A day with Infinity Stones (The worst ways to use them for work)

I hate summer

I hate summers

They are very hot

The sweat makes me stinky

The heat makes me rot

---

The unforgiving rays pierce

Through 8 light minutes of space

Through the strong shield of the earths atmosphere

To create tan on my face

---

The daylight lasts longer

It gives me a migraine

I feel drowsy all the time

I can’t control my brain

---

Although times are rough

There are things to be thankful for

Like the AC in my lonely room

And the bolt on my bedroom door

Retconning my life

This is one of the cases where the name contains the true meaning; like literally con your life into believing it could be something else.

Retroactive continuity (retcon) is a literary device often used to say ‘Hey, we screwed up but here’s everything in a completely new light just to mess with you’.

Sometimes it’s a major re-imagining of pivotal characters like Alan Moore’s Joker in The Killing Joke or just the equivalent of a girl giving herself a perm for one day as is often the case with sitcoms. From ground-breaking to campy they have long since been a crucial part of pop culture.

‘Reinventing yourself’ I feel, is sometimes, almost a parody of retconning. Not everybody will be happy with it; it might get panned and be reviled in equal measure and the producers (parental units) are definitely going to give you a lot of grief about it.

But sometimes, life can derail and not be the same as the story you had envisioned.  When this happens, some people choose to find familiar patterns to stick to in their lives, much like when TV shows try to find their niche crowd, quietly enjoying comfortable success. But the others try that elusive technique of successfully making something new which remains faithful to its origins. This could be an utter disaster (Ghostbusters) or beautifully preserved (Doctor Who); which brings me to the whole concept of ‘reinventing your own life.

To be honest, it doesn’t feel nearly as high stakes as altering a classic character backstory. Because, we all know the majority of the ‘new year new me’ stuff doesn’t last long. Sure it’s a nice idea to ‘start a spin class’. But once you realize how expensive yoghurt smoothies are, you’re back to lazing around on the couch with your cat the rest of the year.

However, I have a half-baked solution to this. One common trope of retconning is the practice of showing already established events from a new perspective. This doesn’t change what happened or how we feel about those events, but does give a deeper understanding and appreciation of the characters. In the same way that getting a pet, eating healthy or concentrating on your work is not suddenly going to change your core character, but instead, make you achieve a new perspective on things and provide marked additions to subtly enhance your personality and attitude.

So this year, why not do the same things you’ve been doing (let’s face it we are pretty much stuck with our habit repertoire at this time) but do them in an entirely new way.   I for one, will not be mourning the failure of all the ‘too ideal’ resolutions but instead be grateful for this world and the people around and the experiences that changed me, for better or for worse.

In popular culture, retconning has toppled god level beings and made despicable characters humane. Giving second chances is way underrated. This year, I plan on having a surprisingly tender moment with someone I hate; my life will be like a TV show goddammit.

P.S. Yes, I procrastinate so much that I have published my new year post on march.

 

Life without an audience?

I recently watched Bo Burnham’s Make Happy and I swear I heard angelic vocalisation in the background at the exact moment when I realised I had stumbled on to something amazing.

Oh wait.. the vocalisation was in the show.. If that doesn’t pique your interest..

I’m not doing this very well. Makes sense, cause a grand total of one person I know watched it.

But since I’m like 10% more eloquent in writing, I’m hoping I can convince you and our two readers to watch this perspective changing work of pure art.

Wow I feel myself getting hyped just writing it

OKAY HERE GOES

‘A young comic challenges the very form of stand-up comedy’.. maybe I should first explain the traditional form.

It’s when someone comes on stage and rants for an hour about everything humanity has to endure in order to live in our outrageously comfortable first world lifestyles and by doing so hopes to find a connection with their audience who despite wanting to feel unique feels a quiet sense of relief that they are not alone in feeling that airplane food is really inedible.

Bo Burnham raps. And sings. And interacts with voiceovers. About irony and love and depression.

Basically, watching his show will make you laugh and cause your weekly existential crisis to arrive a bit early.

I’m kinda mad that I can’t quote some of the exemplary lines from the show or go into detail about each of the segments cause this is probably the only stand-up routine that should not be spoiled

Bo Burnham with his conveniently alliterative rap name was a child of the internet, but proves he can tackle all-encompassing critical points of culture. All of the segments are genuinely funny in an understated way and even as he proclaims they are discrete, they all come together in a breathlessly beautiful way and perfects a new genre for mainstream stand-up comedy (his previous special ‘what.’ introduced it and it’s brilliant)

The show itself is technically marvelous. The professional lighting and the perfectly choreographed sequences with inherently hostile voice-overs elevate his content, his pithy narrative ability and his singing voice which were already pretty amazing to begin with, resulting in a layered and complex performance

In his quest to escape the comfortable boundaries other comedians set up by being ‘relatable’, he makes a show about performing.

But like he says at the end, we’re all performers; capturing everything through pixels and constantly seeking validation for said performance by others and ourselves. We are the audience of our own carefully curated show and the ratings in the form of likes and shares measure our self-worth and decides whether our show gets cancelled or picked up for another season.

Yes, he’s a child of the internet but he resents everything it has become.. this theme was explored a little bit in his previous specials  but in this one, he abandons the subtext completely and literally spells it out in the most honest monologue at the end

And yet as he expresses anger at how ‘Lip-sync battles’ and celebrities playing ‘Pictionary’ is capturing our valuable attention, he acknowledges that he’s no better as his whole show is designed to do the exact same.

He points out that just because he has the self-awareness to admit the flaws in his material doesn’t mean we can let him off the hook

When he laments about the entertainment industry, social media and how celebrity culture is moulding our generation into personality-less drones, he does so with such remarkable passion that you get this weird feeling of hope that maybe there is potential for the tide to turn.

