Commitments of training the mind

11 Do not retaliate to verbal abuse.
13 Do not offend others.
14 Do not transfer your own faults or burdens onto others.
16 Do not aim at bieng the first to get the best.
18 Do not seek happiness by causing unhappiness to others.

being happy is constant maintenance

give people a break

or, give people the benefit of the doubt

one of the greatest vices

is to oversimplify people

boredom can be a positive motivator

or, keeping interested doesn't mean keeping productive

anything can be spun good or bad in retrospect

"they have too much time on their hands"

who doesn't?

amazing food

Jimmy Johns: the vegetarian on wheat with extra guacamole and the tuna
Tomato: Tomato Special slice
Thai Ocha: green curry with tofu
Campus: bratwurst with sauerkraut and relish and deli mustard

Do I contradict myself?

Very well, then I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes.
Walt Whitman

art lessons from figure drawing

1) the smaller faces are, the harder it is to make them accurate representations
2) if i have not much time, don't feel like i've failed if i don't make the face accurate, just do it anyways
3) work on all-over composition

avoid people stew

meeting people around denton i notice there's some social circles that remain very incestuous, you'll see the same faces with the same faces over and over. sometimes it's almost immediately apparent, as if the room you just had walked in has been there forever, containing the same people, the same conversations, the same dynamics, for eternity. someone's pressed freeze on these people's gray lives, and they don't seem to care. for the most part, whenever i'm in these situations, i go into observer mode. there's a very certain code of that their behavior follows: types of jokes, types of questions, types of reactions to others, acceptable mannerisms. usually it's very inward-looking and circular, not my thing at all.

on the other hand, whatever comes out of these close-knit small communities is potent and highly saturated. when it's not drama it can be ridiculously creative. avoid getting sucked in, but keep watching for output.

don't ever say no to a reasonable invitation to do something that might be fun.

"This is a WASP rule, and one of the reasons why rich white people rule the planet."

make it first, analyze later

"Gondry talked about how his friends ask him for advice on projects. He felt that it was very important to do two things: one, finish projects you start; two, start projects. Somehow his reversed order of priority made sense. It was crucial to him that if you begin to execute an idea, you must take it to completion. He warned against doubting whether an idea was good or interesting enough; again, it was more important to finish. In some ways, it's an old Media Lab theme: make it first, analyze later. Gondry summed it up with what I thought was the quote of the night, as he advised his friends to just do it: "There's nothing not cool enough." His slightly odd phrasing only made it more memorable."

look people in the eyes

writing helps depression

visceral from the gut writing. fuck the manicured typing shit. spill it out, and if it doesnt seem spilled enough, spill some more. type some, write some, do whatever. just get it out.

asking for help is not a sign of weakness

it is a tacit recognition that we are all in it together, that we are inseperable from others. our bond to fellow human beings should be seen as a sign of strength.

doin' it to do it

i will do it