“You’ll never see a squirrel trapped by a syllogism. He might be cornered by a dog, or swept up for breakfast by a hawk, but he won’t have talked himself into his predicament.” – blogger Michael J. Smith (I think that’s a pseudonym). He’s refering, of course, to the false choice that exists within the American political landscape.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." – Einstein, elaborating on (caveating) Occam's Razor.
I was talking about Occam's Razor in my debate class last month. I should bring this quote from Einstein up. as couterpoint, when we start again after the test-prep period.
– Notes for Korean –
따르다 = pour, fill (e.g. a cup)
"One oddity of the current legal situation remains that the U.S.
government needs some kind of court-approved warrant to intentionally
eavesdrop on the telephone or e-mail of a U.S. citizen suspected of
involvement with Al Qaeda, like Anwar Al-Awlaki. However, using a drone,
a missile, bomb or military raid to intentionally kill that same person
requires no approval from the judicial branch." – Josh Gerstein, in his blog about legal issues.
Talk about understatement.
Meanwhile, despite this (or because of it?) Obama is now at 65% at intrade. The elections market-makers appear to have reached their decision point – only a week ago Obama was under 60% on intrade.
"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries." – A. A. Milne.
I discovered a poem I had tried to write a few years ago. In a box. In Korea. Forgotten. So I wanted to work on it again. But it's not very good.
What I'm listening to right now.
Cibo Matto, "Stone."
… and …
Cibo Matto, "Moonchild."
“Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” – Richard Bach, in Illusions.
Do you like Mexican aggrotech (electro-industrial) music? Is it odd that I do?
What I’m listening to right now.
[UPDATE 2021-12-19: embedded video above repaired due to link rot.]
Hocico, “Ecos.”
Letra:
Alguna vez te has enamorado, de alguien que no te correspondió,
eso no te impidió dejarlo de amar o ser capas de entenderlo o bien perdonarlo…
Solo era una niña desubicada, era solo un alma perdida….
Era como si pudiera tomar todo el mal y toda la ira del mundo y
con solo una palabra elevarlos al cielo y yo, le ayude, y le prometi que siempre estaria ahi, para protegerla. No es lo que pasa por su mente si no lo que pasa por la mia…
no puedo olvidar mi promesa, es todo lo que me queda
…
Dime, ¿qué es lo crees?
En este mundo de intoxicados
Una voz que te enfurece
hace eco en tus oídos alterdosDeseos muriendo. ¿Crees en ti?
Estas huyendo de algo vil
Violentos cambios sufres hoy
Brutal ausencia. ¿Crees en ti hoy?Y simplemente decides encarar
Lo que aborreces y quieres acabar
Y hasta ahora decides despreciar
Lo que te enferma y no puedes curarDime, ¿que es lo que crees?
En este mundo de olvidados
Un grito que huye de ti
Hacia lugares ya abandonadosNada ni nadie podrá llevarse lo que sabes
Nada ni nadie podrá llevarse lo que puedes ver
Unrelatedly, but perhaps similar in overall tone, here’s another very strange quote I found: “I have a question that’s really more of a suicide note.” – some guy named Dave, in a comment on a blog entry about “Bingo in Utopia” – itself very entertaining, as it tries to discover Marx’s view on bingo. But the quote? Pure genius – utterly worth memorializing.
There’s an artist named Ward Shelley, who does this interesting thing where he makes hand-made “timelines” and data visualizations – the kind found in history books, but sometimes on strange or unusual or unexpected topics. I really like his stuff. Here’s a timeline of the history of science fiction:
He calls these things “diagrammatic paintings.” Also, here’s an interesting quote,
The relationship of science fiction to belief is ambiguous but in some
way essential. Science fiction deals with improbable possibilities. It
has that in common with religion and patriotism, except SF is much more
candid about it.
I will share some random quotes accumulating in the quote-queue.
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” – Edgar Allan Poe.
“Write drunk; edit sober.” – Ernest Hemingway.
