Paintings, photography, aesthetic objects, beautiful communication, and anything I consider to be art, artful, artistic, artsy or whatever.
Art is subjective. It is a quality of communication can be contributed to by the viewer through empathy or agreement with its creator.
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The ultimate arcanity is the human incomprehension of the animating essence of life forms. Therefore, body death causes amnesia to those who do not comprehend the difference between the life source and the life form.
~ Lawrence R. Spencer ~
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1001_Things_To_Do_While_You’re_Dead — An INTERVIEW with Lawrence R. Spencer
BE YOURSELF FOR A CHANGE.
“Relax. As a disembodied spirit you don’t have to hang around with people any more so you don’t have to try to impress anyone. In human society you are usually expected to look good, smell good, be good, do good and exhibit other behavior that may not come naturally to you.
For example, if you don’t take a bath for a few weeks your body will stink like a bag of rotten meat – which is essentially what it is. As a spirit you don’t have to shower, shave, brush your teeth, eat, go to work, pee or perform any of those nasty habits.
The 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 – 1860) said, “We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.”
So, forget all that stuff you were taught about “now I’m supposed to…”. Do what pleases you.”
_____________________
Excerpt from 1,001 Things To Do While You’re Dead: A Dead Persons’ Guide To Living, by Lawrence R. Spencer
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“My dear fellows! How delightful to see you both again. It has been several months since our most recent adventure together, so I surmise, Sherlock, that some new investigation in pressing upon you? Otherwise, I am sure that you would not bother yourself to venture to visit me personally at the club. Any matter of less urgency would certainly be addressed to me by letter, or telegram. Am I not correct?”, said Mycroft, grasping both of our hands in turn with cordiality.
“As always, your observation and supposition are accurate”, I said, confirming what was already obvious to my brother. “However, I assure you than the game that is afoot contains none of the gravity that others I have undertaken”. At this, Mycroft’s expression changed from one of concern to mild interest.
“Please take a seat and explain the particulars to me, if this room is suitable for discussion of details”, he said, waving his hand toward several richly upholstered leather chairs.
Mycroft is heavily built and massive, there was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure, but above this unwieldy frame there is perched a head so masterful in its brow, so alert in its steel-gray, deep-set eyes, so firm in its lips, and so subtle in its play of expression, that after the first glance one forgot the gross body and remembered only the dominant mind.
“I cannot think of a more suitable environment in which to discuss the nature of this case than that of a club founded on the philosophical principles of Cynicism”, I told him in a bland matter-of-fact tone.
“Let us fill our pipes”, I said reaching into my pocket for a tobacco poach and briar pipe, “as an explanation of the matter at hand will easily consume our meal time, as well as a portion of the evening. Can a meal be served to us here, if it is not too great an imposition upon your generosity?”, I said as I sat down, ready to share as much information with my esteemed brother as would be necessary to facilitate his analysis of the matter.
“By all means, my dear Sherlock. By all means!”, he said in eager anticipation of a mystery that might divert his attention from an otherwise unfulfilling evening of silent reading at the Club before retiring to his quarters for an equally uneventful night of dreamless sleep.
After recounting the details of my visit with Charles Dodgson and my subsequent invitation to him to dine with us at Baker Street, I summarized the nature of the matter. Mycroft listened attentively while tamping and relighting his pipe several times in order to sustain a satisfactory stream of air through the stem. When I had concluded my account, he raised his eyes to me.
“Well then, let us hear your suspicions, and I will look after the proofs”, said Mycroft.
“In short, my dear Mycroft, it appears that Mr. Dodgson, in league with Mr. Arthur Doyle, are accusing me and therefore all of my associates, of impersonating fictional characters! The assertion is that the stories published by Doyle as magazine serials, or in books, are merely works of his imagination. Moreover, this cad claims that the chronicles of my investigations, which are written by Dr. Watson, are innovations of his own. Can you conceive such a blatantly fraudulent accusation?”, I asked him.
Mycroft stared at me for a moment, and then with a glare turned in his chair and addressed Dr. Watson in an icy tone.
“Dr. Watson”, he said, “it is most obvious that the motivation for this absurd intrigue must begin with you. How is it that Mr. Doyle has come into the possession of your written accounts of the detective cases of Sherlock Holmes, and subsequently published them in his own name?”
— Excerpt from SHERLOCK HOLMES: MY LIFE by Lawrence R. Spencer
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Cataclysmic Geology vs. Uniformitarian Geology
“One of the principal reasons that Earth is a rough place to live is illustrated by the argument between Earth scientists who can’t agree on the basic formation of the Earth and the history of its formation.
There are two conflicting schools of thought on the subject of geology, each with their own theories. To better understand them, let’s review some basics on the entire subject.
GEOLOGY is the study of the structure of the Earth’s crust and the formation and development of its various layers, including individual rock types and early life forms found as fossils in rocks.
