Death of Hypatia®

Category: Know Thyself

  • Know Thyself #115

    Know Thyself, what are YOU waiting for?

    Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

    -Barack Obama

     

    … more “Know Thyself #115”

  • Know Thyself #114

    Know Thyself through being OBSESSED

    The White Stripes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame today.

    Jack White ended his acceptance speech this way:

    “We don’t know why these things connect with people. But when they do, it’s the most beautiful thing you can have as an artist or a musician when people are responding and sharing with you. And so, to the young artists, I want to say, get your hands dirty and drop the screens and get out in your garage, or your little room, and get obsessed.

    Get obsessed with something. You know, get passionate. We all want to share in what you might create.”

    What have YOU been obsessed with throughout you life? Are YOU still obsessed?

    What are YOU going to be Obsessed with this year?… more “Know Thyself #114”

  • Know Thyself #113

    Know Thyself through your VOCABULARY:

    I would like to use a new word in 2026 that describes when something is the pinnacle of itself, the ultimate.

    I wish to supplant the outdated, overused, and subjective superlatives. Awesome is dependent on what is being described. Awesome dinner is positive. Awesome typhoon is not. Killer and Fire can also be negatives depending on the situation.

    I personally, as described in an earlier post, utilize the phrase; ‘None more black‘ in just such a situation. But I realize that for non-fans of the movie This is Spinal Tap, this reference could come off as racist.

    Therefore I nominate Da Vinci as a superlative. Who contributed more to the human race? Who could be considered more accomplished, curious, and brilliant? If you call something Da Vinci, you are giving a nod to history, it has a level of sophistication, it’s Italian with two capital letters, and let’s face it, it’s fun to say.

    You would never describe something bad as Da Vinci. This dinner was Da Vinci works. The typhoon was Da Vinci, does not work. To avoid bastardization you can personalize it: ‘I find that, Da Vinci‘, ‘That’s Da Vinci to me’, or ‘In my experiences, nothing has been more Da Vinci‘.… more “Know Thyself #113”

  • Know Thyself #112

    Know Thyself through A Christmas Carol

    You probably have heard versions of some of Dickens’ great words in A Christmas Carol, probably a bit of ‘(Christmas) has done me good, and will do me good’, a ‘Golden Idol has displaced me’ and ‘Scrooge was better than his word…knew how to keep Christmas well…bless us everyone.’ But as with Dickens works, I love best the bits you probably never heard. Therefore, in homage to the Man who invented Christmas on Christmas Eve, see what you think of the exact quotes from A Christmas Carol exactly as Dickens wrote them:

    -When Scrooge’s Nephew Fred when he comes to visit him in his office on Christmas Eve:

    ‘There are many things for which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say.” returned the nephew: “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round….as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time, the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good:”

     

    -When Belle breaks up with Scrooge, I never realized she was dressed in mourning as her parents just died leaving her penniless:

    “It matters little,” she said, softly. “To you, very little. Another idol has displaced me; and if it can cheer and comfort you in time to come, as I would have tried to do, I have no just cause to grieve.”

    “What idol has displaced you?” he rejoined.

    “A golden one.”

    “This is the even-handed dealing of the world!” he said. “There is nothing on which it is so hard as poverty; and there is nothing it professed to condemn iwht such severity as the pursuit of wealth!”

    “You fear the world too much,” she answered, gently. “All your other hopes have merged into the hope of being beyond the chance of its sordid reproach. I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrossed you. Have I not?”

     

    -The Ending:

    ‘Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, FOR GOOD, at which some people did not have their fill of laugher in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up there eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him. 

         He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!’

    The End

    -Charles Dickens

     

    Happy Holidays.

     

     … more “Know Thyself #112”

  • Know Thyself #111

    Know Thyself through your favorite book

    My favorite book is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I love what this book stood for, the intent and purpose behind its inception, the method and process of its production, its indelible morale, and the beauty of the words.

    When describing Scrooge’s public persona, Dickens writes:

    “Nobody ever stopped him in the street to say, with gladsome looks, ‘My dear Scrooge, how are you? When will you come to see me?’ No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge….

    But what did Scrooge care? it was the very thing he liked. to edge his way along the crowded paths of life, warning all human sympathy to keep its distance…”

    When describing Scrooge’s house, Dickens writes:

    “They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be, that one could scarcely help fancying it must have run there when it twas a young house, playing at hide-and-seek with other houses, and have forgotten the way out again.”

    I read the book at least once around this time of year and I believe I have watched all movie versions.

