Thanksgiving Break has officially begun. And it couldn't have started at a better time.
I've been sick most of this week (if not the whole month). Since my last blog post, I've gotten sick three times. It's been terrible. I have such a weak immune system, always have. And everything I've had to do as regards to school, activities, religious life, home life, etc. has been taking a toll on my health.
So today I sit before you (well, not really, my words do) and I will say a few words about things on my mind.
First: It's November 22nd, 2013. Fifty years ago, on that afternoon in Dallas...but of course you know the story. It's been referenced everywhere: the media, movies such as Parkland and JFK, countless documentaries, and history and English classes. Obviously I wasn't alive on November 22nd, 1963, so I can't really give an opinion on how extremely devastating it might have been (being, that is, the psychological implications of JFK's assassination) but I knowe ynogh that it was extremely tragic and shattered the idyll of America forever.
As you likely know, I'm obsessed with the period in American history around 1940 to 1965. It was a golden age in American history- the Second World War had just ended, Wall Street and the economy were back in business, everyone was happy and relieved, rock and roll reached its height, and fedoras. I love most everything from that era - the clothing, the music, the slang...
Of course there were some not-so-great things, such as the USSR and the Cold War. The devastation in Europe, Japan and elsewhere after the War was horrifying. As stated above, America's innocence and idyll was shattered. Camelot will never come again. There was still racism, sexism, and chauvinism (those last two are superfluous) in America at that time.
But not every age is perfect. Today's society is better than most ages in history, but it's not perfect either. We are besieged by an barrage of horror stories: crises in the Mid East, genocide in the Sudan, the unrelenting recession that's been going on for the better part of a decade, the terrible music (I'm so facetious here)...
But the 40's through the early 60's (after which hippies, drug culture, and platform shoes came on the scene, ruining everything) were a very awesome time. It started by dancing to the tune of jazz numbers by some of the greats (Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller, to name a few) and ended with The Twist, Elvis Presley, and Buddy Holly. (I owe quite a bit to Buddy Holly - my glasses, hair, etc are a homage to him.)
And then movies! Movies weren't silent any more, hadn't been for a decade or so. But now some really amazing movies came out, the "Golden Age of Hollywood". Casablanca, Rebecca, Cyrano de Bergerac, pretty much any Marilyn Monroe movie (I kid, I kid...or am I?)...and of course, a true classic: Audrey Hepburn's Breakfast at Tiffany's.
I'm a fan of Truman Capote: In Cold Blood is one of my favorite novels and the movie that came out some years ago was very good. But Breakfast at Tiffany's is just amazing. It is one of the most unequivocal ironies of my life that I have not once read the original novella that Truman Capote wrote. But he did write the screenplay of the movie, and that was amazing. I can just picture myself being "Fred". :) it is a must see movie.
“I’ll never get used to anything. Anybody that does, they might as well be dead.”
-Rob
Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts. Show all posts
22 November 2013
16 September 2013
On Knowledge
"The whole universe interests me." ~George Brecht
Today's topic is knowledge, whether it's gained for the sake of gaining, or worth pursuing.
I use the phrase "an infinite mind" a lot. Not simply related to the title of this blog, but in conversation I might use it. I use it to describe myself, to describe people who lived their lives out in pursuit of knowledge. da Vinci had an infinite mind. Albert Einstein had an infinite mind. John Dalton had an infinite mind. There are many others. I revere these people simply because they went and discovered more. All discovery is not good - Robert Oppenheimer comes to mind. But yet it made the world a more curious, smarter place.
In case you haven't read the nineteen columns I've posted since January on topics, I enjoy knowledge. Sure, I go and trivialize it and call it "trivia". It might be. It isn't exactly relevant to your life the way, say, how iOS works for your iPad or whatever. But I enjoy studying about this stuff.
Knowledge is important because I've always wanted to learn, stretch out my arms farther and reach the next level in education, in self-advancement. At age 3 I knew to read. By 4 I knew all the US Presidents, their VPs and terms. By 5 I knew the countries of the world. Don't call me a prodigy. What I was was merely curious.
People need to go out and discover things. Not simply because it'll be relevant to your life. Many people say that everything is relevant to life. The Amber Room, the VOC, Gorm the Old, Captain Cook aren't always relevant to life. But yet you'll be a bit smarter. You'll be aware of the amazing diversity and aptitude the world has in terms of knowledge. "Ipsa scientia potestas est"- knowledge itself is power. ~Francis Bacon
My ideal life is as such: study all the available branches of knowledge in university, in particular world literature, psychology, art fundamentals, philosophy and calculus. Learn 5 additional languages. Travel to every single country in the world. Partake in a ritual for each religion. Learn to play 2 musical instruments. Read classical literature. There is much, much more.
Of course, I will never accomplish all of the above. It is very possible. But it is also very nearly impossible.
What, then, is there to do? Learn. There is the Internet. There are books and print media. There are many resources out there. We simply don't know how to use them. Modern society likes lolcats and duck faces more than self-improvement. "Thank God for books and music and things I can think about!" ~Charlie Gordon
I am horrible at math. Equations make sense to me, yet when I sit down to work on my pre-calc homework, my mind is more often than not a blank. (OK, not that often, but there are many times.) Yet I opted to take Precalculus/Calculus 1 this year instead of Trig/Precalculus. Why? Why would I go to a harder math class when I struggle? For the challenge. Calculus fascinates me. Calculus makes our cars run, our aeroplanes fly, our bank accounts work, our computers process. I wish to learn how exactly calculus ties all the branches of mathematics together. It will be a struggle, mostly uphill. Yet I wish to learn.
As TE White says in his book The Sword in the Stone,
Today's topic is knowledge, whether it's gained for the sake of gaining, or worth pursuing.
I use the phrase "an infinite mind" a lot. Not simply related to the title of this blog, but in conversation I might use it. I use it to describe myself, to describe people who lived their lives out in pursuit of knowledge. da Vinci had an infinite mind. Albert Einstein had an infinite mind. John Dalton had an infinite mind. There are many others. I revere these people simply because they went and discovered more. All discovery is not good - Robert Oppenheimer comes to mind. But yet it made the world a more curious, smarter place.
In case you haven't read the nineteen columns I've posted since January on topics, I enjoy knowledge. Sure, I go and trivialize it and call it "trivia". It might be. It isn't exactly relevant to your life the way, say, how iOS works for your iPad or whatever. But I enjoy studying about this stuff.
Knowledge is important because I've always wanted to learn, stretch out my arms farther and reach the next level in education, in self-advancement. At age 3 I knew to read. By 4 I knew all the US Presidents, their VPs and terms. By 5 I knew the countries of the world. Don't call me a prodigy. What I was was merely curious.
People need to go out and discover things. Not simply because it'll be relevant to your life. Many people say that everything is relevant to life. The Amber Room, the VOC, Gorm the Old, Captain Cook aren't always relevant to life. But yet you'll be a bit smarter. You'll be aware of the amazing diversity and aptitude the world has in terms of knowledge. "Ipsa scientia potestas est"- knowledge itself is power. ~Francis Bacon
My ideal life is as such: study all the available branches of knowledge in university, in particular world literature, psychology, art fundamentals, philosophy and calculus. Learn 5 additional languages. Travel to every single country in the world. Partake in a ritual for each religion. Learn to play 2 musical instruments. Read classical literature. There is much, much more.
Of course, I will never accomplish all of the above. It is very possible. But it is also very nearly impossible.
What, then, is there to do? Learn. There is the Internet. There are books and print media. There are many resources out there. We simply don't know how to use them. Modern society likes lolcats and duck faces more than self-improvement. "Thank God for books and music and things I can think about!" ~Charlie Gordon
I am horrible at math. Equations make sense to me, yet when I sit down to work on my pre-calc homework, my mind is more often than not a blank. (OK, not that often, but there are many times.) Yet I opted to take Precalculus/Calculus 1 this year instead of Trig/Precalculus. Why? Why would I go to a harder math class when I struggle? For the challenge. Calculus fascinates me. Calculus makes our cars run, our aeroplanes fly, our bank accounts work, our computers process. I wish to learn how exactly calculus ties all the branches of mathematics together. It will be a struggle, mostly uphill. Yet I wish to learn.
As TE White says in his book The Sword in the Stone,
“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
I think we should all live by those words, don't you think? There is so much out there. "There are so many doors to open. I am impatient to begin."
-Rob
27 July 2013
The North: An Epistolary
[Copied from Robert Miranda's Journal, Sunday]
The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System requires that one mile in every five must be straight, to be usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
I was thinking about this over and over again while looking out at the pristine Californian coast on the way to Santa Barbara this morning, wondering if there would be any truth to it. I'd known about this little gem for a while already, but, like most everything else that's found on the Internet, there's no way of proving if it was truth. Didn't seem to be true, though. We have a tendency to have very weird freeways. But that's part of the state's charm. [Edit on Tuesday 23rd: Just drove through the PCH. Yeah, it's not true.]
As someone who rarely leaves the Southern California enclave made up of my hometown and the bordering cities I've grown up in and patronized the last 15 years, not 10 minutes from LA's downtown, the fact of seeing towns with less than 10,000 people was disturbing. I have been to Hawai'i twice: it was overpopulated but they were islands. To see towns devoid of people, to see paths empty of cars and any pollution that is a hallmark of Los Angeles - was interesting, and a little disturbing, as I've mentioned. Once one passes Santa Barbara, there is nothing but empty fields, the beginning of wine country.
Welcome to Central California. Population? Looks to be zero.
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Phonograph Diary, Monday]
Solvang was extremely interesting. Unfortunately it's really hot and that's a bit annoying. I liked the town, we've been here for, like, about fifteen hours.
There is no nightlife. At all. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's kind of depressing to walk through the streets at dusk and yet there's no one in the streets besides the entourage. There was light still, it's summer, of course, but to see everything closed? Thank goodness we found a restaurant.
It's really quaint. Really. I wouldn't live here, though. I do wish we had gone to a bakery, there's one across the street! But it doesn't look like we're going...Well most everyone's had enough. To the north!
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Journal, Monday]
The drive up toCambria San Simeon was really cool. Enjoyed the view. We didn't get as much sea in the view as we did yesterday. But apparently going up to Monterey we'll get a better view.
There's golf here. We're in a lodge kind of place. Nothing much going on the rest of the day. Everyone's relaxing...I'm going to sit in the patio on the back of our room and read Monte Cristo. There's six chapters left.
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Journal, Tuesday]
It's really hard to write in the Hummer, but since I can't talk into my recording device to make a voice journal I'm using this. Hearst Castle was awesome. Alex Trebek was the tour guide! Well he was the voice on the tour bus. AWESOME. But the house was awesome. Very Gothic. I need to look into studying architecture when I get home. Going up to Monterey, should be there in 3 hours.
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Phonograph Diary, Wednesday]
It's me again. Where to begin? I was on Cannery Row just now. I can't find my journal anywhere. If I lost it, oh well. I'm going to record my terrible voice for the entire remainder of the journey. It's easier that way. [Edit on Friday: Found in my suitcase.]
