Melvin Augustyniak

“I was living in a world little Dorothy from Kansas could never have imagined or expected”
― Amanda Adams, The Voyeur's Yacht

“Being as the event of Appropriation": Formerly, philosophy
thought Being in terms of beings as idea, energeia, actualitas, willand now, one might think, as Appropriation. Understood in this
way, "Appropriation" means a transformed interpretation of Being
which, if it is correct, represents a continuation of metaphysics. In
this case, the "as" signifies: Appropriation as a species of Being,
subordinated to Being which represents the leading concept that is
retained. But if we do what was attempted, and think Being in the
sense of the presencing and allowing-to-presence that are there in
destiny-which in turn lies in the extending of true time which
opens and conceals-then Being belongs into Appropriating. Giving and its gift receive their determination from Appropriating. In
that case, Being would be a species of Appropriation, an9 not the
other way around.
To take refuge in such an inversion would be too cheap. Such
thinking misses the matter at stake. Appropriation is not the encompassing general concept under which Being and time could be subsumed. Logical classifications mean nothing here.”
― Heidegger

“But if excellence is easy to admire it is hard to like,”
― Richard Yates, The Collected Stories of Richard Yates

“We!” he emphasizes, pointing at his crew, “get to be the first link in a new chapter in our history. But I want you all to really consider what is going on here…” He takes the tone of a circus ringmaster. “This is bigger than successfully colonizing Mars and Ganymede. It’s bigger than Columbus or Magellan. It’s even bigger than the first homo sapiens leaving Africa.” He raises his voice even more, waving his arms. “Hell, this is bigger than fish crawling out of the fucking water and growing legs! Think about it!” Everyone is quiet, avoiding eye contact with Calvin. Everyone except Captain Taylor looks at him ambiguously.
“Why not Cook and Vancouver?” Taylor asks.
 “Excuse me, sir?”
“You said Columbus or Magellan, but that’s preposterous. Magellan was a madman who tortured his crew and never made the whole trip, and Columbus, to be honest, is completely overblown. The dignity alone that Captain Cook commanded…”
“Yeah, yeah, OK. Cook and Magellan? Frances Drake? Whoever. The point is…” Calvin walks to the glass and points. “This,” the pudgy showman continues, “is right here, right now. Got it?! Everyone here needs to admit the real reason we want to go down to that mysterious blue planet, figure out the atmosphere, and collect some space plasma. It’s not because it’s our job. No. It’s time we’re all honest and admit we are now part of something much bigger than ourselves. It’s not just our job, it’s our story. It’s our story as human beings, it’s our instinct to explore!”
― Joseph A. Anderson, Eden 2:b