nominative determinism

The Times (UK) has some interesting stuff today. I don't read it hardly enough. This is a clever piece, and entertaining...

What's in a name?

neatness, continued...

Albert Einstein

The great theorist's untamed hair signified his attitude to neatness. “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?” he declared.

Alexander Fleming

was teased by colleagues for his disorderly desk. He kept everything - notes, slides, test tubes - for at least two weeks after he had finished working on them, in case he had a new idea or noticed a change. He was clearing his desk in 1928 when a dot of mould in an old petri dish led to his discovery of penicillin.

neatness, excuses

Here's an article worth reading.

Excerpt:

Dr Roderick Orner, a consultant psychologist and expert on obsessive compulsive disorder, says that tidiness is fundamentally about control - whether you want it and why you need it: “Some people find disorder a threat, others are much more comfortable with it. Artists often find that mixing things up, having things collide, is where they get their most inspirational thought.”

Francis Bacon was famous for his filthy studios (see picture, above). “I work much better in chaos,” he explained. And Pablo Picasso forbade his studio to be cleaned, so that “I would know at once if somebody had been meddling with my things”.

So I am not a slob, I am an artist. But this doesn't quite hold up because, like most untidy people, I prefer things tidy. It's just that I am always being distracted, then forgetting that I was meant to be clearing up. This is what life is like with an untidy mind; one that is focused inwards on its own thoughts rather than outwards to meet the demands of the exterior world. Tidiness is a priority - just a very low one; behind, say, looking out of the window blankly.

Hymn 575

I take Thy promise, Lord, in all its length,
And breadth and fulness, as my daily strength;
Into life's future fearless I may gaze,
For, Savior, Thou art with me all the days.

Days may be coming fraught with loss and change,
New scenes surround my life and fancies strange;
I thank Thee that no day can ever break,
Savior, when Thou wilt leave me or forsake.

There may be days of darkness and distress,
When sin has power to tempt, and care to press,
Yet in the darkest day I will not fear,
For, 'mid the shadows, Thou wilt still be near.

Days there may be of joy and deep delight,
When earth seems fairest, and her skies most bright,
Then draw me closer to Thee, lest I rest
Elsewhere, my Savior, than upon Thy breast.

And all the other days that make my life,
Marked by no special joy or grief or strife,
Days filled with quiet duties, trivial care,
Burdens too small for other hearts to share;

Spend Thou these days with me, all shall be Thine,
So shall the darkest hour with glory shine.
Then when these earthly years have passed away,
Let me be with Thee in the perfect day.

Word of the Day

despondent

feeling or showing profound hopelessness, dejection, discouragement, or gloom:

Now the trouble is over, everybody got paid
Everybody is happy, they are glad that they came
Then you go to the place where you've finally found
You can look at yourself sleep the clock around

Artist of the Week - Andrew Bird

This blog is place where fleeting things chase immortality. Ideas, opinions, emotions, etc are all captured like photographs and preserved forever. Right now I'm blossoming with delight. Yes there's a ski trip this weekend, but this is something bigger - an emotion much beyond my control. Still trembling with excitement, the emotions contained within are far stronger than I ever could have anticipated. Let me just explain...

About twenty minutes ago I was at Burger King, where I feasted on a Jr. Whopper and small fries for an incredible price of $2.54, yes, I know - it's incomprehensible. The sheer magnitude of this still hasn't completely set in, so I'm bracing for impact. How rarely does food-purchase gratification come so easily?

Thank you Wiki

On September 21, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge James Muirhead used Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" in his court ruling after receiving an egg in the mail from prisoner Charles Jay Wolff. Muirhead ordered the egg destroyed as he stated in his judgment[8]:

I do not like eggs in the file.
I do not like them in any style.
I will not take them fried or boiled.
I will not take them poached or broiled.

I will not take them soft or scrambled,
Despite an argument well-rambled.
No fan I am of the egg at hand.

Destroy that egg! Today! Today!
Today I say!
Without delay!

Word of the Day

You know that feeling when you're searching desperately for just the right word and it's stuck in the back of your head? There's a word for that, lethologica.

But what about that gratifying moment when the perfect word is delivered to exactly suit the idea or expression you intend? We have a term for that. It comes from the French, le mot juste.

How exciting...

Andrew Bird

has a new album out, "Noble Beast".

Listen to the entire article, courtesy of NPR. The New York Times also had an article written by Bird about the developments in his music. Quite interesting. I recommend you listen to "Oh No" and the later song "Souverian."

Word of the Day

My blog is feeling kind of stale and crumbly; it has the texture of feta cheese left on the counter overnight. It's hard to be inspired with that kind of environment. But I did find a neat word today, used in a recent New York Times article.

I debated whether to introduce the context of this word. Maybe you'll understand why. It's from a disheartening article about this contemporary pastor who seems to have discovered the secret formula to attracting large crowds. Hollywood spearheaded the art, and now it is obvious that desperate christian "workers" are now introducing similar trash in their sermons. If you are genuinely seeking God, I am guarantee your time would be much better spent somewhere else. But that's a different story for another day. Here's the context of the quote:

Mark Driscoll is American evangelicalism’s bête noire. In little more than a decade, his ministry has grown from a living-room Bible study to a megachurch that draws about 7,600 visitors to seven campuses around Seattle each Sunday, and his books, blogs and podcasts have made him one of the most admired — and reviled — figures among evangelicals nationwide.

And now, without further ado:

bête noire
  –noun, plural bêtes noires
a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded; bane; bugbear.

Origin:
1835–45; < F: lit., black beast

Joe the Plumber

Remember that guy? Now he's working as a news correspondent. Interesting...

Watch Here