Monday, December 24, 2012

The Lives of the Deceased by Jersey Campbell


I've abandoned my consistent essays on shit no one cares about (but me) for the time being because I'm exploring other writing styles, namely poetry. Don't worry though, I won't dedicate all my time to writing this mushy, abstract nonsense people love so much. 

This poem is for an anthology friend of VERGE Chosen Lyric is whipping up that speaks on addiction... thought it would be nice to share it with the five fans of VW. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Passage of the Day: Who the fuck is John Galt?

We had a couple of candidates for passage of the day today. I chose this one because I rule this post and thou shalt not have any bloggers before me.

Today's passage comes from Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. On a serious note, I chose it because every time I post a quote or passage they are appropriate to the ideals I advocate. We're gonna switch it up today. The message we are about to read does not reflect my views; while I agree with some of what is said, I cannot support the whole statement. In a way this does reflect the ideals I advocate... it is healthy to explore opposing philosophies, and this is certainly an opposing philosophy. After we explore it, we can shut it down and throw whomever believes such philosophies in prison for life. We don't tolerate differing opinions at VW.*

Quick question before we continue- is it necessary to add a spoiler alert for literature that was released over half a century ago? Is it necessary to add a spoiler alert for a blog that three people read? Whatevs.

*Forreals... As I've explained before, we accept and welcome all philosophies here at VW . In our effort to expose all ideologies there will be more posts in the future expressing views that differ from mine. All viewpoints deserve a fair criticism and review, let's get to it. 


Monday, December 10, 2012

Ujima performed by VERGE

So here's the video to the script we posted a couple weeks ago.

Special thanks to Lady Rae, NYC Robert, and Jersey Campbell for playing the roles so well.


Post-Historical Art by KV Sart


A Pellucid liquid drops
            steadily in temperature
A steady
plastic-metal click
moves the cup
            shakes the cup
            vibrates the liquid within the cup

He hears me
            when I have said nothing
He sees
                        causal chains
            undermining his own values
            opposing his own values
            breaking the internal logic by which he organizes his values

In the closet he keeps
            A picture of his own face
It grows weary
                        Graying and sagging
            Not like his perceived face
            He hides behind his perceived face
            He puts a front of self righteous confidence upon his perceived face

Thursday, December 6, 2012

He speaks to his id, ego, and superego by KV Sart

Super Ego:  What is it you want to be loved for?
He:  I don’t
Super Ego:  So, as the adoring crowd claps you do what? Duck your head in shame?  Run from the stage as a donkey runs from the rain?
He:  I cannot accept the praise in good faith.  What I have done was of mere coincidence and accident.  There is nothing praiseworthy in the action.  It is praiseworthy in the reception. The crowd is praiseworthy for praising correctly.  That crowd is exceptional.  I am ordinary.
Ego:  This is true but the crowd sees themselves through you.  They thrive as you thrive.  They love themselves as they love you.
He:  But they can only love as they have seen.  They can only praise what has been praised before.  I construct from prior construction.  Everything that is novel has been done.  I can only passively combine.
Super Ego:  Allow them to love you as they wish, there is love-worthiness in all creatures.
Id:  What they love in you is your drive and innate sense of purpose.
He:  I have no innate purpose.  My drive is a car ride in the night without headlights.  I move through the world in no particular direction, and in doing so I amass no evil and I amass no virtue.  My choices are both arbitrary and meaningful.  My outer display is a consumable product.  My inner life is my own.
Ego:  But surely it is not all mere chance.  Surely there is something to be said for virtue.  Of prudence, reason, and rationality?
He:  These are some of the guiding principles of civilization.  But even reason has its limits.  One cannot sit on the couch all day, reasoning the day away.  At some point, one must dive head first into the world action. 
Id:  In acting without reason we succumb to our instinctual selves. We act as we do in dreams, without thinking.
He:  There is an important distinction to be made though.  The dream being has no bounds of self.  There is no difference between subject and object.  It is simultaneously itself and all else.  In the non-dream world, I am a singular agent of action, and responsible by consequence.
Super Ego:  If everyone knew as you knew, would the world be a better place?
He:  In a way…yes.  In a way…no.  Better is a judgment that can only be made by the historians.  It would be better for me, because there would be no pushback.  Better for everything?  That is a question I cannot answer.
Ego:  If you sit on the fence, you risk not helping anything.  Isn’t it proper to sacrifice yourself for the greater good?
He:  The greater good is a figment.  There is only the good that sits in front of you.  Large-scale change is uncontrollable.  Those who attempt to control it become the power hungry dictators and genocide-creators.  The only good the individual can know stares them in the face every day.  We cannot see the links of the causal chain, and the idea of the greater good relies solely on the linking of the causal chain.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

