(via coposapasionados)
This is the way that we deal with such incidents in the U.S.—we acknowledge them; we are, briefly, shocked by them; then we term it impolite to discuss their implications, and to argue about them. At some point, we will have to stop putting it off, stop pretending that doing so is the proper, respectful thing. It’s not either. It’s cowardice.
Alex Koppelman on the school shooting in Newtown, CT, and the right day to talk about gun control: http://nyr.kr/TZgCVM
Photograph by Michelle McLoughlin/Reuters.
Now look back to the original rock or divot against which the wave formed. New waves continue to form against that rock, and they will all keep on floating downstream for a little while as long as you sit there watching. The water never disappears, it only changes form to recombine into new patterns downstream. And these recombinations are happening everywhere along the stream — too many waves and ripples pop into existence then disappear to count. They’re always changing, too — they move sand, they move rocks and boulders… given enough time and enough of these temporary arrangements, they will form a grand canyon.
We’re all just temporary arrangements of matter and energy. Some of us will float downstream for a little bit, some of us will move boulders and initiate new ripples in our wake. Over time and over generations, though, we’ll all collectively carve out something spectacular on our little rock floating through space.
On August 12, six days after the bomb, the artist came upon a skeleton sitting in a still-intact tilted barber’s chair.
YAMABE Shōji
42 years old in August 1945
(via MIT Visualizing Cultures)
Fuck…
Everyone was sleeping. Strangely, my sister wasn’t staying up late to finish late homework/surf the net. I woke up around midnight feeling very uncomfortable, restless. It was too hot, then too cold, then I couldn’t stay still, then I thought a mosquito bit me in my left hand and I kept scratching the fucker. Awful.
A couple of minutes later, I hear a huge rucus from the outside. A woman and another person (not sure if a man) were screaming, begging for help. The noise came from the building next to us, that has a large open hall from the front gate to the entrance. I couldn’t make out at first what they were saying, and due to previous incidents (the worst being when I witnessed a domestic violence episode through a window many years ago, where the guy threatened his wife with a gun) I don’t look out at the window right away when situations like these happen.
The yelling got worse and worse, and in the midst of it a strange, loud groan that popped every two or three seconds. Fuuuuck!, I thought, someone is dying. Turns out the lady and the other person were dragging their mother through the hall, screaming at the neighbors for help to take the poor woman to the hospital who was choking. According to my mom, only two or three female neighbors attempted to aid them, struggling to find a ride to the clinic, located a couple of blocks from home.
The women managed to open the gate of the building and between them and the extremely distraught pair, carried the woman out. I am not sure if the groan came from her, but it was scary and loud and it stopped around the time they ran to the street. A car came out of the parking lot, and at the same time some police/military/military police vehicle approached the street. Two men exited the vehicle and approached them, then went to their car and picked up (I suppose) the woman and her family. In another car, that may have come out from the building”s parking area, other people followed the police. Being extremely familiar with the value of seconds and miliseconds, these policemen acted way too slow for the situation. Maybe they were shocked. Maybe they were too tired from the day’s festivities (yesterday was a national holiday).
My family, the four of us more than awake from the drama, commented what we saw and the thing that shocked us the most was the ridiculous amount of time passed from the moment the woman started screaming for help and the moment they left: over ten minutes, way too long considering there are about fifty clinics in my neighbornhood, and at least two big emergency-ready ones within five blocks from home. No one helped them until the janitor stepped in and called other women to help. The disconnection between neighbors was clear and it was horrible. I really don’t wish this to happen to anyone, and I really hope the woman and her family are fine, whether she made it or not.
No.
:’(
What Happens When You Die « Thought Catalog
Beautiful article.
Perfect timing.
My grandmother died yesterday.
An interesting approach to grieving.
