Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Wow, over four months since my last entry. I’d like to say that I’ve been busy traveling the world (well I did kind of do that), playing rock shows, and going to umm dinner with super models (or porn starlets). Obviously that’s not the case, but it’s not that I didn’t have anything to write about, I always have something to say. I just feel no momentous change has occurred in my life. Actually, that’s precisely it. I’ll write an article about my perpetual stagnation. This should be a big hit. Even better, I’ll leave it intentionally vague and as impersonal as possible. I’ll then base it around emotions since they are the foundation of the human psyche (maybe they’re not, I made that up). Okay, on with the rant.Yep, it’s amazing how tedious the process of change can be.
It’s almost like our personas have been programmed by some divine computer, and no matter how hard we try to break free from certain negative emotions, we keep finding ourselves latching onto them time and time again. Whatever the specific emotion(s) may be, it almost feels like a hopeless conquest to defeat the one thing that causes us our most unhappiness – our selves. Think about it for a second. The subjective states of our own reality can be interpreted in many different lights. Obviously something that irks you can have little to no effect on someone else. Some people are more prone to anger, depression, jealousy, anxiety and an entire cluster fuck of negative emotions (I’ve always wanted to use cluster fuck in a sentence). Whether or not these emotions are learned behaviors from early childhood or perhaps biological traits is a mystery to me. But that’s really beside the point. What we’re talking about here is change. Change within the self can occur; it just takes a lot of time, and even more effort.
During the process of willful change one begins to become disgruntled. They begin to think ‘Is it even desirable to change? I am who I am; I was just born that way. Will I still be me if I change? What if these negative emotive states can actually increase my overall level of happiness; because we all know life is not as sweet without the sour…right?’ In actuality all these points are moot. Worthless emotions like anger, depression, jealousy and so forth do nothing for anyone - All they are is excess baggage (it’s a real burden to carry around, and has a tendency of getting in the way of others). The end result isn’t a bad back, but a feeling of isolation in our own self created hell.
As for me, I haven’t changed one damn bit (okay maybe a smidge) – but knowing the enemy is half the battle. You know, come to think of it, the process of change is so much fucking work. If you’re not out there constantly kicking your negative thoughts in the ass progress will never be achieved. I’m going to continue writing these blogs more regularly now; something inspired me to do so. I know I could make them far more entertaining to read, but sometimes I think I take my life far too seriously.
Po - memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: articles
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Wake Up America: my response to VT
I feel like I should write something regarding the Virginia Tech shootings, but what’s to say that hasn’t already been said?We have:
1) Gun enthusiasts proclaiming their ‘right’ to carry around concealed weapons to defend themselves against ‘evil-doers’
2) Violent movies, videogames, television shows, and music taking blame
3) Anti-gun advocates declaring stiffer gun laws
* Plus an entire slew of other things I’m forgetting/neglecting to mention
We are being bombarded with a tornado of contradicting opinions; some downright retarded. While I remain a liberal on most (if not all social issues) I realize it’s not that hard for someone to kill another. Sure, they can make it more difficult to obtain weapons;
However, anyone with enough willpower shouldn’t have too much trouble eventually getting one. As for the red neck conceal and carry propaganda; if you believe that every hot-tempered American should wield a pistol to restore order, then, well, maybe you should have lived during the fucking wild-wild-west. So what’s our country’s problem? Why is there so much violence?
Living in the United States we often lose touch with the human experience. We live in a culture of one (ourselves). Whatever happened to “love thy neighbor” (sorry, last time you will ever see me use a biblical quote to make a point)? Our new mentality is “Screw the neighbor, I’ve got a bigger house!”
We have created artificial boundaries by competing with one another to achieve a feeling of superiority. In the end, this blind and faulty pursuit towards 'happiness' is stripping us bare of all the things that truly matter in life. We end up walking around like zombies, lost in our own shallow thoughts, breeding contempt, and envy for others; ultimately resulting in hopelessness, which is what this gunman was….hopeless.
Believing in an intrinsic goodness is sometimes a hard apple for me to swallow, but I surely believe we can be conditioned to THINK in a certain way. If our culture consistently stressed a compassionate view towards others (instead of the polar opposite), I think we’d live in a far more peaceful place. Sure we’d still have the occasional mass-murder, (as I’m not saying this specific incident wouldn’t have happened) but from a macro view we’d be a heck of a lot better off.
I’m not really sure where I’m getting with this. In fact, I’ve probably made a lot of vague statements made up of my own ridiculous opinions, but it's late and I'm tired of writing. Until next time kids.
Labels: articles
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Tell me all your thoughts on god
Nihilism vs. A Collective Consciousness
Conclusion
Po - memoriesforsale@blogspot.com
Labels: articles
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Narration: Discovering Life
By Ryan Pochedly 10-5-2005When my life
Ended, as yours undoubtedly will
Someday,
I found myself in the middle
Of a dimly lit auditorium.
