Sunday
Jul172011
On Wandering, Money, and Bacon
Monsieur,
About a week ago I did one of my favorite things. It was a cool and sunny day, so I decided to travel to a nearby town. When the weather is nice, I just love to drive for an hour or two.
Typically when I visit another town, I do three things. First, I like to browse through a bookstore and buy a book. Second, I like to browse through a music store and buy some music. And third, I like to find a quiet little cafe' and have a bite to eat.
I suppose I'm pretty easy to please then. After all, I don't really care about expensive clothes, cars, or food. I suppose part of the reason why I don't care for expensive things has to do with the people who seem to hover around those things. While there are always exceptions, I think that people with expensive tastes are often lacking in depth. It is as if they think that their belongings will impress other people and make up for their lack of personality.
Also, it seems like people who are always chasing after money have their priorities out of order. I mean what does a person really need a great deal of money for? Does anyone really need a giant mansion? Or glamorous clothes? Or expensive meals? To me, mansions are mostly cold and empty. Glamorous clothes are mostly uncomfortable and difficult to wash. And, expensive meals usually taste strange and upset my stomach, which reminds me about one thing that is a little tricky about traveling.
When I travel, I often feel a bit uneasy about trying too many different types of food. While one part of me very much wants to be adventurous and learn about another town or another culture, a different part of me very much wants to maintain the regularity of my bowels and not spend the better part of my journey sitting on a toilet. For me, this travel and food conundrum is a very serious problem. I actually have spent a large part of two different trips sitting on a toilet - all because I was trying to be an open-minded traveler and an experimental eater. But, I guess being an experimental eater isn't the same thing as being an expensive eater, which brings me back to the whole money issue again.
It's not that I don't like money, but rather, I don't particularly like most of the stuff that people with money tend to like. To me, money simply offers time, travel, and security. Time is valuable because with it a person can do what he loves to do without having to think about making money. Travel is valuable because life is more interesting when a person can experience new places and meet new people. And, security is valuable because without it, a person will feel stressed and uneasy, and these feelings will undermine his ability to enjoy life.
In any event, last week, when I drove to a neighboring town, I bought a book of ESSAYS by Francis Bacon. Since he was born in England in 1561, I think he is someone you may have heard of - although I will say that his essays are a bit dryer in style and shorter in length than yours.
I think that, for the most part, Mr. Bacon was primarily interested in being concise. I suspect he was not much of an intellectual wanderer. His writing doesn't meander or ponder at all really. When he writes about Truth, Love, Revenge, and Travel, he has definitive instructions and ideas to convey. He catalogs examples almost as if he is making a list. It's a good thing that each particular essay isn't very long; otherwise, I would surely get bored - just like when I read Aristotle or an academic textbook.
If I were Mr. Bacon and I were to write about my own travels, I might write something like this.
"When a person driveth to a neighboring town, one should not driveth too fast nor too slow. One should driveth with care and consulteth a map so one does not get lost and waste time upon careless matters. One should take note of and appreciate local architecture, nature, and personage during said travels. Be advised to avoid those who poseth or pretend toward importance. Book shops, music shops, and affordable restaurants may provide one with feelings of contentment. If one haveth a simple constitution, one should ingest food primarily for nourishment and not for experiment. Experimental ingestion may resulteth in unpredictable digestive activity, which may in turn, causeth extended water closet visitation."
You know, the more I think about it, perhaps neither one of us would enjoy meeting Mr. Bacon so much. If the style of his writing is indicative of his personality, he probably would not have been very intersting to speak with. But then again, perhaps he would be so intelligent that the content of his thoughts would override his less than colorful delivery. Or, perhaps his living personality is very different from or more entertaining than his style of writing. In the end, I suppose we'll never know.
On a different note, I thought you might be interested in knowing that today is my birthday. Remember when I mentioned to you that I too was born under the sign of Pisces? Well, I was actually born on the last day of the astrological calendar. Although I don't put all of my faith in astrology, I do believe that there is something to learn from pondering all that it suggests. And, inexplicably, like I've mentioned in previous letters to you, I do feel an affinity with other people born under my sign. I know that in your essays, you seemed very skeptical of astrological studies, but I still find it interesting that you would think the topic at least meaningful enough to write about. After all, if astrology is complete foolishness, I'm sure you wouldn't have taken the time to mention it is your essays at all - if even to discredit it. It's funny, too, that Schopenhauer chose to discuss the planets as they relate to our stages of life.
In my next letter to you, I think I'm going to tell you about another Pisces thinker who was born in the 19th century. Believe it or not, he was a scientist, and his personality was far from boring. In my era, his name has even become synonymous with the term "genius."
