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The Stoic“Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year."
August 19 Part 30: ParadoxesMoney is the root of
all evil. It is also the root of misjudgment, misperception, and distortion. It
does not appear logical to me that a mother would deem it necessary for her son
to cut expenditures – of all kinds that is – from his own balance. Meagerly
haircuts, insignificant contact lenses have all been misplaced from one
category known as “necessities” to another often referred to as “unnecessary
luxuries.” One would invariably argue that when a person is receiving income on
a regular basis, his or her condign expenditures are self-indicted, and I could
not agree less. Yet an income of 150 RMB a day is no income for an adult
lifestyle. It should not, cannot be
expected that an eighteen year old without a job is obliged to financially
support himself, and quite humorously, this here is just the case. If money is
a devil and a blessing at the same time, what is money?
August 12 Part 29: ParallelsArchitecture is “the discipline dealing with the
principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings,” or
so is defined by credible philomaths at Princeton University. Regardless of any
irrelevance of architecture in my life, I have gained exponentially from the
book I am currently captivated by, New
Design in Tokyo, written by a Taiwanese architect who was examining the
design revolution that occurred around the 90’s in Japanese Tokyo. It has never
occurred to me at all that such a subject as buildings and geometric patterns
can render differences so paramount in a society. These direct relations are
reflected not only in the artistic scope of a nation though, because such broad
terms as economy and standard of living are introduced into the frame. With
less than a university degree, world renowned master architect Ando Takao
shared his personal insight towards the architectural society in this book,
expounding and emphasizing that buildings are not meant to be symbols of
opulence. When buildings begin to be lavished in grandiose extravagance, as is
human nature’s propensity, all fundamental pillars start to wobble, until
finally the motive and beauty that are essential to the paradigm of design
collapse, and parallels collide into each other. This is why globetrotter Takao
only integrates the crudest ingredients as rock, cement, water, wood, and wind
into his masterpieces across the face of this planet. Such is the elegance, the
potential, of simplicity.
August 04 Part 28: Cravings Disguised as a benevolent advisor, I really can
pull off a good tutor impression, I realized. What’s that I hear? Evil? Not
nearly! This is the interactive exchanges between a high school graduate and a
mere elementary student. There is intrinsic value in the lessons, as she develops
literary prose and I develop my social abilities. I must say, though, I am
quite unsettled about the tuition, as it has not been paid yet. I recognize it
was agreed upon that pay days would be exactly a week apart, but yes, I am
financially drained at the moment, and am close to bankruptcy. My mother is departing
from town tomorrow, which is of course a plus, and my father, uncertain of a
business trip. It would be a delightful bonus if he was gone too, but you can’t
always have everything. I will be alone, yet not forlorn, mind you, because I
in truth enjoy the solitude. Additionally, the house will be temporarily in my
sole possession, assuming my father is absent, and I will be able to host the
party I have longed for: PS2, Starcraft, DVDs, PC, Starbucks, KFC, oh and yes
of course, Youtube and Margarita all night long. Yes yes, I plan to excel and
exhaust all of my geeky testosterone in one night, and then foster them all back
in the gym, or the workout room. July 19 Subjective Recollections of a World That Once Was: Part 27 And so the choler is renascent, after halcyon
dormancy. The beginning is yet to arrive and already the skies glow of a
darkened hue. An intangible, invisible insecurity is creeping in the corner,
planning its every move, but there must be a remedy for this. I will not take
it, not again. By the by, on a less grave note, I lately gathered a collection
of gadgets, old and new. The long abandoned PSP, now fed by a newly acquired
charger is ecstatically working its way into my interest again as I twiddled
around with the little analog and buttons. It along with the iPhone serve as
display monitors as well, for memories perhaps? These are the ones that are now
gradually, unwillingly being coated layer by layer by dust and indifference,
yet amidst the impending despondency, hidden is a wisp of hope. What is hope?