    Like all cherished books, I like and dislike certain aspects of many of the movie versions. There are reasons why they are cherished, retain those and you are fine.

    I do not require the plot to stay faithful to Dickens’, just as long as the message remains true, in fact, Scrooged with Bill Murray is one of my favorites. All the essence is kept yet almost all the details were altered, consistently, and therefore, okay by me.

    What I do not like is when a version is set in the 1840’s and while attempting to remain ‘true’ to the book, disregard important points or dialogue, and worst of all, changes or adds seemingly unnecessary details. Now I understand a movie can’t be verbatim and therefore there are aspects I believe the storyline can afford to strikethrough, for example:

    • The Lord Mayor’s holiday goings-on
    • Scrooge remembering being alone at school over the Christmas holidays where books were his only company with their characters visiting him, specifically; Ali Baba, Valentine, his wild brother, Orson, and the Sultan’s Groom.
    • Going around the world with the Ghost of Christmas Present including: a mine, a ship, and a lighthouse.
    • The scene where you see Belle, her husband, and a gaggle of children meant to have Scrooge regret the family he could have had.
    • The scene where the debtors who won’t be ruined, are the only people cheered by the death of the man shown to Scrooge by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

    But what I viscerally do not like are when details of this perfect story are changed for no apparent reason. If it ain’t broke…. examples of frequent offenders:

    • Scrooge does NOT fire Cratchit on Christmas Eve.
    • Dickens’ character’s names are the best….why change them….why? His younger sister’s name was Fan, or Fanny. His fiancee’s name was Belle, and Scrooge’s nephew’s wife is referred to as ‘his niece’ and never named.
    • Scrooge did NOT meet, nor dance with his future fiancee at Fezziwig’s Christmas celebration. He and the other apprentice were most likely between 12 and 14 years old and after the Christmas ball were physically small enough to retire to their ‘beds under the back counter’ in the office/warehouse.
    • No one in the story ‘went down the slide on Cornhill’ but Bob Cratchit, who did so apparently 20 times.
    • Jacob Marley announces Scrooge will be visited by three ghosts at 1am, 1am the next night, and at the stroke of midnight the night following. Hence Scrooge’s surprise when he wakes on Christmas morning and not three days later.
    • Scrooge doe NOT take over Fezziwig’s business later in his life.
    • Scrooge’s sister, who is younger and named Fan, does NOT die in childbirth nor in her dying breathe does she ask her brother to take care of her son, which he may or may not have heard.
    • There is ZERO hint of a future romantic relationship between Scrooge and his cleaning lady, Mrs. Dilbert.
    • Scrooge does NOT go to Bob Cratchit’s house ever without a Ghost by his side.

    Honor the Dickens. When a story has remained relevant for over 180 years, never going out of print, then, in my opinion, the new story teller should change all of it or none of it. I don’t care who you are, you are no Dickens. He didn’t miss anything so don’t add.… more “Know Thyself #111”

  • Know Thyself #110

    Know Thyself through Rob Reiner and the joy he gave us.

    His movies truly added to my life. There are phrases that have become a part of my vocabulary because of this amazing actor, director, and human.

    In This is Spinal Tap, Nigel Tufnel, the simple guitarist of the band is considering a sample of their new, all black album cover (which is supposed to be as classy as the Beatles White Album but completely misses the mark). After contemplating and also missing the irony, he says, ‘It’s like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black.’  None more black comes into play in my real life whenever confronted with something that couldn’t be more like itself than it already is.

    In Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya is continuously saying ‘I don’t think that word means what you think it means.‘ This is useful in today’s world when words are bastardized like ‘Literal’.

    and in When Harry Met Sally, in a museum Harry says; ‘I think hieroglyphics were a comic strip about a character named Spyinxy‘, well that’s just fun.

    Please Rest in Peace Mr. and Mrs. Reiner. I’m so sorry someone who brought us so much joy experienced last moments of fear.

    That doesn’t seem fair.… more “Know Thyself #110”

  • Know Thyself #109

    Know Thyself through Quotes, YOURS:

    After reflecting on the many dystopian novels I have written, I’ve noticed a common thread. Evil takes away those things that make the population at large think. Individual thought is the most dangerous idea to the status quo, its downfall normally comes when likeminded individuals think about, and act upon a common goal. This is what needs to be destroyed by evil forces in all dystopian novels and movies.

    The first thing removed are books. These are the most corrupting of vices among humans. Next is art and anything construed as beautiful and thought-provoking. Next crush all individuality, distract, and above all else, do not allow them to learn.

