AgntOrng's Xanga

Breaking a camels back: for lack of patience or a match.

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:25:43 GMT

They say it was the straw that broke the camels back,
but I say it was the entire haystack.
Who do you think is to blame?

While we are on the subject of big changes like broken backs, how about another change:
Finding a needle. And where else would one look for a needle but in a haystack?

In the story I am telling, someone was trying to find a needle. A needle of great and possibly infinite worth (not to mention beauty and durability). Maybe that someone was the camel; or if not, that person owned the camel. Whichever, it doesn't change the point of the story... much.

Day in and day out straws were inspected individually and placed on the camels back to eventually haul it away.
But if the camel were to leave the haystack and alleviate its load the search would be delayed.
Each new day was not a new beginning in the search, but a continuation of the day before. The weight was never lifted, and the camel was never given rest as the burdensome load grew, milligram by torturous milligram the longer it stayed.

And then one day the unavoidable (?) finally happened.
Snap!
Again I ask: Who do you think is to blame?

In an alternate universe the same task is being undertaken. However, there is a change in plans. The searcher has not only a camel (or if the searcher and the camel are one, its own back) at its disposal, but a match. In short, this one is looking at a needle, a haystack, a match, a camel(back), and a plan.
The plan is rather simple: to strike the match and spare the camel(back).

I have mixed metaphors in this story very liberally, and maybe I have coined a new one "a needle, a haystack, a match, a plan."
But what in blue blazes am I talking about? Am I making a point with all this nonsense?
Am I talking about the assignment of blame? You see, the difference between a camel searching or a camels owner searching really does change the overall tilt of the story and who is to blame. Am I talking about triage? Burning the straws to get to the needle? Or maybe forgiveness, is that what I am talking about? Relieving the camel of it's terminal haystack is -in a way- forgiving it, reversing its fate. How about patience? Is that what I mean? How is patience related to forgiveness? In the first story, just a little patience in the urgent search for the needle would have spared the camel. Being patient with the weaknesses of others is forgiveness in a very real way.

All these mixed metaphors are meant to say:
when searching for a needle in a stack of hay
a camels back is an unnecessary price to pay.

One question... do camels eat hay? If so, this entire thing has been about beating a horse to death with a carrot... to bring in one or two more metaphors.

Ugg, uggugg, finger pointing, and lambasting.

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:51:37 GMT

I don't even know where to begin with this... this may be scattered, but so is my mind at the moment. Here it goes.

I know, how about a story?
In this story a prophet speaks to a king.

"There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

The king was very angry, and said to the prophet: "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."

As a whole, humanity is all too ready to judge and condemn others, but we are very reluctant to admit out own guilt.
Over the past several weeks I have seen much finger pointing, lambasting, and conflict. This ranges from the conflict between Palestine and Israel to a homeless man being told that he may not stay at a coffee shop any longer than half an hour after buying a coffee (while I was allowed to sit for several hours). It ranges from the controversy over the President-elect's choice for the inauguration to an unreasonable exchange of words between atheist and theist scholars in "scholarly" works (both sides taking cheap shots and low blows).
To push my point even further, you can just turn on the tv and watch the news. Odds are high that you will just see people yelling at each other in a most uncivil manner.

Ugg.
Ugg-ug.
Grah! UGG ug UG!!

Such a lack of compassion and understanding, such a lack of attempts at communication, and such dishonest charades at 'sincere discussion' really make me sick.

Now to the wise prophet: when he came to the king to show him his guilt, he did not point at the king. Instead, he told a story, he pointed elsewhere. His wisdom in doing so was great, and I think there is something to be learned from it. He did not come to the king and say "you are wrong because you did x." Instead, he said "someone did x" (he chose to use a story involving sheep, because the king was a shepherd who knew what it was like to care for sheep) and the king passed judgement, "that man is guilty for doing x!"
By doing this, the prophet pointed at the wrong and named it, without pointing at the wrongdoer. He got the king to point at the wrongdoer with him.

I don't really know exactly how to tie this up and neatly summarize it except to say that I think the world would be better off if more people spoke as the prophet spoke when showing people the error of their ways. When you point at a person and accuse them, the walls go up and your words fall on deaf ears. You will not get the result you hoped for. When you go to a person, stir their sense of justice and compassion, and allow them to pass judgement on an act; then they will hear you.

Jinglebell rock...

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 05:40:08 GMT

Jingle

Bell

Jingle

Bell

Jingle

Balrog!!!

Merry Christmas! To all my family and friends; I appreciate, cherrish, and love you all. For serious.

(Hope you don't mind me using your idea Robert.)

