Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Stop Online Piracy Act

I actually just became legitimately abreast of SOPA about thirty minutes ago and I just wanted to pass the word along. I'm doing my modest efforts to spread awareness and action where i have the means to. Essentially there's a law the government is attempting to pass to cut down on copyright infringement. They would then be allowed to shut down domain names and paypal accounts and the like all for different forms of "Copyright Infringement", which at it's most blatant form is me using someones work [TV show, music] on my website...at it's simplest it could be a comment from a user that contains a link to a website with something they deem to be infringement. Thus shutting down my site. Here is a link that has better summation skills than I do.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Architecture, Art, and Well-Being



Right around the moments when i tipped a quarter of a century in age my fascinations became more visceral and more insatiable, and my most prominent fascination has always been with aesthetics and appearance. As an adolescent i found joy in creating art although i wasn't masterful at it, in the traditional form; but i could certainly recognize "masterful" and the mood altering presence that it had. My elder brother would draw - what i then considered masterpieces - in robot-esque fashion with very little wasted motion and it blew my mind almost every time. That feeling of visual utopia is what i woke up for every day, and although i couldn't create it with a pencil [not like I envisioned at least] i would strive everyday with whatever resources i had at my disposal to create it with my appearance, fashion after all is an aesthetic. But as I got older i learned that was only a manifestation of me attempting to nourish not only my well-being through visual therapy but whomever i came in contact with as well. You can alter the mood of others simply with your presence, you indeed are a part of the ambiance. After reading books like Tipping Point and gaining a deeper understanding on the triggers that are pulled mentally with either disparaging or comforting imagery I've gained such an appreciation for ambiance. People often wonder why they are able to work better in a bookstore or Starbucks than they are at home, sure some of it has to do with distractions, but there is a portion of it also has to do with visual stimulation of a constantly changing environment.

Now, on to why we are here in the first place. I found this video and it helped me understand what i had been trying to say [if summarized]. As you can see in the title the video is about the effect architecture and art have on our well-being. I really believe in it, close friends of mine [readers of the blog are close friends too] have heard me lament about the lack of artistry in the American environment. Nonetheless if you have the patience sit through this video, i would advise you to do so without other distractions, I think you will come away with intrigue at bare minimum. The accents seem to dissolve as you get a grasp of the speakers so please don't be turned off by that. Simply view the video and then reflect upon your well-being.