[{"content":"We will cover many disparate topics seemingly unconnected from each other. However, the through line connecting all is the wave.\nStardust, Photons, and Waves # Allow me to explain. We are for all intents literally just stardust bound together by energy. Similar to light which we also know is energy and particulate matter, we exist as matter that moves in wave like patterns.\nYou were right about the stars, each one is a setting sun. Our love is all God’s money. Everyone is a burning sun\nWilco - Jesus, etc.\nThose concepts were explored in Star Wars Rogue One in the relationship between the protagonist and her father.\nXenogears # Further we take strong inspiration from another sci-fi masterpiece from 1997: SquareSoft and Tetsuya Takahashi San\u0026rsquo;s Xenogears.\nSpoiler alert: this comes from the ending of the game and its narrative. Bear with me as I distill this grandiose space opera, its story of generations of people, alternative histories and futures, on a road to self discovery and actualization.\nXenogears\u0026rsquo; Wave Existence # The story’s main protagonist Fei starts with a dark mysterious past and quickly encounters a war that turns his world upside down catalyzing a hidden shadow self that he’s afraid of. Being told fairly early in his quest that his destiny is to kill “god” and forced by consequences to join forces with others who are fundamentally opposed to him, he’s sent on a journey of discovery that culminates in meeting an entity called the wave existence.\nWell that escalated quickly! I put “god” in quotes because in typical grandiose space opera fashion this refers to something that is more approximately an interplanetary autonomous system that functions at times more like a weapon with god-like power that can create biological and technological creatures to serve its planetary conquering and domination goals.\nSo continue bearing with me while I explain that the wave existence is more like what we typically refer to as God - a higher power especially of a spiritual nature. It is a being comprised of energy in the form of a wave and lacks a physical presence. It isn’t portrayed as strictly the Judeo-Christian God, but rather the same role as a transcendental entity that is a universal truth. Could you aptly describe it as love itself? Certainly. Could you call it the uniting resonant energy between all living beings? For sure.\nEndless Deep, or in the Moment? # I am learning to be more in the moment and not always diving into the deep end of a conversation. But that’s my default. So it makes sense we start from here.\nEven still, all is the wave. When Fei makes contact with the wave existence we get this feeling as though he’s entered a sacred space where all people and all things converge.\nMusic is a wave # So maybe it’s too over the top or too silly. But honestly I feel it - my heart beat is a rhythm, a wave. As is yours. Music is a series of waves. Have you noticed people mentioning “vibes” instead of thoughts and prayers? We won’t cover the whole discussion about that now, simply know that vibes are vibrations which are also waves.\nLight is a wave # Light is a wave. Another game series I enjoy, Final Fantasy, has recurring themes of orphans called to be warriors of light.\nIn the Bible the apostle John talks about being children of the light.\nTopics of Interest # What other kinds of disparate topics can you look forward to reading about here:\nMusic Psychology Spirituality Christian Theology Science Science Fiction Games Humor Politics Culture Communication Relationships and Society Business Economics Sports So from every standpoint we are all the wave.\nThe wave is in all and all is the wave.\n","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-03-welcome-post/","section":"","summary":"We will cover many disparate topics seemingly unconnected from each other.","title":"Welcome to the Wave","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"","summary":"","title":"","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"All is the Wave 🌊","summary":"","title":"All is the Wave 🌊","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/culture/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Culture","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/durham/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Durham","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/jazz/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Jazz","type":"tags"},{"content":" Missy Lane\u0026rsquo;s Assembly Room # We\u0026rsquo;ve all lost people and things to the pandemic, and one unfortunate one to go was Raleigh\u0026rsquo;s C-Grace Jazz and Speakeasy club.\nNaturally, I was elated to find out that there\u0026rsquo;s a new Jazz club in Durham, NC. My partner told me about Missy Lane\u0026rsquo;s Assembly Room and we both love jazz a lot so it was incredibly fitting that our first concert date was to a jazz show there.\nジャズを聴きます\nJya Zu Oh I kki Ki Ma Su\n(I listen to jazz.)\nOne of my \u0026ldquo;Covid hobbies\u0026rdquo; while isolating during the pandemic was to begin learning Japanese (日本語). I\u0026rsquo;ve continued and while its time is eerily conincidental it just so happened I learned those phrases and words just before going to the concert.