A peek inside the soul of a soulless man Pt VI: Are you there God? It's me, Jersey


I had a conversation with God the other day. God was asking me a lot of questions about my intentions with my life. Who knew God was a dialectic conversationalist. Or maybe God is just my God and exists solely for me... or maybe God doesn't exist and I'm imagining God as I want God to be... Regardless, it was a revealing conversation for the both of us. Here's how it went down:

Friday, November 30, 2012

Ujima by Jersey Campbell

VERGE- Vicariously Enter the Realm of Good (motherfuckin'*) Entertainment- is performing a skit tomorrow evening at this event:


I was charged with writing the script... and directing... and acting. Three things I have inconsiderable experience in. Yet, the show will go on- and it will be off the bomb. SO IT IS SAID!

Here is the script**:
(Video coming next week)

 *This is not a part of the official VERGE name
 **Script is loosely based off an anecdote about Ubuntu, which was also the famous rallying cry for the 2007-08 Boston Celtics, the eventual NBA Champions.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Quote of the Day: the passion of the masses

This quote garnered a "same shit I was saying yo!" from me as soon as I read it.  Because really, this is the same shit I be saying.








  
"The masses have never thirsted after truth. They demand illusions, and cannot do without them. They constantly give what is unreal precedence over what is real; they are almost as strongly influenced by what is untrue as by what is true. They have an evident tendency not to distinguish between the two."

- quote taken from The Art of Seduction by Robert Green

Monday, November 19, 2012

JC and NYC Rob on the radio and shit

This past weekend, Jersey Campbell and NYC Robert- on behalf of VERGE- were invited to Best Kept Secret. Judging by the name, we're guessing some of y'all don't know what Best Kept Secret is... let's clear it up. It is a web radio show on the SUNY Old Westbury Web Radio network hosted by Lady Rae. But shhh, keep it a secret. 

Here is a brief clip from the interview showing our very own JC performing some poetry for the listeners. Yeah, we video record radio shows, because there are no morals. Listen.. and be enthralled. 




Friday, November 16, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Vocabulary Word of the Day: Pillory

Pillory: a wooden framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used to expose an offender to public derision.


In a sentence: The pillory could still be effective today. It is often public sentiment that helps maintain our morality.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Empathy Flashlight by KV Sart


We speak in muted tones
Earthy muds and forest greens
Take me in through the back
Shelter me from the storm
I’ll give you my kidney

Take care of the child
Let him free upon this plane
Tell him his pain is the same
As your pain
Rise above the scree hand in hand

There is a dip in the boulder
Water collects in this place
The early morning rain has passed
But here it remains
Reminiscent drops of past

Be civil young man
For this place is a civil one
Do not forget your head
Stubbornness is the starless night
Empathy is the flashlight

Monday, November 12, 2012

It's about time by Jersey Campbell


Time lacks the eternal strength it is attributed
For with time our physical beings become old, brittle, stale and feeble
With time, rises fade while roses bloom
With time, eyes observe cycles of birth and death
So with time, we live
With time, we seek a fulfillment of magnificent proportions
Yet in time, the sands of the hourglass eventually run out, only to be flipped over, so that another cycle may begin
The meaning is too elusive, so with time we grow and learn
Only for the hourglass to be flipped over once again
Lessons re-learned and new flowers bloom
In time, we forget all truths granted to us because when the hourglass flips, time resets
Time is no more eternal than the souls traveling through its corridors
But what a novel concept! Time ushers enlightenment… a spiritual awakening is an inevitable result
The only inevitability, is the loss of time itself and the eventual resurrection of the eternal paradox
A realization is in order. An epiphany of divine nature
Time waits for no man, and no man will wait for time
In time we act, decisions made determining the fate of our lives which, in time, will end in death
It is with time we grow, and in time we decompose
An inquiry: what have we learned? In which way have we grown?
Time is simply a paradigm
Moments in mirrors which mimic the times passed
Reflections of fallen eras haunt our contemporary dreams
With time we become corrupt
In time our minds expand to see the vast wasteland that was once promise and hope
The hourglass is reset, and time, laid to rest

