• “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”
  • About me
  • About this blog & Awards received
  • Copyright notice

moderndayruth

~ Tarot inspired essays and more

moderndayruth

Tag Archives: New York Times

Oh those Russians

08 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay, Photography

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Andrew Bromfield, International Women's Day, New York Times, Russia, Russian Mountains, Russian roulette, United States, Winter Queen

… and those Americans too! I love you guys, being from a tiny nation myself, i am forever fascinated with dynamics of big nations – Russians, Americans, Chinese… to the extent that i learned your respective languages and made an effort to travel and even live in your ‘part of the woods’.  (I do know that many of you are equally fascinated with us – opposites attract, what else can i say? ;))

Anyhow, in my unsystematic and off-the-record research of foreign cultures, motivated mainly by quite childlike curiosity about the big world out there – one of the most fascinating phenomena to me is the bilateral relations  between the big guys… Let alone state politics – that’s a world unto itself, and quite a predictable and boring one, i am speaking of how your “average Joe” relates to his Russian counterpart and his better half (and the other way around.)

Inter-marrying is blooming and it’s always one of the best indicators, there is huge Russian diaspora in the US and there are numerous Americans living and working in mother Russia.

That being said, i am reading Akunin’s  “conspiracy mystery” – The Winter Queen and i am enjoying it thoroughly. After having suffered for years from poor translations of great writers into my native tongue, i am finally having an amazing first-hand experience. Akunin’s Russian is rich and flowing, it feels like warm gloves and a cup of grog in the cold of contemporary global scribomania.

According to  The New York Times review, Andrew Bromfield did good work with the English translation, so if you are looking for an awesome and truly Russian read – i wholeheartedly recommend it.

So, earlier today in the laundromat, as i was waiting for the washing machine to finish it’s heavy duty work and skimming through the book’s pages meanwhile – at pages 27-28 i burst out laughing!

Someone Ksaveriy Feofilaktovich (the name sounds funny in Russian too) says: “I read somewhere it’s called American Roulette. They came up with it in America, during the golden fever. You put one bullet into the barrel, you roll it and boom! If you are lucky – you win the pot, if not – bye bye, off you go.”

Akunin uses Russian poker slang expression сорвать банк – it’s when one player wins all the money, but given that i don’t play poker i have no idea what’s the exact English equivalent, i guess ‘win the pot’ will do

Right, he’s referring to the infamous game of chance which the rest of the world calls Russian Roulette! That’s from a novel too mind you; in 1937, Georges Surdez had written a story of the same name for Collier’s magazine:

‘Did you ever hear of Russian Roulette?’ … With the Russian army in Romania, around 1917, some officer would suddenly pull out his revolver, put a single cartridge in the cylinder, spin the cylinder, snap it back in place, put it to his head and pull the trigger.
Except that the linguist in me loves learning where some widespread phrases originated, what did amaze me is that two great nations ascribe to each other this potentially fatal “game”.
Most interestingly, the predecessor of the roller coaster – so called Russian Mountains, in mother Russia are called… American Mountains, of course.
Funny, isn’t it?
Other than that, March 8th is big in Russia, it’s a public holiday and everyone takes it very seriously, almost as seriously as the New Year!
I’ve written on Communist Calendar before and on this day a year ago i wrote the essay Keep the bloody carnations for yourself, on my own aversion to the “International Women’s Day”… But it’s different in Russia, it does feel like a holiday, everyone is excited, planning outings and looking forward to the (obligatory) gifts they’ll be presented. 
I gave in to the peer pressure, going to the Gorky Park where all kinds of most amazing  events will be held – free of charge for the ladies, mind you – and i must admit i am quite excited about it!
Here is my own early 8th of March gift, a “Brazilian monster” and couple of shots from nearby Starbucks with my gorgeous younger colleagues from Pushkin Uni – Sasha and Zhenya.
100_6105 100_6107 100_6109
0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

A Confession: Why I Love Obama

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

Ann Dunham, Barack Obama, HBO, Mitt Romney, New York Times, Obama, Romney, United States

Sylvia, a dear friend of mine, has sent me last night this message and i promised her to reply as soon as i wake up, so here it is (bit shortened): “You posted that our choice of President in the US affects  you all, and other countries. So, a question… how? Secondly I’m curious why Obama, and why not Romney. So, if you feel up to either a short answer of food for thought for a blog post that would be great.
I personally am curious as well. ”

I think i wrote before on my educational background, anyway it’s in ‘About me’ section here; i am a schooled diplomat and i have over a decade of related work experience, it’s a piece of cake for me to write a paper on advantages of Euro-Atlantic integrations as the main course of foreign politics of my own country, Montenegro, and the positive impact the foreign politics implemented by the administration of President Obama has on the process; the truth is that with me it is way more personal than that.

