Oct 31, 2010

Let’s Rethink Masculinity -- In These Times
















Interesting view on the role of modern feminism, gender related traits and more.
Quoting from the article:
"Hard-driving lawyers, neurosurgeons and investment bankers—indeed, all historically male high-status jobs—also require some version of assertiveness and single-mindedness. In other words, such jobs are designed around masculinity and men."

Let’s Rethink Masculinity -- In These Times

Where do you stand on this?

Oct 30, 2010

Happy Halloween! And some helpful delusion


I only wish, I'd be the one to put it this way first, but here it goes:
On the other hand - isn't it better to know that you are not responsible for the whole world (yes, this one is not a delusion - even YOU are not! :) and some things REALLY CAN be delegated? :).
BTW curious, how many of you had a chance to read Adam Smith. I haven't, but am contemplating to do it now. Happy Halloween!



Oct 29, 2010

проблемы архитектуры...


Как часто от'езд крыши приводит к фундаментальным проблемам...

Big Bamboo etc

Just a quick note to those in New York, to stop and smell the ... bamboo :) at the Met. Not that I am trying to gets you bamboozled, but it does close Oct 31st, and I think the access to the rooftop closes for the season as well.

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId=%7B9C6923D2-D348-4761-BEB3-A943934068D2%7D

And now is the prime time to see fall colors in the park from Met rooftop. It's absolutely mesmerizing and you can't get this anywhere else, even if you have a Park view apartment... When you are on the roof you are high enough to see the big picture and close enough to savour all the little details and leaves and dogs walking their masters ....- everything that makes this "Fall in Central Park"....

Oct 27, 2010

For anyone even midly curious about anything Russia...

It's about commemorating the victims of Stalin terron in Moscow, where in only one year 1938 more than 30,000 were executed... (for your reference - population of Summit, NJ is 21,000)

Акция "Возвращение имен" на Лубянке

Oct 25, 2010

Rediscovering the power of "No"

... A new (and undoubtely exciting! :) workshop scheduled for Wednesday, November 10th.

More details here: http://www.letsdoarealitycheck.com/



Oct 24, 2010

New York - therefore I am...

To be continued...

Belgium – is it or is it not?..


...Going to cease to exist that is. My previous post on this topic quoted Houellebecq who is, as one of my readers very astutely pointed out, a very well know provocateur.
Well, just last week I got my hands one a weekly report from one of the leading HFs – and they were talking about the same topic.
According to the report, Belgium “has a profound political crisis that could see an end of the unified state.”…”It tends to be forgotten, but Belgium has one of the highest levels of debt to GDP in the EU”.

So what is going on? What is going to happen to the land where food and art has been inspiring each other for centuries? Is Bruges going to disappear as well ? I am against the whole idea! :)



Oct 21, 2010

I'd love to know you better


Amazing... I have a much broader audience than I ever imagined. Would love to know you better - who you are, what do you do, how did you find out about the musings.

Oct 20, 2010

Reminiscing about Copenhagen

Even graffiti seems to be aligned with Danish design concepts!
And don't even remind me of the jewlery stores! :). George Jensen started there...

Oct 19, 2010

Danger: VERY VAGUE IDEA ahead

How long are human beings going to put up with?:

-Trainers, physical therapists, yoga/Pilates etc teachers who have VERY VAGUE IDEA about human anatomy!

-Therapists/coaches/”spiritual leaders” who have VERY VAGUE IDEA about human psyche and their own biases!

-Personal shoppers/image consultants/ designers with VERY VAGUE IDEA about the notions of colors, composition et al!

Due to the nature of my practice, I might be biased about the number of victims of the aforementioned plague. Or am I? : )



Oct 18, 2010

It all starts as a fairy tale...

I accidentally stumbled upon this article comparing Disney's and Grimme's Snow White... Must be synchronicity at play, since it gives a bit of an explanation as to how the addiction to "happily ever after" starts at a very young age...

The Smart Set: Happy 200th, Snow White! - October 1, 2010

Thoughts?

"Everything our parents said was good is bad"


I took a Yoga class last week. Mind you, it was in the gym, so I was hoping that the bunter would be kept to a minimum. Little did I know that the teacher was not in a body mode, but in a spirit mode that day… And of course she was rumbling about positive attitude, almost advocating it as a cure for cancer.