I know people probably don’t wan’t to hear my thoughts on politics. But I’m feeling discouraged. Reading blogs like Stop Me Before I Vote Again doesn’t help. Here’s a writer named Al Schumann (who sometimes gets on my nerves), capturing some of my thoughts with his extreme sarcasm:
The “nice” brand of advocacy has to take the form of pleas to participate in deranged comparison shopping. This is not just any lemon, ladies and gentlemen, this is a genuine proletarian lemon, certified by veterans of Students for a Democratic Society. It’s far superior to the bourgeois wingnut lemon. It enhances your unique sense of self. The neighbors will feel like fools when you drive off the cliff in style.
Does it matter how you look when you drive off a cliff?!
Is it that bad? Am I just in a bad mood? I like the phrase “deranged comparison shopping.” Now that’s US politics.
Here’s a meme-picture I ran across. Perhaps it resonates because I was one of those guilty of feeling hope – despite my evident lack of youth.
“On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said Ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t the people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in.”
– Douglas Adams, in So Long, And Thanks For All the Fish
"My kids are rich. I have nothing in common with them." – Chris Rock
When I was visiting Whitewater, Wisconsin, two weeks ago, my bestfriend Bob made a suggestion which I have decided to take up: he said that my blog needed a "best of" category – something to for me to flag the more meaningful or better entries to stand out from the rest. I have sometimes used the "Life is a Dream" category in this way in the past, but that category was really meant to be for my dream journaling, such as it occurs.
Some categories definitely have pretty reliably higher-quality content. I would specifically call attention to what I've labeled "Kids & Cutenesses" and, of course, "My Poetry & Fiction." But these, too, may not have very consistently better writing. It's just that it seems to have worked out that way.
So I have created a new category which I have tentatively called "Less Banal Than Usual" to use to flag my "best of" blog entries. Unlike my other categories, I will only apply this category in retrospect – where, upon review and reflection, I think a particular entry is a "keeper" as some people say. I'm not sure it will work out. It will require me actively curating older blog entries, especially at the start. If anyone has any suggestions for things I've written that should be added to the category, let me know.
In other news… I slept 11 hours last night. This is unheard of. I finally let the double jetlag of my whirlwind North American tour catch up to me, and combined with the rainy day-off yesterday, I just let myself crash and sleep. Normally I sleep about 7 hours, regardless of when, exactly, this occurs. I guess I was tired.
Unrelatedly, I ran across the following humorous quote on somebody's facebook: "If I had a dollar for every time I got distracted, I wish I had some ice cream." This is very appropriate for me.
Dateline: Phoenix
…
This day in US pop-culture: while driving around Phoenix this morning, running errands, I heard on the radio the following: "McDonalds sponsoring the Olympics is like the Kardassians sponsoring a job-fair." I started to laugh – it's a pretty subtle and slightly subversive simile for pop radio.
Dateline: Eagan, Minnesota (around 11 am, July 31).
…
"If you leave it to the last minute, it only takes a minute." – I read this in The Economist magazine's letters section (paper Economist, not online). Sometimes, procrastination is the best way to do things. I really have come to be at peace with my procrastinatory personality. So… I'm putting some things off.
"Any politician who will not show multiple year taxes may be hiding something." – George Romney.
So far I haven't felt deluged with political discourse since coming to the U.S. – but I recognize that since Minnesota is in no way a swing state, the battle is taking place elsewhere. I'm not really looking forward to it.
“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” – Warren Buffet, in an interview with Ben Stein in 2006.
When the richest man on the planet admits that there is such thing as class warfare, the class-warfare-denialists lose plausibility.
[Daily log: walking, 3 km]
"All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become." – Gautama Siddharta (563-483 BC).
“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.” – Thich Naht Hanh.
What I’m listening to right now.
윤하 [Younha] (With John Park), “우린 달라졌을까” [We’re different].
[UPDATE 2020-03-21: Link rot repair]
가사.
