replaced the "borrowed" fancy lines with plainer words, which are mine and, more importantly, more consistent with my low-key style. Now I can call it my own. :-)
Dandelions
Mommy tends to her orchids,
I, look after these dandelions.
Called nothing but weeds -
I wonder why,
Year after year,
They are so beautiful to me.
Bloom in our backyard
They are yellow and bright.
Surprise me on the sidewalks,
Their heads puffy and white.
I love all flowers anyways,
But this one only
I can blow away -
Sending their kids around the world,
Oh, little dandelions!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
What did William really think? - A section from Rose
The name of the rose
by Ubertino Eco
by Ubertino Eco
“…It’s hard to accept the idea that there cannot be an order in the universe because it would offend the free will of God and His omnipotence. So the freedom of God is our condemnation, or at least the condemnation of our pride.”
"I dared, for the first and last time in my life, to exprss a theological conclusion: “But how can a necessary being exist totally polluted with the possible? What difference is there, then, between God and primigenial chaos? Isn’t affirming God’s absolute omnipotence and His absolute freedom with regard to His own choices tantamount to demonstrating that God does not exist?”
William looked at me without betraying any feeling in his features, and he said, “ how could a learned man go on communicating his learning if he answered yes to your questions?” I did not understand the meaning of his words. “Do you mean,” I asked, “that there would be no possible and communicable learning any more if the very criterion of truth were lacking, or do you mean you could no longer communicate what you know because other would not allow you to?” -------pp, 493
or what does Eco really think. of God. ;-)
From what had happened, Adso came to the daring conclusion that "God does not exist" . And William's answer was an evasive "yes".
However, one has to remember "what had happened", or this story, was entired and very carefully constructed by Eco. To me, this conversation explained why the story had proceeded as it was: a seemingly mystery ended up suddenly in smoke.
Which is to say that Eco has made up a compelling story to illustrate his VIEW that God does not exist (whether God exists or not is a different matter).
My more complete review is here.
That's all, folks. :-)
Sunday, June 25, 2006
What poetry is
Poetry is the art of words. It reflects the beauty of words, especially the rhythmic beauty of words.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Scared and scary animals
Robert Crumb, documentary, 1994
Thought I knew about psychiatric disorders. Unexpectedly I learned something new from the movie, which was either not explicitly described in textbooks or I had missed completely by ignorance, which is that afflicted individuals also have very dysfunctional sexuality. Shouldn't have been a surprise; I just didn't think about it.
It takes someone like R Crumb, with a rare combination of acute personal experiences, a daring (and barely functional) personality and amazing artistic skills, to illustrate and bring this dark side to light. And he brought along his even sicker brothers (his two sisters refused the interview). Their lives are simply tragic, trapped in their scared but also scary animalistic shells. That R Crumb has "survived" and his art recognized is no less than a miracle.
What do I have to say? That life is simple complex? that life is not always beautiful? That there is so much more to life than one is willing to explore, even at the individual level? Well, feel like adding a couple of feathers to a heavy dying bird.
(I had been puzzled by Kafka's Metamorphosis until I watched Crumb. Kafka's Samsa turned out to be a "milder" case of the same impairing disorder).
Thought I knew about psychiatric disorders. Unexpectedly I learned something new from the movie, which was either not explicitly described in textbooks or I had missed completely by ignorance, which is that afflicted individuals also have very dysfunctional sexuality. Shouldn't have been a surprise; I just didn't think about it.
It takes someone like R Crumb, with a rare combination of acute personal experiences, a daring (and barely functional) personality and amazing artistic skills, to illustrate and bring this dark side to light. And he brought along his even sicker brothers (his two sisters refused the interview). Their lives are simply tragic, trapped in their scared but also scary animalistic shells. That R Crumb has "survived" and his art recognized is no less than a miracle.
What do I have to say? That life is simple complex? that life is not always beautiful? That there is so much more to life than one is willing to explore, even at the individual level? Well, feel like adding a couple of feathers to a heavy dying bird.
(I had been puzzled by Kafka's Metamorphosis until I watched Crumb. Kafka's Samsa turned out to be a "milder" case of the same impairing disorder).
