condom

You are, Arnon.

Arnon

Great, brilliant man - like you - should be punished if they don't reproduce. Humanity is in desperate need of your genes. Be aware of that.

Bourgeois caution and anxiety

Keillor's remark reveals why he will never be a great man.

That's what they said to Levi Strauss. "Humanity is in desperate need of your jeans. Be aware of that." Whenever he doubted himself in his early, unsuccesfull years, he thought of this advice.

Carlos

Your judgment is too harsh. And do you believe that your anxieties are not bourgeois anxieties?

If I were Arnon's mistress, I would be tempted to pierce his condoms.
Nail him, Ladies, if you can.

Arnon

Do you suppose Mozart's children wished their father had used a condom?

Bourgeois anxieties are an obstacle to be overcome by "great men". Interesting, but perhaps unsurprising, that Keillor does not include women. I found the whole piece to be rather contrived and pretentious. Did Keats and Shelley fight for parking spaces? DId they "glance at the obit and feel a twinge"? How would Keillor know?

Great men, that is men who are great to the evolution of their society, shouldn't have the time to reproduce. They shouldn't have time to copulate for that matter. All they should do is be great and masturbate every other week.

Actually

Actually I think Keillor's paragraph should have read:

We go racing past them fighting our petty battles for power and parking spaces, and then we die (arghh) and we glance at the obits and if they were young, like Keats and Shelley, we feel a little twinge, and if they weren’t we don’t, and then we go back to telling out kids about the importance of correct spelling and grammar, which every good parent should do.

Dens

That's what women fight for: the best genes. Any tactic is allowed in that battle.

@ Dens

Every other week?

Even better

We go racing past them fighting our petty battles for power and parking spaces, and then we die (arghh). People glance at our obits and if we were young, like Keats and Shelley, they feel a little twinge, and if we weren’t, they don’t, and then they go back to telling their kids about the importance of correct spelling and grammar, which every good parent should do.

We, men, aren't put on this world to serve the need of women. Women, through time, have believed otherwise. I'm getting sick of this world.

Excuse me for this vomit. I'll refrain from doing this in the future. It's just that I miss Bernard.
Now I have to write a letter of apology.

Carlos

It seems to me that you missed the point of Keillor’s piece – it’s about the health care debate in the US.
And you didn’t answer my question: are your anxieties different from bourgeois anxieties?

You must live a very dull life when you manage to never regret the fact that you were born.

Mieke

Why do you adore Arnon so much? No offense but you really idolize him a lot. I hope you can see he is just as unique as you yourself are.

GT

Mieke might know something we don't. ;)

Wageningen

Today my boss sent me an email that he bought me a ticket for Arnon's reading the 15th of October In Wageningen.
Last week I spent four days in Wageningen at the headquarters of the company I work for. When I was taking a walk in the small city center I entered the local bookstore and saw there were hanging posters on the lecture series at the WUR. When I was talking to my boss I must have mentioned my love for Arnon between the lines. My room at Hof van Wageningen is already booked for me and all arrangements were made. I wonder, is this an excuse to make me come to work at the headquarters again? Or does my boss has some other intentions?

@ G T
Do I exaggerate ? Maybe I am just a little over the top.
@ Sasja
I wish I did, but alas , not realy.

typo; really.

Arnon

Indeed, I did gather that Keillor was writing about the Republican opposition to health care reform. But he does use a lot of trees, dead poets , composers and hamburger patties to make his point.

Are my anxieties different from bourgeois anxieties? Of course all humans share certain anxieties. But I would not say that, as a whole, my anxieties are bourgeois ones. I find it very difficult to relate to my neighbours' anxieties.

I can't recall ever regretting I was born. I have on occasion regretted life in general. And I am sure there have been many occasions when others have regretted that I was ever born.

Obama?

Peter

Müller.

Carlos

Do you have a lot of enemies?

to Arnon

Müller?

Great men shouldn't have children

I agree.
But what about short people?

Peter

It's not that difficult.

To Arnon

Of course, Herta . Some quick research reveals nothing about marriage or children. Do you know her?

Arnon

Do I have many enemies? No. But I am not one to hide my opinions under a bushel. This can be problematic at times. I have become fairly impervious to insults thrown in response.

vera

short people have a lot of great children!

... faellt mir schwer zugeben zu muessen, dass ich noch nie von herta mueller gehoert habe. scheint aber eine ineressante schriftstellerin zu sein!

Greatest Men

Great men should not have children (not before they are acknowledged as such) but the greatest should !!(and could) because they are greatest- being purposefull on all levels. Shitty men should wear condoms 24/7 or disappear so they will not slow down evolution too much. Super men should stay away from Kryptonite with or without children.

great

@vera (& beata)
Please observe the difference between 'great' and 'tall'.
(And: 'large' and 'big' and 'great' and 'tall').

Rule of Thumb

Great men should not have children especially not before they accomplish something which qualifies them as great. Greatest men should have children because noblesse oblige. Shitty men should wear condoms 24/7, just so they don't delay evolution too much. Super men should stay away from Kryptonite with or without children. These are the basic rules for procreation as found on a scroll which was hidden behind a fresco which unfortunately I did not discover.

Bert

In terms of height, people are "tall" or "short". (Dutch and Germans often make the mistake of saying "a long man".) But the meaning of "great" depends a lot on the context.