다 잊었다고 난 생각 했나봐
내 마음조차 날 속였었나봐
마주보던 날들 함께 웃었던 얘기
따뜻했던 그 공기까지도참 선명하게 다 남아있나봐
단 하나도 잊을 수가 없나봐
그만하면 됐다고 이미 바보 같다고
날 다그치며 미워하지만내 가슴속을 낫게 하는 건
내 머릿속을 쉬게 해주는 건
너의 사랑밖엔 없어 덜어내려 해도
내 마음은 또 너에게로 가널 보고 싶단 생각뿐이야
널 잡고 싶은 마음뿐이야
아주 멀리 돌아와도
마지막은 니가 있던 나의 곁이길참 좋았던 니 향기가 생각나
너무 어울렸던 그 이름 불러봐
마지막에 너를 한번 더 잡았다면
지금 우리는 달라졌을까참 쓸데없는 생각을 하는 나
또 기대하고 또 무너지는 나
미련두지 말자고 이제 그만 하자고
날 다그치며 미워하지만나 없이 잘 지내지 말아줘
내가 없이도 행복하지는 마
나처럼 그리워 울고 잠 못 드는 밤에
나를 찾아 올 수 있도록이렇게라도 널 찾고 싶어
이렇게라도 널 볼 수 있다면
나는 어떤 기도라도 할 수 있어
행복이 반으로 줄어도 괜찮아나에게 올 거야 넌 내게 돌아 올 거야
니가 있던 그 자리 나의 가슴 속으로
다른 사랑할 수 없는 나인가 봐
니가 전부인 나에게 다시 돌아와내 가슴속을 낫게 하는 건
내 머릿속을 쉬게 해주는 건
너의 사랑밖엔 없어 덜어내려 해도
내 마음은 또 너에게로 가널 보고 싶단 생각뿐이야
널 잡고 싶은 마음뿐야
아주 멀리 돌아와도 마지막은
니가 있던 나의 곁이길참 좋았던 니 향기가 생각나
너무 어울렸던 그 이름 불러봐
마지막에 너를 한 번 더 잡았다면
지금 우리는 달라졌을까
[Daily log: what? It’s my day off]
I'm not sure that Roberts' siding with the constitutionality of ACA is a good thing. First and foremost, because I'm not sure there's much that's progressive about the ACA – it's always struck me as being so compromised with the insurance industry and the status quo that it wasn't likely to really offer much genuine reform. All Roberts has shown is that he will take the side of corporations – which we already knew from e.g. Citizens United. And as many commentators have already pointed out, he nevertheless managed to reject that the ACA was valid due to the Commerce Clause in the Constitution, calling the mandate fines a tax instead. As a result, he's provided ammunation to the Republicans who can attack Obama as "tax-and-spend" – thus doing Obama no favors while nevertheless avoiding besmirching the court's allegedly non-partisan reputation. He gets the best of both worlds, and plants the seeds for further erosion of the Commerce Clause.
One blog, Stop Me Before I Vote Again, had what I found to be a bitter, cynical, but largely accurate summary of what's going on with this. And one commentor on that blog post, going by the name "Picador," had a thought that I feel is worth quoting:
Roberts has actually done us a favour here: he's pulled back the curtain a bit on the whole "government of enumerated powers" illusion. His decision is perfectly in line with legal precedent: after all, the government essentially already has an individual mandate for every citizen to buy a predator drone or a cluster bomb from a defence contractor (stored and maintained by the CIA and US Army, of course), so why not health insurance too? Once the power to tax is unrestricted, do you really even need the commerce clause anymore?
Indeed. Via our taxes, we've been mandated to support a vast, planetary-scale war-machine for decades. How is mandating that people buy healthcare coverage that different?
On a lighter note, the humor/meme site, Buzzfeed, has a posting of people who have – no kidding – announced via Twitter that they're moving to Canada due to their disgust with the creeping socialism in the U.S. This is hilarious.
I ran across a quote from Dave Packard, one of the co-founders of Hewlitt-Packard fame, and thus one of the original “creators” of Silicon Valley. It seemed very relevant to the Karma-devouring-ex-LBridge scenario currently playing out at my place of work.
