Apocalypse

I've been really sort of exercising my brain during this vacation. Sort of geeky I know, but I've been finding myself getting caught up into some different topics, which leads to other topics, and inevitably starts to encourage my own theories on things. This all started when I saw this clip from Zeitgeist, which gives an extremely interesting look at religious structure and it's remarkable correlations with astrology. Keep in mind when your watching this though this is from an obviously bias source, but some of the stuff they have to say is very interesting. My Mom then keyed me onto a subject she's been reading about called Noetic Science, which in the most briefest of explanations is: "Advancing the science of consciousness and human experience to serve individual and collective transformation."Some pretty intriguing and hefty stuff here, and could be interpreted to be the actual science of mysticism and basically magic if you will through the study of our brain's and it's unused potential. Needless to say this was already starting to get me thinking about a lot of things. I then received Dan Brown's book: The Lost Symbol, which ironically touches on aspects from both Noetic Sciences and aspects of things discussed in Zeitgeist! While I know it's a work of fiction, there is still a lot of interesting facts in the book relating to both. I now find myself reading The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers. This was actually a suggested reading from friends Alain Stracke and his wife Lynda Reid, which sprang out of conversations I was having with them roughly three weeks ago. While I've only begun to scratch the surface, it's already gone further to encourage some things I've been learning from these other resources, and these all have begun to effect/encourage the way I think about life, religion, beliefs, and even the gaming industry. I HIGHLY recommend looking into some of this stuff, as I've found it to be incredibly interesting and I can certainly see that this won't be ending for me any time soon.

While I have a lot on my mind there were two things I wanted to talk about briefly in this post... First of all the concept of the "Apocalypse," which ironically enough has become quite popular with kids my age (yea I'm still a kid...) and definitely the entertainment industry. You hear many genres now being "Post-Apocalyptic," and typically involve atom bombs, zombies, mutants, and the like. Yet I think you'll find this as interesting as I did... did you know the literal meaning behind the word "Apocalypse" is "lifting of the veil" or "revelation?" This doesn't quite sound like Armageddon to me. The Bible even discusses "revelation at the end of the æon, or age." (please note that even though I'm linking wikipedia right now, this also comes straight from Zeitgeist, The Lost Symbol, and I think it's discussed some in The Power of Myth.) If you watch the clip from Zeitgeist, you realize that the "age" discussed could be the new celestial age of "Aquarius" which we'll be moving out of the age of "Pisces" and into. Brown brings in a few interesting points, and implies that perhaps this pending "Apocalypse" is actually predicting a new age of enlightenment. New revelations that may shake the foundations of the way we think, interpret the world, and live our lives. We are constantly making new leaps and bounds as far as technology is concerned, we can move matter faster than light, we're doing crazy stuff with dark matter, and we're even developing mini-lightsabers for field surgeons... Could break throughs in Noetic Sciences lead to a new age of revelation? Although it's also a good thing to point out that in any age of enlightenment, there will most likely be a "dark age" where people may find themselves different sides. Where innovation meets resistance from those who disagree with it either for religious beliefs or possible other ethical dilemmas. Could this impending Armageddon be a clash between sciences and religion? Who knows? I certainly won't be holding my breath in 2012.

I also wanted to talk a bit about Mythology, and it's possible link with society and even video games... but I've already written quite a bit and perhaps I should read more of "The Power of Myth" before I start going into that tangent :P

I'll finish with this though... as I was driving with my Dad today I began thinking about Montreal. It's funny to think that it has been eight months since I first moved in up there, three apartments, four parking spots, five roommates, two visas, and two jobs... To think now after all this time I finally feel like everything has fit into place. I have a nice apartment, where I can now park my car, I've got a good roommate, I like my job, I've got my visa approved, and I finally have a circle of friends. It's only taken me eight months to sort out my life haha. Yet it finally feels in place, and I couldn't be more excited for 2010. For me it's actually the start for the rest of my life, 2009 was a transition period between college and career, and 2010 marks the official start of my career in a sense. I have nothing but high hopes and positive feelings about this new year. Some great things happened in 2009, but 2010 is going to be better :)

Happy New Years everyone! Let's make 2010 a great one!

In the land of sand and snow

"Do you ever get the feeling like you already know the entire contents of the universe somewhere inside your head, as if you were born with a complete map of this world already grafted onto the folds of your cerebellum and you are just spending your entire life figuring out how to access this map?"

(Larsen, Page 315 in "The Selected works of T.S. Spivet")

First off Yes I'm still reading this book, call me a slow reader, whatever it's been a great read. I found this particular passage really interesting to consider... I've wrote about "The Secret" in the past, and how I believe sometimes your perceptions create your reality. This to me sounds sort of similar... have you ever had a feeling like you knew the outcome of something, whether it be good or bad? Just sort of knew what might happen? Perhaps in some strange way it's Deja Vu, perhaps we then "will" it to happen like the "Secret" would suggest, or perhaps the answer was there to begin with. I won't write much further on this as I don't want to dilute any opinions you may have on the subject, but I think it's interesting to mull over... be sure to let me know what you come up with :)

So as you might have guessed I have returned to Arizona, where my parents now live. It's really sort of interesting being back here, as it's now a whole new level of familiar. Not only is the area starting to become familiar, but seeing things that was from our house in New Hampshire now in this new place was really strange at first. It was little things that struck me, the small sheep magazine holder Dad always had by his chair, the strange old cabinet we have for our canned goods, and even some of the pictures that now have a new wall to hang out. The funny thing is that these didn't feel misplaced, rather they felt like home and in some strange way just sort of fit in... fit into this new home. It's exciting really.

