Holy fuck! I practice stoicism and didn't even know it...

So I found myself reading a book review about A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, by William B. Irvine. Reading the snippets is all I can afford to do, with my self diagnosed A.D.D. But since I hold myself at such a high esteem, I can pretty much say I've soaked up all the book had to offer and can confidently expand on the topic...

So Irvine talks about how stoicism is living the act of living life free of "anger, anxiety, fear, grief, and envy." by exercising the "paradoxical recipe for happiness," that includes the practice of "negative visualization." This is done by vividly imagining worst-case scenarios -- the death of a child, financial catastrophe, ruined health. For example, we imagine ourselves homeless - and instead of striving for an extravagant house, we learn to appreciate the house we currently reside in. Basically, we appreciate people/things more when we see that your time is fleeting with them/it. I find myself doing this all the time! But it goes 50/50, I relish the moments with person/thing but the other half of the time I'm hastily grieving about losing them/it...

I mean this way of thinking is great for movies, I come into them with low expectations that can only go higher, and get my moneys worth that way. But when this is put in terms of relationships, it's almost like 'what's the point in investing into this? It's only going to come to an end'. Or all together, one tends to bypass opportunities because the negative just outweighs your willingness to do anything... OR is that negativity just laziness? Or is it insecurity and fear of hurt masked as laziness? Maybe I should read the book...

-Simply.Steph aka Sensitive Sally

Music to mull this over with

Sia (myspace) - Breathe

this post was motivated by http://lifewithknowledge.blogspot.com/

Q&A

Rusi: If you had to listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? BTW, I really love you guys and the blog. You guys are my homepage!

Hey Rusi!
That's a great question. I'd have to say Ultraviolence (les petits pilous remix) by hearts revolution would be the song. I mean who doesn't like violence - ultrified then remixed?

here's the song:
heartsrevolution (myspace) - Ultraviolence (Les petits pilous remix)

We really appreciate your readership Rusi!

My love is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in.

I'm aware that this mash-up mixed tape has been in heavy circulation. But I can't keep quiet knowing that someone might be missing out on it. This splicing is honest to fucking goodness better than two bite brownies. And coming from me, this means a whole lot - trust.

Did you miss me?

/Rant
Some women come up with the most ridiculous questions. Sad to know men fall prey to these traps everyday...

"Did you miss me?"
In the legal system, the term for this would be entrapment. But for men, this is just everyday shit they have to deal with. How the hell can he say no? (well without having her hold her lady parts hostage from him, that is.) When all is said and done, the girl comes crying to her dearest friends about how he was such a dick for leading her on. And being that dearest friend, you want to tell her "well that's what you get, posing rejection proof questions". But since women just aren't built to take the blame, as a good friend you go ahead and blame the guy too. He didn't have a chance in hell.

"Do I look fat in this?"
Did you expect a truthful answer? I mean no matter what reality is, the answer is going to be no, followed by a "you look (insert ego boosting adjective here)". The worst part is when the woman follows it up with a self deprecating comment. I mean, Fuck off then, you got your heart set on an answer. Why are you setting the man up for failure? God, I hate that I'm grouped together with the likes of you.

"Do you think she's hot?"
Ha, it's like women love to put any relationship with the opposite sex in jeopardy. I mean guys go either way, butter a girl up and say "of course not I didn't even notice her". Or go the honest route and tell her yes. Either way, bredren been set up. I mean some guys might think "oh yeah, my girl is cool she just wanted to know." Well lets hope so, but as a girl with many girlfriends, I see what goes on behind the scenes. After you said yes to how hot the other girl was, she's rambling to all her friends about how you had the nerve, or with conspiracy theories of you cheating. How cool is she now? And if you said no, she feels she can't trust you, because you lied to her.

