Thursday, September 25, 2003
Ahmunna
A few months ago, I noticed Jason frequently saying "Ahmunna."
"Ahmunna?" you say, "What is this Ahmunna?"
According to this page, Umunna is The Second Child of Chief Nzua Oboli. Hmmm... No, that can't be it.
Here's a definition, according to Pseudodictionary.com:
That sounds more accurate. It's an extremely lazy way of saying, "I am going to" and I have determined that the transition was "I'm going to" to "I'm gonna" to "Ahmunna."
I initially figured it was just a result of the mental laziness so characteristic of Jason, but then I caught myself saying it. Surely I must have picked it up from Jason, right? Then I heard Brittany saying it, but it's very likely she got it from me. And then I heard my Boss saying it. Then I heard my other friends and coworkers saying it. Then I heard Neal Boortz saying it on the radio.
Sometimes it takes the form of "Uhmunna," but less frequently it's ironically spoken as the somewhat more proper "I'munna." I've even heard Jason say "Ahma," which is just plain ghetto!
The pseudodictionary.com definition says it's most prominent in the northeast, but I can attest that it's extremely prevalent in the southeast. It seems that everywhere I go, I hear someone saying "Ahmunna." Even last night, at the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, the leader said "Ahmunna," and it definitely wasn't a mantra!
Speaking of which, ahmunna post about that shortly.
A few months ago, I noticed Jason frequently saying "Ahmunna."
"Ahmunna?" you say, "What is this Ahmunna?"
According to this page, Umunna is The Second Child of Chief Nzua Oboli. Hmmm... No, that can't be it.
Here's a definition, according to Pseudodictionary.com:
ahmunna, omminnuh - A foreshortening or corruption of the phrase "I am going to..." Heard in everyday conversation many times a day, especially in northeastern cities.
e.g., Ahmunna get some lunch. Ahmunna go straight home after work. Ahmunna go to the Pirates game Sattidy. Ahmunna start speaking clearly.
That sounds more accurate. It's an extremely lazy way of saying, "I am going to" and I have determined that the transition was "I'm going to" to "I'm gonna" to "Ahmunna."
I initially figured it was just a result of the mental laziness so characteristic of Jason, but then I caught myself saying it. Surely I must have picked it up from Jason, right? Then I heard Brittany saying it, but it's very likely she got it from me. And then I heard my Boss saying it. Then I heard my other friends and coworkers saying it. Then I heard Neal Boortz saying it on the radio.
Sometimes it takes the form of "Uhmunna," but less frequently it's ironically spoken as the somewhat more proper "I'munna." I've even heard Jason say "Ahma," which is just plain ghetto!
The pseudodictionary.com definition says it's most prominent in the northeast, but I can attest that it's extremely prevalent in the southeast. It seems that everywhere I go, I hear someone saying "Ahmunna." Even last night, at the Orlando Insight Meditation Group, the leader said "Ahmunna," and it definitely wasn't a mantra!
Speaking of which, ahmunna post about that shortly.
Friday, September 19, 2003
Ayn, meet Eckhart.
I received The Power of Now several days ago, and I have to say that so far I'm very impressed. I'm trying to be tolerant and keep an open mind (read: avoiding jumping to conclusions unneccessarily) as many of the ideas are new to me and don't exactly fit easily into the context of what I have previously held as correct and proper. Objectivist writings create a very rigid framework, and I think this is good to an extent as it protects the philosophy from negative external influences. But at the same time, it prevents positive external influences from expanding its scope and efficacy, and many of it's dogmatic defenders make this much worse, though I won't name names or identify Any of the Responsible Institutions. ;-)
I think the question one must ask if he wishes to be objective when evaluating new and potentially or seemingly incompatible ideas is not "What does Objectivism have to say about this?" but rather, "Is this right or wrong? Is this good or bad by the standard of my life? If this idea were implemented, would it promote or demote my life?" That's what all appropriate value-judgements reduce to. If one were to ask the first question, they would quickly discover the contempt that Ayn Rand (perhaps justifiably) had for eastern ideas and steer clear of them; I would consider this choice a grave mistake.
By my own experiences, I can readily identify many truths in what Tolle speaks about. I also can see how, if practiced, the different principles and methods described could be incredibly life-enhancing, so the answers to the prior questions are RIGHT, GOOD, and PROMOTE! I would even be so bold as to assert that several of the principles from Buddhism are actually missing from Objectivist philosophy, being that the Objectivist ethics are firmly grounded in choice and mental discipline. I understand that I haven't gone into any detail and it's because I haven't developed an adequate enough understanding in order to explain the majority of what I want to. But I promise, an elaborate and detailed explanation is on it's way.
In the meantime, I definitely recommend you buy The Power of Now.
I received The Power of Now several days ago, and I have to say that so far I'm very impressed. I'm trying to be tolerant and keep an open mind (read: avoiding jumping to conclusions unneccessarily) as many of the ideas are new to me and don't exactly fit easily into the context of what I have previously held as correct and proper. Objectivist writings create a very rigid framework, and I think this is good to an extent as it protects the philosophy from negative external influences. But at the same time, it prevents positive external influences from expanding its scope and efficacy, and many of it's dogmatic defenders make this much worse, though I won't name names or identify Any of the Responsible Institutions. ;-)
I think the question one must ask if he wishes to be objective when evaluating new and potentially or seemingly incompatible ideas is not "What does Objectivism have to say about this?" but rather, "Is this right or wrong? Is this good or bad by the standard of my life? If this idea were implemented, would it promote or demote my life?" That's what all appropriate value-judgements reduce to. If one were to ask the first question, they would quickly discover the contempt that Ayn Rand (perhaps justifiably) had for eastern ideas and steer clear of them; I would consider this choice a grave mistake.