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Election Thoughts by KV Sart

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Jersey has asked me to write a brief essay concerning the election.  Even if he had not asked for something “brief”, I can’t honestly say that I have a great deal to write about the election.  For me, the election has the feel of sporting event, something like the Super Bowl.  There is a side which I have chosen as my favorite, I root for that side to win, which is fun for a time leading up to the event and during the event itself, and then, the next day, I am left feeling slightly let down.
            For some reason we build the election up into this massive marker of whether or not the country is fucked, and depending on which side you agree with, you either think its time to leave the country, or you spend the next 2 months fantasizing about how much better the country is now that someone who you think you agree with is in power.
            Not only is the presidential election an undertaking in ego masturbation for the candidates, it is likewise for voters.  It is a time when people allow themselves to say, “see, I am right, you are wrong, the majority of the people believe what I believe.”
            The greater reality to remember during these times is this: it is hardly ever the president who makes the biggest social changes.  For sure, there have been good presidents who have done good things, but it is hardly ever the ones we “elect” to do good things who end up being the ones who do the greatest things.
            So, for those who voted for losing candidates, relax, your day-to-day reality remains unchanged.  For those who voted for candidates that won, congratulations, you were on the right side of what is essentially a 50/50 bet.  Sorry to be so cynical, but both sides seem to have neglected honest discourse and sound reasoning during the campaign, little seems to have really changed.

Jersey Campbell's notebook ramblings: thoughts on the election


Sources tell me there was an election in America last night, and now a black guy is president? Wait, wait? He’s been president for four years already! Wow! What progress we’ve made!
If I can be super cereal for a minute, I’d like to share my thoughts on the election:

Monday, November 5, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Quote of the Day: The Fifth of November

Remember, remember the fifth of November...   I can't even act like I completely understand what V is saying in this amazing monologue of ambitious alliteration. The acutely accurate words aim at abolishing a despotic English government. All credits attributed to the astute authors of this awesome film. 
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valourous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition! The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

- V 


Thursday, September 13, 2012

TWD by KV Sart


Give me the first line
            Public drunkenness in a private
            place    The street paved with
uneven cobblestones
Awaken in the
            same panic-state
            Same as yesterday    Same as today
Swimming in thoughts
            Broken in utility    Continuous
            in stream    Forged with the
strength of a Chinese finger cuff
Don’t let go of the dream    All you have is the dream

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Jersey Campbell's passage of the day: give me liberty, or give me holidays!

Greetings all, we've got another edition of "passage of the day" for y'all. (Why do I insist on referring to myself as "we", as if some force were beside me, guiding my fingers through the perilous terrain of a MacBook keypad as "we" write this?)
Today's edition comes to us from deceased former slave and forever fighter of freedom- or as the common folk say, "freedom fighter"- Fredrick Douglass.
Most of us had the privilege of learning to read and write via school. Mr. Douglass had some help early on, but customs of the Antebellum South quickly turned his teacher into an inhibitor. True G's learn to read in silence like Brother Fredrick.

I've often been criticized due to my focus on studying history. Why am I living in the past, wasting time reading about ancient wars and brooding over slavery? History teaches us lessons about human nature, and what we are capable of. History is about reflection, which is necessary for anyone who considers perspective a virtue. So when I am studying history, there is always one eye on the present, trying to figure out how the lessons of yesterday apply to the conditions of today. 
With that in mind, upon completion of the selected passage, I urge you to identify the parallels from his time to our time . (Obligatorily, I also urge you to publish your personal discoveries below in the comments section. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it would be nice if you did, nah mean?)

History is useless if not used as a tool for cognitive growth. Read, and expand your understanding...

