2012.11.11 19:00 - Creative Frontiers

The Guardian for this meeting was PlayAsBeing. The comments are by PlayAsBeing.

Calvino Rabeni: Good evening Paradise :)
Paradise Tennant: hey cal :))
Paradise Tennant: smiles my brother and I are having a rousing .. going back and forth conversation on the nature of the divine
Calvino Rabeni: :) oh, now? Online?
Paradise Tennant: smiles reminds of mitzi almos :)
Calvino Rabeni: yes
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: no he is sitting drinking a very good bottle of my malbec :) a 3 week visit on his way home from languedoc
Paradise Tennant: ops now we are on to the cathars
Paradise Tennant: how are you travel plans coming along ?
Calvino Rabeni: You must have a lot in common :)
Calvino Rabeni: To have a rousing discussion of Cathars
Paradise Tennant: smiles as I have only one brother it is lovely that I like him so well :)
Calvino Rabeni: That is really fortunate :)
Paradise Tennant: the albigensian heresy ... !
Calvino Rabeni: ah yes .. the albig .. what? :)
Paradise Tennant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism
Calvino Rabeni: The interest and importance of the so-called Albigensian Heresy[1] lie in the fact that while it bears " a local habitation and a name/' its actual habitation was not local, and its name is misleading. Its origin must be traced back to pre-Christian Ages, and its fruits will remain for ages to come.
Calvino Rabeni: Now, after reading that, I suspect it could be a while before I'm graced with an epiphany :)
Calvino Rabeni: (reads)
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: rather grim really
Calvino Rabeni: The Cathars' beliefs are thought to have come originally from Eastern Europe and the Byzantine Empire by way of trade routes.
Paradise Tennant: yes they were civilized :))
Paradise Tennant: peaceful
Paradise Tennant: productive
Paradise Tennant: virtuous :)
Calvino Rabeni: That sounds like it led to trouble ?
Paradise Tennant: extinction
Calvino Rabeni: Definition (4) of byzantine
Calvino Rabeni: a : of, relating to, or characterized by a devious and usually surreptitious manner of operation b : intricately involved : labyrinthine
Calvino Rabeni: It all starts to look like an intriguing problem of public relations ... or a group on the wrong side of history
Calvino Rabeni: a feel of being one of those "alternate realities"
Calvino Rabeni: that we don't hear enough about
Calvino Rabeni: a side trip on the developmental tree, that under other circumstances might have been a trunk
Paradise Tennant: yes most of their texts were destroyed
Paradise Tennant: they were very eglatarian
Paradise Tennant: egalitarian
Paradise Tennant: female priest ..were artisans ..lots of cathar art
Calvino Rabeni: sounds like a good background story for imaginative historical fiction
Paradise Tennant: would be a sad story
Calvino Rabeni: or as some say, imagined alternative realities
Calvino Rabeni: the one where things turned out differently
Paradise Tennant: hmm alternative realities we saw an excellent film called cloud atlas
Paradise Tennant: you would like it long but very entertaining
Calvino Rabeni: I heard a bit about it
Calvino Rabeni: it risks complexity
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: cathars were like early western buddists vegetarians ;))
Paradise Tennant: yes 6 stories but well woven
Paradise Tennant: some very good performances
Calvino Rabeni: "The asceticism of the ' Perfect ' in particular went beyond that of the severest monasticism, for they eschewed meat always, and not merely at certain times of the year, as well as all food produced by generation Their relationship of the sexes was ultra-strict. Their word was their bond, and their religion forbade them to mar it with an oath."
Calvino Rabeni: "WE are now in a position to study more closely the documents from which an estimate may be formed of the beliefs and practices of those whom the Church exerted its full strength to destroy. Our task is not a simple one, because, as already stated, there was not one heresy, but many, and we are dependent for our knowledge of their tenets almost entirely upon their enemies whose odium theologicum discounts their trustworthiness."
