Mr. Supersweetie and I went to Berlin, too. Now we're back in New York.New York is so quiet right now-- summer's calm before the storm of autumn activity.
26 August 2006
Ferienschluß
Mr. Supersweetie and I went to Berlin, too. Now we're back in New York.New York is so quiet right now-- summer's calm before the storm of autumn activity.
16 August 2006
eyes on the skies
The weather in Copenhagen tends to be rainy. According to Mr. Supersweetie, the skies often clear in the afternoon. Yesterday afternoon a rainbow formed. I noticed it as I entered the Kongens Have.
I had to hold the package of toilet paper I'd just bought between my knees as I held the camera to take this photo.
15 August 2006
Unterwegs mit Käseblatt
I arrived in Copenhagen yesterday. Mr. Supersweetie has been here all summer long, studying furniture design which relates to what he studies at home in NY during the year: interior design. His assignment at the Copenhagen program has been to design and build a chair. Here, in the cradle of modern furniture design!
When I arrived, Mr. S took me to the design school to see the chair he built. It's an armless reading chair with a seat that arcs in a large, wide curve uninterruped down to the floor. The legs are delineated by a little semicircular cutout. It's all veneer except for four brass bolts joining the back panel to the seat. Quite comfortable-- although I'd like to sit and read in it for awhile to see how the body reacts over time. Mr. S is wiped out and dazed from his final week of hard work, but I'm happy to be with him. I've missed him very much.
The apartment he shares with three other students is on the top storey (5th) of a modest building a little north of the city center, in the area around the Kastellet (a park with a military installation in it) and the Amalienborg (the royal palace). The apartment is furnished but simple. Thankfully, the kitchen has all the necessities.
My big adventure this morning was baking some frozen rolls in the oven. The instructions on the wrapping, like on everything else, were only in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish. Comprehending about half of the text, thanks to my ability to cross-reference it with the German I know, I resorted to the "cook till it's done" method, which worked just fine.
So, Copey is a very pretty city. Kind of quiet, kind of busy. The streetscapes veer predominantly towards the baroque and later. In the city center, curvy, narrow streets open onto squares frequently so there's a steady rhythm of dense streets and open areas. Canals pop into view here and there. Moving out from the center, the streets are a bit wider and straighter. I'm trying to decide how to describe this city in comparison to others. I guess it's closest to Amsterdam in scale, but with more sizeable buildings. Also more stone and stucco, less naked brick.
I have nothing particular to do, so I'm just walking and looking around. I went into a bunch of churches. Knowing today to be the Feast of the Assumption, I thought a Roman Catholic church might be relied upon to have some sort of big, public mass. But, alas, Denmark is not Portugal, and I found no special celebration scheduled. There's a concert at the Tivoli concert hall tonight with Rolando Villazon -- sold out, of course. I'll go to an organ recital instead.
Must remember to buy toilet paper. Isn't foreign travel exciting?
When I arrived, Mr. S took me to the design school to see the chair he built. It's an armless reading chair with a seat that arcs in a large, wide curve uninterruped down to the floor. The legs are delineated by a little semicircular cutout. It's all veneer except for four brass bolts joining the back panel to the seat. Quite comfortable-- although I'd like to sit and read in it for awhile to see how the body reacts over time. Mr. S is wiped out and dazed from his final week of hard work, but I'm happy to be with him. I've missed him very much.
The apartment he shares with three other students is on the top storey (5th) of a modest building a little north of the city center, in the area around the Kastellet (a park with a military installation in it) and the Amalienborg (the royal palace). The apartment is furnished but simple. Thankfully, the kitchen has all the necessities.
My big adventure this morning was baking some frozen rolls in the oven. The instructions on the wrapping, like on everything else, were only in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish. Comprehending about half of the text, thanks to my ability to cross-reference it with the German I know, I resorted to the "cook till it's done" method, which worked just fine.
So, Copey is a very pretty city. Kind of quiet, kind of busy. The streetscapes veer predominantly towards the baroque and later. In the city center, curvy, narrow streets open onto squares frequently so there's a steady rhythm of dense streets and open areas. Canals pop into view here and there. Moving out from the center, the streets are a bit wider and straighter. I'm trying to decide how to describe this city in comparison to others. I guess it's closest to Amsterdam in scale, but with more sizeable buildings. Also more stone and stucco, less naked brick.
I have nothing particular to do, so I'm just walking and looking around. I went into a bunch of churches. Knowing today to be the Feast of the Assumption, I thought a Roman Catholic church might be relied upon to have some sort of big, public mass. But, alas, Denmark is not Portugal, and I found no special celebration scheduled. There's a concert at the Tivoli concert hall tonight with Rolando Villazon -- sold out, of course. I'll go to an organ recital instead.
Must remember to buy toilet paper. Isn't foreign travel exciting?
10 August 2006
Man fragt sich...
Kalenderblatt is an experiment. I’m translating it from a German website and researching the links myself.
The cons: it’s time-consuming to put together, and the unsplashy layout looks a bit underwhelming. Also, the material is completely unoriginal, and therefore cravenly unadventurous.
