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April 29, 2007

* Watched Band of Outsiders. The one minute silence; the song that Anna Karina sang...
* Dawn By Law. Beautiful cinematography. I love b&w films.
* Went to see Mos Def at Amherst College. Rap has a lot of potentials.

Posted by amin at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2007

‘A philosophy major! So you are after the big questions, hah? That’s really cool but to be honest I don’t have time for that. I’m a sensual man, and with philosophy you can’t buy diamonds. I’m studying economics and my plan is to apply to MBA programs next year. I love women, you know. I told you, I’m a sensual man. I don’t know if there is a God but I know what diamonds do.’
A sensual man or a lowly man, I wonder…
I’m sure even when he buys the diamond and gets her to bed it’s just going to last for a few minutes. Lowly men come fast! Then after seeing her unsatisfied face he feels humiliated and starts to fear that she might leave him and go with someone that either lasts a little longer or buys her two diamonds…so he starts to pray to God that next time he may last just a few minutes longer.
He goes to sleep and dreams of being happy; she stays awake and wishes she was loved.

Posted by amin at 11:24 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2007

True love, either lasts a short time or a lifetime.

Posted by amin at 2:01 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2007

* in boston for the weekend.
* have a horrible earache.
* bought death in venice. can't wait to read it.
* went to bu's library with ali. read 60 pages of aristotle rhetoric.
* i'm very fond of aristotle's writing style. although the content is very thoughtful and complex but the form is very simple, clear, and direct to the point.
* have become extremely interested in philosophy of mathematics. when it comes to the source and nature of mathematical truths i'm totally a realist. i think that mathematical entities exist independently of the mind. but at the same time i have a lot of questions regarding the application of this theory....
* robert solomon passed away a few months ago. he was a great scholar of nietzsche and other existentialists. made me sad to hear that he died relatively soon especially comparing to british philosophers who usually live long. utilitarian, hedonist, and egoist...after all no one knows how to maximize profit better than the british.

Posted by amin at 11:36 PM | Comments (0)

April 8, 2007

When Cornel West was asked about his overall philosophical project he responded that he’s trying to figure out “how to preserve some compassion in the face of the absurd, some sense of joy in the face of the nullity and nothingness that characterizes so much of our human endeavors?” That’s exactly what I’m after in art.

Read 70 pages of The Brothers Karamazov. It’s sublime. Also yesterday I read a few pages from Schopenhauer’s Essays. Each time I read Nietzsche I miss Schopenhauer, and each time I read Schopenhauer I miss Nietzsche. It has to do with the duality of the self.

Watched a good German movie last night with Ali and M. The Lives of Others. Man’s salvation is only possible through art and ethics; its destruction through power and greed.


Posted by amin at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2007

* Have been reading Fitche a lot in the past three days. His essay, Concerning the Scholar's Vocation, is a masterpiece. I don't think anything better can be written on the subject.
* Finished Dostoevsky's "A Gentle Creature". Beautiful...
* Wrote a three-page paper on Italian Neorealism. I like Iranian Neorealism much better though. It's more developed and poetic.
* Have been feeling a little empty lately. I just can't wait to get out of this place. But does it really have to do with the place? Would I be feeling better in Paris or New York? Probably, but that would just be for a while. It should come from within. One has to go within oneself and find that eternal place of truth and beauty. That's where I want to be but alas that there is a long way to go and I'm still at the starting point.

Posted by amin at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)