tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89779231461531150542024-03-13T04:45:03.170-07:00The Random LifePersonal Development & Miscellaneous StuffAlex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-85682033639730262612011-03-17T20:20:00.000-07:002011-03-17T20:20:40.835-07:00Hello World!Hey everyone! Man, it's been a long time! A lot has happened since my last post: I've moved across the pacific and now once again reside in Hawaii; I've made lots of new friends and visited some neat spots. This is really a magical place. Now that I am settled(ish) and have some time freeing up I hope get back to blogging!<br />
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Despite my absence here: I haven't been completely absent from the blog-scene. I have been working as the lead developer on a new project that is now in the final stages of development. Aside from some tweaks to the system we're practically done. In fact, we're so close to finished that we're taking registrations.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Introducing: <a href="http://bloggo-round.blogspot.com/">BlogGo-Round</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://bloggo-round.blogspot.com/">http://bloggo-round.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://bloggo-round.blogspot.com/">BlogGo-Round</a> is a project designed to help bloggers get noticed in the blogosphere. By registering (and being approved) you are listing your blog in a system that will occasionally list content from your blog that will link back to your blog if the user attempts to comment, read more, or clicks an image that you post. The whole system is designed to get blogs "out there," and driving relevant traffic to them. I've registered this blog, however it's been decided that to avoid redundancy and guarantee variety that content will not begin showing until there are at least 30 registered members. So, check it out if you're so inclined. =]<br />
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Anyway, I look forward to getting back to reading everyone's blog and writing some more!<br />
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Aloha,<br />
AlexAlex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-73031749489006131852010-10-25T18:59:00.000-07:002010-10-25T18:59:23.325-07:00The Magic of Emotion<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I've talked about the physical aspects of emotion in my previous article: <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/nature-of-emotion.html">The Nature of Emotion.</a> In this short article I'd like to talk about the “magical” aspect of emotion. While I believe emotion to be a reactive part of the brain activated primarily the physical environment, I also believe that simply feeling an emotion is activating a “vibration” or “silent sound” and that it has an effect in the world around us. I can not explain what this force is, I can only talk about my experience with it.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reality we live in molds itself so that our experience while we are here reflects the <i>feelings</i> we hold true. When we allow ourselves to feel an emotion we are playing a metaphorical key on an instrument<span style="background: #ffffff;">; the reality we live in is listening to the song our heart is playing and responding to us with things that match our song.</span> This means that if you are playing a sad song the universe is going to give you sad things so that your song will improve. Sure you will get more sad but your song will become more defined. It's our responsibility is to pay attention to our song and be sure to play a beautiful one. I believe that the more people living from their heart and playing a beautiful song the better our collective world will become. Once we are playing a beautiful song ourselves others around us will start picking up the beat and the song will spread. When you watch the news is your heart playing a happy song? When you fight with a spouse over a trivial misunderstanding how does your song sound? What about when you're on a beach with friends? Our one and only responsibility in this life is to find a beautiful song and play that and only that. The <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/attraction-its-law.html">attractive properties of our emotions</a> will draw to us the experiences that match our song and our lives will improve – as long as we are playing a happy song. By getting to know ourselves and <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/power-to-choose.html">consciously choosing our feelings</a> we are performing a magical song which draws to us the experiences we desire. </span></div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-74119441263113744172010-10-18T13:54:00.000-07:002010-10-18T13:54:54.979-07:00I still existI haven't updated in quite some time and I felt an explanation of sorts was in order. Life has dealt me a strange hand these past few weeks and has thrown me for a loop. It seems that a stream of thoughts and feelings I have been having over these past few years is all coming to a head at once. It has come to a point where action <i>must</i> be taken. Said action is dramatic and quite possibly life-changing. I am being vague because, while the action is dramatic, I do not yet know when or what precisely it is. I have many possibilities in front of me and life demands that I pick one. If I were to publicly state what my intention is via this medium I feel I would have to follow though with my word and I choose not to limit my options at this time. I will say that circumstance is causing me to have to choose because continuing the way things are is not possible. It's funny that when we dwell on thoughts and feelings enough sometimes life presents the perfect way to achieve the goal. The circumstances that force the change oftentimes seem planned and I am but an actor acting out my role of choosing one thing or another. I am an attractor of experience and a chooser, life - the cosmos - does the rest. I am okay with this. I will continue this blog and update as frequently as the circumstances at hand allow. I plan to publish an actual article soon.<br />
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Thanks for reading!Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-12817535683778238012010-10-04T11:12:00.000-07:002010-10-06T12:21:44.295-07:00The Trick of Dualism<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Most of us have been taught to think of the physical and the spiritual as two distinctly different things or places. There's the prevalent idea that we're here in the physical and are stuck here until death, at which point we're transported to the spiritual. Some people choose not to believe in the spiritual, but few, if any, have disbelief in the physical. This idea of what spirit is disconnects us from thinking we have access to it; for, it is there and we are here and there is no way to get from here to there. Religion claims to be the path to the invisible spiritual. However, a definite problem arises when we realize most religions claim to be the only correct path to the spiritual. How confusing! To top it off the more religions one looks at subjectively the more it can be realized they all lead absolutely nowhere. This has caused science to argue against the existence of the spiritual and that in turn has caused the religious to fear science.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>The argument is invalid.</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><br />
