I used to have serious ambitions to achieve immortality, first by having my brain transplanted into a cloned body, and then eventually having the information in my brain uploaded into a computer. Basically, I had a severe case of thanatophobia. The music of The Flaming Lips, and this song in particular, helped me to eventually accept the inevitability of my own death.
For some reason, I like having my age be a prime number of years. Today, I turn 47, so I get to have a prime-number-age for a whole year now. This hasn’t happened since I was 43, so I made this 47-pointed star to celebrate:
I also make birthday-stars for composite-number ages as well, just because it’s fun, and you can find at least two others on this blog, on January 12, in past years. Also, I wouldn’t want to have to wait until I’m 53 (my next prime age) to make another one of these.
At the moment, I certainly don’t feel 47. There are times when I feel twenty-two . . .
There are also times when I feel six.
At the moment, however, I feel about thirty. For that reason, I put the 47-pointed stars on the thirty faces of a rotating rhombic triacontahedron, because (a) it’s my birthday, (b) I want to, and (c) I can.
Image/music credits:
This patterns consists of 22 each of two different types of heptagrams, as well as 22 regular heptagons and 22 circles.
Here’s some music for it, by The Flaming Lips: “When Yer Twenty-Two.”
(Note: I usually don’t post the writing of others, but learned that incorrect lyrics for this beautiful — and horrifying — song are all over the Internet. These are corrected, and if I have erred, even slightly, please correct me with a comment. This song is from the Lips’ new CD, The Terror, highly recommended in its entirety.)
Always there, in our hearts, fear of violence and of death
Always there, in our hearts, there is love and there is pain
Always there, in our hearts, there is evil that wants out
Always there, in our hearts, there are sorrows and sadness
Always there, in our hearts, never understanding
Always there, in our hearts, something pure that we can’t control
Can’t control, can’t control, can’t control
Always there, in our hearts, destroying everything we know
Always there, in our hearts, not forgiving them, who are we?
Always there, in our hearts, shame that we are all powerless
Always there, in our hearts, joy of life and overwhelmed
Overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed, overwhelmed
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Here is a music video for the song, also. The visual part of the video was created by Ben Maddox, and my source is his YouTube channel.
I could type “making” music videos, but it isn’t my music. In one of these three examples, even the pictures were not created by me. So I’m assembling music videos — nothing more.
It’s relaxing, nonetheless.
Here are three such efforts:
1. Murder By Death covering “We Only Come Out at Night,” a song by by The Smashing Pumpkins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8L8pBeI548&feature=plcp
2. “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXY3eC15U_Q&feature=plcp
3. Three different versions of “Feeling Yourself Disintegrate,” by The Flaming Lips, back-to-back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ7lQ-wRkqQ&feature=plcp
I was taught to use Windows Movie Maker in a teacher-training class. It’s probably the most beneficial such training I’ve ever received, for I’m actually using it for something that helps me feel better, when I’m anxious or depressed.
Am I implying that most (but not all) teacher-training sessions are utterly worthless? Why, of course I am!
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