Happy New Year everyone

[Taomeow]

55 minutes ago, thelerner said:

 

My wife reads alot of the classics.  Deep classics, like Euclid, Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Kant..

 

Me, not so much, in many ways she married a Neanderthal or on good days a Bonobo. Years ago I took a speed reading course.  I was able to read WaP in about 35 minutes.  As I recall there was a war in it, than it ended.  That about sums it up.  

 

That's how I read a lot of classics -- but that was cramming for tests/exams.  At the university we had a Foreign Literature course that was so unrealistically massive (pretty much all of the classics from all of the periods from all of the countries) that, per someone's calculations, in order to finish it all in the allocated 5 years, we would have to read for about 32 hours every day.  Since there's only 24 hours in a day, one had to pick and choose what to actually read and when to resort to the 35 minutes per 1000 pages method.  

 

One of my teachers was aware of it and opposed to it.  She wasn't satisfied with the student narrating the plot and naming the main protagonists -- she wanted proof that they did actually read whatever books were assigned.  So at the oral exams she would hit you with most cruel questions.  What was the name of Madame Bovary's cat?  What happened to the cat from The Batrachomyomachia?  And yet at a critical moment I managed to turn her attention away from the book I never read to the movie neither of us had ever seen and get the highest grade.  That's because the books I did read taught me how to cast a spell.   

[liminal_luke]

I'm reminded of one of my college triumphs.  A professor was discussing a short story by Kafka, a short story I was supposed to have read but hadn't.  Perhaps because I hadn't done the reading, my mind was not clouded by my own opinions and I could clearly see the direction the teacher wanted to take the class discussion.  After a few of my classmates answered a question incorrectly, I raised my hand and commented on the motivation of a character.  Bingo!  I got it right, at least according to our professor, without having the least idea what I was talking about.  My ballsiest classroom moment.

[whocoulditbe?]

4 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

I'm reminded of one of my college triumphs.  A professor was discussing a short story by Kafka, a short story I was supposed to have read but hadn't.  Perhaps because I hadn't done the reading, my mind was not clouded by my own opinions and I could clearly see the direction the teacher wanted to take the class discussion.  After a few of my classmates answered a question incorrectly, I raised my hand and commented on the motivation of a character.  Bingo!  I got it right, at least according to our professor, without having the least idea what I was talking about.  My ballsiest classroom moment.

This is how I try to approach most disucssions. Happy new year, btw!

[Nungali]

23 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

 

I want to hear about other´s New Years resolutions (or decisions not to make them) because I find other people, especially my fellow Bums, interesting.  Resolutions often tell a story, the story of the kind of human being a person wants to be. For many, there´s a tension between accepting things as they are and working for change, and it´s interesting to see how different people approach that polarity.  I am somewhat of a neurotic striver, easy going on the outside but Type A deep down¡ others are more content with their own imperfections, an outlook I find commendable.  I want to know other people better and reading resolutions helps me do just that.  Some resolutions inspire me, some give me comfort.  As prosaic as it might be, it´s nice to know, for instance, that others also want to lose weight or eat fewer donuts. 

 

 

Okay .  I am certain to keep this one ;

 

I resolve to not  eat squid this year .

[Nungali]

5 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

That's how I read a lot of classics -- but that was cramming for tests/exams.  At the university we had a Foreign Literature course that was so unrealistically massive (pretty much all of the classics from all of the periods from all of the countries) that, per someone's calculations, in order to finish it all in the allocated 5 years, we would have to read for about 32 hours every day.  Since there's only 24 hours in a day, one had to pick and choose what to actually read and when to resort to the 35 minutes per 1000 pages method.  

 

One of my teachers was aware of it and opposed to it.  She wasn't satisfied with the student narrating the plot and naming the main protagonists -- she wanted proof that they did actually read whatever books were assigned.  So at the oral exams she would hit you with most cruel questions.  What was the name of Madame Bovary's cat?  What happened to the cat from The Batrachomyomachia?  And yet at a critical moment I managed to turn her attention away from the book I never read to the movie neither of us had ever seen and get the highest grade.  That's because the books I did read taught me how to cast a spell.   

 

 

He went to Egypt , but things didnt turn out as expected ;

 

 

   

 

[Taomeow]

4 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

 

He went to Egypt , but things didnt turn out as expected ;

 

 

   

 

 

That Greek cat would have fared a lot better if he did indeed go to Egypt.  Even though, judging by these illustrations, some of the cat-worshipping Egyptians were getting tired of waiting on them hand and foot and were fantasizing about cats being put to work instead.   

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

Happy New Year everyone!

[Nungali]

15 hours ago, Taomeow said:

 

That Greek cat would have fared a lot better if he did indeed go to Egypt.  Even though, judging by these illustrations, some of the cat-worshipping Egyptians were getting tired of waiting on them hand and foot and were fantasizing about cats being put to work instead.   

