urbanmonklife

please imagine some really well worded disclaimer that explains anything i've written in a really acceptable way,

Friday, June 24, 2005

oh and I forgot to say.. I picked up my first hitchiker and his surfboard.

Been hanging out with the only insured parkour instructor in maybe anywhere. Have been eating ambient food. living in a crypt, picking punnets of fruit, and learning about the foreign policy of Neville Chamberlain's government and it's relation to changes in public opinion of the time.

AN EXERCISE:

Try walking at normal speed down the road (or in a park or in the country). Count your steps: 1...2...3...4...etc.
Now slow to half speed, so: Step...2...Step...4...Step...etc
Now slow to quarter speed: Step...2...3...4...Step...etc -this is quite hard, keep it up for a few minutes, let yourself relax,
Now slow again, to 1/8 speed. This is surprisingly hard. Keep it up..... relax....

The exercise:
Now try walking a distance that would usually take you 5mins, but at 1/8speed, so allow about 3/4 of an hour (this is perhaps most effective somewhere really interesting like a wood or a scrap metal heap, but everywhere is interesting really), you are in no rush at all.. SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

(this idea came to me from a postmodern theatre course at Bretton Hall Leeds Uni, I think the way it is going is a practice for contemplation in everyday life (so good monk stuff)).
...................................................................................................................

And I've become intrigued by hermits. I went to meet a man who I'd heard had lived in a cave for a while.
If anyone has anything they could teach me about hermits or their experiences please email me.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

"a work of art created by a whole series of lucky mistakes"
-C

And congratulations to our womens football team for beating Finland 3-2 with brilliant 91st minute winner.

Have been sunbathing, learning about Egyptian Coptic Monasteries and how you can smoke chicken using lapsang souchong. Danced all night at urbangorilla, cooked fish, chucked rocks and made pots, classroom assisting, and getting hit by atlantic rollers, climbing granite, and reading Thomas Merton.

get someone to show you "Turtle" in sign language.

Good TV: In case you havn't heard about it, the BBC recently put on a fantastic 3part series where they picked 5 diverse guys who volunteered to join a Benedictine monastery in Sussex for 40days(+nights). From 6am prayers, times of silence, chats with spiritual directors, group meetings (and arguments), manual labour alongside the monks in the gardens, and a visit to a local Carthusian monastery (where monks live in solitary cells), these men experience a life very different from the walks they come from, and comment openly and honestly on their impressions and experiences of it. If they reshow it or you find someone with videos. I RECOMMEND watching this.. it's really interesting on several levels. The Monastery.



Urbanmonklife Services:

HIRE an ENTOURAGE, the ultimate prestige symbol to prove your celebrity status. Entourages can be arranged for any occasion, we specialise in gangster, circus, fbi, dance troupe, hiphop, glamrock, period drama, europop, gothic, manga, and motivational keepfit . All styles tailor designed to enhance your uniqueness. Size of entourage variable depending on your needs (and resources), prices negotiable. For more information contact urbanmonklife.

Courier Service: will find ways of transporting items I can carry, from anywhere to anywhere, timescales relatively long but cheap/free (especially if you have interesting and good reasons for delivery) . Specialise in Scotland, England, hot places, and really far North. For more information contact urbanmonklife.