28 January 2025

The recording last night went well, there was more engagement in the chat than before and some old faces stopped by. Little princess had to get some shots at the doctor and the elder princess is developing a fun bedtime routine with me reading books and running fast. The fun is about to end though as we’re going to start brushing our teeth before bed.

Speaking of fast eminem earlier, for the rapping portion is a song I’ve learned because I like the message in the words. I trade the musical aspect for a motivational one as I repeat the song to myself like a montra. People should understand about art there are many ways to consume it, beyond the 5 senses. I see a lot with people recording themselves, thinking the audience will see what they saw, even eminem on mike tyson’s podcast mentioned how while performing at the Oscars his microphone pack was dangling and he thought that’s all people would notice. Stop trying to put yourself in someone else’s head.

Rap: This is the last verse on Eminem’s Offended 

Now my dough’s amountin’ to a mountain

It’s rised too high to count it

Never asked to be rich, all I did was wish

I had a dime for every time that I was doubted

But then I think about it and I’m enraged

‘Cause I just figured out that if I was paid

For the time I spent to put the pen to the page

It’d be minimum wage

But it’s embedded in my head I never hunted for the bread and butter

What I wanted was to be the one that they was scared of but

I’m never gonna get the credit for the sweat and blood

I put up in the pen, and when I’m dead I wonder

Will they put me on a pedestal or forget I was ever this incredible

I guess I better go harder than ever ’cause

I’ll never get another mothaf’ opportunity again

To offend as many people with this I can simply because I can

Time to break down the bars

“my dough’s amountin’ to a mountain” dough is slang for money, amountin’ to a mountain is good word play, he has a pile of money.

“all I did was wish I had a dime for every time that I was doubted” He’s describing the struggle to become great, people will doubt you well after you’ve proven them wrong. There is a play on the expression, “If I had a nickel for every time… blank” Using dime to rhyme with time. There’s also a lot of money talk, dough, rich, dime. Coming up will be paid and minimum wage.

“I just figured out that if I was paid, For the time I spent to put the pen to the page,It’d be minimum wage.” Continuing the struggle to be great, if he were paid by the hour as a normal job is, despite being a multimillionaire he has spent so many hours working his craft that the dollars per hour are low.

“I never hunted for the bread and butter, What I wanted was to be the one that they was scared of” This was never about the money, being the top, tip of the spear is the point that cuts, that’s what people fear. He was bullied as a kid, made to feel weak, he made himself strong.

“I’m never gonna get the credit for the sweat and blood I put up in the pen” Even after all he’s accomplished some people don’t consider Eminem a top 5 rapper because of skin tone. Still he must keep pushing, a dime for every time he was doubted.

Also Bread and butter and credit were money terms adding to my list.

27 January 2025

We were snowed in last week! I didn’t have any extra time for writing since the family was home, and as of late I don’t have the time or mental energy to blog, but want to put something out. Tonight I’ll be recording next week’s episode of the podcast and I thought to post part of the script each day since it ends up being around five pages.

 It’s Wrecking and rapping. A podcast with a purpose to save humanity and enlighten the dark. I’m your host King Cooper. Congratulations, you ran into missingno, your reward is 128 rare candy. How will you spend it? Using rare candy to gain levels makes a pokemon weaker than they would by gaining them naturally. This is true in real life too, money can’t buy experience. 

Turning now to Shakespeare, we’ve got another procreation sonnet, he seemed to be fixated on the topic. He expresses the young man’s obligation and necessity to have children in order to transfer beauty to the following generations.

Shakespeare: Sonnet 6

Seriously studying these works diffuses the mystery of Shakespeare like how we’ve seen so many sonnets on the same scene. It might be more enjoyable to not know what he’s saying. For this reason I don’t like to learn the lyrics to all rap songs and especially true with Eminem’s fast raps, in some way it takes away from the song. Thinking too much ruins emotions.

