A Doggie's Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,

I laid flat on my tummy, on the armrest of the couch.

The children dressed me up like a clown, they didn't seem to care

that all the dogs in the street, would laugh and bark and stare; 

The adults didn't care, they had YouTube in their heads

Thinking I'd be an Internet sensation, before anyone went to bed;

And Mama with her video camera, and I in her lap,

Feeling ridiculous as ever - I decided to take a nap -

When outside the gate, there arose such a clatter,

I sprang to the window to see what was the matter. 

Away to the window I bounced like a flash,

Growling and barking, and ripping off my pink satin sash. 

A Husky was walking down our street, leaving paw prints in the snow,

Who does he think he is? It's time to make my presence known!

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature Chihuahua sporting a sweater with little tiny reindeer,

With a little old lady, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment, these sweaters were somebody's idea of a trick.

To dress up us dogs, like they decorate the tree,

Stuffing our tails into trousers so we can't even pee.

We endure it; we sit up, roll over, and lay down,

In the hopes that they don't walk us all around the town.

Bulldogs, Dachshunds, Yorkies, and mutts,

You should know right now, there's no escaping holiday dress up.

Little humans will dress you in sweaters and hats,

And smile and giggle, and parade you in front of the cat.

The cat doesn't care, he's been dressed up, too,

In fact he looks pretty good, all dressed up in blue.

But he's not happy either, he's actually beside himself,

Cause now little brother dressed him up like one of Santa's elves.

I don't mind, cause they dressed me up really quick,

If I had to be anything, I guess I'm grateful it's Saint Nick.

But just you wait, for my Master I'll leave quite a rose,

Just not the kind you'll want to smell with your nose.

I'll fill up the stockings, when everyone's out of sight,

With a present of my own, in the middle of the night. 

We'll see if they dress me up again, come next December,

For this will be a Christmas, we'll both remember...

*No dogs were humiliated in the making of this post. 

I'm Awkward And I Know It

Yeah, yeah

When I walk on by, girls be looking like oohh he fly

I move to the beat, walking on along the screen in my new lafreak, yeah

This is how I roll, drawn-on tie, legs outta control, 

I'ma Stick Man with an imaginary afro

And like Bruce Leroy I got the glow

[a reference to the 80s martial arts classic "The Last Dragon", where martial artists, having attained master status, start to glow when practicing their moves, and also get some special powers.]

Ah...Girl look at that stick body [x3]

Ah... I'm drawn out

Ah...Girl look at that stick body [x3]

Ah.. I'm drawn out

When I walk along the screen (yeah), this is what I see (ok)

Everybody stops and they staring at me

I got passion in my lines and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it

I'm awkward and I know it [x2]

The Freedom in Being We

Before every smile is a rejoicing heart - Before every laugh, life gives us a fresh new start. Look closely at everyone so that you, too, can see ... that the "they" you see in them ... is really the "I" we see in being "we" 

The Spirit of Père Noël

The human spirit delights in freedom of itself. In the absence of freedom, we express scarcity; in the presence of it, we express generosity.

Père Noël represents the transformational power freedom possesses. As a man, Nicolas was generous with others and lived his life in service them so that when he finally reached old age, he, himself, received the ultimate gift of freedom - immortality - to become the embodiment of honorable, unselfish, good-hearted charity.

Christmas serves as the human reminder of this freedom.

During the holidays, two prominent emotions expressed joy and despair. In the lower expression, resources are in short supply. Survival, truth, and fairness are at risk. Life is difficult, but it will "get better" when something "changes."

In the higher expression, feelings of joie de vivre, jubilation, and felicity produce inside us an overwhelming feeling of gladness, happiness, and joy - for the world. Here, life is beautiful; we have enough to go around; our aesthetic being rises to center stage and paints the world happy.

At the core of every human being is this love for the world, the gratitude of being. Here, existence is enough.

Euphoria, bliss, ecstasy, rapture, and pleasure await us. Existence is the source of our greatest delight.

With freedom comes generosity. With generosity comes unity, and with unity we become - herein lies our source of joy.

Merry Christmas!