Hope is the thundering rain on a boiling summer day, the dying ember that
strives to keep warmth alive on an icy blistering winter night, and the smile
you receive on the worst day of your life. So I say, let there be hope. July 13 Subjective Recollections of a World That Once Was: Part 26 Marketing is a killer major that will lead you
to a hopeless career path, or so I was apprised of this evening at suppertime.
Okay…that wasn’t really quite the encouragement I was anticipating coming from
a marketing specialist, but all right, I can cope with that. I apportion a credit
of my present wisdom about the world and life in general on decisions and judgment
to one authority: Josh Stimac, my history teacher whom I was never a student of
(while ironic, true). Yes, he once said to me: “Never, Jeff, ever make
generalizations about any topic in life.” Thus, the failure of a predecessor
does not imply the failure of a successor. Moreover, the action of partnering
disciplines in finance to my plan may play a key role in conquering the
otherwise insurmountable and imminent roadblocks. I have also recently
discovered a few of my potential colleagues, and to be utterly candid, I did
not feel at all comfortable, just because their picture-perfect concept of
university life is far from my own conservative model. Yet, fear not, self, it
is once again vital that we shall not define a populace by a various few. On a
lighter note, I have been wrestling with the notion of separation quite
ruthlessly these past few days, tossing faithless thoughts and scrambling random
possible events together, and unearthing the intrinsic reality of it all. Are
not long distance relationship success stories all just prinked up in romantic
fashions anyway, expelling the grueling aspects buried in the whole package? July 04 Subjective Recollections of a World That Once Was: Part 25 Materialism is a lurking leech that sucks the
life out of a man. To be surfeited in extravagant gourmet, lavished in shining
opulence, and overwhelmed by ecstasy are the very egocentric goals of man.
Ideals of eclectic pleasures have become magazine covers, billboards, and
television commercials, invading the neural systems of humanity. Life is but a
dream, and a requiem will surely be in demand at the midlife. It hinders me
not, whether I will continue this pursuit of happiness, for this happiness is
ephemeral like fireworks, and the aftermath is what veraciously numbs the mind.
From ages to ages we fall and collapse in indulgence, and yet from ashes to
ashes we will never surrender this journey to Cockaigne. All the while, the
answer is right there in front of us. But we choose to look anywhere but
forward, and we choose our tragic destinies in our own transgressions. June 27 Subjective Recollections of a World That Once Was: Part 24 Swiss army knives. I love that analogy. That is
part of the very reason I am continuously impressed by Mrs. Ward, I guess. We,
the Swiss army knives of the year, those of the utmost utility, are about to be
placed to our toughest tests. Without regret, I claim the honor to announce
that my entire class as a whole tonight has reunited. I had anticipated a much
more lachrymose ambience, given experiences from previous years’ graduations.
Yet, at this precise ceremony, an intangible air of positivity lingered about.
The festivity startled me, not because I had not expected the ceremonial
procedures, but because my apprehensions failed to accurately approximate the
greater extents to which the event will carry my emotions. I cannot, meanwhile,
help myself from noticing an irritable condition. The persistent influx of praise raised me
to an uncomfortably awkward level of embarrassment. Perhaps it is not my nature to receive
compliments in excess, and therefore I often ponder on the characters of those
who adore these kinds of activities. But enough on my idiosyncrasy for now, I
must proceed to celebrate the night. Essentially, we have stepped into a stage
of life that requires us to be more mature, although we as flawed beings don’t
always handle the role all that strategically. Prepared I am, and pray I will
for those in timidity of the future. It’s like you’re a hermit crab stepping
out of your shell, at least for some of us. Fortunately for me, I’ve been
equipped with supersonic detectors to accurately seek and discover suitable
shells in the vastly deserted and highly capricious sea. I have on my back
ultraviolet beamers to help me weave through the seaweed and sharks that stand
in my way. Well, maybe some things slightly smaller than sharks. Okay I can
tell my analogous techniques are failing me once again, so here I shall cease.
Graduation? Check.
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