Jack Kerouac: It’s About Experiences

I have always had an interest in creative writing, and I discovered the Beat writers when I was in high school. I read the poetry of Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bob Kaufman, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, and others, and it really struck a chord with me. From there I started to read the fiction of Jack Kerouac: The Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans, On The Road, Visions of Cody, Desolation Angels, Tristessa, Visions of Gerard, The Vanity of Duluoz, Satori in Paris, Lonesome Traveler, and even his first novel, The Town and the City.

I wrote a letter to Ginsberg when I was 17, and much to my surprise, he actually responded, and we corresponded for a while. He recommended that I attend the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (which he co-founded along with the poet Anne Waldman) at what was then Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The school is now the fully accredited Naropa University.

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I wound up going there some years later after attending Northeastern in Boston, where I furthered my study of Beat writers. I continued to read and reread Kerouac, and I was profoundly influenced as a writer and as a person. His insight into Buddhism was key, and the way that he would ramble on past the place where ordinary writers would place periods was exciting to me. He would get on a muscular rush of thought, vision unencumbered by boxed-in linguistic budgets but bursts instead, like a jazz solo, musical and rhythmic, winding where the stream of consciousness went without self consciousness like the stream itself, “first thought best thought” he thought, with so much to say that there was no need to pause, the need for breath a curse, with so much ground to traverse the written word splash! onto the page, making room for the next impression, a jam session, full of lofty ambition, mad inspiration and written perspiration.

I was also moved by his lust for new experiences about which to write, and his understanding of the common lives of everyday people. He had the uncanny ability to romanticize the seemingly mundane quite innocently and sincerely, using the lens of empathy that he saw the world through coupled with his enormous talent as a writer. And since I went to Catholic school for twelve years (he has raised a Catholic as well) his blunt and honest admissions of the details of his experiences were liberating, and they made me realize that to be a real writer you had to be willing to take risks and be completely honest about yourself on the page.

That’s what made his writing different from others. Other writers “write,” and that’s why you see those images of people having writer’s block and pulling page after page from typewriters, balling them up, and tossing them toward the trash can. Kerouac lived, and he wrote about it, and he had the vision and the heart to see intriguing storylines that others would miss, because they were busy “writing.”

scroll_th_aKerouac wrote his most famous novel, On The Road, in just 20 days on one long roll of teletype paper 120 feet long without paragraph breaks. The physical manuscript toured the country a few years ago, and I actually saw it at the Rainbow Library here in Las Vegas.

The Beat writers like the aforementioned poets, Kerouac and William Burroughs wrote in an era when First Amendment rights were not a given, and they and people like comedian Lenny Bruce, Norman Mailer, and Henry Miller endured legal battles that paved the way for the artistic freedom of expression that we routinely enjoy today.

One of the biggest things that Kerouac taught me is that if you don’t have experiences to write about, you will find it hard to have something to say. He wrote in a biographical blurb that is published in the book Heaven and Other Poems that “I spend my days praying that everyone will go to heaven. Really.” I hope (pray) he made it there himself.

Photos: Flickr

Large Hadron Collider Rap Video

Joseph Campbell’s work helped me to understand the role that myth plays in the human psyche. After absorbing his research it occurred to me that man lives by myths that are shared cross-culturally as Campbell asserts, but further than that, we are living inside of a myth that we falsely assume to be reality.

For example, when people thought the earth was flat, they were living in a mythical world, believing in a reality that was patently untrue. But we have been doing that throughout history. Just about every day there is a new discovery that supplants previously existing scientific “facts” that were in fact not facts at all, merely myths.

I don’t think that living in a myth is necessarily bad; it seems to be built in to the human experience. What does need to be transcended is the belief that things are true that are in fact myths, educated guesses, or approximations. Einstein said that “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of consciousness that created them,” and I think that when we understand that we have routinely been living within a series of myths, we will enter into a new level of consciousness, one that is capable of solving the problems that we created when we thought that our myths were true.

