oldzork

how is a carving knife different from a regular kitchen knife? it's curved more or something?... do you know how to whittle wood into animal shapes? i'm intrigued by people who can create recognizable things from a solid chunk of mass (whether it be wood, marble or soap).

until i retrieve a copy of histories, i'm reading L.T.'s tao te ching (because we have a copy of it here now). I'M SO CONFUSED. maybe you can provide clarity. the black/whiteness, the diametric oppositions, of this book is so irksome. it has a patronizing tone and it's a lot of proselytizing in such a small book. but i guess because of its smallness, it is actually large. because it is nothing, it is everything. and because it is stilted, it is actually simple and plain, and therefore virtuous. i dunno, it seems like a lot of phony baloney (bologna?). he places too much value on not desiring anything. but isn't his desire not to desire as much a desire as any other?

and this particular line "those who know, dont talk about it, those who talk about it, dont know" is a bit strange considering that if HE is talking about it (or writing rather) than according to his own admission, he actually doesnt know about it because if he does know then he wouldn't be talking (writing) about it.