I'm having trouble right now; I'm in play mode. I need to be in stress, work, I'm going to kill myself mode, or I'm not going to get anything done.
Someone stress me out~~~
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Issa Snow Haiku
橇を子等に習つてはきにけり
kanjiki wo kora ni naratte haki ni keri
kanjiki wo kora ni naratte haki ni keri
snowshoes--
children show me how
to put them on
children show me how
to put them on
.そり引や犬が上荷乗て行
sori hiku ya inu ga uwani nosete yuku
sori hiku ya inu ga uwani nosete yuku
a man pulls a snow sled
a dog atop
the cargo
a dog atop
the cargo
.初雪のふはふはかかる小鬢哉
hatsu yuki no fuwa-fuwa kakaru kobin kana
hatsu yuki no fuwa-fuwa kakaru kobin kana
the first snow
softly, softly clings...
side lock of hair
softly, softly clings...
side lock of hair
.初雪や古郷見ゆる壁の穴
hatsu yuki ya furusato miyuru kabe no ana
hatsu yuki ya furusato miyuru kabe no ana
first snowfall--
my home village in a hole
in the wall
my home village in a hole
in the wall
.はつ雪や雪やといふも歯なし哉
hatsu yuki ya yuki ya to ium mo ha nashi kana
hatsu yuki ya yuki ya to ium mo ha nashi kana
"First snowfall, snowfall!"
he says
without teeth
he says
without teeth
大雪やおれが真上の天の川
ôyuki ya ore ga ma ue no ama no gawa
ôyuki ya ore ga ma ue no ama no gawa
a big snow--
straight above me
the Milky Way
straight above me
the Milky Way
.雪礫投る拍子にころぶかな
yukitsubute tojiru hyôshi ni korobu kana
yukitsubute tojiru hyôshi ni korobu kana
to the beat
of the snowballs
he tumbles
of the snowballs
he tumbles
original by Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Snowy Morning
Snowy Morning
Have you taken a grapefruit from the fridge,
Sliced it open, segmented it with the serrated knife,
Sprinkled sugar on, while stood at the kitchen window
Startled by the first winter snowfall?
Staring into the chilled and crowded air
The tang of the grapefruit smacks
Its truth onto your tongue and throat
As it slips down, slice by slice.
Sliced it open, segmented it with the serrated knife,
Sprinkled sugar on, while stood at the kitchen window
Startled by the first winter snowfall?
Staring into the chilled and crowded air
The tang of the grapefruit smacks
Its truth onto your tongue and throat
As it slips down, slice by slice.
Last night the bald trees were brown,
The grass in patches, the bushes clipped back.
Glamorous snow has caught out the silent birds
And the boy that runs from the back door
In gum boots, hat askew, jacket unbuttoned,
And mother yelling him back, who stops only
To open wide his eyes and mouth, arms
And fingers, to the crystal flakes.
The grass in patches, the bushes clipped back.
Glamorous snow has caught out the silent birds
And the boy that runs from the back door
In gum boots, hat askew, jacket unbuttoned,
And mother yelling him back, who stops only
To open wide his eyes and mouth, arms
And fingers, to the crystal flakes.
He feels he's happened on a fairy tale's
Deliverance from darkest sleep;
While we, grown older, see the world's shift
As news, like any other unexpected event
That makes the news. We think of slippery paths,
Frozen cars, cold knees and necks
And the inconvenience of ice; we shiver
And switch the coffee machine on.
Deliverance from darkest sleep;
While we, grown older, see the world's shift
As news, like any other unexpected event
That makes the news. We think of slippery paths,
Frozen cars, cold knees and necks
And the inconvenience of ice; we shiver
And switch the coffee machine on.
But did something touch us
Slithering like a soft feather falling into
The spaces between words? And were those words
Like bells chiming in the crystal air?
Then let each day be like a snowy morning,
Even your last on earth, as your spoon delves
Again into the grapefruit, its juices
Dissolving the sprinkled sugar snow to slush.
Slithering like a soft feather falling into
The spaces between words? And were those words
Like bells chiming in the crystal air?
Then let each day be like a snowy morning,
Even your last on earth, as your spoon delves
Again into the grapefruit, its juices
Dissolving the sprinkled sugar snow to slush.
