I couldn't live with it

The ideal candidate for any position

Honesty not always the best policy

Chesterton in Spanish 2

A Prayer in Darkness

G.K.Chesterton

This much, O heaven--if I should brood or rave,

Pity me not; but let the world be fed,

Yea, in my madness if I strike me dead,

Heed you the grass that grows upon my grave.

If I dare snarl between this sun and sod,

Whimper and clamour, give me grace to own,

In sun and rain and fruit in season shown,

The shining silence of the scorn of God.

Thank God the stars are set beyond my power,

If I must travail in a night of wrath,

Thank God my tears will never vex a moth,

Nor any curse of mine cut down a flower.

Men say the sun was darkened: yet I had

Thought it beat brightly, even on--Calvary:

And He that hung upon the Torturing Tree

Heard all the crickets singing, and was glad.

Spanish translation:

Una oración en las tinieblas

O cielo si me enturbiara o me enojara

No te apiades tanto de mí mas deja que el mundo se sustente

Y si en mis desvaríos acaso me matara

Sólo cuida la hierba que crece sobre mi túmulo

Si me atreviera a hacer mala cara entre este sol y avena, llanto y clamor

Dame la gracia bajo el sol y la lluvia y la fruta en estacíon

Para sufrir el brillante silencio del escarnio de Dios.

Gracias a Dios que los astros estén fuera de mi alcance

Gracias a Dios que mis lágrimas no ahoguen polilla alguna

Ni mis conjuros corten flores

Si tengo acaso que pasar noches de ira.

Dicen que en aquel instante el sol se oscureció

Mas pensé que brillaba intensamente

Aún en El Monte Calvario

Y él que colgaba del árbol tormentoso

se halló contento . . .

al escuchar el canto de los grillos.

Chesterton in Spanish 1

To Edmund Clerihew Bentley

 A cloud was on the mind of men, and wailing went the weather,
 Yea, a sick cloud upon the soul when we were boys together.
 Science announced nonentity and art admired decay;
 The world was old and ended: but you and I were gay;
 Round us in antic order their crippled vices came--
 Lust that had lost its laughter, fear that had lost its shame.
 Like the white lock of Whistler, that lit our aimless gloom,
 Men showed their own white feather as proudly as a plume.
 Life was a fly that faded, and death a drone that stung;
 The world was very old indeed when you and I were young.
 They twisted even decent sin to shapes not to be named:
 Men were ashamed of honour; but we were not ashamed.
 Weak if we were and foolish, not thus we failed, not thus;
 When that black Baal blocked the heavens he had no hymns from us
 Children we were--our forts of sand were even as weak as eve,
 High as they went we piled them up to break that bitter sea.
 Fools as we were in motley, all jangling and absurd,

Spanish translation:


A Edmund Clerihew Bentley

Una nube posaba sobre la mente de los hombres

Y el tiempo deliraba

Sí, una nube enfermiza posaba sobre el alma cuando éramos chavales juntos

La ciencia anunció la no-entidad y el arte admiraba la podredumbre

El mundo estaba viejo y se acabó,

Pero tú y yo estábamos alegres

Sus voces roncas nos ceñían en orden travieso

Una lujuria que había perdido su risa,

Un temor que había perdido su vergüenza,

Como la trenza cana de Whistler que nos alumbraba la lugubrez sin rumbo.

Los hombres mostraba su propio plumaje tan orgullosamente como un plumete

La vida fue una mosca que se desvanecía

Y la muerte un zángano que picaba.

De verdad, el mundo estaba muy viejo cuando éramos jóvenes, tú y yo.

Transformaban hasta el pecado decente en figuras que no cabe nombrar.

Los hombres se avergonzaban del honor pero nosotros no.

Si fuimos débiles y tontos así no hemos errado, así no.

Cuando ese negro Baal bloqueaba los cielos no le venían himnos de nosotros.

Eramos niños, nuestros castillos de arena estaban tan flacas como la tarde

Ascendían a lo alto, así los construimos para romper el mar amargo.

Tontos como éramos en compañía, completamente gafes y absurdos . . . .

Sticking it to the man.