</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">I propose a holistic view: Instead of assuming that the physical is one thing and the spiritual is another we look at them as different sides of the same coin. When thought about this way we can realize there is only one coin, and there is nowhere to go. This also opens the door to the view that the spiritual is not invisible at all, and is instead the <i>force that animates</i>. The beating of your heart, the wind chimes swaying to and fro, the sound traveling through the air, the plants following the sun, swaying trees, the clouds rolling through the blue backdrop of the sky, the tides, the rotation of our planet, the travel of our sun and solar-system though space, the expansion of space, to the infinite. You may be thinking “oh come on, all of those things can be reduced to physical processes,” and that is exactly the type of thinking I am trying to dismantle. Nothing can be in physical space and not be animate, vibrating, at it's core. The more we try to pick apart matter by smashing atoms together the more smaller and faster particles we find until eventually everything disappears into a sea of movement and flux. Everything we see and experience emerges from this ever-changing sea of movement. We are all eternally bound to that sea, both mind and body. What we call the “physical” is nothing more than the result of a process that takes this sea of movement and filters it into experience. This sea is spirit, possibilities, physical, the creator and the creation all rolled into one. In this view, if there is an afterlife it too emerges from this same sea.</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>The key is perception. </b> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">Our perception of the world around comes primarily from our upbringing and surroundings. We are taught how to view the world around us. Ultimately though, we are responsible for the perceptions we hold. We can change them any time we want with a <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/power-to-choose.html">simple choice</a>. One person may see a dog in a park tied to a bench and think “poor thing,” while someone else may think “that dog looks well groomed and cared for.” In the same way someone may hear an ambulance in the distance and think “oh no, someone is hurt,” while another may think “thank goodness someone is getting help.” Both points of view are equally legitimate and correct but one makes you feel happy and the other sad. We make <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/nature-of-emotion.html">decisions everyday about how to feel</a>, even if we don't realize that we're making them. </div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">How does the world look to a dog? Obviously, we have no idea how a dog perceives it's environment and can only offer speculations. When I was a teenager we had two dogs and since I was the only one home during the day they liked to hang out with me in my room. Both of them would sometimes appear to be looking at something in the hallway and turn their heads simultaneously as if watching something move past. This would happen somewhat often and in different places throughout the house. I would try to see what it was that they could possibly be looking at and I could never see anything. Were both of my dogs just pranksters screwing with me? Possibly, but it's somewhat doubtful. I eventually just accepted that they must see something that I simply did not - that they were on a slightly different wavelength than I. The dogs and I both shared most of our experiences of the world around us - but not all of them. Is it possible that I could see things that they could not (color)?</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>The Band of Possibilities</b> </div><div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Think of a radio, there are several stations that the radio could be playing, but you have to pick just one. Our perception is is like that radio in that there are tons of possibilities but we have to choose which to tune-in. Those who choose to view spirit and physical as separate are limiting themselves to that “station” and are limited to the possibilities within that station. Those who hold strong disbelief in “paranormal phenomenon” are limiting themselves to that band of possibilities and will never experience the paranormal. Just as you can reach out and turn the nob of a radio to change its station so can you also reach within and change what station you're tuned to. </div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-27368375560506300592010-09-24T14:50:00.000-07:002010-09-24T17:19:56.760-07:00The Nature of Emotione·mo·tion<br />
1. A mental state that arises <u>spontaneously rather than through conscious effort</u> and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling<br />
2. A state of mental agitation or disturbance<br />
3. The part of the consciousness that involves feeling; sensibility<br />
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The brain is a complex piece of muscle tissue that is composed of tiny brain cells called neurons. These neurons have tiny branches that reach out and connect to other neurons to form a neuronet. When we're born our brains are pretty much a blank slate. Based on the input we are given from our parents, peers, and environment our brain creates its neuronet. That neuronet defines the way we act, the emotions we feel and when. Rarely do we consciously decide what to feel. So, based on this knowledge, we can assume emotions are a completely reactive part of the human brain. Our emotions are simply neurons firing within our brain. Knowing this we should be able to stop our old behavior and change for the better, right? Yes, but here are the problems.<br />
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1. Addiction. When we feel an emotion our brain begins by rapidly producing various amino acids, called peptides. These peptides are released into the blood-stream and attach themselves to receptor sites that are designed for them throughout your body. These peptides are, in essence, drugs. And without them we really can experience withdrawals. These withdrawals usually come in the form of emotional outburst. These emotional withdrawals are really the throws of a dying nuronet trying to convince us that the old behavior we are trying to change or control is really the correct way to behave, and a lot of the time people relapse into old habits.<br />
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2. Repetition. Simply by feeling an emotion we are strengthening the neuronet that causes it and releasing the addictive peptides. The brain is a muscle, the more we use certain parts of it the better it gets at doing that function. <br />
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Let's just say that my problem emotion I'm currently working on is anger. Here I am hypothetically driving my hypothetical car down the road and some 70 year-old person is going 30 mp/h in a 60 mp/h zone. With no way to pass and a schedule to meet: I feel the anger, I get that body rush/high that the peptides create and may start yelling at the car in front of me. "Get off the road you old fart!" Time passes and that old fart finally turns right and is no longer on my mind. I've seemingly gotten over the whole situation. But then about 20 minutes later some super-sized women cuts me off because she was too focused on eating her bigmac and not driving. I get even more angry this time than I did with the old person and the peptides are released in an even larger dose. "Oh my god! Pay attention to the road you (explicit deleted)!" Now I may not realize it, but even if I feel bad later on, somewhere deep in my brain it's thinking "man that felt good." Thus, unfortunately, I'm more likely to repeat the behavior in the future. <br />
