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Well, if I'm only able to say I did one thing for the last real Summer I'm going to have before college, there's always this; I just came back from Rome, where I'd come from Paris, where I'd come from London. Now, I cannot do the whole trip justice with a blog or a journal, so I'll have to settle for letting the trip do justice for a blog.
The first stop was London, and to be honest, I got a late start on Edward Rutherfurd's astounding book "London" because even after the plane ride, I hadn't finished the Mary Renault book that I had insisted on getting out of the way. Even now after the trip, I have just under a hundred pages left on "London." Ah well, it only takes a few of the stories to get into the spirit of the city. Of course, there's the historical aspect, like the Tower of London, where a gaurd retired from the military told us- and I quote- "All of the lovely history we could have if we'd just paid our taxes on time." He also welcomed all the Australians home on parole. Anyway, it's a bunch of bloody history there, followed by a look at the crown jewels, which could probably make a dozen families a fortune. It's not just the historical aspect though; it's interesting to see the subway, and all the people in them. It's interesting to see different signs, like ones that read "way out" instead of exit, and the aritficial voice on the tram politely saying; "Mind the gap." Westminster Abbey was stunning, and full of stories from the past that were coupled with poignantly related works of art. Of course, perhaps one of the best parts of the whole trip was the London Museum, which is sort of a guilty pleasure to me since it's mostly stuff that doesn't belong to Britain by any definition. There were some Saxon, Celtic, Roman, and Viking artifacts that had been found on the island, but that made up such a small fraction of it. One thing that had me transfixed was the massive stone statue of Ishtar, carved into the likeness of a lioness that I'm inclined to recall being twice my height, and much longer. She seemed so massive and so all-encompassing, I felt like she was just an extension of the universe itself, which engulfted me and supported me, and lifted her head to look me in the eye in the form of the human artifice.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/galfred/117839680/
Oh, and speaking of gods, I felt very much inspired on the whole trip. I have so much to write, and it seems somewhat paralleled by the two hotels that stood side by side across from ours; The Apollo Hotel, and The Troy Hotel. One more thing about Britian; the Middle Eastern and Indian food was excellent. I had fish and chips, but I have to say, the actual cuisine seemed to be more bound to the east now days.
Lioness of Assyria
Heavenly huntress who's yawning maw, spans the worlds and swallows them raw.
She is Inanna, Nin, the queen. With a chasm of fangs outreaching the skies, a sky-shattering roar that reminds us, and predator's gaze to bind us, to the labor on E'anna's rise, to our own deadly hunter within.
With bronze chisels the queen may have been made by peasants, Yet I know why the craftsmen were able to shape her so well, for those lioness-eyes are always in the earth, that smooth unworked stone a mere veil, and Ishtar peers down on us from birth, from the cosmic ziggurat's vantage of omnipresence,
Terrible, beautiful lady above, what are you, that you can be a goddess of both war and love?
Why have you put the sense of admiration and trust, that finds comrades- only in the the bloody fray? Why put the need for victories in lust? or the survival instinct in keeping a love at bay?
You must be great beyond names, you must be in each of us, to give such mixed and varied rules to our games.
Yes, that little strip of verse might have been uncalled for, but it helps break the monotony of simply recounting the trip. Anyway, Ishtar helps convey something about the British Museum; all of their best stuff is stolen from another country, or "bought." (From someone who did steal it, or who at least didn't have the right to sell it.) Now, it occurs to me that some of you might not be able to tell, but I'm exaggerating about the "all of their best stuff part". Not by too much though. Still, if you look at the Persian stuff, even the Greek stuff, and compare it to the artifacts that were found in modern-day Britain and France around that time, you realize that western Europeans were a bunch of primitives compared to the east. There's some Bronze and some chariot parts, along with clay pottery, but nothing too impressive. The swords are barely long enough to be considered such. Things like glass are nonexistent until the Romans take over. Imperialistic pricks- but you have to admit they improved the technology of every place they invaded. Indeed, "what did the Romans ever do for us?" is a doomed discussion, despite their occassional ruthlessness.
Then there was Paris... You know, I was really looking forward to Paris, and I did not believe any of the bad things I'd heard about the French at all, but screw it, they are mostly unfriendly. The resturaunts treated us like stray dogs that their kids had brought home, and who they had involuntarily been saddled with the obligation of caring for. The food was alright, but I really didn't have much fun until I saw the Arch de Triumph, and the Llouvre. Well, anything that had to do with Napoleon was fairly interesting actually- not only the Arch de Triumph. On a tour I got to learn a bit more about him. It's strange, but I can't help but admire him in his romanticized form, though I am very much against most of the things that he did.I'm on the fence about the sculptures. A lot of them didn't do anything for me, but a mere handfull made me stand still, just gawking at them and their mysterious, quasi-readable expressions and gestures. I was shot through the heart by the one of Psyche. Her story is a sad one, but how do you put that sadness in one single image in stone? I can't say. Of course, here's the funny thing; the best sculptures weren't French. They were Italian.