By my own experiences, I can readily identify many truths in what Tolle speaks about. I also can see how, if practiced, the different principles and methods described could be incredibly life-enhancing, so the answers to the prior questions are RIGHT, GOOD, and PROMOTE! I would even be so bold as to assert that several of the principles from Buddhism are actually missing from Objectivist philosophy, being that the Objectivist ethics are firmly grounded in choice and mental discipline. I understand that I haven't gone into any detail and it's because I haven't developed an adequate enough understanding in order to explain the majority of what I want to. But I promise, an elaborate and detailed explanation is on it's way.
In the meantime, I definitely recommend you buy The Power of Now.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Hokeod on Pohcnis wkroed for me!
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Tnhkas for tihs one, Jsicesa.
[Wed Sep 17, 1:49:48] Update: Important is spelled with an A! (But I bet you didn't notice)
Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
Tnhkas for tihs one, Jsicesa.
[Wed Sep 17, 1:49:48] Update: Important is spelled with an A! (But I bet you didn't notice)
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
The Power of Now... Later.
I am soon to be the proud owner of The Power of Now. Yes, that says "Winning bidder: sontagm" on there. I just paid $27.80, although Brittany's compensating me for it (It was a birthday gift! Isn't she great?) I will soon be on my way to spiritual enlightenment, thanks to this recommendation from Joshua Zader.
Which brings me to another point: You might have noticed I didn't post anything to here for almost two weeks. I lost interest in this blog for awhile and I understand that this is because my life is largely directed by my drive for variety. That's one of the prominent reasons for making this purchase... I promise I'll clarify this statement later. (Later, of course, because I'm also largely directed by my desire to avoid effort and procrastinate.)
Marketing to the Market
After work today, Brittany and I stopped by this small Grocery market that opened near our house last week. I think it's called "The Market at 511 Mills" or something similar, and it seems like half of their inventory consists of wine. They also have various canned goods, refrigerated drinks like at 7-11, and freshly-made sandwiches and smoothies. One of the owners there mentioned how their menu frequently changes, so I told him it looks like he needs a website for his business. He inquired about the price of one and then we joked about trading for smoothies, but I'd be perfectly happy with trading a few hours of my time for a practically unlimited supply of sandwiches and smoothies. Yum!
This story may seem trivial to you, but it's actually a very significant development; It's the first time I decided to confront a business owner about making a website for them. The reason for this newfound assertiveness is from an essay on self esteem I recently read at the alpha version of The Atlasphere (which you're most likely not privy to-- muahahaha). In his essay entitled, Grow Your Success By Growing Your Self-Esteem, Carl Harvey stresses the importance of taking action in improving your confidence and sense of self-efficacy:
I found this insight to be very motivating, and as a result of taking this action I feel 100 times more confident. The only problem was, I didn't have a business card, nor a website to send them to, so I need to get moving in generating both of those.
But this presents another problem, because of that whole avoiding effort thing.
I am soon to be the proud owner of The Power of Now. Yes, that says "Winning bidder: sontagm" on there. I just paid $27.80, although Brittany's compensating me for it (It was a birthday gift! Isn't she great?) I will soon be on my way to spiritual enlightenment, thanks to this recommendation from Joshua Zader.
Which brings me to another point: You might have noticed I didn't post anything to here for almost two weeks. I lost interest in this blog for awhile and I understand that this is because my life is largely directed by my drive for variety. That's one of the prominent reasons for making this purchase... I promise I'll clarify this statement later. (Later, of course, because I'm also largely directed by my desire to avoid effort and procrastinate.)
Marketing to the Market
After work today, Brittany and I stopped by this small Grocery market that opened near our house last week. I think it's called "The Market at 511 Mills" or something similar, and it seems like half of their inventory consists of wine. They also have various canned goods, refrigerated drinks like at 7-11, and freshly-made sandwiches and smoothies. One of the owners there mentioned how their menu frequently changes, so I told him it looks like he needs a website for his business. He inquired about the price of one and then we joked about trading for smoothies, but I'd be perfectly happy with trading a few hours of my time for a practically unlimited supply of sandwiches and smoothies. Yum!
This story may seem trivial to you, but it's actually a very significant development; It's the first time I decided to confront a business owner about making a website for them. The reason for this newfound assertiveness is from an essay on self esteem I recently read at the alpha version of The Atlasphere (which you're most likely not privy to-- muahahaha). In his essay entitled, Grow Your Success By Growing Your Self-Esteem, Carl Harvey stresses the importance of taking action in improving your confidence and sense of self-efficacy:
It is only by taking relevant risk-taking action that we can experience ourselves as efficacious. It is only by taking relevant risk-taking action that we can give evidence to the self that our accomplishments are real.It is our action -- not our attitudes, affirmations or insights -- that drives and grows our capacity to deal with risk, challenge and uncertainty. And as we take relevant risk-taking action in the various areas of our life, our sense of self expands and our fears and self-doubts shrink. Competency is the cure for fear.
I found this insight to be very motivating, and as a result of taking this action I feel 100 times more confident. The only problem was, I didn't have a business card, nor a website to send them to, so I need to get moving in generating both of those.
But this presents another problem, because of that whole avoiding effort thing.