They tested the Large Hadron Collider yesterday by firing a beam of protons around the 17 mile underground ring that is situated beneath the Swiss-French border. The Large Hadron Collider is the largest particle accelerator ever constructed, and it is going to be used to send two beams of subatomic particles called “hadrons” in opposite directions at a velocity near the speed of light until they collide, recreating conditions in the universe just after the Big Bang. It is believed that the experiment will confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, or “God Particle.”

Some have questioned the safety of the LHC, claiming that its use could cause the emergence of micro black holes or strangelets, but the project has been given the green light, and after yesterday’s test, all systems are go and the full scale experiment should take place before the new year.

This experiment is going to change the way that we understand our world. We will emerge from a myth and enter into a new paradigm of sorts, one that holds new promise and emergent possibilities. The project has been funded and built by over 8,000 physicists from more than 80 countries with help from hundreds of labs and colleges, so it is collaborative effort that transcends national boundaries or militaristic intentions. It is an effort by mankind to discover the next step in our evolution as a species with a new understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Check out the Large Hadron Collider rap video, it explains the whole thing very well:

Sacred Geometry

Throughout history people have wondered about the origin and nature of the universe and our own place within it. There are and have always been various cultural differences between us, and in many ways the lens of cultural norms colors our view of reality, i.e. the world around us. Along the way philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians have tried to isolate objective and universal principles that underlie our physical world, and one of those is called sacred geometry.

If you study sacred geometry you will see the way that nature organizes itself, and whether you realize it or not, you are seeing countless examples of it every time you take a shower or wash your hands, go for a hike in the woods or do some gardening in your backyard. The golden ratio, or phi ratio is such that the whole in relation to the larger portion is the same as the larger portion to the smaller one. The ratio of adjacent numbers in the Fibonacci series equals phi. The knuckles of our hands are arranged in this manner, as well as the distance between leaves as they wind around a branch, the head of a sunflower, and the body segments of an ant or fish. Spirals like that of a ram’s horn, eddy, nautilus shell or our own galaxy are Fibonacci spirals. This organizing principle of nature and growth is the pure model of mathematical elegance and efficiency, so it is used in technology and web design as well.

I learned about the Flower of Life some years ago, and I was fascinated by it and I learned to draw it and employ different ratcheting patterns superimposed upon each other to bring to life many different aspects of sacred geometry. flower of lifeIt is etched onto the wall of the temple of Osirion in Egypt, and ancient Egyptian architecture is based on sacred geometric principles, which is why it is so enduring. When you look at the pattern, it seems somehow familiar, and it is useful to imagine the two dimensional circles as three dimensional spheres.

A professor of sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University got to doing something like that, imagining sacred geometric patterns in 3-D, and I was fortunate enough to correspond with him as my interest in sacred geometry expanded. He found that the human form itself coalesces around principles of sacred geometry, and I recommend that you visit Chuck Henry’s sacred geometry site and view his work, it is truly mind boggling.

Within the information that is contained in the Flower of Life, you can find Metatron’s Cube,

and within Metatron’s Cube you can find all five of the Platonic Solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. They are the only five solids that are comprised of equilateral and equiangular sides. The Greeks saw then as being representative of the five elements of nature: fire, earth, air, ether (spirit), and water. Bruce Rawles, another sacred geometer with whom I have shared the pleasure of correspondence, has a great site that shows examples of these solids as well as the Archimedean Solids and much more information about sacred geometry at GeometryCode.com.

Fractals are another example of sacred geometry in nature, evident in coastlines, trees, rivers with lakes, and even galaxies.

Stan Tenen from the Meru Foundation has done some fascinating research into sacred geometry and the Hebrew alphabet, and I owe him a debt of gratitude for the time he took to help me to understand sacred geometry through our correspondence.

They say that above the entrance to Plato’s Academy was inscribed the phrase “Let no man ignorant of geometry enter here.” Sacred geometry is relevant to any endeavor, and learning about it was the single most important store of knowledge that I have ever acquired. When you understand it, everything changes. Any time you spend delving into the realm of sacred geometry is time well spent.