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Some external stimuli occurs and depending on how the brain has been wired we feel a given emotion. This is always the case be it a positive or negative emotion. Emotions are nothing but a reaction to our environment. Luckily, we do have the ability to change ourselves. All that is required is time, and to know yourself. The more you catch yourself feeling an undesired emotion and consciously make the decision to calm yourself down, the weaker the neuronet becomes. With constant practice the neuronet breaks apart and that emotion or behavior is no longer a part of your being. Many mystics and spiritual gurus of the past, Jesus, Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, amongst others have said "Know thyself." This requires that everyday we ask ourselves why we do the things we do, and upon figuring out our motives exercise our <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/power-to-choose.html">power to choose</a> to decide whether it's something we want to continue to do or not.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-16179810226088386822010-09-21T16:58:00.000-07:002010-09-21T17:14:55.069-07:00Attraction: It's the LawPhysical law is immutable. We drop a cup full of liquid, and a mess is created. Even in the realm of quantum particles things still seem to conform to a set of laws or patterns that, while confounding, are persistent. You shoot electrons through a double slit and as long as you don't measure the results the electrons behave like waves. If you do measure the results the electrons behave like particles. This phenomenon is confusing and perplexing, yet constant and as such has allowed physicist to theorize around it. The <i>why </i>of this phenomenon has, in a way, been swept under the rug because it is simply irrelevant to predicting the way the physical system will behave. Physicist don't need to know why this happens, just that it happens and when it happens; science can only deal with the measurable. Even though, if thought about, the why of this phenomenon could have huge implications on our understanding of the physical. The inescapable answer is that somehow our measurement or observation of the experiment has some sort of effect on its outcome. Yet, the why of this phenomenon is not measurable in a laboratory under rigorous controls and thus is outside the realm of <b>Institutionalized Academia</b>. So, that being the case, we the individual, are left to run our own experiments. I'm going to share with you my personal conclusions and the ramifications of my results.<br />
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If our observation of the physical system we exist within changes the behavior of that system then we can only come to the conclusion that we are some how "linked-in" to the reality we observe. When I first had these thoughts they seemed so vague and intangible that I just sort of put the thought process on the "back burner" and let it simmer for a while. Slowly I began to notice a correlation with my mood and the circumstance I was experiencing. That is to say, a negative mood to start off with would only bring me more strife throughout the day in various ways be it getting stuck in traffic, having unruly customers at work, or stubbing my toe, these seemingly random events seemed to only occur if there existed a mood within me that was conductive to sparking them. Likewise if I started off the day the happy and thankful way the gladness in my day just seemed to gain momentum and the world around me felt like a beautiful dance. I felt like the cosmos was either conspiring for or against me and the outcome was based on my mood.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Ask and you shall receive.</span><br />
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With this new unfurling information I began to wonder what the scope of this phenomenon was. Did it only respond to mood and only with seemingly random positive or negative events? Or perhaps, could one learn to submit more specific request?<br />
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One of the experiments we conducted was to take a board and affix to it tickets from a concert we had recently attended. We, my partner and I, both set the intention to draw to ourselves the experience of more concerts. Then we went on with our lives with the board being nothing more than a decoration in the corner of the room. About a week later my partner won tickets to a concert from a radio station. After we went we added the ticket stubs to the board and continued the intention to attract more of this experience. An influx of concert attending thus began. We did not seek out concerts to attend, rather they seemed to seek us out.<br />
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My partner took this experiment and built upon it. One day she was running late for work and instead of looking at the clock constantly and concerning herself with what the time currently was she decided to focus on what time she wanted it to be when she got there. She turned off the radio so as to not hear the time. When she arrived at work she was <u>right on time</u>. I have repeated this same experiment with success. These sorts of experiments seem to rely heavily on the mood of the one conducting them. Whether you execute the experiment with the expectation (<i>feeling</i>) of failure (negativity), or success (positivity) the results will match your expectation.<br />
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The conclusion I've managed to come up with is that we attract to us the experiences of our lives. Our thoughts, patterns (habits), and feelings all flow out of us, hit some sort of metaphorical mirror, and bounce back in the form of physical experience. Reality and the physical laws as described by science can be bent or molded by some force that comes from within us.<br />
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I can only begin to ponder how things got this way. My observations of patterns within nature suggest an elegance and intelligence behind them. I'm not suggesting that an all knowing all powerful man in the sky created everything; I'm only suggesting that perhaps everything that is - is intelligent. Maybe we are intelligent beings walking about in an intelligent world. If the world is intelligent it only stands to reason there is communication between its various parts - as in our own bodies. Maybe everything that is, is just one big conversation of which we get to play an active role.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-4586766860763250372010-09-19T03:23:00.000-07:002010-09-19T03:23:16.359-07:00Legalize Cannabis - Yes on 19Proposition 19 once again puts Californians in the position to make history with a decision that would change the way Cannabis is viewed in the state and ultimately the country. In 1996 California voters were asked if they thought Cannabis should be legal for medicinal use and able to be prescribed by doctors. When the results were tallied <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">55.6% of the voters had voted in favor of Proposition 215 making California the first state to legalize medical Marijuana. Since that historic event 14 states and Washington DC have followed suit. