Jim in Europa

Nexus

2010-06-10T17:07:00.003+02:00

Sometimes, history and the individual collide. Or at least the divergent strands come together. I'm writing this in Vilnius, which for nearly 20 years now has been the capital of an independent state of Lithuania. Prior to that, it was a regional capital of the Russian Empire, in its Soviet and Tsarist forms, although there were intervals when it was a regional capital of Poland.Yesterday I

Kul

2010-03-14T19:27:00.001+01:00

My mother called me by the nameI'd had so long before:But after decades serving here,I remembered it no more.Now I should weep, I should be sad,For what is past and gone,But tears won't bring my old life back,So I must carry on.6 March 2005

1981 was king of pop

2010-01-31T10:48:00.001+01:00

This Guardian commenter sums up all that I loved about pop music – popular music – as I grew up. Most popular music today – what we hear on the radio and see on TV, the music which most of the population know about today – has nothing on these old classics, which were so radical and innovative. All

Pastoral visit

2010-01-02T10:52:00.003+01:00

This is the flyer announcing the annual pastoral visit to the houses on my estate here in Warsaw, and my own translation of its text. The thoughts and comments of my non-Polish friends would be especially appreciated. (But Polish opinions are valid too; you can click on the image to enlarge it, if you wish to dispute the accuracy of my translation.)ROMAN-CATHOLIC PARISHOF THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN

wiwiw

2009-12-10T15:36:00.004+01:00

1. Start This essay is a result, albeit indirect, of discussions I've had with many friends, male and female, over the years, on the subject of what I really want in a woman. For most of my life, of course, I haven't really known; I suspect most young people don't really know what they want in a partner. I've always thought

Guinness = yuk

2009-03-18T08:16:00.000+01:00

Someone else obviously agrees with me about the horrible stuff. :)

Sláinte!

2009-03-17T10:18:00.010+01:00

It's St Patrick's Day, the commemoration of a proto-Welshman who spent most of his life arguing and fighting with everyone he knew, probably in reaction to having been abducted by pirates as a child. He got so mad at said pirates that he went back to their home island and Christianised the lot of them - as brutal a vengeance as I can think of, even today. ;)I don't actually know any technically

3

2008-11-21T09:10:00.007+01:00

Put your pebble on the pile,Pass your baton in the race-The finish isn't yours to see,Be satisfied you took your place.16 February 2005, 09:19

2

2008-11-13T23:14:00.002+01:00

Since I've written at least four times since your last message, and that was more than a year ago, I thought it was best to remove you from my friend list.How would you define friendship? For me, it's exchanging ideas, be they emotions or news or opinions. If there is no exchange, no awareness of the other, then there is no friendship.And I'm not going to simply collect people like those

1

2008-11-13T18:26:00.003+01:00

Culture shows us what we areand what we could become,Rehearsing what we might yet doAnd showing what we've done.It gives shape to the shapeless cloudsWhich we could never name,And gives support to halting thoughtsWhich used to hobble lame.watching: Mika Motosugireading: 'Japan Edge'listening: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mikrophonie I (also listen here)

Ten things are weird about me

2008-05-15T09:20:00.001+02:00

1. I have never eaten a taco, burrito, or enchilada; in fact, I am not even sure what the latter two are composed of.2. I have no need to set an alarm; irrespective of what time I have to get up, or even what time I go to bed the previous day, I somehow always contrive to wake up in time for whatever I have to do.3. The last two songs I performed in front of an audience were 'Hallelujah' by

America!

2008-02-28T07:38:00.003+01:00

Have just returned from spending the inter-semester break in central Florida, staying with Gary (old chum from my early days in Lódz), who descends from there, and teaches high school there now. Nevertheless he is nostalgic for Poland, and recently bought some land near Sokolniki and had a wooden highlandsman-style house built there. His summer palace, he says. Anyway, it will be (slightly) more

Love what you do

2007-03-08T11:26:00.002+01:00

Part of the modern-day angst which we are all alleged to suffer from these days lies in the apparent lack of division between the concepts of ‘work’ and ‘leisure’. It’s claimed that advances in technology such as the Blackberry and the net-enabled mobile phone make us virtual (in both senses) slaves of our employers (or of our employment, at least) wherever we go.