\nThe Bad Plus # First time I heard of The Bad Plus was back around 2003/2004 in my first year at NC State for college. I know, I\u0026rsquo;m getting old, but shout out to Ed, my friend who introduced me to this band and a bunch of other great ones!\nI was really getting into learning guitar and progressive rock bands at that time. Prog rock is never far from fusion jazz, thus The Bad Plus came up as a recommendation. I enjoy their originals and their brilliant pop and rock covers in their won style. See their debut album from 2003 These are the Vistas and Smells Like Teen Spirit, Flim, and Heart of Glass for starters. Or Their original they opened their set with Everywhere You Turn.\nAccording to some other fans chatting after the show The Bad Plus did another that day and had one or two more scheduled and did completely different set lists each time, which is always amazing to me.\nTheir lineup has notably changed in the last few years when they dropped Ethan Iverson, the pianist while keeping Reid Anderson on bass and David King on drums. They\u0026rsquo;ve added in Ben Monder on guitar and Chris Speed on Saxophone.\nTheir best song by far was called Tyrone\u0026rsquo;s Flamingo and is from their upcoming album set to release later this year.\nCocktails and Atmosphere # The whole place has a very speakeasy style vibe and with that you expect some good cocktail drinks. They did not disappoint on that either. I got the Oasis which was a refreshing and flavorful gin and honeydew, lemon, and mint drink. My partner got the She was a Fairy which was a tequila drink with lemon, tea, and lavender flavor. She really enjoyed the drinks and mentioned coming back just for that.\nDURM (Durham NC) # Here\u0026rsquo;s the main area and bar at the front of the club, which I think is open to other events or as a chill co-working space during the day. In downtown Durham, this is a convenient location if you live or work in the area. It\u0026rsquo;s been a while but I still have fond memories of working at the American Tobacco campus when I was working in the video game industry for Mighty Rabbit Studios.\n","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-09-joyous-jazz/","section":"","summary":"Missy Lane\u0026rsquo;s Assembly Room # We\u0026rsquo;ve all lost people and things to the pandemic, and one unfortunate one to go was Raleigh\u0026rsquo;s C-Grace Jazz and Speakeasy club.","title":"Joyous Jazz","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/music/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Music","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/nightlife/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Nightlife","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/society/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Society","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/sports/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Sports","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":" This Time Around # \u0026ldquo;Io\u0026rdquo; by Hellen Stellar\nAs I wrap up my thirties and still look about half my age I\u0026rsquo;m reflecting on my life. I\u0026rsquo;m reminded of things that make me feel younger this week.\nThe College Life # On Monday April 15th my partner, Amara, and I went to the NC State Wolfpack basketball celebration at the bell tower on campus. Unfortunately we didn\u0026rsquo;t win either the women\u0026rsquo;s nor the men\u0026rsquo;s tournaments but we did make it to the Final Four with some great players, teams, and just generally wonderful people. Since those tournaments were going on at the same time in different parts of the country the teams and the school wanted to get everyone together to celebrate with each other.\nAs a Wolfpack fan our teams sent a resounding message: \u0026ldquo;we\u0026rsquo;re back!\u0026rdquo; There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to be said about how the NCAA came down with sanctions on our men\u0026rsquo;s basketball team in the late 1980\u0026rsquo;s. We will just leave it at saying that if there were any improprieties or unethical actions in our program, I\u0026rsquo;m glad they were punished, but the punishment seemed to work too well and contributed to keeping Wolfpack basketball from the notoriety and talent we had earned. Well, no more. We\u0026rsquo;re back! This season showed in many ways with both our men\u0026rsquo;s and women\u0026rsquo;s teams that we can go against all odds, do it with style, with skill, and with joy overflowing from our hearts.\nLet\u0026rsquo;s focus on one of the best examples: DJ Burns Jr. This guy is wonderful. Not only is he a large presence on the court at 6'9\u0026quot; but he is larger than life in real life because he\u0026rsquo;s always just beaming with delight. In between plays on the court he\u0026rsquo;s often smiling, laughing, dancing on the sidelines. He has an infectious joy for life that you can\u0026rsquo;t help but catch even just watching him on TV. It\u0026rsquo;s a bit like the sanguine happiness of the fictious Ted Lasso.\n\u0026ldquo;Why not us?\u0026rdquo; became our slogan on flags, banners, shirts, and chanted everywhere throughout Wolfpack nation.