Bonjour,
Brian
About a week ago I did one of my favorite things. It was a cool and sunny day, so I decided to travel to a nearby town. When the weather is nice, I just love to drive for an hour or two.
Typically when I visit another town, I do three things. First, I like to browse through a bookstore and buy a book. Second, I like to browse through a music store and buy some music. And third, I like to find a quiet little cafe' and have a bite to eat.
I suppose I'm pretty easy to please then. After all, I don't really care about expensive clothes, cars, or food. I suppose part of the reason why I don't care for expensive things has to do with the people who seem to hover around those things. While there are always exceptions, I think that people with expensive tastes are often lacking in depth. It is as if they think that their belongings will impress other people and make up for their lack of personality.
Also, it seems like people who are always chasing after money have their priorities out of order. I mean what does a person really need a great deal of money for? Does anyone really need a giant mansion? Or glamorous clothes? Or expensive meals? To me, mansions are mostly cold and empty. Glamorous clothes are mostly uncomfortable and difficult to wash. And, expensive meals usually taste strange and upset my stomach, which reminds me about one thing that is a little tricky about traveling.
When I travel, I often feel a bit uneasy about trying too many different types of food. While one part of me very much wants to be adventurous and learn about another town or another culture, a different part of me very much wants to maintain the regularity of my bowels and not spend the better part of my journey sitting on a toilet. For me, this travel and food conundrum is a very serious problem. I actually have spent a large part of two different trips sitting on a toilet - all because I was trying to be an open-minded traveler and an experimental eater. But, I guess being an experimental eater isn't the same thing as being an expensive eater, which brings me back to the whole money issue again.
It's not that I don't like money, but rather, I don't particularly like most of the stuff that people with money tend to like. To me, money simply offers time, travel, and security. Time is valuable because with it a person can do what he loves to do without having to think about making money. Travel is valuable because life is more interesting when a person can experience new places and meet new people. And, security is valuable because without it, a person will feel stressed and uneasy, and these feelings will undermine his ability to enjoy life.
In any event, last week, when I drove to a neighboring town, I bought a book of ESSAYS by Francis Bacon. Since he was born in England in 1561, I think he is someone you may have heard of - although I will say that his essays are a bit dryer in style and shorter in length than yours.
I think that, for the most part, Mr. Bacon was primarily interested in being concise. I suspect he was not much of an intellectual wanderer. His writing doesn't meander or ponder at all really. When he writes about Truth, Love, Revenge, and Travel, he has definitive instructions and ideas to convey. He catalogs examples almost as if he is making a list. It's a good thing that each particular essay isn't very long; otherwise, I would surely get bored - just like when I read Aristotle or an academic textbook.
If I were Mr. Bacon and I were to write about my own travels, I might write something like this.
"When a person driveth to a neighboring town, one should not driveth too fast nor too slow. One should driveth with care and consulteth a map so one does not get lost and waste time upon careless matters. One should take note of and appreciate local architecture, nature, and personage during said travels. Be advised to avoid those who poseth or pretend toward importance. Book shops, music shops, and affordable restaurants may provide one with feelings of contentment. If one haveth a simple constitution, one should ingest food primarily for nourishment and not for experiment. Experimental ingestion may resulteth in unpredictable digestive activity, which may in turn, causeth extended water closet visitation."
You know, the more I think about it, perhaps neither one of us would enjoy meeting Mr. Bacon so much. If the style of his writing is indicative of his personality, he probably would not have been very intersting to speak with. But then again, perhaps he would be so intelligent that the content of his thoughts would override his less than colorful delivery. Or, perhaps his living personality is very different from or more entertaining than his style of writing. In the end, I suppose we'll never know.
On a different note, I thought you might be interested in knowing that today is my birthday. Remember when I mentioned to you that I too was born under the sign of Pisces? Well, I was actually born on the last day of the astrological calendar. Although I don't put all of my faith in astrology, I do believe that there is something to learn from pondering all that it suggests. And, inexplicably, like I've mentioned in previous letters to you, I do feel an affinity with other people born under my sign. I know that in your essays, you seemed very skeptical of astrological studies, but I still find it interesting that you would think the topic at least meaningful enough to write about. After all, if astrology is complete foolishness, I'm sure you wouldn't have taken the time to mention it is your essays at all - if even to discredit it. It's funny, too, that Schopenhauer chose to discuss the planets as they relate to our stages of life.
In my next letter to you, I think I'm going to tell you about another Pisces thinker who was born in the 19th century. Believe it or not, he was a scientist, and his personality was far from boring. In my era, his name has even become synonymous with the term "genius."
Bonjour,
Brian