with a hey, ho, the wind & the rain

"One of the most essentialized graphic depictions of the enlightened state is the Zen brush stroke of the perfect circle."

Very interesting...that adds a new dimension to A Perfect Circle's music, especially the song "Orestes", for me. I think it's great when works have so many layers that one can continue to discover new meanings in them after having listened to/read/looked at them hundreds of times. That happens to me a lot.

My literature professor taught me that the Greeks used to judge the validity of ideas by the number of ways in which they could be expressed. Building off of that, I think that great pieces of music/writing/art are ones that can be interpreted in infinate ways.

Take music for example. One doesn't need to know what the song is supposed to mean in order to thoroughly enjoy it; that a song sounds good and or touches you in a certian way can be reason enough, even if it's not what the musician(s) were thinking when writing the song. Someone asked Layne Staley once what some of AIC's songs are supposed to mean and Layne replied, "they mean whatever you want them to mean!" I agree.

I know I said that I'd tell the story of walking into the hobby shop/art store, but it doesn't seem that important anymore. Heh, if I wait long enough almost nothing seems worth posting. Basically it was an instance where my feelings/intuition guided me in the right direction. More and more I've been relying on my feelings to direct me, and they almost never dissapoint.

I'm in the process of reading The Mission of Art by Alex Grey. A lot of you are probably familiar with his work, he's the guy who drew Tool's Lateralus art. It's really thought provoking and puts a lot of Tool's music, especially Lateralus, and some of A Perfect Circle into perspective (sidenote-I recently discovered that "Mer De Noms" is French for "Sea of Names", which I find neat). The book draws on philosophy, many modes of spirituality, history and some other interesting stuff to talk about what Alex Grey believes the artist and the viewers should be able to get out of art/expression. Whether or not you agree with his beliefs/ideas, the book really makes you think and that's why I reccomend it to anyone. I also bought Sacred Mirrors and Transfigurations, two books that talk a little more in depth about the man's art and influences and include many of Alex Grey's artworks. I haven't read much of the text in those yet, but I've taken a good look at his paintings and I think they are amazing.

I'm a little more than halfway through The Mission of Art and even if the rest of the book is crappy, which I think is doubtful, the first half is so loaded that I think the book is worth purchasing from what I've read so far.

This computer seems to be terminally ill...it keeps shutting down randomly and about 70% of the time won't even turn on. So I might not be online as much until it gets properly fixed, but I'll still read/post/comment when I can.