Posted by frappyjohn on 2010-01-17 04:12:16:

Finally a rationale for my life of underachievement

I'm currently reading Doing Nothing: A history of loafers, loungers, slackers, and bums in America, by Tom Lutz. It's actually a very interesting book on the nature of work and its relevance, or irrelevance, to living a good life. A lot about how the industrial revolution changed the nature of work, the resulting alienation, and the many political, literary, and philosophical schools since which have rebelled against our work-oriented culture (not just Mr. Marx!).

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Posted by creativemindsunion on 2010-01-21 14:47:20:

Youth in Revolt or Just Freedom of Expression with Little Direction?

So... Even though we all know the Anarchist and/or Self-Made Individual is purely built by the investment of time, finance, and resources .... what do folks think about this? Martin Atkins believes he’s beginning a revolution. Fed up with traditional educational systems, believing academia doesn’t adapt quickly enough to properly educate students and challenge their minds, he’s bringing chaos into the classroom through his new school, launched last summer, Revolution Number Three.

Atkins is a music-industry veteran. A member of bands such as Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface and Killing Joke, he’s also run his own independent label for two decades and has taught—most recently at Columbia College—courses on the behind-the-scenes aspects of the music business, like the logistics of touring. Last Spring Atkins helped re-brand Columbia’s student-run record label, AEMMP, the subject of a 2009 Newcity cover story.

Atkins is quick to note that he “doesn’t have all the answers. Te... (read and comment)

Posted by frappyjohn on 2008-09-01 02:50:07:

A poem by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice-- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. "Mend my life!" each voice cried. But you didn't stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do-- determined to save the only life you could save.

Mary Oliver ... (read and comment)