July 2. Take this day.

Take this day, for example. It is a rainy day and I write something at home. I can't remember what, but I will find it somewhere. It is an empty day, that you might say. And why. And why? Is there nothing else to say? How about the writing, that leads the way? How about all those characters we can invent, all those aspects of the mind we can explore, all those friendly words we can exchange before... before... before - whatever. "Before whatever", hey there is a nice and "high" way to describe an attitude towards our mortal condition, don't you think? It are just words, of course, but, gee, it's one of the most exhilirating things about our race is that we can can we get all excited about an agglomeration of letters, we can get excited like a child who is going out to the forest to pick strawberries.

My dinner is streetfood at Namdaemun. It's good here: I think South Korea ranges among the best countries when it comes to streetfood. Mandu, Kimbab, Ttokpokki, fish-on-a-stick, and they always provide at least one sidedish. At night, we go to a nice small bar with a bartender performing a great show, culminating in pouring four different colored drinks simultaneously from a stack of four longdrink glasses, juggling the cocktail shaker, tossing up lime wedges and a Korean bow. They put some traditional snow-shoes on the ceiling which was interesting for Tiffany since she is from Canada.

June 30. Delving in old aphorisms.

"This is America, you are supposed to be in charge of your brain."

-"What do you mean?"

"I mean guns are allowed in this country but drugs is not that's what I mean."

-"I don't get it?"

"You are allowed to carry the means to hurt somebody, but you are not allowed to experiment with possible causes."

-"So?"

"In the Netherlands it's the other way around."

-"People are not in charge of their brains in the Netherlands then?"

The shops at the Namdaemun market are amazing just like I remember. Walking around in the crowd, asking what do things cost, tasting ttok (ricecake normally eaten during celebrations) and just be not too serious. That also contrasts nice to my next task: the russian embassy. I ask them and I will have to get an invitation first. I will do this the next days. It will be sent to me by email and I will be able to issue the visa soon. Yes, the writer of this blog can look into the future sometimes, but the person he describes can never do this. So he is worrying if he will be able to get into Russia, but those worries are not too bad.

After all, he doesn't need to think about the future; he can ponder his past. What kind of past is that? He used to write mediocre things and be too fond of it. Laughing about them now gets him a lot of vitality points.

"Lass uns hübsch bewegen

Zwischen Unbefangenheit und Eingefangensein

Lass uns stets auf uns’ren Wegen

Der Weisheit Schein

Die letzte Herrin sein"

Let us move prettily

between being unrestrained and being locked in

Let us always on our paths

The appearance of wisdom

Be our ultimate guidance

"Die ‘große’ Empfindung. – Unter uns gesagt, Romantiker, wer empfindet heute noch groß? Wer empfindet sein ganzes Leben auf einmal? Wer empfindet mit seiner Bedürfnissen unmittelbar ein Jenseits dieser Bedürfnissen – ohne letzteres zu sichern in einer ‘anderen Welt’? Wir müssen lernen so zu empfinden!"

The 'grand' sentiment. - Between us, romanticists, who does still feel grand nowadays? Who perceives of his own life at ones? Who perceives together with his needs what lies beyond those needs - without saving the latter in a 'different world'? We must learn to feel like this!"

"Nihilismus ist Weltversagung. Aber keine Wertversagung. Der Nihilismus bleibt sich selbst höchster Wert. Wert-Absage in Bezug auf ‘das Leben’ heißt Wert-Zusage in Bezug auf eine bestimmte Form des Lebens, nämlich den Nihilismus. Dieses wertende Geschehen ist das Fundamentale."

Nihilism is denying the world. But not denying values. Nihilism remains its own highest value. Denying values related to 'life' means saying yes to values related to a certain form of life, namely nihilism. This valuing is the most fundamental thing.

"In dem dicken Mantel der Schuld wird es einem leicht zu heiß."

In the thick overcoat of guilt it gets too hot easily.

"Ein guter Witz kämpft bis zuletzt mit seinem ganzen Wesen um seinen Ernst."

A good joke fights until the very end and with all it's got for its sincerity.