Monterey highway...oh, I'm not even going to describe it. It was fun but terrifying at the same time. I don't scare easily but some of those drops...it took an hour to drive eight miles. And I thought that only happened in LA. Then again they were curves.
We drove past Carmel. Bohemian town! Ah, La Boheme...but we're in Pacific Grove so that's slightly depressing. But Monterey's not ten minutes away so we went to the Bay Aquarium (the Aquarium of the Pacific is better, in my opinion.) We went out to Cannery Row where I bought the Steinbeck book, Cannery Row. I bought Cannery Row at Cannery Row! That's awesome! We saw a Steinbeck wax museum which was interesting. And then there was more but I won't go into that.
[Excerpt from a hotel notepad. Thursday]
So far this journey has been great. I wanted to go to Frisco, though, today when we went to San Jose but could not because we have to head home because Sunday my uncle works. Went to the Winchester Mansion and had a weird tour guide. He reminded me of someone...
We toured Seaside and the rest of Monterey, namely the wharf and the marina. We saw seals. To be honest I'm not a fan of nature, one of the reasons I didn't like the beach at San Simeon. Everyone else did. I like the stuff no one else likes. No one liked the Winchester Mansion but me. That shows I'm clearly an eccentric. The Hearst Castle was another perfect example. The Roman pool. But I won't get into that.
[Transcribed from both sides of a business card. Friday]
Going home. Travelled total: 900 miles. Wish it was longer. Can't have everything. -RM
Licence Plates seen: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Ohio, Illinois, Wyoming, and Quebec. No Hawaii.
-Rob
The Eisenhower Interstate Highway System requires that one mile in every five must be straight, to be usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.
I was thinking about this over and over again while looking out at the pristine Californian coast on the way to Santa Barbara this morning, wondering if there would be any truth to it. I'd known about this little gem for a while already, but, like most everything else that's found on the Internet, there's no way of proving if it was truth. Didn't seem to be true, though. We have a tendency to have very weird freeways. But that's part of the state's charm. [Edit on Tuesday 23rd: Just drove through the PCH. Yeah, it's not true.]
As someone who rarely leaves the Southern California enclave made up of my hometown and the bordering cities I've grown up in and patronized the last 15 years, not 10 minutes from LA's downtown, the fact of seeing towns with less than 10,000 people was disturbing. I have been to Hawai'i twice: it was overpopulated but they were islands. To see towns devoid of people, to see paths empty of cars and any pollution that is a hallmark of Los Angeles - was interesting, and a little disturbing, as I've mentioned. Once one passes Santa Barbara, there is nothing but empty fields, the beginning of wine country.
Welcome to Central California. Population? Looks to be zero.
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Phonograph Diary, Monday]
Solvang was extremely interesting. Unfortunately it's really hot and that's a bit annoying. I liked the town, we've been here for, like, about fifteen hours.
There is no nightlife. At all. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's kind of depressing to walk through the streets at dusk and yet there's no one in the streets besides the entourage. There was light still, it's summer, of course, but to see everything closed? Thank goodness we found a restaurant.
It's really quaint. Really. I wouldn't live here, though. I do wish we had gone to a bakery, there's one across the street! But it doesn't look like we're going...Well most everyone's had enough. To the north!
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Journal, Monday]
The drive up to
There's golf here. We're in a lodge kind of place. Nothing much going on the rest of the day. Everyone's relaxing...I'm going to sit in the patio on the back of our room and read Monte Cristo. There's six chapters left.
It's really hard to write in the Hummer, but since I can't talk into my recording device to make a voice journal I'm using this. Hearst Castle was awesome. Alex Trebek was the tour guide! Well he was the voice on the tour bus. AWESOME. But the house was awesome. Very Gothic. I need to look into studying architecture when I get home. Going up to Monterey, should be there in 3 hours.
[Excerpt from Robert Miranda's Phonograph Diary, Wednesday]
It's me again. Where to begin? I was on Cannery Row just now. I can't find my journal anywhere. If I lost it, oh well. I'm going to record my terrible voice for the entire remainder of the journey. It's easier that way. [Edit on Friday: Found in my suitcase.]
Monterey highway...oh, I'm not even going to describe it. It was fun but terrifying at the same time. I don't scare easily but some of those drops...it took an hour to drive eight miles. And I thought that only happened in LA. Then again they were curves.
We drove past Carmel. Bohemian town! Ah, La Boheme...but we're in Pacific Grove so that's slightly depressing. But Monterey's not ten minutes away so we went to the Bay Aquarium (the Aquarium of the Pacific is better, in my opinion.) We went out to Cannery Row where I bought the Steinbeck book, Cannery Row. I bought Cannery Row at Cannery Row! That's awesome! We saw a Steinbeck wax museum which was interesting. And then there was more but I won't go into that.
[Excerpt from a hotel notepad. Thursday]
So far this journey has been great. I wanted to go to Frisco, though, today when we went to San Jose but could not because we have to head home because Sunday my uncle works. Went to the Winchester Mansion and had a weird tour guide. He reminded me of someone...
We toured Seaside and the rest of Monterey, namely the wharf and the marina. We saw seals. To be honest I'm not a fan of nature, one of the reasons I didn't like the beach at San Simeon. Everyone else did. I like the stuff no one else likes. No one liked the Winchester Mansion but me. That shows I'm clearly an eccentric. The Hearst Castle was another perfect example. The Roman pool. But I won't get into that.
[Transcribed from both sides of a business card. Friday]
Going home. Travelled total: 900 miles. Wish it was longer. Can't have everything. -RM
Licence Plates seen: California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Ohio, Illinois, Wyoming, and Quebec. No Hawaii.
-Rob
13 July 2013
The Golden Age Belief
I have something to confess, loyal friends and blog-readers. I suffer from a terrible psychological disease. It has haunted me since I discovered the delights and horrors of history, and seldom goes away. In fact, there are some Romantic benefits to this disease, and yet some Realist punishments for having it. (See here for a refresher on those two.) So, what do I have?
Golden Age Belief. (Syndrome)
"Rob, what is that?"
It is the belief that a different era in time is better than your own. In addition, you believe the era was perfect, with no wrongs, fallacies, or corruption. Every kid imagines this in some way - the Medieval Age was better because they could be knights and kings, or the Ancient Romans/Greeks were awesome warriors.
Unfortunately I've taken this a bit too much to heart. That's an understatement.
For the longest time (at least 2 years) I was obsessed with the Victorian age. At the time of creating this blog I was obsessed with Victorians.
I thought they were the best age of all. Their conservatism and pride was something that could never be matched again. The fact that they ruled an empire that the sun never set on was just amazing, and enthralling to my mind. The last 3 Halloween costumes I've had were all related to Victorian England/British Empire in some way. (Mad Hatter, Maharajah, Victorian Doctor). I researched everything related to the Victorians, ignoring the fallacies and glorifying the good things. I wanted to be Oscar Wilde or Rudyard Kipling, high-society British gentleman who had traveled the world extensively and would write enthralling adventures. This, of course, is never good. To my mind it was.
But not all things can last. My Anglomanie (obsession with all things British) changed in December, though, with the Moleskine. I didn't realise it till too late. (Not for good, though - I still love a good cup of tea and trying my admittedly horrible British accent!)
I was officially obsessed with the Bohemians of Paris in the 1900s. I've discussed that somewhat in my third Triviality, and a bit after that. Living in an age when a bunch of poverty-stricken writers did their best work, now worth millions? Imagine living among these brilliant creators and being inspired by the merest shadow of Imagination, as they were? Since at this point I was seriously considering becoming a writer (I still am) the idea was epic and enthralling. I didn't care about the obvious fallacies (many of them died before 50 by tuberculosis, more often than not) or that many of them were never respected, or that they often OD'd on alcohol and illicit drugs and also died that way, I was captivated by the dramatic lifestyle. Moulin Rouge didn't help (Bohemian wannabes, do NOT watch the movie, lest you be sucked into a portal of never wanting to leave the phase! :D)
But that, too, changed, with the arrival with The Great Gatsby soundtrack in April.
I was listening to the soundtrack, which I downloaded, and while most of the songs are admittedly not even close to sounding like something a big band in the 1920s would sound like, I was obsessed. Who cared about depressing writers dying in a Paris gutter when there were writers in Europe, living the dramatic lifestyle? Admittedly, I had read The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises but I had overlooked those benefits (because I was still goggling at British photographs at the same time.) Immediately, I looked up everything from that day and age.
I wanted to be in the moment. I wanted to go to the giant Gatsby parties with Jordan Baker and sit in a Hammett speakeasy, waiting for Nick and Nora Charles. Upon leaving the place, I'd end in Hemingway Paris and go dancing with Georgette and Lady Ashley Brett. I'd even go to the Faulknerian Deep South with the Compsons and somehow talk with Benjy, and Quentin, and even the scandalous Caddy. Of course, the feeling didn't last, when the Great Gatsby finished I ended up watching silent films. Some were very good (recommend Phantom of the Opera and Safety Last.) But the age had stopped captivating me. The Gatsby parties had stopped, I had seen the 20's for what they really were, corruption and loss of dreams. I didn't want to live then.
This week I have entered the newest phase of this. (Hopefully I'll continue moving forward till I reach my own age, right?) So, where I am "living in"?
The 1950s, of course! Rock'n'roll, quintessential, quiet American suburbs with a typical nuclear family, and science-fiction! (Not to mention the cool old-fashioned adverts.)
But now, I'd like to talk about why I don't like my own day and age.
"Why don't you like 2013?"
I find it very dull. Of course that's because I live in my own bubble. But it's quite true. There's nothing, absolutely nothing, to define our time. Unless it's stuff like Twerking, and Facebook, and boring stuff like that. (Then again, we are some of the first people to not suffer from polio, or TB, or smallpox, or no air-conditioning as the 4 previous eras did.) If the 2100s era people remember us for Dubstep then this was a failed age.
But wait a minute. Weren't the 1920s like that? Isn't the only thing most people care about are the parties, booze, and the Charleston? Hmmm... Maybe this age will be the golden age for someone living in 2085, or 2113. They won't realise the boring parts of it all. Could it be this is all ironic and full-circle?
Make of that what you will. Do you think that this is a "serious problem"? Any advice for helping me live in 2013?
-Rob
Golden Age Belief. (Syndrome)
"Rob, what is that?"
It is the belief that a different era in time is better than your own. In addition, you believe the era was perfect, with no wrongs, fallacies, or corruption. Every kid imagines this in some way - the Medieval Age was better because they could be knights and kings, or the Ancient Romans/Greeks were awesome warriors.
Unfortunately I've taken this a bit too much to heart. That's an understatement.
For the longest time (at least 2 years) I was obsessed with the Victorian age. At the time of creating this blog I was obsessed with Victorians.
 |
| A street in the centre of the empire where the sun never set. |
But not all things can last. My Anglomanie (obsession with all things British) changed in December, though, with the Moleskine. I didn't realise it till too late. (Not for good, though - I still love a good cup of tea and trying my admittedly horrible British accent!)
.jpg/220px-Pierre-Auguste_Renoir_-_En_%C3%A9t%C3%A9_(La_Boh%C3%A9mienne).jpg) |
| Renoir painted this, originally a Bohemian meant a person from Bohemia (Czech Rep.) |
But that, too, changed, with the arrival with The Great Gatsby soundtrack in April.
