Nathaniel Clark » Family

What Else Can We Say But Yes?

nathaniel — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:06:22 +0000

My child has taken to repeating, mantra-like, “No No No No!” when his intentions are thwarted by a safety-conscious parent, such as myself. I had read that this behavior is quite common, but it’s quite interesting despite its prosaic nature. It’s part of the whole slew of concepts I keep labeling “maps”, not only because I love the word but because I see several of its meanings come into play in my toddler’s tiny and beautiful cranium. I see him building a virtual structure of relations, of spaces, of behaviors, of conditions… I see him get encoded with the obvious– the things we try to teach as units and frameworks (bed time, bath time, how to eat, fire trucks, books) and I also see him make surprising couplings of objects and ideas, in ways that make me marvel at the inner truths that might be open to the unbiased, very open eye.

But the “No” thing, it’s interesting, because it’s a power-word, and he tries to throw it around a lot, not as a command, but rather as a deconstruction. He wants to bleed it of its authority, and reduce it to the banal. Or so I think.

Simplified Beijing

nathaniel — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:42:26 +0000

This is a rough/simple version of where we are — sitting a few long blocks down from the Forbidden City and Tianamen, and right at the crossroads of some heavy shopping areas. Earlier research suggests — though I cannot be sure — that the highly rated Da Dong Roast Duck restaurant is very very close. Will confirm tomorrow. Here’s the obviously-off-but-close plot of the path to the mythic Duck: google map.

Lift the Censure

nathaniel — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:25:42 +0000

I had heard it said that the older people get the crazier they get. I am not so sure this is true– it feels rather more like, the older one gets the less one values the social filters that dominated one’s younger life. It takes a lot of energy to keep oneself socially acceptable on all fronts. You start to care less and less, and more and more of your genuine thoughts come through as action/words.

This is just a thought that occurred to me whilst buttering my banana bread, which I baked last night; I was thinking how funny it was that the image of self I strove to create as a younger person didn’t include such domestic tropes like baking, but how they– now– give genuine pleasure and I don’t much care about an external view, only about the end product (the baked good) and the happiness it can bring (to myself, and family).

Anyway, nascent thought, untested, must think more on it.