Not only diplomats in career, but any socialized human being needs to have at least some  theoretical background so to explain and if needed – justify – their choices; that’s where logic’s fruits kick in and that’s why we still need to know at least some history, but the truth is that most of our choices are still made on subconscious, intuitive level and it’s only later that we come up with perfectly reasonable and sound explanation for it all.

We could focus on the overall advantages of the liberal agenda, on the incalculable value  of the fight against the extreme economic inequality; having grown up behind the iron curtain i could write pages on importance of the civil rights and the rule of law, last but not the least, as a woman, i naturally believe that choices regarding procreation are to remain with me – and not with clergy or administration – as it is i who is giving birth and it is i who is responsible for my children’s well-being, not them.

You see, the world is not divided anymore. When i wake up and go to my bedroom’s balcony to breath in fresh air – i first hear my American neighbor’s kids playing in the backyard, in our street, out of eight buildings , three are inhabited by Americans who live and/or work in Montenegro.

After a stretch and a yawn on a balcony,  i check out daily newspapers –  besides local ones i read The New York Times.

I don’t watch tv that much, but when i do – it’s HBO and HBO comedy, which, of course is mostly American movies and series.

Kabbalah, Tarot and even I Ching – all i am interested in, i study in English – and except couple of schools of thought in Israel and one I Ching scholar in UK, the sources from which i study are US based.

So, it’s not the proverbial ‘butterfly effect’, i and everyone else do feel the shifts across the Atlantic and are affected by those profoundly.

I remember Bush’s presidency well and i do remember how it was reflected here, i hated it. As much as Conservatives like to come across as God fearing Christians, i call it BS and i  don’t believe them, not a single bit, more so – i see them using God’s name in vain.

What does modern feudalism that Romney is pushing have to do with the Bible is beyond me and so is his – as i see it – arrogance to present the interest of the gun industry under the religious agenda.

He is a Mormon, is he not? And yet he is monogamous?! How come? If the polygamy is a base of your religious believes, how can you still be a Mormon – and be married to only one woman? I get the doctrine of the Latter Day Saint Church, but i do not get the hypocrisy to renounce polygamy and still call yourself a Mormon, that’s beyond my comprehension.

And you know, all about Mitt makes the tune from my fav American surrealist –  David Lynch’s Twin Peaks play repeatedly in my head, he simply gives me the creeps:

It’s almost as if i can smell violence, drugs and bondage; all thoroughly tucked in under the clean-cut appearance… overly clean-cut, if you ask me.

You know the moment when i knew i really love Obama? It’s this one:

One can fake almost everything, but not dancing, Obama is cool.

Have you ever seen Mitt dancing? Neither have i, except for that parody clip on Leno of course ( Romney’s head was digitally projected over a dancer’s body, entering the Republican National Convention to ‘Gangnam Style’).

Obama is biracial and having a complex ethnic and religious background myself i do know the rule of thumb is for people who are not  of “ethnically clean” background to be more comprehensive and inclusive of other denominations and ethnicities, it is so by default. Of course that many (most?) of people whose parents are of same ethnicity and religious affiliation are tolerant and accepting as well, but, being a part of majority, it does take a conscious effort to connect to those of us who are in minority – never mind whether religious or sexual.

Romney never knew that kind of anxiety. He never knew lack. He never knew unprivileged childhood. How can he possibly relate to us?

Only several years prior to Ann Dunham’s giving birth to Barack Obama in 1961, biracial  love story was still one of the only two taboo subjects in American literature (the other being pedophilia); can you imagine what guts it took this woman of blessed memory?

