You'd Think This Were a Tumble Blog III

"What we are losing, ever seems to us the most precious." - Matthew Lewis, The Monk

This is a truth. This expresses much of what I felt the last month or so I was in Scotland.

I'm So Back at School...

"Only in the sphere of art, Cassirer maintains, does the opposition between image and meaning become resolved, for only in the aesthetic consciousness is the image recognized as such." -- David Bidney, 'Myth, Symbolism, and Truth'

A Quote Worthwhile

“The safety of the world depends on your saying ‘no’ to inhumane ideas. Standing up for one’s own integrity makes you no friends. It is costly. Yet defiance of the mob, in the service of that which is right, is one of the highest expressions of courage I know.”

- Gabrielle Giffords

Thoughts and prayers to Ms. Giffords, all those injured in today's incidents, and their families. May she pull through.

The Nature of Evil

"The members of the congregation belonged to the Ibo tribe, and the traditional religion o the Ibo, like that of the majority of African communities, does not know the concept of sin. The African belief system has a radically different understanding of guilt from that espoused by Christian theology. In Africa, the notion of metaphysical, abstract evil - evil in and of itself - does not exist. A deed first becomes evil when it is discovered, and, second, when the community or the individual declares it to be evil. Moreover, the criterion here is not axiomatic, but practical, concrete: that which does harm to others is evil. Evil intentions do not exist, because evil is not evil until it materializes, assumes an active form. There are only evil actions." - Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Shadow of the Sun


I really like the idea that "that which does harm to others is evil." That is a truth, I feel. I align himself along with the Christian belief that evil does exist in an external form, that we can think evil thoughts (for is not thinking an action?), but that we are not evil simply by breathing, existing. In my belief system, Christ overcomes all else, if we allow him to.

Living Betterly

"I have so much, so much around me that is good. Not everything; I still want more, I probably want more than I could handle; in fact I probably want things that would only make me unhappy if I had the. But even that's okay; that's till part of the contentment.

"If my life was a film, he thought, I'd roll the credits now; fade on this beatific smile in an empty room, the man on a ladder making things better, renovating, improving. Cut. Print. The End.

"Well, he told himself, it isn't a film, laddie. He was filled with a surge of pure joy, simple delight at being where and who he was and knowing the people he did. He threw the paint brush into one corner of the room, jumped off the ladder, and ran through to Andrea." -- Iain Banks, The Bridge.

When I first arrived at home after my sojourn abroad, I felt that life was perfect. My life still feels pretty perfect, and I am quite content (searching for internships is putting a damper on my contentment levels, though), and I thought Iain Banks expressed the idea adequately. Not perfectly; that's something that I'll reserve for myself when I've had enough time away from Mr. Banks' ideas.

P.S. Yes, Jeffershon, I took the conceit for the title from one of your friends. I thought it was pretty brilliant, and brilliant things need to be spread.

Welp, That Was Fun - Back to Real(ish) Life

So, I'm off to a trawling start in 2011. I have been reading and "writing" and puttering around on the computer, doing a little experimental cooking, keeping a fairly low profile. I've still been thinking about new themes to put up, and I'm entranced with the idea of posting about pants/trousers (in my lexicon, they are the same thing).

You have seen this before.

However, part of me also thinks that it's okay just writing about myself, my works and days. Riiight now, however, I am searching for internships for this summer. They are the banes of my holidays.

I officially dislike searching for internships, because what you're looking for in terms of company/experience isn't exactly what prospective companies are offering. Companies and organizations are forever looking for the perfect, cancer-curing intern. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for, and I have a feeling that companies aren't looking for me.

It feels like every advert for intern jobs goes something like this.

"We want a creative, energetic, intelligent, self-motivated intern to do a few menial jobs and learning the basics about our industry. She must be willing to wash away the tears of blood that her forebears have shed with her own lignin. At all times her body must resonate at a perfect A flat that will bring harmony to the universe while entertaining her superiors. Her skin must shine through rainbows, and her brain must be able to sense macro- and microwaves. Being able to microwave leftovers with said brain is a huge plus.

"P.S. This internship is unpaid, but we might be willing to give you some compensation. Like a bus pass."

Sigh. Bus passes are better than nothing, though.

Part of landing an internship is to sell yourself, but there can't be too much of a discrepancy between what you are and how good you make yourself sound. I may have done so a bit last year, which is why I wasn't that great of an intern, I feel.

Last year's internship did come with some pretty awesome experiences, though, and overall I did learn a lot.

Things I've Learned Part Three

The year feels like a phoenix, eternally falling and rising. Personally, I dislike the beginning of the year; all the anticipation of the holidays and celebrations are over, and life fades back into depressing regularity. It is pock-marked with doing things we don’t want to do, i.e. New Year’s resolutions. However, it is also a time to reflect back on what we have done, and what do most people like to do better than think about themselves? Okay, okay, I’ll try not to be so self-absorbed, but here are a few of the things I’ve learned.

• Life isn't all that bad. I can do things, even though it seems paralyzing at first. I can function and be motivated. In fact, life is pretty amazing sometimes.
• I can function in foreign countries!
• Cooking is more fun when you have people to do it with. And people to feed, too.
• My personality is rather elastic.
• I have a love-hate relationship with stuff. Why must it give me such a high when I buy things? Why do I feel so low when I’m overloaded with a bunch of crap?
• I get attached to people. I begin to think that they’re the best in the world, and there’s no one quite like them. This has happened in multiple places. Thus, I can conclude with reasonable confidence that the world, in general, is populated with pretty good people.
• I want to live abroad again.
• Making lists are useful things. I used to make lists, and recently I’ve given them up. That was a bad idea. I need them in my life.