1 Free Mix Like It’s 1994: Study Beats with SparkleDeep presenting Chill Beats / Relaxation / LoFi music mix

You asked, we answered: “study beats!” The first Headz compilation was released 30 years ago, this year — in 1994. Time flies, but this mix will take you back to that timeless moment.

Reintroducing Headz for the Headz of Today

The “Headz” compilations, specifically Headz, “Headz IIa” and “Headz IIb,” are a part of a series of compilations released by Mo’ Wax Records. Mo’ Wax was an influential British record label founded by James Lavelle in the early 1990s, known for its pioneering work in trip-hop and for helping to popularize the turntablism movement. The label played a crucial role in the development of the UK’s electronic and hip-hop scenes.

The “Headz” series, with its first installment released in the mid-1990s, featured a diverse range of artists and styles, encompassing elements of hip-hop, electronic music, jazz, and more, showcasing the eclectic and avant-garde approach that Mo’ Wax was celebrated for. “Headz IIa” and “Headz IIb” followed the tradition of the initial compilation, offering a wide array of tracks from various artists, both well-known and obscure, contributing to the label’s reputation for innovation and quality.

These compilations are notable for their curated selection of tracks that blend instrumental hip-hop, experimental electronic music, and various samples and soundscapes, providing listeners with a rich auditory experience. Artists involved in the series include DJ Shadow, UNKLE (a project initiated by James Lavelle himself), and other significant figures from the experimental and alternative scenes of the time.

The “Headz” compilations are considered landmark releases in the world of electronic and hip-hop music, reflecting the cutting-edge tastes of Mo’ Wax and its contributions to the broader music culture. They are valued not only for the music they contain but also for their role in documenting a pivotal era in electronic music.

Listen Now — Study Beats Await You with SparkleDeep’s Mix and Remaster

Embark on a sonic journey like no other. Listen now and let the timeless vibes of “Headz IIa and IIb” inspire your next masterpiece or study session.

Gliding to a Glistening Core: Rewards of Making Sense with Embodiment Practices in More than 3 powerful Ways: from Sensory Awareness to Stretching to Body Modification

Embodiment practices cover a variety of things people do to be more aware and to simply be in their bodies more. The alignment of one’s self, discovery, and bodily connection are often desired, explored, and realized in the form of body modification and gender alignment surgeries, also known as gender-affirming surgeries.

Gender-affirming procedures, which include top surgery, bottom surgery, and facial feminization surgery, among others, play a crucial role in helping transgender and gender non-conforming individuals align their physical appearance with their gender identity.

Oftentimes, these significantly improve depressive symptoms for many transgender and nonbinary people. They speak of having their lives restored, with new energy and agency.

As society becomes more aware and accepting of the diverse ways in which individuals express their gender, medical professionals have increasingly recognized the importance of providing gender-affirming healthcare. These surgeries not only offer a means for individuals to reshape their bodies in alignment with their internal sense of self but also serve as a powerful tool in alleviating the psychological distress often associated with gender dysphoria. The psychological distress relieved cannot be overstated.

While gender alignment surgeries differ from body modification practices such as piercing and tattooing, they share a common thread in that they allow individuals to explore and express their identities through physical transformations. Both practices empower people to take control of their bodies and, in doing so, create a more authentic and fulfilling connection with their physical selves. This shared desire for self-discovery and personal transformation underscores the broader human experience of seeking meaning and understanding through our relationship with our bodies.

Blurring Boundaries: The Cyborg Manifesto, Dollification, and the Future of Human Identity

Another intriguing aspect of body modification and self-expression is the exploration of the relationship between humans and technology, as exemplified by the “Cyborg Manifesto” and the lesser-known “dollification” subculture, which self-describe as “femmifesting” their best lives — and with at least one doll penning a dollifesta.

The Cyborg Manifesto Makes a Splash in 1985

The “Cyborg Manifesto,” written by feminist scholar Donna Haraway in 1985, presents a vision of the future in which humans and machines are intimately connected, transcending traditional boundaries between the natural and artificial.

Haraway’s work encourages us to embrace the hybridization of our identities and bodies, integrating technology into our lives in ways that challenge conventional gender norms and social constructs.

