The post The Cliff first appeared on thrumyeyes.

As I stumble my way through life, I often find myself inadvertently doing what, as far as I can tell, I was actually born to do. It is rather ironic that in all my deep explorations of self; all my questioning of what my purpose in the world is; what I actually want to do with life, in all these wordy meanderings I seem to frequently overlook that I actually already know. And when I stop trying so hard to climb up my own arse I frequently find myself doing what I … well basically … do.

“So tell us already! What is this mysterious purpose?” you are no doubt not actually considering saying.

Well no worries. I will attempt to explain.

What I am is a catalyst. I am that last ingredient that some often need to make their own magic; to kickstart their own dreams. I thrive when I can help another take the step on THAT path; to find the strength to do the one thing they needed to do to truly create the future that they desire.  Often it just might be an encouraging word at the right moment. Sometimes it might take a little more effort. But this is fundamentally who I am, and when I am NOT actually doing this is when I find myself in my spiritual quandaries.

The funny thing is, frequently when I have somehow helped someone, they then take off, often far surpassing me but giving me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that I may have helped them along even if only just that little bit.

For example some of you may remember my friend affectionately known as A Girl Called Pete. For a brief tale of how we met and how I annoyed her into doing some blogging, take a look here. Before she started her own blog I posted a few of her works here, and to this day her first post is by far the most popular post on MY blog.

Now that our girl Pete is beginning to embrace the true master of words and story telling that she is, she is even confusing the masses by going by the name of Rebecca. She is now entertaining various great literary minds at a site devoted to sharing the written word in its most creative form (called Jottify). There Rebecca/Pete is truly exploring her gift. Granted some of her works are very visceral and not for the faint of heart, but in my mind she has a keen grasp of human nature and a gift for description. She is currently writing a story that, while maybe a bit on the gritty side, is hard to NOT read! It is a fascinating look at a not so impossible future based on our society’s odd sense of what is important. I highly recommend taking a wonder over to read the developing Leavenheath! As I mentioned it is definitely something for adults only, and some might find aspects of it disturbing, but I still think it is well worth the read!

P.S. This plug is not entirely selfless. She promised me when she becomes rich and famous that she will take care of me! Haha. I also happen to have a few things there, including one of my developing books if anyone is really curious …

The post Emerging genius first appeared on thrumyeyes.

The post Land of the free? first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I looked at the search terms for people finding my nice shiny new blog and it turns out that everyone that has found this blog from a Google search has been interested in finding the truth about fairies. Quite why Google has been sending such requests here is unknown, but I guess I might as well take the time to settle the question, just so those people haven’t come all this way for nothing. So, fairies… fact of fiction? Well, it’s actually a lit … Read More

via A Girl Called Pete

The post So… are fairies real? (via A Girl Called Pete) first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I have a hand. The hand is not me, but it is mine. I have a brain, this is not me, but is it (mostly) mine. I have thoughts, but again, these are not me. I have memories, they are mine, but they are not me. There was a philosopher that used this argument for the existence of a soul, but the argument is flawed simply because I can just as easily say: I have a soul, but it is not me. I don’t think I have a soul, I think that idea is just wishful th … Read More

via A Girl Called Pete

The post What is Ma? (via A Girl Called Pete) first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I’ll come right out and say it: I don’t like pet names.  Actually, with a name like mine you might say I have an issue with names in general, but that’s beside the point. Pet names piss me off and I’ll tell you why. Pet names are patronising. They belittle you. If someone chooses to call you “Cutie” rather than using your name, it’s like they think they’re conversing with a dog or a young child. “Awww isn’t she adorable? Oh, she’s wet herself aga … Read More

via A Girl Called Pete

The post Pet names (via A Girl Called Pete) first appeared on thrumyeyes.

I mean, what do you really find if you sit on a mountain top by yourself for three months? I guess you find out that it can get damn cold at night; that toilet paper is actually pretty cool stuff; that body odour really isn’t that big of a deal; that it doesn’t really matter that you felt like an idiot when the girl you fancied mocked you in front of your friends. But you knew that already, right? I mean, toilet paper? How cool is that?

I’ve been up the mountain; I’ve walked the desert and I’ve spent my nights watching the ocean. Somehow I knew I was lost, but I didn’t find myself in any of those places. I tried other places too. Turns out I’m not at the bottom of a bottle of vodka, nor am I upside-down in a BMW in a ditch in Germany (at least, not right now, anyway).

