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March 26, 2014

Knowledge is Love, Love is not blind

Jiro Horikoshi loved planes. He loved them so much that just by closely inspecting one he knew of its potential and whether that plane was reaching it or falling short of what it could be. Jiro knew planes in order to understand them. He understood them, because he loved them. Knowledge is power, but knowledge is also love. One cannot love without understanding. However, one does not seek to understand without initially loving.

(The Wind Rises, Miyazaki)

This is the way with everything in life. Those who seek to become experts are doing so out of love. Just as love is limitless, so is understanding. You can never know too much about something that you love. There are no boundaries.

I am a person who likes to calculate. From an early age, I remember calculating how much time it will take for me to read a book by taking my average reading speed and multiplying it by the number of pages in that book. I have learned to do this with everything in life as second nature. This is the way that I love. However, part of loving is understanding that everything and everyone needs to be loved differently.

I have yet to learn to play the bass, but I do want to learn, not because it is necessary or because I think it’s a cool instrument, but because I love it. I love it enough to learn. I love the way it sounds with certain notes and there are some parts of the way it sounds that I cannot describe. Some notes sound like “yess!” while other notes sound like “ummm.” I know that this is just how good music sounds to the ears of many, but sometimes I just want to take those notes and hold them.

(That’s how I imagine hugging a song looks like)

In my search for finding learning tools I looked up the approximate time it might take someone to learn to play the bass. What I found was incredible. What I found was nothing. There is no approximate time it takes to learn to play the bass, because learning the bass is infinite. As is becoming one with any instrument, a skateboard, scientific theory or a person.

Love is infinite and so is knowledge. To love is to want to know more. The more you know about something that you love, the more you have to base your affection on, even if you uncover some not-so-beautiful facts along the way.

“Planes are a beautiful dream, a cursed dream just waiting to be swallowed up by the sky.”(The wind Rises)

The more you know about anything, the more you uncover its imperfections and see it for what it truly is. And much like with love, you will not overlook those facts, but understand how they contribute to its beauty.

If knowledge is love, then love is not blind. If anything, it is a telescope with infinite settings and reflectors that allow you to view one object in all of its many forms.

March 19, 2014

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Trust in your Gut, Not in Numbers

I just started using Twitter and Instagram and after writing a 68 page thesis paper on Facebook and using data from over 300 people collected anonymously it feels like the more I know about social media, the less I actually understand it.

We are all living in a giant forest called life. Some of us look at the forest, some of us look at the trees and some of us look at individual leaves. We all live in the same universe; it is what we prioritize that makes us who we are. It is what we prioritize that brings us to where we are and allows us to create bonds with others.

(Their love of phones is what brings them together)

With social media attempting to have us view the forest as a whole, it has unintentionally made us focus on the small communities we feel comfortable in. Although it allows us to network, it is also easy to lose yourself in a small group of people and the numbers they accumulate. After a while, you no longer choose the importance these numbers have in your life. After a while, these numbers are all you have to base your judgement on. The reason why we have allowed this shift of importance to happen is, because we have unintentionally robbed ourselves of our humanity. Although I believe that we should talk more and write letters, this is not the point I am trying to make, this is deeper than just choosing to be human.

(Just because you see them doesn’t mean they are real)

Less than a decade ago one would only need to be around others to know who in fact was kind and who was only pretending to be so. Social media has made it difficult for us to know the intentions of others. Social media has silenced our instincts. We have begun to rely on numbers to tell us what good is, because we can no longer feel it. No one is choosing to make numbers important; the fact of the matter is that most of the time numbers are all we have when it comes to making important judgments about others. Although judging is in some ways wrong, it is also a very important survival instinct. If we can no longer properly judge the people around us, then how do we know we are making the right decisions? The world is full of people and the way we view each other matters.

(there is no equation to figuring out your gut)

In this search for truth we have developed computerized instincts. These instincts are a combination of what is left of our gut and the rules, manipulations and numbers of social media. Regardless of how advanced we have become in adjusting to the way we now interact with each other, nothing can ever replace raw instinct and gut. The next step in knowing is acknowledging that we care enough to make this knowledge common. Where the intellectual fear to go (because we are too busy looking at the forest) the fools will take over. And whether we like it or not, forests are composed of trees in which in turn are composed of leaves and a forest without leaves is just barren wood.

