STRANGE AND UNUSUAL FROM THE NET

April is the cruelest month 

Macbeth:
    To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
    Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
    To the last syllable of recorded time;
    And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
    The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
    Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
    That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
    And then is heard no more. It is a tale
    Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
    Signifying nothing.
    Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

NIGHTIME VIEW OF EARTH FROM SATELLITE

 

WALK-IN

An engineer with a terminal disease meets an angel of death who challenges the very premise of mortality by making a unique proposal.

WALK-IN Membership:
Help shape and mold the direction of a full length feature film. Se Raw Footage behind the scenes, clips from the movie set while it is being made, chat with directors, producers, cast members and crew. Upload your video audition for a role in the movie. Upload your music to be featured in the movie soundtrack.



The cost is around $500 to become a co-producer. Or, you could start your own production company. I suggest that Barry's idea about a ticket to survive the end-time on 12-21-2012 would be a great theme.

GOOGLE TRICKS

Tricks can save you time when researching online for your next project or just to find out what time it is across the world, so start using these right away. These are three of one hundred tricks.

   1. Convert units. Whether you want to convert currency, American and metric units, or any other unit, try typing in the known unit and the unknown unit to find your answer (like “how many teaspoons in a tablespoon” or “10 US dollars in Euros”).
   2. Do a timeline search. Use “view:timeline” followed by whatever you are researching to get a timeline for that topic.
   3. Get around blocked sites. If you are having problems getting around a blocked site, just type “cache:website address” with website address being the address of the blocked site to use Google’s cached copy to get where you are going.

STYLES OF DISTORTED THINKING

1. Filtering: You take the negative details and magnify them, while filtering out all positive aspects of a situation. A single detail may be picked out, and the whole event becomes colored by this detail. When you pull negative things out of context, isolated from all the good experiences around you, you make them larger and more awful than they really are.

2. Polarized Thinking: The hallmark of this distortion is an insistence on dichotomous choices. Things are black or white, good or bad. You tend to perceive everything at the extremes, with very little room for a middle ground. The greatest danger in polarized thinking is its impact on how you judge yourself. For example-You have to be perfect or you’re a failure.

3. Overgeneralization: You come to a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. If something bad happens once, you expect it to happen over and over again. ‘Always’ and ‘never’ are cues that this style of thinking is being utilized. This distortion can lead to a restricted life, as you avoid future failures based on the single incident or event.

4. Mind Reading: Without their saying so, you know what people are feeling and why they act the way they do. In particular, you are able to divine how people are feeling toward you. Mind reading depends on a process called projection. You imagine that people feel the same way you do and react to things the same way you do. Therefore, you don’t watch or listen carefully enough to notice that they are actually different. Mind readers jump to conclusions that are true for them, without checking whether they are true for the other person.

5. Catastrophizing: You expect disaster. You notice or hear about a problem and start “what if’s.” What if that happens to me? What if tragedy strikes? There are no limits to a really fertile catastrophic imagination. An underlying catalyst for this style of thinking is that you do not trust in yourself and your capacity to adapt to change.

6. Personalization: This is the tendency to relate everything around you to yourself. For example, thinking that everything people do or say is some kind of reaction to you. You also compare yourself to others, trying to determine who’s smarter, better looking, etc. The underlying assumption is that your worth is in question. You are therefore continually forced to test your value as a person by measuring yourself against others. If you come out better, you get a moment’s relief. If you come up short, you feel diminished. The basic thinking error is that you interpret each experience, each conversation, each look as a clue to your worth and value.

7. Control Fallacies: There are two ways you can distort your sense of power and control. If you feel externally controlled, you see yourself as helpless, a victim of fate. The fallacy of internal control has you responsible for the pain and happiness of everyone around you. Feeling externally controlled keeps you stuck. You don’t believe you can really affect the basic shape of your life, let alone make any difference in the world. The truth of the matter is that we are constantly making decisions, and that every decision affects our lives. On the other hand, the fallacy of internal control leaves you exhausted as you attempt to fill the needs of everyone around you, and feel responsible in doing so (and guilty when you cannot).

