More sounds in the air...

This time, the infernal sucking sound of money - flocks of the stuff - flying past.

Conference fee, airline tickets, and hotel room (which is usually the long, long pole in the tent).

As usual, the folks who run the organization have picked a site where, once the reserved block of rooms is gone, the price per night for a room is $450. I may be wrong, but I suspect the folks who run the organization - academics, as far as I can tell - otherwise work at places that have budgets to cover conference expenses.

The background investigation session this morning was basically a data entry exercise that took almost two hours. The highlight of the session was the "permanent record card" speech (you know, the one that's supposed to scare you silly should you contemplate thinking of considering the possibility of not providing 100% factually correct information, as the very least error of commission - or omission - will have Dire Consequences™).

We were, in fact, warned in advance of the session that there were a number of ways to crash and burn, and I'm not out of the woods yet, as I have an appointment tomorrow to get photographed and fingerprinted. Failure to do so will recycle me back to the beginning of the process.

Bureaucracies are so inherently efficient, don't you agree?

Now to get down to work!

Cheers...

A parable of Hing Shi...

Via LJ friend wildernesscat, I ran across the name of Yulia Dubinkina-Ilina a couple of years ago in connection with a parable she apparently wrote that caused me to arch my eyebrows and imagine hearing a little "pop!" of epiphany. It is a shame her work is not concentrated in one place; then again, it makes finding her gems that much more of a pleasure.

I found the following parable in a post at "The Touching Center" (my translation follows):

Однажды к Хинг Ши пришёл его ученик и спросил:

— Учитель, объясни мне, почему я, имея такие же глаза, как и у тебя, часто не замечаю того, что замечаешь ты.

Хинг Ши вышел из комнаты и через какое-то время вернулся, держа в руках папирус на незнакомом для ученика языке. Развернув его, он спросил:

— Что ты видишь?

Ученик, не желая выдавать своё незнание, сказал:

— Я вижу многовековую мудрость в этих словах.

Тогда Хинг Ши сказал:

— На самом деле перед тобой — записка египетского купца. А знаю и вижу я это потому, что однажды, не побоявшись признаться себе в том, что я чего-то не знаю, выучил этот язык.

---

Once upon a time, Hing Shi's student came to him and asked "Teacher, explain why I - who have the same eyes as you do - often do not notice the things you do."

Hing Shi left the room and after some time, returned carrying a papyrus that was written in a language unknown to the student. Unrolling the papyrus, Hing Shi asked "What do you see?"

The student, not wishing to betray his ignorance, said "I see centuries-old wisdom in these words."

Then Hing Shi said "In fact, what is before you is a note written by an Egyptian merchant. This I know and see because once, unafraid to admit to myself that I didn't know something, I learned this language."

There is always something new to learn.

Cheers...