Unknown

"The most important part of the story is the piece of it you don't know."

Barbara Kingsolver
The Lacuna

The cost

" Fundamentally, a decision to do one thing implies a decision not to do something else."

Analysis for Public Decisions, E.S. Quade p 118

[Book] The Reluctant Fundamentalist

"Does it trouble you," he inquired, "to make your living by disrupting the lives of others?" "We just value," I replied. "We do not decide whether to buy or to sell, or indeed what happens to a company after we have valued it." He nodded; he lit a cigarette and took a sip from his glass of wine. Then he asked, "Have you heard of the janissaries?" "No," I said. "They were Christian boys," he explained, "captured by the Ottomans and trained to be soldiers in a Muslim army, at that time the greatest army in the world. They were ferocious and utterly loyal: they had fought to erase their own civilizations, so they had nothing else to turn to."

- The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid, p 151

V day is Victory to Love

V day is Victory to Love

It's that time of year again,

to feel a bit of cheesy,

to feel a bit lovely and red,

but full of smile. 

Appreciate it.

Thank them all 

who have taught you what

love can mean to you

because This is just one of 

the many days that we will

remember why the world never

gets tired of singing songs about 

that four letter word

Love.

Valentine - Kina Grannis

Mignonne, Allons voir si la rose

A Cassandre

Mignonne, allons voir si la rose

Qui ce matin avoit desclose

Sa robe de pourpre au Soleil,

A point perdu ceste vesprée

Les plis de sa robe pourprée,

Et son teint au vostre pareil.

Las ! voyez comme en peu d'espace,

Mignonne, elle a dessus la place

Las ! las ses beautez laissé cheoir !

Ô vrayment marastre Nature,

Puis qu'une telle fleur ne dure

Que du matin jusques au soir !

Donc, si vous me croyez, mignonne,

Tandis que vostre âge fleuronne

En sa plus verte nouveauté,

Cueillez, cueillez vostre jeunesse :

Comme à ceste fleur la vieillesse

Fera ternir vostre beauté.

The English translation isn't the same beauty as the French one, but one could still get some sense of what he meant when he said that famous "Mignonne, allons voir si la rose." The English translation is from (http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=13861)

Sweetheart, let us see if the rose

that only this morning unfolded

its scarlet dress in the sun

has lost, at vesper-time,

the folds of its scarlet dress

and its colour, so like yours.

Alas! See how rapidly,

Sweetheart, she has let

her beauty fall all over the place!

Nature is truly a cruel stepmother

when such a flower only lasts

from dawn to dusk!

So if you hear me, Sweetheart,

while your age flowers

in its greenest newness,

gather, gather your youth.

Age will tarnish your beauty

as it has faded this flower.

Thankful

Thank you, 

it's great to be able to say 

these two words without a hesitation

because I really mean it

deep down

I'm thankful.

Today 

New York, USA 2012

Your year

Leave your troubles out the door

Nothing can rain on your parade anymore

Let the music sing for you

Are you ready?

Will you join me

Set your self free

For the beginning, beginning, beginning!

Your Year - Jennifer Chung