It is a fact so familiar that we seldom remember… how very strange it is that the commonest phrases we hear used about civilization at the present time all relate to the possibility, or even the prospect, of it being destroyed – George N Clark (1932)
Everyone now hates SCOTUS – American is united – 85% of the Democrats, 81% of the Independents and 70% or the Republicans oppose the turning of property into people. Only 8% of the American voters say that they would re-elect incumbent lawmakers. 75% of the voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing.
We’re not hunting for the great image that will resonate in people’s minds and help us understand… but for the momentary thrill – Ned Niedziecki – The Peep Diaries, 2009 p204
And when you lose
Its for an eternity
And when you win
Its not for long
But there is no choice
Whether to win or to lose
But how many times
One has to throw the die
Three barriers sever us, fellow: your language, your poverty, your insanity. Now and again, I’ve stepped to the far side of all three – Samuel R Delany – Dark Reflections, 2007 p74
If you are predisposed to doubt my honesty, then I have nothing to lose by my lying..
Your words are a wonderful lullaby: / Because of them for three months I haven’t slept – Anna Akhmatova – The Complete Poems, 1992 p148
People who are uncomfortable with complexity and ambiguity generally tend to be more conservative
Let us glorify the burden of fate, / which in time of tears takes the nation’s helm. / Let us glorify the dark burden of power, / it’s unbearable oppressions / Whoever has the heart should earn, time // How your ship is sinking – Osip Mandelstram – Tristia p87
Ask questions and throw the hockey puck around – a horrible metaphor that I overheard, sort of similar to “Raise it up the flag pole and see who salutes” but with the added advantage of incorporating sports
Once something has been proved it stands to take on a concrete reality – Marcus du Sautoy – Symmetry, 2008 p130
The late great stage of the homo sapien is the cosmopithecoid
Even the darkest days of the years / Must become brighter. / I can’t find the simile for - / How tender your lips are – Anna Akhmatova – The Complete Poems, 1992 p184
Technology raises the threshold for self-sufficiency
Those who strive to reach it are mad, and those / Who reach it – stricken by grief… / Now you understand why my heart / Does not beat faster under your hand – Anna Akhmatova – The Complete Poems, 1992 p181
Beware of Botox – without the means of physically expressing certain feelings (as when cosmetic surgery makes it difficult to smile) we may have trouble processing our emotions - By altering our faces we’re tempering with the ancient lines of communication between face and brain that may change our minds in ways we don’t yet understand – Carl Zimmer – Discover
The Earth – love it or leave it
Forgive me that I ignored the sun / And that I lived in sorrow. / Forgive, forgive, that I / Mistook too many others for you – Anna Akhmatova – The Complete Poems, 1992 p216
Government in a box – “We’ve got a government in a box, ready to roll in” – General Stanley A McChrystal, bringing a “big box” to your local neighborhood
After wine, I go out into the fields, / wander open country – singing, // asking myself how green grass / could be a white-haired old man – Li Po – The Selected Poems, 1996 o p120
Capitalism – paradise for some at the expense of the many
So many stones have been thrown at me, / That I’m not frightened of them anymore, / And the pit has become a solid tower, / Tall among tall towers. / I think the builders – Anna Akhmatova – The Complete Poems, 1992 p174
The croupier shouted
I ran like hell
The light turned red
I lit out
It was snowing
I wasn’t wearing any shoes
Emergency sirens are bee bopping
I used to like jazz
Little cars careened about
I had once been loved
A homeless man sold roses
I wanted to hid out
The moon came out
I did not look up
This damn city is cold
Mathematicians are driven in their work by a strong sense of aesthetics, and the correct path to follow is quite often the most beautiful one – Marcus du Sautoy – Symmetry, 2008 p145
The lady is crying in her Chemay. The lady had asked the bartender if he knew differences between roasting, boiling and frying? The Irishman, Tom, escaped from Mark, said that he was drunk. Mark later came over to say goodbye to Tom. Tom introduced us, said Mark was a philosopher. “I don’t know about that”, Mark replied. What pissed Tom off was when Mark insulted the barmaid when he said she would be a good lay. “Now I’ve pissed Tom off. He’s a good man.” After Mark leaves, Tom returns and taps me on the shoulder, “Thanks for being a good sport”, he says. “That’s why I left the other end of the bar.”
Lee talks in half sentences – you get the hang of it after a while, and after a few beers. He gets exhausted half way through a sentence with all that wind rushing through the gaps in his teeth
“I never…Tom so mad.” The bartender buys Lee a pint and I leave a bill on the bar. “Bank will be the eventually…high and dry…But if you don’t have the income to pay for government services…” Lee is lecturing on politics, economics and outsourcing.
Darkness descends on San Francisco like a lover creeping naked in between the satin sheets, transforming a hazy lazy afternoon into a frantic race with an ever faster pendulum clock - hours becoming minutes, minutes becoming seconds. A second is no longer a measurable unit. Soon I too must join the frenzy. It has gotten dark and I shall go out and howl at the moon
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