Quoting Woody Allen ( “Annie Hall”) : “Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat... college.”

I think he did not mention my pet peeve -“positive thinking” only because at the time it was not so wide spread and the long term effects of it were not becoming that obvious. I think there are two ingredients that make positive thinking such a great sale (and could get quite damaging, when consumed excessively : ) : fake certainty and bright future. It smells so much like communism to me … :).

You see, I am not advocating seeing the glass half empty, when the liquid takes up 50% of the volume. What I do feel very uneasy about is when I see all too many, high on positive thinking, stare at an empty glass and seeing it half full…. This dangerous habit is scientifically proven to be correlated with death from dehydration! :)

Oct 14, 2010

Russian demographic crisis - musing...

For those not familiar with the topic: Russian population is declining, mortality and life expectancy are staggering and comparable to the third world countries.
I’ve read and heard many explanations of this phenomenon (alcohol, poor health care, low birth rate due to economic uncertainty). None of those reasons however adequately explains why those plagues affect Russia much more that they do other countries with similar problems.

So here is what I am thinking – and bear with me for a little history tour: for centuries all over the world religion was one of the main means to take care of an individual and society emotional/psychological needs. Pondering existential questions, providing space to share dark secrets, granting forgiveness and helping to mourn the losses – all that in some shape or form is covered by any religion. In the 19th century, (remember when “God was dead”?), psychoanalysis/therapy appeared and caught popularity in the Western world, where it pretty happily coexists with various religions (New Age included :) till today.

What happened in Russia, however, was that in 1917 religion was pretty much expelled from the society and nothing similar to Western use of therapy developed to take its place. So this huge void in taking care of the emotional well being was created and not acknowledged by several generations. Those generations, as we know went through WWII, losing over 20 million people and over 40 million in Stalin’s Gulag. These loses, that affected lives of almost every family in Soviet Russia, were never properly and openly mourned and grieved over – not on individual level and not on a societal level. Thus, it was and is still is passed along through generations.

It would be almost impossible to develop a healthy psyche and coping mechanisms in that environment. It is no wonder, that according to some statistics 90% of Russian population needs psychological help. But what percentage of them are actually getting it and is quality help available at all? Thus those traumas are surfacing in other forms: alcoholism, poor health, heightened aggression and crime rate, etc. I do not know of any other country that went through the similar madness for such a long period of time, so what we are seeing now might not be a result of SU collapse, but has much deeper and complex roots.



Doesn't this look disturbing ? :) and :(

Oct 13, 2010

Would you plug in?

Interesting article about happiness - and how it depends on the world outside (contrary to a popular beleive :):

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/the-spoils-of-happiness/

What do you think? Would you plug in?

Oct 10, 2010

Reality is SO out of vogue…

This is of course obvious, but never fails to amaze me…

I did a little goosearch and here is what I’ve found (phrases I searched and number of results in thousands):

“Positive thinking”: 1,500

“Negative thinking”: 400

“Realistic thinking”: 40

As a way to balance the governments’ budget I can suggest taxing positive thinking, the same way other "reality get aways" (alcohol and tobacco) are taxed.


Would you support this new tax proposal? :)

Oct 7, 2010

Is Belgium going to disappear?

In a recent interview to “The Paris Review” (Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 206, Michel Houellebecq ), Michael Houellebecq said about Belgium that it is “a country that doesn’t work at all. And nobody understands why, from a psychological standpoint, because Belgians themselves seem sympathetic and make it all work. And yet it doesn’t. The country is going to disappear. So we have to believe that there are powerful sociological forces at work that cannot be explained in terms of individual psychology”.

I love Houellebecq and I love Belgium…Hence the conundrum. Is it really disappearing? J Thoughts, views, opinions, latest updates from the field?

Oct 1, 2010

Compulsive shopping for domains

Normally compulsive shopping would include tangible items… Shoes, gadgets, clothes, accessories, jewelry… Mine is all about domain names. My latest purchase is www.Ladieswhobitch.com.


Does anybody else out there have this little addiction? What’s your obsession? :)