26 September 2014
Ten Books
Everyone's been doing those "10 Books That Marked Me" thing on Facebook, and I have a slow, leisurely day off, so here goes, totally off the top of my head:
1-- Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. Everyone should read that book, just like everyone should read 1984 and Animal Farm.
2-- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.
3-- The Orenda, by Joseph Boyden.
4-- A Bird in the House, by Margaret Laurence.
5-- Cette grenade dans la main du jeune Nègre, est-elle une arme ou un fruit?, by Dany Laferriere (Translated as Why Must A Black Writer Write About Sex?, which doesn't quite do justice to the title or content.)
6-- Beowulf, author unknown. (Seamus Heaney's translation is excellent.)
7-- Lord of the Rings, J.R. Tolkein. (These three books are a serious crash course in medieval studies, and too easily dismissed as "fantasy".)
8-- The Illiad/The Odyseey, Homer.
9-- The Bible, especially Ecclesiates, Genesis, and Revelation.
10-- On the Road and/or The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac.
15 June 2014
11 June 2014
24 November 2013
12 November 2012
The chances that anyone has ever shuffled a pack of cards in the same way twice in the history of the world are infinitesimally small, statistically speaking. The number of possible permutations of 52 cards is ‘52 factorial’ otherwise known as 52! or 52 shriek. This is 52 times 51 times 50 . . . all the way down to one. Here's what that looks like:
80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000.
80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000.
That Which Has Yet To Be Imagined: The Collapse of the Real
We walk down the road and the streetlights pop
It feels like our glow is turning them off
The cycle of our spirit - its ebb and flow
Time speeds up to frenzied crescendo
Fear gives way to acceptance and faith
Realizing the soul is eternally safe
Able to see clearly - all that remains
No longer fooled by internal games
Our true future - impossible to guess
It has never once been imagined yet!
It feels like our glow is turning them off
The cycle of our spirit - its ebb and flow
Time speeds up to frenzied crescendo
Fear gives way to acceptance and faith
Realizing the soul is eternally safe
Able to see clearly - all that remains
No longer fooled by internal games
Our true future - impossible to guess
It has never once been imagined yet!
28 October 2012
Reminder from the subconscious to be courageous and communicate.
Dreaming feels like some kind of automated function, meant to sort out my mind while I sleep. Last nights' self-programming-lesson reminded me how lucky I am to be able to express myself without the absolutely crippling fear of being misunderstood, different, weak or excluded. I think that's what makes me an artist; not just painting and drawing.
Of course it's not easy to risk feeling like a fool or revealing my frailty. Men in particular are 'supposed to be tough'. But if you think of it, what's tougher than emoting, admitting your weakness in defiance of all these things we're supposed to be?
And for that matter, what's the point of existence if you can't relay what it feels like? Our isolation is programmed for the interests of commercial materialism and control. I think telling each other how we feel, breaking from the "normal", breaking from the the isolation, might be an important part on our path to salvation as people and as a species. The internet is an extraordinary opportunity in that way.
The blog is an interesting/unique part of that phenomena. Let's keep it going!
Of course it's not easy to risk feeling like a fool or revealing my frailty. Men in particular are 'supposed to be tough'. But if you think of it, what's tougher than emoting, admitting your weakness in defiance of all these things we're supposed to be?
And for that matter, what's the point of existence if you can't relay what it feels like? Our isolation is programmed for the interests of commercial materialism and control. I think telling each other how we feel, breaking from the "normal", breaking from the the isolation, might be an important part on our path to salvation as people and as a species. The internet is an extraordinary opportunity in that way.
The blog is an interesting/unique part of that phenomena. Let's keep it going!
09 August 2012
06 August 2012
30 July 2012
"NUM NUM NUM!!!" Sketchbook #31
"NUM NUM NUM!!!" Sketchbook #31 (5x7 inch), 2H pencil (w/ a wee bit of eraser action), and Sharpie (FINE) Pen. "HEY YOU OUT THERE I DREW SOMETHING NEW LOOK AT IT LIKE IT COMMENT ON IT YOU YEAH YOU COME ON I KNOW YOU WANNA DO IT DO IT NOW THIS IS A PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT TO SEE HOW PEOPLE CHOOSE TO REACT OR NOT TO SHIT LIKE THIS SO ON AND SO FORTH GO AHEAD DO IT NOW LMFAO NO YOU'RE CRAZY NOT ME WHAT DID YOU SAY HEY DON'T TALK TO ME THAT WAY HOW DARE YOU WHAT THE F STOP SAYING SHIT LIKE THAT NO WAIT COME BACK KEEP SAYING SHIT LIKE THAT BECAUSE I LONG FOR PEOPLE TO SAY SHIT BECAUSE SO MANY TIMES PEOPLE DON'T SAY ENOUGH SHIT COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON AND TOUCH AS IN CLICK THE ENTER KEY BABY YEAH THAT'S WHAT I CALLED YOU DON'T STOP KEEP IT UP BLAH BLAH BLAH..." ~GO
©2012 GregOakes.com
25 June 2012
07 June 2012
22 May 2012
Gigantopithecus
I was making up a story about the re-emergence of Sasquatch. I was going to make them english speaking pacifists. Then a friend directed me to this. It's not exactly the same as the story I was working on, but interesting to see the similarities. My version is a comedy and involves dancing bigfoots. This one is just sad mostly. But in a cool bizarre way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)