Listening

I plugged my stereo in again today. I was going to take it in to get fixed and I'd forgotten the exact details of the problem. Lo and behold that I couldn't reproduce the problem. It was kind of disappointing, but satisfying nonetheless. So, I basically read and listened to music all day. I satisfied by Beethoven fix by listening very loudly to symphonies 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. There's nothing like loud classical music. I still need to get no. 4 from the library and copy it to my hard drive so I can complete my playlist of Beethoven's symphonies. That's the job for tomorrow. I also finished Crome Yellow and Der Antichrist. It's amazing how much stuff there is in Crome Yellow that's a total precursor Brave New World. It seems that Huxley had some thoughts on his mind for a very long time. It's fine feel-good book with a some depth and great wit, but it's not quite meaningful enough to really be a classic. Der Antichrist was good, but not stunning. Nietzsche writes in really bizarre language that's filled with weird metaphors and puns. While effective, his skill as a writer can distract from the pure dialectical content of the work. The indictment of everything Judeo-Christian and his thoughts on Buddhism are quite compelling though. I also started Brave New World Revisited. The first chapter (all I've read thus far) on over-population is interesting but hardly brings up anything of which I'm not aware. After that it's on to the Dostoevsky. Although I didn't think it was possible, I'm genuinely tiring of Huxley. After reading nearly all of his major novels and some essays, it's time to move on and parasitize another author.

En aliaj novaĵoj, Erin came back from Boston on Tuesday. It seems that she has two jobs so far, and is on the verge of getting a third. She should be occupied fine for the summer, and she might make a little bit in the process. Never mind the fact that she's earning just about minimum wage. I'm not getting minimum wage for my summer research, not that I'm complaining. It's amazing that I get as much money as I do: $1,000 for 296 hours. It's going to be bueno sin par. Plus I'll be sinking a couple hundred bucks into taking the Calculus at PCC. Basically, I'll be gone from 8 AM to 10 PM two days per week, and 8 AM to 5 PM (minus travel time) three days per week during the summer. Then I'll do homework on weekends.

It's about achieving the ideal state of mental occupation and perfection. The state of perfection is, of course, an ideal, and like all ideals it is unachievable. This leaves two courses of action: the course of idleness, and the course of industry. The course of idleness makes no approach to perfection and is therefore undesirable. This leaves the course of industry. While it strives for perfection inevitably in vain, one must remember: "L’âme du plaisir est dans la recherche même du plaisir." So in reality, the pursuit of perfection is perfection itself. Or something like that.