I was listening to the soundtrack, which I downloaded, and while most of the songs are admittedly not even close to sounding like something a big band in the 1920s would sound like, I was obsessed. Who cared about depressing writers dying in a Paris gutter when there were writers in Europe, living the dramatic lifestyle? Admittedly, I had read The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises but I had overlooked those benefits (because I was still goggling at British photographs at the same time.) Immediately, I looked up everything from that day and age.
 |
| Times Square has changed quite a bit from 1929, hasn't it? |
This week I have entered the newest phase of this. (Hopefully I'll continue moving forward till I reach my own age, right?) So, where I am "living in"?
The 1950s, of course! Rock'n'roll, quintessential, quiet American suburbs with a typical nuclear family, and science-fiction! (Not to mention the cool old-fashioned adverts.)
"Why don't you like 2013?"
I find it very dull. Of course that's because I live in my own bubble. But it's quite true. There's nothing, absolutely nothing, to define our time. Unless it's stuff like Twerking, and Facebook, and boring stuff like that. (Then again, we are some of the first people to not suffer from polio, or TB, or smallpox, or no air-conditioning as the 4 previous eras did.) If the 2100s era people remember us for Dubstep then this was a failed age.
But wait a minute. Weren't the 1920s like that? Isn't the only thing most people care about are the parties, booze, and the Charleston? Hmmm... Maybe this age will be the golden age for someone living in 2085, or 2113. They won't realise the boring parts of it all. Could it be this is all ironic and full-circle?
Make of that what you will. Do you think that this is a "serious problem"? Any advice for helping me live in 2013?
-Rob
06 July 2013
On Photographs and People
I like photographs. I'm not much of a photographer (or a filmmaker, either, I tried once. go see Screenriffs if you want an epic blog about filming) but I like just seeing them. I'm not like my grandmother who has to take at least 5 pictures every time we see her, but it's great to at least keep some pictures of what you're doing. Examples include the Renaissance Faire, and that's it. *sighs* I live a very boring life...
Last night I was looking at several pictures from 2009. That's four years ago. I was a child four years ago. I still am, if you want to get technical, but I'm 15, so that's beside the point. I was way younger, and fatter, and a lot more weird-looking. (Actually I'm more weird looking now.)
But besides from time elapsing, there's one thing about pictures that really makes me wonder. Random people.
There is a picture of me and my parents and godparents shortly after my baptism. I was one, I believe. The picture would have been normal, everyone was smiling, it was in the church which made it official looking - except for the fact that completely randomly, not three feet away from my mom, the leftmost of the people in the picture, there's a little girl, probably around four or five, turning to walk.
It wasn't like the girl wanted to be in the picture and was posing. She likely was trying to get out of the way but the picture caught her in its timeless embrace of color and endless solidarity. In any case, it makes for a rather bizarre picture, namely because whoever took the pictures on June 26th, 1999 didn't feel like taking one without the girl. Or they just didn't notice till it was too late. We'll never know. And my parents can't identify her, she was probably part of some other family.
So I hope you see what I'm trying to get at here. Random people in photographs make me wonder, and get me very interested in them. Not like in a creepy way, but just who they are, and how they happened to drop into my life and photographs, for the briefest of moments, and then leave, never to be seen again.
The most common place for random outsiders to show up in photos are in theme parks. County fair, Disneyland, Six Flags. All are good examples, but usually a lot of people show up, dispelling the mystery. It's more mysterious if it's just one person, preferably walking close by, with their face distinguishable from shadow. You're probably like, "who is this nutjob trying to look at random people?" I promise I'm not, it's just mystery. I like mystery.
I'd show examples right now but I can't find any. Go figure. Coincidence? I think not.
-Rob
Last night I was looking at several pictures from 2009. That's four years ago. I was a child four years ago. I still am, if you want to get technical, but I'm 15, so that's beside the point. I was way younger, and fatter, and a lot more weird-looking. (Actually I'm more weird looking now.)
But besides from time elapsing, there's one thing about pictures that really makes me wonder. Random people.
There is a picture of me and my parents and godparents shortly after my baptism. I was one, I believe. The picture would have been normal, everyone was smiling, it was in the church which made it official looking - except for the fact that completely randomly, not three feet away from my mom, the leftmost of the people in the picture, there's a little girl, probably around four or five, turning to walk.
It wasn't like the girl wanted to be in the picture and was posing. She likely was trying to get out of the way but the picture caught her in its timeless embrace of color and endless solidarity. In any case, it makes for a rather bizarre picture, namely because whoever took the pictures on June 26th, 1999 didn't feel like taking one without the girl. Or they just didn't notice till it was too late. We'll never know. And my parents can't identify her, she was probably part of some other family.
So I hope you see what I'm trying to get at here. Random people in photographs make me wonder, and get me very interested in them. Not like in a creepy way, but just who they are, and how they happened to drop into my life and photographs, for the briefest of moments, and then leave, never to be seen again.
The most common place for random outsiders to show up in photos are in theme parks. County fair, Disneyland, Six Flags. All are good examples, but usually a lot of people show up, dispelling the mystery. It's more mysterious if it's just one person, preferably walking close by, with their face distinguishable from shadow. You're probably like, "who is this nutjob trying to look at random people?" I promise I'm not, it's just mystery. I like mystery.
I'd show examples right now but I can't find any. Go figure. Coincidence? I think not.
-Rob
05 July 2013
Country Facts - A New Column!
So up to now I've only had my weekly Trivia column where I talk about obscure stuff you didn't want to know anyways. Link here.
But inspired by yesterday (happy Independence day, 'Merica!) I will have a new column, every Thursday (or Friday - not sure) where I will take 10 or so countries, out of the 197 that there are, and give random facts for each of them!
Of course there are lots of different ways to classify a country, and there are lots of countries out there that other countries don't recognize and vice versa. So what does a nation have to do to be a considered a country by me? Not much. I just follow the Sporcle method.
In case you don't wanna read that, it's simple. The 195 nations of the United Nations, plus Vatican City, because it's a nation and everyone respects it as such, and Palestine. Because Palestine has the exact same status that Vatican has, namely non-member overseer. So it's kind of like a junior state that watches the grown-up states? No, that sounds too awkward - oh well.
So, 197 facts, for each of the 197 nations. (But you did Switzerland already, Rob!) Oh, yeah, then, um, I'll skip Switzerland. They're neutral, so they won't fight. But then I'll feel guilty. They begin with an 'S'...when I get to them in alphabetical order I'll deal with them.
For my foreign visitors - if you want to submit facts for your country, please do! (But I want really obscure stuff that I don't know. Not like, "______ is the largest country in the Southern Hemisphere". Give me stuff about culture, languages, some weird odd law in your constitution, misconceptions, OBSCURE STUFF(a big one here at InfiniteMind) and more. Post them in comments to here or any country column I make.
I was gonna do it in alphabetical order but that's boring. I have a box where I'll put all 197 nations inside (I wish I could say this literally but I don't think they'd all fit inside). Their names. I will select 9 or 10 or 11 countries every week for the column and give you a random fact or two (likely just one, it's rather difficult to find wholly obscure trivia, which is what I'm aiming for). Thus this column should last about 15-18 weeks, likely more due to school starting in less than 15-18 weeks. I'll try to get the last column in by InfiniteMind's birthday on November 22nd.
If you know something really obscure about a country, and you want to help out and give me material, go right ahead! I love to learn as much stuff as I can about anything and that would be awesome.
(In addition I can't really decide on a date for when to regularly do this column. Thursday or Friday? You are the readers - you decide.) Sound off in the comments, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.
-Rob
But inspired by yesterday (happy Independence day, 'Merica!) I will have a new column, every Thursday (or Friday - not sure) where I will take 10 or so countries, out of the 197 that there are, and give random facts for each of them!
 |
| Extra, extra, read all about it! |
In case you don't wanna read that, it's simple. The 195 nations of the United Nations, plus Vatican City, because it's a nation and everyone respects it as such, and Palestine. Because Palestine has the exact same status that Vatican has, namely non-member overseer. So it's kind of like a junior state that watches the grown-up states? No, that sounds too awkward - oh well.
So, 197 facts, for each of the 197 nations. (But you did Switzerland already, Rob!) Oh, yeah, then, um, I'll skip Switzerland. They're neutral, so they won't fight. But then I'll feel guilty. They begin with an 'S'...when I get to them in alphabetical order I'll deal with them.
For my foreign visitors - if you want to submit facts for your country, please do! (But I want really obscure stuff that I don't know. Not like, "______ is the largest country in the Southern Hemisphere". Give me stuff about culture, languages, some weird odd law in your constitution, misconceptions, OBSCURE STUFF(a big one here at InfiniteMind) and more. Post them in comments to here or any country column I make.
I was gonna do it in alphabetical order but that's boring. I have a box where I'll put all 197 nations inside (I wish I could say this literally but I don't think they'd all fit inside). Their names. I will select 9 or 10 or 11 countries every week for the column and give you a random fact or two (likely just one, it's rather difficult to find wholly obscure trivia, which is what I'm aiming for). Thus this column should last about 15-18 weeks, likely more due to school starting in less than 15-18 weeks. I'll try to get the last column in by InfiniteMind's birthday on November 22nd.
If you know something really obscure about a country, and you want to help out and give me material, go right ahead! I love to learn as much stuff as I can about anything and that would be awesome.
(In addition I can't really decide on a date for when to regularly do this column. Thursday or Friday? You are the readers - you decide.) Sound off in the comments, I'm eager to hear your thoughts.
-Rob
21 June 2013
The Summer Solstice!
The sun has just set here in California. For once I have officially checked to see when the sun sets on June 21st!
Since I was younger (around 2004-5) I have always wanted to see the exact time when the sun sets. But I'd always fail. Always. When I read The Great Gatsby, Daisy's quote resonated with me so perfectly that my goal was even more driven.
But 2011 and 2012 passed, and I failed each time, forgetting that the 21st was the Solstice. But now?
I can officially say that this year, 2013, the sun rose at 5:41 and has set at...8:12 tonight. That's 15 hours and 31 minutes which is pretty long, I guess. The latitudes change. And since I'm around 35 degrees Longitude, that's why the day length is different. If it was in the equator it would be much different, I'm sure. And in the North there would hardly be any change because it's always cold up there with little change.
Just a quick note: today is not necessarily the longest day, it varies from year to year and day to day because the universe is perpetually random and always off. But tradition states that it is today. :)
-Rob
Since I was younger (around 2004-5) I have always wanted to see the exact time when the sun sets. But I'd always fail. Always. When I read The Great Gatsby, Daisy's quote resonated with me so perfectly that my goal was even more driven.
"In two weeks it will be the longest day of the year. Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it!" -Daisy Buchanan
But 2011 and 2012 passed, and I failed each time, forgetting that the 21st was the Solstice. But now?
I can officially say that this year, 2013, the sun rose at 5:41 and has set at...8:12 tonight. That's 15 hours and 31 minutes which is pretty long, I guess. The latitudes change. And since I'm around 35 degrees Longitude, that's why the day length is different. If it was in the equator it would be much different, I'm sure. And in the North there would hardly be any change because it's always cold up there with little change.
