It occurs to me that the art of staring into space is undervalued by the general population and almost entirely ignored in the academic world where there exists no instruction whatsoever in its practical application in spite of the fact that it is an essential and signature skill for philosophers and writers of every stripe. Sadly, large corporations see no need for philosophy and writers are diminished in their role to that of propagandists though they retain the misleading job title of writer.
Earlier, I sat at a café terrasse for almost three hours most of which were spent staring indiscriminately at various things and people with interstitial asides to the waiter who kept my glass--and later my cup--topped. I find that the time was well spent and I must confess that I experienced one revelation after another whilst in the throes of this exercise. I value it as highly as an hour spent in the gym having more long-lasting results if personal experience is anything to go by.
It is a great reflection on the French that no one objected to or attempted interruption of my activity and I highly recommend that anyone reading this commit to spending more time with their own thoughts as an alternative to the thoughts being constantly downloaded from others via one evil media source or another.
This should not be taken as an instruction to ignore the commercial messages of our sponsor and looking into the pre-green batch furnace offerings of ACME Industrial Blast Furnaces can only reward the inquisitive. For my part, I'm going down to Le Bar and stare at the folks I find there.
http://www.amazon.com/Ray-D-Shosays-Journal-Dispatches/dp/1490518827
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