Communion

In a lot of ways two people echoing each other, Jon Stewart and Tom Lanoye. Maybe because the troubles that their respective countries are facing are quite similar. Maybe the point is to go on, go this one step further - in the legacy of love!





PS: The three gifts of the Holy Spirit are knowledge, understanding and wisdom. The first point is certainly present in a lot of ways today, knowledge reigns supreme, but understanding is already something that baffles and wisdom we can but hope for.

Concept

A Flemish/ Dutch word for 'pattern' is 'monster', nevertheless it also means 'monster'.

So I've been asked for a 'monster' several times.

Canonization

Art could have an impact, it could be provocative, demanding and beautiful. Something to fight about.

In some way the best way to undermine this power is to canonize art. No more argument, no more mental struggle, just dull acceptance.

Monkey Business

"Are monkeys similar to humans because they are so smart; or are monkeys similar to humans because in some ways they are so dumb?"

Paradox

Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment
Nobler than that it covers; let thy effects
So follow, to be most unlike our courtiers,
As good as promise. - Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 5, Scene IV

A lot of people do not have any work at all while others are working themselves to death.

Shopping vs Drinking

If you are remaining sober and watch others devote themselves to their obsession I'd rather watch people getting drunk than them indulging in shopping for its own sake.

Decennia ago when I and my friends were not yet legally allowed to drink alcohol, some parents nevertheless provided some beer at a party. Since I was not interested I stayed sober and watched the others get pissed. The first thing I noticed were the intervals between my friends asking me to accompany them to the toilet upstairs were getting shorter. And the other hilarious effect the alcohol was having was that some people got pretty emotional. Especially two of them, a boy and his girlfriend, they were having the blues (German: heulendes Elend/ crying misery), constantly crying and confessing their love to each other.

So S.O.B.!

Depression

As a Rhenish person I surely have no inclination towards depression. Our motto is "Nothing is so bad that it may not be good for something". Yet I remember one instance I caught a definite glimpse of that feeling. A friend of mine made me go into a retail store on its opening day or rather she asked me to accompany her. We had an appointment but there was still some time left. So we went inside.

The place was overcrowded with people, the walls were decorated with mirrors giving the impression that there was an infinte number of goods and then my friend started buying as well. It felt like all the world, at least the part of it visible to me at that moment, was going insane, binge-shopping like there was no tomorrow. Ad nauseam. I felt the urge to scream and run.