Nothing makes me most appreciate this intelligent age of technology than free and easy communication between the place far far away, not to say galaxy far, far away.
Last evening I had a little chat with my friend in Brazil. My place was covered with a dark chilly night and Rio was in summer heat. We haven't met three years but the flight of time soon gave way to old friends' funny talk. Finally he wrapped up the dialogue with a remake "Give the choice to the destiny."
He meant nothing serious nor suggestive by this, but I was impressed, not because of this saying but the fact now we could connect and communicate so freely that such a casual remark, or an idea of impulse of a moment was able to reach in a second, across the distance.
人の良いところを見よう、とは言いますが、我々も聖人ではないので、他の人を好ましくないと思う権利は自由にあります。しかし重要なのは、かつ面白いのは、表面に見えている何かが好ましくないと断定できても、それがその全てではないということです。氷山の一角を見て焦って判断することはありません。さりとて、別に見えていないものを探して好ましい部分を見つけようとする必要もありません。肝心なのは、見えているものは全てではない、ということです。これは他人の評価だけでなく自分自身にとっても同じことです。自分に見えている自分が自分のすべてではない。「氷山の一角」は、他人に対しては寛大に、自分に対しては自信を持つことを思い起こさせてくれませんか？
People say "Try to find other person's virtue" but as we are not much of a saint we're free to think other person as disagreeable. However, the most important and interesting thing is whatever you feel as disagreeable on the surface, it's not everything, or it may not represent all. It's no use of rushing to conclusion by the sight of the tips of the iceberg. Nevertheless, you don't even have to try to find hidden agreeable things. The essentials here is that what you see is not the everything. It's the same when you judge yourself as well as others. We see ourselves but that doesn't mean everything we are. "Tips of the Iceberg" reminds us to be generous to others, and be confident of ourselves, doesn't it?
Friends says to me I'm very good at growing plants. I appreciate it, but all I do is just let them grow, or let the sunlight and water grow them. What I do is just thankfully have joy from it. Seriously there's almost nothing I can do for them, while I have plenty of things they bestow on me.
One reason why I love these plants is they create such a wonderful work of art of natural design. I put tiny palor palm, couple of ivies, rosemary, little conifer, monstera and aromatics. There's no order or rules. Totally a mess. But the great thing is they look superb and very pleasant to eyes both when seen as individual and as combined (in a mess). I always admire it and think nature did a wonderful job to give them greatest formative design.
Jane Austenの6作品のうち5作を読み終え（何度も読み返し）ました。多くの文芸論が示す通り、英国のカントリー・ソサエティに暮らす若い女性が幸せな結婚を見出すまでのお語、という箱庭のような小さな世界のいったいどこに、読者が夢中になって頁を繰ってしまうような魅力があるのか、それ自体興味深い謎ではあるものの、ひとつにはやはり徹底した理知的な文章の魅力が挙げられるでしょう。小説のテーマこそ恋愛や若者のドタバタを取り上げながら、作者の視線と筆力は驚くほど徹底して冷静で理性的、練られた言葉は鋭くロジカルで、感情や感傷に委ねて書いたような形跡はどこにも見当たりません。感情を分析する文章は繊細でありながら呆れるほどドライで科学的といってもよいくらいで、恋愛小説というより恋愛の博物誌、哲学、あるいはジャーナルとでも表現した方が相応しいようです。
これもよく知られている通り主人公には例外なく姉妹がおり、作中の姉や妹との会話がドラマの軸になりますが、初期のSense and Sensibility、Pride and Prejudiceの2作品はその傾向が強く、後年のEmmaやPersuasionでは姉妹関係はそれほど重要なファクターではなくなってきます。作者自身の姉との親しい関係が、作中の人物達の絆や葛藤に反映されているそうです。一方、主人公の兄弟関係はあまり多く描かれません。これは、兄弟が居ないために家の財産を継承できない姉妹、という経済的困窮の背景を描く上で設定上避けられないということの他にも、限られた社交世界の中で主人公の伴侶となる紳士の人物像を出来るだけ引き立てるためにも、兄や弟という他の男性的要素を排したということもあるかもしれません（もっとも主人公以外の人物設定には兄弟やら従兄弟が常に配されていますが）。
その例外はMansfield Parkの主人公Fannyであり、彼女には海軍に勤務する兄の他にも大勢の弟妹がおり、兄は登場は少ないながら主人公のソウルメイトにも似たごく親しい、気の置けない重要な存在として描かれているのは異例といってよいでしょう。ただし彼女の場合は子沢山の実家を幼い頃に離れて伯父の家人となり、これまた大勢の従兄弟姉妹と育ってきたという複雑な家庭環境であり、またその点で、家族構成が割合にシンプルな他の作品と比べてより小説的な、技巧的な物語の背景を生み出しているように思えます。
しかし、やはりAustenの作品には姉妹・兄弟の有無といった表面的なカテゴライズはあまり意味をなさないのであって、似たようでいて微妙に異なる一作品一作品の背景と構造を、作者が注意深く凝らした舞台設計として純粋に楽しむのが一番良いのかもしれません。
ここしばらく記事の更新が遅れがちになってしまっているのですが、春の陽気に居眠りをしている訳ではなく、気晴らしにどこかに遊びに出かけてしまった訳でもありません。久しぶりに記事を書いていると、何の気なしに始めたこのささやかなblogが、まるでゲートのような、いつでも気が向いたときに旅に向かえる空港のような場所となっていることに驚くばかりです。
I know my post update has been delayed these days, but I'm not sleeping in spring warm dawn, nor being somewhere for diversion. Here I'm writing my post after an intermission and just surprised to find this little blog I started casually without any foreknowledge has become somehow a place like a gate, like an airport where I could take off anytime I long for travel.
One morning I heard a brilliant idea told on radio. The entrepreneur made a decent platform for workers to take a break playing soap bubbles. It's no joke. It's not just a novel pastime, but made for a social gathering for non-smokers because they never be able to (nor be willing to) join in the classic social meeting place of "smoker's area".
As far as I know smokers are tend to talk more friendly and more relaxed among their fellows. That's no wonder; anyway cigarettes are for relaxing. But not for me, and for approximately billions of people worldwide. I don't think it's unfair but I'm quite interested in this strange idea of alternative smoke.
Seriously isn't it wonderful if you can just walk out of your office and refresh yourself with this easiest, most primitive yet playful moment? Sometimes we do need child's leisure. Soap bubbles, hopscotch, doodling, word game, building blocks or Legos. Anything recommended to children as "sources of creativity or inspiration" should be, must be appropriate for adults.
So anybody can invent a cool and chic business style of blowing innocent soap bubbles that could outdo traditional smoker's way?
It certainly needs some experience to walk on snow without slipping and falling. It's something I used to learn and master by the time I was 5 years old or so. And maybe it's already out of the season, but I'd like to show the mechanics and some tips here;
-The mechanism is simple. When on snow, you definitely should avoid shifting weight back and forth or side to side.
-Be careful to weigh on foot evenly from toe to heel whether you're wearing snow boots or high heel. Place the pressure of your weight steady and evenly.
-Always place your foot truly vertically on the ground.
-Never try to walk on tiptoe.
-When you have to walk on icy ground covered with snow, which is the most slippery surface of all, you should try deliberately to let your foot slide. Don't think it's walking, it's like ice-skating. The reason why this risky way sometimes (not always, unfortunately) works is that your foot will stop somewhere eventually, where you find (without knowing it) a perfect balance between your shifting weight and ice.
-And always concentrate your move, pay attention to the path. Sometimes it's a great training to your muscle as well as the ability to control your body balance.
