Impulsive Investigation

the fall fruits of today’s wild temper-

Be like your father: act on an impulse
Be like your grandfather: investigate with great enthusiasm
Be like yourself as a child: i’m starting new projects!

follow your own wild, physical, creative instinct

why chancetraveler?

“Chance Traveler” is the title of a story by Haruki Murakami in which he considers the power of chance coincidences in our lives. In his story, Murakami relates two curious incidents involving his personal passion for jazz music and uses them to preface a charmingly human story of a friend, a first-rate piano tuner, who himself experienced a life-changing series of coincidental events. I have chosen “Chance Traveler” as my blog title and online pseudonym because of my own personal love for the beauty of coincidence and its importance in my life.

It's like when you read a book with an intriguing plot and find those same events strangely playing out in your own life. Or when you meet an old acquaintance at an unusual place and at an unusual time- after they have just been on your mind. Or when you discover that two things you love are surprisingly closely connected, like your favorite band being deeply influenced by your favorite novel.

These are the chance coincidences in our daily travels and adventures (or time spent lounging around, whatever), when we see how everything is connected. The I Ching, or Chinese Book of Changes, is concerned with the idea of what is known in Jungian theory as synchronicity- or how things connect to one another in unexpected ways. These chance encounters are everywhere in our earthly stratosphere, right there in the very crust of our backyards, let's just look for them. It’s often the simplest of these coincidental experiences that throw us awesome.

So as a “Chance Traveler” it’s all about getting out there and living and experiencing it Now and loving (and loathing) every bit of it. I have taken the phrase for my own name because I have made it my human business to travel in search of such beautiful life simplicities and point them out and do back-flips over them, because they so clearly reveal the wonder of life on earth. so Go live! experience it! And remember the small things! and the way that everything is connected!

Perhaps the master explained it best-

“ ‘That’s the key. And you know, this thought crossed my mind at the time: maybe chance is a pretty common thing after all. Those kinds of coincidences are happening all around us, all the time, but most of them don’t catch our attention and we just let them go by. It’s like fireworks in the daytime. You might hear a faint sound, but even if you look up at the sky you can’t see a thing. But if we’re really hoping something may come true, it may become visible, like a message rising to the surface. Then we’re able to make it out clearly, decipher what it means. And seeing it before us we’re surprised and wonder at how strange things like this can happen. Even though there’s nothing strange about it. I just can’t help thinking that. What do you think?’ ” -from “Chance Traveler” by Haruki Murakami

An Adventure

so we rolled into high point and it was a fucking hurricane!
the ghost city was wind-swept
ripping windows straight through whatever grip on reality i might have had

split thrilled grin
splatter rain and chilly mist,
mysteriously chill
and cool
after baking sweat at 3000' Celsius

the train depot let us breathe
and soak in the sights
and sounds
and vibes
as we swung from railings on the breeze-way
thunder rumbling on the tracks beneath us

and the lightning in the not-so-distant Now
not a threat,
but a guarantee
that the bustling business suits and briefcases of the
bermuda circus
were only crouching still behind concrete walls,
undetected eyeballs in the foliage of the grey-blue cityscape
watching curiously and cautiously
as we danced on kicks
softly
under our golden-orange rooftops
in the air of the cold blue indian summer

A Wild Sheep Chase

As with my previous post about Kerouac, there are probably more interesting insights to offer about this book, but my excitement about Murakami's style is simply too much to handle!- it just spewed ink all over this blank page in this sketchbook, with some sort of maniacal laugh i think, so i have ventured and seen that i must transfer this to digital, because the words have flowed through lava tubes of beautiful craftwork and up magma shafts of skillful beautymake from that sweet-awesome novel of his, and too much dangerous volcanic excitement has built up inside me. Mt. Fuji- man those vibrations are powerful!

the way he includes the perfect details of life and paints them together in a thoughtful shape so that this Clear vibe is created.