I was alone, sitting
On a plush red seat, rows
Back from a vast movie
Screen, blank
White, this cinema,
Was missing the smell of popcorn
And hushed whispers.
The lights flickered, faded
And died, one by one.
A projector from the rear,
In a clanky discharge,
Rumbled, squeaked and spun its reels.
The screen crackled and flickered,
As a beacon of pale
Light sloped downward,
Casting my life upon its continuous
Surface.
I sat
In my current state watching
My movie, my production.
Unlike a Hollywood script,
It was uneventful. A series
Of repeating moments, meaningless
Clips of everyday life. I saw myself,
Over and over walking down
Sidewalks, across streets.
I witnessed the October leaves scraping
Pavement. And, instead of ignoring the way light
Attached to an object,
Through the panes of a window
In the afternoon
Sun, I saw for the first time
Its ever present beauty.
I fell in love again,
With a stranger in every scene.
I’d notice the way she’d
Nervously bite her lip.
Or how she walked dauntlessly
Through a strip mall unaware
That her shadow could
Cover a man’s sun for eternity.
I watched old baseball games
Recalling the worn out dugouts and sandy
Infields. I saw a ball hit to right
Field. The boy who couldn’t catch a fly
Was staring at the dandelions
As if he knew something
That we didn’t.
I relived it all. Every
Strand of nearly forgotten
Memories, so blameless
And fragile.
Labels: poems
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Oh, but there's more to life than "fucking"
Let’s be clear. This is not an article on the meaning of life. This is merely an argument against an idea that many Atheists seem to hold true pertaining to our existence.Many people believe the reason behind human existence is simply to reproduce. This is flawed logic. Some folks in support of this idea are quick to make human evolutionary comparisons to that of insects and other forms of primitive life. It is clear that these creatures chief principle of being is indeed to prolong the life of the species. However, there is one fundamental characteristic that primitive life forms lack and that is intelligence. I think we can all agree that many species act almost entirely on instinct.
We may indeed be the products of our environment but we also have a much deeper understanding of ‘self’ (more so than any other species occupying this planet). I think it’s safe to assume that ants don’t think in terms of “I” or “we”. Western culture specifically embraces the individual and not the collective whole. Generally speaking the main goal of the human psyche is to achieve a merely subjective state of “happiness”. Happiness and pleasure seeking are universal and somewhat selfish cravings that every human has. This is why we surround ourselves with the things that we enjoy.
Humans are not having children to ‘save the species’ we are having children to fulfill certain personal and environmental desires. If the main goal of our existence was to reproduce do you think birth control and other contraceptive devices would be so prevalent in our society? Do you think so many of us would have sexual relationships with others (using contraceptive devices) if we weren’t doing so to merely achieve a state of pleasure?
I don’t claim to know all the answers, but I can assure the close minded Atheist (as I use to be one) that there is much more to human consciousness than instinctual reproductive data programmed into our minds.
NOTE: I am not implying that all Atheists are close minded. I am also not implying that I myself am not at least partially Atheist (yes, I know, it’s quite the paradox). I just generally notice Atheists making these false accusations as opposed to religious people that feel there is a truth to their reality (which is an entirely different topic).
Po – memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: articles
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Back From AC
Hey all. I just got back from Atlantic City last night with my cousin Joe. We crammed like sardines into a Greyhound bus at 3am and arrived at our destination (after changing buses numerous times) about twelve hours later.Atlantic City has over a dozen multi-million dollar casinos that stretch for miles across the New Jersey coastline. The blaze of bright lights shined down ironically over a run-down ghetto. It was a sad display of some of the worst aspects of capitalism. Poker didn’t go as good as I imagined it would. I’ll spare you my bad beat stories. I finished up overall in the cash games but failed to cash in a $220 tourney right off the bat and was a few from the bubble in a late night tourney at the Taj. This is one of the few times I didn’t pay for trip expenses through poker winnings on one of my excursions and I actually finished down a small amount in those games.
Overall, it was still fun to get out of Ohio for awhile. However, on my next trip I plan on getting far away from the stress and grind of poker. The game is still enjoyable to me but it’s been “my job” for quite some time now. How many of you (insert your job task here) on your ‘vacations’?
Po – memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: me
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Goodbye 2006...
While the end of 2006 is merely symbolic, it represents closure to certain things as well as endless possibilities in all of our lives. 2007 will bring a new year, a “fresh start”, and hopefully plenty of sober and non-sober memories. Yeah, that sounded sappy. The following is a list of things I’d like to accomplish in the upcoming year:Travel + Experience:
Go to Japan. This is pretty definite as long as Tom & Amanda still want me to visit when the time comes. I truly think this could be a defining moment to my year, if not my life, as well as a chance to catch up with one of my oldest friends.
Travel to Vegas this summer and play in a $1000-$1500 buy in World Series of Poker circuit event. It would be an amazing opportunity to play with some of the games best poker players as well as a prime opportunity for me to cash in a live event.