The Pros: maybe it’s educational and/or vaguely interesting.
As I say, I’m trying Kalenderblatt out. The posts will continue as whim dictates, until public outcry or personal weariness demand they cease. Either of which could occur in the next few moments.
The cons: it’s time-consuming to put together, and the unsplashy layout looks a bit underwhelming. Also, the material is completely unoriginal, and therefore cravenly unadventurous.
The Pros: maybe it’s educational and/or vaguely interesting.
As I say, I’m trying Kalenderblatt out. The posts will continue as whim dictates, until public outcry or personal weariness demand they cease. Either of which could occur in the next few moments.
Kalenderblatt 10.viii.06
Commemorations
995: Battle of Lechfeld, near Augsburg. The final defeat of the Magyar invaders by German King Otto I.
1566: Beeldenstorm in Flanders. The destruction of religious images spread throughout the Low Countries in revolt against Spanish King Phillip II’s suppression of the Reformation movement.
1793: Palais du Louvre opened to public as an art museum.
1881: First International Electricity Exhibition held in Paris
1920: The Treaty of Sèvres, in which the Allied victors of World War I dissolved the Ottoman Empire.
1975: Hottest day of the century in Europe
1988: Hockey player Wayne Gretzky traded from Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings for 20 million dollars.
1994: Two smugglers apprehended at Munich airport, carrying a suitcase containing 330 grams of plutonium.
1995: Germany’s Constitutional Court delivers the Kruzifix-Urteil, ruling that the display of crucifixes in school classrooms infringes upon freedom of religion
Birthdays
1865: Alexander Glazunov, composer. Russia (d.1936)
1868: Hugo Eckener, airship pioneer. Germany (d.1954)
1877: Rudolf Hilferding: economist and politician. Austria (d.1941)
1878: Alfred Döblin, writer and medic. Germany. (d.1957)
1902: Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius, chemist. Sweden. (d.1971)
1959: Rosanna Arquette, actress. U.S.
1960: Antonio Banderas, actor. Spain.
995: Battle of Lechfeld, near Augsburg. The final defeat of the Magyar invaders by German King Otto I.
1566: Beeldenstorm in Flanders. The destruction of religious images spread throughout the Low Countries in revolt against Spanish King Phillip II’s suppression of the Reformation movement.
1793: Palais du Louvre opened to public as an art museum.
1881: First International Electricity Exhibition held in Paris
1920: The Treaty of Sèvres, in which the Allied victors of World War I dissolved the Ottoman Empire.
1975: Hottest day of the century in Europe
1988: Hockey player Wayne Gretzky traded from Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings for 20 million dollars.
1994: Two smugglers apprehended at Munich airport, carrying a suitcase containing 330 grams of plutonium.
1995: Germany’s Constitutional Court delivers the Kruzifix-Urteil, ruling that the display of crucifixes in school classrooms infringes upon freedom of religion
Birthdays
1865: Alexander Glazunov, composer. Russia (d.1936)
1868: Hugo Eckener, airship pioneer. Germany (d.1954)
1877: Rudolf Hilferding: economist and politician. Austria (d.1941)
1878: Alfred Döblin, writer and medic. Germany. (d.1957)
1902: Arne Wilhelm Kaurin Tiselius, chemist. Sweden. (d.1971)
1959: Rosanna Arquette, actress. U.S.
1960: Antonio Banderas, actor. Spain.
09 August 2006
Kalenderblatt 09.viii.06
Commemorations
378: The Battle of Adrianople. Visigoths defeated troops of the Eastern Empire, spelling the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire.
1471: Election of Sixtus IV. Considered the first pope of the renaissance. Built the Sistine Chapel.
1884: Maiden voyage of “La France,” the first steerable dirigible, around Chalais-Meudon.
1896: Otto Lilienthal, civil engineer, crashed while piloting a glider, near Berlin-Lichterfelde.
1940: Opening of the Baghdad Railway, which stretched from Istanbul to Basra.
1945: Atom-bomb, “Fat Man” detonated by U.S. Air Force, over Nagasaki, Japan
1965: Singapore gained sovereignty after expulsion from Malaysian Federation.
1994: Taslima Nasreen, physician/writer/activist, fled Bangladesh and went into exile.
1996: Boris Yeltsin reelected President of Russia
Birthdays
1631: John Dryden. Poet, critic. England. (d.1700)
1819: William Morton. Dentist. Introduced the use of ether as an anesthetic. U.S. (d.1868)
1919. Emilio Vedova. Painter. Italy.
1920: Willi Heinrich. Novelist. Germany.
1928: Gerd Ruge. Journalist, publicist, foreign political correspondent TV/radio. Germany.
1963: Whitney Houston. Soul/Pop singer. U.S.
1968: Gillian Anderson. Actress. U.S.
378: The Battle of Adrianople. Visigoths defeated troops of the Eastern Empire, spelling the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire.
1471: Election of Sixtus IV. Considered the first pope of the renaissance. Built the Sistine Chapel.
