Ultraparadoxical

“Success” in America has less to do with actual talent than any time in recent history.  We have forsaken competence, responsibility and intelligence in our country and replaced those attributes with shallow illusions of each.   It has been all around me lately in my workplace, in popular entertainment, and watching the government in action.  It aggravates me at times but mostly I just join in with a sense of apathy and embarrassment.  Incompetence and stupidity are part of every day life and in some aspects is accepted and embraced as a positive thing.  I cannot speak for much of the past as I have only experienced the last 30 years personally but it seems to me like talent, perseverance and commitment used to be things that guided Americans.  Now attitudes seem to be different. read more »

I recently posed this questions to one of my coworkers: If you were married would you rather have your husband go to a sales conference or a guys weekend in Vegas?  Her answer: unequivocally – guys weekend in Vegas.  People are absolutely shameless at our company events.  I just had my annual work conference (which is the reason that I have not posted in a while) and it did not fail to deliver.  All kinds of shit (literally) went down – even accounting for the fact that 50% of the rumors are probably lies still leaves that other 50% which is true.  Let me tell you… corporate America is not as up tight as you would think. read more »

I read “Man and His Symbols” by Karl Jung a while back and his thoughts have had a lasting impact on me and the way I view the machinations of my mind and the impact of the unconscious side of myself.  The subconscious is a critical  aspect of the mind to analyze in order to fully understand human motives, feelings and ideas that bubble up into the conscious mind as coherent thoughts.  Humans are the only creatures that have a split and clearly defined conscious and subconscious.  *sidenote* I think the way that animals think and operate in daily life is similar to how humans operate in a dreamlike state.  They flit along having a sense of the world around them “knowing” and “feeling” on a superficial level but not having a clearly delineated duality of thought capable of being finite yet thinking infinitely.  As animals have physically evolved the same has happened in the mental sphere and the biggest evolutionary leap was achieved when humans were able to have a clearly defined conscious and subconscious. *End sidenote*   This is both the source of human intelligence as well as the root of many problems which stem from integrating both aspects of ourselves. read more »

I love road trips.  They are all about doing many of the things that I love – bullshitting with friends, listening to music and napping.  I have been on many in my lifetime, some with family others with friends and even a few animals mixed in.  Each one has its own feel and there is always at least one memorable thing that happens.  In addition to that there are opportunities to see new places and meet new people… then make fun of them.  Ahhhhh the possibilities are endless with road trips – they are an affirmation that there are a ton of freaks all over the US and that I am glad that I live where I do.  If I was not employed at the salt mine I would love to take a few months and bounce around the US with some friends and see things in the remote corners of the country that usually remain hidden (and in some cases should remain hidden).  Almost every state I have visited or driven through has a memory -  lets take a ride down road trip memory lane state by state. read more »

I am sick, and contrary to “Disturbed” I am NOT down with the sickness.  It is not fun, it always depresses me and right now I feel absolutely worthless.  Whenever someone says that they are sick and whines about it I never really have that much sympathy – I usually just wait for the complaining to stop and move to another topic as quickly as possible.  However, when I am sick I suddenly become sympathetic to everyone’s plight and I vow to be more considerate to others when they are not feeling well.  Then the sniffles go away and take that feeling with it – putting me right back to square one.  Whenever I get sick I always think of 2 things: read more »