Disqus - Latest Comments for lelik

Re: mills baker - The dream of escape is deferred by endless...

lelik — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:56:44 -0000

The original ejection seats for the F-104 Starfighter pushed a pilot downwards rather than upwards. This, obviously, was not a good thing if the aircraft and pilot were close to the ground (as they often are when escape is needed). So: in keeping with the metaphor, if one does manage to choose to escape, sometimes the meticulous planning and all still leads to death. I suppose, though, it is worth the risk for another shot at life.

Re: the ragbag - and you thought that taking the know your dvořák...

lelik — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:38:52 -0000

I've always liked Fitzgerald's translation, too. I prefer his translation of The Aeneid as well. Fagles' translation was the first I read of The Iliad, though, and - as you mention - I like that one better than the others I've read. It's like this odd loyalty, based on nothing more than (I think) the association with the exhilaration of the first encounter with such a story.

Re: Fourth

lelik — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:17:11 -0000

This is just absolutely wonderful. This morning I drove back from where I spent the weekend and was trying to put together words to describe the simple happiness that filled it all. Reading this, the first thing I thought was Yes, exactly.

Re: mills baker - GPOYW. It emerges that it is not, in fact, an...

lelik — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:00:19 -0000

Sometimes I wonder if everyone you meet is really as brilliant as you make them sound, or if you're just overly humble/too nice. Also, my friend Chris wanted me to tell you that he loves your photography.

Re: Kyle Bingman

lelik — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:29:24 -0000

It is very enjoyable. I actually started reading Europe Central first, but a the more I got into it the more grim I felt; it will have to wait for another time. The Moviegoer, though, is intelligent but still light. I have a feeling that I will love it, too.

Re: psychobabble - Nostalgia: Sweet Remembrance (Psychology Today)

lelik — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:05:40 -0000

The times when I am actually depressed are times when I cannot figure out what is wrong. I'll be terribly tired and apathetic and sad but not really know why I feel that way. When I am nostalgic, at the very least I know why I am feeling the sadness and hopelessness I am experiencing. I'm not sure if the nostalgia - the recognition of the points of sorrow or longing in my life - prevent movement into depression, but if anything it is not as difficult to endure as the lonely pangs of reasonless depression.

Re: An Unwinnable War: The Flawed Alternative Strategies For Vietnam

lelik — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:00:43 -0000

Thanks!

Re: China

lelik — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:06:24 -0000

Fact: I logged onto Tumblr significantly less often during the period that you were gone than during "normal" weeks. Another Fact: My mid-workday realization that "Hey, Mills should be back today" kept me from completely losing my mind over the idiocy of customers.

Anyway, welcome back. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures and hearing what you have to say about the trip (which will be fascinating, if the above is an indication of what is to come).

Re: mills baker - Mandalay, visiting family in New Orleans, agreed...

lelik — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:59:06 -0000

Normally I am what one might label a very health-conscious vegetarian. Yet every time you or Sydney or whoever posts these pictures of food from New Orleans, I start making mental lists of all the exceptions I am going to make should I ever go there. For instance: Alligator Cheesecake. Is it cheesecake with a "made in Louisiana" catchy name? Or is it ACTUALLY made out of alligators? I have no idea, am intrigued, and must try it. You're all eroding my convictions (haha)!

Re: Should Empathy Have Been Invented?

lelik — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:17:29 -0000

There is a reason I don't use Twitter: I can't say anything in less than a paragraph (which I realized while trying to answer this question)...

Anyway: Maybe we just wanted to not feel guilty when we simply feel nothing at all about a situation. I am often unmoved by another's pain but can still say I have sympathy for them. By having both categories of sympathy and empathy, the feeling of someone else's pain is separated from the acknowledgement of it.

Re: psychobabble - Personality test based on Jung - Myers-Briggs typology

lelik — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:42:35 -0000

INTJ. This is also the same result that I have gotten for years, though the introversion has decreased from the 90s to the mid 70s.

Re: mills baker - Things Fall Apart / Things Pile Up: Junkyard House...

lelik — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:53:42 -0000

I tend to dislike stuff. Every time I move I get rid of the things I have accumulated and end up with only several boxes of books, fencing gear, a computer, and clothes. It's a good feeling.

