Telephone Conversation With the Apollo 11 Astronauts on the Moon

PRESIDENT NIXON. Hello Neil and Buzz, I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House, and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House.

I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done. For every American this has to be the proudest day of our lives, and for people all over the world I am sure that they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is.

Because of what you have done the heavens have become a part of man's world, and as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth.

For one priceless moment in the whole history of man all the people on this earth are truly one--one in their pride in what you have done and one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth.

ASTRONAUT ARMSTRONG. Thank you, Mr. President. It is a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States, but men of peaceable nations, men with an interest and a curiosity, and men with a vision for the future. It is an honor for us to be able to participate here today.

PRESIDENT NIXON. Thank you very much, and I look forward, all of us look forward, to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.

ASTRONAUT ARMSTRONG. Thank you. We look forward to that very much, sir.

On Stress

The only person you are destined to become
is the person you decide to be.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

(1) Stress only exists in your head. So does your opinion of stress. If you view stress negatively, like it's a cancer weighing you down, then that stress will kill you like cancer. But if you CHOOSE to look at stress in a positive way, you will overcome the obstacle with grace and ease. So relax! Take everything one step at a time.

(2) Get some sleep. Find a way to calm your brain down when it's on your favorite pillow. Your brain recovers from the day during sleep, and if you don't find a way to "zen out" before drifting off, you leave yourself open to stressful dreams. If you are having a problem getting to sleep, might I recommend thinking of black.

(3) Personally, organizing stuff helps me de-stress. I have drawers and drawers of art supplies, all of them a mess, but every time I sit in front of it and take care of my things, I feel much better. And it never takes as long as I expect it to. It doesn't have to be art crap. You can organize your pantry, your clothes, under your sink, in that junk drawer... the possibilities are endless. And the sense of accomplishment after? ...priceless.

(4) Express yourself. Find someone who will listen to you. Our first instinct with negative feelings is to bury them. This breeds toxic compounds of emotions, weighing even heavier on whatever is stressing you out. Tis better to release the negative. Find someone to explain your struggles to. Start a journal. Use a friend, or your partner. Pets work too! The day my cat realized we were home alone and I was talking to him and only him, he started beaming with the joy of attention. I can say anything I want to that cat, because he only responds with absolute love and acceptance. And sometimes it's good to work things out verbally, especially if someone is there to love you while you're doing it.

Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind.
- W. Somerset Maugham

image by scott hassell

On Being Creative

Some people think that creativity is a bone or a tooth that you can be born without. I think those people are selling themselves short. I believe that intelligence is just another word for creativity, and vice versa. It just depends on where and how you apply it for it to fall into different categories of creativity.

I just recently discovered an awesome blog called Zen Habits, and found a great amount of insight on the matter to cultivating creativity. For the full blog, click HERE.

Here are the 6 steps that I began using, and find I’m using every day, not only in my work but especially in my relationships and my life outside of work These practices can be used to support the changing of habits and creating new habits. I’d suggest making the practice of creativity a habit that can support other habits. Here are some guidelines:

Believe in your creativity – This is the first practice and probably most important. You might begin by thinking about or writing down three creative things you’ve done – something you have written or said or completed. Notice an area in which you feel creative; perhaps cooking, drawing, fixing things, gardening. Creativity can show itself in lots of small ways, such as the gifts we give, or the clothes we wear, or how we set the table. Just begin noticing and recognizing your own creativity.

Know your voice of judgment – Everyone I’ve ever known has an inner judge. It can be difficult to accept that having an inner critic is part of the human condition. The good news is that this inner voice just wants to protect us and keep us safe, and that you don’t need to be stuck with or thrown by these inner voices. Knowing this, try relaxing your inner judge. Give it a name. Be playful. Experiment. Despite your judgments, you have the ability to be creative.

Pay attention to details – By entering into the practice of creativity, you can begin to notice more of the details of everyday life. By paying more attention to details, you can become more present; your world can become more alive. It is in this presence and aliveness that creativity takes place. When you put your shoes on, which shoe do you put on first? What’s the color of your front door? How many emails do you receive and send each day? Or play with giving things different names. Look at a paper clip or a strawberry, as though seeing them for the first time. What might you call them? These types of details and experiments can open doors to seeing the world differently.

Ask dumb questions – Our desire to look good and smart can get in the way of creativity. Instead, ask questions, especially those that may seem obvious, or even dumb. Risk looking awkward. Be curious about your feelings and your motivations. Let yourself wonder how things work and why you and others talk and act the way you do. Let go of the need to look good, and allow yourself to be curious and at times awkward. This is another door to creativity. There are no dumb questions.

Practice Mindfulness – Mindfulness is a fancy word for paying attention and for being in the present moment – not ruminating about the past, nor worrying about the future. Mindfulness is a simple and powerful practice. Of course, reviewing the past and preparing for the future are important. And, being creative, happens in this moment. The practice of mindfulness is to over and over notice when your mind is wandering and to bring your attention back to the present. In this way we build our capacity for presence, and for creativity. Mindfulness can also mean to allow your attention to open, to consciously not focus on any one thing. This space, of intentionally expanding your attention can be a creative process.

