Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood
I am reading Everything in Its Path: Destruction of Community in the Buffalo Creek Flood by Kai Erikson, which is a must read for someone with an interest in the sociology of disaster. Its greatness is its communicating what the disaster meant to the people who experienced it.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Flaneur
Observing and hiding amongst the millions.
Being just another presence among the many passing by,
Like Simmels' "flaneur".
Seeing briefly, not knowing, at most projecting from Self to Other.
Watching, hearing Others speaking to Others.
Vicariously connecting to strangers.
A peace in anonymity, but why?
Being an outsider from within, a participant observer.
Being involved without involvement.
Letting go while remaining connected.
Letting the mind observe the Self,
A split in time that is timeless.
There is peace in that.
Perhaps, that is what peace is.
Being just another presence among the many passing by,
Like Simmels' "flaneur".
Seeing briefly, not knowing, at most projecting from Self to Other.
Watching, hearing Others speaking to Others.
Vicariously connecting to strangers.
A peace in anonymity, but why?
Being an outsider from within, a participant observer.
Being involved without involvement.
Letting go while remaining connected.
Letting the mind observe the Self,
A split in time that is timeless.
There is peace in that.
Perhaps, that is what peace is.
Flying On Ice
Oh, I forgot.
I forgot how I loved ice skating.
Like flying, the cool wind at my face.
Isn't it funny how I had to rediscover that joy within the Beltway.
One has to leave those things that surround the Self to rediscover a Self.
A Self lost years ago.
Reclaiming a joy, a good that was cast aside for equally good reasons.
There is a joy to be experienced when flying on ice.
I forgot how I loved ice skating.
Like flying, the cool wind at my face.
Isn't it funny how I had to rediscover that joy within the Beltway.
One has to leave those things that surround the Self to rediscover a Self.
A Self lost years ago.
Reclaiming a joy, a good that was cast aside for equally good reasons.
There is a joy to be experienced when flying on ice.
A Cool Saturday Morning in Metro DC
Being ... in the present, imaging the past, imagining the future.
Waiting for transport to go home among the books.
A cool Saturday morning in Metro DC.
Ride the Metro to a chai tea fix.
Walk the Mall up the Hill into the LOC.
Waiting for transport to go home among the books.
A cool Saturday morning in Metro DC.
Ride the Metro to a chai tea fix.
Walk the Mall up the Hill into the LOC.
