Communication with long pauses

[franceslievens]

Yesterday I watched a television program in which the makers try to convey the history of a Carthusian convent somewhere in the country. The life of the Carthusian monk is one of sitting in a cell, praying and working, taking a walk in a tiny walled garden, next to the cell, and then it's back to the cell again, for more work and prayer. Only once a week the monks gathered to talk about the business of living in the convent and the rules and regulations. The rest was silence. And work and prayer.
Suddenly the incarceration of one's own choice sounds appealing. Having to deal with people only once a week, is something I'd enjoy right now: simple business-like communication with fixed intervals. Gone are all the forced smiles when someone dutifuly compliments you with your new hair, but you can hear they don't like it. Gone are the silly remarks because you aren't wearing your glasses. Gone is all the small talk, because why would one use his or her breath on anything so shallow, when it can be used to praise god.
Gone too, will be me staring at my mobile, wondering if I should send a text or make a phone call, because last time my correspondent didn't sound so welcome. Staring at the numbers on my phone, wondering if I should hit the dial-button or not, I wish I could go back to my cell with the reading and the working, letting the world pass me by. It sounds so easy.
But then I think I'd love to have a computer in my cell, with a decent wireless connection, so I can surf the internet in my own tiny little garden when it's warm outside. I hit dial.

Comments

[lovablylolly.livejournal.com]

I often think like this. Just the other day I was thinking about how nice it would be once we were actually settled in and started meeting people and then we could have friends over. And then I was horrified at the thought. Letting people into my home. MY HOME. Right now it's perfect. Only two people who aren't me or kim or the landlords have been in here, and neither has had great results. Right now everything is exactly how I like it. With people comes things being moved, my pets being shared, topics of conversation I don't care for, tv shows that weren't okayed a long time ago by both kim and me. Suddenly I was happy being "friendless" in North Carolina. But then tonight I was thinking it might be nice to have some place to go and someone to go with. I rather like being shut off a lot of the time, but then the social part of me takes over again. i guess it can't be perfect.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Was it this film (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478160/)?
It was quite a sleeper hit in the arthouse cinemas here. I didn't get to see it, but I read lots about the film and the director's experiences and it seemed really interesting.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Oh no, it was a program on Belgian telly called "De Grote Monumentenstrijd" (http://www.monumentenstrijd.be/), which translates as "The Great Monument-battle". People can vote for the monuments that they think should be renovated. The winner gets a couple hundred thousand euros for restoration works.
Yesterday one of the contestants was a chapterhouse-turned-into-chapel that had been part of a Carthusian convent. To give some background story about the different monuments they let an architect and a historian wander around the site and give their ideas and some of the background of the place. At the end of their visit they always give their opinion on what they think should be done with the place and what are its strong points and the weak spots.
It's been on for a couple of weeks now, and I never watched it, because it didn't interest me, but yesterday I was pretty bored and ended up watching, and liking it. The piece on the convent was very interesting yesterday, especialy because even the architect had no clue how they had built that chapterhouse-turned-into-chapel. It was an amalgame of styles and not everything was built according to the rules of the métier, as we say.

I don't know how good your Dutch is, but at the above link you can find all the info you want on the show.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link - I think I'd like to watch a show like this. I know that the BBC does a version of this, but I guess here the ZDF would buy it and then we'd get a really stuffy show.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. There were some preselections before that were highly featured in our newspaper, and then I couldn't care less about it. So I didn't watch this in the first place and thought it would be really stuffy, but in the end it was good television with a minimum of means. Just a presenter giving some background information on the region, doing interviews with the people that are the owners or whatever of the monument, and those are interlaced with the architect and the historian checking out building and site and giving some very interesting remarks. So all in all: better show then I expected.

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

I thought the Cinema Plaza and the papermill looked really interesting as well as the chapterhouse/chapel you posted about. There's also the "Stoomstroop" factory - whatever that is... I understand most of it, but that's one of the words that I just don't get.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Cinema Plaza made it into the finales.

"Stroop" = treacle or syrup. I don't know which translation is best, but it's the sugary goodness you put on sandwiches and pancakes. It's made from fruit.
So in the "stoomstroopfabriek" syrup was made from apples and pears. I think their original machines ran on steam, hence the "stoom" in the word "stoomstroopfabriek". The factory is located in the fruit region of Flanders, which is why they started making syrup there from old fruit and fruit that wasn't good enough to sell. But most of the syrup making disappeared: there aren't as many leftovers from the fruit, and there is a much bigger choice of stuff to put on your sandwiches!

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you - from the pictures I got that it was something to do with fruit. Isn't that also what they use(d) to sweeten waffles with? Not the fluffy ones, but the dry ones which usually also contain lots of honey?
Is it similar to "delice de Liege" (sorry can't be bothered to do the accents)? - We had that often when I was a child to put on bread and also on potato fritters or Reibekuchen.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's it. We have waffles over here (the dry ones) filled with syrup, btw. And "Sirop de Liège" is more common in the supermarket.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

I have a very contemplative side too. I could have been a monk.

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I actualy could have been a monk, but considering the time frame, I'd probably let my contemplative side take charge and become one...

[sister-luck.livejournal.com]

But wouldn't you have been nuns?

[frances-lievens.livejournal.com]

Of course not! It's the men that write the books etc. Who wants to help the sick and pray for good weather?

;-)