Here’s the quote:
“More companies die of indigestion than starvation.”
Karma hagwon is definitely up against a major digestive challenge, in trying to absorb a bigger prey and maintain its identity. But in the current hagwon market, organic growth is almost impossible – so I understand the thinking: it’s growth-through-acquistion.
Well, anyway. I passed the quote on to my boss in a good-natured way. He could have taken it badly, but he didn’t. We had a good conversation about it. That’s why he’s the best boss I’ve had since coming to Korea.
What I’m listening to right now.
Molotov, “Hit Me.” The Mexican sexenio election is approaching. I predict the PRI candidate, Peña Nieto, will win.
La letra:
Molotov – Hit me
Cuando era chico quería ser como superman
pero ahora ya quiero ser un diputado del PAN
o del PRI o del PRD
o cualquier cosa que tenga un poco de poder
quiero convertirme en músico político
y construirle un piso al periferico
quiero acabar con el tráfico
tengo que entrar en la historia de México
y luego miro al pecero que va medio pedo
jugando carreras con los pasajeros
pero el tiene que pasar primero
sin luces sin frenos junto al patrullero
aunque no sepa leer
no sepa hablar
el es el que te brinda la seguridad
asi lo tienes que respetar
porque el representa nuestra autoridad(Coro)
So you think you gonna hit me
but now We gonna hit you backTe metera en el bolsillo una sustancia ilegal
y te va a consignar al poder judicial
y ahí seguro que te ira muy mal
porque te haran cocowash con agua mineral
porque en ti creiamos todos los mexicanos
te dimos trabajo pagado y honrado
te dimos un arma para cuidarnos
y el arma que usas la usas para robarnos
y aunque quieras quejarte con papa gobierno
les pides ayuda y te mandan al infierno
porque tendremos que tirar buen pedo
solo te van a dar atole con el dedo
y en la fila del departamento de quejas
toparas con un mar de secretarias pendejas
el siguiente en la fila y asi te la pelas
pero algunos al final nunca se traspapela(Coro)
México solidario acabo alos tiranos
sin la necesidad de ensuciarnos las manos
no podemos pedir resultado inmediato
de un legado de 75 años
todos unidos pedimos un cambio
piedra sobre piedra y peldaño a peldaño
solo poder expresarnos es palaba de honor
de nuestro jefe de estado
te arrepentiras de todo lo que trabajas
se te ira la mitad de todo lo que tu ganas
manteniendo los puestos de copias piratas
que no pagan impuestos pero son más baratas
veo una fuerte campaña de tele y de radio
promoviendo la union entre los ciudadanos
mensaje de un pueblo libre y soberano
IGUAL QUE TU MOLOTOV TAMBIEN ES MEXICANO!!!!!(Nos quieren pegar pegar)
So you think you gonna hit me
(y nos la van a pagar)
but now we gonna hit you back
[Daily log: walking, 4 km; running, 2 km]
I was in the Gyeongbokgung subway station yesterday and happened to notice this piece of inspirational poetry posted on the “anti-suicide” doors (there are doors in many subway stations now along the platform edges, which prevents people from falling or jumping into the track area before the train comes – so I think of them as anti-suicide doors, though I’m sure they have other justifications as well). I snapped a picture.
The poem is by an American, Douglas Malloch, apparently a Freemason and lumberjack, among other things. The text on the door is in English on the right, translated to Korean on the left.
The tone and message of the poem is so “Korean” I can see why it was selected for inspirational subway poetry. There is a lot of subway poetry, these days, but most of it is Korean, of course – as is only appropriate.
Oddly, there is no wikipedia entry about Malloch – doesn’t anyone who ever wrote a book have a wikipedia entry? But I googled a masonic website with a page dedicated to his work. Here’s the poem from the subway door.
Be the Best of Whatever You Are
If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley — but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass —
But the liveliest bass in the lake!We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here,
There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
Be the best of whatever you are!