Paradise Tennant: smiles my brother is talking of cycling round many of the cathar landmarks
Calvino Rabeni: As in bicycling?
Paradise Tennant: a thousand years of history .. a mille ans d'histoire
Paradise Tennant: yep
Calvino Rabeni: An excellent way to go ...
Calvino Rabeni: I'm going to try similar with the temples and other landmarks of Bangkok
Calvino Rabeni: you had asked earlier
Calvino Rabeni: two things a bit different this time .. more attention to logistics, enabled by google earth and maps, plus the idea of bicycling, which I think is an IDEAL means of transportation for getting to know a place
Calvino Rabeni: one can cover kilometers, yet be right on the ground and stop at a moment's notice, never stuck in traffic, flexible as a walker
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: yes much better pace to really see
Paradise Tennant: motor bike is too fast
Calvino Rabeni: I should have been a geographer by profession
Calvino Rabeni: as I like to systematically explore the complex webs of a place
Paradise Tennant: smiles yes that would be a good choice as a career
Calvino Rabeni: somewhat scientifically
Paradise Tennant: or second career :)
Calvino Rabeni: yes
Calvino Rabeni: the mass transit systems are fast and inexpensive, almost like teleporting in second life. One can "sample" the area at numerous points quite easily
Calvino Rabeni: I spent some time getting a mental map of the connections between the systems
Paradise Tennant: http://www.google.ca/...
Paradise Tennant: really big city .. did not realize how big
--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: in one case you can take the skytrain to the end of the line, then walk a bit to a very old train station, and take an hour trip down to the coast, through rural areas
Calvino Rabeni: "undeveloped"
stevenaia Michinaga: evening
Paradise Tennant: hiya stev
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening :)
stevenaia Michinaga: ooops, seems I;ve been lagging the past 90 seconds
Paradise Tennant: krungthrep :) city of angels
Calvino Rabeni: U.S. has one too :)
Calvino Rabeni: There's a new shopping center, one of the biggest,, with theme "cities" on each level.
Calvino Rabeni: San Francisco on one level ... with a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, and next level up, the U.S. City of Angels, Hollywood :)
Paradise Tennant: ko samui is suppose to be nice
Calvino Rabeni: it has a nice "secret garden" hidden (often) in the clouds near the summit
Calvino Rabeni: where there are a number of statues carved from the stone there, life sized people, musicians, fanciful creatures
Paradise Tennant: http://www.samuicam.com/
Calvino Rabeni: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leeroyhamilton/4724859839/
Calvino Rabeni: http://samui.sawadee.com/attractions/magicgarden.htm
Paradise Tennant: lovely
Calvino Rabeni: A good place to Sit for a long time

--BELL--
Calvino Rabeni: There are certain places that seem to draw one back again
Calvino Rabeni: for a way of being outside of "been there, done that" list ticking
Paradise Tennant: yes .. some places attract .. they feel comfortable .. like a second skin
Calvino Rabeni: or they make a place for you
Calvino Rabeni: or become a being-reference point
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Paradise Tennant: yes a being reference point
stevenaia Michinaga: ...listening to the Mass, ty
Calvino Rabeni: Interesting to find places that are not on one's habitual map of possibilities
Paradise Tennant: yes
Paradise Tennant: some places are harder to get to but so wonderful when you are there
Calvino Rabeni: for instance, outdoor spaces that are comfortable and safe at night ...lively with people .. it's something that doesn't happen much in this country, except perhaps for special events like festivals
Calvino Rabeni: hehe
Calvino Rabeni: one bicycle tour actually goes through people's living rooms
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Calvino Rabeni: as their living rooms expand to include an alley (I think)
Calvino Rabeni: there's a famous combination vegetable market and train track
stevenaia Michinaga: nods, packes right up
Calvino Rabeni: when the train goes by everything quickly folds up like the flat pieces in a pop-out book
Calvino Rabeni: and the instant its gone, fall back into place
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: smiles you would want to get the schedule right
Calvino Rabeni: I'd planned to travel that out-of-the-way line, and afterwards learned, it has that particular market as well as a notable and not-well-frequented Kwan Yin temple
Calvino Rabeni: two bonuses :)
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Calvino Rabeni: But then my travels aren't destination driven, so the things that pop up or occur along the way are bonuses rather than the reason for the journey
Calvino Rabeni: "it's the journey, not the destination" etc.
