Uncategorized

Our literature class teacher, Mrs. Whymont, was sick for quite a while and Mrs. Gracie came to substitute her. Normally, Mrs. Gracie taught us science and geography but the circumstance was exceptional and the Headmaster had finally convinced her to replace the sick Mrs. Whymont. Mrs. Gracie entered the class, we all greeted her, and she sat at the teacher’s desk. In the meantime, Sam Brown and I continued our battleships game. Just a moment before Mrs. Gracie’s appearance, the game’s odds turned to my favour: I already annihilated Sam’s two cruisers and sunk his three submarines; it only remained to locate his aircraft carrier, which was an easy task. I though a bit and was about to open my mouth to announce my next (certainly, lethal) move, when Mrs. Gracie, who in the meantime opened the register, called out loudly: ... continue reading

— WHYYY?! — a desperate scream filled the vaulted ceilings of the Throne Room. The screaming man was already seized by the guards who quickly led him away. Psychologist Royal of King Thyon IV made an unhappy grimace. He had been in office for a mere week and that was already the fifth case. And, according to the recounts of the veterans, such cases were all but singular. The Counselor thought it was about time to commence his work. — Your Grace, — opened the Psychologist addressing the King. — Do not you reckon that you might be, perhaps, too cruel to this poor fellow? In fact, he did no wrong. — He brought terrible news, — uttered the King with a gloomy face. — Hence, he deserved to die. ... continue reading

When I was in my twenties, I used to have the peculiar ability of lucid dreaming. It came unexpectedly and then gradually faded away almost entirely when my sleep patterns changed. The trivial statement that lucid dreaming merely amounts to controlling your dream doesn’t minimally render this amazing experience. It doesn’t even remotely resemble playing an Xbox. No, it feels as real as dreams can feel... but at the same time, some arcane part of the brain is aware that it’s just a dream and can steer it.

When I was a first-year college student, I spent long hours in the library randomly looking up information about a new term, a notion, a theorem that I would accidentally hear before in a lecture. This gave me the unforgettable feeling of what I called the joy of the first discovery. It didn’t matter that what I discovered was already known to the ancient Greek — for me it was for the first time. Alas! this feeling gradually faded away — with the years I became burdened with more knowledge, nothing is completely novel anymore, and I relate more and more new things to what I already know. In an attempt to revive this awe of the novel, I'm going to dedicate this blog to the joy of the first discovery. I will share here my random reflections and little discoveries, particularly in fields in which I'm not an expert. I will be posting here thoughts and remarks that are not worth being published or will never be accepted for publication.

The rules of the game are very simple: I will freely steal ideas from other people without bothering to check who said what, where and why. That's the whole point of this game, actually. I will neither give the deserved credit to those who I steal from, occasionally or on purpose. My castle, my rules. If you are (justly) offended or appalled by this, I would kindly invite you to switch back to your facebook. Otherwise... follow me, reader!