Read Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” the other night and it reminded me of how routine and a false sense of security from logic and linear cause and effect thinking can actually numb your senses to what is around you, what is happening to you, and your impact to all around you. There is an “Oh shit!” factor to life that we need in our lives to get us off our complacent asses. Taking on difficult work projects. Training for a marathon. Riding a 650cc motorcycle (650cc=alot more power between my legs than ~ uhem I’m used to) even though you have only ridden dinky, 90cc’s in Nam. Asking yourself difficult questions about why the hell are you doing what you are doing. Committing yourself to constant self-improvement. Challenge, accomplishment, building a sense of self and self-worth on your own terms are yours to gain when you follow “Oh shit!” with eyes narrowed with fortitude and resolve and a “F*ck yeah!”
It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weight of his body. He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface, and to have no connection with the earth. Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury, and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth.
Sidenote: Menza of Japan knows that nothing recharges an overworked salaryman than some eyebrow grooming and a cheerleader or two.
this is why Japanese men ain’t fighting any more wars for world domination
and this is why we work the 12-14 hour days. The glory, the beer, and the pom-poms. Brings a proud tear to my eye.
Soundtrack of Mi Vida: Butter Room – Honeycut