Paradise Tennant: wish I had my brother's facility with languages because when you can interreact with the people in their own language it is so much more a natural connection
Paradise Tennant: yes much better when there is just flow
Calvino Rabeni: He's gifted with language skills ?
stevenaia Michinaga: night my friends
Paradise Tennant: nite nite stev
Calvino Rabeni: Nighty night Stev
stevenaia Michinaga: long day
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Paradise Tennant: yes he speaks 5 languages :))
stevenaia Michinaga: ty
Calvino Rabeni: The beat poets, the French surrealists, and the readers of the Bhagavad Gita I think, all had some connection to the flow principle
Calvino Rabeni: Which 5 languages?
Calvino Rabeni: I'm starting to enjoy tech-augmented travel too, like talking dictionaries that are in your pocket phone
Paradise Tennant: french, spanish, english, indonesian, german
Paradise Tennant: hiya luci !!!
Calvino Rabeni: Cinda :)
Lucinda Lavender: Hi ya all:)
Paradise Tennant: we are talking of traveling to far away magical places
Paradise Tennant: oh an dutch and a bit of hindi
Lucinda Lavender: nice!
Calvino Rabeni: and language prodigies, and I think, the crossing of different tracks of knowledge
Paradise Tennant: fun travelling companion
Paradise Tennant: spent five years travelling just out of university .. came back wiser :) and fluent
Calvino Rabeni: I was at Trader Joes, and the checker chatted a bit ... I was interested in her choice of study topics at the uni - Sculpture, Anatomy, and Latin.
Calvino Rabeni: (thought that was an interesting diverse combination)
Paradise Tennant: hmm it is
Paradise Tennant: but all relate :)
Calvino Rabeni: that was a good five years
Lucinda Lavender: interesting
Calvino Rabeni: good choice .. I wish I'd had the resource at that time to do some overseas study as part of university
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening Hi Santo :)
Santoshima Resident: good evening :)
Lucinda Lavender: good evening San
Paradise Tennant: hiya san
Santoshima Resident: hiya, please continue
Paradise Tennant: well we have been talking of travelling :))
Santoshima Resident: oh!
Calvino Rabeni: I'm intrigued by a city that has so many layers of history threaded together like spider webs
Calvino Rabeni: (no grid)
Lucinda Lavender: I do not plan any travelling...am just sitting by the fire
--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: the ancient canals with their old teak houses and stone crypts are at the base of huge buildings with fantasy scenes incorporating yet other places and cities
Calvino Rabeni: http://www.thaiwebsites.com/images/Terminal21/bridge-small.jpg
Paradise Tennant: yowser did not realize how late it was :)) should say " kob-kun-(mak) " and "ra-tee-sa-was "
Calvino Rabeni: ohh yes time flies (or flows)
Calvino Rabeni: good night dream well
Santoshima Resident: good night,, paradise
Paradise Tennant: nite nite my friends dream well :))
Calvino Rabeni: sawadee :)
Santoshima Resident: what place is the image, Cal?
Santoshima Resident: oh, thailand
Calvino Rabeni: Terminal 21, a mall building designed to look like an airport, containing theme replicas of other cities within it
Calvino Rabeni: http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/shop/bangkok-shopping-whats-inside-terminal-21-citys-newest-mall-092302
Calvino Rabeni: Each floor of this Bangkok shopping mall has a different theme based on various cities around the world, so it's like traveling to a new shopping venue when you hit each floor. And the designers placed gorgeous statues and icons of each city in their respective sections. For example, the bottom level, a Caribbean-themed supermarket floor, has some beach decor and a huge lighthouse right in the middle of the floor.
