blah blah blah

'sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.'

If you've spent any time in some sort of school system, you will know just how inaccurate this little mantra is. As children we are all fed the same phrase, essentially teaching us to pretend that the mean words and people aren't there. But as you get older, the verbal sticks and stones grow more accurate and often more painful - and less forgivable as a result. Today I discovered the true extent of just how hurtful and frightening words can be. Of course this wasn't surprising, but it was distressing nonetheless.

fixed gear

Some people have too much time on their hands. click.

My problem is I haven't got enough, but I act as if I do.

snippets

At the moment, I am enamoured of short stories. Something about their succinct nature, and novel approach to plot is incredibly satisfying. This current fascination is, unsurprisingly, the product of my literature studies. Over the course of the semester I have been introduce to two anthologies of short stories: Dubliners by James Joyce and after the quake by Haruki Murakami (although, I suppose the names are reversed in Japan). However, this morning I stumbled across a grim little tale by Saki called Sredni Vashtar.

Read it. Let me know what you think.

abroad

"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country."

- MARK TWAIN

latin.

*

meum cerebrum nocet.

*

Everything has begun to creep up on me: university, exams, illness, unemployment... In order to assertain any modicum of independence I need to do something about these issues. However, the list of things I need to do continues to grow - and it's suffocating. Eventually, stress jumbles everything together, producing a constant sense of frustration. But for the moment I'm just going to let it slide by. Resumes and job-hunting can wait. For now, or at least until exams are gone, I intend to ignore the pangs of guilt I feel when I ask my parents for money. And travel tissue packs can be purchased.

philosophically political economics

CHALLENGING THE PARADIGM

Recently in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) we were given the following analogy and asked to discuss it in a lecture.

'...Humanitarian interventions are seen as attempts at rescuing the innocent and helpless from persecution and extreme distress. We can dramatize its appeal by resort to a simple analogy. You are on your way home from work and you see a very strong man involved in an argument with his own child. It's noisy and unpleasant, but (you reason) it's their family and none of your business. But the dispute rapidly heats up and the man begins beating the child with a heavy stick. You protest and remonstrate with the man, but he tells you to get lost. He continues beating the child viciously, and indeed draws a knife and begins to brandish it at him. You fear for the child's life and as it happens you are (legitimately) carrying a gun. Surely you should threaten the father, and if the threats don't work, you are morally entitled to shoot...'

Later, in our tutorials we were given case studies from Rwanda or Kosovo, and asked to decide if intervention was justified. We were also asked to contemplate who and how it would be implemented. Military intervention almost always was the answer. This being the case, it is safe to assume that humanitarian intervention often results in mass killing, and even war.

Seems rather paradoxical doesn't it?

music

'I drink good coffee every morning, comes from a place that's far away
And when I'm done I feel like talking, Without you here there is less to say...'

I find it fascinating the effect music can have on a person. Instantly it can revive moods, or lull you into a state of meditation. There are so many individual aspects of a song that can have an effect; the melody, the rhythm, the lyrics. Usually it's the melody or beat that first attracts me to a song. Certain songs invade my chest and make me grin, even want to dance. Others never disappoint me, producing a feeling of contentedness. Eventually the lyrics become more apparent - although sometimes they verge on undecipherable. Sometimes you have to pick away to find the meaning, but others the lyrics are simple and nice - simply nice.

Hmm, silly thoughts. Enjoy.