Moralam: Do you know who you are?

Caiphus: Yes.

Moralam: How?

Caiphus: I know myself by my deeds, for it is by deeds that men are measured.

Moralam: Then you know nothing.

Caiphus: How else are we to know ourselves?

Moralam: Who we are cannot be measured by our deeds, for deeds are fragile and mortal, changing and distorting with each day that passes. A yardstick is useless on soft ground, for where the measuring begins and ends changes each time. We must measure ourselves, not by the actions we take, for those actions may be misinterpreted, regretted, misused or forgotten, but by our intentions and desires, for therein lies our self.

Caiphus: But intentions are useless! If I do not help another shoulder their burden but instead desire to do so and refrain, I am foolish and cowardly.

Moralam: What you say is true, for intent without action is like rain that does not sink into the ground. If what we desire truly means something to us, our actions will coincide. It is the coupling of action and desire that we commonly refer to as character.

Caiphus: So you would say that a man of good character is one whose actions reflect his truest desires? What of men who lust for the great evils of the earth; power without repercussion, wealth without generosity, or fame without thoughtfulness?

Moralam: It is better to choose a path and follow it than to accomplish nothing while deciding.

Fa Fa Fa Fa

Fa Fa Fa Fa

Fa Fa Fa FA!

Too much to handle
Too much to eat
Too little bone
For all this meat

Too much friendship
Too much hate
Too many times
I stayed up too late

With you.

Fa Fa Fa Fa

Fa Fa Fa Fa

Fa Fa Fa FA!

Frequently the actions of extremists hurry that which is inevitable - in this way, they are visionaries.

Naturally (I Can Relate)

"The truth is that many people set rules to keep from making decisions."

- Mike Krzyzewski

The rational will save your life, but it is the irrational that will make it worth living.

I Love You Now Stop Struggling

Pining soul
Cage mesh,

Bone on bone
Flesh on flesh,

Smoke,
Tired smoke
Lazy, finds rest
In the lightest of breezes
In the deep of his chest

The one in the midst
Of the darkest of mists
Whirling around us in bitter drear
Faces that loom
Faces that leer

And he needs to escape but he doesn't know why
His opiate a bottomless grave
“Maybe this time . . .”
So he digs in deep
For a closer shave
And puts on another layer of brave.

“Come on boys, we’ve a world to save.”

The intake of breath,
The exhale of death
Truly, the life of the gods.

A liar does not demand truth from his peers, for to him it has no value.

Rock, Get It? (It's a Pun)

It’s true I feel the rhythm
Of the earth beneath my feet
For all of glorious creation
Has a tune or primal beat
But should you ever stop
And choose to leave me on my own
Remember:
Just because I rock doesn’t mean I’m made of stone.

Many times I’ve played
My companion only wind
When others of my kind
Their melodies rescind
But forget not my humanity
When I have perfect tone
Just because I rock doesn’t mean I’m made of stone.

If your feet begin to tap
With involuntary life
Or the piercing wedge of music’s edge
Cuts you like a knife
Don’t forget the one
Who endures on his throne
Just because I rock doesn’t mean I’m made of stone.

Epiphany in Blue

There are many destinies,
Some are manifest,
Some, though born, we detest.
And the ones we seek,
Or label ‘best.’
Are rarely the ones we attain.

So when I slipped in the fast lane,
Everything turned slow,
And I saw,
When you peel back the snow,
From the gash, ice will flow
And equanimity becomes impossible to maintain.

The Only Constants Are Exceptions

If never revealed,
Schrödinger’s cat still mocks us.
For without ardor,
Disease lies dormant . . .
Complaints are not the cure.

Refuse

Move my head up and down,
So you can add me to
Your carbon copy collection
Please, point me in the right direction
Distinction you stole from me
A puppet act that writes rhymes for free
Back to back to back to your mansion
So you can add my vocabulary like a brain expansion
Napoleon ain’t got nothin’ on you,
You’re at your best in this conquest
When you aren’t giving me your attitude,
You’re rude, living in the moment
Though it’s understood
That ‘the hood’ is just slang for
‘I got you good’
Well ain’t it now
Just precious how you mesh us
Like it’s a tightrope gig from the floor to the ceiling
When you’re feeling low
Don’t yell at me for insensitivity
It’s what you made me to be
When you took my personality
Yeah
That’s right I went there
‘Cause now that you’re dead
Who could care
What you scream from the afterlife,
Obscenities are your dull knife
And I won’t sharpen my murder weapon no more.

Technique and Composition in Music

That I might satisfy some unrest amongst my peers, what follows is the difference between technical ability and compositional ability in music, and how they interact with one another.

Technical ability is one’s ability to play different notes, rhythms, and other musical devices with ease, fluidity and accuracy. Technical skills are acquired primarily through the practice of etudes, scales, and rhythmic exercises designed to improve one’s playing ability. Examples of technical abilities include playing a series of notes quickly, learning to stretch one’s hand to attain certain tones, building up wrist strength to perform one-handed drum rolls, etc.

Compositional ability is when a musician understands either by theory or by intuition how to assemble tones and rhythms into a pleasing sequence. Composition is not limited by technical ability, in that a composer may imagine that which he cannot play - it is limited only by imagination.

These two facets of music are virtually unlimited, but must be combined to achieve any sort of recognition. Technical ability alone is soul-less, whereas composition is meaningless without the means to play it. Even if one possesses only one, and makes use of another’s skill, the best musicians make use of both to the best of their ability, and work very hard to increase that ability.

"Silence
Something about silence makes me sick
'Cause silence can be violence
Sorta’ like a slit wrist

If the vibe was suicide
Then you would push da’ button

But if ya’ bowin' down
Then let me do the cuttin'

Some speak the sounds
But speak in silent voices
Like radio is silent
Though it fills the air with noises
Its transmissions bring submission

As ya’ mold to the unreal
And mad boy grips the microphone
Wit' a fistful of steel"


- Zacarìas Manuel de la Rocha

"'It was easier when I lived inside a box,' he said. 'Being told what to do, what to think. Real life is too messy. People are too complicated. The real world isn't worth all the trouble.'
'Give it a chance,' she said"

- Gloria Skurzynski, Virtual War

"If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian."
- Mark Twain

"The Seven Blunders of the World:

Wealth without work.

Pleasure without conscience.

Knowledge without character.

Commerce without morality.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

Politics without principle."

- Mahatmas Ghandi

"Here the question arises; whether it is better to be loved than feared or feared than loved. The answer is that it would be desirable to be both but, since that is difficult, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved, if one must choose. "

- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

"This wasn't funny at all. The people in the crowd shuffled their feet and avoided each other's eyes. Then for a third time, most quietly of all, Ira Hath said, 'O unhappy people. I hear your hearts crying, for want of kindness.'
No one ever said such things in Aramanth. The people heard her in shocked silence. Then they began to leave, in ones and twos, and Ira Hath knew she had proved herself a true prophetess, because none could bear to hear her speak."

- William Nicholson, The Wind Singer

“I just think, like our teachers here, that if ministers are effective, they’re good at asking questions to get you to think. I don’t think they’re supposed to have the answers. Not necessarily.”

- Elphaba, Wicked

Everything I try to say may be summed up thusly:

When you read, think.
When you think, understand.
When you understand, apply.

Rules

Life is full of rules . . .

Some are created by powers beyond our control . . .

Some are created by those above us . . .

Some are created by our peers . . .

In our desperate attempt to abandon these rules . . .

We end up creating more . . .

So the real question is not "will you follow the rules?"

The real question is: which rules will you follow?