Beloved teacher, Socrates won each debate with great ease. The first of his winning suggestions? Ask [don't answer] all the questions.
Socratic Method [Clerihew]
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The Doldrums [Ruba’i]
Back in the days of wooden sailing ships some unsaid words could never grace the lips: the "calms," or "doldrums," signed apocalypse. Better storm than lull end one's life of trips.
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For Those Seeking Immortality [Rondeau Triolet]
To stretch a life beyond the time of trees be ready for a glacial shift of pace. There'll be no undulation of the seas. To stretch a life beyond the time of trees, the tradeoff is what's quick will pass unseen. So, what say you, Kings of infinite space? To stretch a life beyond the time of trees be ready for a glacial shift of pace.
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Cat Conformity [Senryū]
the cat that conforms to a hollow in the wall won't conform elsewise
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BOOK REVIEW: Body Am I by Moheb Costandi
Body Am I: The New Science of Self-Consciousness by Moheb CostandiMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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In this book you’ll learn about: a man who wanted a perfectly healthy leg amputated, a fisherman who felt like his hands were crab claws, a woman who felt she wasn’t responsible for the actions of her hand, various people who’ve experienced “Alice in Wonderland Syndrome” [i.e. feeling one has shrunk or stretched,] and about many other issues stemming from the body’s sensory and motor integration with what we think of as the mind. For most of us, the most powerful take-away to be gained from this book is just how wonderful and awe-worthy it is that we have bodies that are so well integrated and coordinated that we can go about life engaging in all sorts of fascinating and productive activities.
While this isn’t the only book that addresses this subject, I think it’s a topic worth learning more about and reflecting upon in depth. We can get so out of touch with the fact that our body is integrated with our mental and sensory experiences that we take “brain in a vat” scenarios as a given for the near future, as if one is the sum of one’s neuronal connections. This book will disabuse one this notion. In fact, the final chapter (Ch. 10) questions the proposition that copying consciousness is a matter of mastering such neuronal mapping. It’s easy to miss how much of our emotional experience is rooted in what’s happening in our guts and heart, and how much all the non-central nervous system parts of the body play in our conscious experience of the world.
I learned a great deal from this book and would highly recommend it.
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DAILY PHOTO: Kangchenjunga
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BOOK REVIEW: Comedy: A Very Short Introduction by Matthew Bevis
Comedy: A Very Short Introduction by Matthew BevisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This introductory guide examines comedy in a broad fashion, covering literary, historical, philosophical, and – to a limited degree – its psychological dimensions. The book investigates the shifting meaning of the word “comedy” and the changes in media and mechanisms through which it’s been conveyed. So, if you’re concerned (or hoping) that this book is simply an accounting of comedy as the literary genre counter to tragedy, that’s not the case. It discusses not only literature and drama, but also standup comedy and other devices by which humor is conveyed, and it uses “The Simpsons” as well as “Candide” and “Don Quixote” as examples to get points across.
This VSI guide does have a little bit of overlap with the “Humour: VSI,” but where that book focuses heavily on the theory of what makes something humorous, this book addresses that subject in a much more superficial way. On the other hand, this book spends more time looking at comedy from ancient times onward and how its ways have changed since the age of the classics. This guide also peers more beyond the cognitive and philosophical aspects of humor to how elements such as physicality, persona, and even death play into comedy.
It is a scholarly introduction, so one shouldn’t expect a laugh riot, but it is a more entertaining read than if it only looked at comedy as the literary mode opposed to tragedy. If you wish to develop further insight into the many facets of comedy, it’s worth checking out.
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BOOK REVIEW: The Voices of Water by Tiziano Sclavi
The Voices of Water by Tiziano SclaviMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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Release Date: November 22, 2022
As the title suggests, this graphic novel is about a guy who hears voices, voices that he most often can’t quite make out, but only in the presence of moving water – i.e. rain, the shower, a sink, etc. Though the reader may read it more as a series of short fiction chapters with a vague vein of interconnectedness. A choice was made to keep the text sparse and to let the imagery do the heavy lifting. I’m not sure it worked out as well as intended, though there is wide variation throughout the book. There are a few chapters that can be read as clear and evocative standalone stories (e.g. “Revenge,” “In a Better World,” and “A Day of the Week: Tuesday,”) but there are others that leave one wondering whether one grasped what was intended (if anything was intended.)
The art is line-drawn (penciled style) monochrome. It works well for the tone of the book, and many of the frames feature old town European architecture that is both attractive and establishes an interesting setting.
This one is definitely high on atmospherics and feels a little disjoint because it’s not always clear that the protagonist, Stavros, is in the vicinity of the action, and – therefore – how the overarching narrative ties together. Overall, I think it works, and I’m glad I read it.
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Candle Flicker [Haiku]
in the dim temple, candlelight flickers, and bronze moves
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DAILY PHOTO: Burning Monk Memorial, Saigon
Tiger Riding for Beginners 