January 2008
139 posts
Are you an 'infomaniac'? →
New York City: the Fourth Most Miserable City in...
Forbes Magazine just released its list of top ten most miserable cities in America. The Motor City topped the chart with a misery measure of 696 and New York City was ranked fourth, with a misery measure of 668. The Misery Measure is an unique system of calculating misery, a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. It is a hybrid of two preexisting systems of misery calculation: the...
Cherwell24 Week Three Mid-Week News Roundup →
“There is no way to predict where life is going to take you. It is a great...”
– Hillary Clinton to all the 20-year-old Hillary Clintons out there.
“As I watch my girls in their teenage years, I’m stunned to see all the same...”
– Arianna Huffington in On Becoming Fearless (via Julia Allison)
whimsical, a. (n.) (hwmzkl) Also 7 whym-. [f. WHIMS(Y + -ICAL.] 1. Of persons, their actions, thoughts, etc.: Full of, subject to, or characterized by a whim or whims; actuated by or depending upon whim or caprice. 2. Characterized by deviation from the ordinary as if determined by mere caprice; fantastic, fanciful; freakish, odd, comical. b. Subject to uncertainty or the ‘caprice of...
The five percent of both Hillary and Obama that I... →
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have two very different views on the Presidency. Clinton sees the job of President as similar to that of “chief executive officer who has to be able to manage and run the bureaucracy.” Obama sees the role to be more of a visionary for the country. Packer appropriately explains that the candidates’ views on the Presidency is an extension of how...
“Churchill was quite the peculiar chap; he used to weep at times, which is...”
– Dr. Michael Hurst
Eyesight
I’ve been getting headaches a lot and I have not been able to see letters as clearly as I used to (especially at night). I also needed new contact lenses and the United Kingdom legally requires a licensed optician’s prescription. So I went to the optician for a checkup; the results were not good. My eyes have worsened by a full point and I have developed astigmatism since my last...
بدون
بدون means ‘without’ in Arabic and Farsi. What do you think this blog is ‘without’?
What Sangwon Eats, Part I
Browsing through Time magazine’s “What the World Eats, Part I” made me want to document what my weekly stock of food is. For me, one week’s worth of food will consist solely of Haribo Goldbears, one box of Sainsbury’s Fruit & Fibre, tortellini, tomato sauce, Maltesers, and a pint of skimmed milk. Anyone want to help me do this?
100 Things We Did Not Know in 2007 →
According to a study, deep-voiced men 'have more... →
Why People Flirt →
The PR War is something I am very familiar with. →
Hopefully the "300-point jump" will lead to a full... →
All governments must condemn the happening of such... →
“The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken...”
– Anna Wintour in response to Hillary Clinton’s refusing to do a photo shoot for Vogue, in fear of appearing “too feminine.”
“اصل المرء قلبه”
“The switch to English [from Russian] was exceedingly painful - like learning...”
– Vladimir Nabokov
“Art comes to you proposing frankly to give nothing but the highest quality to...”
– Walter Pater
The Dream Keeper (1932)
Bring me all of your dreams, You dreamer, Bring me all your Heart melodies That I may wrap them In a blue cloud-cloth Away from the too-rough fingers Of the world. by Langston Hughes
Cherwell24 Week Two Mid-Week News Roundup →
“If you’re always trying to get things to work out so that it’s all pleasure and...”
– Pema Chödrön, a 71-year-old Buddhist nun (via Julia Allison)
“Life will teach you if you let it.”
– Pema Chödrön, a 71-year-old Buddhist nun (via Julia Allison)
What Was Lost: One Found
I had my first tutorial of term today; Dr. Glenda Abramson had only returned to Oxford from the United States two nights ago, after about three months of touring around America - doing lectures and finishing up her new book. For my first essay, I wrote about what made Mr. Mani (מר מאני) by A. B. Yehoshua, a detective story and what crimes were being committed in this complex work of literature....
Best Way to Understand a Country: Study Its...
Taking a Documents class accompanied by a secondary tutorial in ‘Modern British Politics and Government,’ is one of the best decisions I have made in a long time. Last night, I went to my weekly Documents class at Lady Margaret Hall (despite the bleeding rain and the ruckus of a thunderstorm) to discuss the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), legislated in 2000. I realized that I am very...
Economics in Prostitution →
Stephen Levitt, co-author of the best-selling book “Freakonomics” and professor of economics at the University of Chicago, does such interesting work that delves into the socio-anthropological aspects of how individuals approach and act as members of the economy.
“The trick of speechwriting, if you will, is making the client say your brilliant...”
– Christopher Huckley, speechwriter for George H. W. Bush (Via the New York Times)
Hillary, Barack, Experience →
(If you didn’t know this already) Disclaimer: I am obsessed with Nicholas D. Kristof. My, not love, but respect affair with Kristof began about five years ago, when I started reading the New York Times religiously. I love his work for opening readers’ eyes to issues that go uncovered and the succinct yet thoughtful writing style with which he makes his delivery. He has been criticized...
Scenes From a Marriage in Baghdad →
I am a little disappointed with the quality of writing in this article because it reads scattered. I do understand how daunting a venture this article would have been for Damien Cave as opposed to simple factual reporting on Iraq. He wanted to capture what covering a war zone alongside his videographer wife is like, and that it was very difficult to find a reasonably succinct yet cohesive way to...
Lately...
I don’t think I am the same person as I was last term. I can’t really pinpoint the reason for a change or what the change actually is, but it’s very poignant. I’ve been swamped with work the moment I got back to Oxford. Alongside tutorials involving much dense reading (Arab Israeli literature and modern British politics and government) and two classes also involving much...
I miss that certain air of ease in New York City. Many call the city to be one of loneliness and impersonality, with everyone minding their own business. Yes, that is true to a certain extent; just watch the power-walking New Yorkers on any sidewalk. However, New York is the place in which you can meet new people with the greatest ease. I have never found New York to have an alienating atmosphere...
Complete Crash
I completely crashed last night and went to bed at 7 o’clock. It was my first night of sound sleep since being back at Oxford for Hilary.
Une Jeunesse Chinoise
Zhao Wei: Qu'est-ce que tu veux?
Yu Hong: Je veux qu'on sépare.
Zhao Wei: Pourquoi?
Yu Hong: Parce que je ne peux plus te quitter.
"0.7p per litre of petrol in Venezuela" →
Something's fishy. →
Anglo-Russo relations: on the rocks. →
Très bizarre. →