Take it home my dear fellow:

Thursday, September 6, 2012

A name is never yours until you accept it. by NYC Robert

Though from birth we are given a name; and do summon ourselves to responding to it. We do not, at that age, have the competence to make a decision if we want to change it. In many cases, if not all, that decision cannot be made,at that age, mainly because we have not been exposed to other names. A contrasting similarity is food. When an infant is first exposed to food it picks and chooses what it likes and doesn't. However, if you only had one type of cereal, milk, bread, chicken etc... You would then have no choice other than to eat what is given. Thus, an infant truly can't make decisions whether they want there name or not because they know no different.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Nail Polish by Jersey Campbell




I We are not to be defined by the limitations placed on me us by society.
Purple is a bomb ass color.
That is all.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Vocabulary Word of the Day: celerity

Greetings saints and visiting friends, another edition of Vocabulary Word of the Day is in store for you!

Celerity- swiftness, speed

Example: When the Day of Judgment is upon us, God will strike down the nonbelievers with great celerity.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Quote of the Day: join me in the land of chimeras

Ladies and not-so-gentlemen, we've got another edition of Quote of the Day for ya. This entry comes to us from a familiar source, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's educational treatise Emile.

This quote was chosen because when I find myself enjoying conversation, people tell me that my views are crazy, incoherent, and just plain impossible. Well my dear friends, I may be insane, but do not think I have no understanding of the world and how it works, for I do. I just choose to ignore them, or dream of a different elemental structure purer and more benevolent in its organization. Rousseau's quote adequately sums up this predicament.


“Long ago they have made up their minds that I am wandering in the land of chimeras, while for my part I think they are dwelling in the country of prejudice. When I wander so far from popular beliefs I do not cease to bear them in mind; I examine them, I consider them, not that I may follow them or shun them, but that I may weigh them in the balance of reason.”
-       Jean-Jacques Rousseau in “Emile”

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Sincere Fictions Pt. 4: The Magnificent Myth by Jersey Campbell


 
  
Sincere Fictions Pt. 1
Sincere Fictions Pt. 2 
Sincere Fictions Pt. 3

The conclusion to JC's Sincere Fiction series. Read, and be inspired.

Any fiction that we promote and circulate through discourse should not impede progress, but encourage it. If the dominant myth is believed by the multitude, this myth must be majestic. The truth is the only thing we as people should be concerned with, but if we must use a fiction as the driving force of our society and our politics, only tall tales similar to Plato’s Magnificent Myth are allowed.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The Serengeti Flower by KV Sart


The Serengeti flower
            Grows in boggy
            Areas, grows with
            Little hairs, that
            Irritate the skin.

The name was
            One to be
            Forgotten, a nickname,
            A fake name,
            A false pretense.

The game was
            Played with no
            Rules, a lovely
            War of roses,
            Bed of thorns.

When the game
            Concluded, he was
            A broken soul,
            Crying to strangers,
            Bleeding regurgitated clichés.

The lone soul
            Sleeps alone, finds
            Himself alone, for
            Years this goes,
            Searching in darkness.

Until the lone
            Soul finds that
            There is no
            Loneliness in contentment,
            Alone not alone.

When it all
            Was forgotten, wanting
            Had ceased and
            He no longer
            Needed, he found.
 

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Sincere Fictions Pt. 3: the third degree of power, exercised by Jersey Campbell


“The three dimensional view of power… adopts the consideration of hidden social forces and conflict which exercise influence by shaping the consciousness of the individual or organization.”
- Steven Lukes

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

*Vicarious World's Best of the Month*: Joooo-lie


Hey there. Unfortunately, the whole crew of Wannabe Writers found it OK to take breaks from their duties to Vicarious World. That, or they believed VW to be on the same schedule as K-12 schools here in the greatest country in the world. USA! USA! USA! Somehow, someway, we dug up some excellent content from the month of the July... all for the benefit of our three readers. Read, and be merry.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

VERGE presents Open Mic Night Deets

VERGE presents Open Mic Night

looking for deets? we got ya deets right here...

