The thought-fox

Who reads this anymore? Who writes here anymore? :)

Well, for some reason the mood takes me to post here again. Lots of stuff has been happening over the last few months. I've been living in London for more than 7 months. I've worked on some pretty cool projects over here. I spent a great deal of time at Channel4 working in "New Media". Poncy name, but great team of guys and good work. I've met some very talented people. I've learned a hell of a lot. I've become harder, more cynical perhaps, more experienced. I've worked in Australia, New Zealand and the UK and learned a hell of a lot about consulting and contracting in the process. I've seen Ireland and the UK and parts of Italy. I'm about to head off to France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and Fiji (:D). But my time is drawing to a close here. I've seen a lot of London in 7 months. It's quite a special place and Londoners are like no other (just ride on the tube during peak hour for week after week, month after month). But I've realised you could live here for years and still be discovering the place and I've realised I don't want to live here. It's a good feeling to see that.

I've been toying with Lift and Scala lately, and thinking about how I might one day work with it or even kick off my own business using it or other cool tech.

I've read a ton of books. I've read Kant, Popper, Wittgenstein, Russell, Heidegger, Plato, Aristotle, Joyce, Rousseau, Thoreau, Pound, Shakespeare, Rilke, Beckett, Nietzsche, Homer (this year) and all the other books I tackled last year on 52 books.

I've met so many new people, put myself in so many different and challenging situations; discovered new music, new food, new ideas, enjoyed incredible art, ogled awe-inspiring architecture, started learning a new language (Volim živjeti u Sydneyu!). I've fallen more deeply in love with an incredible girl. It's all been a beautiful experience.

I'm going to put more time and effort into www.mutteringmadman.com. A new blog engine I've written in Lift is going to be up there soon.

And that's it. Just had to put that out there. I'll miss London and the experiences I've enjoyed here. But it makes sense to not be here much longer.

Happy days :)

Most people have a finely honed sense of what is not necessary. We smell it out and reject it wholesale. This only becomes more stringent the more you learn and live and read.

I am too alone in the world, and yet not alone enough
to make every hour holy.
I am too small in the world, and yet not tiny enough
just to stand before you like a thing,
dark and shrewd.
I want my will, and I want to be with my will
as it moves towards deed;
and in those quiet, somehow hesitating times,
when something is approaching,
I want to be with those who are wise
or else alone.
I want always to be a mirror that reflects your whole being,
and never to be too blind or too old
to hold your heavy, swaying image.
I want to unfold.
Nowhere do I want to remain folded,
because where I am bent and folded, there I am lie.
And I want my meaning
true for you. I want to describe myself
like a painting that I studied
closely for a long, long time,
like a word I finally understood,
like the pitcher of water I use every day ,
like the face of my mother,
like a ship
that carried me
through the deadliest storm of all.

Rainer Maria Rilke

I sometimes think - if you're complaining in life, you're kinda missing the point.

The Greenhouse Restaurant

One of the most amazing dinning experiences I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

The Greenhouse Restaurant

We had the Tasting menu below. Each of the seven courses were utterly impressive.

Devon spider crab and salmon parfait
courgette flower tempura, kombu jelly and coriander cress
•
Diver caught Scottish scallop
summer truffles, giblet parfait, fresh peas and mangetout
•
Pan-fried foie gras with Solliès figs
Sicilian lemon marmalade, goat cheese and basil leaves
•
Wild turbot
Chioggia beetroot, quail egg and “beurre meunière” espuma
•
Anjou pigeon
wild rocket, fava beans and medjool date ragoût
•
Pineapple sorbet
white chocolate mousse, olive oil and fresh basil
•
Chocolate and toffee tart
“Guanaja” and lemon sorbet

Truly a London dinning experience to remember.

Yma Sumac

Beautiful! Yma Súmac.

Sydney is to London as Wellington is to Sydney.

OCaml and Perl6. OCaml and Perl6!

Harold Pinter

The Harold Pinter Archive in the British Library

Study these guys

Pierre Tal-Coat

André Masson

Bram van Velde

Isis - Grinning Mouths

Isis - Backlit

Zarathustra

Thus spake the devil unto me, once on a time: “Ever God hath his hell: it is his love for man.”

And lately did I hear him say these words: “God is dead: of his pity for man hath God died.”—Zarathustra, II., "The Pitiful."

from Thus Spoke Zarathustra

The Mountain - PJ Harvey

Faust

I HAVE, alas! Philosophy,
Medicine, Jurisprudence too,
And to my cost Theology,
With ardent labour, studied through.
And here I stand, with all my lore,
Poor fool, no wiser than before.

Faust Part I

The Pareto curve of freedom post over at Shtetl-Optimized (which I recommend as well).

The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection. Wow! Heh.

"I brainstorm all potential possibilities, regularly, just in case."

-Me