I wish I could write like this.

Billy Collins: The Great American Poem

If this were a novel,
it would begin with a character,
a man alone on a southbound train
or a young girl on a swing by a farmhouse.

And, as the pages turned, you would be told
that it was morning or the dead of night,
and I, the narrator, would describe
for you the miscellaneous clouds over the farmhouse

and what the man was wearing on the train
right down to his red tartan scarf,
and the hat he tossed onto the rack above his head,
as well as the cows sliding past his window.

Eventually - one can only read so fast -
you would learn either that the train was bearing
the man back to the place of his birth
or that he was headed into the vast unknown,

and you might just tolerate all of this
as you waited patiently for shots to ring out
in a ravine where the man was hiding
or for a tall, raven-haired woman to appear in a doorway.

But this a poem, not a novel,
and the only characters here are you and I,
alone in an imaginary room
which will disappear after a few more lines,

leaving us no time to point guns at one another
or toss all our clothes into a roaring fireplace.
I ask you: who needs the man on the train
and who cares what his black valise contains?

We have something better than all this turbulence
lurching toward some ruinous conclusion.
I mean the sound that we will hear
as soon as I stop writing and put down this pen.

I once heard someone compare it
to the sound of crickets in a field of wheat
or, more faintly, just the wind
over that field stirring things that we will never see.

Gettysburg

Great speech, great animation, great video.

(Gettysburg Address from Adam Gault on Vimeo.)

A few thoughts

I don't usually use this blog for personal reflections, but it's two in the morning, and why not? First of all, a song:

I'm beginning to realize the extent to which comfort plays a dominant role in my decision-making process. I still live with my parents, despite being a senior in university, because it's comfortable. I haven't pushed myself to make close friends at school, because that's uncomfortable. I stuck stubbornly to my plans of going straight to graduate school next fall because school is comfortable. I haven't committed to learning to how to drum, or how to play bass, because really - it's uncomfortable to stretch myself. And I certainly haven't chased any big dreams. It's natural to shy away from what's unfamiliar, but that impulse is tied to fear - fear of the unknown, fear of mistakes, fear of failure.

But fear is the mind killer, and a life that isn't lived boldly isn't much of a life. Radical, life-changing moments don't happen when you're sitting on your couch, they happen when you're out pushing yourself, and the limits of the possible. I'm not content with an average life.

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." - Cecil Beaton

"But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture past them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

"Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no whenever you don't want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you are doing here. Believe in kissing." - Eve Ensler

"Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight... men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And in all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." - Hebrews 11:33-35, 38-40.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear (timidity), but of power and love and discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7

Music to hum to

Some sweet, mellow jams.

The writing process

Unfortunately, this is all too accurate: How to Write a Paper in College.

Titanic

This article discusses the latest revelation in the story of the sinking of the Titanic, and touches on the difficulty of drawing lessons from that event.

"The Cold Truth," by Morgan Meis

Jazz and film

No such thing as too much Miles:

Also no such thing as too much Bergman.

This book is not just about a whale

Whoever poisoned my mind by saying Moby-Dick wasn't worth my time was dead wrong.

"At first they are overawing; their calm self-collectedness of simplicity seems a Socratic wisdom. I had noticed also that Queequeg never consorted at all, or but very little, with the other seamen in the inn. He made no advances whatever; appeared to have no desire to enlarge the circle of his acquaintance. All this struck me as mighty singular; yet upon second thoughts, there was something almost sublime in it. Here was a man some twenty thousand miles from home, by the way of Cape Horn that is - which was the only way he could get there - thrown among people as strange to him as though he were in the planet Jupiter; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease; preserving the utmost serenity; content with his own companionship; always equal to himself."

What's stuck in my head

Can't get enough of Dessa. This song could be my anthem, which is why it's the one I'm linking, but I also highly recommend The Chaconne and Mineshaft II. And the whole album, really.

Soccer and politics

Recommended: Football Against the Enemy, by Simon Kuper.

Neat exploration of the relationship between a global sport and global politics. I hope someday I get grant money to go do research as fun as this.

Underappreciated

This band shouldn't be overlooked.

