Nikola Tesla

October 21, 2013

The Lightning Storm

Nikola Tesla relajandose en su laboratoria (Colorado Springs, 1899)I witnessed one of the most beautiful happenings in all my life on this planet:  a thunderstorm. Oh, how utterly standard and mundane you may think. But, this is not true (in my opinion) for the first time I comprehended more of the immensity that is a thunderstorm (really I ought to say lightning storm, for that was the star of “performance”). Having spent some time researching and studying electricity (and, again, here lightning be the star of the show) as well as neuroscience (more electricity) so with the history, movement, evolution, and tomes of electricity coursing through my fevered and excited brain (fevered and excited at what new things I am learning and thinking and comprehending), this lightning storm was completely different than all others I had witnessed before it. I thought of the reports I’d read of Nikola Tesla supine upon his couch in his laboratory beneath the great windows contemplating lightning, perhaps giving birth to new thoughts, ideas, inventions, and inspirations.

Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (ca.1816)I thought of the report of Benjamin Franklin and his famous (albeit usually incorrectly described or outright fabricated) kite and key experiment. It’s funny that this is what is most associated with Franklin and yet it is but a minor event among his feats. One must never trust the schools to impart any kind of information or knowledge. It is greatly misgiving and deceiving.

Mostly, I contemplated the power of efficient use of lightning. What can be accomplished with its unleashed power (nowadays such a natural occurrence as electricity is leashed and has been since the days of Thomas Alva Edison. What insanity is this? What absurdity I this? To leash the abundance of electricity?! Prior to the innovations of Edison, electricity was studied because its powers were so mysterious and so curious. But it was Edison who thought of how to leash it in order to profit from it. It was Edison, so I’ve read reported, that came up with the idea of charging people by the kilowatt hour. Up until then, electricity was merely turned on or off, like the valve of a water hose). I can see how all those great minds were as enamored with electricity. How all those fevered minds were excited into experimentation.

Double StrikeSuch beauty, this lightning. It’s the action, the interaction of cloud, ground (earth), particles, atoms, molecules, direction and current, all combining into this reaction called Lightning. How interesting its origins. Light-ning. Yes, light. It is brighter than any other I’ve seen on Earth, and enough to spoil the sun before my eyes. And I thought of the brain, and the “lightning” that is said to occur there. I love the possibilities of this planet, I truly love what it is capable of including growing humans). What disturbs me are the utterly unnatural (as blatantly arrogant supernatural) regulations performed by humans.

*Image Credits (all work used through permission of CC license or public domain)–
“Nikola Tesla relajandose en su laboratoria (Colorado Springs, 1899)” by Recuerdos de Pandora
“Double Strike” by Michael Bolognesi
“Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky (ca. 1816” by Benjamin West

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November 20, 2012

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Major gratitude and graciousness is owed to EverydayGurus for considering me and this blog inspiring enough to receive an award. It’s my first, so forgive me a certain amount of giddiness.

EverydayGurus is an excellent blog, and, frankly, if you don’t believe me, it is but a matter of clicking the link and seeing (reading?) for yourself. How many times have you been out and about and met a stranger or an acquaintance or someone to whom you haven’t spoken in a while and in only a brief conversation you find yourself thinking wholly anew about that which you once thought? How many times have you seen a sign or your eye caught a glimpse of a random piece of urban/street art (also known as ‘graffiti’) and were suddenly filled with emotion at what you had just read? That is inspiration, that is the beauty within human nature and the human condition. The beauty and inspiration of what Kozo (EverydayGurus) does is he captures all of that on his blog. His blog apotlights regular people, your average Jane and Joe, the people you otherwise may not hear about or know of, and the incredible things they do and can teach and show the rest of us. They (We) are all everyday Gurus, Kozo says, and we all have something to inspire another with, the original social network! Thank you again, Kozo. 🙂

Full Disclosure:
Okay, there are some conditions (no worries, really good ones!)–

1. Display the award logo on your blog. [Check]
2. Link back to the person who nominated you. [Check]
3. State 5 things about yourself. [See below]
4. Pass the award onto 6 other bloggers and link to one of their specific posts so that they get notified by pingback. [see below]

Five Things About Me:

  • 1. Everyday I spend time oustide walking around in the woods. I have favorite rocks (actually giant boulders, really, or, egotistical pebbles, if you will) where I sit and often come up with the ideas that eventually end up as posts on this blog.

