I remember reading about this while I was travelling in India and so decided to search on it now. And it was true !

Here are some nice photos and details about the fantastic 747 jumbo-jet hostel !

The Jumbo Hostel | Oddity Central.

Archimedes, the original physicist and mathematician, was apparently responsible for coming up with the fundamental ideas for calculus. Although it might be safe to say that neither Newton nor Leibnitz actually knew this, they have to forego the privelege to having stumbled onto the thought first.

Here are more details from TheLongNow blog.

My lack of command over the language disgusts me most times. Some times, it even forces me to stop talking. I remember once upon a time, I was fluent in more than 3 different tongues and now, I barely struggle to speak 2 of them without obvious trouble. Unfortunate though, the thoughts and feelings cannot see an outlet without these words formed well, else you perceive what I write very differently from what I intend. Sure, this has happened all this while but now that questions haunt more, the experience becomes even more critical.

Language limits, thoughts and expressions
Portrayed bland, lacking depth or feeling;
That hunger amiss and inspiration misplaced
Here written, more words without attachment.

After 2 years, another visit to India finally came together. Long awaited for a vacation, after having worked the body and mind the past few months intensely, a welcome relief. Great food, reunion with old friends, visiting family, and just plainly fantastic to be back in my home land.

I did not realize how much I missed India till I visited and came back here to the U.S. Well, until next time …

I have heard about the legend of Faust before but never had the chance to read it. As destiny would have it, I recently stumbled upon Faust again, one of the works by Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe), the one that made him apparently famous in the literary world of then Europe.

For the past few days, piecemeal I’ve read and it is beautiful. My only regret is that I did not discover this gem before.

The tale of Faust is supposed to be Goethe’s greatest work into which he poured a lifetime of experience; the entire work took him his whole life and he finished the second part only a year before his demise. The literary work is written as a play (a poetical drama actually) and it portrays an interplay of religion, the supernatural, love, tragedy and the surreal. To give you an introduction about Faust, here’s a brief synopsis.

Faust is an old man, a sage or an alchemist, wise, learned and very pious. We see a conversation between God and Mephistopheles (satan) in which God remarks that Mephistopheles may try all he likes to tempt Faust; God is confident that Faust is too moral an individual to be tempted by anything. Mephistopheles sets to work, appearing to Faust and conversing with him. Faust is weary of life, and Mephistopheles is soon able to convince him that he could sample something more.

The story concerns the fate of Faust in his quest for the true essence of life. Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge and power, he attracts the attention of the Devil (Mephistopheles), who agrees to serve Faust until the moment he attains the zenith of human happiness, at which point Mephistopheles may take his soul. Faust is pleased with the deal, as he believes the moment will never come.

In the first part, Mephistopheles leads Faust through experiences that culminate in a lustful and destructive relationship with an innocent and nubile woman named Gretchen. Gretchen and her family are destroyed by Mephistopheles’ deceptions and Faust’s desires and actions. The story ends in tragedy as Gretchen is saved and Faust is left in shame.

The second part begins with the spirits of the earth forgiving Faust (and the rest of mankind) and progresses into rich allegorical poetry. Faust and his devil pass through the world of politics and the world of the classical gods, and meet with Helen of Troy (the personification of beauty). Finally, having succeeded in taming the very forces of war and nature Faust experiences a single moment of happiness.

The devil Mephistopheles, trying to grab Faust’s soul when he dies, is frustrated as the Lord intervenes — recognizing the value of Faust’s unending striving.

This has been one of the most interesting drama’s I have ever read. It portrays one of the imminent weaknesses of the human kind; The quest for knowledge and the impossibility to attain enlightenment without the passion. And It punches in all that with philosophical poetry. Enough said. Go grab a copy now and enjoy it.

Download from Google for free.

“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”

— Ellen Goodman

I used to think the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.

– Emo Phillips

On the day of my father’s eve,
I search again for serenity.
Another thought lost and some more friends gained,
Cliched references to a life not quit.

Here I stay, with pain filled throat,
I tear, I repair and I loathe ;
This unknown reference pointing to lucidity
Another answer to the final question.

A new day dawns, a sky unfolds
Gives hope and a ritual foretold.
I await, eager to fulfill destiny
The soul and body reaching maturity.

It hurts, to live in agony;
It sears skin and heart with questions;
But there lies false solutions everywhere,
Can mind see truth in this worldly illusion ?

Scorned by the poor language,
Words inadequate to express thoughts.
Or is it the influence of wine and more
That fumbles intended poetry into conceited dribble ?

My father. Guide me. Or take me. Now.

Another thought, in another world perceived,
Here lies the eternal music beyond.
Sublimity in music and work and the world
How shall I write this beauty felt in words.

Amadeus. Da Vinci. Einstein.
My heroes. Consigned to flames of woe.
Every genius faces his misery,
The reward disguised unseen until the moment.

My moment, hopefully will be realized before it is late,
Here I watch, unfold a perfect story in harmony.

Alone in a city full of people,
Here I stare at fireworks along the shore;
Hours away, a test about to unfold,
For the physical and the pysche alike.

This marathon, I wanted for so long,
Shall push my physical limit to beyond.
Zones I thought I tamed by mind,
This body shall endure and conquer it too.

If this were to fail, then hear me,
This shall be my last strike.
For I will not quit this endeavor
Before tasting that medal awaiting me at 26.2 miles.