We should acknowledge that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, ect, are now a greater part of our lives. When there are services specializing in purchasing likes, views and followers for personal accounts we have to acknowledge the effect social media has on us and reclaim our humanity. Having 100 non purchased likes will never replace talent, but having thousands is proof that you have talent, because at that point you have people who love your work, not support your work, because they know you personally.

There is a fine line, but we do have to remember that there is one and not be afraid of reminding those around us that it’s there…. even if we might not yet know where it lies.

Twitter and Instagram:@quartervida

March 12, 2014

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Grandparents are Becoming Extinct

When my older brother was born both my mother’s parents and father’s parents were alive. My mother’s mother was alive and so was my father’s father. My older brother not only had grandparents, but great grandparents. When I was born, both of my parents were already in their early 30’s. I never met my great grandparents. At the age of 20 I had no grandmothers.

People in America are having children at a later age. However, this also means that these children will never get to know their great grandparents. We have to face the facts. Grandparents are becoming extinct.

Americans are waiting until they are in their early 30’s and even 40’s to have children. If the child does have a grandparent at all they will be too old to play with them. My memory of my grandmother from my mother’s side is of a woman full of energy and fire. This is how she would like to have been remembered, not in a comatose state. My grandmother Maria was our second mother. There were no such things as nannies. Now with everyone waiting until their mid life crisis to have children, we will all have to pay money we don’t have to pay for nannies we prefer our children not to be around. We tell our children to stay away from strangers, yet they spend more time with strangers than with their own kin. By we I mean America.

I am in no way, shape or form implying that women should have children at a younger age; I myself and waiting until I am at least in my early 30’s to have a person come out of me. I think that women wanting to have children at a later age is an evolutionary progression and the cause of our economic downfall. Just 20 years ago, those in their early 20’s were able to afford apartments and work in a lucrative field.The next step for them was having children. Now it is taking us a longer period of time to establish ourselves as adults.

What we need to start doing is living a healthier lifestyle. This doesn’t mean smoking cigarettes and drinking overpriced green juice. We need to live healthier from within. Starting with what we put into our bodies to our thoughts and actions. If we are waiting longer to have children then it is only natural and fair that we live longer.

Grandparents are becoming extinct. Let’s hope to be one someday.

March 5, 2014

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Ask the universe and it shall give, but be careful what you wish for….

This morning I asked the universe for an extra 5 minute delay on my train ride. My morning commute consists of me getting on the train, sitting down and going off into a half awake half asleep trance for my 40 minute commute. I always open my eyes one stop before my destination. I am fully aware of my surroundings while my mind and body rest. When I am tired I would like for the train to stop for an extra 5 to ten minutes so that I can rest a little longer. I am not implying in any way that I have super powers, but for the last two times that I have sincerely not wanted, but asked this from the universe it has happened. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Today I once again asked for those extra five minutes of rest. Between 103^rd street and 96^th street the train was delayed for 7 minutes. In those seven minutes I began to think of all the wishes we as humans make every day subconsciously.

The trick is not in figuring out how to get what you want. The trick is in knowing what you want before you rub the magical genie lamp that is your mind. When you know what you want the rest is 60% work 40% manifestation. A common example is going to college for a specific degree and realizing that our purpose in life is not what we have been putting all of our time and effort into all these years. We need to figure ourselves out first, and then we must figure out what we desire out of this life in the process. The final step is taking the necessary actions to achieve that goal. When we skip those steps we begin to live someone else’s life.

(This guy doesn’t even know what books are for, yet he just graduated)

If you take steps to a goal that you do not truly want, you are feeding your ego. When you feed your ego, you end up getting what you wished for, but not exactly what you need. I know someone who drinks senna dieter’s tea almost on a daily basis, because as this person has said before, they do not have the “will power” to eat healthy and exercise. Although her goal of becoming skinnier is being achieved the long term effects of drinking senna is the inability to control your bowls. Thus if this person continues to feed her ego she will get exactly what she wants. In a couple of years she will not have a choice but to be skinny as she will also have no choice, but to wear a diaper. She has asked subconsciously to become skinny without putting in the work, therefore in the future she will be forced to trade her health for her weight and will no longer be desirable as someone wearing a diaper in her early 30’s. This also will prove that nothing in life is free. Even if the work is knowing yourself which is one of the most essential and difficult things, effort must be put into your life in order to obtain something substantial.