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Now, fourteen years later Californians are again being asked about Cannabis. This time the question is "Should it be <b>Legalized </b>and regulated in the same manor as alcohol?" To answer this question lets look at why it was made illegal to begin with. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">William Randolph Hearst</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"> owned a newspaper publishing house, hundreds of acres of timber forests, and many paper mills designed to manufacture paper from wood pulp. Paper made from the fiber of the hemp plant was superior to paper made from wood pulp as </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">hemp could produce four times more paper per acre than timber. Normally this would be viewed as a good thing but to Mr. Hearst it presented a threat to his paper empire's profits, for he already owned the trees, the means to manufacture paper from said trees, and the newspaper publishing house to print on said paper. A rather racist and alarmist smear campaign was ran in the newspaper against the new "Drug Menace Marijuana," and out of this the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was born - effectively outlawing the entire Cannabis plant.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Jumping forward to present day we have another group with a vested interest in keeping Cannabis illegal: Alcohol distributors. <a href="http://blog.norml.org/2010/09/16/big-alcohol-backs-no-on-prop-19-campaign/">The California Beer & Beverage Distributors disclosed it has donated $10,000 to defeat Prop 19.</a> They know that if Cannabis were legal there is a good chance that many people will turn to it for recreation instead of alcohol as it has been proven to be safer in every regard. This move by the alcohol distributors makes sense from the standpoint of protecting their own economic self interest, <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/state-vs-abundance.html">however it only serves to hold back technology.</a> We can create medicines, fabrics, paper, building materials, and fuel from this single plant. We can fashion bricks from the fiber and build a house with those bricks and the house will be fireproof and termite-proof. An entire car could be made from hemp and fueled with hemp. <u>Using hemp could stop the deforestation of Earth!</u></span><br />
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<a href="http://yeson19.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TJXiPEVRw_I/AAAAAAAAADI/M0E5NMU_le8/s200/yeson19.jpg" width="175" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><i>Proposition 19 Would:</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">♥ Control cannabis like alcohol.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">♥ Put our police priorities where they belong.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">♥ Generate billions of dollars in revenue for the state.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">This is a definite step in the right direction. Since I do not reside in California, I am not afforded the opportunity to vote on this historic proposition. However If you find yourself with a voice in this debate I strongly encourage you to raise it to loudly and proudly <a href="http://yeson19.com/">vote yes on Proposition 19</a>. Good Luck California!</span>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-30048107113773202632010-09-17T20:47:00.000-07:002010-09-17T20:47:10.052-07:00The Artsy Side of The Random LifeI would like to invite everyone who is following The Random Life to check out my artsy blog titled <a href="http://powerofsight.blogspot.com/">Photos 'n' Things</a>. As you probably guessed it is where I share photos and things of an artsy/creative nature. At present it's not updated as frequently as this one, but here's to hoping that my attempts at being creative spark more creativity within me! Anyway, without further adieu here's the url: <a href="http://powerofsight.blogspot.com/">http://powerofsight.blogspot.com</a>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-37610000945702407412010-09-17T14:59:00.000-07:002010-09-17T15:09:43.909-07:00The Clever Name Game<script language="javascript">
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So, I've been developing a physics based puzzle game for a little while now and I thought I would post it to see what you folks thought about it. It can be a bit of a frustrating game but I assure you all levels are beatable. It currently has ten levels. Help me think of a <u>clever name</u> for the game! =D<br />
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<a href="javascript:toggle();" id="displayText">Click Here to Play Game!</a><br />
<div id="toggleText" style="display: none;"><object height="400" width="500"> <param name="movie" value="effect.swf"><embed src="http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/9/15/2970433//effect.swf" width="500" height="400"> </embed> </object></div>Clicking the link above will <i>not </i>leave the current page.<br />
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Enjoy! Give me feedback and let me know what you think!Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-17336152216368975422010-09-16T16:29:00.000-07:002010-10-04T11:05:51.387-07:00The Power to ChooseChoice is a force unlike will power in that one must choose to invoke it. The force that is choice, while it is always being used, can be used to not choose. When we choose to not decide our power of choice begins to run on auto-pilot. This tends to lead to the oh-so-popular "I don't know" or "I don't care" attitude. Lack of choosing can lead to our lives loosing focus. When we lose our focus we end up walking around applying the mighty force of will power in a scattered fashion; this amounts to chaos or stagnation in our lives. When we learn to invoke our power to choose our will power focuses on that decision and choice becomes easier and easier. Will power and intent are both subservient to choice. For, without the power to choose for ourselves intent and will power vanish.<br />
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It must be recognized that we decide the direction of our lives. We either actively choose things for ourselves or we choose things for ourselves by default by not choosing. Either way, the outcome is totally on us. When we make a decision to go after something we want and we set that decision into motion using our intent, it is then that our will power takes the wheel. If we can then remain focused on our desired (<i>intended</i>) outcome the power of our will is added to by that focused intent. The more we are able to retain the <i>feeling </i>of receiving what it is we desire the more in-tune our will power becomes, until eventually that which we desire is a vibrational match to our will; when this happens the intended result seems to just fall into our hands. This is how I believe <a href="http://whateverandom.blogspot.com/2010/09/attraction-its-law.html">the law of attraction</a> works. By choosing to transform our will into that which we want we attract it. Choice is the only power we possess that we must truly choose to invoke, from then on as long as we remain focused (intent) on our desired <u>outcome</u> our will power will do the rest.<br />