-Paul Archer
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Monday, September 29, 2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Kokoro
“I believe that words uttered in passion contain a greater living truth
than do those words which express thoughts rationally conceived. It is
blood that moves the body. Words are not meant to stir the air only:
they are capable of moving greater things.”
“You seem to be under the impression that there is a special breed of bad humans. There is no such thing as a stereotype bad man in this world. Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or, at least, ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men.”
“I do not want your admiration now, because I do not want your insults in the future. I bear with my loneliness now, in order to avoid greater loneliness in the years ahead. You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egotistical selves.”
“Like the first whiff of burning incense, or like the taste of one's first cup of saké, there is in love that moment when all its power is felt.”
“To tell you the truth, I used to consider it a disgrace to be found ignorant by other people. But now, I find that I am not ashamed of knowing less than others, and I'm less inclined to force myself to read books. In short, I have grown old and decrepit.”
“I am a lonely man," he said again that evening. "And is it not possible that you are also a lonely person? But I am an older man, and I can live with my loneliness, quietly. You are young, and it must be difficult to accept your loneliness. You must sometimes want to fight it."
"But I am not at all lonely."
"Youth is the loneliest time of all. Otherwise, why should you come so often to my house?"
Sensei continued: "But surely, when you are with me, you cannot rid yourself of your loneliness. I have not it in me to help you forget it. You will have to look elsewhere for the consolation you seek. And soon, you will find that you no longer want to visit me."
As he said this, Sensei smiled sadly.”
“The memory of having sat at someone's feet will later make you want to trample him underfoot.”
“No matter how full one's head might be with the image of greatness, one was useless, I found out, unless one was a worthy man first.”
-Kokoro, Natsume Souseki
quotes from Goodreads
“You seem to be under the impression that there is a special breed of bad humans. There is no such thing as a stereotype bad man in this world. Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or, at least, ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men.”
“I do not want your admiration now, because I do not want your insults in the future. I bear with my loneliness now, in order to avoid greater loneliness in the years ahead. You see, loneliness is the price we have to pay for being born in this modern age, so full of freedom, independence, and our own egotistical selves.”
“Like the first whiff of burning incense, or like the taste of one's first cup of saké, there is in love that moment when all its power is felt.”
“To tell you the truth, I used to consider it a disgrace to be found ignorant by other people. But now, I find that I am not ashamed of knowing less than others, and I'm less inclined to force myself to read books. In short, I have grown old and decrepit.”
“I am a lonely man," he said again that evening. "And is it not possible that you are also a lonely person? But I am an older man, and I can live with my loneliness, quietly. You are young, and it must be difficult to accept your loneliness. You must sometimes want to fight it."
"But I am not at all lonely."
"Youth is the loneliest time of all. Otherwise, why should you come so often to my house?"
Sensei continued: "But surely, when you are with me, you cannot rid yourself of your loneliness. I have not it in me to help you forget it. You will have to look elsewhere for the consolation you seek. And soon, you will find that you no longer want to visit me."
As he said this, Sensei smiled sadly.”
“The memory of having sat at someone's feet will later make you want to trample him underfoot.”
“No matter how full one's head might be with the image of greatness, one was useless, I found out, unless one was a worthy man first.”
-Kokoro, Natsume Souseki
quotes from Goodreads
Kasa no Iratsume
The Gods of heaven are irrational.
So I may die and never meet you,
whom I love so much.
-Kasa no Iratsume
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
So I may die and never meet you,
whom I love so much.
-Kasa no Iratsume
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
Akazome Emon
I can no longer tell dream from reality.
Into what world shall I awake
from this bewildering dream?
-Akazome Emon
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
Into what world shall I awake
from this bewildering dream?
-Akazome Emon
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
Kenrei Mon-in Ukyou no Daibu
The leaves of the bush clover rustle in the wind.
I, not a leaf,
watched you without a sound.
You may have thought I paid no attention.
-Kenrei Mon-in Ukyou no Daibu
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
I, not a leaf,
watched you without a sound.
You may have thought I paid no attention.
-Kenrei Mon-in Ukyou no Daibu
translated by Kenneth Rexroth and Ikuko Atsumi
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
mouse
My room has two cats that are too lazy to go to other parts of the house. Guess what I found last night under my bed?
a mouse.
And I caught it with my trashcan.
one of my cats was very interested. As above.