On the train ride to Rome, there was a small party, and a whole tour group of kids roughly my age got together, and everyone except for one girl had beer, so we had some fun. We got to Rome, and I have to say, there can be no better contrast (As far as an ignorant, culturally-starved American like myself would know) with Paris.You could feel it in the warm, mediterranian sun, and in the warm people. Hospitality, it seems, has not yet lost all of it's old-fashioned status as something sacred, something that one should be ashamed to be remiss in. We were asked to come back to a resturaunt tomorrow, invited to return, the day before we left, and I felt genuinely upset that we could not. Here I saw incredible things, the enormous Amphitheatre- called the Colosseum, originally for it's proximity to the Colossus, which is no longer there. There was the Roman wall built to hold off barbarians, the fountain, the temple of Minerva. One thing that irritated me was was that the Pantheon, a brilliant work of architecture dedicated to the original gods had been changed into what is now called the Basilica. The man spaces that would have held the statues of different gods now hold prophets and people from stories in the Bible, and then there is a single shrine to Jesus. Why not just make a church out of everything that's older than christianity, then we can just forget a good few thousand years of history, how about it? I mean really, how lazy can you justify being when your trying to please God? Obviously he doesn't mind if you're just capitalizing on someone else's efforts and destroying a cultural icon- which of course the Basilica still is, but hardly one to match what a still-intact Pantheon would be. Not by a long shot.
The food in Italy was the best I've ever had. France had nothing on it. I just love Mediterranian food, with their combination of the things that grow in that region like olives, and of course the fruits of the sea, the clams, mussels, etc. We also saw a store full of swords and armor. Lucky me! They had unusual things, not just your medieval-renaissance swords, but also a Greek Kopis, and Roman gear including one Lorica Segmentata, the articulated centurion plate-armor that covers the torso and curves over the shoulders. Lots of Gladiuses to, and some Galea's. I've never seen such a good selection.
Anyway, I began missing home towards the end. I managed to get on the computer a couple of times, but that didn't help much- though while I was looking through rock-opera's and things like that, something that Ayreon has gotten me interested in, I came across a familiar name- Queensryche. I listened to Operation Mindcrime- not the same kind of work as Jesus Christ Superstar; Very chilling in a way, but not as chilling as it was absolutely amazing. I wonder why I never listened to that first song all the way through the first time I investigated it, even after I'd heard it was good from more than one source. Probably because I my tastes were so specific at that time, my tunnel vision obstructed even the glow of genius, if it wasn't the kind that I recognized. Anyway, I threw a Euro into the fountain, and we left. That means I'll come back, you see. The plane ride back was sort of fun at first, with some movies and book-reading, but as with any flight over the Atlantic, my santiy began to slowly deteriorate towards the end, and I was very glad to find myself back home on my own continent, but already with the best memories any Summer has given me!
Nomad of Nowhere · Thu Jun 26, 2008 @ 06:51pm · 1 Comments |
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I take the comment from my last (and most pathetic) entry back; now it's been a long time since I've made an entry. It's been so long, I doubt there's anyong who will still read it, but I'm used to blogging like that. Let's see... as I may have conveyed previously, I went into a bit of a slump not long ago. Part of it was Senior year, which is now ending. The moment I can get out of High School, I will take off like a bat out of hell. Lucky sinner-bats... I'll be at the bottom of the food chain again, but that's good, because I can only ever seem to make friends where I'm one of the youngest people around.
I'm still typing up my book, though it could go in so many different directions at this point. I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have introduced a Chinese character. I mean, after being so interested in Manouchehr from Iran, I know I could write more if I based the whole thing off of him, but then I would feel as if I was putting a character that I stole into my book. Besides, Iranians are the descendants of the first monotheists; Zoroastrians, and both Yun and Glenn are supposed to have ancestral ties to the gods. In the end it may turn out that they are both related to the storm god that the Chinese called Tian, who is also the storm god who the Etruscans (Pre-Roman Italy) called Tin. I'll slip Iran in there somewhere... maybe I'll give their resistance a special part in the final war. The Zoroastrian resistance against the negative distortion of the universal, who calls himself Yaromin- it was in my head when I gave him the name "Yaromin"= "Ahriman", the being who distorts the truth from undeveloped souls. After all, the fall of Ellot will release the literal inksouls on all over Yggdrasil, and the figurative inksouls on earth will lose control, resulting in a decrease of religious violence, but also an increase in nationalistic fascism, over which Yaromin will preside. (Inksouls are just animated religious scripture shaped into humanoide form, the shock troops of the emperor Ellot. It's a not-so-tactful parody of those who kill for faith, but it is also an allegory to the golem. I haven't decided if Glenn or Yun is going to realize that they are Kormung reincarnated when they go to slay him in his cave and find it empty but familiar. It will probably have to be Yun, because Glenn is too much of a clown to be a reformed being of pure evil, and Yun is an introspective cynic, like the part of me you'll be up to your ears in after this sentence.