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Our entire lives boil down to choice. Our lives become what we choose.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-36943562874089811052010-09-15T13:24:00.000-07:002010-09-15T15:32:00.541-07:00SmartAlex Pandora PlayerHello everybody, good news! I grew tired of having to have a tab or window dedicated to Pandora always taking up valuable screen space; so I've developed a player for Pandora that allows me to get it off my screen! I thought someone else find it as useful as I do so I have decided to share it with you fine folks!<br />
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Features of the player include:<br />
¤ Provides a compact environment and access to all of Pandora's controls<br />
¤ Refresh player option will start a new song and clear your list of songs<br />
¤ Functionality for all screen resolutions<br />
¤ Minimize player to tray<br />
¤ Hide/Show scrollbars<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TJFJSJZTQkI/AAAAAAAAACU/qwZo0yiQxe4/s1600/player_ss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TJFJSJZTQkI/AAAAAAAAACU/qwZo0yiQxe4/s400/player_ss.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2010/9/15/2970433//smartalex_player.zip">Download SmartAlex Pandora Player</a></div><div><br />
<div>I've only got the chance to test the player in a couple of environments so if you run into glitches or problems please let me know! If you get an error upon launch your system may not have the VB6 Runtime Library installed which you can get by <a href="http://en.kioskea.net/download/download-284-visual-basic-6-runtime">clicking here</a>. All SmartAlex Software is <u>free and distributable</u>. If you find the software useful you can help me out by sharing it with your friends using the Facebook or Twitter share options on this page! I hope you enjoy it!!</div></div></div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-63219889050949374602010-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:002010-09-13T15:46:58.645-07:00The Northern Maidenhair Fern (A. pedatum)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TI6MosIu9fI/AAAAAAAAABU/gmLQlNue7nc/s1600/a-pedatum01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TI6MosIu9fI/AAAAAAAAABU/gmLQlNue7nc/s320/a-pedatum01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Maidenhair fern is beautiful and very soft. Slow growing reaching a maximum height of a little under two feet tall. Its polished black stalk is a give away and is very delicate. In the wild it is often found in deciduous woodlands on slopes where it can get it's preferred well-drained but moist soil and semi-shade from the sun. It's a very frost-resistant plant withstanding temperatures down to 5° Fahrenheit (-15° C).<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TI6M4kC-mFI/AAAAAAAAABc/cFE1OaiJEnM/s1600/a-pedatum02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TI6M4kC-mFI/AAAAAAAAABc/cFE1OaiJEnM/s200/a-pedatum02.jpg" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of stalk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The aerial (above ground) parts of the plant have long been used to treat coughing, congestion, sore throat, and inflamed or injured skin. A syrup or tea can be made, or the plant consumed or applied directly. The North American Natives would chew the fronds and then apply them to wounds to stop bleeding. It is edible in small quantities, the younger the specimen the better; it is recommended to cook or dry any fern before consumption as this will destroy any thiaminase it may contain. Thiaminase is an enzyme that can deprive the body of vitamin B complex, and in small quantities has negligible effect, however large quantities are to be avoided. The soft fronds have been used to line fruit baskets to protect the fruit from the basket. I've also read reports of the plant having been used to make a hair wash and conditioner.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: yellow;">I nor my host can be held responsible for your actions, please get plants professionally identified before using them</span>. I have been unable to find any reports of toxicity for this specific species, however a number of ferns are also known to contain carcinogens that can cause stomach cancers, so obviously caution should be taken and again only consumed when <u>properly identified, prepared and in small quantities</u>.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-15474756401099622392010-09-06T14:50:00.000-07:002010-09-06T15:16:45.566-07:00The State vs. AbundanceI'm sure you're probably aware of the currently established recording and movie industries attempts to snuff out <i>pirating</i>. They've used every tactic from fear mongering to guilt trips to protect their profits, which is entierly within their rights under Federal Copyright Law. It's understandable, within a profit-based system, that if your average person can effortlessly duplicate a product that the producers of said product would want to thwart this behavior.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Why get the Federal Government involved at all?</span></span><br />
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Well, I am just thrilled that you thought to ask that! The Government has a vested interest in <i>protecting the economy. </i>As side effect of this, if infinite abundance of a product is capable of being produced there is no need to purchase it any longer and the economy suffers. While this all seems right and good on the surface the result is the holding back of technology. Did you know that the Recording Industry Association of America fought to make the cassettes-recorder illegal? They feared if the customer had the ability to record their own music that it would kill radio. In the same way when the VCR came along the Motion Picture Association of America fought it for fear that it would kill television, and the cinema. Both of these companies felt they had legitimate reasons to fight the technology because their business model was threatened by it. Today the internet is the new technology on the chopping block. The internet has <i>amazing</i> potential to create an abundance of information, entertainment, and education... and because of this there are several economic-entities that are trying to impose controls on it.<br />
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Abundance, efficency, and sustainability are the enemies of the economy.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Is there anyway to allow for abundance?</span></span><br />
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No, not within a social-economic system that is driven by money. Abundance is a great thing for people, but is a negative thing for profits - or "<i>the economy</i>." Imagine if we had the capacity to download and print objects. As the recording industry has so artfully put it "You wouldn't download a car would you?!" This seems like an unresolvable issue upon first glance, but I assure you it's not. In order to solve this problem we need to find the root cause of the problem. Which, if you haven't figured it out yet is money.<br />
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Within a monetary system scarcity is encouraged because it drives prices up. If abundance were to be achieved in anything (food, water, energy, anything!) the business or businesses that sold said things would collapse - and if abundance were achieved in everything the entire system of money would come crashing down to the ground.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The crossroads...</span></span><br />