We set it free tonight in a deserted field.
a mouse.
And I caught it with my trashcan.
We set it free tonight in a deserted field.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Pages 294-295
“'And you too look like you're doing
well,' he says, with a kindly gaze.
'Really? Well, there have been a few
changes that have been good for me.'
'You know, I didn't come back here to
see the apartment or the people, here. I'm not even sure they'd
recognize me; I even brought my ID card, just in case you yourself
didn't recognize me. No, I came because there's something I can't
remember, something that helped me a lot, already when I was sick and
then afterwards, when I was getting better.'
'And you think I can help?'
'Yes, because you were the one who
told me the name of those flowers one day. In the flower bed, over
there”-he points toward the far side of the courtyard- “there are
some pretty little red and white flowers, you planted them there,
didn't you? And one day I asked you what they were but I wasn't able
to remember the name. And yet I used to think about those flowers all
the time, I don't know why. They're nice to look at, and when I was
so bad off I would think about those flowers, and it did me good. So
I was in the neighborhood just now and I thought, I am going to ask
Madame Michel, maybe she can tell me.'
Slightly embarrassed, he waits for my
reaction.
'It must seem weird, no? I hope I'm
not scaring you, with this flower business.'
'No, not at all. If only I'd known the
good they were doing you...I'd have planted them all over the place!'
He laughs, like a delighted child.
'Ah, Madame Michel, you know, it
practically saved my life. That in itself is a miracle! So, can you
tell me what they're called?'
Yes my angel, I can. Along the
pathways of hell, breathless, one's heart in one's mouth, a faint
glow: they are camellias.
'Yes,' I say. 'They are camellias.'
He stares at me, wide-eyed. A tear
slips across his waiflike cheek.
'Camellias...' he says, lost in a
memory that is his alone. 'Camellias, yes.' He repeats the word,
looking at me again. 'That's it. Camellias.'
I feel a tear on my own cheek.
I take his hand.
'Jean, you cannot imagine how happy I
am that you came by here today.'
'Really?' He looks astonished. 'But
why?'
Why?
Because a camellia can change fate.”
-Muriel Barbary (294-295)
Muriel's camellias
"The camellia against the moss of the
temple, the violet hues of the Kyoto mountains, a blue porcelain
cup-this sudden flowering of pure beauty at the heart of ephemeral
passion: is this not something we all aspire to? And something that,
in our Western civilization, we do not know how to attain?
The contemplation of eternity within
the very movement of life"
-Muriel Barbary (101)
The Munekata Sisters in The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Quotes of Ozu's The Munekata Sisters, in The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary.
Pages 99-100
THE FATHER
And the Moss Temple! The light made the moss even more splendid.
SETSUKO
And the camellia on the moss, too.
THE FATHER
Oh, did you notice? How beautiful it was! (Pause.) There are beautiful things in Old Japan. (Pause.) Insisting that it's all bad...I find that outrageous.
SETSUKO,her face radiant
Tell me, Mariko, why are the mountains of Kyoto violet?
MARIKO,mischeviously
It's true. They look like azuki bean paste.
SETSUKO,smiling
It's such a lovely color.
SETSUKO
True novelty is that which does not grow old, despite the passage of time.
Pages 99-100
THE FATHER
And the Moss Temple! The light made the moss even more splendid.
SETSUKO
And the camellia on the moss, too.
THE FATHER
Oh, did you notice? How beautiful it was! (Pause.) There are beautiful things in Old Japan. (Pause.) Insisting that it's all bad...I find that outrageous.
SETSUKO,her face radiant
Tell me, Mariko, why are the mountains of Kyoto violet?
MARIKO,mischeviously
It's true. They look like azuki bean paste.
SETSUKO,smiling
It's such a lovely color.
SETSUKO
True novelty is that which does not grow old, despite the passage of time.
Clandestine
Define Clandestine:
kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit.
(google)
kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit.
(google)
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Le Herisson trailer
Monday, August 4, 2014
Spring Rain
いじめられ
行きたし行けぬ
春の雨
Ijimerare
Ikitashi Ikenu
Haru no Ame
Bullied
I wanted to go but couldn't
Spring rain
-Kobayashi Rin
行きたし行けぬ
春の雨
Ijimerare
Ikitashi Ikenu
Haru no Ame
Bullied
I wanted to go but couldn't
Spring rain
-Kobayashi Rin
Friday, July 25, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Cowards
“The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave but one?'
