you know it, otto...

A juxtaposition...

"All great things must first wear terrible and monstrous masks to inscribe themselves on the hearts of humanity."
-Uncle Friedrich (Nietzsche)

"That which is imposing here on earth... has always something of the quality of the fallen angel who is beautiful but without peace, great in his conceptions and exertions but without success, proud and lonely."

-Otto von Bismarck (as quoted by Henry Kissinger in 'Diplomacy')

bringing back sexy...

a thought that came to me at the airport today...

Have you ever noticed that the red blinking light on those automatic-flush toilets looks exactly like the red blinking light on a video camera?

hail to the chef...

I have an idea for my new career path.

In 2012 I will be 35 years old and officially qualified to occupy
the office of the President of the United States of America.

Here is the plan:
Born in New York: 31 electoral votes.
Grew up in Michigan, Democratic swing state: 17 electoral votes.
Family in Pennsylvania, Democratic swing state: 21 electoral votes.
Family farm in Iowa, Democratic swing state: 7 electoral votes.
California love, Governator style: 55 electoral votes.
Love of alcohol, tobacco, and firearms. The South: 138 votes.
For responsible environmentalism: The rest of the Blue states.
Conservative Christian: The rest of the Red states.

Basically, it’s a lock.

The way I figure it I put in four years, no second term, and then I retire. A sweet pension, free office space, the lecture circuit and my presidential library. All for just four years of work.

Presidential pardon, anyone?

Oh... and let me know if you can recommend a good carpenter, because I'll need some good platforms and a sexy cabinet.

it is well said...

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

-from T.S. Eliot's 'Four Quartets'