It’s preceded by this quote:
“We all dream of great deeds and high positions, away from the pettiness and humdrum of ordinary life. Yet success is not occupying a lofty place or doing conspicuous work; it is being the best that is in you. Rattling around in too big a job is worse than filling a small one to overflowing. Dream, aspire by all means; but do not ruin the life you must lead by dreaming pipe dreams of the one you would like to lead. Make the most of what you have and are. Perhaps your trivial, immediate task is your one sure way of proving your mettle. Do the thing near at hand, and great things will come to your hand to be done.”
“Yes, insofar as I am immortal, I will be immortal. To me, young has no meaning- something you can do nothing about, nothing at all. But youth is a quality and if you have it, you never lose it. And when they put you into the box, that’s your immortality.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
I love FLW.
I felt some tweegret when I ran across this tweet, by someone named Dan K. Here’s what he said:
History of the universe: Hydrogen is a light, odorless gas, which, given enough time, turns into people and ends up thinking about itself.
Now that it’s June, I don’t feel different than I did yesterday. That is a pointless observation. But it’s just hydrogen, right?
What I’m listening to right now.
Woven Hand, “Dirty Blue.” Interesting video, too.
Lyrics.
This fear is only the beginning
All for the loving hand
Yes I smile and I agree
It is a good night to shiver
A good tongue might make it right
All I’ve said above a whisper
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
What they say is true
It is a dirty blue
This color around you
You’re curled up warm
In your own little corner of Sodom
Did you agree to believe
This fall has no bottom
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
All we move by the book of numbers
I’m held together by string
I hear not the voices of others
The bells of Leuven ring
Fear not the faces of brothers
And I, I’ve come apart it seems
I see not the faces are covered
And I, I’m in your amber ring
Your amber ring…
What they say is true
It is a dirty blue
This color around you
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
There is a sorrow to be desired
To be sorrow’s desire
[Daily log: walking, 4 km; running, 3 km]
… Thusly a certain blogger named Chris Sims characterizes that most beloved of the “Saturday Morning Cartoons” from my childhood – Scooby Doo: “the lopsided rhombus of unrequited love orbiting a talking dog.”
He’s writing about the philosophical underpinnings of the original series, vis-a-vis complaints (valid, in his opinion – and mine, too) about the introduction of “real” ghosts and “real” paranormal events in later incarnations of the series. He explains that this later derationalization of the series and of its iconic characters is utterly against what the series originally “meant.”
He says it was originally about teaching kids to think. I very much agree. Looking back on it, I almost wonder if it had some kind of marxian agenda (remember, marxian is not marxist – it’s about the philosophical methodology of the dialectic, not about politics, per se). I recall a graduate seminar in which we were discussing liberation theology, and about the possible ways to leverage pop culture in a project of “conscientization.” This is it, a priori.
Near the conclusion, Sims states:
To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, Scooby Doo has value not because it shows us that there are monsters, but because it shows us that those monsters are just the products of evil people who want to make us too afraid to see through their lies, and goes a step further by giving us a blueprint that shows exactly how to defeat them.
Amen. Or as Scooby might say, rrAmen. I’m so glad people out there are writing at this level about these kinds of things.
[Daily log: walking, 4 km; running, 2 km]
Eddie Izzard is so funny. If you are of a certain age, you remember those reel-to-reel players in the "language lab."
A partial transcript / translation:
Oú est la plume de ma tante?
[Where is my aunt's pen?]
La plume de ma tante est pret de la chaise de ma tante.
[My aunt's pen is beside my aunt's chair.]
Oui, la plume de ma tante est pret de la chaise de ma tante.
[Yes, my aunt's pen is beside my aunt's chair.]
Oú est la plume de mon oncle?
[Where is my uncles's pen?]
La plume de mon oncle est bingie bongie boogie bongie.
[My uncle's pen is bingie bingie boogie bongie.]
Non! Pas du tout! Je ne me connais pas "bingie bongie boogie bongie." Qu'est-ce que vous dites? Vous êtes un putain!
[No! Not at all! I don't know "bingie bongie boogie bongie". What are you saying? You are a whore!]
