our most recent on spirituality/religion and after talking with KB about it we both agreed that the silence podcast was our favorite.
I learned a lot about what true silence is, the psychology of silence and how we orient ourselves with sound. It was a fun one.
I want something like that again and I thought the above question could lead to an interesting topic
Any suggestions?
Edit: for those that participated in the recent podcast, thank you. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It's now in steve's capable hands but he's in Norway and may or may not have time to work on it there. Maybe we could pick a topic tonight and Steve could interview mike and mk in Norway?
That's right, I am hijacking your vacation.
Every day activities that I take for granted include - - flicking a switch and seeing the resulting electrical current illuminate the room - turning a screw and watching clean, hot (but not too hot) water come out of a spigot and run down a drain, not to be reused - the fact that I navigate a repetitive series of controlled explosions from one place to another, and that I pay more attention and get more enjoyment out of the wind in my hair than I do the mechanical marvel that is an engine. - Eating chicken from a farm in the midwest, with rice from India, soy sauce from Japan, vegetables from California, and ice cream from Wisconsin (covered in maple syrup from Quebec). I don't know if this was what you were looking for, tng, but that that's where my brain took your question.
Yes. I was reminded of this when listening to _refugee_'s reading of Elizabeth Bishop's One Art
One of my best friends in high school lived in a massive, three story house on The Strand in Hermosa Beach. The strand is a little bike path that separates the houses from the sand and the houses are usually 3m-10m+. These houses are massive and typically wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows so that the owners can enjoy the gorgeous views. Here's a view from her roofdeck The windows can be a bit of a burden because people walking on the strand can see directly into the living / bed / kitchen areas, especially in the evening. Sometimes it's literally like living in a glass box. Because windows. So you put curtains up. Because privacy. Anyways, I was just becoming close friends with her and her family and one evening I stepped onto the balcony to make a phone call. The curtains were, and had been, closed and so I had no idea that the sun was setting and the entire beach was a gorgeous hue of pink-orange and the sky was pink-purple-blue. It was stunning. It took my breath away. When I got back in the house I was like "Guys guys guys guys guys HAVE YOU SEEN THE SUN SET?! IT'S GORGEOUS!!!" They sorta just looked at me dumbfounded. Yes. We have seen the sunset. And it will set tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. And because of this, they never really bothered to open the curtains or sit and enjoy the sunset. They had seen it and no longer cared. I made a promise to myself that day that I would never take something like that for granted - no matter how often I saw it or how normal it became. This summer, I've spent more time on my family's boat than ever before. I've watched the sunset probably 3 times a week for the entire summer. And every day I thrown my phone inside and sit up top and simply enjoy it. I take it in and let the wonder of this universe wash over me. And I'm grateful for being alive, having friends and family, having a boat to share with my friends and family, and having the fortune to be able to watch it set, on my family's boat. It could be easy to not watch it set, especially when I'm busy. But taking a moment out of the day to enjoy something like that is important. And lovely.
Good for you, that's something I can imagine lil has committed to as well. It seems lil is always seeing the sun rise and set when she corresponds with me. That's awesome. I once wrote a song called The Cubicle in which the conscience of someone that has "sold out" talks to them. Here is the first line: Here's hoping that someday I get to witness a sunset, glass of wine in my hand with lil and insom. That'd be pretty awesome.I made a promise to myself that day that I would never take something like that for granted - no matter how often I saw it or how normal it became.
