Today in Digg, I came upon this article that made me dream - by By Lara Farrar
for CNN.
“As the first splinters of sunlight spread their warmth on the south bank of the River Thames on Thursday, it became clear that after more than a century, the vision of Victorian engineer Alexander Stanhope St. George had finally been realized.
In all its optical brilliance and brass and wood, there stood the Telectroscope: an 11.2-meter-(37 feet) long by 3.3-meter-(11 feet) tall dream of a device allowing people on one side of the Atlantic to look into its person-size lens and, in real time, see those on the other side via a recently completed tunnel running under the ocean. (Think 19th-century Webcam. Or maybe Victorian-age video phone.)
(…)
During the twilight hours Tuesday, massive dirt-covered metal drill bits miraculously emerged — one by the Thames near the Tower Bridge and the other on Fulton Ferry Landing by the Brooklyn Bridge in New York — completing the final sections of the transatlantic tunnel.
The drills were removed Wednesday night and replaced with identical Telectroscopes at both ends, allowing Londoners and New Yorkers to wake up Thursday, look over to the far and distant shore and stare at each other for a while (the telescope-like contraption permits visual but not vocal communication).”
(..)
To read the rest of this article, please go here.
What is the message of your book, the one you intended as a writer?
If I wanted to write a message, I would write a single sentence. A book is much more complex than this.
By Paulo Coelho
Remember that the first direct route to God is prayer.
The second direct route is joy.
(Brida)
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By Paulo Coelho
The warrior of the light knows how to recognize an enemy who is stronger.
If he decides to confront him, he will immediately be destroyed. If he accepts his provocations, he will fall into the trap.
So he uses diplomacy to overcome the difficult situation in which he finds himself. When the enemy acts like a baby, he does the same. When he calls him to combat, he pretends not to understand.
His friends comment: “he is a coward.”
But the warrior pays no attention to the comment; he knows that all the anger and courage of a bird are of no use in a confrontation with a cat.
In situations such as this, the warrior is patient. He knows the enemy will soon depart and provoke others.
Welcome to Share with Friends - Free Texts for a Free Internet
Today going through Digg I came upon a true story that surpasses all fiction - the story of an american filmmaker and musician Jamie Livingston that took a polaroid every day for 18 years, until the very day of his death.
I read the article by Chris Higgins for Mental Floss, here are some passages:
Yesterday I came across a slightly mysterious website — a collection of Polaroids, one per day, from March 31, 1979 through October 25, 1997. There’s no author listed, no contact info, and no other indication as to where these came from. So, naturally, I started looking through the photos. I was stunned by what I found.
In 1979 the photos start casually, with pictures of friends, picnics, dinners, and so on. (…)
What started for me as an amusing collection of photos — who takes photos every day for eighteen years? — ended with a shock. Who was this man? How did his photos end up on the web? I went on a two-day hunt, examined the source code of the website, and tried various Google tricks.
(…)
To read the full article and see the polaroids, please go here.
One of the questionings that keep on recurring in this book is Athena’s need to live with her “empty spaces”. Does Paulo Coelho have “empty spaces”?
Of course I do. Who doesn’t? The whole problem is not about having empty spaces, but about admitting that they exist. Today’s society is so preoccupied about coherence that many get trapped in the misconception that all is explainable. Society tries to convince us that we have to be completely transparent, not only to world but to ourselves. There is where the danger lies. It’s necessary to admit that some things can’t be grasped, that our empty spaces exist and that we have to respect and honour the mystery. I would say that Athena is my feminine side.
