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When the storm settles.

February 16, 2010

When the storm settles, though destruction is vast and relentless, there is clarity in sight and the senses adjust with …

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This work by S. R. Kraaijeveld is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Coffee and Dostoevsky because OMG I was going through my Dosty collection thinking about re-reading one of his works when, holding this one in my hands and reading the back cover, I realized that I had not read it yet—what must have happened is that I confused it with Uncle's Dream (they're both about an uncle in a village setting), and in fact I thought that it was simply a different translation, silly silly me, BUT how very wonderful to get to read something 'new' by him, I'm all emotional now. || I finished A Moveable Feast; my review will be on Goodreads soon. It was entertaining and sad and pretty much what you'd expect of Hemingway. It wasn't as amazing as I expected, but it gave me a new appreciation of Paris and another look into Hemmy and his life as well as the lives of some of the figures around him at the time, like Fitzgerald (poor Zelda gets hammered by Hemingway) so it was valuable all the same. Now, like I frantically reveal in the pre-caption, I'll read another work by Dostoevsky. Will it really be the last piece of unknown fiction by him? Who knows and I hope not, to be honest. Also, this was written while Dostoevsky was under the explicit influence of Gogol, which means that it probably won't be his best/most mature work, but which does mean that it will make for some good reading because farcical Gogolian comedies in the hands of masters is where it's at. Ah, I really am all emotional about reading this; I almost don't want to start it because once I do I'll blow through it and soon I'll have read it and then I'll no longer not have read it and a Dostoevskian mystery will be gone for me. Also, just as an aside, I've been working so hard on my own novel: I'm writing everyday, strictly, and I cannot wait until I finish it and get to behold it in its entirety and share it with others.

I read she relacc.

Two new books, a single theme: artificial intelligence. What happens when machines surpass human beings in general intelligence? Will artificial agents make our lives easier or will they ultimately endanger them? What does AI reveal about human nature and the human condition? These are just some of the pressing questions surrounding this important subject that both books address. I just received Bostrom's work in the mail; even though it was first published in 2014, it has become something of a classic. Tegman references him frequently in his Life 3.0, which is more recent, so I figured I'd actually read Bostrom first (I had been meaning to for a while, in any case). There is such rapid development in AI and the thinking surrounding it that books on the subject easily become dated—so I think it's a good idea to combine a classic with something hotter off the press (a worthwhile approach to any field, though, to be fair).

The weather is so nice yet here I am, behind my computer, writing. Which reminds me of what Robertson wrote of Kafka: "The flight from life into literature must fail because literature must be about life." I'm not fleeing, though—or maybe I am. Maybe every writer flees in writing. The difference lies, I think, in whether or not a writer ultimately and fully returns to life.

"Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine, Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine; His soul shall taste the sadness of her might, And be among her cloudy trophies hung." Coffee and Keats. || Hi there, it's just me sitting at the café on a Friday afternoon reading Keats. 👋🏻 I don't really have anything to add to that. | Okay, we both knew that I wasn't just going to leave it at that. About this edition, which is absolutely wonderful: it includes all of Keats' poems in chronological order according to the dates of composition, and it has both an informative introduction as well as a substantial commentary at the end that provides details about the poems (like when, where, and how it was published), identifies allusions and quotations that Keats would expect the reader to be familiar with, and glosses unusual names and words found throughout. As far as I know, it is *the* edition of Keats to get—which is exactly why I got it.

"What I really think, sir, is that you can't be bothered with the truth simply because it is too tiring." || I just felt like sharing my Kafka collection; I added that @ndpublishing edition of his stories recently, so the K stack is bigger than ever. *Tag someone who loves Kafka and Franz will visit you in your dreams tonight (and tell you the story of The Top with dramatic pauses and everything).*

Coffee and Hemmy. || I finished Anthills of the Savannah; my review will be on Goodreads soon. It was probably my least favorite of Achebe's novels so far. Anyway, with all the 'serious' stuff I'm doing right now (writing, preparing my PhD research) I figured I'd read something relatively light and guaranteed to be entertaining. A Moveable Feast also happens to be one of the last works by Hemingway that I haven't yet read—I've kept this beaut sitting on my shelf and waiting for me for a long time. No longer.

Coffee and Vaccines. || Since I'll be working on the ethics of vaccination, I figured that I should get really clear on the history and nature of vaccines as well as the surrounding controversies. If you've followed me for more than a day, you already know that I'm partial to books as sources of information—but with a contentious subject like this, where there is so much misinformation floating around on the Internet, a good old-fashioned book by an expert (Feemster is a pediatric infectious diseases physician and health policy researcher at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Perelman School of Medicine) published by a trusted source (Oxford University Press) is even more pressingly the way to go. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants more information on the subject from an impartial (as much as possible) source. From the introduction: "Vaccines are a public health tool: The decision to vaccinate or not vaccinate impacts both individuals and the people around them. Accordingly, it is imperative that we are well-informed before making a decision about vaccination. This requires an understanding of (1) how vaccines work, (2) the diseases that vaccines prevent, and (3) why vaccines are important for individuals and society. Vaccines and their role in society represent a complex interplay between sociopolitical systems, culture, economics, individual beliefs, and health literacy—and with that, they provide a multitude of fronts for the introduction of conflicting messages or incorrect information."

Two new books, a similar theme, very different approaches. || On the left there is Karatani's Isonomia, in which the Japanese philosopher and literary critic questions the idealization of ancient Athens as the source of philosophy and democracy by locating the origins instead in Ionia, a set of Greek colonies in what is now Turkey. On the right there is Adamson's work based on his History of Philosophy podcast, which is wonderful if you haven't checked it out. The point of philosophy 'without any gaps' is to discuss not just major figures but also less commonly discussed philosophers and topics, and Adamson does it with quite a bit of humor. I've long wanted to buy the set, but it was only available in hardcover, and in the end I didn't think it was worth the money. However, I just found out that they're producing the three volumes in paperback editions—this first one on Classical Philosophy having just been released and Philosophy in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds and Philosophy in the Islamic World (particularly excited about that one) being released sometime in June. I pre-ordered the two others; I have to start with the first volume anyway. 🤓

Happy Easter, peeps. 🐣 I'm finally starting to feel human again. I haven't completely recovered from my cold-with-a-little-dab-of-fever, but I'm getting there. I hope everyone is doing well! I'll be back up to IG speed soon. 😌

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