The Stone Throne / Kameno prijestolje

I think I rather like this stone throne. Unlike the infamous Iron Throne (I'm referring to a fictional throne in a well-known literary world of George R.R. Martin), one doesn't need to fight desperately to keep it.  That iron one is highly desired and this stone one is not. Well, this stone is not really a stone throne, but it made me think of great many things. About nature and our relationship with it. About one bank manager who left his highly paid job and went off to live in natural parks of Canada or USA (one of those two, I don't remember exactly which one, I saw it in a documentary). That ex bank manager said he is happier now, because he has never been surrounded with so much beauty and because every day he can find a new spectacular view. For what does it mean to own to place? Can we really ever own a place when we don't know if we're going to live to see tomorrow? When we are not sure will that future we kneel before ever happen? 

Mislim da mi se poprilično sviđa ovo kameno prijestolje. Za razliku od poznatog Željeznoga prijestolja ( tu pucam na poprilično poznato fiktivno željezno prijestolje u književnom svijetu Georga R.R. Martina), ne treba se grčevito boriti da bi ga se domogli. To željezno prijestolje je jako poželjno, a ovo kameno baš i nije, ali me navelo da razmislim o puno stvari. O prirodi i našem odnosu prema njoj. O jednom bankovnom menadžeru koji je ostavio svoj visoko plaćeni posao i otišao živjeti u prirodne parkove Kanade ili Sjedinjenih Američkih Država ( bio je iz jedne od tih dviju država, ne mogu se sada točno sjetiti, gledala sam to u dokumentarcu). Taj je bivši menadžer rekao da je sada sretniji jer nikada nije bio okružen s toliko ljepote i zato što svakoga dana može pronaći novi spektakularni pogled. Jer što doista znači posjedovati mjesto? Možemo li ikada doista posjedovati mjesto kada ne znamo koji će nam dah biti zadnji? Kada ne znamo hoće li nam izmaći ta budućnost kojoj se klanjamo?

People fight to get to some precious view, to own a house on a prestige place, one with a view (or to vacation in such a place). At the same time, there are endless magnificent views available to every one of us because no matter where you live, there is likely to be nature around you and there is surely beauty of some kind to behold. Literally miles of untouched nature are available to us if we only get off our lazy asses and go for a walk (or a hike). We can enjoy wonderful views, all of us, free of charge. However, it is not really about the view. It is about competition, about wanting to be have something somebody else doesn’t. Do you know why everyone wants a house with a view? Not because of the view. The view isn’t worth much by itself. It is about value we associate to it and that one is defined by what others want.  Our society and our economy works on this priciple. That is why Chanel destroys tons of its bags every year, simply because it is more profitable to limit their number. I’m not saying that we all need to run off and live our lives away from human society but I am saying we need to question that society. Sometimes what others want isn’t a bad thing, but it may not be what works for you. We don't need to be rebels without a cause, yet we should be aware that our happiness is our personal responsibility. 

Ljudi se bore da bi došli do nekoga dragocjenoga pogleda, da bi posjedovali kuću na prestižnom mjestu, kuću s pogledom (ili odmor na takvom mjestu). U isto vrijeme, postoje nebrojeni prekrasni vidici dostupni svakome on nas jer bez obzira na to gdje živite, vjerovatno ima prirode oko vas, a sigurno ima nekakve ljepote da vidjeti. Doslovno stotine kilometara netaknute prirode su nam dostupne ako se maknemo s dupeta i odemo u šetnju ili planinarenje. Možemo uživati u prekrasnim pogledima, svi mi, besplatno. No, ne radi se tu zapravo o pogledu. Radi se o natjecanju, o želji da se ima nešto što netko drugi ima. Znate li zašto svi žele kući s pogledom? Nije zbog pogleda. Pogled sam po sebi ne vrijedi puno. Važna je vrijednost koju povezujemo s pogledom, a to se definira onim što drugi žele. Naše društvo i naša ekonomija rade na tom principu. Zato Chanel svake godine uništava torbu svoju torbi, jednostavno zato što je profitabilnije ograničiti njihov broj. Ne kažem da trebamo svi pobjeći i živjeti daleko od ljudskoga društva, ali kažem da ga trebamo preispitivati. Ponekad ono što drugi žele nije loše, ali to nije ono što vama treba. Te psihološke mehanizme treba osvijestiti kako ne bismo postali njihovi robovi. Ne trebamo biti buntovnici bez razloga, ali trebamo znati da je naša sreća naša odgovornost.

