Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Alain de Botton

I just want to collect a few tweets from Alain de Botton, he's a philosopher/writer who you can rely on to produce a useful snippet of text on twitter, and not fill it with ramblings of what he had for tea or pointless whinings. He even sent me a personal reply when I commented on one of his tweets.

The following are all his works. Follow him on @alaindebotton on twitter for more.


We've all had enough setbacks not to be a little relieved by the pains of others.

Despite love, therapy, literature, achievement, few sensations are more difficult to shake off than the sense one is a loser.

The problem with people who would be outstanding in a shipwreck is that there aren't - in the end - so many shipwrecks.

Whatever their value to science, the galaxies are in the end as valuable to mankind as solutions to megalomania and anxiety.

Our sense of what is beautiful is a reflection of what we lack, and as our lacks change, so will our tastes.

She was so private, there were things she even forgot to say to herself...

Developing an adequate response to rejection, neither defensive nor sentimental, lies at the heart of any serious attempt at sanity.

The thought that if one leaves them it will ruin their life can grow so overwhelming that one ends up staying and thus ruins their life.

Monday, February 22, 2010

CSI: Lancaster

Mac: Okay Sid, what can you tell me?

Sid: Looks like a sharp force trauma laceration to the right index finger between the first and second phalanges.

Mac: Did anything come back from trace?

Sid: The brown powder found in the wound tract came back as coffee. Quality blend too - perhaps Illy. I prefer to grind my own blend, the aroma makes me-

Mac: Sid? Any idea what did this?

Sid: Oh yes. Um. The curvature of the incision means we can rule out a straight blade. This was circular.

[CUT TO CGI SLASHER ANIMATION]

Mac: So you're saying he cut his finger on a coffee can?

[DANNY walks in]

Danny: Yes. Why don't you ask him, he's typing this right now.

Mac: What, these words I'm saying?

Danny: Yup. It's called 'fanfic'. Fans write their own versions of the show. All sorts of things happen. There was this time that me and you, Mac, can you imagine this, me and you were-

Mac: Okay, you up there. What happened?

Me: I cut my finger on a sharp edge of an Illy coffee can as described - campus nurse taped it up and a quick trip to hospital confirmed it didn't need any more treatment. I just figured I'd write this to make a drama out of a minor crisis.

Case closed. Horatio?

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!