Everyone loves watching ‘Modern Family’ nowadays, Dunham’s lived it – an outstandingly progressive way of life – back in 70ies:

I like him because he doesn’t try to come across as holier than though – he is human and is not perfect, he smokes ciggies – albeit not more than five a day and in his memoir “Dreams from My Father’ he openly writes about smoking pot while a teenager.

Last but not the least, i respect Obama because he married a strong woman and not a bimbo.

His spouse, the first lady, has impeccable dressing style and promotes American designers, it’s maybe a detail – but you know, the bigger picture at the end of things is threaded out of the small pieces – she is proud to belong to American nation and doesn’t feel it inferior to any other nation, she expresses that attitude even in her selection of clothes and i applaud to that.

A friend of mine, professor Aleksandra Nikcevic Batricevic PhD, an amazingly stylish lady in her own right, shared on facebook the other day a link to an interview with someone Dubravka Djuric titled ‘We all belong to semi-marginal cultures’. I had the ‘honor’ of attending at the time a workshop of Ms Djuric and i wouldn’t say she considers her native culture (Serbian) to be marginal, not really – that’s how she sees ours, Montenegrin culture, because she doesn’t know it and doesn’t belong to it. Whatever Ms Djuric’s personal issues and inadequacies are – i would ask her NOT to make such sweeping generalizations, and especially NOT on behalf of MY NATION to which she is in no way connected; in the future, please, keep your own inferiority complex for yourself and spare us of your projections that have nothing to do with us and our culture.

There is no center, there is no periphery in culture and art – in politics, yes, there is US, the only remaining super power – and its first lady gives a good example what does it mean to be an individual, a patriot and a liberal cosmopolitan at the same time. And, you know, your 1st guy is married to her, so, among numerous other qualities, he obviously has exquisite taste in women as well.

In full honesty, that’s about it, dear Sylvia.

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Sympathy for the Devil &the Bliss of Being Slightly Bored

01 Wednesday Aug 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Tarot

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Boredom, Joseph Brodsky, Judeo-Christian, Lev Shestov, Montenegrin, New York Times, Peter Toohey, University of Calgary

Please allow me to introduce myself 
I’m a man of wealth and taste 
I’ve been around for a long, long year 
Stole many a mans soul and faith 

Mick Jagger, Sympathy for the Devil

 

One of my favorite Tarot depictions of the Devil is the bored kitty from collector’s edition of Gatti Buffi  and i believe it depicts the nature of the most mistaken concept in history the best.

According to Kabbalists, the wise guys who tried to understand the Bible between its literal horror fiction narration, Satan is merely the postponement between the effort we make and the expected result… Let alone that expectations are a chore unto itself – it’s there that dreaded disappointment is born, in that gaping abyss between wrong judgement and expected outcome.

But, not to go too deep into the misconception arisen – like so many others – from a loss in translation, it’s the phenomenon of boredom i want to explore deeper.

There is a customary response in my language to the commonly asked question What’s new/ Vos is neias : thanks goodness, nothing new!

And it’s with time, i believe, that we learn to appreciate such state of affair – and the blessing hidden within it.

Peter Toohey,  classical scholar at the University of Calgary, in his book on ennui titled Boredom, a Lively History, differentiates between “simple boredom” and Sartre’s existential boredom.

Apropos, i can’t stand the commies’ favorite nihilist – and for many reasons other than the Judeo-Christian system of values to which i adhere; it’s that Sartre’s infatuation by mostly forgotten Ukrainian born philosopher of despair Leo Shestov in my view had enslaved the minds of Montenegrins for decades and almost led to extinction of the nation. 

In my novelette Teshuva (translated by Zoran Paunovic, published by Katedrala, 2010.)  i expanded on the psychological damage done to Montenegrin intellectuals – and through them – to an entire nation, who at the time studied at Belgrade’s University (back then) deeply imbued by Sartre’s and Shestov’s thought; i doubt it’s of interest here, except for being one of the best examples how a deviant system of thought can  have far reaching tragic consequences.  

It’s the simple boredom, the certain predictability of events and the dolce far niente that as of lately became my preferred state of being.

After the adventure seeking twenties , I grew to love the phase when relationships are calm and books and movies good and predictable;

I don’t seek the thrill anymore, I don’t need the drama which entices the emotional roller coasters – more so, i actively avoid people and events which have aura of unpredictable  instability.

