Hi all,
Welcome back to the Lost In Translation bracket.
For those who are totally lost already- please
refer back to the introductory
post:
March 18- Introduction
Below are the links to each of the posts for the first round contests (four posts, two contests per post):
March 18- Introduction
Below are the links to each of the posts for the first round contests (four posts, two contests per post):
March 28- First round, part one (of four)
March 30- First round, part two (of four)
April 5- First round, part three (of four)
April 8- First round, part four (of four)
Long time readers of the blog will know that one of my strengths is planning an elaborate schedule, making a mess of it somewhere, and adjusting on the fly to give you less than I promised. This week is no exception.
What I'll do with the quarterfinals is post one time per day for four days- today (Monday), tomorrow (Tuesday), Thursday, and Friday. We'll take a day off on Wednesday for everyone's sanity.
As a refresher, here is how the semifinals line up:
Winner of 'Wabi-sabi' / 'kabelsalat' (Monday)
--vs--
Winner of 'tima' / 'komorebi (Friday)
Winner of 'mamihlapinatapai' / 'meraki' (Tuesday)
Winner of 'mamihlapinatapai' / 'meraki' (Tuesday)
--vs--
Winner of 'iktsuarpok' / 'mangata' (Thursday)
Without further admin, the first quarterfinal. See you all again tomorrow.
Tim
******************************
*wabi-sabi / Japanese noun
Finding beauty in the imperfections, an acceptance of the cycle of life and death
--vs--
*kabelsalat / German noun
A word to describe a mess of very tangled cables, literally a 'cable salad'
Breakdown
Without further admin, the first quarterfinal. See you all again tomorrow.
Tim
******************************
*wabi-sabi / Japanese noun
Finding beauty in the imperfections, an acceptance of the cycle of life and death
--vs--
*kabelsalat / German noun
A word to describe a mess of very tangled cables, literally a 'cable salad'
Breakdown
This matchup brings to mind the first round encounter of 'vacilando' and 'meraki'- one word generalized the
other's specificity. I sense
this admission stacks the odds against
the salads from Germany. What is the case for them in this quarterfinal encounter?
I like the word for little reasons. The playfulness of it is striking- 'this tangled mess of cords would be no problem if we could eat it'- and playfulness is a quality that seems to disappear as I get older. I'm in favor of more playfulness.
It brings the general idea of 'wabi-sabi' into play- labeling something a 'cable salad' is almost the ideal example of rolling with the punches. I admire the people in my life who can look at life's trivial absurdities and laugh. This word, without a doubt, brings some of those people who own this quality to mind.
But, in the end, a cable salad just isn't serious enough. And although there is an underlying implication of acceptance, I also know plenty of methods that people use to keep cables separated- they staple them to the wall, they loop the cords together with rubber bands, they buy wireless XBox controllers. The future is a place where our kids won't understand this word (and not just because I find it highly unlikely that I'll teach my own kids German).
Plus, that whole 'can't make friends with salad' thing.
On the other hand, wabi-sabi gets at real things. I like the word for the way it does not bother to dress up anything- it simply asks for acceptance of what is. Life is a tangled mess and it does not require a cute observation to make it any better. It does not need to be made better at all.
It suggests that everyone is on the same tracks, riding the same train, and, inevitably, one day the train will stop at your station. If you do not accept that, you will not understand what it means when the train begins to slow down. You can laugh about it, perhaps by dressing up like the train on Halloween, or you can memorize the cliches about the railroad and go through the motions of talking about trains. You could click through a slideshow on a website, '8 Things To Know About The Train', or even read a book about it. You might even opt to ignore it altogether, focusing elsewhere until you can convincingly pretend that you are not on a train.
But I think everyone wishes in the end that they took the time to accept where the train was headed. Until you do that, it makes it near impossible to look out the window and enjoy the view.
'Wabi-sabi' chugs along, the first to arrive at semi-final station (*).
I like the word for little reasons. The playfulness of it is striking- 'this tangled mess of cords would be no problem if we could eat it'- and playfulness is a quality that seems to disappear as I get older. I'm in favor of more playfulness.
It brings the general idea of 'wabi-sabi' into play- labeling something a 'cable salad' is almost the ideal example of rolling with the punches. I admire the people in my life who can look at life's trivial absurdities and laugh. This word, without a doubt, brings some of those people who own this quality to mind.
But, in the end, a cable salad just isn't serious enough. And although there is an underlying implication of acceptance, I also know plenty of methods that people use to keep cables separated- they staple them to the wall, they loop the cords together with rubber bands, they buy wireless XBox controllers. The future is a place where our kids won't understand this word (and not just because I find it highly unlikely that I'll teach my own kids German).
Plus, that whole 'can't make friends with salad' thing.
On the other hand, wabi-sabi gets at real things. I like the word for the way it does not bother to dress up anything- it simply asks for acceptance of what is. Life is a tangled mess and it does not require a cute observation to make it any better. It does not need to be made better at all.
It suggests that everyone is on the same tracks, riding the same train, and, inevitably, one day the train will stop at your station. If you do not accept that, you will not understand what it means when the train begins to slow down. You can laugh about it, perhaps by dressing up like the train on Halloween, or you can memorize the cliches about the railroad and go through the motions of talking about trains. You could click through a slideshow on a website, '8 Things To Know About The Train', or even read a book about it. You might even opt to ignore it altogether, focusing elsewhere until you can convincingly pretend that you are not on a train.
But I think everyone wishes in the end that they took the time to accept where the train was headed. Until you do that, it makes it near impossible to look out the window and enjoy the view.
'Wabi-sabi' chugs along, the first to arrive at semi-final station (*).
*Are dumb little analogies not the defining characteristic of MARCH MADNESS commentary? I considered suggesting it 'punched its ticket into the semi-finals' but opted for the other one instead. By the way, 'Semi Final Station' would have at least one 'Tavern In The Square'.