Based on the most reliable sources of information currently available, the Earth can best be understood as a slightly pear-shaped ball floating in space. It is held in orbit around a star by a balance of gravitational attraction and centrifugal force.
The mean distance of the Earth from its star is 92,897,000 miles. The star (our sun) is itself held in place relative to the Milky Way Galaxy and in turn to the rest of the universe by similar forces.
The Earth is moving through space at the rate of approximately 45,000 mph. The Earth’s orbit around its star is 583,400,000 miles, and the Earth travels along this orbit at a velocity of about 66,000 mph. Earth rotates on its axis once every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds. A point on the equator is therefore moving at a rate of a little more than 1,000 mph relative to its axis. The Milky Way galaxy as a whole, however, is moving toward the stellar constellation Leo at about 375 miles per second.
In addition to these primary motions, three other components of the total motion of Earth exist: the precession of the equinoxes, periodic variation in the inclination of Earth’s axis caused by the gravitational pulls of the sun and moon, and variation of latitude.
The cold, rigid, rocky crust of Earth extends to depths of 60 miles. Oceans cover approximately 70 percent of the surface of the Earth. The average depth of the oceans is 12,447 feet, more than five times the average height of the continents.
How stable is the real estate on which we Earth-bound Homo sapiens build our farmhouses?
Earth has a very, very thin outer layer comprised of two shells. The crust and upper mantle surrounds a core that becomes increasingly hot and viscous as you approach the center. The outer crust literally “floats” on top of this molten center.
The inside of Earth is relatively liquid, and the crust is relatively brittle. The crust has developed cracks throughout its entire surface as a result of having cooled down from a previously more liquid state, just like dirt cracks as it dries out in the hot sun. Therefore, this brittle crust has broken up into a dozen or so independently moving pieces called “plates”. Both the land masses and oceans are “floating” on top of these plates. Shearing of these partially molten rocks, which are about 60 miles thick, enables the continents to drift around the Earth’s core.
As the plates move, so do the oceans and land masses. As the plates pull apart from each other,the resulting cracksallow the molten rock underneath to “leak” out. This results in volcanic activity that can create newmountains or land masses. Conversely, the plates crash into, and rub against, each other.The result is an earthquake. And, sometimes new mountain ranges are pushed up or floods occur on the coastlines of land masses.
Considerable evidence from the fossils found in layers of rock around the world demonstrates that the existing continents of Earth were once part of larger land masses, called “super-continents”. Other continents have apparently been submerged beneath oceans, and still others have broken up into smaller pieces through the movement of the plates.
The most obvious evidence of this is that the continents of Africa and South America appear to fit together perfectly when seen from space. Even the mighty Himalayan mountains, the highest mountain chain on the planet, was once submerged beneath an ocean, as demonstrated by many species of trilobite fossils (ancient sea creatures) found throughout the mountains.
The entire contour of the Earth has now been mapped from space by a formerly top-secret Geostat satellite. These maps also show the contours of the ocean floors. Such a global map has recently been declassified and released by the United States Navy, which began the mapping process in 1987, to enable submarines to navigate safely around the world under the ocean. This map clearly shows the “stretch marks” of the planet where the existing continents have separated from each other and where the tectonic plates, or fault lines, exist around the planet.
The theory of Uniformitarian Geology assumes, much like the Theory of Evolution, that Earth spontaneously evolved from a chaotic cloud of cosmic dust particles in an orderly, gradual condensation, and continued through a progressive succession of small changes that have resulted in the existing lay of the land. (Of course, they do not say where the original “cosmic dust” came from. We’re supposed to assume that it was just there already.)
The theory of Cataclysmic Geology, on the other hand, assumes that the Earth was created and has progressed through a series of sudden disastrous concatenations which make living on planet Earth a very temporary, risky and unpredictable proposition:
1/ The magnetic poles of the planet shift periodically.
2/ The position of the land masses change continually and suddenly.
3/ Mountain ranges rise and fall.
4/ Ice ages come and go.
5/ Changing levels of the oceans flood the land randomly.
All together, the life forms of Earth have a rough time as the result of volcanoes, floods, ice ages, temperature changes, earthquakes, tidal waves, drifting land masses and the resulting famine and pestilence which ensue.
The less-than-exact science of Geology is subject to the same pitfalls of illogical thinking which seem to exist in the Land of Oz. Both sides of the argument are looking for an unobtainable absolute law of some sort. As usual, both schools of thought are missing information, have false information, and can’t get their dates straight. Each side of the argument is limited by its own assumptions and vested interests.
A workable solution to the mysteries of Geology probably lies somewhere in between and/or beyond the conflicting theories of Cataclysmic vs. Uniformitarian Geology.”
— Excerpt from THE OZ FACTORS, by Lawrence R. Spencer