Occam's Razor

Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate, "Plurality ought never be posited without necessity".

I keep learning and then forgetting this one over and over. Rephrased, it's the concept that the simplest solution is often the correct one. Attributed to a Franciscan monk, William of Ockham, this idea goes back to Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle.

women without proper attire - Delightful!

I've rediscovered the Barenaked Ladies. So delightful, but please, give little consideration to their radio hits as I think they ill represent the genius of this band. (Though I'm sure they appreciate the radio hits for monetary considerations.)


Alcohol
I love you more than I did the week before
I discovered alcohol
Would you please ignore that you
Found me on the floor
Trying on your camisole?


What a Good Boy
When I was born, they looked at me and said
what a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
And when you were born, they looked at you and said,
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl.

We've got these chains that hang around our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same,
when temptation calls, we just look away.

[Chorus]
This name is the hairshirt I wear,
and this hairshirt is woven from your brown hair.
This song is the cross that I bear,
bear it with me, bear with me, bear with me,
be with me tonight,
I know that it isn't right, but be with me tonight.

I go to school, I write exams,
if I pass, if I fail, if I drop out,
does anyone give a damn?
And if they do, they'll soon forget 'cause it won't take much for me
to show my life ain't over yet.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange.
I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change.
I wake up scared, I wake up strange
and everything around me stays the same.

[Chorus]

I couldn't tell you that I was wrong,
chickened out, grabbed a pen and paper, sat down and I wrote this song.
I couldn't tell you that you were right,
so instead I looked in the mirror,
watched TV, laid away all night.

We've got these chains, hang 'round our necks,
people want to strangle us with them before we take our first breath.
Afraid of change, afraid of staying the same when temptation calls ...

[Chorus]

When I was born, they looked at me and said;
What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a strong boy.
And when you were born, they looked at you and said;
what a good girl, what a smart girl, what a pretty girl, hey

When I Owned a Chilly Heart

This is an excerpt from Starfish, a poem by Eleanor Lerman.

And then life suggests that you remember the
years you ran around, the years you developed
a shocking lifestyle, advocated careless abandon,
owned a chilly heart. Upon reflection, you are
genuinely surprised to find how quiet you have
become. And then life lets you go home to think
about all this. Which you do, for quite a long time.

If you like, read in entirety here.

Why are all the good ones dead? And by good ones, I mean poets.

My favorite poet at the moment is Pablo Neruda. This one so beautifully deals with jealousies regarding former lovers of current lovers.


Always
by Pablo Neruda


I am not jealous
of what came before me.

Come with a man
on your shoulders,
come with a hundred men in your hair,
come with a thousand men between your breasts and your feet,
come like a river
full of drowned men
which flows down to the wild sea,
to the eternal surf, to Time!

Bring them all
to where I am waiting for you;
we shall always be alone,
we shall always be you and I
alone on earth
to start our life!

perfervid panegyric

per⋅fer⋅vid
–adjective
very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned:

pan⋅e⋅gyr⋅ic
–noun
1. a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy.
2. formal or elaborate praise.

Let this be a lesson, these be the kinds of befuddling phrases one runs into when endeavoring to read historical fiction.

Gregorian Chanting - unplugged

Because it's beautiful and mostly in Latin, so you need not worry yourself with the words. Unless of course you speak Latin.

I'm quite enjoying The Brotherhood of St. Gregory at the moment. Check them out on www.lala.com