That being said – all things do  fluctuate – and within the predictable and constant change, but once that part is internalized, one can remain within their own familiar unchanging fluctuation – and enjoy it thoroughly.

That’s pretty much what i’ve been doing lately – enjoying the things i know for what they are.

Classics who wrote on tedium include Chekhov, Flaubert, Turgenev, Ibsen and Camus, but it’s genius Joseph Brodsky whom i believe had worded it the best: “The reason boredom deserves such scrutiny is that it represents pure, undiluted time in all its repetitive, redundant, monotonous splendor.

Boredom is your window on the properties of time that one tends to ignore to the likely peril of one’s mental equilibrium. It is your window on time’s infinity. Once this window opens, don’t try to shut it; on the contrary, throw it wide open.”

 

 

 

NY Times book review of P. Toohey’s book: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/books/review/book-review-boredom-a-lively-history-by-peter-toohey.html?pagewanted=all

wiki article on Leo Shestov : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Shestov

Tarotpedia article on Gatti Buffi: http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/22_Arcani_I_Gatti_Buffi

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...

Tragedy in Colorado

23 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Aurora, Aurora Colorado, CBS News, Colorado, James Holmes, New York Times, Roger Ebert, United States

My heart goes to the families of victims of Aurora tragedy.

I can not stop thinking of Jessica Ghawi, who had escaped shooting by minutes only a month earlier, of Alex Sullivan who was celebrating his birthday and marriage anniversary, of six years old girl  who went to the theater with her mother, of three men who took bullets for their girlfriends…  I can’t stop thinking of victims and injured and their loved ones and i can not  stop thinking of what’s wrong with us and how can we stop the suffering.

‘Collateral damage’ is a phrase which was thrown around a lot during wars in ex Yugoslavia, but i think very few among us could ever think of death of another human being in such terms, we perceive others as individuals with  their dreams, fears and hopes, as someone’s child, someone’s friend, someone’s neighbor.

Yet, it’s somewhere out there – the line – which if crossed – can lead to tragedies, such as shooting in Colorado.

Media is covering extensively the fact that James Holmes, the alleged killer, was a PhD student with enviable scientific achievement – ABC News has even obtained a video of his speech at the science camp.

In the video, James Holmes states he’s been working on the Temporal Illusion – “an  illusion that allows you to change the past” in his words  and further on expands on his mentor’s interest in subjective experience in reality as juxtaposed to fantasy.

All of these are subjects of definite interest to the majority drawn to philosophy and art, these are some of the ideas i explore in my own writing; but where exactly James Holmes has lost it?

He comes across as sane and intelligent in that video, how is it possible that he dismissed the fact that people in the movie theater were someone’s children, someone’s brothers and sisters, someone’s  friends and significant others?

When was it that he, to the detriment of all, stopped perceiving people – as people – and began thinking of others as a part of some delusional pseudo scientific experiment or a video game?

I presume that the assigned public defender might claim insanity – but the suspect gunmen does not come across as psychotic, he seems to have planned the tragedy thoroughly and executed it with blood-chilling precision.

University of Colorado which he attended has made very few disclosures in these three days and the suspect himself,  according to CBS News, does not speak, but even little that we know so far should  make us all think deeply.

I believe it’s a warning not to ever think of others in any other terms, then as of fellow human beings, individuals and our own extended family; it’s dangerous to think of others in any other way – even  in terms of their nationalities and religious affiliations – because that too is a halfway to generalization and there we are already on a shaky ground.

And we’ve seen it all, or have heard of it – of religious leaders blessing the killings of those others  for they call their God another name; we know of monstrous tortures being executed in the name of science – of diabolical Nazi human experiments  and Japan’s notorious testing of biological weapons in China, to name only a few.

I can’t wrap my mind around it, how is it possible, how can a human being deliberately cause such suffering, but sadly it is obvious  there are those of  us who are incapable of empathy.

I was thinking of what can be done to stop them and to prevent such tragedies. It seems the logical first step would be gun ban – albeit Colorado governor has claimed it wouldn’t have prevented the massacre… we can’t know that.

How could someone described as ‘weird’ by his former colleagues and as ‘recluse’ by his neighbors, someone rejected from a gun club – be allowed to purchase  tactical gear and  “drum magazine” which fires 50 or 60 rounds per minute?