    2. For about 7 months I lived outside, by choice. Like outside, outside, as in out of doors, in the wild, sleeping on the ground beneath the stars and open sky, animals invading my provisions (talk about pesky neighbors!), walking miles everywhere, carrying everything I owned in a pack strapped to my back. It was one of the best journeys I’ve ever embarked upon in my life. I’ll never forget what I saw and the amazing people with whom I encountered and spoke.

    3. I love reading comics. Everything from Jhonen Vasquez to Robert Crumb to Alan Moore. I’m always looking for 60s and 70s comics (especially of Robert Crumb) and comics by Harvey Pekar.

    4. I have read many, many books. My curiosity takes me to neurology to quantum mechanics to psychology to philosophy to technology to jurassic park. Three of the most brilliant minds that I have stumbled upon are Alan Watts, Richard Feynman and Nikola Tesla.

    5. I often have many projects I’m working on simultaneously. Currently, I am juggling three videos, a soundscape, more binaural beats, a gregorian chant/dubstep mix, two photomanipulations, another collaboration (that I just finished actually–to be posted soon!), and some others.

Six Bloggers who have been very inspiring for me:

  • 1. PhysicsForMe — If you are a follower of astronomy, physics, cosmology, and other areas of science, you will love this blog. This fellow takes some of the most up to date and upcoming discoveries occuring currently in the world today, and blogs about them, complete with links and diagrams. I follow this blog to keep me abreast on all my favorites in science. This blog can be highly technical, so it is not for the faint of heart, but it is definitely well worth the read, even if you’re only slightly interested in what happens in the universe.
  • 2. Just Dharma Quotes — I love quotes, and this blog has some of the best. All the quotes are along the lines of philosophy and buddhism, and there are some right inspiring ones among them, often times more than one. I can’t really go through this blog on my reader without liking just about every quote. This blog probably has many of your favorites, check it out.
  • 3. Carla R. Herrera — WordPress has some of the best writers I have ever read, and for some reason they are not #1 booksellers. Carla R. Herrera is definitely of the ilk that deserves to have an entire shelf dedicated to her work at the local bookstore. She is a prolific science fiction writer with a knack for descriptive artistry with her words (her words will take you on journeys you didn’t think were possible) and a penchant for the unusual idea that wraps you up and makes you want to visit some of these faroff places and intricate innovations that spill forth from her imagination. She is a rare one, indeed. Her work inspires me to improve in my writing and to let loose with my imagination. In addition to her Tesla Machine series, you definitely need to read the book she’s working on right now as part of National Novel Writing Month (November). I’ll say no more…now scoot!
  • 4. Holistic Words — I don’t remember how I found this blog, but I am glad that I did. This blog is run by Andrea Elliot and this woman tackles the intricacies of quantum physics like she were explaining how to color. If you think quantum physics can’t be understood, then you haven’t read Holistic Words. She sees the subtle areas in our lives that are connected and can amplify those connections in a way that you can see clearly and you get that “Of Course” moment. This is what is most inspiring about her blog, when you read it, you realize that these thoughts you had already thought but just didn’t know it.
  • 5. The Liberated Way — I have been following Alex’s blog for a while now (both off and on WordPress) and each day his posts never cease to amaze me. Alex manages to open our eyes to the familiar so that we can perceive it in a new way, from a new perspective. His posts are often motivated by nature and the ways of nature and how those ways can be applied to humanity, because, after all, we are part of nature. He teaches as he inspires, also, and he does this in a way that you don’t know it, but somehow the lesson is integral and tantamount to your daily existence. He is definitely one of those gurus, Kozo talks about.
  • 6. The Sistah Vegan Project — Run by A. Breeze Harper, a graduate student at UC Davis, the Sistah Vegan Project looks at health-living and healthy-eating (a plant-based lifestyle) through the eyes of someone who lives this each day (as well as raises her children under this philosophy and lifestyle) and what she faces before an otherwise traditional, don’t rock the boat, kind of mainstream culture. Much of her blog is the work of theses she may be working and lectures that she gives, but don’t let this fool you into thinking that it is not worth visiting. Her stories and videos of her children loving and downright clamoring for Kale Drinks is enough to pull your heart strings, and one of her first forays into humor comics is some of the best. She inspires for anyone to keep doing what they’re doing even before those who would rather you stopped. One of my favorite posts by her is partially titled, “Spirulina Helps Me Poop.” Seriously . . . go see.

