Exams, Bike, Strike…

I haven’t written anything lately, mainly because I’ve been too busy procrastinating, and later studying for my exams.

Needless to say, out of the four exams, I think one of them will be quite close, others I’m confident about. I still have one exam to go next Tuesday, and I’ll be flying off on Wednesday. Then I’ll have driving exams a week later. Phew!

In local news, the Dutch public transport workers have been striking since the end of May, which prompted me to bring a bicycle to Delft Station, so that I don’t have to rely on the bus to get to the TU Wijk (neighbourhood). The bike seat is really hard, it feels like I’m sitting on an anvil most of the time, something that my behind does not appreciate, although it feels like over the last week, it got used to the unpleasant sensation. The strike was called off this week, I think, but I’m still used the bike, because around noon (when my exams take place), the buses do not drive that often, and at least I get some exercise (I really should do more, soon, I;ll probably have a beer-belly without drinking any beer)

So, the bus drivers got better pay and stuff, the only thing that pains me is that they pretended they were doing this for the consumer. I understand that someone who is underpaid wants better wages, and I think most people do, so why bother pretending?

But anyways, the buses are up and running, and I’ll be studying and drawing until Tuesday. I might post renderings of the BSc 2 project which we had to make, but that won’t happen today. I promise to cathch up during the holidays. Wish me luck, especially during the driving tests, I’m really going to need it (I haven’t driven a car for 11 months).

So long, until next time

Peter

Prostitution, Here I Come (Metaphorically)…

No, don’t worry, I’m not going to be selling my body (like anyone want to purchase it, lol) on the streets of The Hague. I’m talking about such perverted, twisted, horrible kind of prostitution, that only one man knows about, and he’s trying to save Slovakia from this modern day plague. The man also happens to be the prime minister of my dear country.

Journalism. Political prostitutes, hyenas, snakes. That’s what journalists are! So, because I’m such a rebel, I applied for editor’s post at our faculty’s newspaper and they picked me! Yay! I know I’ll be working in the Netherlands and therefore I can’t really piss him off (not in the least since we’re the faculty of Architecture which doesn’t really do politics). But I like the fact that I will be doing something that someone, somewhere at the top disapproves of.

Writing… makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel (that’s me right there).

So, every time you write something on your blog, feel like a rebel, because somewhere, someone at the top disagrees…

There is a minor detail, though. I must finish the first year. I failed one exam in the first semester and must now do all the exams from the current. Retakes are in august. So, If all goes well, I’ll have my first year finished after the summer, and then I can get started on my new, very first job in October.

Peter (Rebel)

Silly Reason…

Aah, there ‘e goos with tha reliogion again, ‘ey?

Why, yes I do, and not because of anything personal, but mainly because I want to.

I know, in the age of seeing everything black and white, being moderate is frowned upon by both sides of the argument, but middle ground is soo calming, and I find it unbelieveble that people would rather spend a lifetime fighting (without actually winning) than just trying to get along with the other side.

I wouldn’t be the first to say: ‘No religion ever portrays God truthfully’, but I will be the first one NOT to say: ‘So join my brand-new religion which I just founded two minutes ago’ (What would I call my religion: Peterology?). In my view God is meant to be something universal, and not divided amongst different groups. I wonder what He (or She?) is thinking when seeing all the defferent people on this earth arguing about. I just hope this God has a sense of humour.

Finally getting to the point, and the title of this little piece, many people have a falling out with a religion after they realize that their local interpreter of the holy book is a bigot. Or something like that. It is perfectly possible to have two villages, each with its own place of worship, one being more popular than the other because the person running that place is simply nice, inspirational and open-minded. This might mean that in village A there are more atheists than in village B, because in village B, the message is positive, optimistic and not condescending.

But just because a person disagrees with what their local preacher/rabbi/imam says, does NOT mean there is no God (but it also doesn’t mean there is one). It simply means that someone has a view of God that they disagree with. The bitterness of one individual is not to be taken as the proof of existence of anything, much less something as important (to a lot of people) as God.

What am I trying to convey here? If someone wants to believe, they don’t have to believe everything they tell you. If one doesn’t want to believe, don’t, no-one should be able to make decisions for them. But trying to rebel against a bitter old man… Come on, that is a silly reason. A person’s opinion of existence of some supreme being should not be based on that. This would defy all the reason that atheism claims to stand for.

Life

And finally, the dynamic duo unveils the first part of the trilogy.

WARNING: what you are about to read is purely thought up and CANNOT be supported by any evidence whatsoever.