 

..... and it appears they had to wait on mice celebrating new years eve ; 

 

note the  mouse  has a cocktail in one hand and the 'kebab' party food in the other hand

 

the cat is offering a left over Christmas Goose and in the background a sky rocket is going off

 

 

 

Perhaps Apech can tell us more  about ' Egyptian Christmas '   ?

[Geof Nanto]

On 02/01/2024 at 1:39 AM, liminal_luke said:

A Parable

 

A Bum goes to med school, graduates, and builds a successful medical practice.  He gets married and has kids.  Reads widely, both fiction and nonfiction, finding much enjoyment and intellectual stimulation.  Loves his dog.  He learns a lot about current events and develops thoughtful perspectives in line with his values.  He is well-loved by work colleagues and meditation buddies, especially online where he has earned the honorific title of ¨Steve on the Internet.¨ Importantly, he finds a spiritual community and teacher that feels like home and practices with enough depth and precision to significantly impact his personal vibe and the quality of his relationships with others.  And then, seated atop this mountain of accomplishment, declares that he´s never been successful with New Year´s resolutions.  Bemused Bums gather and whisper amongst themselves.  What´s he smokin´?

 

For @steve

 

On 02/01/2024 at 1:59 AM, Apech said:

 

The Bums needs at least one good person on here - let it be @steve.

 

“Where there is light, there must be shadow, and where there is shadow there must be light. There is no shadow without light and no light without shadow…It is as evil as we are positive… the more desperately we try to be good and wonderful and perfect, the more the Shadow descends to hell and becomes the devil. For it is just as sinful from the standpoint of nature and of truth to be above oneself as to be below oneself.”

(From IQ84, quoted in an Amazon review of the book.) 

 

This is why the path to wholeness is so damn difficult, as I suspect @steve knows all too well within himself. I’m currently going through experiences which are both amazing and terrible, engulfed in an inner world of light and shadow which is taxing me to the limit. 
 

[Apech]

17 hours ago, Nungali said:

 

..... and it appears they had to wait on mice celebrating new years eve ; 

 

note the  mouse  has a cocktail in one hand and the 'kebab' party food in the other hand

 

the cat is offering a left over Christmas Goose and in the background a sky rocket is going off

 

 

 

Perhaps Apech can tell us more  about ' Egyptian Christmas '   ?

 

 

I don't know much about these ostracon - although they are clearly humorous doodles and 'cartoon' -like charicatures with the reversal of normalcy being displayed - eg. cats serving rats/mice and so on. Perhaps its a kind saturnalian reversal of hierarchy but that might be reading too much into it.

 

Actually strictly I guess Egyptian Christmas should be something Coptic ?

[Unota]

I am a little bit late. But, last year, I was very busy and active the entire time. I got pretty fit and improved my health a lot. This year, I want to learn more about the world. I have learned a lot already about the history of Sudan, Tunisia, and Palestine. Everything from war atrocities to the weather. I guess you could say I've started 'archiving.' I want to archive more this year. I have already collected and gone through a lot of news archives and data, writing and rewriting as I learn more things. And the more that I learn, the more that I end up donating to charities. That's another thing I want to do more of this year. I want to continue donating to charity. Sometimes I have small amounts of 'spending cash' month by month, and usually, I would...waste it on snacks, or something that I didn't really care about. But last year I started putting that money to charities instead, to fund things that I have strong opinions about, and it made me feel a lot better than wasting it on something like...Fig newtons? (Although I do sometimes still buy fig newtons. I loooooove fig newtons. Sometimes you just really need a fig newton...)

 

I also just...Kind of want to continue doing whatever I want? I often forget that I have free will. This is kind of stupid to say. I feel like if reincarnation is real, I must've been something brainless like a housefly. I constantly feel like I'm forgetting I'm a human being. What do you mean I can just...Go out and buy fig newtons if I want to? If I want apples? If I want to go to an orchard? I can just do that? Nobody is going to stop me?? I went to an apple festival last year, just because I read a book about the history of apples. While I was there, I tried persimmon pudding for the first time. It was delicious! I accidentally drank cider so hot it scalded my mouth. I went to another festival at a historic village that was like it was preserved in time, and there was an old amish man there selling old farm tools that were all older than I am. I bought a trowel there, and I removed  the rust, sanded the handle, sharpened it with a bastard file, and had it engraved. It looks like new. I did this all because I was sick of using those cheap dollar store trowels that keep snapping in my hand under a little bit of pressure. That was the only reason that I went. To buy an old trowel! (my family would not let me buy any of the scythes. They don't seem to trust me around sharp objects.) Anyway, I want to do more of that this year. To indulge spontaneous impulses like this, hahaha. Most of them seem to be food-based. I'm starting to wonder if the only reason I like gardening is because of my love of food, and nothing at all to do with the plants themselves...