"Das ist Deutsch —Geil werden von den selbst aufgestellten Regeln, und sich dann dafür schämen."

That is German - to get horny from rules you formulated yourself, and then to be ashamed of it.

"Was lehrt dich deine Angst? – Du sollst schneller gehen als die Schatten, die sie von dir machen."

What does your fear teach you? - You should go faster than the shadows they make of you.

"Homo ludens. – der Mensch ist das einzige Tier das seinen Ernst spielen kann. Gewiß, andere Tieren spielen auch, aber sie spielen ohne Unterschied zwischen Ernst und Spiel. Der Mensch hat einen Überschuß am Ernst, den er im Spiel loswerden muss."

Homo ludens. - Man is the only animal that can play its own sincerity. Sure, other animals also play, but they play without the distinction between seriousness and play. Man has a surplus of sincerity, and he has to get rid of it in play.

"Wer all seine Aufmerksamkeit darauf richtet, bei dem Argumentieren zwischen dem Scylla und dem Charibdis der Gegenargumente zu segeln, vergisst oft, wo der Wind am günstigsten ist."

Who focusses in an argument to sail between the Scylla and Charibdis of counterarguments, will often forget where the wind is advantageous.

"Ein Gefäß sind wir mit Emotionen, abgeriegelt mit sprachlichen Gewohnheiten."

We are a fust of emotions, bolted with language habits.

June 23. Seven Lively Sins.

Let's do nothing today! Look around a bit, peek in a bookstore, and read some theater. Walk the busy center of Seoul, observe the people moving on and off. I am shocked that Namdaemun, the "Great South Gate" has been burnt down by some lunatic protesting againt the incumbent president. It is perhaps the most important symbol of this country, and it is being reconstructed to its original state as far as possible. Tradition should be.

Seven lively sins. Here is a list of the seven traditional sins:

Wrath

Avarice

Sloth

Pride

Lust

Envy

Gluttony

The first letters form the words "wasp leg". Bzbzbzbzbzbzbzzzz - sting! sting!

We could call for some characters to impersonate the seven lively sins, and they would all talk to each other. Avarice says "hi Sloth how are you, what are you doing this weekend." Sloth replies "o not much, actually nothing, just sleeping, hanging out. How about you?" - "I don't know yet. I want everything." And Gluttony says "Let's have dinner then!" and they invite Pride too. Pride tells Envy disdainfully that he goes to a better plays. Envy him/herself ends up sharing some drinks with Wrath, whom Pride put down last week. And when they are too drunk to think Lust comes by and does them all.

But I don't like this. We could also do something like "Seven", the Bradpittian movie or Brecht's "Seven deadly sins" but that has already been done. So - hey, don't yawn, this is not supposed to be boring - I'm sorry I'm not writing about where I eat, sleep, drink and shit. I'm sorry I'm not writing about attractions and tourist treasures. Instead I'm spinning and shaking my mind like a bartender who has been drinking on the job shakes his drinks. So, what can we do about those seven lively sins? Let them go undercover and let the reader find out that it can be his neigbor? You like Unsinn? I do. Do you feel detached with the person who is writing these lines? That's what Unsinn can do for us. It's not easy in our society to produce pure nonsense. When you put your personality behind it, people will interpret your words in a way that they always make sense, no matter what. You cannot escape that. Even this. Parakeet, hyperblasphemian daredevil, finch pincher. There's no escape from the industry of sense. So, let's get back to the seven lively sins then.

Worthy art thou, o lively sin? Worthy of what? Of a feisty fling. Of no more than a second's lust and envy of that second, envy of thy self. Dance, o lively sin! More thou want? It's not enough? Avarice is croaching up your legs, o lively sin, there's nowhere you could go. Yes I know: you will devour that one second, and sins will sprout from your feasting. Gluttony and sloth and pride, you will find yourself wretched o lively sin, shipwrecked and clinging to that one second that spurred your existence. Concerted you will all go down, the seven of you, and all you lively sins will yell with stark open mouths as you descent. And all of you will be big in going down but the biggest of you all will be wrath. Keep dancing as you go down thou lively sin. Thou hath enough - now we begin.