'Of course. Who said it?'
'I don't know.'
'He was probably a coward,' she said. "He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he's intelligent. He simply doesn't mention them.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms―
“When you don't fight your adversary, you become the coward in the sight of animalistic breeds, but they forget that your real strength stays in the whisper of your voice.”
―Michael Bassey Johnson
“If you follow the prescribed way of how people want you to be, then it will be of great relieve if you commit suicide than to be dragged along like a donkey.”
-Michael Bassey Johnson
“Fear breeds cowardice, and cowardice compels bravery.”
-Ogwo David Emenike
'Of course. Who said it?'
'I don't know.'
'He was probably a coward,' she said. "He knew a great deal about cowards but nothing about the brave. The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he's intelligent. He simply doesn't mention them.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms―
“When you don't fight your adversary, you become the coward in the sight of animalistic breeds, but they forget that your real strength stays in the whisper of your voice.”
―Michael Bassey Johnson
“If you follow the prescribed way of how people want you to be, then it will be of great relieve if you commit suicide than to be dragged along like a donkey.”
-Michael Bassey Johnson
“Fear breeds cowardice, and cowardice compels bravery.”
-Ogwo David Emenike
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
Airports
Airports
We shuffle round Departures
past Security but even less sure
of ourselves, patting pockets,
feeling bags for tickets, passports,
bored, checking the electronic board
for gate numbers, 'Boarding';
the names of places gleam:
the familiar, the wild unknown.
Planes glide in, touch down,
while others roar off into clouds,
but here is another plane of mere
existence, the empty stares
of people who'd rather be elsewhere
and stores without poems, or poets.
-Paul Archer
http://www.paularcher.net/index.html
We shuffle round Departures
past Security but even less sure
of ourselves, patting pockets,
feeling bags for tickets, passports,
bored, checking the electronic board
for gate numbers, 'Boarding';
the names of places gleam:
the familiar, the wild unknown.
Planes glide in, touch down,
while others roar off into clouds,
but here is another plane of mere
existence, the empty stares
of people who'd rather be elsewhere
and stores without poems, or poets.
-Paul Archer
http://www.paularcher.net/index.html
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Loose-Lace Shoes
Loose-Lace Shoes
Here's what happened on my way home
Not half an hour ago: the laces came undone
On one of my shoes - the right one -
I could hear them ticking, their ends
Flicking on the pavement,
I saw them arcing with each step,
Bobbing, cartwheeling, somersaulting.
I should've stopped to pull them tight
And thread a bow and maybe fasten
The bow upon itself to make sure -
But out of laziness, or not wanting to
Break my flow or make an obstacle
In the path of others, or for whatever reason,
I kept on walking and added an extra
Unaccustomed dimension to a familiar walk.
For my right foot felt freer and freer,
As if it was easing itself into another life,
As if it was a bare foot sinking into sand,
Or an Indian tracker's on a wild trail -
Though, as it was only the right foot,
I was only halfway there - but still.
Not half an hour ago: the laces came undone
On one of my shoes - the right one -
I could hear them ticking, their ends
Flicking on the pavement,
I saw them arcing with each step,
Bobbing, cartwheeling, somersaulting.
I should've stopped to pull them tight
And thread a bow and maybe fasten
The bow upon itself to make sure -
But out of laziness, or not wanting to
Break my flow or make an obstacle
In the path of others, or for whatever reason,
I kept on walking and added an extra
Unaccustomed dimension to a familiar walk.
For my right foot felt freer and freer,
As if it was easing itself into another life,
As if it was a bare foot sinking into sand,
Or an Indian tracker's on a wild trail -
Though, as it was only the right foot,
I was only halfway there - but still.
I paused at a crossing's light, a lady
Nodded her head down: "Your shoelace..."
"Oh," feigning astonishment as if one
Mortified by going into the street half-shod,
I bent to the lace, tied it up. Now
I felt the shoe pinching me tight, not only that,
But I'd taken on the character of that shoe,
All strait-laced, sensible, dusty and dull.
Just like anyone-else on the street that day,
Or rather, now, not like Someone.