A very well known English hymn starts:
"All creatures great and small..."

Its hard to define what a "great man" or a "great woman" is. In addition to importance and making a mark on history, "great man" implies some sort of benevolence. To David Irving and the Haiders of the world, Hitler was a "great man", to the rest he was anything but. Also in the context of "I found a great man and I married him", "great" simply means "good".

Roman Polanski is a great director, but is he also a great man?

Carlos

Don't start bad-mouthing A. Hitler on my site. If we had only taken his art seriously after WW I.

Does a great director need to be a great man?

Carlos

You started explaining what I was referring to.
Thanks for the 'bleedin' obvious' (Monty Python). Sorry...
You know of course that small/short people can be 'big' as well, besides being 'great'?
So you may have either a big / tall / large or great building e.g.....

verhext in woerterstadt!
ceci n'est pas une pipe!
just words, jongens!

Just words....

@Beata
-- 'Just words, BOYS'!
ok?
You may be a Dutch girl, like I happen to be a Dutchman myself (59 years old), but please don't change this blog into some Tower of Bable!
Mixing English and Dutch. Please, please, DON'T...

Words, words, words, sure...
Like 'What are you reading my Lord?'
Etc.

What? You don't like this kind of talk?
"Please don't quarrel"?
Why not?
Dear Beata, I wouldn't mind quarelliing with a woman like you.
Or would you start throwing things at me immediately, because you hate these exhange of words between people?
Come on....
bhe
==================

@ Bert

Your comments regarding the grammar of a co-visitor and another woman 'mixing up languages' are a real turn on.
Ga zo door! Really, it's much appreciated.

P.S. Don't hesitate to tell us how many mistakes I've made in these few lines.

P.S. 2
Talking about Great Men

bert hasper

i'm not at all a dutch girl!
and -for sure- you 're not the one who tells me what i should do or not!!! to be honest, i would enjoy throwing a "faules ei" and some tomatoes on you! at you? aber andererseits, houd ik helemaal niet van ruzie maken! but to be too "harmoniesuechtig" is not good! well, well. well, que tonteria todo eso!

On being Dutch or whatever...

Dearest Beata!

Sorry, really sorry if I mistook you for a Dutch lady.
But then, who cares what nationality you might be?
[I'm capable of loving you anyway, I guess.]

By the way: not 'Hasper' but 'Hesper', please be careful: Hesper is a star/planet (Venus; the evening star) - the Hesperides etc - ; Hasper isn't mentioned in the ordinary planet list.

@Jeanette
Thanks for your support.
I'll be keeping a close eye on the words, language and (English) grammar on this site.
And all these 'TYPOS', yeah, sure, nice try....
'A bacteria' : thrice and twice used by the master (AG) himself...
Ok, never mind, I forgive everyone...
Fully understanding, I hope, and best wishes to all on this site.
bert
===============

Arnon

Have you read A. Hitler's own account of his "Vienna years" in "Mein Kampf"? I am not sure Hitler's art was as important as often portrayed. He had already decided to become an architect. Unfortunately he lacked the necessary school diploma. His mother had died, he was unemployed and he almost starved. Being destitute he came to know the underside of Viennese society. Hitler claimed these experiences shaped him.

I do not know whether Roman Polanski is a great man or not. History will tell. In any case, he did not use a condom.

On typos & mistakes

For your info:
I myself said '(...) THESE EXCHANGE' !
Mea culpa: it's either THIS exchange of words between people,
or: these exchangeS of course.
That was a real typo. :) - ^--^ - (- Eyes closed; blushing...)
bert
================

@Jeanette

No mistakes, except: ha, ha, yes, you ARE mixing Dutch and English!
Just google "Ga zo door" and you will surely find the English for this phrase....
[Related to 'Keep up the good work' ]
Kisses, anyway
bert

@ bert

My 'Ga zo door!' doesn't need a translation.
You didn't write 'these exchanges', but 'these exhanges'.
Now you ask Arnon if he has 'ridden on horseback', why add the 'on'?
You see how boring this 'correction'comment is getting?

If you want to send 'kisses' in this blog, don't direct them to me.
Coming from you, I find it pathetic and rude.
Why not start treating the women in this blog with respect?

respect!

@ Jeanette
I wrote "these exhange", singular, but never mind what I wrote...
What's this 'riding on horseback'? So you 'ride horseback', do you?
You think that's correct English? I might be for that matter...
And sending virtual kisses proves I have no respect for women?
So: at first my mutterings about the English used on this site were 'a real turn-on' for you, and because of these virtual 'kisses' to everyone you were turned off?
That proved I've got no 'respect'? You must be a real and true 'valley girl' (Frank Zappa) (great pop song by the way).
In Dutch: 'turbotrut'.
===================

@ bert

1. horses:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/horseback+riding.

2. turn on:
you might find the answer under the lemma 'irony' when consulting your dictionary next time.

3. respect:
thanks for proving my point by trying to insult me.

Carlos

I've read "Mein Kampf" though I skipped some pages. See also: "The Jewish Messiah."
In 1943 or perhaps 1944 A. Hitler remarked that when this war was over he would concentrate on his true passion: art.

@Jeanette

You're quite right.
But have a look at this:
http://www.google.nl/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=ride+on+horseback&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Dearest greetings,
(Hoping that's not too disrespectful....)
bert

@ bert

thanks