Jinmyo's New Writeupshttp://everything2.com/?node=New%20Writeups%20Atom%20Feed&foruser=Jinmyo2001-08-17T16:33:31ZBlind Man Stories (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/Blind+Man+StoriesJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-08-17T16:33:31Z2001-08-17T16:33:31ZI had an email exchange about <a href="/title/blind">blind</a> <a href="/title/men">men</a> with someone this morning. My friend wrote:<p>
"On my way to the subway in the evening, I often see a blind man walking from work. He has an electronic cane, and he is very <a href="/title/adept">adept</a> on the sidewalks, but of course the cane doesn't tell him about <a href="/title/traffic">traffic</a>. So when he gets to the corner of William Street--where I always see him--he stops and <a href="/title/wait">wait</a>s. <p>
"You can see he knows he has reached a <a href="/title/barrier">barrier</a> where he will need <a href="/title/help">help</a>, and I always find myself deeply <a href="/title/touch">touch</a>ed by the <a href="/title/expression">expression</a> on his face. It is one of complete <a href="/title/trust">trust</a> that someone will soon help him. And someone <a href="/title/always">always</a> does. I have never seen him wait for more than a moment or two. As soon as his hesitation is obvious, someone always offers to help him cross. <p>
"I <a href="/title/wonder">wonder</a> if it was <a href="/title/difficult">difficult</a> for him to acquire this confidence in the <a href="/title/generosity">generosity</a> of strangers? And I am also challenged in my own <a href="/title/belief">belief</a>s, because there among the <a href="/title/shark">shark</a>s and wolves of <a href="/title/Wall+Street">Wall Street</a>, that<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Tom Waits (person)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/Tom+WaitsJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-08-08T16:38:22Z2001-08-08T16:38:22ZTom Waits wanders a strange path between all musical genres: <a href="/title/blues">blues</a>, <a href="/title/Jazz">Jazz</a>, <a href="/title/rock">rock</a>, <a href="/title/Vaudeville">Vaudeville</a>, <a href="/title/burlesque">burlesque</a> and, um, well, his own thing.<p>
The path leads over steaming sewer grates, through underground cities, to <a href="/title/Chocolate+Jesus">religious confections with a bite</a>. It moves through dust and dirt and pokes its grubby finger into the flared nostril of redemption.<p>
He's been around a long time, but moves in and out of the public eye like a <a href="/title/spangle">spangle</a> of dark spots ringed with gold when you turn your head too quickly and haven't been breathing quite right.<p>
About fame, Waits has said:<p>
<i> "I've always been <a href="/title/afraid">afraid</a> I was going to
tap the world on the shoulder for 20 years and when it finally turned
around, I was going to forget what I had to say." </i>
<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>English is a living language (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/English+is+a+living+languageJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-08-05T22:22:28Z2001-08-05T22:22:28ZEnglish, like any other <a href="/title/language">language</a>, is not <a href="/title/alive">alive</a>. This is merely a <a href="/title/metaphor">metaphor</a>. English, like any other language, is a set of <a href="/title/convention">conventions</a>.<p>
It <a href="/title/change">change</a>s over time but so does everything else. Flowers <a href="/title/bloom">bloom</a> and metal <a href="/title/rust">rusts</a>. Unlike physical <a href="/title/artifact">artifact</a>s, a social artifact such as English changes through the gradual interaction between how it <a href="/title/is">is</a> used and it <a href="/title/was">was</a> used. Sometimes this occurs through extensions and expansions of the <a href="/title/vocabulary">vocabulary</a>, the coining and dissemination of <a href="/title/new">new</a> words. Sometimes it occurs through deflation, the collapse of meanings so that words fall into disuse or the various meanings of a word become <a href="/title/narrow">narrowed</a>.<p>