So when your shoelace next springs loose
Let it stay that way for a while.
Be the only shoelace-loose stranger
On the street, or the whole town, and if anyone
Dares to point out your shoe's undone,
Don't bend down, look them straight
With your head up high and say:
"You know what, I like it that way."
Nodded her head down: "Your shoelace..."
"Oh," feigning astonishment as if one
Mortified by going into the street half-shod,
I bent to the lace, tied it up. Now
I felt the shoe pinching me tight, not only that,
But I'd taken on the character of that shoe,
All strait-laced, sensible, dusty and dull.
Just like anyone-else on the street that day,
Or rather, now, not like Someone.
So when your shoelace next springs loose
Let it stay that way for a while.
Be the only shoelace-loose stranger
On the street, or the whole town, and if anyone
Dares to point out your shoe's undone,
Don't bend down, look them straight
With your head up high and say:
"You know what, I like it that way."
-Paul Archer
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Ame ni mo Makezu
ame ni mo makezu
kaze ni mo makezu
yuki ni mo natsu no atsusa ni mo makenu
jōbu na karada wo mochi
yoku wa naku
kesshite ikarazu
itsu mo shizuka ni waratte iru
ichi nichi ni genmai yon gō to
miso to sukoshi no yasai wo tabe
arayuru koto wo
jibun wo kanjō ni irezu ni
yoku mikiki shi wakari
soshite wasurezu
nohara no matsu no hayashi no kage no
chiisa na kayabuki no koya ni ite
higashi ni byōki no kodomo areba
itte kanbyō shite yari
nishi ni tsukareta haha areba
itte sono ine no taba wo oi
minami ni shinisō na hito areba
itte kowagaranakute mo ii to ii
kita ni kenka ya soshō ga areba
tsumaranai kara yamero to ii
hideri no toki wa namida wo nagashi
samusa no natsu wa oro-oro aruki
minna ni deku-no-bō to yobare
homerare mo sezu
ku ni mo sarezu
sō iu mono ni
watashi wa naritai
translation from Wikipedia :
not losing to the rain
not losing to the wind
not losing to the snow nor to summer's heat
with a strong body
unfettered by desire
never losing temper
always quietly smiling
every day four bowls of brown rice
miso and some vegetables to eat
in everything
count yourself last and put others before you
watching and listening, and understanding
and never forgetting
in the shade of the woods of the pines of the fields
being in a little thatched hut
if there is a sick child to the east
going and nursing over them
if there is a tired mother to the west
going and shouldering her sheaf of rice
if there is someone near death to the south
going and saying there's no need to be afraid
if there is a quarrel or a lawsuit to the north
telling them to leave off with such waste
when there's drought, shedding tears of sympathy
when the summer's cold, wandering upset
called a nobody by everyone
without being praised
without being blamed
such a person
I want to become
~Kenji Miyazawa
kaze ni mo makezu
yuki ni mo natsu no atsusa ni mo makenu
jōbu na karada wo mochi
yoku wa naku
kesshite ikarazu
itsu mo shizuka ni waratte iru
ichi nichi ni genmai yon gō to
miso to sukoshi no yasai wo tabe
arayuru koto wo
jibun wo kanjō ni irezu ni
yoku mikiki shi wakari
soshite wasurezu
nohara no matsu no hayashi no kage no
chiisa na kayabuki no koya ni ite
higashi ni byōki no kodomo areba
itte kanbyō shite yari
nishi ni tsukareta haha areba
itte sono ine no taba wo oi
minami ni shinisō na hito areba
itte kowagaranakute mo ii to ii
kita ni kenka ya soshō ga areba
tsumaranai kara yamero to ii
hideri no toki wa namida wo nagashi
samusa no natsu wa oro-oro aruki
minna ni deku-no-bō to yobare
homerare mo sezu
ku ni mo sarezu
sō iu mono ni
watashi wa naritai
translation from Wikipedia :
not losing to the rain
not losing to the wind
not losing to the snow nor to summer's heat
with a strong body
unfettered by desire
never losing temper
always quietly smiling
every day four bowls of brown rice
miso and some vegetables to eat
in everything
count yourself last and put others before you
watching and listening, and understanding
and never forgetting
in the shade of the woods of the pines of the fields
being in a little thatched hut
if there is a sick child to the east
going and nursing over them
if there is a tired mother to the west
going and shouldering her sheaf of rice
if there is someone near death to the south
going and saying there's no need to be afraid
if there is a quarrel or a lawsuit to the north
telling them to leave off with such waste
when there's drought, shedding tears of sympathy
when the summer's cold, wandering upset
called a nobody by everyone
without being praised
without being blamed
such a person
I want to become
~Kenji Miyazawa
Friday, June 27, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Sanary
Sanary
Her little hot room looked over the bay
Through a stiff palisade of glinting palms,
And there she would lie in the heat of the day,
Her dark head resting upon her arms,
So quiet, so still, she did not seem
To think, to feel, or even to dream.