The cyborg, as a metaphor, represents an entity that is neither purely human nor purely machine, but a fusion of both. In this sense, body modification practices like piercing and tattooing can be seen as early steps towards this cyborg future, where our bodies become canvases for self-expression and transformation.

The Dollification Subculture Goes Way Deeper than the Skin

The “dollification” subculture, sometimes saying they’re “femmifesting” their best lives, is another fascinating instance of embodiment practice, with a combination of body modification and identity exploration.

This niche community involves individuals who alter their appearance to resemble dolls, often through the use of makeup, clothing, and sometimes even surgical procedures — which nobody can deny involves embodiment to varying degrees of permanence.

The “dollification” identity allows participants to explore and express their agency, femininity, and beauty ideals in unique and highly stylized ways.

While seemingly distinct from the cyborg concept, both phenomena exemplify the human desire to push the boundaries of self-expression and self-definition, transforming our bodies and identities to align with our innermost visions, values, and desires.

Ultimately, the “Cyborg Manifesto,” the dollification subculture, and body modification practices like piercing and tattooing all underscore the complex and ever-evolving relationship between humans and their physical selves.

Whether through technological advancements or creative expressions of identity, these diverse forms of embodiment demonstrate our ongoing quest for self-discovery, pausing societal norms, and redefining what it means to be human in a rapidly changing world.

Welcome to SparkleDeep, where curiosity and creativity collide. We invite you to stay a while and immerse yourself in the captivating world that awaits you.

With intriguing explorations into embodiment, self-expression, and the ever-evolving relationship between people and ecology, SparkleDeep offers a unique and engaging experience for all who venture here.

Embrace the unconventional, challenge your perceptions, and dive

Is Tech Conspiring to Make Interpersonal Communication Worse?

Is it just me or…?


Haven’t written about this much, or at all, but I developed a strong opinion, last few years, that certain messaging technologies aren’t super compatible with my nervous system. A few, relatively popular apps provide a few particularly pointy examples.

Facebook Messenger helped me make a big ol’ mess with my nervous system, year before last, as I started to message with someone who I wanted to talk to a lot, but didn’t seem that interested in talking to me. My intuition told me that last bit, even as FB Messenger constantly alerted me to that person’s presence or recent presence online, even after I hadn’t interacted with them for months. It was a perplexing moment for me, almost on the daily, thinking to myself that the only resort I knew to get the visual reminders to stop would be to block the person on FB and Messenger, and at the time, I felt that that was more energy than I wanted to give in that direction. I ultimately did block the person, as I realized that I was having apprehensive feelings just thinking about using FB, and it’s here for me, not the other way around.


I seriously doubt that the way that FB Mess. sets up alerts (they’re the ones that show you who is online and active) is an accident, whether it is intentionally designed to exacerbate certain kinds of nervous system maladaptive patterns or not.

Now, a second messaging mechanic comes to my attention as kind of super annoying. Some of you will be familiar with Slack. At first, I loved Slack. I saw it used in a context where new participants could see without much risk how people were contributing to various conversations, and I did see it as a beautiful example of technology in action.

But I also notice that with Slack, that if someone doesn’t respond to you, it gets lost. I never know if someone has read a message I’ve sent if they don’t respond, for instance. And there’s no reminder to follow back up. The Facebook news feed has mechanisms that remind people that conversations are potentially ready for more engagement, with notifications on replies, and @name mentions, and notification of likes. We all know they can get annoying, but there’s a lot of granularity in how you can turn them off individually.


People like feeling they have been heard, “message received”.


Ultimately, it’s up to people to engage, and you can only encourage people to engage so much until it’s coercive. When do most people realize that a non-response is a “no”? Do “most” people usually feel “crickets = no” or not? I get this, now, but haven’t always.

So the real issue for me, it appears, is that there can be a context of a relationship that I infer will lead to “good communication” but then it doesn’t. Now, letting go is a much more prized approach than in previous years, when I would obsess over not hearing back from folks for any variety of reasons. Now, I seek what I’m seeking, just in other places.