Just a quick note: today is not necessarily the longest day, it varies from year to year and day to day because the universe is perpetually random and always off. But tradition states that it is today. :)
-Rob
15 June 2013
So Just Why Do People Like Shakespeare So Much?
Today I'm gonna try to explain in a simple, clear way why people like a centuries-dead guy who wrote a bunch of plays with incomprehensible words so much. Yes, I'm talking about Shakespeare!
This was originally going to be a triviality, but after arguing with a friend over the genius of Shakespeare, I knew I had to do my nerdly, intellectual duty and defend the Bard.
So, if you're reading this, I assume you want to know just why people like Shakespeare so much. Here's my answer (and very likely your teacher's answer): He perfectly captured the human condition.
So, first off: What the hell is the 'human condition'? I didn't pick that phrase by accident - many scholars and teachers use it when talking about the Bard.
The human condition is basically what all humans feel. What makes us different (unique's a better word) from everything on Earth and the universe. From the pain of a breakup, to laughing really hard at that joke your friend told you, to the awe at stargazing, to worrying about your future and concerns for family -- everything that we have unique in feeling and thought is the human condition.
So how did a weird, perverted guy from the late 1500s do that? Look at the plots of his plays.
Two people meet and fall in love. Love at first sight. They want to be together, but they can't. Frustration and depression. Sound familiar? His play's an allegory (says one thing but means another) for how people want to seek out lovers who may be impossible to get, and how hate is evil.
Here's another: a young, angsty teenager loses his father. His evil uncle marries his mom. Then, in a scene from Paranormal Activity, said teenager's dad is a ghost and tells his son that his evil uncle, is, well, really evil, and cannot control the kingdom. Young Hamlet (yes, this is Hamlet) wants his uncle dead so much and soon everyone dies. While you may not hate your uncle that much, wouldn't you be really pissed off and depressed that a family member killed your parent?
As you can see, Shakespeare tried really hard to capture his audiences' feelings in his own characters. Remember, he had only 2 forms of competition, in a line I'll borrow from Baz Luhrmann:
"We know about the Elizabethan stage and that he was playing for 3000 drunken punters, from the street sweeper to the Queen of England - and his competition was bear-baiting and prostitution."
But wait, you're saying. I don't care that he copied people really well or whatever that lame 'human condition' is. Why do we still care about Shakespeare (henceforth referred to as William/Will/Willy)?
Well, here's another thing for you: his poetry. Not his sonnets (I really don't care for his sonnets, though, his plays are cool.) But William can be very poetic when having his characters open their mouths. This line from Romeo and Juliet is a very romantic way to describe a woman:
Well, in that hit you miss: she'll not be hit
With Cupid's arrow; she hath Dian's wit...
O, she is rich in beauty, only poor,
That when she dies with beauty dies her store.
In 2013 English: Love (Cupid) can't "shoot his arrow" at her (meaning make her fall in love), she's as smart and clever as Artemis (Diana/goddess of hunting)...she's so beautiful but yet when she'll die, her beauty will die untouched since she would not go with any man.
(Gentlemen: If you're now interested in writing love poems to your significant other in the style of Shakespeare, let me direct you to a little song by Cole Porter...)
Now you're probably very bored or very interested, and I have one more reason to give why you, too, should like Shakespeare: His double entendres.
"Wait, what? He has...naughty jokes?" Well, yes, he does.
But before you start opening that barely-opened copy of Othello, let me warn you, they don't make any sense anymore. Unless, of course, you are well versed in the art of William's language. But here are a couple that one can get without going too much into rhyming and changing consonants.
"GET THEE TO A NUNNERY!" (Hamlet to his girlfriend. In Will's day, a nunnery meant a brothel.)
"My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones." (Midsummer Night's Dream. You can figure it out.)
In addition to double entendres William also invented lots of words and phrases that we use today, such as "mind's eye", "lonely", "puke", "obscene", and "cold-blooded". He was also a master at wordplay. Though, to be perfectly candid, he did adapt many of these from Latin, so it shouldn't count. That'd be like you taking a word from Spanish or Chinese and turning it into an English-sounding word and making the world use it.
So yeah, Shakespeare was awesome. He had double entendres going on, he could sure describe people really well, and in poetry. If you have any more questions or more reasons you'd like me to argue, drop a line in the comments. I'll likely devote some future blogposts on his quotes. I just love quoting Shakespeare, especially the lesser known ones ("to be or not to be" just doesn't cut it).
-The piece of work of man that is known as Rob
This was originally going to be a triviality, but after arguing with a friend over the genius of Shakespeare, I knew I had to do my nerdly, intellectual duty and defend the Bard.
 |
| He could do without the moustache... |
So, first off: What the hell is the 'human condition'? I didn't pick that phrase by accident - many scholars and teachers use it when talking about the Bard.
The human condition is basically what all humans feel. What makes us different (unique's a better word) from everything on Earth and the universe. From the pain of a breakup, to laughing really hard at that joke your friend told you, to the awe at stargazing, to worrying about your future and concerns for family -- everything that we have unique in feeling and thought is the human condition.
So how did a weird, perverted guy from the late 1500s do that? Look at the plots of his plays.
Two people meet and fall in love. Love at first sight. They want to be together, but they can't. Frustration and depression. Sound familiar? His play's an allegory (says one thing but means another) for how people want to seek out lovers who may be impossible to get, and how hate is evil.
 |
| "What a piece of work is man! Er, ghost.." |
As you can see, Shakespeare tried really hard to capture his audiences' feelings in his own characters. Remember, he had only 2 forms of competition, in a line I'll borrow from Baz Luhrmann:
"We know about the Elizabethan stage and that he was playing for 3000 drunken punters, from the street sweeper to the Queen of England - and his competition was bear-baiting and prostitution."
But wait, you're saying. I don't care that he copied people really well or whatever that lame 'human condition' is. Why do we still care about Shakespeare (henceforth referred to as William/Will/Willy)?
Well, here's another thing for you: his poetry. Not his sonnets (I really don't care for his sonnets, though, his plays are cool.) But William can be very poetic when having his characters open their mouths. This line from Romeo and Juliet is a very romantic way to describe a woman:
Well, in that hit you miss: she'll not be hit
With Cupid's arrow; she hath Dian's wit...
O, she is rich in beauty, only poor,
That when she dies with beauty dies her store.
In 2013 English: Love (Cupid) can't "shoot his arrow" at her (meaning make her fall in love), she's as smart and clever as Artemis (Diana/goddess of hunting)...she's so beautiful but yet when she'll die, her beauty will die untouched since she would not go with any man.
(Gentlemen: If you're now interested in writing love poems to your significant other in the style of Shakespeare, let me direct you to a little song by Cole Porter...)
Now you're probably very bored or very interested, and I have one more reason to give why you, too, should like Shakespeare: His double entendres.
"Wait, what? He has...naughty jokes?" Well, yes, he does.
But before you start opening that barely-opened copy of Othello, let me warn you, they don't make any sense anymore. Unless, of course, you are well versed in the art of William's language. But here are a couple that one can get without going too much into rhyming and changing consonants.
"GET THEE TO A NUNNERY!" (Hamlet to his girlfriend. In Will's day, a nunnery meant a brothel.)
"My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones." (Midsummer Night's Dream. You can figure it out.)
In addition to double entendres William also invented lots of words and phrases that we use today, such as "mind's eye", "lonely", "puke", "obscene", and "cold-blooded". He was also a master at wordplay. Though, to be perfectly candid, he did adapt many of these from Latin, so it shouldn't count. That'd be like you taking a word from Spanish or Chinese and turning it into an English-sounding word and making the world use it.
So yeah, Shakespeare was awesome. He had double entendres going on, he could sure describe people really well, and in poetry. If you have any more questions or more reasons you'd like me to argue, drop a line in the comments. I'll likely devote some future blogposts on his quotes. I just love quoting Shakespeare, especially the lesser known ones ("to be or not to be" just doesn't cut it).
-The piece of work of man that is known as Rob
01 June 2013
Some Thoughts On Varying Topics
It's June at last! Huzzah!
My birthday is in two-and-a-half weeks, and school lets out in three. All wholly good, commendable, honest reasons to venerate June as the best month of the year. (It really is, you know -- perfect weather, the promise of vacation and rest, and school letting out.)
And with the induction of June, I start to wonder about what the summer will have. Homework, of course, and summer assignments, for the advanced classes I'm taking next year. Maybe a vacation up North to San Francisco. (Personally I'd like to go to New Orleans, for beignets, and to see where the Anne Rice books took place.)
The Anne Rice books are really great. I've read the first 3, and part of Merrick. I recommend them for anyone who enjoys history (sort of), action, Gothic horror, and traces of erotic romance. (But nowhere near the level of that immoral Fifty Shades book series. Immoral, I say!) But I digress, back to summer.
The best summer I've had, up to date, was two years ago, in 2011. My godfather came to visit, as did my grandmother (even though she visited this past winter, it wasn't fun, and it was the first time I went to Hawai'i. Oahu.) Oh, and there was all this other cool stuff that I look back fondly upon, such as spending nights creating games, chatting with friends, listening to epic music, and much much more.) It was also when I was obsessed with anime for a while (a very short while, thank goodness. What happened to me then?)
I kid, of course. Anime is wholly commendable, and comically exaggerated. But I'm not an expert on it, for that I direct you to my brother and 95% of my friends/acquaintances at school and on the interweb. But I digress again.
Oh, and I got my second Moleskine. I finished the first last week, and I was so proud. I ended up keeping that promise that I made Christmas, sort of. I need to post pictures.
I've also been having an irrational obsession with musicals. Last year for my birthday I saw the Addams Family Musical, a brilliant one, and Mary Poppins, when I went to Washington. I'd love to see Sweeney Todd ("My right arm is complete AGAIN!") and perhaps Phantom of the Opera. Not to mention Anything Goes, and many more.
I have a love-hate relationship with musicals. They're hard to catch and understand (partly because I'm so used to subtitles on everything I view), and they're so SPONTANEOUS. Singing happens at the most inopportune and randomest of moments. Yet they're the American version of opera, of commedia, and everything else, and they can't be unnoticed/irrationally disparaged. So that's my take on musicals. (Plus, Moulin Rouge, one of the best movies out there, was a jukebox musical, and it was really well done. But that's just my Romantic Bohemianism going through.)
That's my random thoughts for today.
-Rob Miranda
My birthday is in two-and-a-half weeks, and school lets out in three. All wholly good, commendable, honest reasons to venerate June as the best month of the year. (It really is, you know -- perfect weather, the promise of vacation and rest, and school letting out.)
And with the induction of June, I start to wonder about what the summer will have. Homework, of course, and summer assignments, for the advanced classes I'm taking next year. Maybe a vacation up North to San Francisco. (Personally I'd like to go to New Orleans, for beignets, and to see where the Anne Rice books took place.)
The Anne Rice books are really great. I've read the first 3, and part of Merrick. I recommend them for anyone who enjoys history (sort of), action, Gothic horror, and traces of erotic romance. (But nowhere near the level of that immoral Fifty Shades book series. Immoral, I say!) But I digress, back to summer.