The shimmering, blinding web of sea
Hung from the sky, and the spider sun
With busy frightening cruelty
Crawled over the sky and spun and spun.
She could see it still when she shut her eyes,
And the little boats caught in the web like flies.
Down below at this idle hour
Nobody walked in the dust street;
A scent of a dying mimosa flower
Lay on the air, but sweet--too sweet.
-Katherine Mansfield
Her little hot room looked over the bay
Through a stiff palisade of glinting palms,
And there she would lie in the heat of the day,
Her dark head resting upon her arms,
So quiet, so still, she did not seem
To think, to feel, or even to dream.
The shimmering, blinding web of sea
Hung from the sky, and the spider sun
With busy frightening cruelty
Crawled over the sky and spun and spun.
She could see it still when she shut her eyes,
And the little boats caught in the web like flies.
Down below at this idle hour
Nobody walked in the dust street;
A scent of a dying mimosa flower
Lay on the air, but sweet--too sweet.
-Katherine Mansfield
Saturday, June 14, 2014
The Prison Cell
The Prison Cell
It is possible…
It is possible at least sometimes…
It is possible especially now
To ride a horse
Inside a prison cell
And run away…
It is possible for prison walls
To disappear,
For the cell to become a distant land
Without frontiers:
What did you do with the walls?
I gave them back to the rocks.
And what did you do with the ceiling?
I turned it into a saddle.
And your chain?
I turned it into a pencil.
The prison guard got angry.
He put an end to my dialogue.
He said he didn't care for poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
He came back to see me
In the morning,
He shouted at me:
Where did all this water come from?
I brought it from the Nile.
And the trees?
From the orchards of Damascus.
And the music?
From my heartbeat.
The prison guard got mad;
He put an end to my dialogue.
He said he didn't like my poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
But he returned in the evening:
Where did this moon come from?
From the nights of Baghdad.
And the wine?
From the vineyards of Algiers.
And this freedom?
From the chain you tied me with last night.
The prison guard grew so sad…
He begged me to give him back
His freedom.
~Mahmoud Darwish
It is possible…
It is possible at least sometimes…
It is possible especially now
To ride a horse
Inside a prison cell
And run away…
It is possible for prison walls
To disappear,
For the cell to become a distant land
Without frontiers:
What did you do with the walls?
I gave them back to the rocks.
And what did you do with the ceiling?
I turned it into a saddle.
And your chain?
I turned it into a pencil.
The prison guard got angry.
He put an end to my dialogue.
He said he didn't care for poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
He came back to see me
In the morning,
He shouted at me:
Where did all this water come from?
I brought it from the Nile.
And the trees?
From the orchards of Damascus.
And the music?
From my heartbeat.
The prison guard got mad;
He put an end to my dialogue.
He said he didn't like my poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
But he returned in the evening:
Where did this moon come from?
From the nights of Baghdad.
And the wine?
From the vineyards of Algiers.
And this freedom?
From the chain you tied me with last night.
The prison guard grew so sad…
He begged me to give him back
His freedom.
~Mahmoud Darwish
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Saturday, May 24, 2014
The Elegance of the Hedgehog quotes
“I may be indigent in name, position, and in appearance, but in my own mind I am an unrivaled goddess -”
“I have finally concluded, maybe that's what life is about: there's a lot of despair, but also the odd moment of beauty, where time is no longer the same. It's as if those strains of music created a sort of interlude in time, something suspended, an elsewhere that had come to us, an always within never. Yes, that's it, an always within never.”