\nI recognize that \u0026ldquo;Why not us?\u0026rdquo; was first used by NC Central in ESPN\u0026rsquo;s docuseries The Undefeated. This phrase itself isn\u0026rsquo;t something that copyright law can cover as far as I\u0026rsquo;m aware since it\u0026rsquo;s too generic by itself. It\u0026rsquo;s why you cannot copyright a slogan like \u0026ldquo;We sell the best today\u0026rdquo; but \u0026ldquo;BestBuy\u0026rdquo; has their logo trademarked. One is just using common words, the other is using particular words/styles that are registered to only be used by the company. Anyways, I think it\u0026rsquo;s always good to respect and recognize attribution and if anything else\nBack on campus for this event I was reminded of so many wonderful times in my late teens and early twenties at college.\nWhenever I\u0026rsquo;m alone with you, you make me feel like I am young again # \u0026ldquo;Lovesong\u0026rdquo; by The Cure\nI\u0026rsquo;m incredibly grateful for my partner, and the more time I spend with her we often both wish we had known each other when we were younger.\nAnd there\u0026rsquo;s just numerous reasons that we met at the perfect time and things wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have been as great if her and I met in high school or college for instance.\nI wish I knew you when I was young We coulda got so high Now we\u0026rsquo;re here, it\u0026rsquo;s been so long Two strangers in the bright light\n\u0026ldquo;Wish I Knew You\u0026rdquo; by The Revivalists\nSo we\u0026rsquo;ll focus for now on sharing the joys of being together now. And one of those things really reminded me of the times when I was in college since I\u0026rsquo;ve moved across the county to be closer to her. While setting up my new living space I\u0026rsquo;ve got a great sit/stand desk that I\u0026rsquo;ve tried to cram into a small room with some other furniture already in there. That really takes me back to the shoebox dorm room I shared with my best friend Andrew in Sullivan hall or the apartments I stayed in. Having to Tetris(🧱) the furniture and things to make it work, years before people discovered tiny houses and the art of Marie Kondo.\nWhat\u0026rsquo;s My Age Again? # \u0026ldquo;What\u0026rsquo;s my age again?\u0026rdquo; by Blink-182\nAmara and I both have had some tough times and difficult challenges in our lives. That\u0026rsquo;s why we often intentionally spend time doing things that may seem childish to some but bring a lot of joy to us. Beyond not apologizing, I\u0026rsquo;m going further to suggest you should try this too. There\u0026rsquo;s many too many discouraging, bleak things these days to always focus on those. So I\u0026rsquo;d been thinking for a while about doing Go-Karts as a fun date and just a fun activity and ended up inviting two couples of friends to join us for a birthday party at Frankie\u0026rsquo;s fun park.\nWe had a great time playing laser tag and even though our group didn\u0026rsquo;t get to stay together we all made up the top of the leaderboard on both teams.\nSo whatever brings you joy, life, curiousity, and wonder be sure to prioritize seeking it in your life. There\u0026rsquo;s plenty of time to reflect and criticize the hardships of life, but for now we\u0026rsquo;re celebrating the abounding beauty in life!\nHow do you do it? You make me want to live again.\n\u0026ldquo;How Do You Do?\u0026rdquo; by Hot Chip\n","date":"9 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/2024-04-22-young-again/","section":"","summary":"This Time Around # \u0026ldquo;Io\u0026rdquo; by Hellen Stellar","title":"Young Again","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/business/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Business","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/christianity/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Christianity","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/economics/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Economics","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/humor/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Humor","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/politics/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Politics","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/relationships/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Relationships","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/sci-fi/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Sci-Fi","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/science/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Science","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/spirituality/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Spirituality","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"3 April 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/videogames/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Videogames","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"1 January 0001","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","date":"1 January 0001","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"1 January 0001","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"}]