Moral of the story, to the women, stop setting him and yourself up with these questions. And If you insist on doing it, don't come crying to me, I absolve myself from any responsibility towards the matter. To the Guys, you're fucked.
/end rant

Something to wash the rant down with
Magical World feat. Nelly Furtado - Bassnectar (official site)
Baby I'm Yours ft. Irfane (Jacuzzi Hi-Dive Remix) - Breakbot (myspace)
In For The Kill (Le Castle Vania Remix) - LaRoux (myspace)

/rant of a bored university student

"I just don't want to die without a few scars" - Chuck Palahniuk

I'm 20 and inherently self-destructive. Successfully killing my lungs, liver and kidneys - but that just isn't enough. For the past year or so, I've been on a mission to get in a physical confrontation. The big goal is to get a bond villain scar over the eye and down the cheek. Realistically, I'd settle for even a fat lip. It's unbelievably hard to get into a physical confrontation. In the process of me trying, I've made a total of 3 strangers cry and found myself in 2 random make-out sessions (proving that acts of sex can defuse any situation). And as fulfilling as making randoms cry and having really hot make-out sessions, I'm wondering what lengths must I go, just to get some war wounds? I want to finally check this off the list. I'm not asking for a goku-vs-frieza-esque-brawl, I'm just looking for a scar worthy of recognition. JUST HIT ME ALREADY!
/end rant

"I want to fuck you like a dinosaur" , too funny.
Closer(NIN cover) - MGMT (official site)

this post is a part of the Quantity over Quality initiative.

The XX is calling

If you're not on them yet, well.. get on em. If you're just not into them. You should just GTFO NOW. I'm a tolerant person, but your kind isn't welcome around here.

VCR - The XX(myspace)
Heart skipped a beat- The XX(myspace)
Basic Space - The XX(myspace)

I'm completely submersed in the XX right now... and I kinda just wanted to incorporate these photos in more than just my phone contact list. HA enjoy.

this post is a part of the Quantity over Quality initiative.

Wearing your raincoat? Cause this shit'll get you wet.

I'd make the greatest guy in the world. I'd have enough pick-up lines to awkwardly hit on every woman in the world, twice. But I'm not, so I shan't. And who am I kidding, I'd be such a stunning male specimen, I'd never understand the concept of delivering pick-up lines with the droves of women trying to hit it.

ANYwhore, here's some pick up lines for those of you that need em.

You in highschool? What a coincidence! I went to highschool too!
For you particularly scummy people that want to exercise their inner puma/papito. Now take your creepy pick up line, and get the fuck outta here. ya'perves.

*manage a cig off your prospective target* You know I don't really smoke, I just really wanted something of yours in my mouth
This one works for both sexes, but especially in favor for the women. If this doesn't have him buying you a drink or two, you're either hag ugly or barking up the wrong tree. Fortune favors the first reason though... I mean you're using a bloody pick up line.

*flip a coin* So what's my chances of getting head tonight?
For the men: Save this for the special little skank in your life. Or try it out on that girl that just got rejected for using the former pick-up line.

I give great hand jobs... with my mouth.
This is for ya'll nasty ladies that want to be direct and feisty. Do tell how it works out post-deployment. Or don't. I don't know?

If these lines fail, I'm going to blame it on your execution. Everything I write is golden, but you manage to fuck it up. No wonder Simon said such nasty things about you... Well, back to the wreckage that is rejection, ensuing from your fail execution of one of the above lines. Before you leave the scene, you might as well let the fucker burn in huge flames. Go mortal combat on their ass and 'finish' 'em with "you can't afford to be a bitch, you aren't that hot". Just a thought... Then mellow out on some LMFAO.

I'm not a whore - LMFAO (myspace)
Yes - LMFAO (myspace)

XOXO,
aSOS' resident Ronin Robot Dancer

I want..

... to fall in love. And because I wrote that, that 'special someone' just got run over by a 18 wheeler. That's just how the world works. You throw it out there for the world to know, and it'll throw it back in your face, laughing. You want world peace? Pray for the anti-Christ. But the social world works that way too. And that's why you admit to nothing you want, in the social world. You want to look drunk? Swear you're sober. You want to bed her on the first date? Tell her you want to take it slow. You want to offend someone in the office? Start off with 'I hope you don't take this the wrong way'. This is how you get what you want, with the best results. I mean there are other ways to get what you want but it's called douche-baggery, rape & harassment - respectively.

