What is your all time favorite automobile?
Toward a Standard Literary Model
This post proposes a speculative yet disciplined framework for reimagining world literature: the Standard Literary Model (SLM). Inspired by the elegance of the Standard Model of particle physics, the SLM treats stories not as static cultural objects but as fields, forces, and interacting particles within a vast narrative cosmos.The goal is not to collapse literature … Continue reading Toward a Standard Literary Model
Carefully chosen adventures, within a framework of personal security, can lead to greater fulfillment.
Daily writing promptAre you seeking security or adventure?View all responses
Is the Pen really mightier than the Sword?
The phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword" was first written by English novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. It may be true that history is full of people who have never personally held any type of weapon and have nevertheless sent millions to an early grave. … Continue reading Is the Pen really mightier than the Sword?
North American Literature and the Universe.
Since American literature, as represented by the collection of the US Library of Congress, has the whole universe as a subject, one could assume that this system is also governed by the same mechanisms that it describes. UNIVERSE Alan Guth believes that the universe bubbled up out of a pre-universal singularity. During a short moment, … Continue reading North American Literature and the Universe.
A synopsis of US literature: 1910 – 1930.
On December 11th, 1910, the human character changed, and the modernist consciousness founded itself upon the inherent instability of the new relative worldviews. Suddenly humankind was lost in a relativistic universe where there are no more rules that can be transgressed, and nobody can be accused of abnormality. The Chinese pagoda became popular in European … Continue reading A synopsis of US literature: 1910 – 1930.
Housing Crisis and economical growth
Lately I was looking upon a table provided by the UN and saw that about 30 years ago the world population stood at 4 Billion people. Today we stand at 8 Billion and the prognosis is that by 2050 we will reach the 10 Billion, mostly spurred by the African continent. More people equals more … Continue reading Housing Crisis and economical growth
Stupid is as Stupid Does.
Since a couple of days I'm back in Asia, and as far as it stands now, it hasn't provided me with the right vibes to pick up the fourth part of my series "The Maharajagar 4". Thailand is a wonderful country, but all those sexagenarians hanging out with those teenagers who barely reached the age … Continue reading Stupid is as Stupid Does.
Inventory Time
It's that time of the year were all society's gears slow down a little bit to re-focus on their different familial nuclei and take stock of what has been done while looking forward to what has to be done. Blogging- wise this hasn't been such a productive year for me since there have been months … Continue reading Inventory Time
Will “Cat Lady” become the next taboo word?
The urban dictionary defines a cat lady as "A woman, usually middle-aged or older, who lives alone with no husband or boyfriend, and fills the empty lonely void in her life with as many cats as she can collect in one place". It looks that because some aspiring vice-president gave the word some new meaning, … Continue reading Will “Cat Lady” become the next taboo word?
my great-grandfather.
If you could bring back one dinosaur, which one would it be?
Phases of Wisdom, digital collage of previous works, triptych on canvas 140 x 60 by Shaharee Vyaas.
This triptych represents three components of wisdom: 1) general knowledge of life, 2) acknowledgement of uncertainty and despair, 3) sense of humor.
Literary Criticism and the Systems Theory
Although I'm not really thinking that someone missed my weekly ramblings about all the innuendo that occasionally flutters from my brain through my finger tops into my blog, I still want to acknowledge towards those who do that I'm still alive and rambling. I'm still one of those old fashioned guys who believe that the … Continue reading Literary Criticism and the Systems Theory
Being Busy
Hallo beautiful people on the internet. Probably few people will have noticed that I've been fading out of the internet during the last two months. This trend will probably continue till the summer, because I'm working on an exciting new project that absorbs most of my time, energy, and attention. At this stage the whole … Continue reading Being Busy
Stop digging when the location is wrong
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? During my long career as a professional soldier I've learned the hard way that it's no use to make a hole deeper when it's located at the wrong place. It equals to digging your own grave. That lesson can be expanded to … Continue reading Stop digging when the location is wrong
So you want to be Rich and Famous. Seriously?
This post 's aim is to make it easier to understand why fame & fortune is not easy to manage.
The reality of being a writer.
In 2020, there were over 44.2 thousand writers and authors working in the United States, down very slightly from the previous year but still markedly higher than the figure recorded back in 2011. Many changes have occurred for employees in this sector over the last few years, and it is a truth universally acknowledged that … Continue reading The reality of being a writer.
Balancing individual freedom, privacy and social responsibility
I’ve been long time staying out of the public debate concerning the pandemic, but lately a large group of people are starting to irritate me. Those who stubbornly refuse the vaccine and simultaneously protest the consequences of that choice. When actually 95 % of those being hospitalized in Western countries because of Covid 19 are … Continue reading Balancing individual freedom, privacy and social responsibility
Writer’s block or completely wrong outline?
Since two years I’m trying to finish the fourth part of my pentalogy The Maharajagar. Since I’m a dedicated plotter, I started with an outline as I did with the previous parts of this series. To recapitulate, The Maharajagar is a contemporary retelling of the story line whereupon the Mahabharata rests. The fourth part of … Continue reading Writer’s block or completely wrong outline?
Literature, Information Technology, and the Internet.
Information technology refers to the ways most literature comes nowadays into existence while the internet refers to its most popular distribution channel. The book industry has come to the realization that they have lost their monopoly of being the sole gate keepers of the literary world, while it can still be a career boost for … Continue reading Literature, Information Technology, and the Internet.
The Maharajagar 