And to close, a memorable quote from a different part of his routine: "Poetry is very similar to music only less notes and more words." – Eddie Izzard.
Most of my friends and acquaintances know that I have these various “novels-in-progress.” Except that progress feels like a very strong word to apply to them – perhaps more accurately, they should be described as “novels-in-waiting.” I’m too good at procrastination.
A recent video I came across by Antoine Wilson (whose oeuvre I am utterly unfamiliar with) has caused me to question my methods. Here:
If you weren’t sure, I guess it’s a joke. I laughed really hard at this video, for quite a while. Relatedly, scrolling down on his blog/website a little, I find the following, in what appears to be a self-interview:
What is your motto?
Seize the daybed.
What self-respecting procrastinator couldn’t relate to that?
First…
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge.
…(And allegedly mentioned by Hunter S. Thompson as having appeared in a McDonalds, and found in various other places on the internet.) I like the quote – it’s very Korean, though. And for someone like me, who lacks the quality in question – persistence – it’s a bit depressing.
Secondly, and in utter contradiction to the first…
This is more in line with my character. And if the first is Korean-sounding, the latter matches up quite well with Korean behavior. Perhaps this isn’t coincidence?
Unrelatedly, a conversation with a Korean friend:
“You don’t like to sing?” he said.
“You don’t like to dance?” he continued.
“You don’t like to drink? What do you like, then?”
“If I liked to drink,” I answered, carefully, “the other things would follow.”
“Yes. That is the key.”
[Daily log: walking, 4 km; running, 2 km]
"When in doubt, do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." – Mark Twain (frequently quoted by Harry Truman).
After work this morning I went grocery shopping. I bought some celery, carrots and purple cabbage and ended up making a really delicious coleslaw for myself – I still have no idea why it is I sometimes get cravings for coleslaw. I tend to "invent" my own coleslaw recipe each time I get these cravings – I never follow a recipe of any kind. Starting with the cabbage, carrot and celery, I added some chopped apple, some "craisins" (dried cranberries), some chopped almonds I had lying around. I used yoghurt as the liquid element and some spices (nutmeg, mint-leaf, pepper), and it turned out very deliciously.
I still have no signed renewal contract. We're waiting on some paperwork, but we're going to end up cutting a fine line as far as my current visa's expiration date (2 more weeks left on it) – that always makes me nervous. But Korea is the land-of-the-last-minute-bureaucracy. Hopefully, all will work out fine. I've felt like my teaching is going well, lately, I've had some great classes with the middle-schoolers – it's odd how when I started at Karma, I felt like I was sacrificing a great deal by teaching the middle-schoolers as well as the elementary-age students, but over this last year I've grown to really enjoy the older kids as well – they're advanced enough (well, some of them) where conversations are actually possible, but young enough to still be at least mildly curious about the world around them.
[Daily log: walking, 4 km]
개똥도 약에 쓰려면 없다
dog-shit-TOO medicine-AS use-intend-when there-isn’t
Even when you want to use dogshit as medicine, there isn’t any.
This is basically a proverb that means that no matter how minor your need might be, or how much you are willing to yield in the quality of what’s needed, in the moment of need, the needed thing is missing. It’s kind of like a version of Murphy’s Law: “If it can go wrong, it will.”
“The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is hard to verify their authenticity.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Haha. Huh.
What I’m listening to right now.
Seeed, “Wonderful Life.” I came for the video. Stayed for the song.
[Daily log: walking, 3 km]
Wow, sagas!
Solo’s deed, civic deed.
Eye dewed, a doom-mood.
A pop …
Sis sees redder rotator.
Radar eye sees racecar X.
Dad did rotor gig.
Level sees reviver!
Solo’s deified!
Solo’s reviver sees level …
Gig rotor did dad!
X, racecar, sees eye.
Radar rotator, redder, sees sis …
Pop a doom-mood!
A dewed eye.
Deed, civic deed.
Solo’s sagas: wow.