As for my recent ramblings about people being anti-social... well, it's not really relevant now, but it's just something that's irked me since Elementary school; the primary basis for most friendships and impressions of people in High School are based on pack-instinct, that is- repulse the newcomers, rely and respect the bossy one, no matter how stupid they are, and form the most convenient alliances. Now this could be practical in some cases, but it has no use among higher beings who genuinely wish to take pleasure in each other's company. Yet socialization is not based on the latter, but on instinct and habit, making it worthless. People are drawn to so many things in the social arena that they can use as security blankets- what are they afraid of that makes them weave these superficial mazes? I am reminded of the AT fields in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The disturbing part is that so many people are unaware of what drives them to think the way they do; one is driven to agree with a friend, and forever after they defend the beliefs of that friend. Many people will pander to the majority opinion- mob mentality, or else they will learn to judge things, not by their facts, but by their symbols. Thus; "Genetic Engineering" evokes the fear of a B- horror movie even when it concerns an agricultural revolution that saves an estimated billion lives, or the word "Savage" evokes images of uppity white settlers enslaving other peoples, even though it is referring to an African tribe's practice of removing a woman's clitoris so that a man can possess her all for himself without worrying about her desires infringing upon his ownership of her. Sexist by any standards, except, apparrently, when it's part of a non-European culture. Even one who reads this and agrees with it might find themselves agreeing with another compelling argument to the contrary, even so called "individuals" will do this, and the result is someone who is a walking corruption of Sophism; one who's beliefs are sporaidic, one who can be anyone- and who is therefore no one. They have no personality, but only a series of characters that they habitually adopt. To quote a favorite band of mine "I've gone beyond the truth, it's just another lie."
Equally important; one must have a sense of humor, and few people really do. Humor is also tainted by the pack-mentality; the joke's quality depends on the convenience of alliance with them, therefore the outsider is rarely as funny, even if he's really the only one who is. Try laughing at the outsider, and see everyone stare at you with their uncomprehending little weasel eyes. It makes you want to get out a needle and pop a little hole in them, so you can watch all the slime and filth you get the sudden impression that they're full of- drain out. That's why I can't stand a group.
This is a small glimpse at the great tome in which I have written every little detail concerning why people are mostly intolerable, and mostly do not qualify for the word which should be a TITLE; human. This is not to say that those without a sense of self, or who posess a series of fractured images of self (such as one might produce by crossing one's eyes at something while looking at it.) do not have rights, but when I meet people, I now examine them closely to see if they will gradually earn the tiltle from me. People are afraid to embrace these stark contrasts, in all of their obvious definition. they're so scared- I can tell they are. Why?
Nomad of Nowhere · Sun May 18, 2008 @ 09:41am · 0 Comments |
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Well, it's been an eternity since I've written here on gaia. I blame myspace, that's tha site that's been getting all of my blogs.
Where to begin... I'm a senior in highschool. Delightful_Fool and I... didn't work. I went into the GSA, and am now the sole male in a lesbian circle of friends. I am an outspoken theorist and class-clown in psychology. I have a few new friends, and it's honestly kind of lonely. I can't get close to people you know; they're so anti-social, the only exception being myself, and a high-school girl I met in the mall's manga section, so far as I know.
I reject 9-11 conspiracy theories completely. They put so much scrutiny over the most mundane coincidences, and the theories themselves just can't hold up under any degree of scrutiny themselves! I'm in AP english. I am still a romantic, but I don't think I'm cut out for romance, or at least I'm ruined for it for awhile, at least until I don't have reoccurring moments of hating my own friends, for gods sakes! I'm becoming a devout and learned pagan. I'm getting sick of muslim protestors, and if muslims riot in America for their own private zones of residence, where our officers cannot enforce the law, or even enter without their consent, we better not go Europe and let them get away with it! Honestly, it's scary how much power they have in EUROPE now!