The best summer I've had, up to date, was two years ago, in 2011. My godfather came to visit, as did my grandmother (even though she visited this past winter, it wasn't fun, and it was the first time I went to Hawai'i. Oahu.) Oh, and there was all this other cool stuff that I look back fondly upon, such as spending nights creating games, chatting with friends, listening to epic music, and much much more.) It was also when I was obsessed with anime for a while (a very short while, thank goodness. What happened to me then?)
I kid, of course. Anime is wholly commendable, and comically exaggerated. But I'm not an expert on it, for that I direct you to my brother and 95% of my friends/acquaintances at school and on the interweb. But I digress again.
Oh, and I got my second Moleskine. I finished the first last week, and I was so proud. I ended up keeping that promise that I made Christmas, sort of. I need to post pictures.
I've also been having an irrational obsession with musicals. Last year for my birthday I saw the Addams Family Musical, a brilliant one, and Mary Poppins, when I went to Washington. I'd love to see Sweeney Todd ("My right arm is complete AGAIN!") and perhaps Phantom of the Opera. Not to mention Anything Goes, and many more.
I have a love-hate relationship with musicals. They're hard to catch and understand (partly because I'm so used to subtitles on everything I view), and they're so SPONTANEOUS. Singing happens at the most inopportune and randomest of moments. Yet they're the American version of opera, of commedia, and everything else, and they can't be unnoticed/irrationally disparaged. So that's my take on musicals. (Plus, Moulin Rouge, one of the best movies out there, was a jukebox musical, and it was really well done. But that's just my Romantic Bohemianism going through.)
That's my random thoughts for today.
-Rob Miranda
27 May 2013
Romanticism vs. Realism
"The nineteenth-century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban, seeing his own face in a glass.
The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass."
~Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
That being said, Romanticism and Realism are two interesting, opposing sides of a philosophical movement that the poets/artists/writers in the 1800s were obsessed with.
For the first half of the century, art was mostly leaning toward the Romantic movement, that is, a "romantic" idea of heroes and the human race being something infallible and amazing, dramatic and powerful. Don Juan with the Byronic hero, Frankenstein with the mistrust of synthetic humans, etc. clearly show this.
In contrast, Realism was the exact opposite. In the second half of the century, the American Civil War and other wars, coupled with the Industrial Revolution, began to show people the horrors and normalcy of life, so books were more "real" and focused on real situations. Huck Finn is a great example of this. But there are others.
Of course, Oscar Wilde above was saying that the opposing forces could never be accepted. In The Tempest, Caliban was a character who looked into a mirror and wanted to see himself powerful and handsome (think Mirror, Mirror, on the wall....). He didn't so he got into a rage.
If you stare at yourself in the mirror, and expect to see someone powerful, handsome and intelligent, and you don't, will you get angry? But if you see yourself as who you are, ordinary and ephemeral, will you get angry? Same principle. The Romantics expect to see someone powerful and dramatic, and fail to. The Realists wish to see themselves for who they are, and fail. None are satisfied.
That makes for interesting thoughts and an epic quote. Something to think about.
Of course, there are some that say that the only people who really cared about this were the elite rich class, so it shouldn't matter. But it's still interesting.
What are you -- a Romantic or Realist?
-Rob
The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass."
~Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
That being said, Romanticism and Realism are two interesting, opposing sides of a philosophical movement that the poets/artists/writers in the 1800s were obsessed with.
For the first half of the century, art was mostly leaning toward the Romantic movement, that is, a "romantic" idea of heroes and the human race being something infallible and amazing, dramatic and powerful. Don Juan with the Byronic hero, Frankenstein with the mistrust of synthetic humans, etc. clearly show this.
In contrast, Realism was the exact opposite. In the second half of the century, the American Civil War and other wars, coupled with the Industrial Revolution, began to show people the horrors and normalcy of life, so books were more "real" and focused on real situations. Huck Finn is a great example of this. But there are others.
Of course, Oscar Wilde above was saying that the opposing forces could never be accepted. In The Tempest, Caliban was a character who looked into a mirror and wanted to see himself powerful and handsome (think Mirror, Mirror, on the wall....). He didn't so he got into a rage.
If you stare at yourself in the mirror, and expect to see someone powerful, handsome and intelligent, and you don't, will you get angry? But if you see yourself as who you are, ordinary and ephemeral, will you get angry? Same principle. The Romantics expect to see someone powerful and dramatic, and fail to. The Realists wish to see themselves for who they are, and fail. None are satisfied.
That makes for interesting thoughts and an epic quote. Something to think about.
Of course, there are some that say that the only people who really cared about this were the elite rich class, so it shouldn't matter. But it's still interesting.
What are you -- a Romantic or Realist?
-Rob
13 April 2013
Come One, Come All, It's The Renaissance Faire!
Edit 8/3/13: For some reason I'm having real trouble with this post. For example if you got here through LinkWithin, I can't get the picture of Cory launching his marshmallow thrower. It disappeared. Other pictures may disappear as well, or otherwise the text becomes really big. I'm trying to solve it but we'll see what happens. I may have to uninstall LinkWithin.
HUZZAH! (for the generous tipper, may I add)
Today I was at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, a truly fun and memorable experience if you care about history, art, jousts, knights, people speaking Olde English, queens, clowns, mazes, and extra credit!
I can't really explain it because it was just so epic, so instead I shall make a Ye Olde Merrye Montage of Portraits (not photos!) of today's highlights, starring (in alphabetical order) Allison, Arturo, Cory, Judy, Kerry, Lauren, Matt and yours truly, Lord Robert Cyrano Hercule de-Savinien de BERGERAC! >:D
Captions are either real things said by those in it, or my imagination.
To the next.
-Rob (Hercule-Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac Miranda)
HUZZAH! (for the generous tipper, may I add)
Today I was at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire, a truly fun and memorable experience if you care about history, art, jousts, knights, people speaking Olde English, queens, clowns, mazes, and extra credit!
I can't really explain it because it was just so epic, so instead I shall make a Ye Olde Merrye Montage of Portraits (not photos!) of today's highlights, starring (in alphabetical order) Allison, Arturo, Cory, Judy, Kerry, Lauren, Matt and yours truly, Lord Robert Cyrano Hercule de-Savinien de BERGERAC! >:D
Captions are either real things said by those in it, or my imagination.
Assassin: Should I kill him? ...or just get a quick bite before I go...
 |
Rob: Matt, you look more like a drunkard than I do
Matt: Nope...your expression's just creepy, man...
|
A courageous plot to assault The Queen...who of us 8 is courageous to do it?
Allison: ME!!!
Drunk: Fair Maiden, you shall lead us!
Rob: Everyone, there you go: Perfect person to blame. >:D
Me: I'm thirsty, mind sharing some of that?
Guy: Hahahahah no.
Kerry: If you do not share it with us I will cut off your head. Now. >:D
Judy: Yeah, just listen to her...
Guy: Hahahahah - *dies*
Guy: Call me Sir Walter Raleigh
Rob: Aren't you supposed to be in the Tower or in prison?
Guy: Speak a little louder, would you? The Queen's like, right *over there*...
Arturo (thinking): Please hurry up with the picture before the Queens cut off my head
Rob: Is this a dagger I see before me?
Matt: RUN!!!
Rob: Nope, just a plastic sword...
Guy: That's what *you* think...
Lauren: Give me a go with the catapult!
Allison: Hahaha I've stolen Matt's >:D
Arturo: Guys...I'm trying to hit Cory's head without him looking...Oh, hi, Cory!
Matt: Guys, I swear this picture is staring at me o.o
Judy: Just smile...Allison, what are you doing?
Allison: Oh, look, it's a sword fight
Kerry: No, it's just Rob waving his hat back and forth
Lauren: I am so pro at this!
Kerry: I'm sort of concerned about your aim...Don't go trying to hit me
Lauren: Oops >:D
Allison (thinking): And THAT is what happens to my sworn enemies.
 The man of the hour, finally found - The Elusive William Shakespeare! Of course, I just naturally had to take the plume and use it as a quill to get his signature. Goal of the Day: Completed. Like a boss. Or a sir. Or...a Bard. |
To the next.
-Rob (Hercule-Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac Miranda)
25 March 2013
So shines a good deed in a weary world...
Greetings from a warm, sunny afternoon.
I've just been watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a wonderful movie full of poetry, fun, hilarious moments, other languages, everyone being German instead of British, and much more.
It came out in 1971, and is INFINITELY better than the 2005 Johnny Depp version. Roald Dahl purportedly hated it, because they had "my beloved Willy Wonka spouting poetic nonsense that wasn't in the books."
So, as a result I'll post some of the quotes Wonka says (in bold), and where they really came from. Enjoy!
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." ~Arthur O'Shaughnessy. Here's the full poem, titled Ode:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
"So shines a good deed in a weary world." ~Portia, from the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. The exact quote is
"Where is fancy bred? In the heart or in the head?" Another from Merchant of Venice, fancy in this case meaning love or passion. Make of that what you will, especially in the context of the movie.
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." ~John Keats, of course, one of his immortal epigrams on love from the poem Endymion.
"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple." Excellent quote, said by the fraudulent Thomas Edison. I've discussed his fraud in a Triviality column, which you can read here.
"Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker." ~by the brilliant Ogden Nash!
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." ~This was actually said by Dahl himself, in the original Charlie book, which is ironic because he hated the nonsense they had Willy say.
"The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last." ~from the Importance of Being Earnest, said by Gwendolen in Act III. Of course, by the wonderful Oscar Wilde.
"In springtime, the only pretty ring time, birds sing hey ding... a-ding, a-ding, sweet lovers love... the spring."
Yet another Shakespeare quote, this time from one of his poems.
"Round the world and home again, that's the sailor's way!" ~William Allingham, a 19th-century author who wrote a poem called Homeward Bound, which is where this appears in.
And of course, the true classic crowning quote of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka:
"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be!"
-Rob
I've just been watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a wonderful movie full of poetry, fun, hilarious moments, other languages, everyone being German instead of British, and much more.
It came out in 1971, and is INFINITELY better than the 2005 Johnny Depp version. Roald Dahl purportedly hated it, because they had "my beloved Willy Wonka spouting poetic nonsense that wasn't in the books."
So, as a result I'll post some of the quotes Wonka says (in bold), and where they really came from. Enjoy!
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." ~Arthur O'Shaughnessy. Here's the full poem, titled Ode:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
"So shines a good deed in a weary world." ~Portia, from the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. The exact quote is
"So shines a good deed in a naughty (worthless) world.""Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere, but not a drop to drink." This of course comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which goes
"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink,
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
"Where is fancy bred? In the heart or in the head?" Another from Merchant of Venice, fancy in this case meaning love or passion. Make of that what you will, especially in the context of the movie.
"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." ~John Keats, of course, one of his immortal epigrams on love from the poem Endymion.
"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple." Excellent quote, said by the fraudulent Thomas Edison. I've discussed his fraud in a Triviality column, which you can read here.
"Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker." ~by the brilliant Ogden Nash!
