Нещо малко феминистко

A Spanish Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.
'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.'
'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.'

A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?'

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your salary on accessories for it.
(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have got a better model.

The women won.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown..

Absurdism (work in progress)

Просташки стихотворения

Без автор - lyrics за чалгичка

С теб


Без теб денят ми мразовит бе,
със тебе пролет разцъфтя.
Без тебе плачеха върбите,
а с теб и гарванът запя ;)
Какво ли щях да съм сега?
Откъснат и повяхнал цвят.
Живот си ти и светлина,
със теб е хубав тоя свят



За мен


За мене ти си въздух
За мен си светлина
За мене ти си слънце,
огряло през дъжда
За мене ти си огън
на зимата в нощта
за мене ти сълза си
дошла от радостта

Диаболистични (т.е. депресарски стихотворения - what's not to like about them :)

БОЛНИЦА





Тази бяла варосана зала на градската болница,
до самите стени прилепените бели легла
и лица побледнели по тях, и лица меланхолни
с тъмножълтия цвят на студената зимна мъгла.

Тези черни ръце връз прострените бели покривки
като черни оголени клони на зимния сняг,
тези сухи ръце и ракривени болни усмивки,
и очи може би вече вгледани в другия свят.


Тишината и здрачът и тези прозорци тъжовни
със петна от мухи и с бразди от прахът и дъждът,
и звънът, и звънът на големия стенен часовник
сякаш тежките стъпки на близката смърт.

Атанас Далчев

1923 г.


Rearranged


Lately I’ve been skeptical
Silent when I would used to speak
Distance from all around me
Who witness me fail and become weak
Life is overwhelming
Heavy is the head that wears the crown
I’d love to be the one to disappoint you when I don’t fall down

But you don’t understand when I’m attempting to explain
Because you know it all and I guess things will never change
But you might need my hand when falling in your hole
Your disposition I’ll remember when I’m letting go
You and me we’re through
And rearranged


Дора Габе

Прокоба

Усещам някога в кръвта си тъмна сила,
едно предчувствие, което се обажда
в сърцето ми и тъмен спомен ражда.
Не зная що съм и не зная що съм била.

Душата ми е неспокойна, мътна, няма.
Там горе, де полярната звезда пътува,
в безкрая, бледна и самотна дето плува –
ще мине може и моят път през тамо.

Защо ме тегли неспокоен дух далече?
Съдбата ли на мои прадеди бездомни,
пробудена в кръвта, проклятие изрече,
или от векове сърцето ми го помни!…
1920
КРАЙ

id,ego,superego

It is proved that Freud is in a certain degree gibberish but psychoanalysis is still an attractive method for some psychologist. I personally like some concepts like this one.

Books review

I constantly forget things, but(sometimes subcontiously) remember concepts. I'm pretty sure there is a finate number of concepts in our intellectual 'universe'....I ask myself sometimes does my excercise of reading books has any practical point having in mind that I really forget things I read(even the booktitles and authors' names) and reading has a side effect of defecting my eye vision. Or probably forgetting equals stupid? Or are my questions just an execuse? One trick against forgetting is notes and summarizing.(duh!) So, here is a brief review of the books I've been reading lately.

The time traveler's wife by Audrey Niffenegger







I've been thinking about what my favourite book should be like: a story, science-fiction describing historical events, insightful narration about unusual important 'stuff'. I know this description is very vague and probably a high percentage of books make attempt to achieve that. Although a love story (why although?!) and a tragic one, a book about something so lame as time travel and a best-seller, the combination of words and events in this books is like A (not THE) right one. I loved it, but still I'm gonna be searching for THE right one :-)


Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely





Behavioural economics?! Hmmm..does a bunch of experiments like beer-tasting and selling chocolate can count for scientific? This is an essential difference between European and American approach to science (broadly). Wheareas Europeans like dry theory, which can be proved only by very old professors with a sequal of "therefore, therefore, therefore" even in social sciences ( I suppose this is an inheritance from the ancient Greek philosophers), American scientists like to conduct experiments. Which method is right or wrong I cannot tell. This book written by a respectful MBA American professor deals mainly with common sense issues like advertising can be missleading, people tend to procrastinate, emotions prevail rationality, etc.


The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde





I cannot give a bad review to Oscar Wilde.(like duh!) But this book wasn't really my cup of tea. It's vey gay and the characters' actions are very predictable. The language is old-fashioned, of course, but there are some nice monologues and you can feel the triumph of evil and despair,selfishness, the fatality, sooner tragedy of the one and only question that really matters - Why can I stay young and forever..

The European Union: How Does it Work?






During my preparation for an EPSO (European Personnel Selection Office) CBT (computer-based test) I read a lot about European Union from its official sources web-site. (Although I seriously need to catch up with the recent events, e.g.Lisbon Strategy). It represented thoroughly many dry facts. This book gave my another-angle insight of the EU through its historical and political context. (reconciliation btw. Germany and France,etc.) It's a little bit soaked with British humor/scepticism (maybe I am exaggerating)- which is a good thing (it gives dynamics) and it is an old edition. The book gives insights to essential concepts.


Global Political Economy by John Ravenhill





The textbook is very carefully written - from the difference of global to international to the handful of given examples. It felt more like common sense, maybe because I knew most of the stuff already, but it was good to have a look at the science were economics and international relations intersect. Some notions and concpets are not explained, which is the work of a textbook, but there is a lot of information on the subject most of which overlaps through the chapters because each chapter is written by different person, although the title says John Ravenhill..


The City of Thieves by David Benioff





When you buy this book in UK it goes with a cover, which says: "If you don't like this book we will send you 2 free books". Tempting, but I am not gonna do it because simply I loved it. Although the plot of the book is the place and time you never wanna be - occupied Leningrad by Nazis. The twist is the fact that the tale is set in the besieged and starving city of Leningrad in January, 1941. It is a city at war surrounded by the German army, in the middle of a bitter winter, where the last resort becomes commonplace. And then the most interesting and funny story happens, though there is a drama - one of the main characters dies.. David, was that necessary?

Surrealism by Michael Robinson





A very good reference to surrealism, this book covers a lot of artists. I am and will be using it for my research on absurdism.