I've spent most of the week with my Dad, exploring things from Petroglyphs to... well the local Walmart haha. While at times he's certainly on my nerves, it's nice to spend some time with him again, as we typically don't spend much time together. Going back to what I was discussing above, the whole "knowing something before it happens" bit. Well as you may have known I've been in limbo for quite sometime now as to my future, first it was complicated to get the official job offer, and since then I had been waiting on the Canadian government to either approve or deny my visa application. Something deep in my gut told me that things were going to be alright, although after all this time I had begun to get pretty nervous about what the results might be. Well I received a great phone call earlier this week to inform me that my Visa has cleared and that it appears that I'll will be continuing work with Ludia at the beginning of the new year! I'm excited to say the least, I mean for a while now everything in my life has been short term... and to now have a full time job and everything all set... to just perhaps settle in for a while rather than being a nomad. I'm super excited. I'm especially happy to return to work with many of my friends from Mistic and my new friends from Ludia. Not to mention others who I have met in my travels in Montreal. Although with the nice weather in Arizona, I'm not exactly super excited about returning to the Arctic haha needless to say I think it's great. I'm really looking forward to 2010 for some reason... Something in my gut tells me it's going to be good.

One last thing I'd like to mention, if you haven't been following the EMC Blog, the team has been at Saint Lucia to test the first episode of their game. I would be wishing them the best of luck right now, but as they have proven time and time again... Luck has nothing to do with it.

Ironically enough I was a South West flight to Chicago last week (on the way to Arizona) and I just so happen to pick up a copy of the Spirit magazine in front of me. I start to thumb through it, actually just trying to use it to cover the fact that my carry on didn't fit in the seat in front of me, when I stumbled upon this article. Low and behold I'm sitting on a plane reading about the Emergent Media Center, Ann Demarle, and projects that I have worked on in the past. I was beside myself and couldn't help but laugh, and try to explain it to the incredibly uninterested passenger next to me.

To be honest sometimes I wish I had stayed, I miss the EMC and the work I did there. I see others where I was before and I'm jealous, almost like someone else taking your baby away from you. It's all different now, and in many ways I know I don't belong there anymore... but seeing others who have stayed certainly makes me wonder if I should have too. The work they do is... well good for the heart :)

Although part of me knows that it was the right decision to start my own path. To venture out on my own and to open up the next chapter of my life. That's probably the same part that knew my Visa would end up clearing haha.Well it's late and I should really end this long post sooo I will.

G'night anyone who actually takes the time to read this :P

A change in weather

Thinking back, for the past several months my thoughts have revolved around this sense of isolation that I had been feeling. I had blogged about it plenty, and it troubled me quite a bit. Yet, something curious has happened and for some reason it's changed. For those of you who don' t know, I'm still waiting on news about my next work visa, and during this time I can't legally work. So I went to the states for a little while. While there something strange happened, I had this sort of anxious feeling to get back to Montreal. I tried hard to justify it, it's not like anyone would be available to hang out, and how man times had I sat frustrated in the middle of french conversations that I couldn't partake in... I couldn't understand why I wasn't more ecstatic to be in the States.

Needless to say I returned last Sunday to Montreal, the day before my Birthday. Benoit suggested that he had been talking to some people from work and who we hang out with, and he thought we should have an "Apero." Which is sort of like just having appetisers and drinks and inviting people over. I wasn't sure, as I don't typically host parties, but I decided... What the hell, why not?

I spent my day doing chores, preparing Christmas stuff, getting stuff for the party, laundry... all the good stuff haha. Luckily for me it managed to snow on my birthday, which holds a special significance to me. See I don't think I've ever had a birthday in which it hasn't snowed just a little bit. While there are times I'm not too happy it's snowing, on my birthday it's different and I couldn't be happier.

That night I was so surprised to see so many people arrived to partake in the Apero, and even surprised me at my door with a cake! There were people from work, and people who Benoit and I hang out with and even some americans :) I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've ever had such a big birthday! I mean when I was a kid I think the most I ever invited over was like five kids. It was really just awesome to see everybody and have such a good night. For this, I really am happy I decided to be in Montreal for my Birthday.

I visited work today to go to lunch with a friend, and it was really fun to bump into some people, whose first reactions were "Your back?!" Which I unfortunately kept having to say, "Not yet." It was nice though seeing people be excited to see me, and all anxious to hear about my visa. The head of HR at Ludia was mentioning that I have quite the fan club, as different people on a daily basis ask her about me :)

I suddenly find myself feeling apart of a community that I've developed for myself in Montreal... one that I wasn't quite sure I had. I'm not sure how I managed it, but in the time that I've arrived here... I've somehow made a place for me here, and I already feel a bit connected to Montreal in some way. What worries me now is my visa, and if I hear no I'll be starting from scratch once more... For now though, I'm thankful for my time up here, the people I've met, and the experiences I've had.