London

The ground is wet, it smells like exhaust, and although it looks cold it doesn’t feel too bad. It’s humid. Ben strikes a few times, but I don’t keep count. It’s quiet but the squeaky breaks of a double-decker remind you that this city takes cat naps at night.

London doesn’t really rhyme. You can walk around late at night safely, and people do. The whole place seems to heat up after the sun sets, especially over summer, with late walks along the embankment. But pubs close at midnight. Maybe those things are connected somehow.

The tube is cool. It’s fast and efficient and people take it. There are strikes but not as often as France and it’s a little pricey but not as bad as America. It’s nice when a smaller tube stop looks all old-fashioned with cracked tiles and whatnot. The Baker St stop is a little like that. And the voice on the intercom just can’t be beat. “This is the Bakerloo line.” “Mind the gap.”

“Queues” are what they call them. The tidy alternation of vowels speaks to what they are. Whether it’s waiting at a bus stop or on an underground platform, Londoners are always civilized.

Except when it comes to football. That’s right “football,” the sport you play with your feet. Conflicting loyalties make men crazy. London has three top football teams (Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham). And that’s not to mention the overflow of Manchester United fans in the city, or the people (arseholes) who follow teams based on something like talent or consistency and choose to root for Barcelona or Real Madrid.

The best thing to do after watching a match at the pub is to get fish and chips, with a gherkin. They give it to you with vinegar on top, but you gotta pour a little more on and add salt before you even try them. You eat them while walking.

You might stop at a park. They have great parks, real nicely manicured. Londoners don’t really litter and there aren’t a whole lot of dogs, so the problems that plague American and French public spaces don’t affect London. It’s never really warm enough during the day to have a picnic in comfort, but a walk through the park is always nice. You could even stop by Speaker’s Corner and hear the crazies go on about Imperialism.

Their money is worth more than anyone else’s in the world. They reject the euro because they can. One coin in London is worth about two bucks.

London is not, though it seems like it, in the middle of Britain. It’s actually a little left of center and pretty far south, so it doesn’t snow in the winter.

Britain may not be known for its cuisine but the ethnic stuff in London is the best in the world. “Chinatown” (and I put it in quotes because it’s more like a little plaza they set up so that London could have a “Chinatown” like many large American cities) has this restaurant called “Won Kee’s” which is like three stories and always packed with people. They’re famous for having extremely rude waitstaff. “Upstairs! Upstairs!” they yell at you when you walk in. And sometimes when you get to the top floor they scream “Downstairs, downstairs!”

They eat this thing in Chinese restaurants in Britain called “seaweed” that’s actually fried cabbage with sugar sprinkled on top. It’s pretty good. They practically invented Indian food in London and curry after a crazy night is like the thing to do. Actually, some fish and chip shops have this spicy curry sauce you can pour over the chips that’s so weird but good.

On the Arts and the Sciences

"Science provides an understanding of a universal experience and art provides a universal understanding of a personal experience." -Mae Jemison

Astronaut (and dancer) Mae Jemison has this great Ted talk (and if you don't know what Ted is by now, please begin watching immediately*) about how the arts and sciences are more similar than people (both artists and scientists) are willing to admit, and as such, should be taught together in schools. I really enjoyed this talk, not because she provided any kind of solution to the art/science dichotomy (one minor flaw to her speech) but because it comes from someone with both exceptional analytical skill and artistic talent. She explains that both analytical and creative skills are manifested in scientific and artistic disciplines and that to denigrate one or the other is to ignore the fact that humans both use and need both to function.

I think one reason I felt so drawn to this video is because it is a rebuttal to what I hear all too often now: that students should pursue math and engineering and, if not intelligent enough, they should go to trade school. Perhaps it is just my math/economics/computer science-heavy family, but it does seem that the arts (which includes, in my mind, the social sciences, politics, languages and others) are being quickly thrown to the wayside. I think this is a huge mistake (and not just because I recently graduated with a degree in the liberal arts). In an age where computers and brilliant Chinese and Indian students can outsmart us and do everything we do cheaper and more efficiently, we will need to harness the creativity that us dumb art majors have in order to stay afloat in the next century.

In fact, many people are now saying that it will be right-brained thinkers that lead us into the next generation. Dan Pink, Al Gore's former speechwriter, has a book called A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brained Thinkers Will Rule the Future where he argues that "inventiveness" and "empathy" will be the qualities needed for future success. Pink also has a great Ted talk, which he begins by sheepishly admitting that he went to Yale Law School, a huge mistake in his mind (and something that hit a little too close to home for me).

I think artsy, creative people can rejoice. Not only are they beginning to get a little respect, but this economy is the perfect opportunity to have creative pursuits. In an age where many are unemployed and a college degree, even in something useful, no longer entitles its bearer, the opportunity cost is lower than it has been in a long time (OK, thank you econ).  So I say, go for it. Funemployment here we come.

