Longfellow

by wil — May 6, 2012

If we could read the secret history of our enemies,
we should find in each [person's] life sorrow
and suffering enough to disarm any hostility.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Buddhist Poetry

by wil — Apr 17, 2012

If only you could hear the sound of snow falling late at night from the trees of the old temple in Shinoda!Hakuin Ekaku, d. 1768

When it comes — just so!
When it goes — just so!
Both coming and going occur each day.
The words I am speaking now — just so.Musho Josho, d. 1306

Schrödinger

by wil — Mar 31, 2012

The scientific picture of the world around me is very deficient. It gives me a lot of factual information, puts all our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but is ghastly silent about all that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell a word about the sensation of red and blue, bitter and sweet, feelings of delight and sorrow. It knows nothing of beauty and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously.

Science is reticent too when it is a question of the great Unity of which we somehow form a part, to which we belong. The most popular name for it in our time is God, with a capital “G.” Science is, very usually, branded as being atheistic. After what we have said this is not astonishing. If its world picture does not even contain beauty, delight, sorrow, if personality is cut out of it by agreement, how should it contain the most sublime idea that presents itself to the human mind.Erwin Schrödinger

Viral Ecology

by wil — Mar 30, 2012

Even when we’re perfectly healthy, we have trillions of viruses inside of us. Scientists are only beginning to survey this viral ecology, but some suspect that it may actually be essential to our health.“Germ Warfare”, Wired, April 2012

Memory Beliefs

by wil — Mar 29, 2012

Memory == Belief in the pastAlvin Plantinga

I recently came across philosopher Alvin Plantinga’s proposition that memory is more-or-less belief in the past, and the idea really has my mind whirring…

Freeze

by wil — Mar 12, 2012

Although water in an ice-cube tray will turn solid around 32°F, pure liquid water in clean air never freezes at that temperature…. Clouds at -30 or -35°F are often entirely liquid because they do not contain any efficient ice-nucleating particles.“The Clouds Are Alive”, Discover, April 2012

California

by wil — Mar 10, 2012

Lit. Mercantile & Reader Paraphernalia

by wil — Feb 15, 2012

I saw this New Yorker cover while waiting for an appointment the other day:

The Magic Kingdom

by wil — Feb 2, 2012

2011: Movies

by wil — Jan 23, 2012

As a follow-up to my annual book review, I thought it would be fun to look back at some of my favorite movies from 2011 as well (technically-speaking, the majority of these are from late-2010, but I didn’t get around to watching them till 2011).

Quirky romance. Funny. Cute.

Survival adventure. Franco’s best.

Drama. Great performances.

Drama. Intense. Freaky intense.

Quirky comedy-drama. Different.

Great little comedy-drama.

Quirky. Funny. Welsh.

Pure action adventure.

So that’s a look back at 2011…and I’m super excited about 2012′s offerings: Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, and of course, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. Woohoo!