Erasmus and Thomas More

(The previous section discusses the cult of the martyred bishop St. Thomas Beckett)
So the name of Thomas was explicable, but the origins of his surname cannot be so easily discovered. If such names derive from some sense of place, then the great moors or marshes around London might find an echo here. It is also a name upon which a number of puns were constructed. 'More' could be the 'Moor' or black Ethiop and Desiderius Erasmus, the Dutch humanist who became his close companion, sometimes called him 'Niger'.

(from the Life of Thomas More by Peter Ackroyd 1998, p.5)

Oh, that Erasmus! This is the same man who said: "Pray for us St. Socrates."

I can see it know:

More: What up Desi?

Erasmus: Hey Thomas, you know you my N-word.

Prose and Cons

From Russia with Insanity- Biggest Cat Jump Ever

A Russian man thought it would be fun to take his pet cat skydiving with them. To really see if those furry critters can, well, you know . . .

Biggest Cat Jump

Campaign Hijinks

Stuff Indonesians Like part 3

#22 Dangdut

Indonesian pop music with Bollywood tendencies





#23 Weird jelloish desserts

Cendol and pacar bandung.


#24 Semua bule sama

All bule are the same. All white people the same-lah.


#25 Batik patterns




#26 Wayang

Javanese shadow puppets.

Stuff Indonesians Like part deux

#11 Beng-Beng

A chocolate covered rice candy.
#12 Martabak

An insanely rich layer cake. Heart attacks ensue.
#13 Indomie

The Indonesian Ramen. Keeping grad students alive since 1972.
#14 Nasi Goreng

Indonesian fried rice. This is a traditional breakfast food. East Java uses tomato paste in addition to the traditional egg, sausage, and soy sauce.
#15 Satay Ayam

Indonesian satay. Strips of chicken on wooden sticks that you dip in peanut sauce. Genius.
#16 Guling- Body Pillow



#17 Krupuk

Like Chinese shrimp chips. In school there are krupuk eating contests were students must eat a chip hanging from a string.
#18 Becak

Rickshaw- man-driven taxi with parallels throughout Southeast Asia, India and China.
#19 Rissoles

A fried empanada-like dish filled with vegetables and meat.
#20 Sarong tangan buat bayi

Baby no scratch gloves. Indo babies wear these longer than white babies for some reason.
#21 Kecap manis

Indonesian sweet soy sauce. Apparently our word "ketchup" comes from a Chinese word via Indonesian.

kôe-chiap > kecap > ketchup.
The original ketchup was a "fish sauce" which was substantially altered in the UK and the US into a tomato based sauce.

To be continued in part tiga (3).

Stuff Indonesians Like- part 1

As a take off on the Stuff White People Like blog I have compiled a list of things that Indonesians like (based on communities living in the US)


#1 Garpu dan sendok- Fork and spoon

When eating you must use a fork and spoon. No exceptions. You use the fork to put rice etc. into the spoon which you put in your mouth. Unless chopsticks are around.


#2 Telor- Eggs

In Indonesian food you must have eggs somewhere. It is necessary. Be it a salad, or some random entree.




#3 Makan- Eating

Every activity must involve eating in some way or no one will come.




#4 Bernyanyi- Singing

Take any and all opportunities to sing no matter what the context. Weddings, Karaoke etc.





#5 Saying -lah

You must add -lah to the end of words for emphasis. For example:

How are you today?

OK-lah.

#6 Alcoholic desserts

Desserts must have a licor base like Rum balls.


#7 KFC

Kentucky Fried Chicken should be called Indonesian Fried Chicken since it is the fast food of choice. Church's also applies. In Indonesia Church's is called Texas Chicken. Figure that one out.





#8 Durian

The Durian fruit. That stinky mystery. Even the guy on that Travel program who goes around the world eating disgusting food like a beating frog's heart wouldn't touch the stuff. This fruit is popular in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. In Singapore there is a special sign on the metro with a picture of Durian with a line across it since the authorities don't want it to stink up the place.





#9 Bubble Tea- Durian, Mango, and Avocado

Bubble Tea is the shiznit. It is a tea or a smoothie with tapioca balls on the bottom. Bule like my like the more smoothie-esque flavors while Indonesians prefer Durian, Mango, Avocado or Honey Tea.






#10 Poco-Poco

At weddings people dance the Poco-Poco which I was told was some kind of traditional dance until I learned it was the Electric Slide. May we be more careful in our musical exports next time.








To be continued in Part 2

Horribly awful Hillary campaign song. So bad it's good.