also the elements:
love story
adventure story
mysterious mystery story
picture of life story

with letters, introspection, outrospection, dialogue, characterizing, and more!

plus the Murakami signature whimisical elements of pure childish joy and crazy and it all, but often in the way of a coffee-drinking almost-thirty-something who likes the grey rainy beach and quiet bus rides to nice art museums, and chaos and love

and it's all just got this CLEAR BEAUTIFUL VIBE!

the great debate

Biden was real and direct. Hilary cooler than i thought. Obama the idea master. And Edwards was a joke:

"I don't know what rich is." - Senator John Edwards

How about this snippet from the local News & Record:

"...the former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee seems to be doing his darndest to make the case that he is a wee bit of a phony. Whether fairly or not, Edwards' $400 haircut; his $491,000 income from part-time work at a Wall Street hedge fund specializing in the financial techniques that he decries; and now word he collected a $55,000 speaking fee for discussing the evils of poverty raises that question"

Funny stuff! (or scary stuff?)

Babel Babble

This film destroyed me. Beautifully poignant and sad. Gorgeous looking and sounding. These lives of sand just falling to the wind.

Did anyone else notice the character connections with works by the awesome wordmaster Haruki Murakami?

-characters in the Japan scenes such as Haruki and Lieutenant Mamiya.

the flaming lips

The Flaming Lips were amazing and beautiful, with Wayne being the wonderful gentleman that he is and a crowd of the happiest folks. With lazers, conffetti, balloons, lights- it looked like "a goddamn circus up there"- all loud with sweat, and inspiration, everyone singing and screaming our lungs to greeting smiles, high pitch! and low-pitch., peace signs and rock signs, plus slow sing-a-longs with piano-toothed faces.

ready-SET-go!:
Ta! Da! - racing! for prizes of blissful grins - tapsmir - the TEST began - all of it RAD and FREE, battling robots TWICE with beautiful Yoshimi, then tracing veins of stars with our own pointed lights, stravinsky?, and hopeful politics (Yeah Yeah Yeah we vented our frustration!), with Taps he rallied our hearts and spirits in somber reflection, but Superman! Pompeii eruptions- reminiscing about loving about Jelly - Then we realized! (everyone) Encore w/ CC II, THE W.A.N.D. motherfuckers! and finally, beautiful delicious spoonfuls of happiness that had us leaving, bodies weighted with tons of hope and
love,
love,
love...


I've never seen a room of happier people, all just rocking out with the nicest dudes this side of the universe- The Flaming Lips.

do something rad!

and check out The People, Yes! - an awesome project that's gonna help people talk, and yell, and whisper, and get their voices Heard - VOTE for it: The People, Yes!

do it man!

(word.)

“I earn my living.
I make enough to get by
And it takes all my time.
If I had more time
I could do more for myself and maybe for others.
I could read and study
And talk things over
And find out about things.
It takes time.
I wish I had the time.”

- Carl Sandburg, "The People, Yes"

fortune cookie!

So me and my bros ate at a delish Chinese kitchen during the show last night and the nice folks gave us all sweet fortune cookies, mine reading:

"In life, it’s good not to get too comfortable."

Hey, i like it! it’s good to keep on the move, embrace change, challenge yourself, and constantly view things in a different perspective.

(it’s sort of optimistic isn’t it? almost promising change as change is inevitable)

My guitar teacher (who also happens to be Chinese) encourages us to "worry about not what you like, but what you don’t like", particularly when applied to viewing art, music, literature, film, etc. In other words, don’t get too comfortable with your own tastes, but strive to experience things that make you at least uncomfortable or even cause you to burn with hatred and disgust. And if you don’t like something, give reasons. Keep an open-mind and strive to understand things- "worry about not what you know, but what you don’t know". So i’m going to try and not get too comfortable, take a chance, and keep traveling.

Also:

"Learn Chinese- Baseball = Bang-qiu"
"Lucky Numbers- 40, 28, 33, 1, 41, 9"

“Who makes more money, a ‘Psykeiser’ or a ‘Psychogist’?”