Top 10 Good Beers

Any top 10 beers list is going to be subjective depending on the taste of the person doing the listing, and this one is no exception. I like a lot more than 10 good beers, and in fact, to some extent the term “good beers” is an oxymoron, because dammit, all beer is good, but you know what I mean.

Before I move on to the list, it turns out that drinking beer is actually good for you. I always go with my gut, and my gut has always told me that this was so, and beer is also good for building the gut, but, that is another matter. Drinking beer can make you 30-35% less likely to have a heart attack, and it raises HDL or good cholesterol levels. The evidence suggests that a little tippling actually slows the process of aging. So do not dismay, and do not delay…a beer a day keeps the doctor away!

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10.) Heineken

Many will say Heineken is common, and this is true. Heinekens can often be skunky, so there is risk involved in ordering one. But when you are served an ice cold, fresh, non-skunky Heinie, life is good. For a solid all purpose beer with a bite Heinken is a tried and true staple.

peteshome_small_wicked

9.) Pete’s Wicked Ale

I find it to be hard to describe the taste of beers, so bear with me on the limitations of words to define the sweet ineffability of that which is beer, the ambrosia of the Gods, but Pete’s Wicked Ale is a ruby-brown ale that is tasty and distinctive, and when I drink one, I sit back and think…you know, I would like to have another.

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8. Red Hook ESB

ESB stands for “Extra Special Bitters,” and it is the flagship ale from Red Hook. As the name suggests, the bitterness of the Willamette and Tettnang hops compete with a careful blend of malts for balance, and the result is this rich, delicious, fragrant copper colored ale.

sierra nevada

7.) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sierra Nevada brews its Pale Ale and other beers in Chico, California, and I would describe it as full bodied and spicy, brewed with Cascade hops. It is 5.6% alcohol and it hits the spot any time of year.

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6. Red Tail Ale

I had my first pint of Red Tail Ale in Ocean Beach in San Diego and I was hooked. It is brewed by the Mendocino Brewing Company, and when it was introduced at the company’s Hopland brew pub in 1983, it was only available at the pub by the glass, or in six packs of liter and a half champagne magnums that weighed in at 42 pounds. It is an amber ale with a rich and complex flavor and what the company’s web site describes as a “fruity bouquet.” See, that’s why I have trouble describing beer, but like art, I know what I like, and I love Red Tail Ale.

speckled hen

5.) Old Speckled Hen

Old Speckled Hen has an amusing name, which is why I tried it. It is malty and kind of sweet, but rather dry at the same time, and it goes down smoothly and is not overly carbonated. Old Speckled Hen is British, and though I love American microbrews and some Dutch, Belgian, and German beers, I feel as though the old world quality in these British and Irish beers is really unmistakable.

4.) Guinness

Enough said.

newcastle

3.) Newcastle Brown Ale

They started brewing this beer in 1770. They know what they’re doing. The Newcastle web site says it is “full flavored, but easy to drink,” and that sums it up well. Unlike some of the other beers on this list, I could drink nothing but Newcastle and be totally satisfied forever. It is very similar to Old Speckled Hen.

urtheltriple

2.) Urthel Hibernus Quentum

This is a light gold Belgian Tripel, yeasty, fluffy white head, smooth and spicy. It’s a treat, and it is 9% alcohol.

sammy's oatmeal

1.) Samuel Smith’s Oatmeal Stout

Sammy’s is the best. I would actually place all of their beers as for first on my favorite’s list, but I think that the oatmeal stout is tops followed closely by the nut brown. It is simply heaven in a bottle, and you know what…I am going to treat myself tonight, it has been a while since I had a nice fat Sammy’s!

Honorable Mention: Kona Longboard, Fat Tire (all New Belgium offerings), Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout and Great White, Big Dog Las Vegas brews, Lindemans Framboise Lambic, Arrogant Bastard, Hazed and Infused from Boulder Beer, Anchor Steam, and Pyramid’s Tilted Kilt, and that is just to name a few, I know I am just scratching the surface!

Photos: Flickr

Getting More From Twitter

I have been getting into using Twitter more and I’m interested in what kind of apps are out there for it. I read someone Tweeting about how they are finding themselves searching Twittersearch or TwitterTroll for information on sporting events and newsworthy tidbits in real time, quickly and efficiently passed along complete with “everyman” perspectives.