“I have read so many books. And yet, like most Autodidacts, I am never quite sure of what I have gained from them. There are days when I feel I have been able to grasp all there is know in one single gaze, as if invisible branches suddenly spring out of no where, weaving together all the disparate strands of my reading. And then suddenly the meaning escapes, the essence evaporates and no matter how often I reread the same lines they seem to flee ever further with each subsequent reading and I see myself as some mad old fool who thinks her stomach is full because she's been reading the menu.”
“They didn't recognize me," I repeat.
He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm.
"It is because they have never seen you," he says. "I would recognize you anywhere.”
“But many intelligent people have a sort of bug: they think intelligence is an end in itself. They have one idea in mind: to be intelligent, which is really stupid. And when intelligence takes itself for its own goal, it operates very strangely: the proof that it exists is not to be found in the ingenuity or simplicity of what it produces, but in how obscurely it is expressed.”
“I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it.”
“People think that children don't know anything. It's enough to make you wonder if grownups were ever children once upon a time.”
“I know that they're all unhappy because nobody loves the right person the way they should and because they don't understand that it's really their own self that they're mad at.”
“...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were to become aware of the fact that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy...As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone.”
“If, in our world, there is any chance of becoming the person you haven't yet become...will I know how to seize that chance, turn my life into a garden that will be completely different from my forebears'?”
“I'm afraid to go into myself and see what's going on in there.”
“I have finally concluded, maybe that's what life is about: there's a lot of despair, but also the odd moment of beauty, where time is no longer the same. It's as if those strains of music created a sort of interlude in time, something suspended, an elsewhere that had come to us, an always within never. Yes, that's it, an always within never.”
“I have read so many books. And yet, like most Autodidacts, I am never quite sure of what I have gained from them. There are days when I feel I have been able to grasp all there is know in one single gaze, as if invisible branches suddenly spring out of no where, weaving together all the disparate strands of my reading. And then suddenly the meaning escapes, the essence evaporates and no matter how often I reread the same lines they seem to flee ever further with each subsequent reading and I see myself as some mad old fool who thinks her stomach is full because she's been reading the menu.”
“They didn't recognize me," I repeat.
He stops in turn, my hand still on his arm.
"It is because they have never seen you," he says. "I would recognize you anywhere.”
“But many intelligent people have a sort of bug: they think intelligence is an end in itself. They have one idea in mind: to be intelligent, which is really stupid. And when intelligence takes itself for its own goal, it operates very strangely: the proof that it exists is not to be found in the ingenuity or simplicity of what it produces, but in how obscurely it is expressed.”
“I may know that the world is an ugly place, I still don't want to see it.”
“People think that children don't know anything. It's enough to make you wonder if grownups were ever children once upon a time.”
“I know that they're all unhappy because nobody loves the right person the way they should and because they don't understand that it's really their own self that they're mad at.”
“...This is the first time I have met someone who seeks out people and who sees beyond...We never look beyond our assumptions and, what's worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves. We don't recognize each other because other people have become our permanent mirrors. If we actually realized this, if we were to become aware of the fact that we are alone in the wilderness, we would go crazy...As for me, I implore fate to give me the chance to see beyond myself and truly meet someone.”
“If, in our world, there is any chance of becoming the person you haven't yet become...will I know how to seize that chance, turn my life into a garden that will be completely different from my forebears'?”
“I'm afraid to go into myself and see what's going on in there.”
Monday, May 12, 2014
Matryoshka
Matryoshka's are like people. They have the most detail and adult appearance on the out first layer. However, as you peal off layer after layer, the smaller they become, with less detail. Every facade they put on is hollow, until you get to the last one; the smallest, the child.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Forty-Seven
Here's the sequel to Sarishinohara, called Forty-Seven, from the girl's perspective. It's possibly called Forty-Seven because AKB48 subtract 1 member would be 47, correct? Love this stuff.
cover by Rib. Here's a link to the same song with English subs: Rib- Forty-Seven
It's an interesting thing, but Rib's video is a little different than the original one by miku. So if you want to see the difference, then watch miku's version, or this video, which shows them both at the same time: rib and miku- ヨンジュウナナ
It's an interesting thing, but Rib's video is a little different than the original one by miku. So if you want to see the difference, then watch miku's version, or this video, which shows them both at the same time: rib and miku- ヨンジュウナナ
Sarishinohara
This is the first song, from the boy's perspective. This is actually based off a real story, where a girl from AKB48 named Rino Sashihara was exiled for a relationship with a boy (they have a no relationship policy). She is now a member/manager of HKT48.
cover by Rib. I just love his voice!