Back packing. I haven’t done any real camping since my one year stint in the cub scouts in the second grade. I’ve always done the traditional ‘K-mart’ camping trip during Memorial Day weekends, but this will be different, a few days in the wilderness with nothing but my friends, a backpack, and a couple bottles of liquor.
Spirit:
I’ve been doing a lot of reading on Buddhism lately. I don’t like to think of it as a religion but as a ‘life philosophy’. It stresses a lot of things that I already find important. I hope to continue to gain insight on its main principles and practices.
Friendship:
I’d like to maintain and develop my current friendships. This year has seen a few new friendships and the deepening of existing ones. I anticipate 07’ will bring more of the same.
Body:
I’ve been working out or trying to maintain a certain degree of physical fitness for most of my life. However, the past few years have only seen sporadic spurts of workout and exercise without any noticeable gains or a ‘commitment to excellence’ (to quote Matt Jordan’s high school football spiel). In 07’ I hope to attain a 275lb bench press, as I peaked out at 250 earlier this year. I suppose a bit of running wouldn’t kill me either.
** Oh yeah, I hope to maintain this stupid blog too.
PS: I’d like to say thanks to my closest friends – the few the proud. You guys made 2006 a great year.
-Po memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: me
Death of a Dictator
Thousands of rednecks and warmongers here in America are almost certainly celebrating the death of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was hanged last night in Iraq. His death to some, including our president, signifies “an important milestone on Iraq’s course to becoming a democracy that can govern, sustain, and defend itself.” While I remain reasonably moderate in my stance on the death penalty for such a diabolical tyrant, I think that ironically such a barbaric and gruesome death is a step in the wrong direction. His passing, if anything, is a simple reminder that brutality and hatefulness still run rampant in this new ‘democracy’. A life is a life regardless of how horrible the being may have been. By using this ancient and flawed “eye-for-an-eye” mentality the new Iraqi government isn’t embracing peace and advancement as a society, it is simply fueling the fire for dangerous riots, hatred, and confusion - Just what the world needs more of. Po – memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: articles
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Generation Emo - "Yuck"
I try to keep an open mind when dealing with social stereo-types but the entire emo scene makes no sense to me. A lot of movements, such as the ‘hippy’ movement in the sixties spawned from something meaningful (war, civil rights, psychedelic drugs, increased inner awareness, etc). Emo, in my opinion, is the byproduct of bored post-adolescent middle class America.The emo scene was adopted by many teenagers that were just like everyone else in the western world. They were in a sense, kids struggling to find their own identities and desired degrees of individuality (something that we all have done at some point or another). In this search for identity, many kids began to latch onto a new breed of music – emo (short for emotion). Emo music is essentially a punk-rock spin off with overly dramatic lyrical phrases. The lyrics resemble cluttered teenage poetry containing poorly written trite rants dealing with angst, despair, and failing relationships - something the emo culture can relate to.
Instead of solving their problems and expanding their current knowledge base, ‘emo kids’ are stuck in their own shallow self loathing paradigm. Their attempts at individuality fall notably short. In fact, they have literally regressed into tight girlie-pant-wearing, commercialized, ‘artsy’, emo poster boys and girls (the exact thing that they are supposed to scorn). Just look at the overabundance of ‘emo kids’ congregating like sheep inside of your local Hot Topic store.
Now, the emo crowd is not the most intelligent of human beings, but they aren’t exactly dumb asses either. At least they are in touch with their emotions (no pun intended), and their own self pity doesn’t really infringe upon the happiness of others (since it’s more or less just a clever charade to mask their lack of individuality anyway). While 90% of emo music is complete garbage, there are some good tunes here and there that are definitely better substitutes for those horrible testosterone induced ‘jock rock’ songs currently plaguing the radio waves.
In conclusion, the emo scene is merely a trend that will soon be forgotten. It has no lasting value and it falls incredibly short of ever becoming an actual movement (as movements require a strong belief system and some form of cerebral aptitude). Anyone who considers themselves emo now will look back at it in the same light that eighties teens and young adults do when they think about their old acid wash jeans, raging mullets, and White Snake cassette tapes – “Yuck”.
Ultimately it’s time to leave those bleeding hearts at home kids, for all hope is not lost!
Po - memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: articles
The Purpose: An Introduction
I have come to the realization that I really miss writing. Being a business major and all I have no real opportunity to write creatively or do too much deep thinking. I suppose in a way I have sold my soul for a deeper pocket book. Anyway, this is where my blog comes in. I originally wanted to create a website filled with my ‘articles’, poetry, and favorite things, but soon realized that it would take entirely too much time and effort. This blog may contain snippets of my everyday life, but its main purpose is to serve as a creative outlet for my thoughts/ideas. I hope to evoke some actual thought on some of the topics I plan on discussing. I really urge you all to participate by dropping off some comments. Well, thanks for reading, check back every few days and I may have some new material up.Po - memoriesforsale.blogspot.com
Labels: me