Peter: In today’s issue we’ve chosen to write about life. Naturally, I am too lazy to actually do any research and I told my partner in crime (and writing), that he should do as I did. This is meant to be an eclectic mix of what we think, what we’ve heard and what we’ve nearly forgotten. Philosophy books will not be used, philosophers will not be mentioned. This is work from scratch at its best (or worst).

Bradley: I once remeber the two of us discussing a song. You tried to persuade me that the singer says’Life is a par o’ ducks’. What was actually being said, was that life is a paradox. After a lengthy discussion, we’ve found out that life is indeed a paradox. Not only that, but without paradoxes, life could hardly be called life and could hardly be worth livin’.

What leads us to this conclusion is not the fact that some say that life is basically preordained, while others believe in the complete control over one’s life by the individual. This is just one of many examples of how different people view life, but it is not to say that we believe all these views are necessarily correct and are therefore accountable for the paradoxical nature of life.

Life is paradoxical by its nature, and in our view, everyone has encountered life full of contrasts. While you might be tempted to say: ‘My life is very complicated at this moment’ , a lifetime generally lasts a lifetime, therefore, one cannot have a complete view of what life really is unless all the episodes are conncted. Thus one must contemplate life not in the short term, but look at the past from the beginning until now and see how all the diffrent chapters differ.

If someone’s life is generally difficult, this isn’t to say that the person never had moments when life was easier. But due to difference in (the perception of one’s own life and of the other’s life in) all the individuals, passing a universal judgement on life, or meaning of life, and such can only be viewed as narrow-minded. This is not to say that some moral values should not be universal (ie: no killing), this is to say that no-one should try to force others to fall in with their strictly defined boundaries of what life on must lead. Naturally, no one should be stopped if he or she is willing to live their life according to a set of rules. Therefore, religious philosophies and recommendations are useful, but should not be forced unto all.

Naturally, we are talking about the perfect world here, which, as we know, does not exist. In addition, we should be able to see that rules laid out by different philosophies are different from laws (in many countries). In this situation, we should obey the law, because, unlike what many believe, laws are there not to dictate, but to clarify. Should a law really dictate a certain opinion or view, beware and complain. For life must be diverse and vibrant, so that all the diffeent lifestyles and opinion can learn to co-exist, interact and create a healthy community.

We belive that life as a paradox is not a problem and that differences should be settled. Most of the time, paradoxes in life of one person, and between different people should not pose a problem. Sadly, this isn’t alway the case and in the nest installment of the trilogy (called ‘Society), we’ll discuss our opinions on this matter.

Peter S

BSJ

…Paved With Good Intentions

100 posts and still posting!

I would say that anyone who reads this lives in a material world. Just the fact that someone has Internet means that they, a) are likely to live in more economically developed countries, which are certainly materialistic or b) belong to the at least the middle class in the developing world, which means their existence is also largely materialistic.

We, materialists are very predictable and often go shopping in the weekend, although it is unclear why, since half of us (ie men), have an adverse relationship with shopping (I consider myself patient, but I still often get fed up if it takes too much time). Anyways, everyone is generally acquainted with this fact and people obviously take advantage of it.

But do not be frightened. These people will not hurt anyone. They only have honorable intentions. I am talking about young idealists from Greenpeace, WNF, Slachtofferhulp (Help for Victims) and Baby Seal Killers Alliance who try to convince you to donate your hard earned (and already spent) money to their cause. As you can see, there’s plenty of materialist victims to pick on (if the weather was any better, there’d be more).

Personally, I donate 5 Euro a month to aforementioned Slachtofferhulp, but only because a rather pretty girl approached me as I was going to the tram stop. I am a sucker for living up to people’s expectations, and the girl expected me to donate, so I did. But generally, in order not to commit to anything, I dodge these good people as often as I can. If all they wanted was 50 cents right there and then, I’d gladly donate (and they could save their and my precious time by not having to convince me). The problem is they want a minimum montly donation, which would result in me spending all my pocket money. But as I already mentioned, I can dodge these people…

Someone I can’t dodge are the ageing Christians who perform their songs right in front of the V&D department store. They do not bother me because of their religion, but because of the music. While there are other artists performing on the streets, this is usually instrumental and sometimes even good. These good Christians aren’t all that good AND mix in their religious songs and pieces of sermon about how Jesus loves us, etc… There is nothing wrong with that, it just makes me feel so darn guilty. Like they have to stand there to appease God for my shameless materialism … I’m not angry, I just feel really awful even though I have no reason to be ashamed.

Peter S

Note to self: find a good shopping area without charities and religious groups making you feel guilty.