Essay - politics and religion

Suggested reading: one of my favorite essays, The Politics of God by Mark Lilla. Sketches the path of the development of western thought, and the relationship between religion and politics in our familiar paradigm. Woven throughout is a neat discussion of the philosophical differences between East and West, and why that especially matters in the modern context, when America has put interactions with the Middle East on the top of the priority list.

Excerpt: A little more than two centuries ago we began to believe that the West was on a one-way track toward modern secular democracy and that other societies, once placed on that track, would inevitably follow. Though this has not happened, we still maintain our implicit faith in a modernizing process and blame delays on extenuating circumstances like poverty or colonialism. This assumption shapes the way we see political theology, especially in its Islamic form — as an atavism requiring psychological or sociological analysis but not serious intellectual engagement. Islamists, even if they are learned professionals, appear to us primarily as frustrated, irrational representatives of frustrated, irrational societies, nothing more. We live, so to speak, on the other shore. When we observe those on the opposite bank, we are puzzled, since we have only a distant memory of what it was like to think as they do. We all face the same questions of political existence, yet their way of answering them has become alien to us. On one shore, political institutions are conceived in terms of divine authority and spiritual redemption; on the other they are not. And that, as Robert Frost might have put it, makes all the difference.

Literary crushes

While in Guatemala, I spent a good stretch of time in a little used bookstore owned by an American ex-lawyer called Carlos. The fruits of this time, other than some very good conversation, were beat up copies of Locke's treatises on government, and Dostoevsky's The Idiot. I will never stop loving Dostoevsky. Or Prince Myshkin for that matter.

"Gracious me, what a fuss you make!" cried Princess Belokonsky, with annoyance. "You're a good fellow, but you're absurd: someone gives you twopence and you thank him as though he had saved your life. You think it's nice, but let me tell you, it is disgusting."

Villagers

Liking this.

Travel recommendation

Guatemala. Just go.

(Pictures from Semuc Champey and Volcan de Pacaya)

Save lives; give blood

I donated a unit of blood this morning. Check out the facts and links below about blood donation, and please consider donating as well.

To support the 4.5 million+ people who need blood every year in the U.S., including accident/trauma victims, surgery patients, cancer patients, and many more, the Red Cross needs to collect millions of units of blood. An estimated 43,000 pints of blood are used every day in the United States and Canada. Currently, only about 10 percent of eligible donors give blood annually. The Red Cross estimates that if one percent more of the U.S. population gave blood every year, blood shortages would disappear for the foreseeable future.

If you're 17 and older (or 16 with parental consent), you can donate blood as often as 6 times a year. The entire 4-step process takes about an hour: a few minutes to register and wait for your turn to donate, a short physical and questionnaire to determine eligibility, the blood donation process (about ten minutes long), and 10 to 15 minutes for recovery, while drinking juice and eating cookies.

Check out the overview of the donation process, eligibility requirements, and enter your zipcode here to find donation centers and blood drives near you.

One day without shoes

Visit TOMS Shoes to learn about One Day Without Shoes: an event to raise awareness for the TOMS cause, and the health risks millions suffer because of a lack of a basic commodity we take for granted every day. Providing shoes to people in need is a small step, but it's significant. And when you buy a pair of shoes from TOMS, you're also giving a pair to a child in need.

"Imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold...

One Day Without Shoes is the day we spread awareness about the impact a simple pair of shoes can have on a child’s life. On April 8th, we ask people to go the day, part of the day or even just a few minutes, barefoot, to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and inspire others at the same time."

History of the Middle East

For an international relations geek like me, this map showing the imperial history of the Middle East is fascinating. Here's hoping you enjoy it too. Watch below or click the link above to view the map fullscreen.

The modern territorial and cultural situation in the Middle East has been greatly influenced by the string of events starting with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, subsequent European colonialism and control in the region, and eventual independence for Middle Eastern nations.

Education

I aspire to teach political science at a university someday, so discussion about learning is particularly interesting to me. Here's one of my favorite speakers on the subject, Taylor Mali, giving some slam poetry about teaching. I have this piece memorized due to how many times I've seen it.

