I have often been accused of being an “armchair magician.” The accusation always misses its target though. Because to me, it sounds like an absolute ideal. Actually, it’s an ideal that I strive for daily. I am a magician. I have an armchair. The only problem (sorry, “challenge”) is that I’m not as fully situated in the armchair as I want to be. Yet. Where critics create the metaphor to indicate someone who’s not out there in the “real” world, I would reverse it and state publicly that the greatest accomplishment for me would be to direct all the magical forces straight from my lovely chair. That is the ultimate reality. My armchair comes from IKEA but looks “retro”/vintage in its design. It has a floral pattern and is situated in one corner of our library. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with books that inspire me daily, and very tangibly so. I get my ideas here. I read here. I write here. I snooze and fantasise here. Actual “temple” or ritual work is but an...

  What of the sayings that sounded so good once upon a time but then became ridiculed as “square,” “straight,” “corny,” etc (take your pick of colloquialism based on when you grew up!)? I’m thinking for instance of Benjamin Franklin’s “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” This surely still promotes a great work ethic that could be said to function, doesn’t it? Well, actually I’m not so sure anymore. As we nowadays know, health has a lot to do with genetics, and a controlled regulation of the hours of the day doesn’t automatically bring wealth. And what of that wisdom? My own wisest thoughts usually appear very, very late at night. Contemporary usage of pseudo-moralistic sayings like Franklin’s seems to be a kind of longing for apparently/allegedly successful, almost prophetic wisdom. Longing for something somehow proven workable by frequent usage. But the work ethic of yesteryear can very likely not be superimposed on our own weird and dramatically...

  Who’s got the loudest mouth? Look for the one who feels most neglected. Who’s got the foulest mouth? Look for the one who feels no-one will listen to reason, or who inherently knows he or she has nothing reasonable to convey. “Empty barrels make the most noise” is an old and very apt saying that is today more relevant than ever in the public and political spheres. Give a moron a social media platform and havoc can swiftly and easily be wrought. This is the age of blatant compensation. Not because there’s more of it nowadays but because the civilised surface of courtesy and intelligence has been strategically polished off by grinding down general education and revving up escapist entertainment. If you “empower” a baby into thinking it’s an adult, everyone will soon be eating candy 24/7. And woe to anyone who tries to change the menu! The result will very soon be malnourishment, dental cavities and diabetes. And mood swings galore! This is when the adults should just say no, give...