    I like quotes because quotes represent that someone thought about a subject and summed up their thoughts in a quick muse bouche bite.

    Good are those who are interested in expanding horizons,

    Evil are those who wish to control them.

    -me

     … more “Know Thyself #109”

  • Know Thyself #108

    Know Thyself through WHAT YOU WOULD ‘TAKE’ WITH YOU

    What if you COULD take one thing with you?

    Just one thing.

    What would YOURs be?

    I bet it wouldn’t be money, or making it, or spending it.

     

    Mine would be the memories of moments I paid attention to. If this wish were to come true, I would pay even more attention to my real life and build up the bank.

    Maybe I will regardless.… more “Know Thyself #108”

  • Know Thyself #107

    Know Thyself through LYRICS:

    “On The Turning Away” is a song from Pink Floyd’s 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and was written by David Gilmore and Anthony Moore

    On the turning away
    From the pale and downtrodden
    And the words they say
    Which we won’t understand
    “Don’t accept that what’s happening
    Is just a case of others’ suffering
    Or you’ll find that you’re joining in
    The turning away”It’s a sin that somehow
    Light is changing to shadow
    And casting its shroud
    Over all we have known
    Unaware how the ranks have grown
    Driven on by a heart of stone
    We could find that we’re all alone
    In the dream of the proudOn the wings of the night
    As the daytime is stirring
    Where the speechless unite
    In a silent accord
    Using words you will find are strange
    Mesmerized as they light the flame
    Feel the new wind of change
    On the wings of the night

    No more turning away
    From the weak and the weary
    No more turning away
    From the coldness inside
    Just a world that we all must share
    It’s not enough just to stand and stare
    Is it only a dream that there’ll be
    No more turning away?

    What does this mean to YOU? What do YOU think ‘Turning Away’ means? Who do YOU think are today’s ‘weak and weary’?
    This song was on Pink Floyd’s 1987 album Momentary Lapse of Reason and Wikipedia describes it as: The song has often been described as a protest song and is one of the more political tracks Pink Floyd released after the departure of Roger Waters.
    Where are OUR protest songs? You know those present day songs about angst voiced through poets and musicians for the masses? Best we could use some…..

     … more “Know Thyself #107”

  • Know Thyself #106

    Know Thyself through LYRICS:

    “She’s So High” by Talmage Bachman:

    She’s blood, flesh and bone
    No tucks or silicone
    She’s touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound
    But somehow I can’t believe
    That anything should happen
    I know where I belong
    And nothing’s going to happen, yeah’Cause she’s so high
    High above me
    She’s so lovely
    She’s so high
    Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite
    Da da-da da da
    She’s so high
    High above me

    First class and fancy free
    She’s high society
    She’s got the best of everything
    What could a guy like me
    Ever really offer?
    She’s perfect as she can be
    Why should I even bother?

    ‘Cause she’s so high
    High above me
    She’s so lovely
    She’s so high
    Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite
    Da da-da da da
    She’s so high
    High above me

    She calls to speak to me
    I freeze immediately
    ‘Cause what she says sounds so unreal
    ‘Cause somehow I can’t believe
    That anything should happen
    I know where I belong
    And nothing’s going to happen, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

    ‘Cause she’s so high
    High above me
    She’s so lovely
    She’s so high
    Like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, or Aphrodite, oh yeah
    She’s so high
    High above me

    This was on an album in 1999, there is a phrase for this feeling now:
    Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological experience in which a person suffers from feelings of intellectual and/or professional fraudulence.[1] One source defines it as “the subjective experience of perceived self-doubt in one’s abilities and accomplishments compared with others, despite evidence to suggest the contrary”.[2]
    By comparing a woman to the Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, a French folk heroine and saint from the early 1400’s, and the ancient Greek goddess of love, Talmage Bachman has a rather aggrandized view of this individual he is ‘not good enough for’. If his description is accurate it is doubtful many humans would be worthy.
    Have YOU ever felt this way? Looking back, how do you feel now about that person?
    Do you think anyone has ever thought this way about YOU?
    … more “Know Thyself #106”

  • Know Thyself #105

    Know Thyself through YOUR Holidays:

    What were you taught about Thanksgiving? Does it involve grateful pilgrims in stiff hats offering cornucopias of food to kind Native Americans? Apparently this common US version has been derived from ancient harvest festivals, English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation, and softened versions of American history.

