Where have I gone?

So, it is apparent that I haven't posted anything insightful in quite some time. I have been producing music for fun and uploading the songs on the interweb! But, I have learned some things about my instincts.

Thinking With Your Death Bed

I've been considering this topic for a while: Thinking with your death bed. Now, this is not a "YOLO" ideal, rather a way of making better choices in life.

Paradoxical Intention

    Two years ago I read this book called "Man's Search for Meaning", a book half about Viktor E. Frankl's struggle in a German concentration camp, and half about the therapeutic technique called, LOGOTHERAPY. This is probably one of the greatest therapeutic ideas since Freud, because Dr. Frankl uses one's sense of humor and logic to fight one's fears and tribulation. There is one process he brings up that has set me spinning on a Lazy Susan.
    Paradoxical Intention.

Issues With My Subconscious.

    I've always been slightly OCD. It wasn't until recently, when I identified my compulsive behaviors, that they were "enhanced". Here is a detailed explanation of what goes on in my psyche.

Baby Mozart = Man Mozart

    Now, we have all seen the commercials about "Baby Mozart," babies who learn at an exponential rate because of listening to classical music. It appears ridiculous. But alas, I had hope in this theory, so I did a little self test (no, I am not a baby), involving being able to focus whilst doing simple cognitive work.
    This was around the time I was doing summer school at 0530 'til 1200. One day, I would listen to my classical music compilation; the next day, simple lyrical music. I had then noticed that the lyrical music affected my focus, thereon affecting my test scores. Classical music, on the other hand, improved my focus and test scores. I'm not saying that the classical music on it's own helped my scores, I'm saying non-lyrical music helped my scores.
    Now, to segway into what I'm getting at. Have you ever wondered why, when you pay no attention around you that you can still hear your name in a crowd? Or when you walk down the street, that your eyes fix on all the faces? Well, that is the subconscious' job, to do minor focusing. The subconscious, pre-installed with facial recognition, with voice recognition, and with word recognition, allows us to do everyday stuff without fully paying attention. What does this have to do with lyrical music? When focusing on one thing (i.e., school, books, art), the subconscious still focuses on outside stuff. When you listen to lyrical music while focusing on this task, the word and/or voice recognition is listening to your music and reminding you, "Hey, the guitar solo is coming up," or "Hey, I really think Lance Bass sounds gay in this song." So, as you are focusing on this task, your subconscious is nagging at you to listen to the music. Now back to the classical music. When listening to the non-lyrical/classical music, my subconscious had nothing to hone onto, improving my focus and concentration. Therefore non-lyrical/classical is today's "Ritalin."

Slipknot -- Musical Brilliance

    Ok, start throwing the stones now, I do listen to Slipknot. I'm not gothic, "emo," depressed, etc., I just know a ground breaking band when I hear it. Most bands these days are focused on self image and appearance, not the music they are creating, namely The Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, 'Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Etc. We have all seen their spooky music videos and the disturbing masks; well, they wear the masks to forget themselves and focus on the music. The ability to forget oneself and to focus on the musical aspects is brilliant. Think of bands that sound like Slipknot... Stone Sour doesn't count, thus there are no bands comparable.
      Now, you are probably saying, "Well, AC/DC was a great musical band and they didn't wear masks!" My answer is, AC/DC could care less about there self image, they were all about, sex, alcohol, and rock 'n roll. Now, think about Lady Gaga, you never see her dress in street clothes or normal everyday clothing, it's always some abstract dress or suit, she has been able to forget herself (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta), and focusing on a new abstract identity, allowing her to focus on her music in a different way. This is very close to Slipknot's ideology, showing that music can be great if you forget yourself...

Deaf Individuls... A continuing study...

    Have you ever wondered what a deaf child thinks? If he or she has no language lesson, what goes on in his or her head? Well, think about this, as you are reading this do you hear your voice in your head with your accent or dialect? Helen Keller is probably one the best example of this. I have always had this very comedic thought: if Helen Keller learned how to communicate in her early teens, what were her thoughts before then? Fnkvjnckjfdnvdkfj? No. I happened read her autobiography and she talked about how she would think in emotions and memories, and it wasn't until her first language lesson when she obtained reason. Moving onward...
     Have you ever had an angry thought toward someone? You would possibly think, "I really hate John Doe!" Well a deaf person, with no language lessons, would recall the feeling of anger or rage, with the thought of John Doe. So your thoughts are just the brain recalling emotion and memories and piecing it together to create a final thought. So the next time you feel something toward someone, think of how it works in your head, you will better understand yourself as well as others.

"What don't kill ya, 'll make you most strong..."

This is a line from Metallica's "Broken, Beat, & Scarred." Today I crashed "Bob", my new/old bike (I'll post pics later), well I wouldn't say crashed, more of a slide...
Ok this is what happened, I was biking through this outdoor shopping mall with intricate parking lot mazes. Anyway I pulled around a grassy island, because every parking lot has grassy islands, and the rear skidded and I slid about three feet... So got up, looked around, climbed back on and continued on, only problem was somehow my bar came out of line... Easy fix!!!
Well I got to Big-5 and suddenly the lyric "What don't kill ya, 'll make you most strong" came in my head, and I finally understood the meaning! If we don't die (a little harsh, but hey!), we can learn, adapt, and fix our problems so they don't happen again.

Lesson learned:
       Never take sharp turns on wet roadway, only wide turns. Also, slow down before you make a turn, especially a blind one, you never know who's coming!