Subtleties.

I enjoy most things Machiavellian. I appreciate that the world works in peculiar ways, but that there are a complex set of rules or laws that govern these peculiarities. Increasingly, I believe that we are best served to learn and exploit these rules.

One of the common themes that continues to emerge in reading such literature is that while people try desperately to practice deceit, they often betray themselves. By paying attention to actions, details and subtleties we can often catch people in their lies. The truth comes out not in a great declaration of integrity and valor but how an individual acts before, during and after such a statement.

I was reading my all-too-neglected Slovak language book . There's a page of modest flattery at the beginning of the book providing cultural and historical context about Slovakia.

In looking at my surroundings, I can't help but feel that the content of the book is much more revealing with regards to culture and history than any number of eloquent paragraphs strung together to convey that very information. I'll exemplify what I mean by sharing with you some lines of dialogue from Chapter 2 (translated into English of course. And let's ignore the fact that after 8 months here I'm still only on Chapter 2):

The conversation is between an old man (Kovac) sitting on his porch and his young neighbour
...
Evicka:I'm playing. And what are you doing, Mr. Kovac?
Kovac: I'm smoking and waiting for lunch.
Evicka: Where is Mrs. Kovacova?
Kovac: She's at home. She's cooking lunch, you know.

The Haircut

I'll get straight to the point here. Friday afternoon: I needed a haircut in a bad way. My jewfro was beginning to more and more resemble steel wool. Patrick, a colleague, suggested we go get our mops cleaned up.

The work day ran out and we were on our way. It was en route, when he told me that no English was spoken at this place. He had a note in Slovak describing the haircut he wanted. After briefly entertaining the ridiculous notion of having the exact same haircut as Patrick I decided, albeit quite hesitantly, to freestyle it.

She looked 17. Her own hair, hung in a simple long ponytail, did not inspire much in the way of confidence. I forced a smile and took a seat. The butterflies flew in quasi-formation. She talked, I smiled and shrugged, apologized. The 4 female teams of hairdressers and customers all tried to suppress laughter. I think they talked about me for the next 30 minutes. Not in that flattering kind of way. My stylist, clad in black, picked up the electric things and I managed to convey I was a scissors only kind of guy. My fears of resembling the hairless 30% of the male population, resided.

I tried to maintain my optimism. Her first few snips were swift and significant. The audacity. She continued unabated. It was as if she saw my hair as an overgrown shrub, and she was the chainsaw yielding gardner just back from a month long vacation. I was excited. I felt triumphant.

I got distracted. I caught sight of her work in the mirror. The butterflies were vomited on one another. I faked some smiles and analyzed the job closely.

She evened things out and it began coming together.

In the end it turned out solid. It was like my emotions were riding a sine wave though.

Some Thoughts About Some Things to Come

It's not really organized in any particular fashion:

I am getting more excited about moving. I practiced some Slovak today.

I like the idea of taking only the essentials. When my friends computer broke, he lost all his music. I have had some of this music for far too long. I think it acts a good barometer. Even cutting down on clothes will be great.

Reboot.

I think a lot about my upcoming job. I want to be good at it. I need to put that into practice so I can reap the rewards.

I am excited about having found a way to separate work and trading hours. I know I will be busy at first but that will give me time to keep learning when I can, and build up some capital.

I will build up capital by being great at my job.

I need to be awesome at sales.

I am excited for 6 Euro liters of vodka.

I like the idea of improving my blog.

In my immediate future, I need to sleep.