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." ~This was actually said by Dahl himself, in the original Charlie book, which is ironic because he hated the nonsense they had Willy say.
"The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last." ~from the Importance of Being Earnest, said by Gwendolen in Act III. Of course, by the wonderful Oscar Wilde.
"In springtime, the only pretty ring time, birds sing hey ding... a-ding, a-ding, sweet lovers love... the spring."
Yet another Shakespeare quote, this time from one of his poems.
"Round the world and home again, that's the sailor's way!" ~William Allingham, a 19th-century author who wrote a poem called Homeward Bound, which is where this appears in.
And of course, the true classic crowning quote of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka:
"There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be!"
-Rob
09 March 2013
10 Books That Changed My Life
Rob's Note: The blog's hit almost 1000 pageviews, not counting mine, as you can see from the counter. Thank you, visitors, commenters, and lurkers! :)
Yesterday, while ordering a plethora of books to add to my ever-increasing book collection (it's over 250 now,) I realised that it's pretty negligible compared to the Bodleian Library, which is on my bucket liszt to visit, but EXPONENTIALLY more than 95% of people I know.
So, today I'd like to talk about the 10 books that have most profoundly impacted my life, thoughts, actions, ideas, philosophy, ideals, etc., for better and for worse. Most books on the list are awesome. They're my favorite. But there are several on there I hate. With a passion. I'll make it clear. But they have influenced me, for worse, as you can well imagine. :)
So, let's begin! The title of the book has a link to the Amazon page where you can find the copy I own, or a copy of the book. And the placement of the books aren't in any necessary order, so don't go thinking they're in a certain order.
1. The Bible
Rather controversial among most my friends and acquaintances, as I do know a lot of atheists and deists. But the Bible, even if I haven't read the entire thing, is well worth reading. It explains many of the happenings of the world in an interesting light, and also manages to mix morals and the like into it. My favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes (and Job, too.) Make of that what you will.
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde's only novel, written in 1890 in serial form and then extended to be longer. Very controversial in its time (and still today among conservatives) because of its references to homosexuality. They're very blatant and pretty obvious. But still, a very good book. Think of Faust (which I'll explain next), and it's just like that. Morality, sin, all that interesting thought-provoking stuff.
3. Faust
Wilde based the above book on this one. The classic tale of the mad Heinrich (or John) Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil to become smarter. I identify with most of Faust's traits (not the demonic transaction one, though, before you call the priest.) Chris Marlowe wrote Faustus, which is the older version. However, Marlowe's a bit too dry for my tastes. Goethe's version is far more humane and it focuses on whether the powers can be used for other means (lust, power, etc.) instead of just knowledge.
4. The Great Gatsby
Oh, Gatsby...I love this book. The realism. The decor of the 1922 setting that Fitzgerald so expertly wove together in the pages of this masterpiece. The language, the emotion, the setting was as real and moving as if I had lived it. The romance was as complicated as a soap-opera, (a good thing) without all the romantic kiss-slap-what have you that is prevalent in soap operas (an even better thing.) Needless to say, I can't wait for the movie to come out in May. Nothing more to be said, unless you want an endless rave.
5. The Sun Also Rises
The only book I've read by Hemingway, it's also been one of the most tedious. Before all you Hemingway fans come and bash me, let me give my own reasons. I do like certain parts. It's changed my writing style, which is why it's on this list. The language is clipped, terse, and to the point. Out of any book I've read (yes, even you, Numbers 4 and 10) it captures how people talk accurately. Why is it tedious? I don't like the plot. An attractive girl sides with a bunch of guys and they all go watch bullfighting, and she falls in love with the bullfighter, and then the narrator is arguing with her husband, and the bullfighter...just, eh. This may seem childish but it's the truth.
6. Great Expectations
As a 6-year-old, I remember reading the watered-down kids version. Two years ago (wow, it's been that long?) I had a Kobo (warning: NEVER get one, their customer service sucks. Tried getting in contact to return my broken one and they never responded.) Anyways, so I had a Kobo and it came with the book, along with 99 other books. I was able to finish it before the Kobo broke, just 4 months after I bought it. I liked it, enjoyed the realism again. As real as Dickens can get, which is often. For some reason the idea that Ms. Havisham would hire Pip just to play was interesting and awesome to me. Paid for playing. But she was creepy. :) And then I was also fascinated with the meaning of "satis" and Magwitch, and the whole debacle behind that.
7. The Anubis Gates
Good old Scott at Polite Dissent recommended this book in his review for Fringe back in 2010's "White Tulip". I bought it on a whim, and LOVED IT. It isn't nerdy, esoteric sci-fi that you usually find in pulp magazines that only weirdos read. It's brilliant. Time travel at its best. One college professor ends up in 1810, among such literary greats as Byron, Colleridge and William Ashbless. The way Powers can turn the setting so quickly and harrowing is nothing short of genius. I recommend it for anyone who likes how chains of events unfold to create something true.
8. The Maze of Bones
The only children's book on this list, if you know the story behind it, good for you. Suffice it to say that this book got me into a very major part of my Internet and real life. But to be honest, the 39 Clues isn't really that great of a book series. Teenage cynicism, it's sad.
9. The Importance of Being Earnest
I love this play. It's amazing, witty, dramatic and much more. I can quote the play so profoundly. I usually do. "My dear Algy, you talk just as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn't a dentist. It produces a false impression."
"Well, that is what dentists normally do."
10. The Catcher in the Rye
My all-time FAVORITE book. I read it shortly before I turned 12, at the behest of my mom. I love everything about it. The language (but don't count that against me), the angst, the adventures, the way Holden views the world, just as I do (cynical and curious) and how he makes everything funny. Or sad. It's tragic that he's such a pessimist and a depressed soul. But I sort of imagine Holden in myself (not entirely, but certain aspects.)
So, those are the 10 books that I respect and agree that they have changed my life the most. What's on your list? I'd be interested to see everyone's opinions.
To the next!
-Rob
So, today I'd like to talk about the 10 books that have most profoundly impacted my life, thoughts, actions, ideas, philosophy, ideals, etc., for better and for worse. Most books on the list are awesome. They're my favorite. But there are several on there I hate. With a passion. I'll make it clear. But they have influenced me, for worse, as you can well imagine. :)
So, let's begin! The title of the book has a link to the Amazon page where you can find the copy I own, or a copy of the book. And the placement of the books aren't in any necessary order, so don't go thinking they're in a certain order.
1. The Bible
Rather controversial among most my friends and acquaintances, as I do know a lot of atheists and deists. But the Bible, even if I haven't read the entire thing, is well worth reading. It explains many of the happenings of the world in an interesting light, and also manages to mix morals and the like into it. My favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes (and Job, too.) Make of that what you will.
2. The Picture of Dorian Gray
 |
| The original dandy. |
3. Faust
Wilde based the above book on this one. The classic tale of the mad Heinrich (or John) Faust, who sold his soul to the Devil to become smarter. I identify with most of Faust's traits (not the demonic transaction one, though, before you call the priest.) Chris Marlowe wrote Faustus, which is the older version. However, Marlowe's a bit too dry for my tastes. Goethe's version is far more humane and it focuses on whether the powers can be used for other means (lust, power, etc.) instead of just knowledge.
4. The Great Gatsby
5. The Sun Also Rises
The only book I've read by Hemingway, it's also been one of the most tedious. Before all you Hemingway fans come and bash me, let me give my own reasons. I do like certain parts. It's changed my writing style, which is why it's on this list. The language is clipped, terse, and to the point. Out of any book I've read (yes, even you, Numbers 4 and 10) it captures how people talk accurately. Why is it tedious? I don't like the plot. An attractive girl sides with a bunch of guys and they all go watch bullfighting, and she falls in love with the bullfighter, and then the narrator is arguing with her husband, and the bullfighter...just, eh. This may seem childish but it's the truth.
6. Great Expectations
As a 6-year-old, I remember reading the watered-down kids version. Two years ago (wow, it's been that long?) I had a Kobo (warning: NEVER get one, their customer service sucks. Tried getting in contact to return my broken one and they never responded.) Anyways, so I had a Kobo and it came with the book, along with 99 other books. I was able to finish it before the Kobo broke, just 4 months after I bought it. I liked it, enjoyed the realism again. As real as Dickens can get, which is often. For some reason the idea that Ms. Havisham would hire Pip just to play was interesting and awesome to me. Paid for playing. But she was creepy. :) And then I was also fascinated with the meaning of "satis" and Magwitch, and the whole debacle behind that.
7. The Anubis Gates
Good old Scott at Polite Dissent recommended this book in his review for Fringe back in 2010's "White Tulip". I bought it on a whim, and LOVED IT. It isn't nerdy, esoteric sci-fi that you usually find in pulp magazines that only weirdos read. It's brilliant. Time travel at its best. One college professor ends up in 1810, among such literary greats as Byron, Colleridge and William Ashbless. The way Powers can turn the setting so quickly and harrowing is nothing short of genius. I recommend it for anyone who likes how chains of events unfold to create something true.
8. The Maze of Bones
The only children's book on this list, if you know the story behind it, good for you. Suffice it to say that this book got me into a very major part of my Internet and real life. But to be honest, the 39 Clues isn't really that great of a book series. Teenage cynicism, it's sad.
9. The Importance of Being Earnest
I love this play. It's amazing, witty, dramatic and much more. I can quote the play so profoundly. I usually do. "My dear Algy, you talk just as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn't a dentist. It produces a false impression."
"Well, that is what dentists normally do."
10. The Catcher in the Rye
So, those are the 10 books that I respect and agree that they have changed my life the most. What's on your list? I'd be interested to see everyone's opinions.
To the next!
-Rob
01 March 2013
Limerick Laments
There once was an old man from Dover
Who enjoyed - no, that's not it...
There was an old woman fromGlasgow
Who decided to open a magic- that sounds terrible...
Such has been my problem this week. (I have lots of problems this week, don't I?)
So, consider this part two from yesterday's life post. I said there was still some more left for me to share. So let's discuss poetry, shall we?
For my writing/poetry club we've been selling St. Patrick's Day Grams, which, in my opinion, are a tad overboard for the holiday. Just a tad. But then again that's what high school is. A lesson in moneymaking for the future stockbrokers and corporate leaders ofAmerica
But I wanted to write a poem for the grams this time, because I missed out on the sonnet writing for Valentine's. And I like writing sonnets. And reading them. Besides Shakespeare, I wholeheartedly recommend Elizabeth Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese. She's very good in all 44 of them. I have the first and second memorized, not the 43rd, though (the iconic "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways")
Elizabeth and her husband, master monologue poet Robert, are both my favorite poets. Their meeting story and love affair is something out of a fairy tale. My favorite poem of all time is "My Star", by Robert. "All that I know/Of a certain star/Is it can throw/Like the angled spar..."
But I digress. So this time I wanted to write a poem. And boy, do I regret it...This time, the theme was "limericks".
A limerick, if you don't know, is a short, witty poem of five lines, with the rhyme scheme a a b b a.
Edward Lear (1812-88) is one of the best known limerick writers. I've read him in elementary and middle school. Not so much now. The Schurr library doesn't think he's important. How sad. Or maybe I'm just not looking. (Stop digressing, Rob! Of course, I'm sorry.)
