Not Average

Not an Average Man

J and i had hard ons for lance when we lived in boulder, and that was when he won the TdFrance the first 4 times. I remember reading an article about the horror of chemo, and how it affected his simple actions, even urination. He said that because urinating was so painful, he convinced himself that the pain was a result of the cancer cells exiting his system. He would visualize these ugly cells, and every treacherous moment of urination became an action toward which he looked, each time, pushing disease out of his body. Beating the odds every time, with grace and pain and horror behind him. I really don't care about any of the press i see about lance. He can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants and ultimately he'll still be one of my only contemporary male heroes. He's in good company, surrounded by some powerful women, but Lance Armstrong - a powerful man - is unwittingly part of my support network.

mp3 for the occasion: Only from White Teeth, NIN

Average

It's the word of the day. Some average quotes:

The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.
- Anatole France

The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is.
- Robert Schuller

When you're average, you're just as close to the bottom as you are the top.
- Alfred North Whitehead

The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.
- Colin Wilson

The average American's day planner has fewer holes in it than Ray Charles's dart board.
- Dennis Miller

So many people comment that I'm much more mature than average. In this business, you can get taken advantage of if you're not aware and you're not tough.
- Amanda Bynes

What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.
- Sigmund Freud

People are what you make them. A scornful look turns into a complete fool a man of average intelligence. A contemptuous indifference turns into an enemy a woman who, well treated, might have been an angel.
- Andre Maurois

Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.
- Fran Lebowitz

That's The Way

That's The Way

I saw Robert Plant last night, under a rising full moon, on the waters of the San Diego Bay. I've been flying on a high ever since, not the kind i get after a rock show, but the kind that can only be fulfilled by falling witness to an event i've waited over 15 years to experience. First off, to get it out of the way, his band is mighty excellent - not too clean, not too cookie cutter, psychadelic enough and dirty enough to pull off ALL the zeppelin plant sang. And he sang more Zep than was expected. In fact, here's the setlist, from memory, i believe i am forgetting some things....but such is the way of a good show sans pen and paper in hand.

Plant/ San Diego/ Embarcadero - July 21, 2005

No Quarter
Shine It All Around
Black Dog
Freedom Fries
White Rabbit
That's The Way
Hey Hey What Can I Do
Tin Pan Alley
4stix
Gallow's Pole
Mighty Rearranger
When The Levee Breaks
Wonderful Enchanter
Whole Lotta Love


and here's the thing. I cried like a baby during That's The Way. i'd waited more than half my life to hear this song live, to hear all those zep songs live, sung by the Legend himself.....last night some magic happened. Plant's range is in tact! i heard a low register, a high register, signature wailing, and the psychadelia of Whole Lotta Love which can turn even a SaltPetered male into a horny tiger. Thanks Robert.

That's The Way It Oughtta Stayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Fight or Flight

our former foe

An emergency reaction in which the body prepares for combat or escape from potentially dangerous situations, animals, or people.


some steps we can take to move out of fight or flight and into loving actions are:

1. notice the physical sensations within your body that let you know when you are anxious or afraid.

2. breathe

3. you would not be in fight or flight without being in fear. Ask yourself (or your friend) what you are afraid of and explore it.

4. do something fun or nurturing for yourself

5. examine the process of thinking, put negative thoughts and assumptions based on stress and fear into a positive phrase, and say it out loud or write it down.

6. Be like the squirrel.

mp3: "Little Acorns" The White Stripes

Yahrtzeit