Incestuous smugness and Self-loathing

Its startling to observe those around us, who are doing well by all indicators -- arbiters of various persuasions; getting bent out of shape at common courtesies and expressions, including words /phrases such as - thank you, sharing, engaging together; like to be of help, etc. If one is driven to anticipate lurking motives behind such utterances in spite of knowing the utterer-- then perhaps one is living in some form of incestuous smugness and self-loathing; seeking parity with others in that they abide by shared fears.

Momentum & Change

The rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the impressed force and takes place in the direction of the force. (Newtons 2nd Law of Motion)

(excerpts from Why Germany Has It So Good...)
Geoghegan: You see a story in the New York Times every six weeks -- ever since I graduated from college in 1971 -- about how Europe is going to collapse. They come out like clockwork.

McNally: I pulled one of those Times articles in May when the Greek crisis was hot. The headline: "Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits." But you point out that when a country like Germany takes something away from the safety net, they usually balance it with a benefit.

Geoghegan: They cut back on holiday and they add a nursing home benefit. But the US press always focuses on the cutback. One of the reasons I wrote this book was to show that there's a leadership class over there that is very clever about these things. I don't mean in a spurious, tricky way, but actually thinking, "What do we have to cut back now so that we can go forward in the future?"

To quote a wonderful line from the Lampedusa novel, The Leopard: as the old order is collapsing, the Sicilian aristocrat says to his young prince, "We have to change so that everything remains the same." How do you change social democracy so that you preserve it, and maybe even create an opportunity to expand it in a year or two when the wheel of fortune turns again?

Forbearance

Forbearance is a virtue, which even if practiced as an offshoot of cultural Christianity — will be tested by the pricks (that segment comprising the worst among women; and I know some fine women), and the bitches (that breed of quasi-cerebral emasculated males). So?! One may but hold ones head high. In the meanwhile you will count pigs as your friends and may find equanimity. A tall order, but considering whats on tap — it behooves one to stay the course.

A venomous state of Being

Jiski fitrat hi dassna ho to wo dasséga, mat socha kar.
--Antra, Tanha Tanha Mat Sochar kar, Mehdi Hassan ke ghazal se

If its in ones nature to be venomous--"it" could attack at any moment, so
why waste much thought over "it."
--Opening from the ghazal Tanha Tanha Mat Sochar kar by Mehdi Hassan

in Konkani:
Zecho bes zaun assa viisecho, zalear gans pois na, tor ten chintim
nakaim.
(In those of venomous character, the bite/strike is not far behind, so
don't consider them--leave them alone) --Survat chi olli Mehdi Hassanachem
ghazalatun Tanha Tanha Mat Sochar kar

Realization: Education

I came to a realization today, that I am tremendously fortunate not to have studied with certain teachers, and also fortunate to have studied with some serious sycophants. Needless to say, one learnt a lot that I did not have to. The egalitarian approach was not taught, but was a gift. So no need for pitiful strategies.

Having somehow managed to stay on my path--as it has unfolded, paying all tolls along the way (toll naka, toll "junction"[tollbooth]), I can only say that I am still walking the walk.

Vulgarism in the visual imagination

Never image complex forms, specific bodies, and movements which stem out of certain philosophies--ex, ballet, if you are not intimately familiar with them. Unless you are doing it for the hoohah factor, wow value. Why? Because it shows. Certainly not to all, but it shows. And if you do limit it to your sense of comprehension. No need to overreach into unfamiliar territory. Study. Its comes across as grotesque, in the real sense of the word. A certain vulgarity, again in the precise and classic sense of the word. At least read and see what people from those culture

It comes across as grotesque, in the real sense of the word. A vulgarity, again in the precise and classic sense of the word. At least read and see what people from those cultures have done. Be enlightened though their eyes--through their lived aesthetic. This applies to drawing, painting, photography, also commentary, and criticism,

M.I.A

This read on Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam may twist your synapses a bit. Perhaps quite a bit.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main46.asp?filename=hub040910MLAruins.asp