Everywhere I went I just found my history was already there, just waiting for me. I realized that it’s not about finding yourself at all. It’s about cutting loose all the things that are not you. All that shit that builds up in your mind that just isn’t that important but makes each day harder. I used to be real bad for that. My history lived behind my eyes. Everything I saw was colored by the glow of the bridges I’d burned and disfigured by the shadows cast by the dead. But one day I realized: That history isn’t me. It’s shit that happened, sure. I was there. But it isn’t me.

Maybe some people feel they need to be alone in the mountains to cut thru all their history and their current situation to find what’s left. I don’t think you need the mountain. I think you can find yourself, right now, right here. You don’t need that romantic, meditation imagery. You don’t need those scented candles and voodoo worry dolls. You don’t need all the commercialized pine forest relaxation aids and panpipe moods.  You don’t even need to finish reading this post. You just make a choice to cut loose.

So I put my hand in front of my face. I followed my arm up to the shoulder. You know what? I’m right here. I’ve been here all along. In the end, I guess, I finally found myself, but there was a slight problem. Turns out that I didn’t like me very much. Guess you can’t win ’em all, huh?

Brought to you by A Girl Called Pete

The post Finding yourself first appeared on thrumyeyes.

Sometimes I sit and watch the traffic on the highway. The traffic ebbs and flows like the pumping on blood in the veins and arteries of the city. Mindless and yet not without purpose. The cars and trucks flood from the stop lights and across the intersections in intricate patterns; Delivering nutrients; removing waste.

 I watch the faces of the people in the passing cars. I wonder what they do; where they’re going. I wonder if they drive this way every day. Passing the same road sign with the same obscene graffiti every morning; shoulder to shoulder with all the other people in all the other cars; all doing the same thing. Just blood cells in the living city. Mindless.

Each of these people is probably interesting and quirky in their own way ; they all have stories to tell. Maybe that guy that looks like Bob Hope is a brilliant badminton player, maybe the lady with the poodle perm is a black belt in Taekwondo.  Yet still, here they are, repeating the same set of actions day by day because the city demands it. If one were to leave or die the city wouldn’t even notice. It’s just part of the growth and life of the city.

Day to night the city pulses. Traffic in. Traffic out. Traffic in. Traffic out. Like breathing. Sometimes I wonder if the city knows, or like a fungus does it just grow on the face of the earth unaware of its surroundings. Sometimes I wonder what would happen to the traffic if the city could hold its breath. I imagine the interstate backed up for miles and miles. All the pissed off people leaning on their horns. All the jobs not getting done. All the garbage building up in the street.

Really, though, all I want to do is find out how to make a city sneeze…

Brought to you by A Girl Called Pete

The post You are not stuck in traffic; You are traffic. first appeared on thrumyeyes.

 You can try out your multitasking skills in a safer environment by playing this little game: http://www.notdoppler.com/multitask.php

Multitasking is an example of very quick context-switching. Context switching is when lots of things are going on at once, but you’re only actually concentrating on one of them at a time. Like right now I’m writing a blog post while playing on Facebook, while smoking a cigarette, while browsing YouTube for interesting music. I’m not actually typing this at the same moment I’m clicking on the link to the Beasite Boys music video, but it’s all going on at the same time.

This is what computers do, they just happen do it so fast that it appears that everything is happening at once.  Isn’t it downloading a file, playing a music track, and playing Farmville all at the same time? Not really, it’s downloading a few tiny bits of your pirated movie, then sending the next 0.01 seconds of “Ice Ice Baby” to the speakers, then redrawing the game screen, then looking to see if you’ve moved the mouse, then getting the next bit of the download and so on.

Of course, both I and the computer have to keep the current state of all these tasks in memory the whole time, so while we’re switching our attention from one thing to the next we have to remember where we got to, otherwise I’ll burn my fingers on my cigarette and the computer will let the music skip. It’s a bit like juggling; you only have to actually be catching or throwing one ball at a time, but you need to know where they all are, or you’ll miss one.

Shara Lin is a talented musician that can do a pretty good demonstration using a piano, harp and violin:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiVlAevviq8&feature=youtu.be]

A lot of girls get frustrated with guys because boys just can’t seems to get a grip on this multitasking stuff. A lot of boys use that as an excuse to stick to a one track mind philosophy.  Oddly, when the scientists did some tests they found that, yes, actually girls are better at it.

Who’d have thought it?

Brought to you by A Girl Called Pete

The post Multitasking first appeared on thrumyeyes.