Truth-Value

Finding an answer to a question these days is not as easy as one might think; you can't just type in a question on Google and expect to find a factual answer. The reality is that for any given subject you might encounter at least 162,375,678 results! The point is that we're confronted with a variety of conflicting results every time we access the Internet for answers to our questions. 

We do not value the memorization of information in the way we once did. We value storage space and connectivity over content. Why bother? There is far more content - which is growing exponentially - than ever before. Even Einstein didn't know his phone number at the University saying at the time, "Why should I memorize it when I know where to find it?" 

Educating ourselves in facts is far easier today than ever before. Pretty soon, we'll all have the same amount of "knowledge" downloaded (or uploaded) into us. What then? 

We'll have millions of answers to any given question. We'll be walking Googles. We'll go from Human 1.0 to Google Human 2.0. But how will we access knowledge's truth-value? Will we invent an algorithm to alert us when a file has been modified by editing software or written with ulterior motives? 

Accessing the value of data has long-since required critical thinking, reflection and artistry. Just as artists do, we work with meanings of society to express something new - to see and then show the world. 

Someday: (Neither) Seeing, hearing, reading, nor downloading will be believing. In our last factual age, we valued facts. In our post-factual age, we value what people do with those facts. What will be of increasing value in the future will not be combinations of new information but rather philosophical and artistic creations that help us synthesize information. 

There will be a rise in philosophical and artistic education as we move forward into the connected age. With information no longer being a treasured jewel of the elite, the ample body of individuals we have on this planet will begin creating more and more artistic expressions of their lives, which others will inherently be interested in learning more about. 

In the future, most of our information will be about each other. 

Welcome - The Immortality Club

Welcome to The Immortality Club

The world's most anticipated membership club has just opened! Our landmark Earthfront resort blends the charm of the past with the best in modern-day cyber immortality. Home to more than 7 billion members, The Immortality Club services the entire human race, and offers the exclusive opportunity to enjoy life, the sand, the surf, or anything else you enjoy for like, ever! 

Plus, enjoy complimentary parking and downloadable upgrades with no resort fees. You'll love our 12 championship upgrade courts, par-3 superintelligence smoothies, virtual massage services, simulated beach activities, full-service nanobiological catering, unique virtual meeting spaces, convenient Immortality Tax Planning and award-winning "Wish I still ate cuisine" comedy clubs at the Never Die Laughing Room - all just a few blink in the eye of mortality steps away. 

Start your immortality traditions with The Immortality Club! 

Today! 

The We Are What We Are Theory

Are we an original or are we a copy? Perhaps we are here, perhaps we are not. The world might exist, and then again, it might not. 

If our essence is controlled by a separate physical entity - such as a soul, a program, an energetic pattern, or a child - we're then like a wind-up toy promenading down the streets of Paris in ordered precision despite the chaotic collection of molecules that make up our surroundings. 

Or if you'd rather, we could be nothing more than our memories and ability to reflect upon ourselves (Locke); or we are our outsides, our faces and haircuts, our dark or blonde hair. We are the stuff of appearances. We are young or old, man or woman, adult or child, Asian or Caucasian. 

We are unique, just like everyone else. 

You know, let's just forget this nonsense and say that we are an illusion. We are a bundle of impressions but there's no underlining self existence (Hume). There's no Zombie invasion to survive because there's no Zombies, either. 

Now that I think about it, we could be dead. We could be the walking dead and just not know it. We could be in Heaven or in Hell, whichever we attract; or, for minimalists, we could just "be".

BE

That last one works for me. The We Are What We Are Theory or the more popular "We be all dat!" 

And this is what all dat sounds like:

DAT

Thinking about it, each of these views has its own implications about whether or not one should care. I mean really, don't we have better things over which to concern ourselves? 

As far as I'm concerned, we're either here or not here. For me, there is no there. There is here. So, this is home. This is Earth. This is Heaven. This is Hell. This is some point in a galaxy. This is an illusion. 

Would the Grand Illusionist please stand up and take a bow:

Whatever life theory you're going with, enjoy it. Have fun with it. Marvel at its features, consider its design, allow yourself to truly consider it. Then, if you like, swap for another theory, and repeat.