Hajin the Hermit

*Excerpt from my recently discovered notes from 9th grade #1 Checkmate: `The King is Dead’ in Iran language Brave: cowardice (as in bravado) Sophisticated: corrupt Bus: Omnibus (Latin: for everyone) Disaster: Greek. `bad star’- ancient Greeks used to blame calamities on unfavorable planetary positions Nice: Latin. `ignorant’ War: Germanic root. `to confuse’ Mortgage: French root `death pledge’ Goodbye: contraction of an older English phrase `God be with ye’ Adios: `Towards God’ Corridor: Latin currere `running place’ Sarcasm: Greek. `to tear flesh’ Clue: `ball of thread’ Meaning came via the idea of thread being used to guide somebody out of a maze Daisy: `day’s eye’ because the flower opens in the morning and closes at night Adolescence: `grow into maturity’ Sinister: `left’ as in left-handed Nostalgia: the pain for returning home Robot: Czech `robota’ meaning `forced labor’ Filial piety: Latin. duty of son or daughter Com...

2019.03.27 (note from) Justice is but a made up concept to deceptively wrap up reward psychology and vengeance. Had we been more self-reflective and understanding, we would generously forgive the things that we indignantly criticize, and not obsess to retain what is ours. "So you're saying that someone who's been unjustly robbed of his property shouldn't ask for compensation/punishment?" One might wonder. This would, I think, be an example, that is seemingly more justified in the spectrum of cases in which people apply justice. *mellow: adj. (of a person's character) softened or matured by age or experience. In this definition by Google, "softened" and "matured" are used as interchangeable qualities. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2019.09.26 (now) There is no good or bad. 1) actions with good intentions often lead to bad consequences. 2) as Kant said, if one feels self-satifcation after doing a "good" d...

 My family is not the most close knit household you’d find. Everyone is busy, spending only nights-or weekends-at home. Even birthdays are often let pass. It's been long since I regretted their uneventfulness: finding a raspberry cheesecake in the refrigerator late at night is my definition of a good birthday. Emotionally charged words are also a scarcity. While we care for one another, we are not an expressive lot (my literary hero is Hemingway's Jake Barnes). Which is just fine for me. By the Kim Dictionary, a plain "Happy Birthday" translates into "We love you."  But Christmas is the exception. As the holiday approaches, our family declares martial law. Decorations, frosted cookies, gentle carols, all the good old stuff. My family is a pretty individual lot, and we aren't very explicit with our feelings. But drier wood burns brighter in fire. It’s like Clausius’s law of entropy. The same amount in heat released causes more impact when the initial te...

I ate a bite of meat. Like a connoisseur savoring an unknown brand of wine, my teeth carefully chew along the stringy flesh. Closely tuned into my taste buds, I waited to feel bad, awkward, or anything. Instead, my first thought was that the I had missed out a lot. Disappointment came. I had half-hoped to feel disgusted, at the taste or at myself. It seemed that my conviction hadn’t changed my appetite during the last few years. Was it that the conviction was, in fact, weak?