I spent many years playing music, mostly singing but some of the time I played the flute. After a particular solo, I had only so much time to turn, step back a few , set the flute on its stand, and be back to the microphone in order to sing again. If I just tried to do it, I couldn't. There wasn't enough time. But I was able to count, effectively dividing the interval up into eight segments. And in each one of those segments was able to visualize moving a certain distance. If I counted, I could consciously stretch the time between the moment I left the microphone and the moment I returned to it. As a matter of fact I have myself on videotape doing this, but you can't see me counting.
I did something similar while running, as a child. I think it was when I was a child that it occurred to me that time existed mostly in my mind, and could be stretched like silly putty, if one only knows how to do it. Not very scientific but, there it is.
I wonder how many other terrified artists (musicians, actors, whatever) have invented Zeno's paradox in their own minds out of desperation like this. I am pretty sure I did the same thing.
The premise of the Ship of Theseus is moot from the get-go, to be honest.
Because to replace any part of the ship, you have to first catch up to the ship, but you can never do that since by the time you get to where the ship was, the ship will already be at some arbitrary point ahead of you.
TIL about Hubpages and that goatfury has been writing for over 10 years! I think falling asleep is really interesting. Everyday - for me I usually grab a nap so multiple times a day- you undergo this transition from wakey wakey real life to a flowy unconscious dream state - and for hours and hours you just lie there. No snacks even! It’s pretty crazy in the abstract. I’ve tried various things to get my self to sleep. When I was a kid and who am I kidding, I still do this - I would go through all the superhero powers and decide decide which kind of superhero I’d be. When I was super stressed at work, I’d go abstract and imagine a digital clock with each number changing counting down from 60. Recently I’ll try to remember all the turns I took on a long bike ride. I never get far. I imagine all these things are really about disconnecting your brain and letting it float away. Yesterday after 3 days of solid rain here I felt water on my face in my dream and then I realized the roof was leaking on me. Then I woke up to find a giant whole in the roof and muddy water pouring in. And then I really woke up! Wtf?! Anyhoo - sweet dreams it’s raining here again 😘
Ha! I loved thinking about superpowers. It would be great to be super strong like the Hulk, but then I always figured turning invisible would be really cool. It was fun to put myself in the shoes of comic characters and stuff like that.
I know just what you mean about that weird barrier we seem to kind of cross between asleep and awake. It's not exactly sudden, either.
It might be fun to just write about how you get to sleep, what kinda stuff you're daydreaming about or whatever. For me, it's always how the universe works, and lately how it began (just speculating, but going deep).
for me it was always a tossup between being invisible and flying - or webslinging. My one problem with spider-man is what happens when he runs out of buildings to swing from?
I know lots has been written about sleep but the tricks we use to fall asleep I bet are somewhat unique. Now we can score sleep quality so you can compete for getting the best sleep and if you’re super nutso you can get a nocturnal penile tumescence monitor
Wow, I just track how well I slept based on how I feel the next few days. I can definitely tell when I'm "dragging ass", as the saying goes.
I forgot to mention that those Hubages articles are mostly pretty bad, but also about all sorts of things. I've written and published stuff on the internet for a very long time now, but I think most of the recent stuff I've written just kind of blows all that old stuff out of the water (don't take this as me being on my high horse or whatever bcz I know I still have a lot of growing and improving to do, but it's like night and day).
Well... I do have the advantage of being able to practice my craft, pretty much completely uninterrupted, for 2 or 3 hours every single day, and I'm going on like 600 days now, I think! But honestly, writing is about getting the ideas out onto the page, and that has always been more important to me than the poetry of prose aspect.
Agree! It helps me think through ideas. I spend a bit of time each day; early in the week I draft the content and then I tweak and edit it throughout the week so it’s something I can be happy with by the time I publish Friday.
Being a writer means you are always conducting thought experiments. I have been trying to emulate others in the speculative fiction field by developing specialized settings and characters that are unique to me (so far) and which will help my artistic growth.
That's a great example since you can't exactly put people into settings in the real world arbitrarily, unless you're like a totalitarian ruler or whatever.
Oh yes, thank you for asking.
I spent many years playing music, mostly singing but some of the time I played the flute. After a particular solo, I had only so much time to turn, step back a few , set the flute on its stand, and be back to the microphone in order to sing again. If I just tried to do it, I couldn't. There wasn't enough time. But I was able to count, effectively dividing the interval up into eight segments. And in each one of those segments was able to visualize moving a certain distance. If I counted, I could consciously stretch the time between the moment I left the microphone and the moment I returned to it. As a matter of fact I have myself on videotape doing this, but you can't see me counting.