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Humanity stands at a cross-roads at this time in history. One road is the continuation of the monetary-system and the allowing for the violent intervention of the state to protect the economy holding technological advances back - and thus maintain the artificial scarcity of goods and services. The other road is one that has never before been traveled in all of recorded history; that is to abolish the monetary-system allowing for technology to advance at an ever-increasing rate, permitting abundance in every aspect of our lives. If this path were to be pursued the violence of the state, and the scarcity it maintains would be obsolete. In this scenario, which seems too fantastic to be possible, everyone will have food, shelter, clean energy, transportation and the ability to realize their full potential.<br />
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Earlier I mentioned the theoretical capacity to download and print objects. I've also mentioned how scarcity within the money supply holds back technology. Brace yourself for this one: <u>we can print objects</u>. The video shared under this paragraph is but a tiny example of the capacity of our current technology. If money were obsoleted and no longer allowed to control our lives via artificial scarcity 3D printers could be an every-day reality. We could use this technology to produce an abundance of metal and plastic goods. Another thing, the objects that 3D printers create can be broken back down into powder-form and 100% recycled.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="256" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u7h09dTVkdw" type="text/html" width="320"><p><br /> </p></iframe></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Our potential future...</span><br />
<iframe class="youtube-player" frameborder="0" height="256" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3w1F1DkxWxo" type="text/html" width="426"><p><br /> </p></iframe></div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-9207757447969607132010-09-03T14:35:00.000-07:002010-09-05T02:22:35.993-07:00The New World Order<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TIFobrng1jI/AAAAAAAAABM/otuMMuiGYqo/s1600/truth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TIFobrng1jI/AAAAAAAAABM/otuMMuiGYqo/s320/truth.jpg" /></a></div>The truth of the matter is that the fascist new world order is not nearly as complicated as the disinformation can lead one to believe. All of the disinformation is designed to keep people seperated. When in fact, the whole "conspiracy" is painfully simple, and has been in plain sight the whole time. The elite in reality do not care if a nation is Socialist, Communistic, or Capitalistic and they don't care if you vote Democrat or Republican. In every single scenario be it a Democratic Capitalist nation, or a Communistic Dictatorship the elitist win. How is it that a handful of people can maintain such an upper-hand? What is it that every single form of government has in common? Well, it can't be in the political policies either domestic or foreign as the elite have always maintained control before, during, and after every single revolution. How can this happen? I know I've asked several times, but I really want you to stop and think. Every single option we are given for society - they win. How? Do you really want the answer? You probably won't like it.<br />
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The means by which the elitist have maintained an upper-hand over the population is by the use of a single tool; that tool, is money. Every single option we have been given for government has built within it Monetary-ism, which acts as a hidden form of government. If you manage the currency you manage politics - from behind a curtain. That's it! The "complicated" Fascist New World Order "conspiracy" explained. Through the management of money the hidden hand of the elite dictate to us and our governments throughout our lives and throughout history. How though? Do you know what it is about Monetary-ism that leads every form of government in the direction of dictatorship? It's the fact that within the very idea of money is the profit motive. Why doesn't the homeless person have food? He can't afford it. Why don't farmers just give food away to feed the hungry? They can't afford it. Within a profit motive it makes more sense to just let the food rot and be thrown out than it does to give it to someone who is starving.<br />
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This creates another illusion: the illusion of scarcity. There is no scarcity! Scarcity is an outright bold-faced lie. There are more than enough resources on this planet to sustain us all. We could feed, clothe, educate, shelter, air condition, and provide transport to every single human being with no one left behind - for free. That is, without the profit motive. But who would make the stuff we enjoy so much if things were free?<br />
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Technology is far, far more advanced than most people realize. Human technicians can develop automated machines to do ninety percent of tasks performed by humans. From sweeping and mopping, to making clothes and seeding/tending to crops. The jobs that at present are not able to be done by machines are unnecessary in the first place. For example, we aren't going to have a machine releasing a hit new movie starring only machines any time soon. However, in a world without the profit motive activities such as singing, acting, and making other forms of art are not jobs that require compensation, but instead simply things people do because they're fun. This is achievable right now with the resources that already exist.<br />
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Survival of the fittest has done an amazing job getting reality to the point where the emergence of a conscious species on our tiny little planet has taken place. That's the kicker though: we are conscious. We are the only species on our planet that takes more than it needs for survival and we do so with complete disregard to the environmental consequences. It is time we stop giving in to the reptilian hindbrain, the serpent of old, which says there isn't enough to go around, and instead turn our attention to listen to our mammalian instincts of compassion and love. Love, not fear or greed. Sharing instead of hoarding. Brotherhood, no longer divided. We can achieve this! The result would not be a utopia; as the only constant in the universe is change and the very idea of a Utopia implies finality. Therefore perfection within a societal structure does not exist. We can, however, make things a lot better than what they are now - for everyone.<br />
