Every afternoon or so nowadays, I'll walk into one of the rooms in my house that overlooks a pack of government flats in the distance. This group of flats are run-down, but not as much as you'd think they were. Some of the paint has come off, and whatever has not come off has become dull. The roof-tops are coated with a thin film of dirt-grey that the rain never washes off.
But beyond these flats stands a giant crane, red in colour. It's always rotating about and around, probably picking up things here and there, and so on. I think it's interesting that I've never actually seen the product of the work of this crane. There it stands, as part of the skyline, but it doesn't seem to fit in the skyline. It stands taller than any of the other old structures and buildings, so out of place.
Day after day, it seems like it's indefatigably at work, but it shows no observable results. Not that it should, but when it lifts, swivels, and pivots, it makes no sounds. No creaks, no thuds.
Thinking, or rather over-thinking, about this crane, an idea of what the crane can symbolise has appeared to me. Me. The crane is me. The crane can be you as well, but I wouldn't know.
The crane puts on a big spectacular show, making a presence, it gives the impression that great work is to be done. Each day that it stands is every time I talk about me going to do a great task. Each day that it appears to be working is every time I kid myself that I'm working.
The crane shows, but doesn't do. It represents me, me talking too much about what I want to do, but never doing them.
I know you sort of hand-waved this off in the spoiler, but your comparison doesn't work at the most fundamental level.
A crane appears not to be doing very much when observed in the short term, but over the long term it does amazing things because it puts in the required amount of work every day. If anything, it's a metaphor for self-improvement as opposed to procrastination.
On November 30 2012 00:24 bonifaceviii wrote: I know you sort of hand-waved this off in the spoiler, but your comparison doesn't work at the most fundamental level.
A crane appears not to be doing very much when observed in the short term, but over the long term it does amazing things because it puts in the required amount of work every day. If anything, it's a metaphor for self-improvement as opposed to procrastination.
Perhaps he is instead speaking to the idea that perception plays an important role in determining the apparent utility of the performativity of productivity. In other words, perhaps the line between procrastination and self-improvement isn't as definite as it first appears.
4/5, lack of references to girl problems and teenage emotions.
You can relate yourself to almost anything as long as you can take the next step which is to apply advanced BS (bachelor of science bull-shittery) to the object/concept/idea/whatever you've chosen. For me I'd imagine the crane represents a lonely generic office worker who is clearly visible and working during the day, yet once the task is finished everybody marvels at the finished product and nobody remembers what made the product.
On November 30 2012 00:24 bonifaceviii wrote: I know you sort of hand-waved this off in the spoiler, but your comparison doesn't work at the most fundamental level.
A crane appears not to be doing very much when observed in the short term, but over the long term it does amazing things because it puts in the required amount of work every day. If anything, it's a metaphor for self-improvement as opposed to procrastination.
Perhaps he is instead speaking to the idea that perception plays an important role in determining the apparent utility of the performativity of productivity. In other words, perhaps the line between procrastination and self-improvement isn't as definite as it first appears.
EPT