*Ted! Start with the "Most Favorited of all Time" (particularly Jill Bolte Taylor, Hans Rosling, and Malcolm Gladwell), then try out the unconventional "talks" by Rives, David Gallo, Arthur Benjamin, and Jennifer Lin. They'll blow your freaking mind.

Love Letters to No one

Dear vast abyss known as the Internet,

How are you? It's been far too long since you've written.

I was watching a movie yesterday about a historical figure many of the details of which depended on the historical figure's letters she wrote to a friend. And for a second I lamented the fact that people don't write letters anymore (no thanks to the postal service) but then I realized that something had taken the place of letter writing: blogs. Are blogs the new letters? And if so, who are they addressed to? Have we become such a self-obsessed culture that instead of writing letters to real people, we simply write letters to...no one?

Perhaps, but much like the letters in the movie I watched, blogs play an interesting role in recording history. No longer can history be written solely from the perspective of one (Western) historian. Instead, the thousands of blogs (and perhaps Twitter tweets) from around the world comprise an interesting and multi-faceted view of the world we live in.

But there are so goddamn many of them, you say, how can blogs (1) be trusted, (2) be consolidated into one story? I suppose they can't and won't be. Maybe we're simply entering into an era of subjective history, where we each choose to believe what happened based on what other people tell us (not that that's so different from how it works now). Liberals can read the the Huffington Post, Conservatives can follow The Weekly Standard, while I'd probably choose something like McSweeney's.

And what of those individuals who write only for the sake of writing, those who know few if any actually read their blogs, who contribute very little to recorded history? Well, I guess we'll just wait and see. Maybe one day the internet will write back.

Schadenfreude

schadenfreude |ˈ sh ädənˌfroidə| (also Schadenfreude)
noun
pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.
ORIGIN German, from Schaden ‘harm’ + Freude ‘joy.’

I’m thinking about these raucous health care forums and the anger and distrust of those against national health care. It’s a shame because I doubt that these people are dumb or ignorant or uncivilized, though they are portrayed that way on TV. They are, however and unfortunately, being needlessly provoked by political pundits who disagree with Obama’s politics. I’ll be the first to admit that this probably isn’t so different from the way anti-war liberals approached Bush and the republicans when we went into Iraq. We all remember the innumerable protests, the calls to action by liberal pundits, and the anger and name-calling by protestors, even as Bush was inaugurated for the second time. I suppose, in a way, being anti-war is sexy while being anti-health care is…well, I don’t think anything health care-related can ever be sexy.

So I wonder why people like Sarah Palin are trying their best to delay and obstruct the progress of this health care bill. Each day wasted on dispelling untrue rumors is merely an added expense. And the longer this draws out, the further away from Obama’s original plan we get. No one wants an expensive, ineffective national health plan.

What does this have to do with the German word schadenfreude? Well, I’m struck by how certain republicans are hoping that Obama’s plan fails (and not just in health care, I’m reminded of the Fox news guest who said he hoped that the United States got attacked by terrorists so that Obama would get serious about national security).

No one, not even us godless liberals, went into the Iraq War hoping for it to fail. No one wanted the war to drag out, for it to cost billions of dollars, or for thousands of Americans to die. Anti-war may be sexy, but pro-failure never is.

I think the key word in the definition of schadenfreude is “other” (well, it’s hidden in “another person” but you know what I mean). These national health care opponents are approaching this from the perspective of the other, as if we are not one country. They seem to think that if the national health care plan fails, then they somehow win. As if billions of wasted dollars can ever be considered a win. They should keep in mind that a failed national health care plan hurts us all (and a successful one helps us all). So how could anyone wish for their country to fail? (Perhaps the answer lies in the opposite of schadenfreude, envy…) Why don’t they propose an alternative health plan if this one is so bad? Our current health care system is broken, inefficient, and hurts those who need it most. Ignoring the problem certainly doesn’t do anything.

When Obama was elected he stated boldly that "we are not a collection of Red states and Blue states, we are the United States of America.” I just hope that those who disagree with his politics can at least agree with his words. We need a unified front against an unjust system, not a war of ideals that helps no one. It boggles the mind that Americans can take pleasure at the pain of their own government.

I like to think that a nation’s culture is reflected in its language, and that the lack of an English word for schadenfreude perhaps means that the sentiment doesn’t exist in our country. I hope I’m right.

Courtesy of ICHC

New-ish job, new-ish camera

The view from LHS.

Words of the Week

swash |swô sh; swä sh |
verb [ intrans. ]archaic (of a person) flamboyantly swagger about or wield a sword : he swashed about self-confidently.

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.(in the sense [make a noise like swords clashing or beating on shields] ): imitative.

buckler |ˈbək(ə)lər|
noun historical
a small, round shield held by a handle or worn on the forearm.

-Oxford American Dictionary