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I write this asking that you join me - us - as, we are many. There is a movement already that has the potential to lead us to this future where starvation, and homelessness are abolished. If we are to succeed though, we must reach as many people as possible. Once a critical mass is reached the action of walking away from the monetary system and reclaiming earth's resources for all of humanity will take place. We will care for crops, produce goods, and intelligently and sustainably manage the resources of the planet so that every living person has more than they need. We will do this as a people united, without government help or permission. The drive to better humanity will trump the profit motive. Technology will experience an apparent leap and the tedious jobs of every day life will be replaced by machines and no one will lose their livelihood - as money, the hidden government, the elite - will be a thing of the past. We the dreamers have slept long and hard and have dreamed up a wonderful future, but now the alarm clock is going off and it's time we wake up. The hour is upon us, it's time we create our dream. <u>A new world order is coming</u>, but it is we who get to decide if it is a fascist order, or a peaceful and prosperous order. I believe in peace, love, and unity above all else - what do you believe?<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/">http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thevenusproject.com/">http://www.thevenusproject.com/</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Educate yourself. Educate others. Unite.<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7criyE09uy0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7criyE09uy0?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
Let's choose love.</div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-74590786737197781752010-09-02T19:16:00.000-07:002010-09-02T20:38:55.160-07:00The Reaction to ProcrastinateRecently I've become more aware of just how much I procrastinate. This trend has prevented me from doing not only things that need to be done, but also things I want to do - such as start this blog. I've put this blog off for well over a year! So assuming this blog continues to be updated it shall stand as a testament of my conquering the reaction to procrastinate.<br />
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I began to realize just how bad my procrastination had become when I was told I have an excuse for everything. This got me wondering "do I?" Sure enough I caught myself making excuses for some really simple tasks. Often times the excuse was "I'll do it later," even though there was no reason to not do it immediately. A lot of the time I would in fact do it later, but sometimes the task would be done by someone else before I "got to it." In the cases where the task was done for me I think the true secret desire of procrastination shows through, and that is the desire to not do the task at all. This is sloth, one of the deadly sins. What makes a "sin" a deadly one? I believe the label of "deadly" is a warning of addictive potential. When you're lazy you begin to <i>feel </i>lazy, and that feeling of laziness makes it easier to continue to be lazy. This cycle can go on until it completely destroys you. Breaking any habit that has become your basic reaction is no easy task, especially if one hasn't discovered the power of their will.<br />
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Will power is like a muscle in the sense that in order to perform it must be exercised. I've began with simple things such as doing stretches that I would normally put off until a "later" that would never come. Doing things that normally got put off feels great. Now, when an excuse come to mind I can remind myself of that feeling of accomplishment. Of course, sometimes the old reaction gets acted upon and I feel defeat. Defeat is the enemy of progress. It knocks one down and holds them there. When one feels defeat further defeats seem to matter less and less - until defeat, defeats you. The key to winning the battle against defeat is realizing why you wanted to succeed coupled with the realization that only you can defeat defeat. Remember not to be bogged-down by negativity, everyone makes mistakes.<br />
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I believe I have a solid strategy to conquer procrastination. By starting small and exercising my will power over little things in life the strength of my will will increase and the big things, like this blog, will come to fruition.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-37297795093676759652010-09-01T14:00:00.000-07:002010-09-01T16:08:40.195-07:00The Reward SystemHumans are creatures of habit. People tend to learn or create a method of doing things and stick with it. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing if we're doing the wrong things. The "wrong things" include anything that does not serve you. An example of this is consuming a product or performing a task that you know is extremely bad for you regardless of the consequences. When the wrong things become habitual, or ritual, that is when we encounter problems.<br />
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I have become an avid player of video games over this past year. This has become a problem not because the game is bad, but because I have a tendency to keep playing once I start. I've realized that sometimes an entire day can pass while I play. This has spurred me to come up with and begin to use the reward system.<br />
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When training an animal it has been found that positive reenforcement works much better than punishment. This is the basis for the reward system. The physical body is a chemical playground. There are many, many different chemicals and interactions going on in your body. One of these compounds goes by the name "dopamine." This little guy is responsible for most habitual behavior. In fact, the receptor site responsible for the uptake of dopamine has been nicknamed "The Pleasure Center." Our bodies produce dopamine when we are doing things we enjoy. These activities can rage from eating or sex, to playing a video game. Now, here's the kicker: Dopamine is <i>extremely physically</i> <i>addictive; </i>meaning people can get addicted to activities that are not inherently addictive.<br />
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So, how do we use this knowledge to benefit us? Well I know that for me personally coffee, certain snacks, and video games are all activities I partake in that produce dopamine. So this morning, I had my coffee as usual, and this got my dopamine engine humming. My initial desire was to keep up my "high" by jumping on the computer for some online gaming - but instead, I created a list of tasks that needed to get done. This list included: straightening the apartment, unloading the dishwasher, and feeding the pets amongst other mostly mundane tasks. I told myself that I could have my next "fix" after I was 100% done with my list. I was very surprised at how quick and effortless everything was, and before I knew it I was finished. I then proceeded to keep my word to myself and reward myself with some gaming.<br />