"The text is a palindrome by Nick Montfort that briefly retells 'Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope,' making Han Solo central. The palindrome is a revised version of the one Montfort wrote in 75 minutes for the First World Palindrome Championship, held in Brooklyn on March 16, 2012." – Posted at a site called Machine Libertine.
I love palindromes.
What I'm listening to right now.
Japanese Pop Stars, "Let go." The video is pretty cool. I had some tricolor penne with pesto and broccoli for dinner. I'm feeling tired – this new (old) exercise habit I'm trying to re-start is kind of … tiring.
[Daily log: walking, 4 km; running, 4 km]
At The Atlantic webiste, I saw a post by Derek Thompson, that is a very, very interesting discussion of fiscal transfers vis-a-vis the EU, the Greek crisis, recalcitrant Germany, etc. It sums it all up very simply and clearly. The key idea, at the end:
When you hear commentators say, "the euro zone must begin to transition toward a fiscal union," what they are saying, in human-speak, is that the Europe needs to be more like the United States, with balanced budget laws for its individual members and seamless fiscal transfers from the rich countries to the poor, to protect the indigent, old, and sick, no matter where they reside.
The Germans call this sort of thing "a permanent bailout." We just call it "Missouri."
거지도 부지런하면 더운 밥 얻어 먹는다
beggar-TOO diligence-DOES-IF warm-ADJ rice gets eats
If a beggar is diligent he can get and eat warm rice too.
Even googletranslate believes this has something to do with early birds and worms, so that must be the equivalent proverb. I never liked that proverb – mostly because I don’t feel like eating worms. But I understand the idea. I like the Korean version better – it’s very bootstrappy.
[Daily log: day-of-rest]
"I don't feel that it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning." – Michel Foucault.
What I'm listening to right now.
João Gilberto, "Chega de Saudade." Lyrics:
Vai, minha tristeza
E diz a ela que sem ela não pode ser
Diz lhe numa prece que ela regresse
Porque eu não posso mais sofrer
Chega de saudade, a realidade
É que sem ela não há paz, não há beleza
É só tristeza, e a melancolia
Que não sai de mim, não sai de mim, não sai
Mas se ela voltar, se ela voltar
Que coisa linda, que coisa louca
Pois há menos peixinhos a nadar no mar
Do que os beijinhos que eu darei na sua boca
Dentro dos meus braços os abraços
Hão de ser milhões de abraços apertado assim
Colado assim, calado assim
Abraços e beijinhos e carinhos sem ter fim
Que é pra acabar com esse negócio
De viver longe de mim
Não quero mais esse negócio
De você viver assim
Vamos deixar desse negócio
De você viver sem mim
[Daily Log: walking, 4 km]
Kamyk
– Zbigniew Herbertkamyk jest stworzeniem
doskonałymrówny samemu sobie
pilnujący swych granicwypełniony dokładnie
kamiennym sensemo zapachu który niczego nie przypomina
niczego nie płoszy nie budzi pożądaniajego zapał i chłód
są słuszne i pełne godnościczuję ciężki wyrzut
kiedy go trzymam w dłoni
i ciało jego szlachetne
przenika fałszywe ciepło—Kamyki nie dają się oswoić
do końca będą na nas patrzeć
okiem spokojnym bardzo jasnym
The poem is in Polish. Several translations are circulating – following, here’s one from from a website called Pacze Moj (it’s quite unclear to me if Pacze Moj is also a person, or if it’s a pseudonym, or if it’s just a blog title – my Polish is quite bad to the point of nonexistent).
Pebble
by Zbigniew HerbertThe pebble is a creature,
ideal,a self equal to itself,
guarding its own borders,filled precisely,
with stone pebblessence,with a smell reminiscent of nothing,
It frightens nothing, arouses no desires,its fervour and its cold,
are righteous and dignified,I feel a heavy remorse,
when I hold it in my hand,
and its noble body
is permeated by false warmth,—Pebbles will not be tamed,
till the end they will gaze upon us,
through quiet eye so clear.
I like Polish. Maybe someday…
