Truth is always strange;

Stranger than fiction

— Lord Byron

The world is weird, isn’t it? Every moment of our waking experience (and a great deal of un-waking experience) over-brims with the strange; from the whimsical and enchanting, to the horrible and monstrous, and every ambivalent oddity in-between, our honest and unfiltered perception of the world can at times be so bewilderingly over-charged that the human psyche had to invent mundanity just to keep us from the paralysis of sheer, cosmic wonder (or terror). If existence weren’t boring, no one could ever get on with living, being so perplexed by the sheer improbability of existence in the first place. We can’t have farmers constantly distracted by the gloriously prodigal fecundity of every ear of corn—we would never eat! Likewise, no house would ever be built if the tradespeople were constantly wandering off to contemplate the mysteries of creation in which they are participating.

Mundanity is a useful heuristic as we try to decide where to put our limited resources of attention. It can, however, be misleading. If we allow mundanity to define our general attitude towards reality, we’ll go through life assuming reality is merely mundane. It is anything but. We are enabled to go about the business of living by the assumption that reality is merely a familiar machine, but if we allow ourselves a moment to see in under the proverbial hood, we find that what we considered a simple matter is, in actual fact, a bewilderingly complex confluence of parts, all quivering with ontological energy and temporal felicity. We find that even the simplest matter, the most basic atom, shivers with the joy (the rage?) of strange life. Such “insights” are my goal.

Admittedly, I have very few qualifications that should compel your attention. I am an electrician by training, a service technician by profession, a father, a husband, and not terribly much else. I’ll admit, I’m more given to “serious” reading than my otherwise utterly average station would suggest. So there’s that. Really the whole purpose of what I lay before you, dear reader, is simply to inflict upon the world the thoughts of some guy. But really, that’s what I’ve been saying all along, isn’t it? Something may seem perfectly average at first glance while containing surprising complexity underneath. But what do I know? I’m just some guy.

“Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.”

— Sir Terry Pratchett

“Do you know what it feels like to be aware of every star, every blade of grass? … You build little worlds, little stories, little shells around your minds, and that keeps infinity at bay and allows you to wake up in the morning without screaming!”

— Sir Terry Pratchett, again

  Let me introduce myself

My name is Dimitri Chantziantoniou. I am a blue-collar worker residing in Manitoba, Canada. My collar really is blue. I am father, educator, and judge to three little girls who regularly call into question my wisdom, my equanimity, and my sanity. I am husband to a wife who is probably my last tether to good sense.

I am an amateur polymath, who doesn’t actually have any time for polymathy. My interests include, but are not limited to, the studies of philosophy, religion, literature, poetry, and language, as well as several specific languages. I am fluent in Ancient Greek. I am not fluent in Russian, German, and French (but I’m working on it). I’m learning Latin and Sanskrit. I own a text book on Old Church Slavonic that I’ll get to (eventually).

I have no formal education beyond high school. I’ll probably never get a higher education than that (don’t ask; it’s a whole thing).

By creed I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian; though I must admit, a natural curiosity, and an easy-going attitude towards ideology means I’m not a very good one.