1.2.202 – whatever it took

whatever it took
humanity to arrive worth
it ultimately

Adapted from the book, A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary (2009, Vintage Books) by Alain de Botton, and the passage:

‘For what purpose is all the toil and bustle of this world? What is the end of the pursuit of wealth, power and pre-eminence?’ asked Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), going on to answer, ‘To be observed, to be attended to, to be taken notice of with sympathy, complacency, and approbation’ – a set of ambitions to which the creators of the Concorde Room had responded with stirring precision.

As I took a seat in the restaurant, I felt certain that whatever it had taken for humanity to arrive at this point had ultimately been worth it.

Part of the series of Haiku inspired by from A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary (2009, Vintage Books) by Alain de Botton. I discovered this book entirely by accident. When searching for books online, I will use the term ‘collections’ and see what turns up. I figure that someone who has taken the time to gather together the etexts of any one author to create a collected works folder is enough for me to see what this author might be all about.

In this case I came across the writing of Alain de Botton. I enjoyed his use of language very much. Much of the words he strings together lend themselves to what I do.

As for his book, I recommend it very much though written in 2009, it misses the added layer of travel under covid but still the picture of the modern airport is worth the read.

12.30.2020 – BC back in time

BC back in time
AD, BCE, CE
But CDE? What?

I grew up with dates being BC or AD.

As in April 24, 2020 AD.

BC meant before the birth of Christ.

AD meant after the death of Christ.

I later learned that AD meant Anno Domini or In the Year of Our Lord or time since the birth of Christ.

Then CE and BCE crept into my reading.

CE meant Christian Era and BCE meant Before the Christian Era.

Or so I thought.

Common Era and Before the Common Era are the other accepted meanings for these abbreviations.

It all comes come to the same time.

Marking the year 0 and the time before the year zero and the time after.

There are also terms of time that refer to specific time spans.

Pax Romana which lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD.

Pax Britannica which lasted from 1815 and 1914.

The Elizabethan Era from 1558 to 1603.

Such terms and phrases are reserved for periods of great historical importance or in recognition of the giant personality on the world stage.

CDE has popped up in my reading over the last couple days.

CDE?

I tired to puzzle it out.

Charles Darwin Era?

Nope.

Centro de Documentación Europea?

Nope.

It has been in a lot of the stories about the NFL Football Draft.

Turns out it stands for, the Common Draft Era.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

That era.

The time since the NFL and AFL merged into one megalith NFL that was so super, they had to play a Super Bowl.

I was living in the CDE and never knew it.

Time marches on and waits for no man.

12.23.2020 – fears resurface as

fears resurface as
lifetime immunity just
as bad for climate

I was wondering if editors were just as tired of the current news cycle as I was and demanded something new from reports.

These are the headlines that greeted me this morning.

Organic meat production just as bad for climate, study finds

Chernobyl fears resurface as river dredging begins in exclusion zone

Putin signs bill granting lifetime immunity to former Russian presidents

All new looks at continueing stories and I am still left with feelings DUH!

According to the online dictionary, DUH is “used to comment on an action perceived as foolish or stupid, or a statement perceived as obvious.”

12.18.2020 – sacrifices of

sacrifices of
personal freedom price pay
civilization

“Do you agree with Lenin’s statement that liberty is a bourgeois prejudice ? ”

‘‘Maybe,” Einstein remarked, slightly inclining his silver head, Lenin was right. Complete freedom is incompatible with civilization. If I don’t want other men to tread on my toes, I, too, must submit to rules and regulations, which limit my freedom. The more highly populated a country is, the greater are the sacrifices of personal freedom demanded of the individual. These sacrifices are the price we pay for civilization.

11.30.2020 – the thoughts of others

the thoughts of others
light and fleeting, luck or fame
mine were of trouble

Adapted from:

I to my perils
Of cheat and charmer
Came clad in armour
By stars benign;

Hope lies to mortals
And most believe her,
But man’s deceiver
Was never mine.

The thoughts of others
Were light and fleeting,
Of lovers’ meeting
Or luck or fame;

Mine were of trouble
And mine were steady,
So I was ready
When trouble came.

From Diffugere Nives – Horace, Odes, iv, 7, by A. E. Housman.