Embrace Paradox – It seems that nearly everything about being a human being is a paradox. In my own life, I’m an introvert and I enjoy speaking in front of groups; I can be indecisive and make decisions quickly; I’m confident and vulnerable. What are some of your paradoxes? Instead of ignoring or pushing these contradictions away, try acknowledging them, and embracing them. An example of a paradox I find myself embracing and practicing with is – fight for change and accept what is. These appear to be completely opposed, yet, the starting point for changing habits is to notice the habits that we actually have.

Inspire Your Art (2)

Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes; work never begun.
— Christina Rossetti, Author

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.
— Charles Horton Cooley

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
- Sun Tzu

What is done in love is done well.
- Vincent Van Gogh

I have seized the light. I have arrested its flight.
- Louis Jacques Mande Daguerre

Inspire Your Art (1)

"Making art now means working in the face of uncertainty; it means living with doubt and contradiction, doing something no one much cares whether you do, and for which there may neither audience nor reward. Making the work you want to make means setting aside these doubts so that you may see clearly what you have done, and thereby see where to go next. Making the work you want to make means finding nourishment within the work itself. This is not the Age of Faith, Truth and Certainty."

Excerpt from Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking
David Bayles & Ted Orland

Waiting at the Airport (more haikus)

Dreadlocks in airport.

Didn't know I got a free 

Pat down with my scan. 

The tide of human

Traffic invigorates my

Immune response. Bleh.

Plane, plane, let me board

Let me sit just to be bored.

Daydreaming forever. 

Tourmaline Adventure!

This weekend, Nick and I went to go dig Tourmaline in a mine in San Diego!!!

And OMG it was so rewarding and fun! We showed up at about 11-11:30 (after a beautiful drive from LA), and was greeted some very sweet employees. Then we spent the day filling buckets with dirt, sifting the dirt, and going through the rocks for electric pink (or green or black) stones. :)



Tourmaline is a pretty stone, (occurring in all colors) and California just so happens to have an ENORMOUS wealth of Tourmaline! GemologyOnline says that Tourmaline is the "stone of the Muses," inspiring and enriching the creative processes. It was a talisman for artists, actors and writers.



The best part of this trip was, with the tourmaline's we found, we are hoping to pay for the trip (and then some) selling them online and to jewelers!



We will definitely be going back soon!

- I LOVE hobbies that pay for themselves!!! -

Soul Pancake

I feel like a pancake.

I started as wet goop of potential, mixed together by the universe.

Scoop by scoop, life has made me less. Thinner. Trials and tribulations have left me closer to the bottom of my bowl. I felt a loss of my desire to even find purpose.

Then, suddenly, it was my turn for the frying pan. My purpose came to me at last! Hallelujah!!

After a brief moment of the beauty and elation of movement, my once hydrated ambition was spread onto a hot black iron of pressure, inforced by the gravity of my own weight. I feel so behind, but so ahead of my peers.

What if I'm not going to be taken off this burning hell in time?! Then I'll surely be a lost cause, fading into the obscurity of the trash can. Next to the avocado skins and plastic wrappers.

But maybe, just maybe, I'll get off this damn burner in time to be smothered in the syrup of a destiny realized.

My Month Paraben Free

About a month ago, I learned what parabens are. In essence, they are preservatives people put in makeup that essentially mimic estrogen. Along with a whole host of other chemicals that aren't good for you, I realized that the makeup I've been putting on my face for years is full of them!!

So, I immediately ordered some better makeup from coastal creations. (All natural, Paraben and additive free)

Since then, I've noticed the following changes:

-immediately- I would go outside and feel like my face was truly bare to the world. There was no mask feeling on my face, no matter how much makeup I used.

-gradually- acne decreased, and I stopped feeling addicted to makeup. I'm used to feeling like I need makeup on as soon as I wake up, but this healthier product makes me feel more ambiguous towards lining my eyes and covering my complexion.
Also, after switching to a natural Chapstick, I've noticed that I only have to use it twice a day instead of every few hours.

-now- my eyelashes are longer and healthier, my confidence is up, and my face just feels better on a day to day.

PARABEN FREE IS THE WAY TO BE!

Burns, Splinters, Ruined Clothes.

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.
Winston Churchill

When is effort wasted?
I put so much time and effort and money into school. Into my classes. Into my teachers. With the promise that I will be better because of it. But how do you know if that effort was for nothing? If those projects you stayed up all night to complete will even matter during the 8 seconds it takes to be reviewed and rejected? I'm paying a lot of money, and giving all of my time to practicing something. How do I feel like I'm doing the right thing?

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
Mahatma Gandhi

How can I be proud of rejection? There is merit in the only opinion that matters is yours. But how can I give people what they want if I only know how to satisfy me?