(way sexier than having any womanly curves??)

As the train began to move I craved for another five minutes to be added to my commuter rest. But that would have made me late for work and wishes should never turn into regrets. That would be the equivalent of you punching yourself in the face.

February 26, 2014

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There is a Fire in her Soul and its Burning

(Photo by sheena widjaja)

On a cold winter day I was invited to a party by one of my talented friends Yurby. She asked me to bring some material to perform. Yurby is known to gather people together for the sake of art so I didn’t think much of it. I printed out my poetry, put something presentable on and took a 10 minute cab ride to the Bronx. Little did I know what I was getting myself into? As soon as I walked in I see a short beautiful girl handing people a pen and paper. It was a waiver form to appear in Yurby’s music video Star. I had just walked into a video shoot and arguably one of the best parties I have ever been to. Only Yurby could have pulled this off.

Yurby was born and raised in the Bronx. I do not want to say that she is proud of the Bronx as I don’t associate pride with positivism and Yurby radiates positive energy. What she feels for the Bronx is gratefulness. She is grateful that it gave her a home and a life that she has cherished with loved ones.

“I love my home town The Bronx and I love to represent it in a beautiful way. I am always defending it because so many focus on the negative,but there is so much more to be seen and said about The Bronx”

(Photo by sheena widjaja)

Yurby is very different from some of the artist I see today. Although her new music video Star expresses her desires to one day share her talent with the world, Yurby is someone who will support other artists without wanting anything in return. She will never bring anyone down or barge in to make herself feel important and has never stolen anyone’s thunder or desires to. Yurby wants to be a star, but she is never one to steal a spotlight. She carries her own spotlight wherever she goes and she allows it to shine on to those close to her.

(Photo by sheena widjaja)

What defines a person are their actions, but more than actions it is their intentions that matter. One can have horrible intentions and their actions will not show it to the full extent, because they are too cowardly to express those intentions. With Yurby what you see is what you get. Regardless of her struggles she is always there for her loved ones and is grateful for their company. This comes through in her music. I asked Yurby what spoke to her as an artist and this was her response.

“What doesn’t speak to me? Everything and everyone is art. I am a singer song writer, but I also love writing scripts, editing videos, mixing, producing. I love the arts and I want to tell you my story in any medium I can master…….. I am not concerned with competition and the rest of what goes on in the Dark side of the Music Business. I want to share and be myself.”

(One of the many paintings by Yurby)

Yurby has played in coffee shops, open mics and was part of a duo called Ourselves Between Us for two years. She also competed and got far in the Battle of the Bands for the year 2013 representing the Bronx and will be competing in April once again this year. Her inspirations are, but not limited to: John Mayer, Fiona Apple, TOOL, Radio Head, Tori Amos, and Circa Survive.

Yurby always had a fixation with art and would write poetry and paint from an early age. It was not just a moment that inspired her to sing, but a series of moments. How did she begin to play the guitar and sing? She fell down the stairs one day and bought a guitar on a whim after being inspired by her favorite musicians. This was the universe speaking to her and she listened.

(Photo by sheena widjaja)

“Yurby is a passionate singer whose voice is very unique and her sound has an organic
feel to it. The Bronx resident cannot be mistaken for any other singer in the alternative
rock genre, as she has an Erykah Badu styled vocal delivery which will help Yurby stand
out from the thousands of other alternative rock artists out there.” – I Am Entertainment Magazine

Want more Yurby?

MUSIC VIDEO STAR: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX2dTXFeVl8&feature=youtu.be

Webpage: www.reverbnation.com/yurby

Battle of the Bands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq364hd5JdQ

Demo Review: http://www.iaemagazine.com/music/2012/012012/yurby.html ;

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yurbymusic

My Revolution demo: http://www.reverbnation.com/yurby/song/10886097-revolution

A dime demo: https://soundcloud.com/ne0nstar/i-got-a-dime