amy g. dala

“He is lucky who, in the full tide of life, has experienced a measure of the active...

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:00:53 -0600

“He is lucky who, in the full tide of life, has experienced a
measure of the active environment that he most desires. In these
days of upheaval and violent change, when the basic values of
today are the vain and shattered dreams of tomorrow, there is
much to be said for a philosophy which aims at living a full life
while the opportunity offers. There are few treasures of more
lasting worth than the experience of a way of life that in itself
is wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions
of which no fate, no cosmic catastrophe can deprive us; nothing
can alter the fact if for one moment in eternity we have really
lived.”

- Eric Shipton, in ‘Upon That Mountain’, 1943.

"No one’s saying people should have the right to know if a senior banker lives in their..."

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:06:41 -0600

“No one’s saying people should have the right to know if a senior banker lives in their community. (Although if any legislators fancy the idea, can I make a case for it being called Marina’s Law?)”

- Marina Hyde: These stubbornly tight-lipped banking chiefs have no idea how to disport themselves in the climate they themselves created | Comment is free | The Guardian

“I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction and therefore there must be a...

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:49:22 -0600

“I have found that life persists in the midst of destruction and
therefore there must be a higher law than that of destruction.”

- Mahatma Gandhi

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:27:38 -0600

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” - Thomas Jefferson

“I like to call it a coffee machine. It will take yesterday’s coffee and turn it into...

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:47:08 -0600

“I like to call it a coffee machine. It will take yesterday’s
coffee and turn it into today’s coffee.”

- Don Pettit, astronaut on the space shuttle Endeavour, on a
water recycler his crew is delivering to the International
Space Station. The recycler will distill pure water from the
urine of astronauts on the station.

"Life gives us all such moments — I call them “Blue Moments” — where a brilliant light shines through..."

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:22:41 -0600

“

Life gives us all such moments — I call them “Blue Moments” — where a brilliant light shines through the ordinary moments in our ordinary days. They come unsolicited and unannounced, and provide us the gift of significance and, if we are lucky, the opportunity to serve.

What it is important is to remember that these ARE gifts, and that we cannot receive them if we are not open to them. We need to listen closely, watch closely, and take care not to rush past or through them when they arrive. They are the fabric of our lives, and they will weave themselves with complexity and beauty if we give them time to do so.

”

- The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget | Zen Moments

“We’re talking about 6000 people who belong to this theoretical superclass. 5900 of...

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:16:57 -0600

“We’re talking about 6000 people who belong to this theoretical
superclass. 5900 of them, approximately, appear to have been
hopelessly and gloriously wrong about the world banking crisis
and the world recession. They all forecast the other way. So I
don’t think they’re quite as powerful as the book suggests.”

- Jonathan Aitken, former UK cabinet minister, 29-Oct-2008, on
BBC’s Hardtalk, commenting upon David Rothkopf’s book
“Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are
Making”.

"A 2005 study by Gregory Paul looking at 18 democracies found that the more atheist societies tended..."

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:07:02 -0600

“A 2005 study by Gregory Paul looking at 18 democracies found that the more atheist societies tended to have relatively low murder and suicide rates and relatively low incidence of abortion and teen pregnancy.”

- The latest research on the correlation between religion and niceness. - By Paul Bloom - Slate Magazine

"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life,” Eliot wrote, “it would be like..."

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:31:09 -0600

““If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life,” Eliot wrote, “it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.””

- In This Week’s Magazine: True Colors - The Medium Blog - NYTimes.com

"Am I making the most of my life?” Nash and Stevenson point out, is just as infinite a question..."

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:13:40 -0600

““Am I making the most of my life?” Nash and Stevenson point out, is just as infinite a question as, “Am I rich enough?” albeit more spiritual-sounding. Set it as a target, and you’ll never get there. (This casts in a different light those exhortations to “live an extraordinary life”: when do you know you’ve achieved it? Also - a troubling question - why are we so scared of being normal?)”

- Oliver Burkeman on happiness | Life and style | The Guardian

"In fact, so close is the relationship between Asperger’s and web 2.0 that they should probably..."

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:21:47 -0600

“In fact, so close is the relationship between Asperger’s and web 2.0 that they should probably just rename it Asbrgr.”

- Paul Carr: Secrets of Silicon Valley | Technology | guardian.co.uk

OH: “neck-beard open-source hippies”

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:08:23 -0600

OH: “neck-beard open-source hippies”

"He warns against trusting anybody who wears a tie – “You have to ask, ‘Why is he wearing a tie?’"

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:06:00 -0500

“He warns against trusting anybody who wears a tie – “You have to ask, ‘Why is he wearing a tie?’””

- Nassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom

Reino d’almofada · Gato 2.0

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:42:38 -0500

Reino d’almofada · Gato 2.0

"They learn from and interact directly with their users (and more specifically, provide services to..."

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:01:49 -0500

“They learn from and interact directly with their users (and more specifically, provide services to individual users that benefit from the aggregate interaction of the system with all of its users.)”

- What Would Google Do? - O’Reilly Radar

"This was the week witnessed the Revenge Of The Stocks App. You know that little iPhone app that..."

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 10:40:45 -0500

“This was the week witnessed the Revenge Of The Stocks App. You know that little iPhone app that everyone pooh-poohed and shoved to the app ghetto with YouTube? Well, if the Stocks app could talk, this week it’d be all “Oh, now you need me, huh? Well, maybe I don’t want to show you what’s going on!””

-

The Macalope Weekly: Enter the Macalope - MacUser

"Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic..."

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:27:35 -0500

“Religion, uncontaminated by power, can be the source of a great deal of private solace, artistic inspiration, and moral wisdom. But when it gets its hands on the levers of political or social authority, it goes rotten very quickly indeed. The rank stench of oppression wafts from every authoritarian church, chapel, temple, mosque, or synagogue – from every place of worship where the priests have the power to meddle in the social and intellectual lives of their flocks, from every presidential palace or prime ministerial office where civil leaders have to pander to religious ones. My basic objection to religion is not that it isn’t true; I like plenty of things that aren’t true. It’s that religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite so good.”

- Philip Pullman on the pointless menace of censorship | Books | guardian.co.uk

"GS: Tell him I’ll know that we’re getting someplace when I go into Central Park and see white men..."

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:33:39 -0500

“GS: Tell him I’ll know that we’re getting someplace when I go into Central Park and see white men wheeling babies of color and getting well paid for it.”

- In Conversation: Gloria Steinem and Suheir Hammad

the conjunction of “national coffee day” and national economic panic was not a good one...

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 14:32:49 -0500

the conjunction of “national coffee day” and national economic panic was not a good one for me.

"When asked about Republican contention that Pelosi’s statement scuttled the bill, the..."

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:35:33 -0500

“When asked about Republican contention that Pelosi’s statement scuttled the bill, the Democratic head of the Banking Committe went after the heart of their argument: “Think of this: Somebody hurt my feelings so I am going to punish the country,” he said. He offered to make personal visits to the 12 “deeply offended republicans who put feeling over country” and speak to them “uncharacteristically nicely,” in the hopes that their spirits improve and they change their vote.”

- Barney Frank Slaps Back, Succinctly - Swampland - TIME