A scared animal
Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka
"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin."...
Thus began the story of a man with an extremely depressive personality, and he looked at the world in an extremely pessimistic way. which made the reading, too, distressing, although, occasionally, one was amused by small humors here and there.
Others have found numerous cultural or societal implications from or for this story; but really it matters little how the world turns, or does not turn, for someone in such a desperate yet perceptive mindset, which is what this story talks about.
A deliberate rose
The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco
What a lively abbey... at night!
The book tells a murder mystery set in a 14-century Italian monastery, which also held other secrets. The plot is well-structured and well-paced, not too intense yet very intriguing. The story is told in a humorous and pleasant fashion, interwined with details about lives of the Mid Age religious people, reflections on religion and philosophy, and meditations on the intricacies of ... books. And unlike many popular thrillers, the main characters are carefully developed, with good guys personable and bad ones believable. Some parts are a little bit too excessively descriptive, but overall well writeen, even in this translated version.
In short, Rose is a book to enjoy, to learn and to be amused....
However, as soon as I put down the book, I also realized that I had been led by a very deliberate writer to a journey of his design. Eco is likey an atheist who holds something strongly against the Mid Age religion, which he studies as a profession. His opinion is brought out by William of Baskerville, the hero of the book:
"You understand, Adso, I must believe that my proposition works, because I learned it by experience; but to believe it I must assume there are univeral laws. Yet I cannot speak of them, because the very concept that univeral laws and an established order exist woudl imply that God is their prisoner, whereas God is something absolutely free, so that if He wanted, with a single act of His will He could make the world different."...
So the author conjured up a story to illustrate the chaotic consequences of believing in God and to say loudly that there is no God after all - through the mouth of a wise monk.
Not fair, I have to say, even though I am not religious myself. So Rose is a fun book but one does not have to get the message. :-)
If you are not convinced by this "charge", I do have more evidence. :-)
by Umberto Eco
What a lively abbey... at night!
The book tells a murder mystery set in a 14-century Italian monastery, which also held other secrets. The plot is well-structured and well-paced, not too intense yet very intriguing. The story is told in a humorous and pleasant fashion, interwined with details about lives of the Mid Age religious people, reflections on religion and philosophy, and meditations on the intricacies of ... books. And unlike many popular thrillers, the main characters are carefully developed, with good guys personable and bad ones believable. Some parts are a little bit too excessively descriptive, but overall well writeen, even in this translated version.
In short, Rose is a book to enjoy, to learn and to be amused....
However, as soon as I put down the book, I also realized that I had been led by a very deliberate writer to a journey of his design. Eco is likey an atheist who holds something strongly against the Mid Age religion, which he studies as a profession. His opinion is brought out by William of Baskerville, the hero of the book:
"You understand, Adso, I must believe that my proposition works, because I learned it by experience; but to believe it I must assume there are univeral laws. Yet I cannot speak of them, because the very concept that univeral laws and an established order exist woudl imply that God is their prisoner, whereas God is something absolutely free, so that if He wanted, with a single act of His will He could make the world different."...
So the author conjured up a story to illustrate the chaotic consequences of believing in God and to say loudly that there is no God after all - through the mouth of a wise monk.
Not fair, I have to say, even though I am not religious myself. So Rose is a fun book but one does not have to get the message. :-)
If you are not convinced by this "charge", I do have more evidence. :-)
Thursday, June 01, 2006
To the Lighthouse
by Virginia Woolf
i have mixed feelings about this book. two thirds into the story, i was taken by surprise and very much impressed by her seemly casual handling of the sudden turns of events and identified with the author of the unpredictability and frailty of life. My expectation went up, too, only to be let down by the final part, which turned out to be tedious repetition of the first section - any melancholic/poetic sentiment cultured earlier was washed away by the end.
i have mixed feelings about this book. two thirds into the story, i was taken by surprise and very much impressed by her seemly casual handling of the sudden turns of events and identified with the author of the unpredictability and frailty of life. My expectation went up, too, only to be let down by the final part, which turned out to be tedious repetition of the first section - any melancholic/poetic sentiment cultured earlier was washed away by the end.
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