 My last post was about how everyone can travel in the sense that anyone can explore their own city or village. I wanted to show how I managed to travel without actually travelling in the traditional sense of the word.  I don't have the option to travel in the traditional sense of the word, that is why I do my best to explore the area I live in. I totally understand if you don’t or didn't have the time to read it. Judging by some of your comments you didn't get what I was trying to say and that's ok. However, it is something that keeps coming up on my blog so I wanted to clear it out. I have never tried to present that I'm living a lifestyle that I'm not on this blog. My texts were always clear on that. I always stressed that I took a trip someplace, that I didn't really stayed in that particular hotel that you can see in the background, that I was only there for coffee or that what you see is a city I happen live in. Honestly, it is not my fault if some of you don't read my text. I will continue to share my stayactions and if they get interpreted as vacations, it’s not due to anything I said. 

U svojoj prošloj objavi pričala sam o time kako svatko može putovati u smislu da bilo tko može istražiti vlastiti grad ili selo. Htjela sam vam pokazati kako sam uspjela putovati bez putovanja u tradicionalnom smislu. Nemam mogućnost putovati u tradicionalnom smislu riječi, zato se trudim istražiti područje u kojem živim. Potpuno razumijem ako niste ili nemate vremena da pročitate taj tekst. Sudeći prema nekima od vaših komentara, niste baš svi shvatili što sam pokušavala reći i to je u redu. No, to je nešto o čemu sam više puta govorila na blogu, pa sam to htjela raščistiti. Nisam nikada pokušala predstaviti se kao da živim nekim životnim stilom koji ne živim. Moji tekstovi su po tom pitanju uvijek bili jasni. Uvijek sam objasnila da sam negdje na izletu, da nisam odsjela u tom nekom hotelu koji se vidi u pozadini već da sam tu samo bila na kavi ili da je ono što vidite grad u kojem živim. Iskreno, ne može se reći da je moja krivnja ako neki od vas ne čitaju moj tekst. Ja ću i dalje opisivati stvari onakvima kakve jesu i dijeliti iskustva kakva jesu, pisati ću o izletima, a ako to netko hoće tumačiti na svoj način, što mu ja mogu.

That being settled, let’s talk about thrones some more. I often get asked about Martin, what is my opinion of him and his writing. I can sum it all up in about ten sentences. About two years ago I purchased and read Feast for Crows. I ended up really liking the novel. However, I felt like it is too early to start reading his earlier novels from Songs of Ice and Fire series, because the TV series was still fresh in my mind ( I watched the first two seasons and a part of the third ), so I decided to put some time behind it by focusing on his other works. I purchased one of his novels The Armageddon Rag  and since this one was great too,  I borrowed two of his books from the library. You may remember this, because I mentioned both Windhavan (which he wrote with Lisa Tuttle) and Fevre Dream on my blog. So, long story short, my experiences with Martin were great so far. I recommend all of above mentioned novels and I think this guy is a very talented writer. Sure, he doesn't need my praise now that he is woldly famous and all that, but I believe in giving praise when praise is due.

Sada kada smo to raščistili, pričajmo o prijestoljima još malo. Često me pitaju o Martinu, koje je moje mišljenje o njemu i njegovom pisanju. Mogu to sažeti u desetak redova. Prije otprilike dvije godine kupila sam i pročitala Gozbu Vrana. Jako mi se svidio ovaj roman. No, činilo mi se nekako rano čitati njegove ranije romane iz serijala Pjesme Leda i Vatre, jer mi se TV serija još bila svježa u sjećanju ( gledala sam prve dvije sezone i nešto treće), pa sam odlučila ostaviti to za kasnije i usmjeriti se na njegove druge radove. Kupila sam Pjesmu sudnjeg dana i ova mi je bila sjajna, pa sam posudila još dvije njegove knjige iz knjižnice. Možda se sjećate jer sam spomenula obje (Windhaven koji je napisao s Lisom i Grozničavi san) na blogu. Tako da, dosada su mi se sva njegova djela svidjela. Sve bih ih preporučila i mislim da je jako nadaren pisac. Naravno, ne treba mu moja hvala sada kada je svjetski poznat i tako to, ali ja vjerujem da uvijek treba pohvaliti onoga tko to zaslužuje.