*”Let not Winter’s ragged hand deface” Hand and face are body parts. Ragged meaning old and torn. This is not the first time we’ve seen Shakespeare’s use of Winter along with…

*“Thy summer, ere thou be distill’d” We also discussed last week what being distilled means. Ere, spelled ERE means before, don’t let Winter destroy your Summer before producing goods.

*”Make sweet some vial” the vial would be the sweet essence created from distillation. 

*“Treasure thou some place with beauty’s treasure ere it be self-unalived.” There’s a double entendre with treasure, first use is to cherish and the second is treasure as valuable goods.

*“That use is not forbidden usury” We’ve discussed usury before, there’s word play with use and usury, saying there’s nothing wrong with using your body’s goods.

*”Which Happies those that pay the willing loan;” Loan is a reference to usuary, saying those that go into this debt, the debt is having kids, those that have kids are happy to pay the price.

*The next section gets fun, sounding like more modern rap with all the babies that are about to pop up. “Thy self to breed another thee.” Rhymes, another thee is your kid.

*”Or ten times happier, be it ten for one” You are the one and ten are your kids, being proportionally happier with each one.

*”Ten times thy self were happier than thou art, if ten of thine ten times refigur’d thee.” This is the rapping-esq flow I mentioned. I take this to be that your ten kids each have ten kids making you 100 times happier than thou art now.

*”Then what could death do if thou shouldst depart, leaving thee living in posterity?” depart like unalived, even though your mortal coil is gone, you live in posterity, live on through your future generations.

*”Be not self-will’d, for thou art much too fair to be death’s conquest and make worms thine heir.” Self willed seems like being stubborn, then you’re too beautiful to be beaten out of existence. Making worms thin heir is not having kids and when put in the ground worms would be feeding and breeding off of your ragged flesh.

There was a part where I chose to say unalived a couple times in explaining Shakespeare. Part of the reason the show is what it is is to teach new words and phrasing in order to say censored words. We can’t even begin to have a conversation because the important topics are blocked, through improving our language we can circumnavigate this obstacle. There are ideas humans have had and ways of thinking that if a person has not been made aware of yet, they cannot see what’s in front of them. Let’s move on to Rap.

Wrecking and Rapping ep 49

King Cooper delves into Shakespeare’s Sonnet 5, exploring the themes of beauty and its impermanence. He shares personal reflections on parenting and sleep deprivation, discusses the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, and highlights a significant moment in television history with Lucille Ball. The conversation transitions into philosophical discussions, particularly the Divine Command Theory, and concludes with a contemplation on the relationship between faith and science.

Wrecking and Rapping ep 48

Host King Cooper delves into delayed satisfaction for happiness, an analysis of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 4, and a breakdown of Rakim’s lyrics. The conversation also touches on Marcus Aurelius’ meditations, cultural relativism, and the nature of moral judgments. The episode concludes with reflections on the importance of communication and understanding in a diverse world.

15 January 2025

Life as been going well despite how tiring everything is. There’s been a sleep regression with the little princess leading me to wake up more during the night and over the weekend the elder princess had a cold that kept her from eating. It was a rough time having her not eat then getting worse because she needed to eat. She’s doing a little better now in terms of energy, but food is still a struggle. From when I started writing to now, I got pulled away from something with the kids, my writing has to happen in short burst which is like one of my favorite writers Nietzsche. Real quick to get out my thoughts on the future, the YouTube channel should be getting 10,000 subscribers soon, that’s amazing. Looking back I was happy when I had 12 and the goal became to reach one hundred. That seemed like a reasonable goal for a year, then when I got a hundred, I needed to do that ten times for a thousand, that seemed like a daunting task as I had used all of my resources to get the first hundred. Then we passed a thousand, beyond what I thought would ever happen when I started. There always needs to be a goal, no matter how hard it may seem and 10,000 became the next marker. I remember how hard that first hundred was, now I can get a hundred in a day: crazy. Another goal is to reach 4,000 watch hours, so I’ll begin live streaming. I’ve already started when I record an episode, my plan is to do it more regular while I research for the following episode. Next week I’ll be getting a day off, going to some cabin near by for a night alone for quiet and sleep. 

