AT THE STOA

Since yesterday I have been watching Kara no Kyoukai after working. It's a sombre fantasy anime, set in a world where there seems to be no run-of-the-mill deaths whatsoever, as everyone who dies ends up with parts either strewn all over the place or bent in places they weren't supposed to go. The art and music is good, and you can see that the creator (Kinoku Nasu) wanted to make its content philosophical, with lines like, There are two ways to escape. Escape without purpose, and escape with a purpose. The former is called floating, and the latter, flight. You're the one who decides which one your overlooking view was. But it's a mistake to choose your path based on the sins you carry. We don't choose our path depending on the sins we carry, but instead must carry our sins on the path we choose. You can see why I would be drawn to it, as it, like most Japanese works in which I can identify philosophical themes, harbor an unshakeable metaphysics involving a so...

I came across Ed Gaesler a few months ago speaking about how work provides one of the last true opportunities for our socialization as a species, since educational institutions and churches in the contemporary period seem to highlight the agenda-heavy politics of these social structures themselves, and the enculturation and socialization which should have been inherent but emphatic in them comes a far second. In an unrelated note, the picture above is the view from my room. As is this one. It usually gets foggy in the afternoons, since I am staying in a city 5,000 feet above sea level, nestled in a gigantic mountain range spanning 7,000 square miles.  I usually work in my room, with this view, and with beer. (And with that specific beer can above, it's been two months and I haven't finished it yet). Because my work does not require me to mingle with people (which is why I chose it as my work now as opposed to the dozen years I spent intermingling with people who...