Santoshima Resident: cool
Calvino Rabeni: third level, Istanbul
Lucinda Lavender: wow amazing]
Santoshima Resident: one stop travel?
Calvino Rabeni: Tokyo, London, San Francisco, Hollywood
Calvino Rabeni: I'm not sure how I feel about Hollywood being the top level
Calvino Rabeni: Good place to go for free WiFi and, to get out of the heat
Santoshima Resident: seems ok location ... in the clouds
Calvino Rabeni: nods
Santoshima Resident: when do you go?
Santoshima Resident: or, not known
Calvino Rabeni: not known, within a month if all goes well
Lucinda Lavender: pretty exciting!
Santoshima Resident: for how long will you travel?
Santoshima Resident: or, perhaps also not known?
Calvino Rabeni: it is a bit opportunistic, but I think, 3-4 months
Santoshima Resident: { sorry, i could just as well send a general query, something like: who, what, when, where, why? :) }
Santoshima Resident: i'll look forward to hearing about your travels as they unfold ~
Calvino Rabeni: thanks ... I think I have the time zones figured out
--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: It's been awhile since I've been able to travel, and it's taken time to get motivated for it .. hopefully, I'm learning to appreciate the meaning of procrastination
Lucinda Lavender: :))
Santoshima Resident: :)
Lucinda Lavender: sometimes having waited a long time is just the thing to inspire one
Calvino Rabeni: yes
Calvino Rabeni: Here's an essay I like
Calvino Rabeni: http://www.davidwhyte.com/pdf%20files/Readers_Circle/Procrastination.pdf
Santoshima Resident: thank you ~ and will wish you both a nice evening
Santoshima Resident: surprised to find you still here, lovely ~
Calvino Rabeni: Good to see you here tonight
Santoshima Resident: { was taking a break from bookkeeping ... }
Lucinda Lavender: I want to learn how not to have eyemake up on the eyes:)
Santoshima Resident: which eyes?
Lucinda Lavender: do I need to buy new ones?
Lucinda Lavender: the eyes I am wearing
Santoshima Resident: these here eyes? ok!
Santoshima Resident: um
Santoshima Resident: IM
Santoshima Resident: for details
Lucinda Lavender: ok
Santoshima Resident: many eye options
Lucinda Lavender: ok
Lucinda Lavender: I will im you
Santoshima Resident: we will talk about the eyes and other things soon!
Santoshima Resident: cioa for now
Lucinda Lavender: the link about procrastination sounds good
Santoshima Resident: ciao
Calvino Rabeni: dream well
Santoshima Resident: yeah
Santoshima Resident: bye
Lucinda Lavender: sweet dreams
Lucinda Lavender: san
Lucinda Lavender: I am kind of quietly relaxing
Calvino Rabeni: Looking yourself in the eyes :)
Lucinda Lavender: yep
Lucinda Lavender: eye makeup is distracting
Calvino Rabeni: looks self in eyes .. it still feels uncanny
Lucinda Lavender: maybe I will go shopping for new eyes
Lucinda Lavender: sleep well
Calvino Rabeni: may you find what you are envisioning
Lucinda Lavender: :))
Calvino Rabeni: thanks you also
Calvino Rabeni: bye :)

--BELL--

Any creative frontier is by its nature a conversational frontier, it is a meeting of the inner and the outer worlds we inhabit, it is a knitting together, a growing together, a surprising arrival with its own, to begin with, unknown unfolding, caught within it as part of its genius.

To hate our procrastinating tendencies is in some way to hate our relationship with time itself, to be unequal to the phenomenology of revelation and the way it works its own way in its very own gifted time, only emerging when the qualities it represents have a firm correspondence in our necessarily struggling heart and imagination.
http://www.davidwhyte.com/pdf%20files/Readers_Circle/Procrastination.pdf