Treebeard

... never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say...

[calicogiraffe]

ive been playing solitaire and watching the oc since 7 pm last night with little sleep im going crazy\ yup ever time i think about real life i want to puke and usually i do puke

my blog has become one side of the conversations I have with my best friend.

[riseofthecommonwoodpile-deactiv]

yo if you feel the need to go backpacking in india because you think that somehow people in india are more “spiritually pure” or “they live a simpler life” you’re racist, not smart, and also incredibly inept spiritually. If you can’t find spirituality in your own country or your own town for that matter you should probably just stay away from spirituality because whatever you latch onto is going to be ridiculously shallow.

[calicogiraffe]

Do what ya gotta I guess. Dharma. Karma. The End.

[calicogiraffe]

Staring is not rude - It is studying!

"We all have a guilty conscience. But the person(s) that thought of this famous saying obviously had something to hide… Something that they felt that people who looked at them.. could see."

[calicogiraffe]

Hinduition pt. 1

Samsaara. Wandering. Reincarnation. The cycle of birth and death. The soul traveling from body to body.

Moksha. Liberation. (Post) Enlightenment. Heaven. Freedom. Attained through, among other things, discipline.

Discipline. Yogas: Jnana (Mind/Knowledge) ; Karma (Body/Action) ; Bhakti (Heart/Devotion)

Full awareness of one's true self (Atman) connecting with universal reality (Brahman) -- one and the same yet different.

???:

At what point does a soul realize Moksha?

Is this liberation truly experienced in life or only after "death"?

Once a soul has been liberated, does it give birth to a new soul(s)? If you believe everyone has a soul, this energy must have an origin -- more people are born than die.

[calicogiraffe]

We saw Japandroids a few weeks ago. Radical energy. We invited them to the pub after for open mic. Dave, the drummer, and their tour manager stuck around to get drunk/see us play (which didn't happen in the end)...

Further proof that rockstars are regular people. Just in case you needed it...

[calicogiraffe]

We are all music.

[calicogiraffe]

im outkast btw andree 3000 more like katherine jean no? too soon? i know outkast isint producing albums anymore.... but its tiem to MOVE ON im tellign you as a friend because i love you

Wise words from my best friend :)

[calicogiraffe]

J. K. A. T.

True, real friends seem few and far between when they're not around.

New Years resolutions? Don't ever forget those people.

And more personally;

push my body to it's physical limits

expand my mind a little bit each day

overthink less

do more

say no when necessary

do something musical every day

wake up

swim

read

Holy shit, what's with this annual bullshit concept? Is it supposed to mean more? I feel like I make resolutions almost every day, don't follow through with most of them, and half-ass the rest. Maybe general motivation and less procrastination is the only thing needed here.

[calicogiraffe]

Everything is weird.

I find the social aspect of being a musician very strange.

I love people. I love music. I don't like the idea of who you know being a factor of success.

It is what it is -- friends, faux-friends, competition, support, egos, honesty, love, dishonesty, learning, faking, fucking, filming, thinking, doing... and a ton of drugs.

[calicogiraffe]

Dragonflys (cover) by The Faps

Footage from The Faps' "Beanst Fapst Mini-tour" during the last week of August 2012. Locations: Saskatoon, Edmonton, Regina and everywhere in between. Song: Dragonflys Written by: Devendra Banhart Performed by: The Faps Recorded by: Brodie Mohninger Video editting by: Skyler Cafferata

[calicogiraffe]

You Tell Me...

[calicogiraffe]

LOVE.

Not so much a word, but a sound... a vibration... a feeling. A true emotion. The precursor to loss.

I once heard a man dismiss love as a simplistic human emotion. He's not all wrong.

Love simply is. It is everywhere and exists because we do.

I once told a woman I loved her and she asked "Why?" I'm never opposed to asking why. But sometimes there isn't an answer. "Why?" Because I do! Of course there are reasons... certain things in a person that draw you closer and hold you there; things that bring you joy, that cause you pain, that teach you truths. This woman also told me she'd rather have me hit her than tell her I loved her. If love is so simple why does it rear it's ugly head at the same time it fills your soul with immeasurable warmth?

No one person has the same idea of love. We all share one love that seems to resonate with every single individual - whether we choose to feel and accept it or not. Then within each of us there is a very personal and unique perspective on how we feel and even recognize love.

Sometimes I question whether or not it's truly how I feel - especially in retrospect. I'm guilty of getting caught in moments and being dishonest with myself - somewhat unknowingly, but when I reflect I see the truth. And I've learned from this. I still get caught in the moment, but by my own conscious choice.

I've really had to learn to separate the feeling of joy you receive from a genuine companion and the feeling of joy that comes from making another person happy. Seems like it's always been one or the other. Being a selfless person, it's often the latter. I've tried to convince myself I'm on a two-way street, but end up sitting in the ditch, drifting alone. Love needs to flow both ways. It has to flow honestly and unconditionally...even unconventionally. It has to be taken off the pedestal and thrown into the wind so everyone can feel it everywhere they go. We need to be able to shout it out without fear.

I'm a pretty happy, positive person and I don't tell people I love them nearly as much as I should; especially the ones that I truly, deeply care about. Why? Sometimes I feel it doesn't need to be said. Sometimes you just feel it. You know. They know. But people aren't mind-readers. You never know for sure. Even when you say it there can be uncertainty.