You can use these Twitter search engines to keep abreast of what people are saying about any topic, and it’s a good way to network and make friends that you share either professional or personal interests with.

I found the unofficial Twitter Fan Wiki, and it is a really cool resource that you can explore and I wanted to pass it along. They have a number of different categories, and I just started checking them out myself: Apps, Bots, Hashtags, Ideas and Feature Requests, Mashups, Odd Tweets, Non-Person Twitterers, Comedy, Press and Media, Scripts and Libraries, Communities, Awards and Honors, Fan Submissions, Bugs, and…Cats:

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There is a lot that you can do with Twitter, and I think that understanding it comprehensively is a good idea for anyone who in interested in Web 2.0 and new media.

Check out the use of Twitter in the “radical experiment in education” called World Simulation that was coordinated by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University:

Fit Fueler In Movie “Break Dance”

I am not one who is prone to self promotion, but something happened to me recently that I feel as though I have to share. I was break dancing on the Venice Beach boardwalk a while back, and a director happened by and he watched me for a while, and I guess he liked my style. He approached me and told me that he was developing a project called “Break Dance,” and he was looking for the right B-boy to play Beyonce’s love interest in the film. Though I have no formal acting training, he said that I had a certain presence about me and he was certain that I could pull it off.

Well, that was several months ago, and the film is now in the can. The trailer has been released, and I thought I would debut it here on the Fit Fuel Blog.

Interview With Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh via Twitter

Our CEO was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal concerning his use of Twitter as a way to connect with our customers on a more personal level. San Francisco based Twitter is the popular micro-blogging platform that was founded by Evan Williams (creator of Blogger) and Biz Stone in 2006, and it is growing rapidly; it doubled in size early this spring. Twitter asks users one simple question: “What are you doing?” Your answers to that question are typed into a field, you publish it, and people see it on a public timeline. You can “follow” people on Twitter, and when you do, their “Tweets,” as Twitter posts are called, appear on your home page, so you are constantly being updated about the goings on in the lives of the people you are following. You can post on Twitter over the web or through text or instant messaging.

The rub is that your Tweets have to be 140 characters or less. In a time when many of us are sifting through hundreds of emails a day while we are in and out of the office, at airports, meetings, etc., the use of Twitter to efficiently communicate “on the real” is very appealing, and its value to the progressive business is clear. It is also a phenomenal networking tool, and it provides access that would otherwise be unavailable. In fact, Twitter co-founder Stone and CEO Jack Dorsey publish their business addresses and phone numbers on Twitter’s “Contact” page. That is executive transparency, and ET is another thing that Twitter use provides, and that is one of the reasons that our own CEO, Luke Burgis, is so fond of Twitter.

Fit Fuel is a Las Vegas based e-retailer, and we are very friendly with another established Vegas based online store: Zappos. Zappos is “a service company that just happens to sell shoes.” They feel as though great customer service is the foundation of their success, and if their consistent and impressive growth is any indication, they seem to have gotten it right.

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Zappos was founded in 1998 when a young entrepreneur named Nick Swinmurn convinced venture capitalist Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) that selling shoes online was a good idea. (Hsieh had sold his Internet advertising company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million when he was just 24 years old.) He almost deleted Swinmurn’s cold call message, thinking people wouldn’t buy shoes sight unseen, but he was intrigued when he heard the figures: the retail shoe biz was a $40 billion a year industry, and 5% of that business was being done through mail order. So he got involved, and the rest, as they say, is history. Nick has since moved on to start Stagr.com, a custom street gear company, and Tony has settled in and presided over Zappos’ phenomenal growth along with his partner at LinkExchange, Alfred Lin, who joined Zappos in 2005 as COO, CFO, and Chairman.

Zappos is the company you wished you worked for. In an era when CEO salaries are soaring while the wages of the rank and file often stay stagnant while many of their jobs are being downsized or outsourced out of existence, Tony Hsieh sets a different example. Zappos shares the wealth with their employees. When they exceeded their sales goals in 2007, Tony called a meeting and informed his fellow Zapposians that everyone was going to be receiving a bonus equal to 10% of their annual earnings.

