The Very Social Weekend
What I mean by having a cultural weekend is that, looking at in hindsight, it almost like going on a bit of a world tour. It begins with, courtesy of 
rangifer being pointed to the 1855 classic "English As She Is Spoke" (not the original title, but it may as well be), by one Pedro Carolinho who provides this Portuguese/English phrasebook despite knowing no English, but by taking a Portuguese/French phrasebook and then translating the French word-for-word into English using a dictionary producing a publication of great, albeit unintended, hilarity. But also a lesson for those who think that languages are easy. As one who has finally reached more than halfway on the Duolingo skill-tree for Mandarin Chinese, it also opportune to enroll in a basic Chinese-language course at Peking University. It is a necessary action for my Wild Flying Geese project, whose initiation document grows in size on a daily basis. It was a great pleasure to visit Anthony L., and Robyn M. on Saturday evening to further discuss the said project (among many other things) along with being introduced to the rocket fuel that is Moutai. I will admit to being of sober senses however when I applied to join the ACFS.
Dinner had been preceded by a very long lunch with my favourite local revolutionary francophile Jacobin and partner of Dutch extraction, Damien. Apart from discussion ranging from the French revolution, that famous evening of Socrates and Alcibiades, readings of some pretty salacious 19th-century French poetry, there was also some consideration of the homoerotic nature of the Australian notion of "mateship", of which the work of Australian war artist, Roy Cecil Hodgkinson featured prominently. Continuing to work backward through the weekend, Friday night was regular catch-up with caseopaya at our favourite local "cheap and cheerful" Italian restaurant. I am sure that some people may occasionally scratch their head on why we both catch up so regularly, given that we're no longer partners. But the reality is that there was a good and strong connection established over the seventeen years we were together that included similar tastes in aesthetics, in politics, and a sense of home life. Whilst our differences in élan, life-goals, and Weltannäherung would lead to our separation, there is still happiness and friendship in our mutual company, and that really is how it should be.
As I move onwards in life the lure of enjoying the company of others has touched upon the world of romance for its own sake (because it's an intrinsically valuable activity) to encounter the hearts of minds of others when one's life circumstances provide such an opportunity. I delighted, for example, in the factual attitude of a Singaporean engineer that I was recently in the company of. Perhaps even more so, the big-hearted and light-spirited dentist whom I seem to spending more and more time with "The Sailor Moon dentist" (nicknamed, thank you Janie G, on account of their diminutive physical stature and a hand-waved ethnicity). And, not to put too fine a point on it, there are others whom I shall not elaborate further on at this point. In other words, my dance card is pretty full which is in some ways surprising to me, but also very affirming. Could it be that a passionate and dedicated application of knowledge to making the world a better place also has the side-effect of inspiring people to be part of my life in some way? It is certainly an unintended side-effect and not the priority. This is just thinking aloud on a matter that I have not reflected too deeply on in the past. This entry was originally posted at https://tcpip.dreamwidth.org/317475.html.
rangifer being pointed to the 1855 classic "English As She Is Spoke" (not the original title, but it may as well be), by one Pedro Carolinho who provides this Portuguese/English phrasebook despite knowing no English, but by taking a Portuguese/French phrasebook and then translating the French word-for-word into English using a dictionary producing a publication of great, albeit unintended, hilarity. But also a lesson for those who think that languages are easy. As one who has finally reached more than halfway on the Duolingo skill-tree for Mandarin Chinese, it also opportune to enroll in a basic Chinese-language course at Peking University. It is a necessary action for my Wild Flying Geese project, whose initiation document grows in size on a daily basis. It was a great pleasure to visit Anthony L., and Robyn M. on Saturday evening to further discuss the said project (among many other things) along with being introduced to the rocket fuel that is Moutai. I will admit to being of sober senses however when I applied to join the ACFS.
Dinner had been preceded by a very long lunch with my favourite local revolutionary francophile Jacobin and partner of Dutch extraction, Damien. Apart from discussion ranging from the French revolution, that famous evening of Socrates and Alcibiades, readings of some pretty salacious 19th-century French poetry, there was also some consideration of the homoerotic nature of the Australian notion of "mateship", of which the work of Australian war artist, Roy Cecil Hodgkinson featured prominently. Continuing to work backward through the weekend, Friday night was regular catch-up with caseopaya at our favourite local "cheap and cheerful" Italian restaurant. I am sure that some people may occasionally scratch their head on why we both catch up so regularly, given that we're no longer partners. But the reality is that there was a good and strong connection established over the seventeen years we were together that included similar tastes in aesthetics, in politics, and a sense of home life. Whilst our differences in élan, life-goals, and Weltannäherung would lead to our separation, there is still happiness and friendship in our mutual company, and that really is how it should be.
As I move onwards in life the lure of enjoying the company of others has touched upon the world of romance for its own sake (because it's an intrinsically valuable activity) to encounter the hearts of minds of others when one's life circumstances provide such an opportunity. I delighted, for example, in the factual attitude of a Singaporean engineer that I was recently in the company of. Perhaps even more so, the big-hearted and light-spirited dentist whom I seem to spending more and more time with "The Sailor Moon dentist" (nicknamed, thank you Janie G, on account of their diminutive physical stature and a hand-waved ethnicity). And, not to put too fine a point on it, there are others whom I shall not elaborate further on at this point. In other words, my dance card is pretty full which is in some ways surprising to me, but also very affirming. Could it be that a passionate and dedicated application of knowledge to making the world a better place also has the side-effect of inspiring people to be part of my life in some way? It is certainly an unintended side-effect and not the priority. This is just thinking aloud on a matter that I have not reflected too deeply on in the past. This entry was originally posted at https://tcpip.dreamwidth.org/317475.html.