8. Fallacy of Fairness: You feel resentful because you think you know what’s fair, but other people won’t agree with you. Fairness is so conveniently defined, so temptingly self-serving, that each person gets locked into his or her own point of view. It is tempting to make assumptions about how things would change if people were only fair or really valued you. But the other person hardly ever sees it that way, and you end up causing yourself a lot of pain and an ever-growing resentment.

9. Blaming: You hold other people responsible for your pain, or take the other tack and blame yourself for every problem. Blaming often involves making someone else responsible for choices and decisions that are actually our own responsibility. In blame systems, you deny your right (and responsibility) to assert your needs, say no, or go elsewhere for what you want.

10. Shoulds: You have a list of ironclad rules about how you and other people should act. People who break the rules anger you, and you feel guilty if you violate the rules. The rules are right and indisputable and, as a result, you are often in the position of judging and finding fault (in yourself and in others). Cue words indicating the presence of this distortion are should, ought, and must.

11. Emotional Reasoning: You believe that what you feel must be true-automatically. If you feel stupid or boring, then you must be stupid and boring. If you feel guilty, then you must have done something wrong. The problem with emotional reasoning is that our emotions interact and correlate with our thinking process. Therefore, if you have distorted thoughts and beliefs, your emotions will reflect these distortions.

12. Fallacy of Change: You expect that other people will change to suit you if you just pressure or cajole them enough. You need to change people because your hopes for happiness seem to depend entirely on them. The truth is the only person you can really control or have much hope of changing is yourself. The underlying assumption of this thinking style is that your happiness depends on the actions of others. Your happiness actually depends on the thousands of large and small choices you make in your life.

13. Global Labeling: You generalize one or two qualities (in yourself or others) into a negative global judgment. Global labeling ignores all contrary evidence, creating a view of the world that can be stereotyped and one-dimensional. Labeling yourself can have a negative and insidious impact upon your self-esteem; while labeling others can lead to snap-judgments, relationship problems, and prejudice.

14. Being Right: You feel continually on trial to prove that your opinions and actions are correct. Being wrong is unthinkable and you will go to any length to demonstrate your rightness. Having to be ‘right’ often makes you hard of hearing. You aren’t interested in the possible veracity of a differing opinion, only in defending your own. Being right becomes more important than an honest and caring relationship.

15. Heaven’s Reward Fallacy: You expect all your sacrifice and self-denial to pay off, as if there were someone keeping score. You fell bitter when the reward doesn’t come as expected. The problem is that while you are always doing the ‘right thing,’ if your heart really isn’t in it, you are physically and emotionally depleting yourself.

--From Thoughts & Feelings by McKay, Davis, & Fanning. New Harbinger, 1981. These styles of thinking (or cognitive distortions) were gleaned from the work of several authors, including Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, and David Burns, among others.

BEING AND ISNESS

There was a beginning of time
There was a time before the beginning
of time. There was a time
before the time before
the beginning of time. There is being.
If there is being, there must be
non-being. If there is non-being,
there must have been a time when even
non-being didn't exist.
Suddenly there was non-being,
But can non-being really exist,
and can being not-exist?

I just said something.
But did what I just said really
say anything, or not?

From the Second Book of the Tao, by Stephen Mitchell

THREE CREATIVE INVENTIONS

YOU SEE THESE ALL THE TIME
DID YOU KNOW WHAT THEY MEAN?

annus mirabilis - wonderful year

arbiter elegantiae - judge of the elegant; one who knows the good things in life

bona fides - good faith; credentials

carpe diem - sieze the day; enjoy the present

casus belli - cause justifying a war

caveat emptor - buyer beware

cui bono? - for whose advantage?

de facto - of fact; it is

de gustibus non est disputandum - no disputing tastes; there is no accounting for taste

Dei gratia - by the grace of God

Deo gratias - thanks to God

Deo volente - God willing

dis aliter visum - it seemed otherwise to the gods

Dominus vobiscum - Lord be with you

dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - sweet and seemly it is to die for one’s country

ecce homo - behold man

ex cathedra - with authority

ex more - with or according to customs

exempli gratia - for example (e.g.)

genius loci - spirit of the location

hic et ubique - here and everywhere

hinc illae lacrimae - hence, those tears

humanum est errare - to err is human; human is to err

id est - that is (i.e.)

