Thursday, December 20, 2007

Little Gidding

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

We Must Hurry

To find ways to shield illegal behavior before technology allows police to stop every crime.

Otherwise, how can morality ever change?

All things that were illegal once (alcohol, blasphemy, borrowing money at interest) would still be illegal now.

But what shield against the infinite, all-probing eye?

The only thing that gives me hope is that human nature is immutable, and laws will be re-formed to adjust to whatever is truly inherent anyway.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Compared to You I Am

It was at a party, and my friend X.Y. tried to crush a beer can against his forehead and failed. I don't mention his name because of the humiliation.

Not humiliation because of the failure, but because of what happened next.

I said to him, "You are such an idiot."

He replied, "Compared to you I am."

Silence.

"That's right," I said. "Compared to me, you are."

It was hard for him to come back after that one.

The final exam

It was finals week, I was a junior and there was a senior taking the same test. For him it was the last test he would ever take at university.

He brought a sixpack of beer with him, and slammed it down on the table. You could see that it was cold because of the moisture that gathered around it. He answered the first question, and opened and chugged a beer.

And so it continued with each question.

By the end he was laughing and scribbling on the test. I don't think he even needed to pass to graduate.

Explainer

I use this space as a brain dump, almost a note pad.
Lots of English translations of Dutch information, especially if I think something could also be useful for others. For speed I start with Google translate and then put on finishing touches myself.
*Use at your own risk.*