 

*Image credit: “Chakra” by Dario Cogliati

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October 16, 2012

Nikola Tesla Was Onto Something Here

THE FRONTIER OF GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS

“To me, the universe is simply a great machine which never came into being and never will end. The human being is no exception to the natural order. Man, like the universe, is a machine. Nothing enters our minds or determines our actions which is not directly or indirectly a response to stimuli beating upon our sense organs from without.” ~Nikola Tesla, A Machine To End War

One of the most beautiful happenings to witness in this chaos-span called Life on this planet: a lightning storm. Oh, how utterly standard and mundane you may think, Reader. Ah, but perhaps you should think, as within that seemingly fleeting flash of energy-blast of heat many times brighter than our favorite star, the Sun, comes Fruition. Comprehend, mayhaps for the first time, as I did, the immensity that is a lightning storm ( and really oughtn’t we to say lightning storm, for is that not the true star of the “performance” of a thunderstorm).

Having spent some years researching and studying electricity (and, again, here lightning be the star of the show) as well as neuroscience (more electricity) so with the history, movement, evolution, and tomes of electricity coursing through my fevered and excited brain (fevered and excited at what new things I am learning and thinking and comprehending and awareness and consciousness), allow me to take you upon a Wonderland journey. Shall we begin?

First, imagine the reports of Nikola Tesla supine upon his couch in his laboratory beneath those great windows contemplating lightning, perhaps giving birth to new thoughts, ideas, inventions, and inspirations. Imagine Nikola Tesla engulfed in white plasma, yet unharmed, like some kind of mysterious, divinity-zapped Shaman. Contemplate this kind of power. An intense and great power that cycles (it has moods!) and can be harnessed. Contemplate, in a lightning storm, the power of efficient use of lightning (and here is where we can give a grateful nod to dear Mr. Tesla). What can be accomplished with its unleashed power, electricity (nowadays such a natural occurrence as electricity is leashed and has been since the days of Thomas Alva Edison. What absurdity, this? To leash the abundance of electricity?! Prior to the innovations of Edison, electricity was studied because its powers were so mysterious and so curious. But it was Edison who thought of how to leash it in order to profit from it. It was Edison, so I’ve read reported, that came up with the idea of charging people by the kilowatt hour. Up until then, electricity was merely turned on or off, like the valve of a water hose)? Can you see how all those great minds were as enamored with electricity?

Such beauty, this lightning. It’s the action: the interaction of cloud, ground (earth), particles, atoms, molecules, direction and current, all combining into this reaction called Lightning. How interesting its origins. Light-ning. Yes, light, progenitor of so many living organisms upon this planet. It is brighter than any other light seen on Earth, and enough to spoil the sun before the eyes. Now, as we meander further, think of the brain and the “lightning” that is said to occur there. Think of the unleashed power occurring there with every moment. Imagine, now, the “magick” from whence ideas come . . . awareness . . . Consciousness. Imagine lightning in the moment of conception, the first moment that seems not actually the first, but a continuation of the “first” moment the universe was conceived. Can you not see, dear reader, the similarity between these events? That we are as lightning as we are as consciousness as we are as universe.

Don’t you love the possibilities of this universe, this planet? Don’t you truly love what it is capable of, including growing humans?

“Life is and will ever remain an equation incapable of solution, but it contains certain known factors.” ~Nikola Tesla, A Machine to End War

*Image, “Plasma Earth III”, by Nicholas Raymond

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