one glorious day

One glorious day we’re going to have to decide what we want to achieve with what we achieve. Basically, there are two possibilities.
We can get famous. Lots and lots of people will know our names. Those same people will know a lot of what other people said about us and about our work. They will know the names of the complicated concepts we’re associated with or, if we’re really good, the concepts we invented. Those people will have held and bought our books. They will have read the first couple of pages and then they will have skimmed to the back, read the ending, and polluted society with their shallow ideas about who we are and what we believe. No one will really know that they don’t really know what they are talking about, because all the people that listen to them will have only done the same thing and they all desperately hope that no one ever knows more than them.
We can, however, travel the road less taken and become seriously important. Then only a few people will have heard our names and even less will have come in contact with our ideas. The fewer people know us, the less talk can there be about us. It is generally true that people, no matter how stupid, won’t admit to their stupidity. Especially not towards themselves. So, whenever someone actually does remember our name, let alone philosophy, the majority of his listeners will turn away with their noses turned up and declare our fan an arrogant idiot.
Our fan will have read our ideas, and when I say read I mean read. He will have caught a glimpse of what’s really inside of us, of what’s moving us, and what we consider important. He will have seen, for only a second, who we really are.
Only a few people are ever going to get there. Those few people might or might not be able to pay for our rent or to feed our families. The decision we have to make is whether or not that is important to you. Do you want to get rich? Then you won't have to be really good and what you already know is probably more than most people. Don't go do too deep inside yourself. Keep it simple and don’t try to be edgy. You want people to get you and to pay you. They won’t do that if they think you’re better than them.
Or do you really want to make a difference in this world?

European Impertinence

The most outrageous thing that can happen to you is when you are one hundred percent sure of something and it turns out that you're wrong. One thing I was one hundred percent sure of is that people in the glorious United States of America are better humans than us Europeans. I'm usually careful with such claims but up until one fateful day I had never been disappointed. I was in Brooklyn with a friend and we wanted to check out this vintage clothing store. It was 1 o'clock, pouring, and the store didn't open until 1:30. We decided to go to a nearby café, have a coffee, and wait there for half an hour. We sat down at Pates Traditions Restaurant (located at 6 N Street corner Havemeyer Street) a tiny coffe place run by real French people. I should have known then that it wouldn't be a good day. We ordered tea and hot chocolate and when the charming french girl brought our drinks my friend ordered a crepe and I said: "Nothing for me. Thank you." and gave her my most lovely smile. Her smile vanished that very second and she informed me that usually they don't let people hover at the tables if they don't order anything. She'll make an exception this time because the place isn't packed. 'Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to drink my tea outside your front door?' If she was gonna make a precious exception for me why did she even bother spoiling my mood? My friend got her crepe and I felt very uncomfortable occupying my seat that could very well have been taken by someone else who could have ordered a crepe along with my friend. Seriously? It's not like we were sitting at the table, ordering tap water, refusing to leave. My friend had ordered food. The table was taken anyway; by her. There is no way the French people could have used the seat I rudly sat on without eating in any other way unless they would have assigned a new friend to my friend. We left as soon as possible and I hope the french girl felt really bad about herself when I left her a huge tip.