"History is only the register of crimes and misfortunes." Voltaire

added to which, people only seem to remember the good times of life experience.

So we create the illusion thatwe have it much better off than the ancients. Maybe it was all fine and modern for them too.

"Everything's fine today, that is our illusion." Voltaire
also, people complain about daily life. So this creates the following illusion:

Life before i was born: Rubbish (getting gradually better over time)
Life since i was born: Great ("we used to have it so good")
Life now: Rubbish ("Life sucks")
(or
Life now:great!(everything's alright for ever) )
Life in the past (when talking to kids/successors): "you kids have it so much easier nowadays"
Life in the future:
either "Things can only get better" / "It's getting better all the time"
or "It's all downhill from here" (which could mean better or worse)
or "This country's going straight to hell!"
therefore summed up as Uncertain.

(why do i keep getting images of Yarpole church?)

does anyone actually know anything at all?
(if you do, then please let me know!)

Boxes Rant

(instigated by hearing that Mia was not allowed to go and teach outside instead of in the classroom)

What is it about humanity that we are so intent on shutting ourselves up in little boxes?! Physically , psychologically, socially, we build these walls, and lock ourselves away, then wondr what we're running away from!
We don't realise we're running from the sun! From the power and light that will give us the energy to "cope with life".

What does that mean, anyway? "Cope With Life?"
Why do we have to make Life out to be something that we need to "cope" with?
Life is a Joy; with challenges, perhaps, but to say it is necessary to "cope" with life gives "life" a heavy dark lustre which it does not need.

as i write, the windows are covered by blinds (have you noticed i am usually sitting in the office as i write this blog?) to prevent the sunlight from coming in (are they called blinds 'cos that's what they make you?) and we are subjected to the ghastly fluorescence that pervades offices (and kitchens? why kitchens?) the world over.

When oh when will people realize that solar power is Free, and doesn't even need to be converted into electricity to be used?

If anyone reading this has ever built or considered building a building that makes all possible use of natural light, then please let me know!

blue sky blue

It is a truly beautiful day.

i find this fruastrating, because i am "stuck" in the office supposedly writing my monthly magazine article (on art) when i could be outside absorbing it...
(Why is it always when i'm frustratedly sitting in the office that i find myself writing my blog? It's supposed to be a blog of stuff i do, not a blog of stuff i would like to be doing but can't)
A quote by Kahlil Gibran floated through my Gmail account this morning - "Life without liberty is like a body without spirit." So what is Liberty? Is it the same as freedom? Does the fact that i am sitting in an office when i'd rather be outside mean that i have neither? Or am i making this compromise so that i have the means to experience freedom and liberty in different forms?


In my dream-sky this morning, there were no clouds.

When, having woken up, i eventually managed to drag myself from under the warm covers, and up the hill, i realized that this is the truth for the "real" sky as well.

三寒四温, literally "3 cold 4 warm" is a way of describing the weather cycles as Japan approaches spring. 3 days of cold, 4 days of warm.

Reading "Chaos"... very amazing...

(this entry rushed and incomplete 'cos the 12:00 chimes have gone and i gotta go+ see if Steve's back from Nagano)

a final word - Don't Drink Coffee!
well, you can if you want but i don't reccommend it.
It doesn'T work for me, anyway.