WHO: VERGE, other supremely talented peoples, and you of course

WHAT: open mic. xpress ur essence

WHEN: tonight, July 31st at 7:30 PM

WHERE: Retro Lounge in Freeport, NY

WHY: it's all in the name of self-expression in various mediums

HOW: $10 admission fee. we all ballers out here that's nothin'.... NOTHIN'.

Vicariously Enter the Realm of Good Entertainment

 

Come and see talented individuals express themselves via Poetry, Spoken Word, Music, Comedy, Dance, Storytelling, and more. No need to take a train ride out to The City, we've got your underground entertainment right on Long Island.

Performers who bring three guests with them get in free.

Grown & Sexy
$10 admission (two drink/food minimum)
sign-up @ door or contact us @vicariousworld or teambaady@gmail.com.


 There will another brief discussion segment. The question for this edition:
"Is it okay for your girl to hangout with other guys without you? "


Retro Lounge
10 Brooklyn Avenue
Freeport, NY 11520


RSVP on Facebook


Don't forget to LIKE us on Facebook

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Sincere Fictions Pt. 2: the Radical Black Man weighs in by Jersey Campbell




In response to the sentiments expressed by the Well-Informed Black Guy, the Radical Black Man reveals his opinions on the state of race relations in America. 

 
Excuse me, for I am no racist (bet the real racists would call me “reverse racist” or some ridiculous shit like that), I simply expose the world to truth. The well-informed Black Guy needs to change his title to “some dumb ass House Negro”, because I have never seen nor heard such malarkey in my life. No, that’s not true; I hear that every time I read the newspaper or turn on the news when the subject broaches race relations. Let me reveal my clean glass of water to you, so that you may recognize your glass as filthy.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

VERGE Presents **Open Mic Night** 07.31.12

VERGE presents Open Mic Night @ Retro Lounge
07.31.12 (July 31st, 2012) 


Come and see talented individuals express themselves via Poetry, Spoken Word, Music, Comedy, Dance, Storytelling, and more. No need to take a train ride out to The City, we've got your underground entertainment right on Long Island.

Performers who bring three guests with them get in free.

Grown & Sexy
$10 admission (two drink/food minimum)
sign-up @ door or contact us @vicariousworld or teambaady@gmail.com.


 There will another brief discussion segment. The question for this edition:
"Is it okay for your girl to hangout with other guys without you? "


Retro Lounge
10 Brooklyn Avenue
Freeport, NY 11520


RSVP on Facebook


Don't forget to LIKE us on Facebook

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Sincere Fictions Pt. 1: as told by some well-informed Black Guy by Jersey Campbell



“Sincere fictions are personal ideological constructions that reproduce societal mythologies at the individual level.”
            Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination and racism has come to a screeching halt. It was a major victory for all minorities in America. As a Black Man, I have little to nothing to complain about. I have so many opportunities equal to and sometimes even greater than white people. Affirmative action has provided me, and my fellow Black Americans, with a severely needed boost in employment and housing. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Can a guy have female friends while in a relationship? by NYC Robert


This question dawned on me when I had asked a girl (I don't know her very well, but it seemed like we share common interest), "Would she like to get some lunch?" At the time, she knew enough about me to say that it wouldn’t be appropriate, solely because I am in a relationship. Though I had a feeling that would be her answer, I didn’t quite understand. She went on and on and simply concluded that it wouldn’t be right. Still, I didn’t understand. I then turned the scenario around, and asked her if she has male friends. Turns out, she does. I dug a bit deeper, "What's the difference between them and me?"After we discussed it for a while longer I realized she wasn’t saying much, just repeating herself. She also wasn’t stating much other then, "Because you're in a relationship."

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Jersey Campbell's Vocabulary Word of the Day: Recalcitrant

Good day to you. We've got another Vocabulary Word of the Day for you to soak into your brain thingy.

As you can see, the Wannabe Writers of VW are all on vacation right now, including me. We do have lives outside of bringing incomparable joy to our five readers. Jeez. Read... and expand your vocabulary.

Recalcitrant: resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory
                     hard to deal with, manage, or operate

Example: JC was a recalcitrant little bugger in adolescence; his parents often had to slap him up due to his unruly nature and rude attitude. Ain't shit change.