And when you work at Zappos, forget about lunch. Do they make you work through your break? Nope…on the the contrary, they buy you your lunch, every day, usually catered from local eateries. And there are vending machines at Zappos with snacks and drinks, but the funny thing about them is…they’re free. No coins necessary, just push the buttons. Zappos endeavors to build the ideal culture, one that values its employees and tries to keep everyone happy. Happy people provide good customer service, right? Plus, we spend a majority of our time at our jobs, and Zappos realizes this and tries to make it fun to come to work.

So, as fans and friends of Zappos and Twitter, we had an idea. We asked Tony if he would grant us an interview for the Fit Fuel Blog…from an innovative angle…and he agreed. We Twittered Tony the questions in one Tweet of 140 characters or less, and he responded in one Tweet. The interview, perhaps “The World’s Most Efficient Interview,” is published below.

Fit Fuel: Age?
Tony Hsieh: 34

Fit Fuel: # of Z’o’sians?
Tony Hsieh: 1600+

Fit Fuel: Your salary?
Tony Hsieh: 36k

Fit Fuel:Best LV steak?
Tony Hsieh:Ruth’s Chris

Fit Fuel: IPO for Z’os?
Tony Hsieh: no immediate plans

Fit Fuel: Z’os in a word?
Tony Hsieh: culture/service

Fit Fuel: 1B sales in 08?
Tony Hsieh: hopefully

Fit Fuel: Avg hrs sleep?
Tony Hsieh: 3-6 weekdays + 10 weekends

Fit Fuel: Goals?
Tony Hsieh: be happy/change the world

Many thanks to Tony for giving us the interview, and below is a piece that ABC’s Nightline did on the wonderful world of Zappos:

Photo Credit: Flickr

Hiking in Sedona, AZ

I have lived here in Las Vegas for about six years, and I love it in many ways, but every now and then I get the craving to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city and closer to nature, so I have spent a few of my summers elsewhere over these last six years. I actually moved here from Sedona in Arizona, which is just about a five hour drive from Las Vegas. I spent this past May, June, and July in Sedona and came back to Vegas on August 1st.

Beautiful Sedona

From my perspective there is, for the most part, one thing to do in and around Sedona: hike. And for me, that is enough. There are those who say that there are natural vortexes in Sedona at certain sites, like Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock. I don’t know for sure what all of that means, but I think that there are electromagnetic fields everywhere, and since there is so much life and so little intrusion by man in the area, the vibe is powerful because it is all natural, stemming directly from nature without a lot of power lines and cell phone towers and man-made static. There is low population and a lot of open space. Plus, the natural beauty of the area is awe inspiring, and it leads you to feeling real good and thinking good thoughts, and that elevates the vibe as well.

bell rock w comet
There is a lot of good hiking in the area, and the locals try to keep some of it quiet, but with the ubiquity of the Internet and the hiking books that are out there, there really are few if any secrets. One of my favorite Sedona hikes is what is called Bell Trail. There is the famous Bell Rock (pictured with comet) in the Village of Oak Creek just down the road from Sedona proper, and there are great trails around Bell Rock, but Bell Trail is about 10 miles past the Village of Oak Creek.

Wet Beaver Creek runs across the red rocks below Bell Trail, and there are some great fishing spots and swimming holes, and it is visually beautiful and stunning to suddenly come across this cool and refreshing stream flowing through the scenic desert canyon. There is a window of a couple of weeks early in the summer when you can pick nearly unlimited blackberries in a couple of spots, and if you hike in and up about four miles you get to what the locals call “The Crack,” which is the spot for swimming and cliff diving.

oak creek cascade

Sedona is a special place, and the minute you see it, you understand. As you get out and into the nature that Sedona is built upon, you understand it a little more. There are mind blowing rock formations, wild flowers and varied types of plants, trees, and cacti, and wildlife: javalinas, coyotes, rabbits, hares, the ubiquitous desert quail and many species of birds, and of course our friends the lizards, tarantulas and snakes. It is a perfect road trip from Las Vegas, and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

Photo Sources:
Flickr
Flickr
Flickr

Tunes For Tuesday: Music Videos

I got done working later in the evening the other night, and I wanted to hear a particular song, but I didn’t feel like digging through my music, so I went over to You Tube and listened to it while watching the video, and then I saw related videos in the side bar and I went to one of them, and on and on, and I spent a few hours that way. We all know that you can do that, but it’s cool when you actually do, and it was time well spent.