According to my panhandling pal "Stutter Boss" (he’s a professional like Kobe Bryant and a good guy), Psychiatrists are more qualified than Psychologists, as their PhD’s require more schooling, and they can prescribe medication. However, he says, regardless of their educational background, how can anyone say something is wrong with his mind when they didn’t make him? And it’s a very valid point. He argues that if they had made him, like you would make an android or a computer, then he can understand how their diagnosis could be credible. Just like technicians find problems with any sort of machinery that they have created; they can then derive the appropriate diagnosis and apply the proper methods of solution because they know the machine inside and out. Man vs. Machine, you know the drill... So how can they truly say something is wrong with his mind when they know nothing really about the still mysterious and miraculous creation of man? How can anybody really say anything when they know nothing? Yes, even with modern science. But it’s ok, I’ll say all I want, an I hope you do too, just don’t mess with Willie "Stutter Boss", Jr. ‘cause he’s a good guy.

Kerouac's style!

So i’m reading On the Road, and while i’m only about a third of the way through the book, and while there are probably many more interesting insights i could discuss inside and outside of its pages, i can’t help but share my excitement as i read Jack Kerouac’s style:

the way he creates the mind-set -
leaving questions unanswered
leaving nouns undescribed and adjectives floating in yer brain-space
illustrating entire events with short sentences that say nothing but say it all
catching little details and little motions and little moments and movements that seem sparse and scattered in the grand scheme of things, but convey so much!
And the excitement! (and the sadness) of the language! the jargon, the dialect

And All of it so simply and wildly-descriptive, telling the story of what happened- and putting you THERE!

eureka!

Over the past several Saturdays I have made a (ritual?) of spending the late nite and early morning hours watching anime on Adult Swim. Aside from growing more and more attracted to the vibe of these shows I’ve also grown particularly fond of this note which appears (classic [as] style, white on black background) before the broadcasting of Eureka 7.


"Just in case that last disclaimer wasn't enough, this episode contains extreme violence.
We would rather run this than cut the violence from the episode because we are American Cowboys."


And I like it because its real. Of late, I've been more aware of, if not more exposed to, the rough and tough American spirit. And I like it. Its growing on me. While I have a lot of beef with particular facets of American morality, that kind of burly, masculine, gung-ho, fu manchu business is pretty rad.

Prime Example: Teddy Brosevelt- our bombastic, energetic cowboy of a 26th president. The Bull Moose was a tough, mustached "Rough Rider", hunted large game (like humans), and was even once shot in the chest and insisted to deliver his scheduled speech (from a torn and bloodstained manuscript nestled in his vest pocket) before visiting the hospital. Although not necessarily the qualities we would want ourselves or our children to take on, his crazy and somewhat legendary characteristics are at least admirable if taken with levity, in a sort of wierd, fun way.

The particular “American spirit” that I speak of encompasses probably more than one attitude, mind-set, feeling, emotion, or personality, and can surface in a variety of situations in various forms and levels of intensity. However, when you experience it, you know it. And recently, it has many times and in many ways made itself known to my conscious mind, sometimes inconspicuously working through the subconscious first, and other times yelling through my eyeballs, electrically demanding immediate attention.

As portrayed in Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" this “American spirit” was embraced by the Merry Pranksters on their cross-country escapades and search for [ ]. ("A search that, I hope, will take me where I'm likely to find it"). Contrary to some of the other enlightenment seekers of the generation, there was something very American about these day-glo crazies, and that no-rules mind-set, the energy of that rough and tough, balls-out attitude, was often the vehicle for their many adventures Furthur into the human experience. Illuminated by Neal Cassady and Ken Kesey- big tough dudes themselves- they put everything "out front" and lived.

The hardcore music scene also tends to attract dudes that are into being tough, being interested in tough stuff, and giving killer bear hugs, because it's all about brodom, fun and rocking out. Oddly enough, the vibe seems often to be rooted in a [wacky?] sense of youthful Southern pride.