"Curiosity is the very basis of education, and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly." -Arnold Edinborough

"Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand... what he learns and the way he understands it." -Soren Kierkegaard

"In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers, and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have. " -Lee Iacocca

Heritage > wealth; a modern-day calculation

In Australia there's a man named Jeffrey Lee who could make 5 billion dollars with a snap of his fingers, simply by choosing to sell his land, which sits on a tremendously valuable uranium deposit. Lee is the last remaining member of the Djok clan of Australian Aborigines, and this land has been in his family for generations. So despite the fact that he could probably own his own island by tomorrow if he so chose, Lee is holding on to his ancestral land and all the history that goes with it, hoping to pass on this legacy to his children someday.

Read the full story here.

Getting old doesn't mean slowing down

Anthony Mancinelli of New York holds a Guinness World Record as the oldest barber in the world. He's 98 years old, and he's been cutting hair for 86 years... since a time when a shave and a haircut really cost two bits.

Check out the New York Times article here.

If you want to feel very small...

Speaking of astronomy, here's a very cool video by the American Museum of Natural History, giving an overview of what we know about the universe and our place in it.

“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” - Douglas Adams

Astronomical pictures

Few subjects fascinate me more than astronomy. If I wasn't studying political science, there are a vast multitude of other fields I'd be choosing from... astronomy easily makes the top ten.

Check out the beautiful images the Hubble Space Telescope has captured at the telescope's website. The image above is of the Crab Nebula; found here, among other gorgeous pictures of nebulae and stars.

Rethink styrofoam cups

I'm not very artistically minded, but I have a great respect for people who can look at an everyday object and see a canvas.

Check out more of Cheeming Boey's exquisite work in this medium here, or his website here.

Probably much more funny for musicians...

This piece of music is just marvelous. Keep an eye out for details like the tempo suggestion "rigatoni," and the opening dynamics indication "msf," meaning mezzo-sforzando, or "somewhat very very loud."

Full view here.

Rethink Africa

Take a look at Binyavanga Wainaina's excellent piece How To Write About Africa for a snarky take on our stereotypes of the continent and its people.

Here's a taste of how Wainaina tackles the general Western failure to conceptualize Africa with an understanding of its complexity, and the nuance it deserves.

"In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don't get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book."

Rethink your bad spelling habits

Print out this handy guide for reference, and stop making dumb mistakes.

I want to be a tough mudder

Forget getting a PhD in political science; this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to be this guy:

Or this guy:

Check out this great series of photos from the Tough Guy Challenge 2010 in England here at boston.com. The American equivalent is the Tough Mudder competition, website here.

Quote: Friday

Today, a double feature from one of my personal heroes: the journalist Edward R. Murrow.

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men - not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular."

"We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

Turning the world upside-down

Rethink arbitrary decisions about up and down, as they apply to our maps of this blue marble in space.

Looking for a way to procrastinate?

This synthesizer program is endless fun to play with. The developer did a great job of making it easy to use, and the tones he picked make it simple to create something beautiful. Give it a shot here.

A true war story.

I read this book for an American Literature class about a year ago, and it remains one of my favorites. O'Brien, a Vietnam veteran, writes beautifully, brutally, and honestly about war and about life. This book is a work of fiction, but, as O'Brien says, that doesn't mean it isn't true.

How do you generalize?

War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.

The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can't help but gape at the awful majesty of combat. You stare out at tracer rounds unwinding through the dark like brilliant red ribbons. You crouch in ambush as a cool, impassive moon rises over the nighttime paddies. You admire the fluid symmetries of troops on the move, the harmonies of sound and shape and proportion, the great sheets of metal-fire streaming from a gunship, the illumination rounds, the white phosphorus, the purply orange glow of napalm, the rocket's red glare. It's not pretty, exactly. It's astonishing. It fills the eye. It commands you. You hate it, yes, but your eyes do not. Like a killer forest fire, like cancer under a microscope, any battle or bombing raid or artillery barrage has the aesthetic purity of absolute moral indifference - a powerful, implacable beauty - and a true war story will tell the truth about this, though the truth is ugly.

For the creative set...

For people going into design or marketing fields, a resume like this could be a great way to make a killer impression. Check out the whole set here.