1884: Maiden voyage of “La France,” the first steerable dirigible, around Chalais-Meudon.
1896: Otto Lilienthal, civil engineer, crashed while piloting a glider, near Berlin-Lichterfelde.
1940: Opening of the Baghdad Railway, which stretched from Istanbul to Basra.
1945: Atom-bomb, “Fat Man” detonated by U.S. Air Force, over Nagasaki, Japan
1965: Singapore gained sovereignty after expulsion from Malaysian Federation.
1994: Taslima Nasreen, physician/writer/activist, fled Bangladesh and went into exile.
1996: Boris Yeltsin reelected President of Russia
Birthdays
1631: John Dryden. Poet, critic. England. (d.1700)
1819: William Morton. Dentist. Introduced the use of ether as an anesthetic. U.S. (d.1868)
1919. Emilio Vedova. Painter. Italy.
1920: Willi Heinrich. Novelist. Germany.
1928: Gerd Ruge. Journalist, publicist, foreign political correspondent TV/radio. Germany.
1963: Whitney Houston. Soul/Pop singer. U.S.
1968: Gillian Anderson. Actress. U.S.
07 August 2006
From simpleton to sage -- Seneca, pt. 3
On Tranquility of Mind
In this Dialogue, Seneca’s friend, Serenus, finds himself tossed about by conflicting impulses. [“I try to be practical, but I slip up all the time.”] The resulting mental agitation, which ill befits a person named, “Serenus,” is too much for him and he writes to Seneca for advice. And Seneca provides plenty of it. His guidelines for maintaining mental tranquility form a source text of Stoic philosophy. The platitudes come fast and furious, together with musings and illustrations from lives of personalities of the time.
The “Great Ideas”:
-- Don’t worry.
-- Be satisfied with yourself, shame is not a great alternative. With shame comes malice, which brings aggravation, which leads to brooding, which causes boredom.
-- Get politically involved, make yourself useful to fellow-citizens.
-- Choose friends carefully.
-- Stay detached from possessions.
-- Avoid ostentation, prefer function.
-- Be thankful for good fortune, for when it vanishes “there is no shame in returning to the point from whence you came.”
-- Don’t waste energy pointlessly.
-- Regard vices not as hateful but ridiculous.
-- Relieve extended periods of concentration with amusing diversions.
It’s a meandering text with a deceptive breeziness. I hope I’m correct to claim that Seneca resists taking his own advice too seriously. Though the sheer length of the dialogue suggests a confidence in his own ability to give advice, he concludes that no means of preserving and restoring tranquility “is strong enough for those who want to preserve such a fragile thing, unless the wavering mind is surrounded by attentive and unceasing care.”
And that, friends, is quite enough Seneca for the time being.
In this Dialogue, Seneca’s friend, Serenus, finds himself tossed about by conflicting impulses. [“I try to be practical, but I slip up all the time.”] The resulting mental agitation, which ill befits a person named, “Serenus,” is too much for him and he writes to Seneca for advice. And Seneca provides plenty of it. His guidelines for maintaining mental tranquility form a source text of Stoic philosophy. The platitudes come fast and furious, together with musings and illustrations from lives of personalities of the time.
The “Great Ideas”:
-- Don’t worry.
-- Be satisfied with yourself, shame is not a great alternative. With shame comes malice, which brings aggravation, which leads to brooding, which causes boredom.
-- Get politically involved, make yourself useful to fellow-citizens.
-- Choose friends carefully.
-- Stay detached from possessions.
-- Avoid ostentation, prefer function.
-- Be thankful for good fortune, for when it vanishes “there is no shame in returning to the point from whence you came.”
-- Don’t waste energy pointlessly.
-- Regard vices not as hateful but ridiculous.
-- Relieve extended periods of concentration with amusing diversions.
It’s a meandering text with a deceptive breeziness. I hope I’m correct to claim that Seneca resists taking his own advice too seriously. Though the sheer length of the dialogue suggests a confidence in his own ability to give advice, he concludes that no means of preserving and restoring tranquility “is strong enough for those who want to preserve such a fragile thing, unless the wavering mind is surrounded by attentive and unceasing care.”
And that, friends, is quite enough Seneca for the time being.
04 August 2006
We are experiencing delays
I'm not ready to say anything about On Tranquility of Mind yet. For one thing, it doesn't grab me. For another, I've been perpetually distracted by three other books: a Streisand bio, Anderson Cooper's Dispatches, and Julian Baggini's Making Sense, which is a philosophy-for-the-rest-of-us sort of book. And, of course, the Wonder Woman DVD.
If you want to see where I've been breaking verbal wind this week, you'll have to leave this blog and check the blogs I've provided links to on the right. I've become less a blogger and more a commenter.
That will have to change.
We'll polish off Seneca next time. Just give me another day or so.
If you want to see where I've been breaking verbal wind this week, you'll have to leave this blog and check the blogs I've provided links to on the right. I've become less a blogger and more a commenter.
That will have to change.
We'll polish off Seneca next time. Just give me another day or so.
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