I did something similar while running, as a child. I think it was when I was a child that it occurred to me that time existed mostly in my mind, and could be stretched like silly putty, if one only knows how to do it. Not very scientific but, there it is.
I wonder how many other terrified artists (musicians, actors, whatever) have invented Zeno's paradox in their own minds out of desperation like this. I am pretty sure I did the same thing.
Your column made me think of that song. I love that song!
Which song?
What is and what should never be!
Ah! We have two different comment threads going here. I thought for a sec I was going crazy, but it turns out: I'm already cray cray.
The premise of the Ship of Theseus is moot from the get-go, to be honest.
Because to replace any part of the ship, you have to first catch up to the ship, but you can never do that since by the time you get to where the ship was, the ship will already be at some arbitrary point ahead of you.
Checkmate, logic.
It's true - logic never had it so bad before!
TIL about Hubpages and that goatfury has been writing for over 10 years! I think falling asleep is really interesting. Everyday - for me I usually grab a nap so multiple times a day- you undergo this transition from wakey wakey real life to a flowy unconscious dream state - and for hours and hours you just lie there. No snacks even! It’s pretty crazy in the abstract. I’ve tried various things to get my self to sleep. When I was a kid and who am I kidding, I still do this - I would go through all the superhero powers and decide decide which kind of superhero I’d be. When I was super stressed at work, I’d go abstract and imagine a digital clock with each number changing counting down from 60. Recently I’ll try to remember all the turns I took on a long bike ride. I never get far. I imagine all these things are really about disconnecting your brain and letting it float away. Yesterday after 3 days of solid rain here I felt water on my face in my dream and then I realized the roof was leaking on me. Then I woke up to find a giant whole in the roof and muddy water pouring in. And then I really woke up! Wtf?! Anyhoo - sweet dreams it’s raining here again 😘
Ha! I loved thinking about superpowers. It would be great to be super strong like the Hulk, but then I always figured turning invisible would be really cool. It was fun to put myself in the shoes of comic characters and stuff like that.
I know just what you mean about that weird barrier we seem to kind of cross between asleep and awake. It's not exactly sudden, either.
It might be fun to just write about how you get to sleep, what kinda stuff you're daydreaming about or whatever. For me, it's always how the universe works, and lately how it began (just speculating, but going deep).
for me it was always a tossup between being invisible and flying - or webslinging. My one problem with spider-man is what happens when he runs out of buildings to swing from?
I know lots has been written about sleep but the tricks we use to fall asleep I bet are somewhat unique. Now we can score sleep quality so you can compete for getting the best sleep and if you’re super nutso you can get a nocturnal penile tumescence monitor
Wow, I just track how well I slept based on how I feel the next few days. I can definitely tell when I'm "dragging ass", as the saying goes.
I forgot to mention that those Hubages articles are mostly pretty bad, but also about all sorts of things. I've written and published stuff on the internet for a very long time now, but I think most of the recent stuff I've written just kind of blows all that old stuff out of the water (don't take this as me being on my high horse or whatever bcz I know I still have a lot of growing and improving to do, but it's like night and day).
It’s nice to look back and see you’ve gotten better right? My early stuff is pretty cringey but whatever, I’ll catch up to you in 8 years
Well... I do have the advantage of being able to practice my craft, pretty much completely uninterrupted, for 2 or 3 hours every single day, and I'm going on like 600 days now, I think! But honestly, writing is about getting the ideas out onto the page, and that has always been more important to me than the poetry of prose aspect.
Agree! It helps me think through ideas. I spend a bit of time each day; early in the week I draft the content and then I tweak and edit it throughout the week so it’s something I can be happy with by the time I publish Friday.
“And if you say to me tomorrow,
Oh what fun it all would be.
Then what’s to stop us, pretty baby,
But what is and what should never be.” Page and Plant
Catch the wind! See us spin!
Being a writer means you are always conducting thought experiments. I have been trying to emulate others in the speculative fiction field by developing specialized settings and characters that are unique to me (so far) and which will help my artistic growth.
That's a great example since you can't exactly put people into settings in the real world arbitrarily, unless you're like a totalitarian ruler or whatever.