On someone's recommendation, I bought one of Wilson's books a few years ago. My first glance at Prometheus Rising confused me (It's not like any other book I'd ever seen), and I set it back on the shelf. Today I pulled it out again, and found a interesting array of ideas about the nature of life. "Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover proves." As I flip through the pages, I find some chewy thoughts there. Are my mental teeth sharper? I find myself more able to digest his thoughts than I did then.

One thing he stresses is to not get mired in dogma:

“Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.”

“If you think you know what the hell is going on, you're probably full of shit.”

(Quotes found at http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/Robert_Anton_Wilson/.

"I DON'T KNOW"

"Think you have a higher objectivity quotient than either of them, why haven't you been nominated for a Nobel prize?"

That's just one question to which I answer "I don't know". There's a lot of them. One big 'I don't know' of course, is what happens after death. Wilson acknowledged that:

Wavy Gravy once asked a Zen Roshi, "What happens after death?" The Roshi replied, "I don't know." Wavy protested, "But you're a Zen Master!" "Yes," the Roshi admitted, "but I'm not a dead Zen Master."

"Levity" in the face of death, a Zen Master could not do better. Hail, and farewell, Robert Anton Wilson!

Saturday, January 13, 2007 B

"Eighties"
9:58pm

I thought of the Friday Illo theme of 'Eighties' in two ways, and found ways to use them both. In the 1980's, I was young, slender, perky, firm but OH SO TENSE! I was much too SHY. When I'm in my eighties, I suspect that I'll be wrinkly, droopy and saggy, but laughing, kicking up my heels to good music and not caring what others think.

Why do I think this? Because at forty eight, I'm already getting there on all those characteristics!! Grin!

Sunday, January 14, 2007 A

"Artist Card #1"
12:45am

HOT!

While surfing through the works of various artists participating in the Friday Illustrations, I learned of Artist Trading Cards. The rules are simple, the piece must be 2.5 x 3.5 inch(64 x 89 mm), signed and dated on the back and are traded amongst artists. They can be sold, but then they are called ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals).

I was fascinated with the detail these artists captured in such a small size. So I got curious. I took bristol board, and delineated the 3.5 by 2.5 and let my intuitive side at it. If I make enough of them, I'll create a gallery for them.

For the digital version, I did no more tweaking than what was necessary to get it to look most like the original. Scratchs and dents are there!