As to the limericks, I've been working on them for a week, with very little success. I've tried everything. Reading Edward Lear to get a feel. Listening to that Natalie Merchant album to get a childish flair. Reading some of my fellow writers'...
But the best I could come up with was this gem:
There once was an Old Man of Dover
Who enjoyed making lots of clovers.
Twenty sheets of green paper
With scissors and taper
Made millions, did that old man of Dover.
It's ok. But it doesn't have quite the rhythm and flow. The feeling's there, all right. The big problem is that there is quite a lot to encompass in only 5 lines. And the third and fourth are the lines that I consider 'dead weight', because the lines are shorter and need only about 4-5 syllables. The first, second, and fifth lines (the 'a' rhythms) are usually and conventionally longer.
So I went back to the drawing board. Some coffee and biscuits (note: I have really stopped drinking coffee as of late. It's terrifying.), Natalie Merchant, Block Dude on the PC...and nothing. But then...wait for it...wait for it...I got this:
There once was a woman from Kilkenny
Who enjoyed collecting too many
Hats of all sizes
Including their price tags,
Till she went bankrupt, with hardly a penny.
That one's a little bit better. It's funny. It has the wit that the great Lear had. Rhythm. A point. But it's not holiday-oriented. Everyone liked the Old Man one better and I was inclined to agree. So once more I went...with nothing and horrible line fragments...
"'Until divine inspiration hit me.
And the stroke of nine', quoth he" , as the great literary poet Robert Miranda once penned in his great epic.
Ok, enough!
I had been playing with the rhyme scheme of John/leprechaun, which someone idly suggested as I showed them the above two poems. Add in something about gold, which was brought in by a song I was listening to.
And then I got it:
There once was a young boy named John
Who stole gold from a leprechaun.
He tripped over a pot
Of gold, and he thought
"I'll never steal again!" with a yawn.
Who enjoyed - no, that's not it...
There was an old woman from
Who decided to open a magic- that sounds terrible...
Such has been my problem this week. (I have lots of problems this week, don't I?)
So, consider this part two from yesterday's life post. I said there was still some more left for me to share. So let's discuss poetry, shall we?
For my writing/poetry club we've been selling St. Patrick's Day Grams, which, in my opinion, are a tad overboard for the holiday. Just a tad. But then again that's what high school is. A lesson in moneymaking for the future stockbrokers and corporate leaders of
But I wanted to write a poem for the grams this time, because I missed out on the sonnet writing for Valentine's. And I like writing sonnets. And reading them. Besides Shakespeare, I wholeheartedly recommend Elizabeth Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese. She's very good in all 44 of them. I have the first and second memorized, not the 43rd, though (the iconic "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways")
Elizabeth and her husband, master monologue poet Robert, are both my favorite poets. Their meeting story and love affair is something out of a fairy tale. My favorite poem of all time is "My Star", by Robert. "All that I know/Of a certain star/Is it can throw/Like the angled spar..."
But I digress. So this time I wanted to write a poem. And boy, do I regret it...This time, the theme was "limericks".
A limerick, if you don't know, is a short, witty poem of five lines, with the rhyme scheme a a b b a.
Edward Lear (1812-88) is one of the best known limerick writers. I've read him in elementary and middle school. Not so much now. The Schurr library doesn't think he's important. How sad. Or maybe I'm just not looking. (Stop digressing, Rob! Of course, I'm sorry.)
As to the limericks, I've been working on them for a week, with very little success. I've tried everything. Reading Edward Lear to get a feel. Listening to that Natalie Merchant album to get a childish flair. Reading some of my fellow writers'...
But the best I could come up with was this gem:
There once was an Old Man of Dover
Who enjoyed making lots of clovers.
Twenty sheets of green paper
With scissors and taper
Made millions, did that old man of Dover.
It's ok. But it doesn't have quite the rhythm and flow. The feeling's there, all right. The big problem is that there is quite a lot to encompass in only 5 lines. And the third and fourth are the lines that I consider 'dead weight', because the lines are shorter and need only about 4-5 syllables. The first, second, and fifth lines (the 'a' rhythms) are usually and conventionally longer.
So I went back to the drawing board. Some coffee and biscuits (note: I have really stopped drinking coffee as of late. It's terrifying.), Natalie Merchant, Block Dude on the PC...and nothing. But then...wait for it...wait for it...I got this:
There once was a woman from Kilkenny
Who enjoyed collecting too many
Hats of all sizes
Including their price tags,
Till she went bankrupt, with hardly a penny.
That one's a little bit better. It's funny. It has the wit that the great Lear had. Rhythm. A point. But it's not holiday-oriented. Everyone liked the Old Man one better and I was inclined to agree. So once more I went...with nothing and horrible line fragments...
"'Until divine inspiration hit me.
And the stroke of nine', quoth he" , as the great literary poet Robert Miranda once penned in his great epic.
Ok, enough!
I had been playing with the rhyme scheme of John/leprechaun, which someone idly suggested as I showed them the above two poems. Add in something about gold, which was brought in by a song I was listening to.
And then I got it:
There once was a young boy named John
Who stole gold from a leprechaun.
He tripped over a pot
Of gold, and he thought
"I'll never steal again!" with a yawn.
Perfect. Well, not perfect. But nearly perfect, at least in my opinion. What do you think? Is it worthy of Edward Lear, or did it fall flat? You can be honest, I love constructive criticism. :)
-Rob (the Limerick'd Leprechaun)
19 February 2013
La Vie Boheme, or La Vita Nuova?
Greetings from a rainy, foggy, afternoon!
If you'll notice I have changed the site from blue to predominantly red and orange. I like this better. Most of my everyday sites are very blue. (And please don't mention Facebook. But I understand they have blue too.) So I decided to be different. I'll be discussing that a bit today, anyway.
Today's post isn't really much. Call it a Triviality if you want. Triviality III. It's Tuesday, after all. Just "some random thoughts in my head." ~Peter Bishop
I've been reading The Divine Comedy, or La Commedia, for Lent. Not sure why. I guess I have the whole suffering-Hell-evil thing going on. Oh, yeah, I'm doing Faustus in theatre class right now, so let's see how that goes.
How does Commedia tie into today? Dante wrote it, along with La Vita Nuova, or The New Life. He was a rather...interesting fellow. He met his wonderful Beatrice when he was nine. Over the course of his life he met her twice more, albeit briefly.
And he fell in love with her. And wrote poems and dedicated them to her.
Now, I could criticize Dante. I could wax lyrical on how creepy that was, more disturbing, actually, and if he didn't bother looking for anyone else. But I won't. Because it's kind of messed up, and the guy's dead, and he wrote pretty cool poems. The Nine Circles of Hell, anyone? (Actually, it's likely that he believed Beatrice was more of a savior. He isn't really concerned with how pretty and wonderful she was as a person - he imagined her more as a force of good, like Jesus, who stopped him from doing evil things.)
So yeah. And then Beatrice never went with him - even if he was respected in his time - until the Pope came along and hated Dante for a bunch of religious stuff. And then he died, and long story short, he's buried next to Beatrice. (Is he? I read that somewhere...correct me if I'm wrong, please!)
Now...BOHEMIA.
Ah, the Bohemian life! How I love it. It's AMAZING.
Bohemians, if you don't know, are vagabonds. But they're much more than that! They are artists - the unconventional, eccentric people who are genii but aren't respected in their lifetime. They're discovered afterwards.
Oscar Wilde (my favorite author, by the way), Ernest Hemingway, van Gogh, Shelley, Lord Byron...
Bohemians just don't care about other people. They're not typically "mainstream". They're the obscure people who do weird stuff because they like it. Most of them were the real wild, warped ones (smoking hashish, drinking absinthe, etc.) but, hey! They were genii. I'm not defending them but just pointing it out.
Like Christian in Moulin Rouge, the 20th-century image of them were the typewriter-owning people, who lived in Paris in tenements, sat in cafes all day long, and wrote in notebooks.
The term "Bohemians" came from Bohemia, which used to be the archaic term for Czechoslovakia (think Sherlock Holmes). Erroneously, gypsies were called that (and they shouldn't even be called gypsies. Gypsies implies they're Egyptian. The correct term is Romany or Romani. So if you ever meet one, be sure to call them Romani and get some hedgehog goulash.) :D
So, what do you think? Are you gonna call gypsies Romani from now on? What do you think about Dante and his love for Beatrice which wasn't returned? Sound off in the comments!
-R
If you'll notice I have changed the site from blue to predominantly red and orange. I like this better. Most of my everyday sites are very blue. (And please don't mention Facebook. But I understand they have blue too.) So I decided to be different. I'll be discussing that a bit today, anyway.
Today's post isn't really much. Call it a Triviality if you want. Triviality III. It's Tuesday, after all. Just "some random thoughts in my head." ~Peter Bishop
I've been reading The Divine Comedy, or La Commedia, for Lent. Not sure why. I guess I have the whole suffering-Hell-evil thing going on. Oh, yeah, I'm doing Faustus in theatre class right now, so let's see how that goes.
How does Commedia tie into today? Dante wrote it, along with La Vita Nuova, or The New Life. He was a rather...interesting fellow. He met his wonderful Beatrice when he was nine. Over the course of his life he met her twice more, albeit briefly.
And he fell in love with her. And wrote poems and dedicated them to her.
Now, I could criticize Dante. I could wax lyrical on how creepy that was, more disturbing, actually, and if he didn't bother looking for anyone else. But I won't. Because it's kind of messed up, and the guy's dead, and he wrote pretty cool poems. The Nine Circles of Hell, anyone? (Actually, it's likely that he believed Beatrice was more of a savior. He isn't really concerned with how pretty and wonderful she was as a person - he imagined her more as a force of good, like Jesus, who stopped him from doing evil things.)
So yeah. And then Beatrice never went with him - even if he was respected in his time - until the Pope came along and hated Dante for a bunch of religious stuff. And then he died, and long story short, he's buried next to Beatrice. (Is he? I read that somewhere...correct me if I'm wrong, please!)
Now...BOHEMIA.
Ah, the Bohemian life! How I love it. It's AMAZING.
Bohemians, if you don't know, are vagabonds. But they're much more than that! They are artists - the unconventional, eccentric people who are genii but aren't respected in their lifetime. They're discovered afterwards.
Oscar Wilde (my favorite author, by the way), Ernest Hemingway, van Gogh, Shelley, Lord Byron...
Bohemians just don't care about other people. They're not typically "mainstream". They're the obscure people who do weird stuff because they like it. Most of them were the real wild, warped ones (smoking hashish, drinking absinthe, etc.) but, hey! They were genii. I'm not defending them but just pointing it out.
Like Christian in Moulin Rouge, the 20th-century image of them were the typewriter-owning people, who lived in Paris in tenements, sat in cafes all day long, and wrote in notebooks.
The term "Bohemians" came from Bohemia, which used to be the archaic term for Czechoslovakia (think Sherlock Holmes). Erroneously, gypsies were called that (and they shouldn't even be called gypsies. Gypsies implies they're Egyptian. The correct term is Romany or Romani. So if you ever meet one, be sure to call them Romani and get some hedgehog goulash.) :D
So, what do you think? Are you gonna call gypsies Romani from now on? What do you think about Dante and his love for Beatrice which wasn't returned? Sound off in the comments!