I'm voting for the first time this year. Third party, all the way. They're the only ones I can trust. I'm writing a book, but there's no one I can really count on/ trust to read what I've got. I would ask Delightful_FOOL, but we're not really close anymore, for reasons only she knows. I have asked Ellie, but she's had over a month now, and if she doesn't feel like it, I won't bother her. We're not really close anymore either, since she moved. Faith never lived her, I met her on a trip... James, who invited me to an awsome party, moved. Interesting people are repelled from where I live, I swear. Or is it me? People are so ******** anti-social. I swear, I'm the only one in the world who doesn't have a serious deficit in social-skills. Don't people know how to interact? Jeez.
Nomad of Nowhere · Sat Oct 27, 2007 @ 05:48am · 0 Comments |
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Prom is coming... Ive decided I wish it wasn't. Not only do I feel I really cannot ask anyone to any dances, but I've realized I don't have many friends anyway. How do people get in all these groups of theirs? All these cliques? What do people talk about? Well I've listened in many times, and I can safetly say, nothing. People don't talk about anything. I suppsoe the only way to join them is to get out with some friends, but most of my friends have less social initiative than I do. I can't remember the last person I knew who would go downtown for the hell of it or something. I need to surround myself with more mobile people... But then, only Aspies seem to talk about interesting things. Elli hasn't called me back. (Big surprise.) Chris was fun, but he never called me back. Now he's moved. Can't believe it. And the last time Robert came over, my annoyance with him grew to something much like hatred for him. He's so immature, even stupid. He can't open his mouth without saying something so monumentally idiotic, that I struggle to recall a time in elementary school when I thought like that. Not only that, but he thinks he's a pheonix. Literally. He's always had a fragile grip on reality, but Ashley, who is not stupid, but certifiably insane, has volunteered to make him her "disciple" whatever the ******** 'her travesty' thinks she means by that!... It drives me crazy! Madeline and emily piss me off, becasue they're so antisocial. Madeline is obsessed with disney, and she's always drawing. Never talks. Emily ((From Principles of Technology))... sometimes she seems almost to be my counterpart, with the exception that she has no drive to speak to me whatsoever. Emily... Mcclaine, different Emily. She's great, but I don't see her anymore. Not in any of my classes now. Tom and Alejandro. Other Aspies (Aspergers syndrome). Those two are good enough, when I think about it. At least for now. But damn, why are people so hard to connect to?
Nomad of Nowhere · Sun Mar 25, 2007 @ 12:29am · 2 Comments |
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My birthday party was great. I stayed up and talked with a couple of friends that slept over, played video games, and watched anime. For gifts I got everything from comedy CD's to a sword. There's simply to much to cover, newly discovered things I have in common with them, me saying "Look Alejandro, I won't shoot you. And even if I did, it wouldn't hurt, look... " While I shot myself in the hand with an airsoft gun. I didn't make a sound, but when he left, I ran for some ice... curiousity killed the cat, but now I know how much it hurts. Alejandro got me a book I think he did very well picking out; "Aristotle, the Desire to Understand". He knows me!
Nomad of Nowhere · Sun Feb 25, 2007 @ 04:22am · 2 Comments |
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I don't have much of a group at school. What happened? Wade was my best friend, and he'd now some crackhead jerkoff who stays in ROTC despite the fact that he hasn't been promoted once, and is nearing the end of his second year. Not that I can complain much, I've only been promoted twice. But hey, I don't get the system anyway. If Wettlauffer is a Tech Sergeant, Logic obviously has no control over rank. I asked a girl to the ROTC dance, she's nice, but we're just friends. She's very open minded and laid back. I don't think we'd mesh well in any context beyond friendship. For one thing, she's sort of religeous. Not spiritual, religeous. Meaning books and scrolls rather than prayer and meditation. Not that that means she's not spiritual as well, but it doesn't seem especially visible. I spoke with a kid named Jamal (sp?) He's got a bit of an anti-authority flare. Not like me, but just a bit. Not that we openly oppose authority, we just aren't that impressed by a title. Anyone can attain high station.
Nomad of Nowhere · Wed Feb 07, 2007 @ 11:54pm · 1 Comments |
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I'm a little rattled. My mom kicked Maddy out. It was long in coming, to be sure, and she was abusive...but I'll still miss her and the dog... I don't know what to say, she was a parent. It's such a change. I have no emoticon.
Nomad of Nowhere · Sat Jan 13, 2007 @ 04:47am · 1 Comments |
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Am I irresponsible? I feel like I'm behind everyone else. I'm a lot more "together" than I used to be, but I still feel like I must be impaired somehow. I'm 16, almost 17, with no drivers liscense, and no job. I think about this even more now that I just recieved a cell phone. Okay, lots of 16 year-olds don't have jobs, but almost all of them can drive! I dunno...
Nomad of Nowhere · Sun Dec 31, 2006 @ 01:28am · 1 Comments |
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