Interestingly, most arguments that use the metaphor of "English as a living language" seem to be concerned with <a href="/title/justify">justifying</a> a narrowing and limitation of the language.<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>Tomorrow Belongs to Me (thing)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/Tomorrow+Belongs+to+MeJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-07-18T00:15:44Z2001-07-18T00:15:44Z<a href="/title/John+Kander+and+Fred+Ebb">Fred</a> Ebb wrote the lyrics for this song and John Kander composed the music for their 1966 musical <a href="/title/Cabaret">Cabaret</a>.<p>
It was then, of course, not the <a href="/title/anthem">anthem</a> of the National Socialists. This was actually the <a href="/title/The+Horst+Wessel+Song">Horst Wessel lied</a> (also called Die Fahne hoch), which, if we want to talk about films, was used throughout <a href="/title/Leni+Riefenstahl">Leni Riefenstahl</a>'s 1934 film <a href="/title/Triumph+of+the+Will">Triumph of the Will</a> (Triumph des Willens).<p>
As most people are more aware of the appearance of the song in the film version (well described above by <a href="/title/ArsDuo">ArsDuo</a>) rather than the play, I've done some research about how it is used there.<p>
In Act I of the <a href="/title/musical">musical</a>, the Master of Ceremonies of the Kit Kat Club comes out on stage with a record player and starts losing himself in the song a boy <a href="/title/soprano">soprano</a> is singing. At the end, the Master of Ceremonies turns off the music and announces "To me!"<p>
The song is reprised as the finale of Act I at Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz's engagement party. Herr Ludwig<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…How I invented the best way to trim toenails (idea)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/How+I+invented+the+best+way+to+trim+toenailsJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-06-26T14:26:45Z2001-06-26T14:26:45ZThe other day I was <a href="/title/I+considered+cutting+my+toenails%252C+but+they%2527re+my+only+natural+defense">trimming my toenails</a>. Ack.<p>
<a href="/title/the+I%2527m+getting+old%252C+gonna+die+thing">When you're old and kind of fat</a>, toenails are a long long way away. <a href="/title/You">You</a> (I mean <a href="/title/Jinmyo">me</a>, really but I'll speak in general terms because it's less embarassing) have to scrunch over to reach your feet. All of your internal organs get squooshed upwards and all of the air gets pushed out of your lungs. By the third toe you start seeing black spots with coloured rings around them. By the time you're halfway through the other foot, your temples are pounding, your heart is racing, and <a href="/title/Jinmyo">you can't remember your name</a>. <a href="/title/Mushroom+Soup+-+I+Figured+It+Out.+Yay%2521">At this point</a>, if you have any <a href="/title/Touch+the+Puppy">valuable information such as troop movements</a> or the secret to cold fusion, you'd spill them to anyone who asked. Especially if they promised to finish the last few toes.<p>
So, basically, my point is this is not so much fun.<p>
As a<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…Summit in Savannah (person)http://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo/writeups/Summit+in+SavannahJinmyohttp://m.everything2.com/user/Jinmyo2001-06-24T01:25:30Z2001-06-24T01:25:30ZI didn't think I would enjoy this very much because the <a href="/title/gods">gods</a> tend to disagree on so many things.<p>
But everyone is so, well, <a href="/title/sweet">sweet</a> might be too <a href="/title/saccharine">saccharine</a> a way of putting it. But they are.<p>
<a href="/title/dem+bones">dem bones</a> of course was just as I had expected. Tall, stately, quiet, mellow. Really mellow. Really really really mellow. Won't take his sunglasses off.<p>
The farmhouse seems a perfect setting for this Summit. Very <a href="/title/rustic">rustic</a>, very charming. I almost thought we'd be using kerosene lanterns but the place is not only wired but has DSL.<p>
<a href="/title/WickerNipple">WickerNipple</a>'s a great kid. He helped me make a <a href="/title/lawn+salad">salad</a> of wild greens. Very nice. Some wild garlic, sorrel, dandelion. A nice tangy bitterness.(Dressing might be a bit too oily though.)<p>
I was quite thrilled to go mushroom hunting with <a href="/title/ailie">ailie</a> in the dark woods around the farmhouse. I haven't known her well but she put me right at ease, so that was nice. I determined to make the mushroom soup to end all mushroom soups. It's been simmering away now<!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p><!-- close unclosed tag --></p>…