Wrecking and Rapping ep 47

In this episode, King Cooper explores various themes including the purpose of the podcast, reflections on Shakespeare’s sonnet about life and legacy, insights from Jadakiss’s lyrics on wealth, personal challenges faced during the week, philosophical insights from Marcus Aurelius, historical events like the Battle of New Orleans, and the significance of Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’. The conversation also delves into the Psalms, ethical discussions inspired by Hume, and the importance of Christian ethics and cultural guides in navigating life.

9 January 2025

There’s been inconsistency in my blog lately, I don’t want people to think it’s not a priority. Doing the podcast alone means each week I need to write a script at least four pages long. If I were do blog on all cylinders then I’d be writing about 10 pages of new material every week. I’m all for that proposition, but while caring for a 4 month old baby it’s an unrealistic expectation. This week an Army buddy was visiting for the holidays, he drives for Uber and worked through the calender holidays leaving this as our time. The date doesn’t matter, we both agree that if there is time we can get together, we should take it. That leaves me disorganized and behind schedule this week for my normal work. As I write I put the baby down for a nap minutes ago, let the dog out while I heated up some food only to be woken by his barking that cleaners are here. A lot I talked about with my Army friend was how I didn’t plan for any of what I have, at the time didn’t even imagine it was possible for me. Recently the Queen mentioned applying for some new jobs, the same job with warmer climates. One of the houses she showed that could be a future home was on 50 acres, I told my friend once I had that I’d have to look for 500 acres to keep myself busy. Each time we raise to the next level then normalize and raise again. I talk about hubris and God a lot, I need to stay humble with these sorts of thoughts, that I’m merely following the path laid out for me and not in control of any of it. My duty is to remain fit, capable of handling the opportunities given me.

Wrecking and Rapping ep 46

In this episode of Reckoning Rappin, host King Cooper explores various themes including the beauty of Shakespeare’s sonnets, the intricacies of modern rap, personal anecdotes about hiccups, reflections on Stoic philosophy, historical events, biblical wisdom, and philosophical concepts. The conversation also delves into personal goals for the upcoming year and the limits of human understanding, culminating in a call for self-improvement and change.

31 December 2024

My last blog post of the year, I wanted to make sure to write today despite being tired. The little princess might have a little cold and last night she hardly slept which means the queen and I didn’t sleep. Having the elder princess home from daycare has been tiring, but rewarding. She made a lot of progress on potty training and lately when I put her to sleep she says, “I love you dad”, what better way to end the day. This was a big year for us, from moving to having a new baby, I started the podcast this year and last week passed 5,000 subscribers on Youtube. 2025 has a lot of adventures in store and I can’t wait to see my world develop. The trees I plant begin to change the landscape and view in as little as two years. Adding a greenhouse would be a big change and I look forward to having a greenhouse again. One of my favorite photos is from my old greenhouse. In the Spring I have a great repotting of plants planned and having a nursery for them would be useful. When I moved away from the old greenhouse my work changed from house plants to landscaping trees, a lot of the house plants have out grown the pots they’ve been stuck in for a couple years. The prospect of settling down again is exciting, we’ve been in a growth phase for awhile since it makes sense to get these big changes out of the way as early as possible. At the same time, last week the queen mentioned a house that has 50 acres and that would be a lot of fun. All in due time, we’ll see what happens. I hope everyone has a happy new year, stay safe.

Wrecking and Rapping ep 45

In this festive episode, King Cooper explores various themes surrounding Christmas, including holiday traditions, the significance of the 12 days of Christmas, Shakespeare’s perspective on the holiday, reflections on stoicism, and philosophical discussions on identity and logic. The conversation is interspersed with humor, personal anecdotes, and readings from classic Christmas literature, culminating in a celebration of the holiday spirit.