Rabbit Holes

Don't you hate it when everything seems crystal clear and then all of the sudden life goes and screws with you. Such as my current situation... I've been given a choice which doesn't correlate with my plans that I've been building towards for almost a year now. Nothing drastic or dramatic mind you, just a simple switch up. 90% of my plans would stay intact with just a few changes. I don't really have much of a point to make in this post other than to teeter on the fence wondering which way I'll fall. If I choose one side everything stays the same, no big deal. But if I choose to deviate, then new doors could open up to me and new options could present themselves. Hypothetical question... Which is better, the tried and true/comfortable/easy route or the risky/ unknown/ more difficult. Both have benefits. Both have drawbacks. Change is inevitable but how often are we the primary impetus behind the major change we're talking about with simple choices. I realize I'm being vague but at this point, that's all I can be. I'm mulling over my choices with these words that I type. I've always been resistant to change but I'm starting to see the glory in rearrangement and displacement. I have tended to run back to the comfort of my rabbit hole all my life but I'm getting more inquisitive about how deep the other rabbit holes go. Curiouser and curiouser.

The Power of Prayer

This is a subject that is definitely not my best subject but yet something that is intriguing to me none the less. I've never really prayed much in my life... I've never really had to. I guess I'd have to say that my life has been pretty peaceful all in all. No major catastrophes (other than a couple hospital mishaps that almost killed me... but the staff pulled through :P) have happened to me. The hospital incidents were beyond my control both times because I was either comatose or unconscious, so I obviously wasn't in a position to pray about the outcome. But if others were praying for me (I appreciate it), apparently it worked because I'm still alive and kicking.

All my life, I've never been religious. Although the older I have gotten, I have seen my spiritual side grow astronomically. Starting in my late teens, I started questioning the world around me because honestly, I couldn't see the point of anything. Everything seemed so inconsequential. But as I aged, I started to see connections and patterns everywhere around me (as if there was some grand plan). Perhaps through age comes the wisdom to see the spectacularness of the world as it is. Or perhaps a juvenile mind can't comprehend the massiveness of the beauty in everything. The cliche, "stop and smell the roses", takes on a whole new meaning when you have an idea of what your looking at. The profound gorgeousness of the petals in their formation. The complex noxiousness that pervades. Even the thorns have their place in the intricate evolution of such an awe inspiring elegant form.

So as I start to understand the phenomenon of seeing profoundness in everything, I can also see how the power of our intentions can affect the world around us. But what is "intention"? Is it merely meaning to do something or is it actually desiring the resulting outcome? Perhaps, at times, when we mean to do something, we aren't necessarily vested in the outcome so our purpose isn't the same as if we desire a particular aftereffect. So if we truly desire something, we pray for it, in our own ways. Will whatever it is we want just be given to us? Probably not. If the consequence is meant to happen anyways, then maybe. Would the outcome have been the same either way? I don't know. But what is significant is... maybe, just maybe your intentions did have an impact on the end result... and if so, then wasn't it worthwhile to put forth the effort to implore, pray, invoke, petition or do whatever you want to call it. And if not... no harm done.

Congratulations Kansas University

Congratulations, Kansas University Men's Basketball Team on your national championship. It almost seemed miraculous as the Jayhawks made an incredible comeback from 9 points down with 2:12 left in the game. But with endless tenacity and great leadership, they were able to pull off, arguably, one of the greatest, if not THE greatest finish to any national championship game.

Mario Chalmers was able to sink an amazing three pointer with 2.1 seconds left to tie the game to send it to overtime.

The Jayhawks were unstoppable in overtime when they had all the momentum coming back to tie the game late in the second half.

Coach Bill Self led the Jayhawks to their first national championship in 20 years.

Winning the national championship, Kansas University was able to complete the best year their athletic program has ever had with the KU football team winning the Orange Bowl on January 3

Photos from KUsports.com

Politics

I'm about sick of charisma. People getting away with shit just because they have that intangible something that everybody just seems to eat up...WTF is up with that? Why are others drawn to these seemingly magnetic people? What, possibly, do they have to offer other than anything else any other person has to give? Nothing. They have the "Je ne sais quoi" and that's about it usually. They've skated by, in life, using their silver tongues or good looks to get away with whatever they want having everything handed to them... therefore, they have become emotionally shallow people devoid of any virtue. Now don't get me wrong...I'm not saying everyone ( I try not to speak in absolutes...nothing is absolute) is like this... just the majority of these charmers. And if you truly think about it, you will see what I'm talking about. The handsome or beautiful ones who never form any decent relationships due to the fact that they've never had to form anything longlasting. They always have someone else, right there waiting. They use up the people around them and move on. And then there's the eloquent, persuasive ones, usually able to talk anybody into doing any of their bidding. Like the consummate politician whose smiley glad-hands are ready to level the weak-minded that are just waiting to jump on the outspoken's coattails.