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
tanka's in the Garden of Words
Narukami no sukoshi toyomite
sashi kumori
ame mo furano ka
kimi wo todomemu
a faint clap of thunder,
clouded skies
perhaps rain comes
if so, will you stay here with me?
Narukami no sukoshi toyomite
furazu to mo
warewa tomaramu
imoshi todomeba
a faint clap of thunder,
even if rain comes not
I will stay here
together with you
These are tanka's from the Manyoushu, featured in the film Kotonoha no niwa(garden of words).
sashi kumori
ame mo furano ka
kimi wo todomemu
a faint clap of thunder,
clouded skies
perhaps rain comes
if so, will you stay here with me?
Narukami no sukoshi toyomite
furazu to mo
warewa tomaramu
imoshi todomeba
a faint clap of thunder,
even if rain comes not
I will stay here
together with you
These are tanka's from the Manyoushu, featured in the film Kotonoha no niwa(garden of words).
Friday, March 7, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
-Mary Elizabeth Frye
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
-Mary Elizabeth Frye
Monday, March 3, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
No shoes
Somehow I've lost the ability to speak on this blog as myself. Weird, isn't it. I recently started Eschool, and staying home all day I get the feeling that I'm recovering from an infectious disease. Not to far from the truth maybe, though I haven't been sick.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Warning
Warning
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
-Jenny Joseph
When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
-Jenny Joseph
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Tunnels
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. But it's still up to you if you'll go towards it.
Paper Mouse
Something I did today with paper. Based off this google image I found:
And I did the mouse. Because I recently read The Tale of Despereaux again since my childhood.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Alone
Alone
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
-Edgar Allen Poe
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
-Edgar Allen Poe
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
House of Leaves
“This much I'm certain of: it doesn't happen immediately. You'll finish
[the book] and that will be that, until a moment will come, maybe in a
month, maybe a year, maybe even several years. You'll be sick or feeling
troubled or deeply in love or quietly uncertain or even content for the
first time in your life. It won't matter. Out of the blue, beyond any
cause you can trace, you'll suddenly realize things are not how you
perceived them to be at all. For some reason, you will no longer be the
person you believed you once were. You'll detect slow and subtle shifts
going on all around you, more importantly shifts in you. Worse, you'll
realize it's always been shifting, like a shimmer of sorts, a vast
shimmer, only dark like a room. But you won't understand why or how.
You'll have forgotten what granted you this awareness in the first place
...
You might try then, as I did, to
...
You might try then, as I did, to
find a sky so full of stars it will blind you again. Only no sky can blind
you now. Even with all that iridescent magic up there, your eye will no
longer linger on the light, it will no longer trace constellations.
You'll care only about the darkness and you'll watch it for hours, for
days, maybe even for years, trying in vain to believe you're some kind
of indispensable, universe-appointed sentinel, as if just by looking you
could actually keep it all at bay. It will get so bad you'll be afraid
to look away, you'll be afraid to sleep.
Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name.
And then the nightmares will begin.”
Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name.
And then the nightmares will begin.”
-Mark D. Danielewski House of Leaves
House of Leaves
"Unfortunately, humans lack the sophisticated neural hardware present in bats and whales. The blind must rely on the feeble light of fingertips and the painful shape of a cracked shin. Echolocation comes down to the crude assessment of simple sound modulations, whether in the dull reply of a tapping cane or the low, eerie flutter in one simple word - perhaps your word - flung down empty hallways long past midnight." (pg47-48)
"Myth makes
Echo the subject of longing and desire. Physics makes Echo the subject of distance
and design. Where emotion and reason are concerned both claims are accurate.
And where there is no Echo there
is no description of space or love.
There is only silence." (pg50)
“Maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing.”
“We all create stories to protect ourselves.”
“Love of love written by the broken hearted, love of life written by the dead.”
“Explanation is not half as strong as experience but experience is not half as strong as experience and understanding”
-Mark Z. Danielewski House of Leaves
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sherlock ! Season 3 !!!
Sherlock season 3. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!
:D :D :D
:D :D :D
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
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