coming home.

traveltime, timetravel.

so much to tell about the last three weeks, but most of all this:

Ich brach in solcher Eile auf, dass ich nicht richtig Abschied nehmen konnte und dass das Gefuhl mich auf der Heimreise begleitete, ich haette mich nur unzureichend bedankt.

we reveled in the colours of the dunes and the warmth of the air. we met many people that were kind and taught us various things. such as the viscosity of pap, the microscopic brain of chickens, the perfection of zebra stripes, the unexpected elephant in the area, plants and woods of the bush to live and eat, the way a baobab does not bend its twigs, the sweet heaviness of papaya, the memories of childhood.

how can so much beauty and sadness coexist?

neil young in da house.

in a brilliant song (both music and lyrics) i find this line exceptionally moving: ’singing words between the lines of age’

yeah! listen to it here.

Someone and someone
were down by the pond
Looking for something
to plant in the lawn.
Out in the fields they
were turning the soil
I’m sitting here hoping
this water will boil
When I look through the windows
and out on the road
They’re bringing me presents
and saying hello.

Singing words, words
between the lines of age.
Words, words
between the lines of age.

If I was a junkman
selling you cars,
Washing your windows
and shining your stars,
Thinking your mind
was my own in a dream
What would you wonder
and how would it seem?
Living in castles
a bit at a time
The King started laughing
and talking in rhyme.

Singing words, words
between the lines of age.
Words, words
between the lines of age.

richard scarry. remember him?

habemus bike.

needless to say, very proud of this baby.

thanks dani for your patience with me…

beaming nutshell

is anger a gift?

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone.

You are the one who gets burned.

Gautama Buddha

image rippled from here

sinaia.

i think by now i have come to accept that ambivalent feelings towards this place (not sinaia in particular, those feelings are very straightforwardly beautiful – i mean the country/field/culture mainly) are going to linger with me.

i woke up to the sound of birds, and as i stepped on to the balcony, i remembered the air smell in the field, last september, as i first noticed that the summer had gone, irretrievably.

i slept really well both nights here. it is extremely quiet. and so far, i have not encountered the bear either. a few of the conference participants have, however, and it unsettles me. a few weeks ago, some people were killed this way in this very town. laughing it off may be one way of making it less scary.

mood-song.

greets from ljubljana.

it’s a wonderful place and it will get at least one blogspot here, coming up soon. i am enjoying the calm before the conference. i shall go and conquer the castle now, methinks. then a coffee in the sun (maybe even an iced coffee) and then philippe descola’s keynote speech at the slovene philharmonic.

this place is prettier than luxembourg. truly. petz called it ‘posh eastern europe’ and man, it is _really_ posh.

i love the language they speak here. must learn some other balkanic language on occasion. i ate something horrible yesterday though (or maybe it was just nerves) so i am a bit hesitant as to where to eat this time. hmmmmm…. it made for a strange night.

phil sent me this. enjoy.

postcard from the ferryboat.

right-click picture to read ferry fragment.

seed – science as culture.

worthwhile magazine here. on consciousness and perception, for instance:

1. What exactly is the real-world brain activity that we are engaging with when we say a sensation is like something?

2. Why does this activity have the (tricky) properties it has, such that our experience of it is seemingly something so strangely private, not of this world, and indescribable in common terms?

3. What makes this trick work? How is it done?

4. What is the point? Why was it designed like this? What might have been the evolutionary advantage of our having these marvelous experiences?

I believe we can already propose plausible answers to each of these questions—although they are all quite radical. Here they are.

The real-world brain activity is the activity that I call “sentition.” In response to sensory stimulation, we react with an evolutionarily ancient form of internalized bodily expression (something like an inner grimace or smile). We then experience this as sensation when we form an inner picture—by monitoring the command signals—of just what we are doing.

Sentition has been subtly shaped in the course of evolution so as to instill our picture of it with those added dimensions of phenomenality. Sentition has, in short, become what I call a “phenomenous object”—defined as “something that when monitored by introspection seems to have phenomenal properties.”

very exciting.

i just found out that i cannot apply yet for post-docs starting in 2009 because the deadline of viva prior to 1 april 2009 is too early. so i need to find a job for 2009-2010, and then do a post-doc? it sounds like planning ahead way too much. british academy fellowships had a success rate of 8%. yay. could be worse you know…

anyone given any thought to what research would be most worthwhile and relevant for me to engage in, given my previous experience and foci?

if you have some spare time, go on a journey: wanderlust.