Here is the strangest part of it though. It's the way they make others feel. They induce those feelings in others. They instill the strong emotions that others feel when they are around them. So how is it, they bring out these emotions so thoroughly when they themselves are usually emotionally shallow. Charm should only take them so far but it seems the tentative and uncertain allow them to get away with murder.

Seriously

"...What do ya do...you laugh, ya know... I'm not saying, I don't cry but in between, I laugh and I've realized how silly it is to take anything too seriously..." ~ Natalie Portman in "Garden State"

23

Yay!!! My 23rd post. I wonder what it should be about....hmm....
Interesting facts about the number 23...

In the year 23, Julius Caesar's son, Tiberius died. After that, Caesar lost interest in his empire and was primarily concerned with finding life's pleasures.

There are 23 letters in the Latin alphabet

Human sex cells have 23 chromosomes

It takes blood 23 seconds to flow through the human body

The eleventh song from Tool's fourth full-length studio album 10,000 Days, "Viginti Tres" (Latin for 23).

"The Number 23" is a 2007 film starring Jim Carrey

23 is the fifth of the mystical numbers...4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42...in Lost

Dr Pepper is advertised as having 23 flavors

23 is the state number of Maine

2 divided by 3 makes 0.666

23rdians are a group of people who subscribe to the mystical power of 23 and see it in multiple combinations throughout daily life

The terrorist attacks on America on 11 September 2001 have been held up as one of the most portentous examples of the disturbing power of 23. The figures in the date (9+11+2+0+0+1) add up to 23

In the Old Testament, it is widely held that Adam and Eve had 23 daughters

The Knights Templar, the order of soldier monks who eventually fell foul of the Vatican and have been the subject of conspiracy theories about the Holy Grail, had 23 Grand Masters

The first morse code transmission - "What hath God wrought?" - was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23

The Birthday Paradox states that a group of 23 randomly-selected people is the smallest number where there will be a probability higher than 50 per cent that two people will share the same birthday

"W" is the 23rd letter of the Latin alphabet. It has two points down and three points up

The pattern of DNA shows irregular connections at every 23rd section

Only 23 people allowed in a AOL chatroom

In Aleister Crowley's Cabalistic Dictionary, he defines the number 23 as the number of "parting, removal, separation, joy, a thread, and life..."

The first song on Side A of the Beatles first Album took 23 takes to record

U2... U is the 21st letter in the alphabet added to the number 2 gives you 23

The number 23 appears in many mysterious coincidences - but only to those who notice them

Counting Down

I had this thought today that was pretty surreal. If you read my blog the other day, you would know that I said the number 23 popped up a lot to me. Well, it has persisted. I keep my eyes open to all sorts of weird happenstances and anomalies, so I've noticed it for sometime now. It shows up in dollar amounts, time, paperwork, bills, on TV, etc., etc. For instance, I was watching the Kansas vs. Davidson NCAA basketball game and had to get up to do something, so I paused my DVR and when I got back, I happened to notice the score was 23 to 23 with 4:23 left on the clock. I realize I'm the one who paused it but I really had no intention at all of pausing it like that. I wasn't really even paying attention to the score, so I hadn't noticed the score was tied at 23. That's just a small example of what I'm talking about. Anyways, back to my original point. About 10 years ago, I was noticing the number 33 all around me all the time. Same kind of situations and conditions. My thought was... what if these numbers I've been noticing have been a countdown of sorts. Like in another ten years, the number 13 will be the significant portrayer... and then eventually my demise will come 13 years later. Wouldn't it be strange if life left you little signals like that to let you know how much time you have left. I know this is a little far fetched but so is the idea of a bunny leaving chocolate eggs all over the place, or a fat man breaking into your house and leaving you endowments, or a supposed miracle worker who was blessed with the power of ocular regeneration and could also turn a bottle of water into Merlot. These ideas all came from somewhere and some people actually believe some of them. What if... just what if?...