Treasured Clutter

Since I've moved back home for the past month, I've been doing the horrible mission of finding space for my new stuff amid my room full of old stuff. The clothes part was easy--what no longer fits or would never wear again went into the donation bin. Same with books. I simply donated to the library or put them up on Amazon.

But now I'm left with these things I've collected from childhood and either still useful or interesting as memories--my "treasured clutter". Stamp collection. Hair clips. Paintbrushes. All the cards and letters I've ever received. Blank notebooks in every size and paper make. Grades and ID cards from school. Diaries since elementary school (the most embarrassing of the bunch!).

My mom in recent years is on the side of less clutter. When my grandpa died, we had to sort through all of his possessions, took a few boxes, and donated the rest. She said she didn't want to leave behind a mess for us to throw away when she dies.

I'm more on the sentimental side, I suppose. In our summers in Taiwan, my grandpa taught me hours and hours of Chinese calligraphy. His best brushes and calligraphy books were uncontested among the extended family, and I brought home a full suitcase. No one writes with brushes anymore except for hobby or art. So I thought of the matter more as us kids not understanding his interests enough to treasure his clutter.

But as for my stickers and colored pens, perhaps fate will be less kind.

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel had sat on my bookshelf for a few years before I finally read it this week. I can't imagine the amount of work it took to even add "and __" to a data-loaded sentence or the knowledge he had accumulated in order to assemble the information into a coherent theory, but equally amazing is his ability to write academia into a bestseller.

I thought of his explanation of "Why Europe, Not China?" was pretty good. The usual thought is Confucianism politeness limiting China's response to other country's aggression or development--which is not true, as Chinese considered foreigners as barbarians and does not hesitate to protect themselves from the constant threat of Mongol invasion and state uprisings threatening to bring in a new dynasty. But the most ridiculous theory was about Chinese characters placing limitations on inventiveness and concept creation (as opposed to alphabets, which could be rearranged to form new meanings and be adapted to different country's needs, the author claimed). But Chinese has gone through slight evolution, as seen in comparisons between modern Chinese to Japanese and Korean, which used Chinese exported thousands of years ago. And anyway, Chinese was one of the most inventive countries in history. All the way up until 1400s, that is, when centralized government took to isolationism and departed from technological advances. So in this "Not China" aspect, I agree with Diamond.

The most interesting parts of the book, though, were the last two chapters, the Epilogue and the GGS Today. It's intriguing to think how his theories in GGS would apply to business structure and would continue to modify current government powers.

Critics of his book say it's about environmental determinism, and I do think lumping everything together into a general theory is simplifying matters and may cover true causes, but it's pretty good as a overarching theory to span human history for 13,000 years. Plus it's a popular book, so that means the populace will think about these issues. To spark controversy and bring debate into the public forefront is a good quality that will create better social awareness and open-mindedness.

Hello

In hopes that I would have as interesting things to say as Sapphirefly and Algelic, and have just as much fun talking about random thoughts in life as about Escaflowne, I opened this new blog "Jomiel Says:".

Well, I suppose nothing's more appropriate for a first blog post than the subject of me, me, me. But instead of one of those lists that's supposed to tell all about myself but really tell nothing at all, I thought I'd mix things up a little:

Favorite food: sushi. hot pot. ice cream. cheap tasty authentic Mexican tacos with a squeeze of lime. chocolate fondue. chocolate. medium rare New York strip au jus. fresh ramen with seven spice pepper. (I'd better stop now...)
Food I'd only eat on a desert island: salad.
Most read books: Pride and Prejudice. The Lord of the Rings. Harry Potter.
The real bosses of the house: 4 cats and 1 dog.
Things I wouldn't even step on because they are so gross: slugs, etc.
Hours per day I'd spend in front of the computer if no one cared: 20.
Weird medical condition: sun allergy.
Number of shoes in my closet: never enough.

The image is from visiting dollmaker webpage a while ago.