MAKE Mystery Noise Box

Noise Box from Collin Cunningham on Vimeo.

Starting a New Business

Grace and I are starting a new company! Green Dream Group, a consulting firm connecting homeowners in the Chicago area with products and contractors that will make home a more energy-efficient, eco-friendly place. We're very excited to launch in September.

The Non-Christian's Collaboration in the Cosmic Struggle Against the Devil

Theosophy, Pierre Abelard, and Koreshanity!
Immortality! Love! And Despair!
If you didn't grow up growing to church, and sometimes if you did, you have a hard time feeling comfortable in one. The coolest woman in the world, whom I married, is an Episcopalian who's made me feel right at home with Christians, and whereas my struggle had been to distance myself from what I viewed as superstitious brainwashing, I now can let down my defenses and see Biblical truth and beauty.

Scriptural ideas often have to be modified to fit my world-view before I can agree with some of the premises, however. One thing I've always had a hard time with is the character of Satan. Most scientific-minded people have a hard time believing there's an evil entity trying to torture you.
But I realized recently that if you think of the Devil as just negative energy, as fear which leads to anger, spite, etc., then I can agree that the way that energy spreads in a community is exactly like a lifeform. It can reproduce itself and even self-perpetuate within one person, and it does so faster and more insidiously than happy friendliness. In this way, if we consciously block the tendency to pay it forward, we are essentially fighting against the Devil.

Fit and Freaky Onscreen and Ingame

All this girl wants is to be a prostitute and take drugs, and instead she gets lectured about nutrition and fitness. You can just see her dreams sink into the murk. ("Ich betäube mich" by Deichkind featuring Sarah Walker)

If you'd like to have your own meaningless noisy fitness experience, play a million simple video games at www.addictinggames.com. Be your own personal trainer and monitor your timewasting with rigor.

Simple Pleasures #2

The disorders are all around us, and they are us. Look at these symptoms of two diagnosed mental wrongnesses, and ask yourself why it sounds so right. BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THIS IS ME. THIS IS YOU.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
(1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
(3) believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
(4) requires excessive admiration
(5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
(6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
(7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
(8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her
(9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

Histrionic Personality Disorder:
A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
(1) is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention
(2) interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior
(3) displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions
(4) consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self
(5) has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail
(6) shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion
(7) is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances
(8) considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are

Don't fret! Tao demonstrates that all things are Cyclical, Progressive, and Exponential.
http://www.cfcl.com/ching/
We will all be better tomorrow. Or at least different.