If there is one thing for which i’d applaud our own government – it’s the systematic implementation of the gun ban ever since the campaign in 2004 – regardless of the centuries long predominance of the gun culture and widespread sentiment that ‘house is not a home without a gun’.

Of course, it’s of help that –  being a small country with service based economy – we don’t have a gun lobby, or any other industrial lobby per that matter, but i believe it has to be done in States too.

In today’s New York Times op-ed film critic Roger Ebert says he is not sure ” there is an easy link between movies and gun violence.”

The link is obvious to me – we are living in a culture where violence is promoted even to toddlers, where even children’s TV programs, cartoons and video games are filled with violent content. How can there NOT be a link?

Also, James Holmes, like most mass murderers From Columbine to Virginia Tech, was on prescription drugs at the time of the massacre. Mood altering psychiatric drugs taken every day by tens of millions of Americans, including millions of children, can and do push some users over the edge.

I can’t recommend strongly enough Generation RX – a documentary about pharmaceutical lobby which sold an entire nation a scientific hoax: that millions of children have “chemical imbalances” in their brains and require treatment with  profitable pharmaceutical drugs.

Behind all of it – behind violence in movies and games and behind the industrial lobbies – is greed and lack of empathy.

Prosecutors are considering pursuing death penalty against James Holmes; i believe that those who – even if  indirectly –  have enabled such tragedies by engaging into corrupt business practices  and marketing of violent entertainment, should be brought to justice too.

the video obtained by ABS news http://www.youtube.com/watch?v47DpqTZoBw

CBS News coverage http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57477595/james-holmes-not-talking-ahead-of-first-court-appearance-after-aurora-theater-shooting/

NYT op-ed http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/opinion/weve-seen-this-movie-before.html?_r=1&hp

Generation RX trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xehHwkPpevk

0.000000 0.000000

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Like this:

Like Loading...
Logo ministarstvo kulture cg

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 790 other followers

Lena Ruth Stefanovic

Lena Ruth Stefanovic

Top Posts & Pages

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke
  • književna premijera: ROMAN LENE RUTH STEFANOVIĆ "AIMÉE / VOLJENA", OKF, Cetinje, 7/2020; ulomak
  • Crvene šterike
  • Bookfair
  • Dreaming city
  • A Daughter of the Childless One (an excerpt)

Recent Posts

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke

Archives

  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012

Categories

  • Awards
  • Coming of Age / Bildungsroman
  • Essay
  • Humor
  • I Ching
  • Kabbalah & Western Hermetic Tradition
  • Magical Realism
  • Photography
  • Poetry
  • Satire
  • Tarot
  • Uncategorized
  • Zen

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Archives

March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep    

Archives

Tarot Community

Tarot Community

Categories

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 790 other followers

Pages

  • “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”
  • About me
  • About this blog & Awards received
  • Copyright notice

Recent Posts

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke

  • moderndayruth
March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Sep    

Top Posts & Pages

  • Tri boje: bijela, crna, crvena
  • Nevinost sa niskim zaštitnim faktorom
  • Mrlja u mojoj svijesti
  • RETURN
  • Spavaćica moje majke
  • književna premijera: ROMAN LENE RUTH STEFANOVIĆ "AIMÉE / VOLJENA", OKF, Cetinje, 7/2020; ulomak
  • Crvene šterike
  • Bookfair
  • Dreaming city
  • A Daughter of the Childless One (an excerpt)

Blog Stats

  • 52,036 hits

Blogroll

  • (con)temporary tarot Enrique Enriquez’ Blog
  • Live Kabbalah Live Kabbalah University
  • Love Dove Tarot Lisa Frideborg Lloyd’s Blog
  • Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog Mary K. Greer’s Tarot Blog
  • Microfiction by Bonnie Cehovet Microfiction by Bonnie Cehovet
  • Perspectives On Tarot BONNIE’S TAROT WORLD
  • Portal MONTENEGRINA Cultural Gate to Montenegro
  • Tarot Weblog – Adam McLean Tarot Weblog – Adam McLean
  • This Game of Thrones Alison Cross makes Court Cards less of a battle!

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: