A dozen notes and quotes #12
November 25th 2010 19:57
"And all the stars that never were
Are parking cars and pumping gas."
-- "Do you know the way to San Jose?", lyrics by Hal David
The partner was looking to assign a case, and the choice was between two capable employees.
The choice led to a promotion, the promotion meant a position in France, and the position in France meant a ride on an aeroplane, which went down over the Pacific, losing 128 souls.
So all things considered, the surviving employee was lucky not to have been assigned the case, and of course he recognized this.
But even then, he regarded it as a missed opportunity, and was resentful.
-- "Excuse me, you forgot your bait."
-- "A wise man does not fish to catch fish."
-- "Shaolin Wuzang", series 1, episode 10
Sadness often makes a face more beautiful, because it softens the muscles.
Among the factors that guide our behavior are urges to educate.
What snail mail I do get tends to fall into the categories of:
1. Bills.
2. My old high school asking for money.
3. My old university asking for money.
4. Charities asking for money.
5. Theatre groups asking for money.
6. Writers asking for money (long story).
7. And bank statements telling me how little money I have.
He was suffering from a bad case of conflicting desires. On the one hand, he was friendly with her, he liked her as a person, and he wanted to screw her; on the other, he needed to screw her over to get ahead. So which impulse won -- power or sex?
Fortunately, the boss ended up firing her anyway, so he was free to be a pure friend to her -- with no moral conundrum to trouble him, and no immoral action on his conscience.
Mail order
Yes, she did see him as a passport to a better life, but does this mean that she was being underhand (she wasn't -- everyone concerned knew where they stood), or that the relationship was somehow illegitimate or bad (but arranged marriages are more stable than love-marriages, and often develop love feelings)?
What gets to people is that marriage is treated as a contract like any other contract, and things that aren't normally on the bargaining table -- like love and sex -- are part of the deal.
If your breath smells bad to you yourself, then you've got a problem.
After injury or pain, it's common to feel that the world owes you something, that you deserve something -- for instance, forgiveness for crime, failings or vice, or permission to engage in them.
In this thought one can see, amongst other things, the conceptualization of "the world" -- perhaps as a basic notion -- different from "the Other", and very different from "other people".
Going to the supermarket to shop for girls.
...without speech, yet instantly united, people were quietly freaking out about the girl who in the swimming pool 50m away had taken her top off.
Whilst I, short-sighted, could perceive the disturbance around me, but was unsure if I was just imagining it, and was entirely oblivious to its cause.
This is what it can be like to lack a sense?
For a more obvious lack -- travelling with a group of mongoose, when all at once the pack stands erect, tense, whilst the human observer scratches his head.
How could it be so vivid, this dream, then a minute later be gone so completely? -- Gone, but one notices, one feels the loss.
Are parking cars and pumping gas."
-- "Do you know the way to San Jose?", lyrics by Hal David
***
The partner was looking to assign a case, and the choice was between two capable employees.
The choice led to a promotion, the promotion meant a position in France, and the position in France meant a ride on an aeroplane, which went down over the Pacific, losing 128 souls.
So all things considered, the surviving employee was lucky not to have been assigned the case, and of course he recognized this.
But even then, he regarded it as a missed opportunity, and was resentful.
***
-- "Excuse me, you forgot your bait."
-- "A wise man does not fish to catch fish."
-- "Shaolin Wuzang", series 1, episode 10
***
Sadness often makes a face more beautiful, because it softens the muscles.
***
Among the factors that guide our behavior are urges to educate.
***
What snail mail I do get tends to fall into the categories of:
1. Bills.
2. My old high school asking for money.
3. My old university asking for money.
4. Charities asking for money.
5. Theatre groups asking for money.
6. Writers asking for money (long story).
7. And bank statements telling me how little money I have.
***
He was suffering from a bad case of conflicting desires. On the one hand, he was friendly with her, he liked her as a person, and he wanted to screw her; on the other, he needed to screw her over to get ahead. So which impulse won -- power or sex?
Fortunately, the boss ended up firing her anyway, so he was free to be a pure friend to her -- with no moral conundrum to trouble him, and no immoral action on his conscience.
***
Mail order
Yes, she did see him as a passport to a better life, but does this mean that she was being underhand (she wasn't -- everyone concerned knew where they stood), or that the relationship was somehow illegitimate or bad (but arranged marriages are more stable than love-marriages, and often develop love feelings)?
What gets to people is that marriage is treated as a contract like any other contract, and things that aren't normally on the bargaining table -- like love and sex -- are part of the deal.
***
If your breath smells bad to you yourself, then you've got a problem.
***
After injury or pain, it's common to feel that the world owes you something, that you deserve something -- for instance, forgiveness for crime, failings or vice, or permission to engage in them.
In this thought one can see, amongst other things, the conceptualization of "the world" -- perhaps as a basic notion -- different from "the Other", and very different from "other people".
***
Going to the supermarket to shop for girls.
***
...without speech, yet instantly united, people were quietly freaking out about the girl who in the swimming pool 50m away had taken her top off.
Whilst I, short-sighted, could perceive the disturbance around me, but was unsure if I was just imagining it, and was entirely oblivious to its cause.
This is what it can be like to lack a sense?
For a more obvious lack -- travelling with a group of mongoose, when all at once the pack stands erect, tense, whilst the human observer scratches his head.
***
How could it be so vivid, this dream, then a minute later be gone so completely? -- Gone, but one notices, one feels the loss.
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