Anyone have spare tickets for the XX in toronto?
Stars - The XX (myspace)

I'd apologize for the state of this blog. But I'm well aware no one gives a fuck. Here's some girl on girl ufc-esque throw down for your hedonistic pleasure.

this post is a part of the Quantity over Quality initiative.

Mix Monday: we got you covered

Did you sneeze? No? Well I be bless'n you with some covers anyway.

No Diggity (Blackstreet boys cover)- Klaxons (myspace)
This cover is like sex on a stick, on fire, smothered in chocolate. Ok, that sounded more appetizing in my mind...

Best I ever had (Drake Cover)- Donna Ibarra, Anna de Guzman, Ruby Ibarra (Youtube)(Myspace)
These girls totally throw down some Tagalog verses. Filipino pride! WORD.

Love Fool (Cardigans cover) - The Morning Benders(myspace)

Hey Ya (Outkast cover)- Matt Weddle(myspace)
LEND ME SOME SUGAR, I AM YOUR NEIGHBOR.

Wonder Wall (Oasis Cover)- Ryan Adams(myspace)

Black & Gold (Sam Gold cover)- Katy Perry(official site)

Burn (Usher Cover)- Pink Nasty(official site)

Say Pardon!

I just heard of Wolf J McFarlane about 20 minutes ago, but I'm already into him in a big way. He's put out an album titled UpsideDownDay Tape Mix for free here.

His shit is catchy, and hell he's from the SCARborough yo, enough reason to get on it. But if you're still skeptical and insist on being a ninny, here's a track of his already FREE album.

Grizzly Bears Panda - Wolf J McFarlane (myspace)

Have a little faith in me, I'm a biologist. & just because, some other things you should get on:

Games you can win - RJD2 (myspace) ft Kenna (myspace)

Cudderisback - Kid Cudi (myspace)

The original: Post Secrets

I can only assume Frank from Post Secrets came up with his million dollar enterprise from a public bathroom stall. He would offer the world the anonymity of revealing their inner most secrets without the risk of catching an STI from the bathroom stall. Personally I prefer that people just keep their secrets deep inside and forget this misconstrue idea that their feelings mattering. Lets be real guys my feelings are more important than yours. The End.

Treat me like your mother - Dead Weather (official site)

this post has been brought to you by the Quantity over Quality initiative.

Your street rep holds no value here

Quantity over Quality - My new mantra for my posts. The phrase was coined by Dick and Mac McDonald, the founders of the burger dispensary McDonalds. Or that's at least thats what my double like a Mac told me.
Just a heads up.

Dead beat summer - Neon Indian (myspace)
Lust for life - Girls (myspace)
Bunny aint no rider - Of Montreal (myspace)

It's not the fall that hurts. It's when you hit the ground.

(are there) Ways to come home? - Sebastien Grainger (myspace) and the mountains
buildings and mountains - The republic tigers (myspace)

I'm not building this year on bricks of disappointment. I'll leave that to the people responsible for making horrible (is there any other kind?) movie remakes, tofu, and the driving audience that keep real housewives of 'insert name of city here' on the air. So I added tofu in there because I've been disappointed many a time by tofu masquerading itself as meat. I also did so because points are made in threes. Now know, this isn't a severe digression in thought. My post has reached a colloid consistency that now allows me to continue - I fulfilled my last years resolution, and it still led to egregious dissatisfaction. Not making a resolution would lead one to the conclusion that I just made a resolution to forgo resolutions, which would leave one in the proverbial 'catch 22'. But like Bourne, I thought of that. This is the story of how I stole New years.

On the precipice of January 1st, 2010- I resolved to never use lyrics from a song to title my posts, work on my grammatical styling, and to cut down on the swearing. On January the 5th, I declared in a voice of great conviction: Fuck it. I'll keep to lacing my paragraph's with questionably placed commas, like how I'll keep lacing your brownies with dank love. The end.