See? Love isn't simple. It's one of the most complex, confusing things I've experienced. It has taken me from the highest, brightest moments of euphoria to the darkest empty well of my being. I don't expect to ever fully understand... but I don't think I need to. I just need to be honest about how I feel and be less afraid of hurting myself or others. The more you lose the more you are able to love once again.

When I'm lost and not sure what to do I can always "go with the flow"

Note: I wrote this about 8 months ago. Some of my ideas have changed and typing this out now has manifested some realizations. I hope to elaborate and expand on this piece in the near future.

<3

[calicogiraffe]

past meets presents // time-space continuum

[quaintcat]

This theory may seem far-fetched but explains all; he is garbed in red and white to match the toadstool mushroom. Mother Nature Network reveals:

According to one theory, the story of Santa and his flying reindeer can be traced to an unlikely source: hallucinogenic or “magic”...

[calicogiraffe]

Recording our first EP as The Faps. 5 silly songs. Noisey fun. MERRY KWANSMAKKUHEIDfuckWHATEVS

[calicogiraffe]

5,126...

Just because I have some free time during the chilly holiday season & almost no one will read this I figure I'd offer my thoughts on Dec. 21, 2012 to the universe...

I'll start off by admitting that I'm no expert and can be a bit of a skeptic. So I'm basing my ideas on what I've read online and taken from conversations with 'whomever'. Even more so I'm basing my ideas on how I, myself, interpret this information and what resonates with what I believe to be true in the world. Right off to bat, let's forget all the doomsday hoaxes. Obviously, that didn't happen. And was never going to.

My thoughts are more in the realm of what's happening on earth.

A few arguable 'facts' for you... Mayas had time figured out. Dec. 21, 2012 essentially marks the ending of a 5,126 year cycle. Much like Y2K being a marker of a new century, 2012 is the end of a Maya epoch (or something like that... do your own research and you'll quickly get the picture). Regardless of details, Dec 21 was a significant day according to the Maya calendar.

Now... alignments. This is a tricky one. Even the most informed and educated scientists/astronomers know fuck all about outer space IMHO. Which means the average star-gazer or astrologist probably knows even less. And I know even less than that. However, the consensus seems to be that there were no significant planetary alignments on Dec 21 within our solar system. Some think there was a galactic alignment (our sun/planet(s) aligning with the center of the galaxy) which happens every 26,000 years (equal to 2 full Maya calendar cycles, oddly enough). This is obviously debatable - I read that this 'galactic alignment' actually lasts 700-1400 years so a single day becomes a little less important. The fact that this idea correlates with the Maya calendar is interesting and definitely reinforces it. Plus, the fact that Mayas had such an accurate measurement of time based on the planets and the earth's own orbits means they must have had SOMETHING figured out. Something we might not even be aware of now - which itself could be the reason why no one knows for sure...

So... what DO we know for sure? Absolutely nothing except that Dec 21, 2012 is the end/beginning of a time cycle based on an advanced, ancient civilization's calendar.

Now let's look at the world today. From my limited perspective we have a large contrast happening -- government corruption, wars continue (religious and otherwise), global warming (supposedly), mass consumption, consumerism, and capitalism, overpopulation... shitty shit, right? However, on the flip-side we have more unified globalization thanks to communication (internet) which helps create awareness like never before. We know shit is happening. We don't have to listen to mass media. We can now listen to each other. Despite this image that the world is going to hell in a handful of ways, we're also safer, healthier, smarter, stronger and more ambitious and passionate than ever before. And we're waking up to alternatives.

The world is shifting. Always does, but now people are starting to feel it and see it. The concept ALONE of Dec 21 has EVERYONE talking about it - forget about trivial ideas attached to the date; whether it's doomsday, planetary alignments or whatever. None of that matters. What matters is that it has people thinking. Thinking about a similar idea, together, at the same time. I feel like no one has realized how MASSIVE that is. A silly day from a calendar from ONE of THOUSANDS of cultures is literally on the lips of EVERY PERSON ON EARTH. It could have been anything! It could have been any other day this year and it wouldn't have made a difference!! WE WOULD STILL BE TALKING ABOUT IT. WE WOULD KNOW. WE WOULD REACT. WE ARE CONSCIOUS. WE ARE LOVING AND LIVING IN THE MOMENT MORE EACH DAY. You wanna know what I did on Dec 21? I played music with my best friend. We poured out our minds and hearts. I did something I love more than anything else in the world. I celebrated life with yet another best friend. A friend more dear to me than words can explain. What did we do? We got drunk at the pub playing darts. We talked, we laughed, we loved life. A third best friend picked us up and took us through a drive-thru 3 too many times. The idea of Dec 21 was far from my mind, for I was as happy as I could be at that moment and only concerned with how my friends and I were feeling. If the world HAD ENDED, I wouldn't change a single thing. Selfish? You could see it that way. I see it as living the way that makes you happiest, every second of every day. If you can radiate those feelings and that positive energy every moment you are helping the world more than you probably realize.

Bottom line? Thank you. Thank you Mayas and everyone that kept your culture alive. Thank you for giving us a nudge. We look forward to the next one.

[calicogiraffe]

Always playing for everyone, even when we play for no one.