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 18:40:06 GMT

Sorry, this will be a short one.
I am preparing for work, for service. The topic of service has come to my thoughts frequently lately, but last night a man shed new light on my thinking in a way that only badly mangled speech can deliver.
He walked up to me with a shirt in his hand. "Excuse me, can I help you?" He said it so earnestly and confidently, once he had my attention he continued: "I need a small."
I had to smile at this delicious twist of words.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:52:14 GMT

We have been declared a disaster area.
Part (all?) of Westmont burnt, power was out all over town. Helicopters were scooping water from the ocean right across the street from my place. The riviera is still aflame.
http://cbs2.com/firewatch
I took a few pictures, but it's late and I'm going to sleep.
The evacuation area is about a mile from me, and the fire is 1.3 miles away.

Can you say "neighbor"?

The wheel, reinvented.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 06:53:51 GMT

Hello everybody,
Sorry I haven't written much on here in so long.
Life is good, I am still working both jobs, and soon classes will be starting up again.
While I was skating to work today, I thought about wheels. I remembered a particular day of high school, where I said that one of my life goals was to reinvent the wheel. Moments later, I had done just that.

I present for your consideration: The wheel, reinvented.

It was invented by a frustrated man.
I would bet that he was frustrated by rocks, or maybe fruit, perhaps by logs.
Whatever it was that frustrated him, it was round. Maybe he used a nice flat rock as a plate and set it on a round rock, and then his plate tipped, getting gritty sand in his food. Maybe he tried to keep a stockpile of coconuts to barter away to his friends for other goods and they kept rolling away. Maybe a log rolled down a hill and smacked into his shins.
Whatever it was, it was round, and an inconvenience - a simple geometrical fact, joined with the forces of nature, that set off chain reactions in a curiously powerful way.
One day he got tired of these things happening only in ways that were a negative impact on the overall quality of his life. He didn't just get tired and frustrated, he decided to turn it around.
And so, the wheel was born.
Has anything been frustrating you lately?

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:25:59 GMT

Hokay.
I am now in my new place. So far my room is furnished with a coffee table, a tv, suitcases, and an inflatable pool toy which I have been sleeping on. I have a bed on the way, yup.
Today I was sitting at Java Jones thinking to myself and reviewing my past. So far since coming to America I have studied psychology, philosophy, love, and now food. Mind, soul, heart, stomach and the appetites of each. I went to boarders to pick up some more books for summer reading and thought it only appropriate to get "The Reasons of Love" from the philosophy section, and "How we are Hungry."
I am now on my way to the pool to soak up the last rays of sunlight and enjoy a book or two.
It's only been a week since I became unhomeless, but I can already feel the life lessons slipping, I find myself too comfortable.
"The lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and walks in smiling to it's funeral."
I have yet to write a lengthy list and lengthy thank-you to all of you involved, it is on the way.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:19:33 GMT

Finally, I am finished with my finals. They all went fairly well except for overcooking the eggs.
I am sitting at Java Jones again with my backpack full of clothes, Teresa, laptop, other backpack full of books, bedroll strapped to the outside - large white mocha and large iced coffee.
I still have one more project to complete and turn in by Thursday.
This month - I really must say - has been incredible. Absolutely with out a doubt a face to face encounter with the world in all its pain beauty ugliness and joy. I have had several moments that hit me with such force, such clarity. I stared the moments in the face and said to myself, "Daniel, you remember this moment, remember how you feel RIGHT now. Hold on to this and treasure it."
There was the time I did my laundry at the marina, then took a nap in the park, after my nap I went to 7-11 and bought a microwave pizza. As I sat out front hiding from the wind behind a garbage can I thought about where I would be an hour from then: work; a high end - fine dining establishment. "I can do anything."
There was the moment last night near the end of the barbecue in the driveway. We sat around the coals talking and trading jokes - a few waiters, a single mother, a high school student, a parking attendant, and an ex-con. I had a love poem in my pocket from the inside of a chocolate wrapper. When the coals died down I put it in, the flames kept us warm for a little longer. REMEMBER this moment, how unlikely that this group of strangers -now friends- would sit around eating tri-tip and hot dogs the way we did that night.
Only four days of this remain, soon I will not have this marvelous excuse to meet strangers. Oh, my new address:

649 Verde Mar #E
SB CA 93103

Look at the amazing location on googlemaps! Wow.
I should try and get this project done soon.
Much love.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:50:16 GMT

Today the 11'th day of my homeless state. I have stayed at 6 places so far.
Finals week is right around the corner. There are so many stories I could tell, and I don't really know what to write except that this past week I've realized that I have a lot more friends than I thought.
I still feel drained and worn, perhaps work tonight will rejuvenate me?

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Sat, 03 May 2008 17:13:03 GMT

To one and all.
I finally found a place to stay...
in June.
The month of May, for me, will consist of sleeping on friends couches, preparing for finals, and working.
That Daniel guy sure is a crazy one.