But the hard part is when someone I think of as a friend doesn’t act in a way I believe my definition of friend should work, and we each get to choose for ourselves what those definitions should be. It’s usually around responding to messages inconsistently. Once I see someone isn’t great at getting back to me, from there it’s usually a management and unwinding process from that point. I know that I don’t want to give as much energy to this person, but several months/years of getting to know somebody and giving them the benefit of the doubt makes an immediate and decisive break not so tenable. Things get messy. I’ve felt disrespected, I’ve potentially disrespected them, communication is breaking down, and poor communication practices don’t give a lot of hope that communication will be restored. These days, I’m just letting go as I lean back and sip my piña colada, and what it took to get here, oh my.

At some point over the last 2 years, I found myself in this place occasionally where even the slightest breeze might cause me to feel exhausted. I felt this way around a new person I was getting to know in a friendly way. As an experiment, I decided to stop talking to them abruptly, and while other people can do that, it’s hard for me, I found.

Wish technology would make communication easier. I feel like there’s an opportunity for it to do so.


But in the absence of technology making communication easier, I’m going to keep putting myself in situations that test and develop my Don’t Give A Fuck skillset.

Spring Cleaning!

Cut through the overwhelm with this practical approach to organizing stuff in space, or even virtual stuff in virtual space! But we’re going to focus on organizing stuff at home, for now.

SparkleDeep is about learning about, sharing, and exchanging ways of living. One aspect of living involves the practical stuff of life. Almost everyone has stuff, and almost everyone I know wishes that their stuff was more or differently organized. I’ve found organizing is one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in life. However, I’ve been around the block, I’ve turned some corners, and I’ve developed some approaches that work for me, that I’ve used to do professional home and space organization, and now I want to share them with you. If these organizational techniques help you, that’s awesome, and please, let us know!

So where to begin?! Let’s assume you have the most disorganized room or corner in your space to organize. What do you do? And what is the overall plan, so you know that the first steps lead to where you want to go, which let’s assume here, is a place for everything and everything in its place: space without clutter. We’ll want to even plan space for common movements of things that come and go, and we’ll want to think about space for doing common and not-so-common activities in the space. Let’s dive in!

The overall process I’m using and with which I’m working looks like this:

  1. Compartmentalize
    1. Take loose and small items and put them into temporary (or permanent storage, if you have a place already and it’ll take less than 5 minutes)
  2. Sort items, container by container
    1. Categories – Where things will go eventually
      1. Keep or don’t keep! (aka Marie Kondo that %^&$)
        1. Don’t keep: get it out of here! Give it away, maybe sell it, or even trash without regret! You’re making space for your LIFE
        2. Keep
          1. Find or make a home for each thing
            1. Temp home
            2. Long-term home
    2. Prioritize your sorting
      1. Big things
      2. Easiest things
      3. Go left to right or right to left, from the door or another reference point
  3. Repeat!
  4. Getting to “The End”
    1. Find a space for each thing
    2. Let go of stuff you don’t have room for
    3. Storage ideas
    4. Designate space for new/incoming/loose items
    5. Action spaces

Compartmentalize aka Partition

The first step, take loose and small items and either put them where they go (long-term home) or put them in a box or bag or other container. This can be a cardboard box! Or bags that you have around. Eventually, you might want to put things in a more permanent container, but you don’t have to have permanent containers to make a huge difference in a space, just by taking the smaller loose items and putting them into containers.

Once things are in containers, they can be more easily handled as you can move the container around, and deal with a lot of stuff more amenably. For instance, you can think about dealing with one container at a time, maybe one a day/week/etc, instead of having to deal with all of the things, at once.

Sort

You’ve put some things away to where their long-term homes are, and you’ve got all the loose stuff in containers, and you’re already feeling so much organized! So with this momentum, let’s keep going and getting to the next level of organizing. Let’s emphasize, at this point, you don’t have to do it all at once! Organizing is hard work! So we’ve partitioned our big job into smaller jobs, so that we don’t have to feel overwhelm.

Categories – Where things will go eventually

Before we start to sort in earnest, let’s consider how we’re sorting the stuff. There’s going to be Keep and Don’t Keep. With the Keep stuff, we’re going to find temporary and long-term homes for things. Marie Kondo seems to be the bright light of late with expertise on how you figure out what you keep and don’t keep, so check her out.

At the end of the day, the stuff you Keep is going to need a home. It can have a temporary home, but ultimately, each thing needs a long-term home.