There is a man in my hometown, however, who is known for hoarding junk. Every garbage day he drives around the town in his truck, along the way stopping to rummage through piles and take things as he pleases. When he's done he returns to his home on the edge of town and adds his finds to the junk piles that reach nearly to the roof. A while ago the town took action against him and tried to make him clean it up, but a large portion of the populace protested and made the local government back down. I think he did end up cleaning out the property, only to resume collecting the next week.

Re: mills baker - This stormfront was minutes away, and gentler...

lelik — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:59:19 -0000

I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being a few days ago and it has remained on my mind, particularly the chapter about Franz taking part in the "grand march" in Cambodia. The silence at the border was nearly, well, unbearable.

Re: mills baker - This stormfront was minutes away, and gentler...

lelik — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:11:34 -0000

A book I was reading today noted that while more exact sciences such as physics can provide understanding about systems such as orbits or atoms, it offers no definite help with the weather. Despite the use of multi-million dollar satellites and complicated models for creating forecasts, the book pointed out that the frequently the best information meteorologists can provide is something like "The weather will probably be like it was today" or "It's probably going to be different." People can try to control it (e.g., in Russia they use a cement mixture dropped into clouds to stop it from raining on holidays), but rarely is it actually understood. Our ideas of the weather are naive. Perhaps that is a good thing.

Anyway, all that to say that I quite like this picture.

Re: PEG 2.0 - The 2009 Kentucky Derby - The Big Picture: Hot...

lelik — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:08:13 -0000

Me too. I don't think it ever leaves one's mind.

Re: Jazz Fest Food!

lelik — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:51:35 -0000

Whenever you or Mills or whoever talk about food from Louisiana, I begin to think that the state line might actually be an international border and that I would need a passport to visit. It's rather intriguing.

Re: Kyle Bingman

lelik — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:30:57 -0000

I heard about in my American Foreign Policy class. We were talking about the renewed arms race of the 1980s and it was a point of discussion. I first saw it last night.

Re: mills baker - I’m Glad You Never Had an Awkward Phase: a partial...

lelik — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:34:13 -0000

I had a "phase" where I dyed my hair red and put it in liberty spikes.

Also, I like the planes!

Re: mills baker - The tree under which my grandfather’s ashes are...

lelik — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:04:58 -0000

After months of reading your accounts of the ranch, it has assumed a place in my mind of nearly mythic goodness: sun, nature, friends, etc.

Also - I was at MEPS yesterday getting sworn in and during the four hours I was waiting I read Austerlitz cover to cover. I'm not sure if it was the environment or the book, but it made me feel rather despondent. It was, despite this, rather beautiful.

Re: l'esprit de l'escalier

lelik — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 10:42:40 -0000

I tend to think of responses weeks later and then proceed to fire off emails to the subject (who, by that time, has forgotten about the initial conversation and has no idea what I am talking about).

Re: billy dalto

lelik — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 23:29:18 -0000

This might actually be closer to Benjamin Franklin's schedule than one may first think, haha.

Re: overheard at the gym

lelik — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:04:00 -0000

One time I saw a person who filled the inside of the VW Beetle they were driving.

Re: mills baker - …he had no special face to signify a funny remark....

lelik — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:23:50 -0000

I once had a coworker who began nearly every conversation with, "So, do you want to hear something funny?" and then proceeded to relate - awkwardly - a story that likely came off the Odd News page on Yahoo. Since then I have fled the area at the mention of the word "joke" or "funny" in a conversation. "Oh look at the time," I'd say, "I forgot I had an appointment to... um... get my car washed..."

Re: Kyle Bingman

lelik — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 15:02:49 -0000

Unfortunately, I didn't take the photo - I found it on Flickr and just realized that I forgot to link to the source. Now I can't find it again, so it must suffice to say that it's of Grand Rapids' west side and that someone other than me took it. My own photography is nothing one would want to display, try as I might. Anyway, if the compliment still applies - thank you.

I think I know what you mean about the worst areas of cities. I went back the other day (to explore an old factory for a paper, as it were) and felt entirely self-conscious and exploitative, as I felt like I was using the area's poverty to enhance my knowledge. But, like you said, no one actually cared.

Re: Kyle Bingman

lelik — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:31:46 -0000

Thank you. I hope so.