Maybe I should record it. Might be a good one for the #hubskioriginalmusicclub You are not the car you drive
The days go by and though you are
Dressed up in diamonds now
You can't recall the last time you saw
A sunset that truly looked divine
I should know, I live through your eyes
The sun. People are apt to complain that it's too sunny or not sunny enough and yet, there it is all the time, making our lives possible. Frankly, lots of things amaze me (and I don't smoke pot anymore!). lil and I had a discussion about parenthood a while back and particularly motherhood. The fact that we are a social species provides us with amazing opportunities for interaction, sharing ideas (like on hubski!) and for gaining perspective and insight from others who have lived vastly different lives. The sheer amount of complexity and interrelated systems that allow contemporary life to exist is frankly, unimaginable for most people. The fact that we are animals that consciously alter our behavior such that we have asphalt, chewing gum and breakup texts means that tremendous efforts on the parts of countless individuals have contributed to something as banal as a neglected city street is far more evidence of our inability to appreciate the world around us as much as we maybe should. I mean, shit . . . that we live lives bound by law is amazing. There is very little stopping any of us from arming ourselves and raiding our neighbors, except for rules we have collectively decided to be worth obeying. As an animal, I recognize that I can easily deprive others of resources for my own benefit but as a social animal, as a human animal, I understand that my behavior would provoke adverse reactions in others and because I can understand theoretical situations, I can posit that the cost of those actions is not worth what I might gain. Personally, I feel like people don't think of the complexity of the human or "natural" world because doing so would force us to understand fully how tenuous it all is. Faith that these systems will continue to function are what allows us to participate in them with confidence. If I didn't think the sun would rise tomorrow or ever again, then why the fuck would I care about laws or anything designed to modulate my behavior?
My ability to live a normal day-to-day life with full bodily functions, and no regular daily health problems. Edit: Glad I saw this tng, in a terrible mood and very, very stressed out and having to think of something I appreciate made things slightly better.
Privacy. The ability to go to your room and shut the door. To hop in your car and just drive. To be alone with your thoughts. To have quiet peace with yourself, if just for a moment.
Showers. Music. Perhaps this isn't much of a little thing. Ambient noise may be better. That may have been covered on the Silence bit. People, or Conversation. My biggest annoyance is being around someone and always seeing them with their head stuck in a phone. It pains me. People, or perhaps, younger people, don't appreciate face-to-face conversations anymore. I can't connect emotionally to someone when they're typing in texting language. I want to see their face, to see how their eyebrows and eyes shift, to see their smiles or frowns. I want to hear their voices, how they waver, or remain steady, when they crack, or when they fall flat. I love talking to people in person, I hate talking to people over text message or FB chat.
Movement, being a whole person, or having not lost a limb/body part that is necessary to modern living standards. There are many people who are disabled in some way or cannot move correctly without help. I work out on a daily basis, and I haven't missed a day in many years. I have nightmares about breaking my leg, or tearing some kind of ligament. It's a terrifying concept that I think about often. I have terrible eyesight(-8.00 for contact users), but losing or permanently damaging a limb or necessary body part is most likely my biggest fear. Keeping myself in shape has been one of the most important things for me to stay satisfied with my life in general, since you can always improve. Also the fact that I've been doing it for so long has made me somewhat attached to it. Most people aren't aware of the intense pain that prosthetic limbs bring as well as the repercussions behind the surgery in general. You have to be able to perform in some intense physical therapy just to be able to move like everyone else moves. And you still can't really move as well. Also if you lose an eye, you're pretty much screwed. I almost lost one, it's not fun. You're immediately alienated from the rest of the world as soon as it happens. It's not easy, but since then I have had not only extremely high respect for people with prosthetics just being able to live their lives normally, but I've also become a lot more careful with what I do with my body. Might not be spirituality/religion based, but it's an important point to make. A bunch of points have been made in the comments already but it's worth mentioning.
The Universe. Biodiversity. Senses. Me. . Oh, and growing vegetables.
I agree, it's a wonderful thing. It gives life a rhythm and those times between two seasons can be really electric. You can literally feel the world changing, you can smell the change etc. It's an amazing phenomenon.
Without question, Fall. I grew up in Michigan and Fall there is gorgeous. I love October in Michigan, I have spent many autumns in Northern Michigan on Lake Charlevoix, looking at this: You?
Also because every high-school crush I had was Fall themed, heh.
Fall is a great time for romance. Need to find a warm body for the impending winter.