    But apart from the history you learned, what does YOUR Thanksgivings mean to YOU. a.k.a. if you had a foreign exchange student, say an 8th grader, and had to explain what the holiday has meant and still means to YOUR family, limiting your explanation only to what happens in the home you celebrate it in, what would YOU say?… more “Know Thyself #105”

  • Know Thyself #104

    Know Thyself through how you spend your TIME:

    Hummingbirds have an average life expectancy of 3-5 years.

    Humans have an average life expectancy of 78-80 years, or roughly 20 times longer than that of a hummingbird. It is almost like one hour of our lives equals an entire day for a hummingbird.

    Look at your phone and see how many hours you spent on it yesterday. Imagine if you saw a hummingbird spend approximately that # of days staring at something, not doing anything else, just staring at the same shiny thing.

    If it survived long enough for you to notice this, you would probably find it odd, no?… more “Know Thyself #104”

  • Know Thyself #103

    Know Thyself:

    My newest favorite quote is:

    ‘The more you know,
    the more you see.’

    – Aldous Huxley

    I believe I had heard about it before now but it wasn’t until recently that I started to think about why I like this quote. Obvious reasons were:

    • It makes you think
    • I believe that ‘The more you know’ means the more you have thought about your thoughts, the clearer you can see the world for what it is. In my mind, a.k.a./= Wisdom
    • Aldous Huxley who said this was also the author of Brave New World; a book that had a profound impact on me

    But after nerdily looking into the quote, I liked it more when, according to topessaywriting.org on May 10, 2023*:

    ‘Huxley came up with the remark after losing his vision and embarking on a journey to understand how humans see.’

    So add this to the list:

    • Quote was uttered AFTER the philosopher, writer, ethicist, and scientist became blind and: ‘embarking on a journey to understand how humans see.’

    I read on…..:

    ‘The remark implies that in order for individuals to see properly, they must also thinkclearly. According to Huxley’s theory, sight and cognition cannot be separated. Through combing the three aspects: sensation, selection, and perception, one is able to make sense of objects within (‘objects within is maybe a mistype of ‘world around us’ maybe?), thus making Huxley’s formula simple but lucid. The statement shows that once you have an understanding of different things you get to realize deeper aspects of those things, thus: beyond what the human eye can see, since you will have a different perspective due to your high(tend?) knowledge level…. it shows knowledge has great power to help people in understanding things which may at times appear complicated or hidden.*

    So this amazing thinker took a situation that would have broken most people’s spirit and made lemonade?! He discovered that NOTICING more increases one’s capacity for WISDOM.

    So in essence they are saying that Noticing allows you to know, which in turn allows you to see, which in turn allows you to notice, which allows you to know, which allows you to see, which allows you to notice…..

     

    Damn.

     

     

     

    *Topessay.org references: Lester, P.M. (2014), Visual Communication: Images with messages, Boston: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning Aldous Huxley

     

    … more “Know Thyself #103”

  • Know Thyself #102

    Know Thyself through LYRICS:

    ‘What I Am’ written by Edie Brickell and Kenny Withrow and recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians:

    I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know, if you know what I mean
    Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box
    Religion is the smile on a dog
    I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know, if you know what I mean, d-doo yeah

    Shove me in the shallow waters, before I get too deep

    What I am is what I am, Are you what you are or what?
    What I am is what I am, Are you what you are, or?

    Oh, I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know, if you know what I mean

    Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks
    Religion is a light in the fog
    I’m not aware of too many things, I know what I know, if you know what I mean, d-doo yeah

    Shove me in the shallow water before I get too deep

    What I am is what I am, Are you what you are or what?
    What I am is what I am, Are you what you are or what?
    (repeats)

    Don’t let me get too deep
    (repeats)

    Shove me in the shallow water before I get too deep
    (repeats)

    What do YOU think the song is about?

    What do you think they meant by: ‘Philosophy is a walk on slippery rocks’ or that ‘Religion is the smile on a dog’? Do YOU agree?

     

    Are YOU what YOU are, or what?

     … more “Know Thyself #102”

  • Know Thyself #101

    Know Thyself

    I’ve spent a considerable amount of time around children recently and I’ve found that my face hurts. I’ve spent an increased amount of time smiling, making faces, and over over-exaggerated expressions. I’ve also found myself laughing more often. I’ve thought about this because my facial muscles, specifically in the cheek area, are sore. It pleases me to think that around non-adults I find myself happier; yet at the same time I’m saddened that apparently my smiling muscles are out of shape.

    Try this: Close your eyes and scan your body for sore muscles. Do your forearms hurt from making something? Quads sore from swatting? Hands hurt from writing?

    Or, shoulders hurt from stressing?… more “Know Thyself #101”

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