Also the word- blunt.

We all know them. And recently, I seem to have become more and more surrounded by them. Whether it be my guitar teacher and his kung-fu disciplinary methods, television's biggest bad-ass Anthony Bourdain, or the main character in Albert Camus' "The Stranger", a person who can demand that kind of honesty from himself is admirable.


or the words- brutal, raw.

Take The Godfather for instance-
How would you feel if you woke up, covered in horse's blood, in it, wet, with la cabeza,
lying,
eyes gaping,
at your feet?

Or recently, The Departed-
And who knew when that
elevator opened
not just one
or two
but three!
shots would fire?
in a fragment of time the entire world of that movie was flipped upside down.

Why such violence is so compelling I can't be sure, but I think it has something to do with a light-hearted understanding of the rough and tough American spirit, or the rough and tough Human spirit.

But, like anything else it's always best in moderation. Because sometimes, I like being a monk too.

space, grier, and living

About a week ago my friend decided to free himself. This was what he had to say:


this is goodbye - March 8, 2007 6:06 PM

I, MR. Mottram, am leaving myspace. I have found that nothing good comes out of myspace. Myspace users will soon find better things to do than to spend hours at a time on the computer - which simply is wasting time. And when that time comes, myspace will be left with nothing; quite the thing it deserves since it gave us, the people, nothing. We have to learn what to do with our time, and with that, step up to the plate. Think on it. Respect your time with caution. You will soon see. Goodbye lingerers.


Earlier that same day the school superintendent Mr. Moloch ("What sphinx of cement and aluminum bashed open their skulls and ate up their brains and imagination?") visited our facility, stirred up a bit of a ruckus, and I must admit had me feeling pretty politically charged. So I was prompted to respond to my brotherman’s bulletin and here is the content of that post sans a few "well done sir"s:


RE: this is goodbye - March 8, 2007 8:15 PM

and perhaps hello?

adam smith would not approve of your valiant nonconformist dismissal of the system, laissez-faire in reverse you could say, hands-off the evils of this machinery, a wretched machinery whose cogs and wheels are oiled unceasingly by the wasted minutes of the youth, a machinery that manufactures social plague and disease. you my friend, have at least turned your ear away from the monotonous, dangerously mesmerizing hum of this machine, even perhaps loosened a screw, and at best thrown a wrench in the system. i am hopeful as you greet this world now, with open ears, free from the constant ringing, blinding buzz. and that your example may be a thought for the rest of us, for thought unusually usually precedes action, and that we may soon wield our own monkey-wrenches. right or wrong.


This response was half serious-concern, half satirical-rant, but I thought there might be some interesting thoughts and truths among all the machinery-capitalism-half-bologna. And I also believe that wasted time on the computer, particularly myspace, is part, maybe just a small part, but a part nonetheless of what keeps me from getting out there and living [because thats all i (really) want to do]. But, thats a more real discussion for a more real time (later!).

NOTICE

The following comes from a leaf in my moleskin journal inked a while back, but now i hope it might serve as a preface (NOTICE) for this blog:


so much
goes unwritten
...
but hopefully,
someday soon,
the recent states
of mind
and matter
the happenings
the [ ]
will be
transmitted
broadcasted
over various (happy) mediums
live / recorded messages
to be received
and interpreted
by other antennas
(ha, as we lift our skinny fists)


my intent is that this blogspot might serve as one of those (happy) mediums. And while there indeed will be much that goes unwritten, i hope this corner of the web will become an outlet for me to share various thoughts, ideas, rants, writings, polished compositions, spontaneous shouts, pieces of junk, and words that might actually be saying something.

While I approach this endeavor with a mixture of apprehension as well as excitement, hesitation as well as enthusiasm, I hope that I might learn to sing this Song of Myself with the same spirit as Walt Whitman did when he wrote:

"I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy."

thank you to those who read, and to those who inspire me to write!

People are cool.
-jm!