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So, that's the theory! The idea is that by using this method one can find a balance between that which is desired and that which must be done. By spacing out the activities that cause dopamine release the "dopamine high" is maintained through the mundane tasks. Who knows, maybe this will even trick a brain into believing that the mundane activities themselves are pleasing.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-5414038738609105372010-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:002010-08-31T15:20:16.805-07:00I Love You<div style="text-align: left;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vbSOPuN7OhE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vbSOPuN7OhE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div style="text-align: left;">It's true, and there is nothing you can do to change it. ♥</div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-21595653191854579062010-08-31T13:55:00.000-07:002010-09-02T00:42:01.094-07:00Letter sent from Chief Seattle to President Pierce in 1855<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TH1qwV5YQ_I/AAAAAAAAAAw/4ekHYf__Pqo/s1600/photo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_REKxH7cmqT4/TH1qwV5YQ_I/AAAAAAAAAAw/4ekHYf__Pqo/s320/photo1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">THE GREAT CHIEF in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars - they do not set.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">How can you buy or sell the sky - the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the redman. But perhaps it is because the redman is a savage and does not understand.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to listen to the leaves of spring or the rustle of insect wings. But perhaps because I am a savage and do not understand - the clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lovely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind itself cleansed by a mid-day rain, or scented by a pinõn pine: The air is precious to the redman. For all things share the same breath - the beasts, the trees, and the man. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">If I decide to accept, I will make one condition. The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers. I am a savage and I do not understand any other way. I have seen thousands of rotting buffaloes on the prairie left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to the man.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">Our children have seen their fathers humbled in defeat. Our warriors have felt shame. And after defeat they turn their days in idleness and contaminate their bodies with sweet food and strong drink. It matters little where we pass the rest of our days - they are not many. A few more hours, a few more winters, and none of the children of the great tribes that once lived on this earth, or that roamed in small bands in the woods will remain to mourn the graves of the people once as powerful and hopeful as yours.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">One thing we know that the white man may one day discover. Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the Body of man, and his compassion is equal for the redman and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">We might understand if we knew what it was the white man dreams, what hopes he describes to his children on long winter nights, what visions he burns into their minds, so they will wish for tomorrow. But we are savages. The white man's dreams are hidden from us. And because they are hidden, we will go our own way. If we agree, it will be to secure your reservation you have promised.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;">There perhaps we may live out our brief days as we wish. When the last redman has vanished from the earth, and the memory is only the shadow of a cloud passing over the prairie, these shores and forests will still hold the spirits of my people, for they love this earth as the newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. If we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your memory the way the land is as you take it. And with all your strength, with all your might, and with all your heart - preserve it for your children, and love it as God loves us all. One thing we know - our God is the same. This earth is precious to him. Even the white man cannot escape the common destiny.</span><br />
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</span>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-4347065925409277352010-08-30T20:19:00.000-07:002010-09-02T00:44:31.075-07:00Shed Your Self-Importance<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wupToqz1e2g?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wupToqz1e2g?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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This understanding, when fully realized, has the potential to create unity. For, since we all share this Earth shouldn't we actually <i>share</i> this Earth?Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-73532186736892018602010-08-30T17:55:00.000-07:002010-09-02T00:46:47.800-07:00The First Lesson: AbundanceThere exist enough natural resources on your planet to provide food, water, energy, transportation, and shelter to every single human being with no one excluded - for free. This statement is too hard for some to swallow. It's hard to believe because the dominant institutions have created a veil of artificial scarcity.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The Veil of Artificial Scarcity<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: lime;"> </span></span><br />
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Whether you live in a Capitalist, Socialist, or Communist nation money drives everything in your society. The idea of money is based on scarcity. Scarcity that in actuality doesn't even exist anymore. Food that is grown is shipped to the grocery stores - or sometimes to packaging companies and then to stores. Instead, what if the food was given to people in the local community? Let's just take apples as an example: A farmer grows the apple. A shipping company ships it to the store. The apple then sits on a shelf and watches as a few of the apples around him are sold. The apple waits. Then an employee of the store comes and takes the apple and places him in a box along with several of the other apples. That box goes into the dumpster. This is not intelligent behavior. Ask any farmer why he doesn't just give his produce to the community and you will get the same basic answer, "I can't afford it." And why didn't the homeless person just go and get those apples so they didn't go to waste? They couldn't afford it. Do you see?<br />
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If humanity would pool resources and work together, instead of competing amongst themselves for pieces of paper printed and controlled by a handful of people, this could be a much more wonderful and abundant planet. I have faith that humanity will overcome this veil and will free themselves of the imposed artificial scarcity.Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8977923146153115054.post-62198885017828343142010-08-29T23:41:00.000-07:002010-08-29T23:45:16.396-07:00So, what is really important?Importance doesn't come in the form of personal or business relations, or social status. Your business can go under and you'll find yourself with no income; just as you can be famous and still starve to death. If you found yourself on this planet and you knew nothing of social interactions would your first priority be to find a job? Of course not. So, what WOULD you do?<br />
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Fantastic as they are, physical bodies require a lot attention and energy to be maintained in tip-top condition. The physical body requires shelter from the elements, food, and water in order to survive. Since you agreed to occupy a physical body these are important things! <br />
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</div><div>The next set of blog-posts will be along the lines of physical survival and establishing importance.</div>Alex Raintreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17713833956974054146noreply@blogger.com3