in extremis - at death

in hoc signo vinces - by this sign, you conquer

in loco parentis - in place of the parent

in medias res - into the middle of things; the heart of the matter

in omnia paratus - prepared for all; ready for anything

in perpetuum - forever; perpetually

in propia persona - in person; in one’s own life or words

in statu quo - as things were

in toto - entirely; in total

ipso jure - the law itself

jure divino - Divine law

labor omnia vincit - labor conquers all things; effort results in victory

laborare est orare - to work is to pray

laus Deo - praise God

loco citato - in the location cited

loquitur - he speaks

mens sana in corpore sano - of sound mind in a healthy body

meum et tuum - mine and yours

modus operandi - mode of operating

morituri te salutamus - we who are about to die, salute you

motu proprio - of one’s own accord; on your own

multum in parvo - there is much in little

nemo me impune lacessit - no one attacks me with impunity

nil admirari - wondering at nothing

nolens volens - willing or not

Nota Bene - note well; pay special attention to

omnia vincit amor - love conquers all

opere citato - in the volume cited; in the book cited

otium cum dignitate - leisure with dignity

passim - here and there

pater patriae - father of his country

pax vobiscum - peace be with you

persona non grata - unwelcome person

primus inter pares - first among equals

pro bono publico - for the public good

pro Deo et ecclesia - for God and the Church

pro forma - as a matter of form; standard

quod erat demonstrandum - which was demonstrated; that which was shown

requiescat in pace - rest in peace

sic - thus; so it was

sic passim - so throughout

sic semper tyrannis - thus always to tyrants

sine die - some day; not a particular time

sine quo non - without which, nothing; it is essential

tempus fugit - time flies

timeo Danaos et dona ferentes - I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts

verbatim et literatim - word for word, letter for letter 

Three years of Latin and I didn't know most of these. Memorize a few of these and drop them into your conversation or writing. Should make you look very learned. Like maybe you survived one of Chuck's classes.

MORE STRANGE WEBSITES

http://www.solarsystemscope.com/
You gotta see this!!! 3D animated Solar Scope of the entire solar system. Will blow your mind.

USED FRYPAN

Does this look like a new planet? Sorry, it is only a sample of a website that shows ... get this ... the bottoms of used frypans!


http://www.johnnolanfilms.com/animatronics/showreel-flash.php
Amazing animations for film. Is it real or is it animatronics?

http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ2.html
1.1   What is lucid dreaming?
1.2   Is lucid dreaming the same as dream control?
1.3*   How are lucid dreams related to out-of-body experiences (OBEs)?
2.1   Why have lucid dreams?
    2.1.1   Adventure and fantasy
    2.1.2   Overcoming nightmares
    2.1.3   Rehearsal
    2.1.4*   Creativity and problem solving
    2.1.5   Healing
    2.1.6   Transcendence
2.2   Can lucid dreaming be dangerous?
3.1   Can everyone learn to have lucid dreams?
3.2   How do I learn to have lucid dreams?
    3.2.1   Dream recall
    3.2.2   Reality testing
    3.2.3   Dreamsigns
    3.2.4   Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams (MILD)
    3.2.5   Napping
3.3   How quickly can I learn lucid dreaming?
3.4   What technology is available to assist lucid dreaming training?
    3.4.1*   NovaDreamer
3.5   How well do lucid dream induction devices work?
3.6   Are there any drugs or nutritional supplements that stimulate lucid dreams?
3.7   How can I prevent waking up as soon as I become lucid?
4.1   What are the best resources for learning more about lucid dreaming?
4.2*   Where can I find lucid dreaming workshops?
4.3*   What is the Lucidity Institute?
4.4   What qualifies the Lucidity Institute to write this FAQ?
4.5   What is the Lucidity Institute membership society?
4.6*   What are the Lucidity Institute’s current research projects?
4.7   How can I get involved with lucid dreaming research?
4.8   Why does the Lucidity Institute charge money for lucid dream training?
4.9   How can I contact the Lucidity Institute?

See you next month! Please send notices and comments to this blog. We welcome outside authors to contribute. The contents of this newsletter does not necessarily represent the thoughts or beliefs of the blogger. All information contained herein is meant to stimulate thoughts and inspire readers to search for more information on their own. Is there any subject you want covered? Write us at chrysalisgarden@gmail.com
Wherever possible photos and text are attributed to the original authors.