-R
14 February 2013
Love! Love is the Answer! (Unless You Die First)
Oh, Valentine's Day!
A day of love! Happiness! Candy grams! Money-spending! Exotic exuberance in all things romantic!
Of course, if you're like me, a person who can't seem to muster romantic feelings for people (screw you, Ofesite, I am not a passionate lover) then today might be just horrible. To make my point across, I give you this couple as my example.
[Enter a guy, let's say his name is MATT, and a girl, let's say her name is LISA.]
MATT: I love you. Forever. You're awesome.
LISA: Oh, honey! Me too!
Then within a year the relationship will either be:
a) dead, gone, and best forgotten
b) continuing steadily with Matt and Lisa hating each other
c) happily? married/dating/engaged
d) ended in a tragic way
I'm quite sure it'll either be a or d. Two thoughts come to mind when I think of Valentine's Day. No, 3, because of my linguistic heart.
I. "Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard!
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
~Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
MATT: Look, honey, look at this awesome sword of words I got!
LISA: No, darling, it's dangerous! Besides, sword and words make the same letters.
MATT: Look- (swing)
LISA: Ah...(dies)
MATT: No!
II. Why do all stories of true love invariably end in despair? Let's take a list, off the top of my head:
a) Romeo and Juliet
b) Dom and Mal (Inception, she went insane)
c) Peter and Olivia (granted, they got together but there were a couple stops in their relationship)
d) Helen and Paris (Trojan War and all)
e) Kate and Jack (Jack died in the finale of LOST)
f) Cleopatra and Marc Anthony (historical romance. then again Cleopatra was quite the seductress)
g) Orpheus and Eurydice (great one. went over it today in Mythology class, of course it was depressing)
h) Tristan and Isolde/Iseult/whatever (I've heard the opera. Tragic.)
i) Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane (He's just like me. Insecure. She's just...ehh.)
j) Peter Abelard and Heloise
That last one is quite obscure. I got it from my quotes book while looking for the Oscar Wilde. Heloise was an 18-year old student of Peter Abelard, a medieval scholar in the 1100s. They fell in love even though Abelard was 37. Heloise became pregnant and her father shunned her.
Aberlard was quite respected but unfortunately the scandal (Heloise's father was quite rich) made the church castrate him and kill him. And Heloise lost her baby and was made a nun against her will. The two were buried together but it was still depressing and tragic. And this one was REAL, people.
Of course, it could go the other way around, where one of the couple feels love towards the other but the other is really just using and abusing. (Think Samson and Delilah.) Anyways, point made...
[Cut to shot of Lisa being buried, Matt killing himself and getting buried next to her]
III. Why is it Valentine's is pronounced "valentime"? This is my attention to detail here, which interests me. I have notebook pages devoted to how people pronounce things. (Yes, call me sad, call me depressing.) And "chocolaty" should NOT be a word. It makes no sense and it sounds ridiculously sad and sadly ridiculous.
The point is made. Just one last thing to point out: it does stimulate the economy! Candy...restaurants being booked...jewelry...there is that to go on. Money for our economy. (I sound so much like a capitalist.) So it's all even-Steven.
Now, I won't go on, due to lack of time, interest, and happiness. :) So, on a lighter note, I leave you, dear readers, with a "valentime" of my own: music. (I gave up music for Lent yesterday, since it was Ash Wednesday, but I don't see the harm of listening to one song today. :)) So, in true trolling fashion, go to the Weekly Music box and listen to Nights in White Satin.
To the next! (If you don't die trying to kiss your significant other) Or...
[Scene. Lisa and Matt kiss.]
MATT: Oh, darling...
[Cupid comes out of nowhere.]
LISA: Watch out for that- (impaled by arrow
[Cupid disappears.]
-Rob
A day of love! Happiness! Candy grams! Money-spending! Exotic exuberance in all things romantic!
Of course, if you're like me, a person who can't seem to muster romantic feelings for people (screw you, Ofesite, I am not a passionate lover) then today might be just horrible. To make my point across, I give you this couple as my example.
[Enter a guy, let's say his name is MATT, and a girl, let's say her name is LISA.]
MATT: I love you. Forever. You're awesome.
LISA: Oh, honey! Me too!
Then within a year the relationship will either be:
a) dead, gone, and best forgotten
b) continuing steadily with Matt and Lisa hating each other
c) happily? married/dating/engaged
d) ended in a tragic way
I'm quite sure it'll either be a or d. Two thoughts come to mind when I think of Valentine's Day. No, 3, because of my linguistic heart.
I. "Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard!
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!
~Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol
MATT: Look, honey, look at this awesome sword of words I got!
LISA: No, darling, it's dangerous! Besides, sword and words make the same letters.
MATT: Look- (swing)
LISA: Ah...(dies)
MATT: No!
II. Why do all stories of true love invariably end in despair? Let's take a list, off the top of my head:
a) Romeo and Juliet
b) Dom and Mal (Inception, she went insane)
c) Peter and Olivia (granted, they got together but there were a couple stops in their relationship)
d) Helen and Paris (Trojan War and all)
e) Kate and Jack (Jack died in the finale of LOST)
f) Cleopatra and Marc Anthony (historical romance. then again Cleopatra was quite the seductress)
g) Orpheus and Eurydice (great one. went over it today in Mythology class, of course it was depressing)
h) Tristan and Isolde/Iseult/whatever (I've heard the opera. Tragic.)
i) Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane (He's just like me. Insecure. She's just...ehh.)
j) Peter Abelard and Heloise
That last one is quite obscure. I got it from my quotes book while looking for the Oscar Wilde. Heloise was an 18-year old student of Peter Abelard, a medieval scholar in the 1100s. They fell in love even though Abelard was 37. Heloise became pregnant and her father shunned her.
Aberlard was quite respected but unfortunately the scandal (Heloise's father was quite rich) made the church castrate him and kill him. And Heloise lost her baby and was made a nun against her will. The two were buried together but it was still depressing and tragic. And this one was REAL, people.
Of course, it could go the other way around, where one of the couple feels love towards the other but the other is really just using and abusing. (Think Samson and Delilah.) Anyways, point made...
[Cut to shot of Lisa being buried, Matt killing himself and getting buried next to her]
III. Why is it Valentine's is pronounced "valentime"? This is my attention to detail here, which interests me. I have notebook pages devoted to how people pronounce things. (Yes, call me sad, call me depressing.) And "chocolaty" should NOT be a word. It makes no sense and it sounds ridiculously sad and sadly ridiculous.
The point is made. Just one last thing to point out: it does stimulate the economy! Candy...restaurants being booked...jewelry...there is that to go on. Money for our economy. (I sound so much like a capitalist.) So it's all even-Steven.
Now, I won't go on, due to lack of time, interest, and happiness. :) So, on a lighter note, I leave you, dear readers, with a "valentime" of my own: music. (I gave up music for Lent yesterday, since it was Ash Wednesday, but I don't see the harm of listening to one song today. :)) So, in true trolling fashion, go to the Weekly Music box and listen to Nights in White Satin.
To the next! (If you don't die trying to kiss your significant other) Or...
[Scene. Lisa and Matt kiss.]
MATT: Oh, darling...
[Cupid comes out of nowhere.]
LISA: Watch out for that- (impaled by arrow
[Cupid disappears.]
-Rob
13 January 2013
Triviality I: Geography
This is a random topic to talk about, mainly because it's rather disconnected from what I've talked about. But this, I feel, needs to be written down, instead of my Moleskine-poster boy rants. :)
This will be a new "column", as it were, called Triviality, where I take a subject and expound a bit on something trivial about it. Hence Triviality. Today's topic? Geography.
I love geography and cartography. A pastime of mine is making large-scale, detailed maps of fictional lands in my stories in a sketchbook I have. But I've always loved geography, too. When I was 4, I had this globe - talking, of course, and a Quantum Pad. That thing was the BEST! Before LeapFrog changed and dumbed-down and made Disney iPads (by the way, I should mention I HATE Disney with a PASSION, but that's a story for another time), there was the Quantum Pad.
That leaves the German cartographer Waldseemuller. Everyone gives old Martin the honour of "naming America after Amerigo Vespucci!" This is completely inaccurate. Let me explain.
This will be a new "column", as it were, called Triviality, where I take a subject and expound a bit on something trivial about it. Hence Triviality. Today's topic? Geography.
I love geography and cartography. A pastime of mine is making large-scale, detailed maps of fictional lands in my stories in a sketchbook I have. But I've always loved geography, too. When I was 4, I had this globe - talking, of course, and a Quantum Pad. That thing was the BEST! Before LeapFrog changed and dumbed-down and made Disney iPads (by the way, I should mention I HATE Disney with a PASSION, but that's a story for another time), there was the Quantum Pad.
 |
|
Look. And revel in the beauty and complexity that was 2003 technology for kids. |
Amazing, isn't it? My favorite book for it was "World Geography". And it was there I learned my geography.
It taught me the 190 countries there were back then, with the countries' anthems, density, population, resources, cultures, and God knows what else. It was amazing.
And then there were stationery shops. As a kid when I would go to my family's ancestral town down in Mexico, I would keep journals. (Wonder where those are?) And I would buy notebooks and pens at these awesome stationery shops-convenience stores. I remember 2 in particular. And I would buy my notebooks and pens and snacks there. And it was there I learned my geography further, for the shops would sell mapamundis (world maps) and astonishingly detailed maps of the continents.
Of course, they were in Spanish, so that gave me the added benefit of learning geography AND the Spanish name for countries, which in turn taught me about eponyms and such. But now, I'd like to talk about the main topic this evening: medieval maps, back when people were so woefully, sadly ignorant of the shape the world was.
There are 3 maps of special importance: Gerard Kremer (Gerardus Mercator)'s 1596 map, Albertinus de Virga's map in 1412, and Martin Waldseemuller's 1507 map.
Waldseemuller's was the most accurate by far. de Virga's mappamundi disappeared or was taken by a Cahill, whether you believe history or a completely overpriced mainstream book series that attempts to explain medieval history to kids. Mercator's map was good, he invented the atlas, he Latinized his name to something cool, but his mapmaking techniques were just distorted. The "Mercator Technique" I believe it's called, creates distortions near the poles, making Greenland bigger than Africa. (It's smaller than Mexico, I'm sure. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
 |
| America? Ameryk? Whatevs. |
Back then, people DID NOT name countries and territories after their first name. They did it after their last. So, "Vesperia" for Damien Vesper, :), "Mirandania" for me, ""Delaware" after Lord De La Warr, and "Bolivia" after the revolutionary Simon Bolivar.
I follow with Messrs. John and Mitchinson (who wrote the brilliant "Book of General Ignorance" and whom I borrow their notes as I type this) when they say it was named after the captain Richard Ameryk, who traveled around that area. So, sorry Vespucci. (On the bright side, at least we're not the United States of Vespuccia.)
But I digress. And that is today's topic. Hope you learned something.
-R
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