It's becoming more and more clear to me that even though I'm going to school for Graphic Design, my heart truly lies in the fine arts. My heart cries for an enormous canvas and buckets of paint. Clay to mold. Wood to carve. Glass to melt.

I've always been hungry for the burns, and splinters, and ruined clothes of art.

Give me a gallery to fill.

Vincent Van Gogh frustrated his teachers. They said he had no talent. Yet he persisted, using obsession to fuel him. He spent any penny he had on supplies, and ate almost nothing. His obsession made him a leper in every community he lived in. He was mocked for his passion, and his choice in women. He was abandoned by his father and mother because of his art. He gave his ear to the woman he loved, but eventually died in a mental asylum.

Now we see him as a god of style and expression.

My Week in Haikus

Monday:
Typography is
hard to communicate this
early. Dammit all.

Tuesday:
Learning a new paint
for a midterm assignment.
Way too much coffee.

Wednesday:
Booze day, work day, dread
lock work day. Is it just me,
Or is it hot out?

Thursday:
Painting I spent six
hours on got terrible
review from teacher.

Friday:
Algebra for four
hours, shoot me in the face.
Migraine, migraine, shit.

Bees, please!

To celebrate the fact that the EU (European Union) just voted to ban the use of harmful pesticides that has been killing bees, I've decided to post these

EXCITING FACTS ABOUT BEES!!!

- Bees can’t see red.

To bees, red looks like black. As such, honeybees won’t go to a purely red flower.

- The drones, or males, only have one purpose in life:

to mate with the queen. And when they climax during sex, their testicles explode and they die.

- A hive needs about 60 pounds of honey to get through the winter.

Any less and they’ll starve. For hives that are being kept by humans, they usually produce about 120 pounds of honey during the summer so we get half the fruits of their labors.

- Undeveloped female bees

do all the real work.

- Honeybees never sleep,

and honey never spoils.

SAVE THE BEES!

Anger

"Anger as soon as fed is dead --
'tis starving makes it fat."

Emily Dickenson

10 Things I've Learned Thus Far.

1) Bra's and shoes should be removed upon entry to your home. Unless accompanied by acquaintances or strangers.
2) Shaving your legs only needs to happen once a week. Otherwise you're probably wasting some time.
3) Don't be afraid to stand out. It's a good thing to not fit in sometimes.
4) Your inactions affect your future. Making a bad decision IS as bad as choosing not to do something you feel is right.
5) Never say no to a gift from a child.
6) Creation feels better than destruction. Not to say destruction isn't needed. But when you have paint, or flour, or whatever up to your elbows, it feels awesome.
7) Never apologize for a hobby. Just figure out why it helps.
8) Eat avacados as much as possible. They are awesome.
9) USE frustration. Don't accept it.
10) Everything is an experiment. It's ok if they don't all work out.

Sunshine

My favorite movie is called Sunshine. It's about the future, when our sun is starting to die. It's oxygen is slowly running out, doomed to supernova, demolishing all planets and life forms, potentially leaving a black hole in its wake.
The story is about a group of astronauts who go on a suicide mission to try and refuel the sun, carrying tons of oxygen through space. This mission takes years and years to complete, intentionally flying directly towards the sun, hopefully to save our solar system from certain death.

Over the years, some of the people become obsessed and overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they are doing. And the Sun drives them completely insane. Something so real and present throughout all of human existence...something so grounded in our lives, ...but we can't even look directly at it. So some of these men start staring at the sun (in a room with protective glass). They start staring... with more awe, wonder and obsession... than any human being has experienced. They began completely obsessing over this "God," this mighty thing that gives life and takes it away. This mass that we base all of our time on, all of our existence is played out in front of... and they had to fly directly into it. Head first. Piercing the only real God human beings have ever had with the hopes of saving it.

The name of their space ship is the Icarus 2. Icarus 1 disappeared and was assumed to have failed their mission.
Icarus is the name of the Greek god who was made wings of wax and feathers, but was warned not to fly too close to the sun. He ignored the advice, and drowned in the sea after his wings melted.

The men who go insane on the way to the Sun try to destroy everything. They believed they were sent from God to stop it, so that they can finally die and go to heaven, and escape the pain and despair of life. They think by destroying the only hope humanity has, that when everyone finally dies, that they will step away from the fear and distress of existence.

There were ones who chose NOT to stare at the Sun, and chose to focus solely on their duty to the earth, and not their duty to themselves or their fears. They were the ones who focused past the imminent death that awaited them. They remembered that when they actually touched the Sun, that it would create life. Not destroy it. In return for their sacrifice, they would witness something no other human could possibly dream of seeing: the creation.

"When a Stellar Bomb is triggered, very little will happen at first -and then a spark, will pop into existence, and it will hang for an instant, hovering in space and then, it will split into two, and those will split again, and again, and again... detonation beyond all imaging - the big bang on a small scale. - A new star born out of a dying one... I think it will be beautiful... No, I'm not scared."


They used their lives to create more life. And their fear of death vanished.