Обади се на приятел:)

Мой приятел участва в "Стани богат". Не бях гледала това предаване от 100 години, ама тази седмица не пропуснах. Браво, Алвине! Жалко, че не се се сети за Амазонка, но с този сумист ме разби! А от догодина се записваме на онлайн курс по китайски език и култура! Тън-мън няма:Р
За мен е чест да съм твой приятел.

Yuletide

Winter Solstice, the magical time of the year, when the cavern Yu sings, the birth of the Sun is celebrated, the New Year begins, and a Savior is born unto the world. I guess believing all these things makes me a little like the Queen from Through the Looking Glass who, with practice, believed six impossible things before breakfast;)

How much do we care about season changes? For thousands of years the regular course of the Earth around the Sun (or vice versa) has influenced the lives of its inhabitants. Not anymore. Festivities have lost their mystery, and we are left with a couple of days off work and plans where to go. And Christmas cards and presents, which... I... haven't... bought... yet. Aaargh.

Or maybe it's just me that cannot sense the mystery. Maybe there is a hell of good universe next door, in the words of e.e.cummings. Maybe if I am silent for long enough I will feel the holiness of the night. Maybe if enough people call 'Glory to God in the Highest', there will be peace to his people on earth. Maybe music can save someone from substance addiction. Maybe passing on your genes to the next generation is a sufficient reason to live, according to the book on evolution I'm reading now. Maybe good wishes do carry the power to change reality. Ok, I broke the Queen's record, enough is enough;)

Flashback: Three years ago I was alone on Christmas and New Year's Eve. My son was a 7 -month fetus, I had just bought my apartment, and was in the middle of translating the second volume of Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker, which by the way has not seen publication yet. This is what I choose to remember, although of course I can twist the memory the other way and recall the pain, the loneliness, and despair. But I won't:) See, one of the impossible things I believe is that we shape our lives in our mind. Call it self-delusion, call it wishful thinking, I don't... mind:D

This year, I'll remember the good stuff, too. I'll remember the happy voices of my kids singing songs about Santa Claus, my son's wish for a crane and a piano, my daughter's shining eyes when I came back with Mulan video (part of my recent Chinese obsession). I'll remember the 'Christmas office party' I had with some friends at home. (I work from home so I don't have any real co-workers, but these were people I chat with while working, exactly what you'd do in a real office.) It was a good evening, which started at about 9 pm and ended at 7 am when the kids woke up. :) If we do it more often, then we'll stick to more reasonable lengths of conversation, was my conclusion. But then again, maybe not:) Anyway, the experiment needs to be repeated to verify the result, and next time I will play more socially acceptable music, I promise!

I hope to have more good stuff to remember... Happy Christmas.

Freeeeedom!

В дискусията на тема "Индивидуалната свобода и "общото благо"" поддържах (привидно) парадоксални схващания по разни основно морални въпроси. Примерно смятам, че всичко извън пълната моногамия е грях, но също така, че е безсмислено да се криминализират проституцията и наркотиците. Един авторитет в областта на политическите науки ме е обявил за "анархо-комунист", а от друга страна съм дърта консерва, та дрънка. Свободата на индивида, фикс идея за привържениците на либерализма, ме привлича чисто емоционално, понеже като темперамент не си падам особено по авторитети;) Моята теза беше, че атеизмът не е достатъчно убедителен в защитаването на общността, без да е подплатен с трансцедентно "узаконяване" на идеята за правилата. Има ли правила, има ограничение на свободата. Няма да е лошо това ограничение да е смислено, а "общото благо" не ми се вижда особено смислено. Сигурно всички сме рожба на своето време, в което крайният егоизъм е допустим и оправдан, "стига да не пречи на другите". Само дето опитът показва, че винаги реализирането на моята свобода пречи на нечия друга свобода и при липсата на краен (ultimate) критерий чия свобода да вземе превес, ситуацията става меко казано объркана. Ясно е, че обществото налага някакви общи норми и е въпрос на социално оцеляване да се съобразяваш с тях. Сетих се, че имаше някаква "свобода на съвестта", която, доколкото разбирам, означава да имаш право да изповядваш убежденията си, защото видиш ли, при демокрацията всеки може да си вярва в каквото пожелае, стига да не го пропагандира на останалите хехе.

Напоследък четох книгата "Чудесата" на К.С. Луис, където много ми хареса твърдението, че човешкият разум е пример за свръхестествена намеса в природата, защото е трудно да се докаже, че произходът му е изцяло биологичен. Другият такъв пример е наличието на нравственост у хората, което той смята за общовалидно, но това е щото не е живял в 21 век и не е бил на нашата дискусионна група:) Като казах 21 век и Луис, една сърцераздирателна новина за Хрониките на Нарния, the movie.

Забравих да спомена разделянето на свободата на негативна и позитивна, като негативната свобода е свобода от налагането на външни авторитети, за което ставаше дума дотук, а позитивната свобода е възможност за реализиране на потенциала на личността (а може и колектива или нацията). Разграничението е направено от Isaiah Berlin, от когото си харесах следния цитат: "Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs."

Та тъй, с моралния релативизъм се поздравяваме, но не си говорим...

Perfectible or Perfect

Edited the small poem from a recent post, removed punctuation and longer words, and added some detail on dreams:)

Had some friends over to dinner. Discussed advertising, games, driving lessons, music, unhealthy food... law and genetics.

Virgin is my kind of advertiser;) Figured out about 20 performers, got 2 wrong. I accept hints.

Yes, I am dazzled and infatuated, and at a loss for words. The reason: Porcupine Tree.
Perfection...

L'etat - c'est moi

Existential thinkers:

• Like to spend time thinking about philosophical issues such as "What is the meaning of life?"
• Try to see beyond the 'here and now', and understand deeper meanings
• consider moral and ethical implications of problems as well as practical solutions

Other Existential Thinkers include
The Buddha, Gandhi, Plato, Socrates, Martin Luther King

Careers which suit Existential Thinkers include
Philosopher, Religious Leader, Head of state, Artist, Writer

Goblet of Fire and Ice

This is the third Harry Potter movie I've seen (yes I can count, I skipped the second). I enjoyed myself - I liked the setting of Hogwarts, Alan Rickman, flying scenes, contest suspense, dragons, spooky graveyards, ball dresses, and black-eyed dumb looking males;) Victor Krum ftw:) I might as well borrow the sixth book and read it, although the airplane with the spoiler flew over my island in the summer. Good movie, as movies go, I was duly entertained.

The return of the Dark Lord was really well made, but not frightening at all. I might have become tougher after translating my second horror movie 'People Under the Stairs'. Horrible, believe me. Although I don't have stairs, I was afraid of the dark for the first time in about 15 years. I was afraid of parenthood, too.

I also saw the comedy 'Joe versus the Volcano'. There were some hilarious moments but overall I was put off by the cast. No more Meg Ryan for me, thanks, that was long ago. And I can barely stand Tom Hanks.

I can't help mentioning my star friend again (he pops up in this blog more often than anyone else:). We went for coffee and cake (our second f2f meeting this year), and talked about Jagged Alliance 2 and my current partnerless condition. He came up with a pretty original reason why I shouldn't be single - financial assistance. He said that in about 5 years my expenses would rise dramatically, and I will need someone to help me, with me freelancing and all. I snapped that I was buying a refrigerator on the next day. That silenced him, so I went and bought a refrigerator. My old one was ancient anyway.