Prioritizing your sorting

Now everything is in containers, but which container do you start with?! We’re back to where we were before! A bunch of things (containers), but where to begin. Okay, so let’s start with the BIG stuff, then move on to the EASY stuff, and then we’ll get to the rest. Doing the big stuff first means that we may get some more space, and the more space you have, the easier and easier it gets to organize. It’s evolution in action! You’re a force of evolution, and you can make immediate changes in your environment that allow you to be an even more effective agent of change in the world, before your very eyes, in real-time!

Deal with the Big Stuff First

Dealing with the big stuff includes getting rid of furniture that you’re not into, anymore. Dealing with big stuff means figuring out where bulky stuff ought to live. This may involve some problem solving that isn’t covered here, but feel free to post questions on what to do with stuff you can’t figure out in the comments or at the SparkleDeep facebook page.

Deal with the Easy Stuff Second

Now, let’s deal with the easy stuff. As you’ve been dealing with the big stuff, you’ve been eyeing the stuff that you know has a place, you want to store, or you definitely want to get out of your life. It’s time to get into that! So put away the things you know where they go, put things you want to store but don’t yet have a place into temporary compartment (another container, maybe labeled “Save – Temporary”), or move it out of the room, to the door, or another place that let’s you clearly see “This stuff is on its way out — and for good!”

The Rest: Start Somewhere and Chip Away

The rest of the things, you’ll need to go compartment or area by area of your space to sort. So on a given day, pick whether you start left to right or right to left, and do one compartment or area. Then, do another. Stop before you get tired and frustrated, and pick up when you can get into it again.

Holistic Planning for Prevention of Clutter

If you realize that you regularly collect items that don’t get put into long-term homes, you’ve got to make space for storing those things, for going to their long-term homes later. Flat horizontal surfaces are the traps for these items! Beware flat surfaces! If you like clear tables or desks, you’ve got to have a place for those things that often accumulate there. I love decorative bowels and dishes for the little things. When those bowels and dishes fill up, and you don’t know what to do with the stuff in them, dump them in a zip-lock bag or box! Then, you’ll need to do something with that bag or box, use the handy-dandy general process for organizing. You never have to despair, because you’ve got a process!

One quick note about “action spaces.” If you know you do certain activities, you need space for that! So as you’re organizing, be thinking about how to set up your space for the activities you do, or want to do.

This is my first take on this stuff. If you find what you’re reading here useful, let us know, tell someone about it, or let us know what else would be useful to know with this info. Thanks for checking it out!

What’s this SparkleDeep all about?

Several years ago, I started distilling down the things I thought were interesting enough to me that they might be interesting to others. They boiled down to a motley assortment with a few common threads. Things like queer & femme culture, kink, underground art happenings in California and the world, other “embodiment practices,” and anything relevant to advancing social justice kept coming up and wouldn’t go away. The importance of explicitly centering  efforts to challenge imbalances in power seems critical; it’s not good enough to reinforce the status quo, the way we see it. And it’s clear that there’s room for more accessible, practical information on how to start and run small, entrepreneurial, and creative business endeavors, especially from down-to-earth people who are figuring it out.

I grew up since college experimenting with what I’d like to think is enlightened hedonism, so that’s a natural area of interest for me. However, in the last few years, festival and “EDM” culture has become mainstream, and it’s evolved into something I hardly recognize from the early days of PLUR, which for me was the mid to late 1990s. A lot of what I have to say, these days, critiques these scenes, though from the perspective of a long-time participant and someone who believes they’ve made me who I am, if not a better person. These spaces demand particularly focused criticism precisely because so many, myself included at a time, saw that the potential for these spaces for transforming people and society. But it takes real work for real change to happen, and most people having a good time aren’t really up for real work. But we’ll pay it forward with some labor to break down what’s going well in kink and festival land, and what’s not working.

Covering underground scenes has some immense challenges, but as a trans woman, I at least have some personal experience with diverse views of marginalized people being misrepresented through misrepresentation or outright lies, and I’m not a fan of it, so I give a lot of care to how people’s stories are conveyed. And that’s what this is really about, sharing insights into people’s lives, what’s interesting and stimulating, and maybe some ideas that can change us and the world.