Shows and performances are designed as a form of escapism; an evening where we can just laugh and let go of our fears. Bo Burnham however shines the light (sometimes literally) on humanity’s weaker moments, so that when we do laugh, it’s almost always tinged with self-pity and also through a sense of connection to this flawed persona on stage as he promises you that you can never escape your inner demons.

It’s still very funny though. Really.

He switches between humour and thoughtfulness at dizzying rates that at the end of it you are left feeling emotionally exhausted and hitting the replay button.

At the end of it all, you’re just left with one question.

Are you happy?

P

 

 

Elementary Physics + sad haiku

Ice cubes

drop with a clink into the tumblers of my heart

 

Shiver

As I convulse with the sudden temperature change

 

Condensation

Drops emerge as tears from my eyes

 

Vapor

Escapes from my mouth as dry sobs of hopelessness

 

The laws of thermodynamics

Will bring the warmth to my soul again

A

Even more Haiku

I went to the library, dozed off while reading haiku. Woke up to find I’d written s’more of my own.

haiku asleep

real haiku 1

real haiku 2

Laters

A

the unwanted hiatus

Dear poochi

I can’t think. I feel like every sentence I type has no substance to it – it feels lifeless. Like words from a 5^th standard history textbook or an essay read by an uneducated literate. The words that I am saying now have probably already been said. Frighteningly, all permutations of my previous sentence has already been uttered/written in different languages. Does that make this post pointless? Maybe the few that have existed across time and said these words are a very small percentage. I am probably one of the few who are aware of the fact that such an event is possible.

What if I am the centre of the universe. I am sitting on my bed, in front of my laptop, placed in such a way that I have the comfort and solitude of my room and still the speed of the wifi isn’t slowed. My house is on the top floor of an apartment in a quiet lane in a convenient centre of the city – well supplied with required resources and consumables. The city itself is the shore of a huge beach and the ports that existed previously had led to it being a trade hub, transforming it into a railway  “central” and even air way access  to touristy locations as random as Siem Reap. So where I am IS the centre of the universe. The fact that I know all this stuff makes me a carrier of the centre of the universe. Because every movement/decision I make is made after consideration of reason, transforming every step I take to be the centre of the universe.

No, I am not being narcisssdfisfo whatever. I am the core of my own universe.

I looked out of the screen for some time and my flow of thought vanished. I forgot why I started this post addressing you.

It has been a month since we wrote our last blog post.. this is sad.

I wrote letters to all my friends recently (including you) and I faced two problems – not knowing what to write in the letter. Should it have been about normal day to day activities, wouldn’t that sound boring. Also, I didn’t know any interesting facts for me to impress my opinion on you. So.. it was weird. Second, I didn’t know if writing a letter would make my friends as happy and satisfied as excited I was to post it. What if I didn’t meet their expectations.

What if these two obstacles are the hindrances to life (assuming basic food, clothing, shelter is fulfilled)

Is the spiritual problem a privileged one because I had access to education or just because I am clever?

I don’t even know why I posted this but poochi.. just post a post because you gotta post don’t postpone it

Hehe

A

Weekends, movies and The Procrastination Productivity

I can’t write. Which is why I HAVE TO.

I am waiting for someone to ask my opinion on a certain issue so I can actually discuss it. I want them to force their wrong opinions on me so I can say HAH you are sooooo wrong hahahahaha. No one is clever enough to challenge me with intellectual questions except the voices in my head.

This post contains interesting life advise from a newly created adult. She started out as suddenly and beautifully as the birth of the Uruk-hai….

1. Sometimes playing Atari Breakout is more interesting than your real life problems
2. If you have pressing jobs to complete, I assure you, you will end up achieving a lot more BUT that one thing
3. Because the opportunity cost (benefit?) doing other things when you actually have to one thing increases. So just finish all those distractions however guilty you feel later. Actually you know what? No guilt. Screw it you are an adult. All your decisions are sound.
4. Thank you god I got 9 and a half hours of sleep today thank you
5. Sometimes you get really weird dreams. I dreamt that I slept for 7 whole days and wake up on the 8^th morning thinking I was asleep for 4 hours and then realise I have missed a whole week but NO ONE missed me that was really scary be ready to be alone in this world because BAM u r adult
6. Get ready for dreams that involve you walking alone in a monument in the middle of a desert and a monkey talking to you and asking you for a towel
7. Binge watch movies on Italian Mafia and locking yourself in your room and pretending the GUN SHOTS ARE REAL
8. Play counter strike.
9. Complain about “too less time”

If you want to discuss more science-y stuff, we shall discuss Eru Iluvatar and Morgoth coming up next in “what happens in an adult brain”

Until then,

A

Some really sad haiku

You are the one standing pillar

In my demolished building

And I will cling on to you

Like sivaji ganesan in padayappa

—

I was studying maths

Suddenly

I saw numbers

JK I love numbers

—

The post-its with my life goals written on them

Started falling off in the wind

Like leaves from a deciduous tree in autumn

—

Life’s what you make it

So let’s make it a rock

Make me a rock

Please I want to be unlife

—

The tubelight was on

I wasn’t getting sleep

There was low voltage

The fan was moving slowly

I counted the blades one-two-three-one-two-three

—

I was trying really hard to listen

To the voices in my head

All I could hear was static

I am an inactive radio

Wish I was

Radioactive

—

UGH

A

Lalalalalaal. stops. Plays sad violin

—

The gentle waves touch my feet

I turn around

A little boy pees

—

Listening to AC/DC on new headphones

The pounding in the head

That isn’t actually music

—

I spent 22 seconds on social today

—

A