Listening with headphones is key so that you really get immersed in the total presentation. I thought I would share a few of the videos that I watched and listened to on the blog today.

I am a fan of The Roots, and their drummer, Questlove, found himself listening to a Loretta Lynn joint that featured Jack White from the White Stripes, and he says that he couldn’t stop listening to it. He got to thinking that he would like to work with an old school R & B artist, and he heard that Al Green was looking to work with some people from the hip hop community. The two got together, Questo put together a band, and the album “Lay It Down” was born. Check it:

While I’m at it, here is the Loretta Lynn/Jack White collab:

I heard this Death Cab For Cutie tune on the radio and it really got my attention. The video version is even better because it has a cool, hypnotic four minute intro:

The GZA, The Genius, from the Wu Tang Clan just came out with a new album, “Pro Tools.” Here is “Alphabets”:

One last video for tunes for Tuesday at the Fit Fuel Blog, a little Crazy G House Music for your headpiece:

Fitness, Fuel, and Fun

When you sit out on the back porch on a starry night ruminating on the meaning of life, puffing on a pipe and sipping on a cognac in your smoking jacket and boxer briefs, you are inevitably going to boil it down to three things: fitness, fuel, and fun. This is what our store is all about, and we try to keep the complex simple, and the simple even simpler. That’s why everyone should shop at Fit Fuel.

Why over-complicate things unnecessarily? Let’s run this down. Why do you need to be fit? The first thing that comes to mind is that you cannot be fly if you are fat. Jack Nicholson is perhaps the only exception, and he is old, rich, and famous, so he is different than you and me. If you are not fit, you will not attract the correct members of the opposite sex, and you may even find it difficult to get into the hottest clubs. And you will most definitely find it quite difficult to get into the hottest duds, and it’s hard to be flossin’ when you be a chubs, see what I mean? So fitness is key, and that’s why we decided to have a store that offers all kinds of stuff that helps people stay healthy and fit.

Now fuel comes next. You need fuel to keep your machines running, but that is somebody else’s department. We figured that the human body needs sustenance to keep it going, and this is what we call fuel. We provide you with fuel for the body, mind, and soul, and we intend to keep our fingers on the pulse of the evolving trends in nutritional supplementation and natural and organic foods. We can provide you with much of what you need to fuel your lifestyle, and we endeavor to continue to add to our offerings so that all of our customers can become the uber-people that are lying in wait inside of them.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly, life is about having fun. The aim of the game is to feel real good. In order to feel real good, you need to be fit. There is a lyric in an old Jethro Tull song: “I wouldn’t want to be a fat man, I’ve not the patience to ignore all that,” and I think Ian Anderson hit the nail on the head. Even if you are not totally fit at present, to feel good about yourself, you at least need to be working toward it and seeing steady improvement in your conditioning. As long as you feel a sense of moving forward, it’s generally all good and you can enjoy the journey.

If you are not properly fueled, it’s going to be hard to have fun. I have to admit that sometimes I feel sleepy during the day, and I suddenly realize that I forgot to eat. It’s not fun to feel tired, so fuel is key. That’s why we offer so many different ways to fuel your experience of living. We want to infuse you with nature and nutritional necessities, organic and herbal remedies, knowledge, inspiration, optimal hydration and yogic meditation. Your condition is our mission, there is no glass, and there is no ceiling on fitness and health and natural healing. We care how you feel, and we keep it real, and that is word up…the real deal.

There, now you have it. Fitness, fuel, and fun, and enjoy the night when your work is done!

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