And that boys and girls, is how it's done.

Simply.Steph
Reviving the art of story telling since 1969.

Can I borrow your time machine?

&take me back to these moments in time, please and thank you.

Sorry. I promised myself I wouldn't be that person that got all mushy and cliche in light of finding some old photos. Regaining of Composure in 3, 2...

pursuit of happiness (ft. MGMT and ratatat) - kid cudi (myspace)

Mix Monday: Exam time

It's exam time, so as per usual, I find myself compelled to post. Sharing some bearable little Wayne songs. Yeah, I'm aware he calls himself "lil" Wayne, but I'm going to keep it on the real and spell it little - Just because he has chosen the path to sounding ridiculous, doesn't mean I'll resort to such things (unless I was roll'n in the dolla billz to0). So, does he call himself little cause biggie was taken? Or is it truly just descriptive? What am I missing?

Can't stop partying Ft. Little Wayne - Weezer (official site)
Stuntin' Like My Daddy in Beverly Hills - Weezer vs. Little Wayne (official site)
Robo Tussin ft. Little Wayne - Flying Lotus (myspace)
I feel like dying ft. Little Wayne - Flying Lotus (myspace)

Mix Monday: Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving/Mon/Columbus day!
Give your fam a big hug and take an extra scoop of mashed potatoes for us.

Some Feel good ballads to help you digest:
She's got you high - Mumm-Ra(Myspace)
Everything - Michael Buble(Official Site)
Us - Regina Spektor(Myspace)
Gentlemen Don't - Gabe Bondoc(Myspace)
Loved you Tonight - John West(Myspace)

They spent 79 million on what?!

So on this lovely Friday, Nasa has scheduled to crash a rocket into the moon. Yeah this is no joke, It's Science. They're hoping to figure out whether the moon has ice in its perpetually dark craters. Ok, don't spaz, the rocket isn't going to blow up the moon or anything. The rocket was made to mimic a natural asteriod that hits the moon on a reg. It'll leave a 2meter deep hole in an already swiss-cheese-like-moon.

Initially I was fine with this. These Nasa nerds have been itching to know whether the moon had water on it for ages, fair enough. But to spend 79 Million U.S Dollars for a fucking science experiment is just whack. I mean it's not even a cool science experiment, it's a 2 meter hole in the already shot up moon! Let's just agree that it's made out of cheese and hand me over the money. I bet I could barter for a small country for that price.

Tunes you'd never catch me listening to on the moon:
(it would be just too tacky, and all the cheese martian men would just make fun...)

Behind the moon - Matt Costa(official site)

My Moon My Man - Feist(official site)

Paper Moon - The Modern Society(Myspace)

Me and the Moon - Something Corporate (official site)

Monday Mix: This is your brain on music.

Enlighten yourself with the sublime.
Turn on, Tune in, Drop out.

I wish I knew Natalie Portman - K-os (Official Site)
Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Myspace)
I Was A Lover - Tv on the Radio (Official Site)
Suicide - The Ravonettes (Myspace)
Infinity - The XX (Myspace)
Recurring - Bonobo (Myspace)
I am the Walrus - The Beatles (Official Site)
Bow Down and Die - The Almighty Defenders (Myspace)

you're a.. a v-... a v-... a VIRGIN!

Edward is what all Pedo's wish to be, 170 in a 17 yr old bod.
With that stated, that lone argument will have you agreeing, the following G4 vid should replace all the twilight series... (and if you don't agree, I hope you know, you're supporting the stuff of Pedo's dreams... Chris Hansen would have a field day with the Cullens)

listening to: The kids are sick again - Maximo park

Google search autocomplete, knows what's what.

Google it, type "I like" yourself and see...

Like, related tunes?
Talk like that (CFCF remix) - The Presets
Like I give a care (Octopus remix) - You say party! We say die!