The Clock
I am fanatic about watches and clocks. I have a lot of them: Five wrist watches; one watch is on my key ring and at least one clock in each room in my house. There is one in the living room, one in the bathroom, one in the kitchen, three in my study and one under the stairs in the hall… In addition, some of my household appliances have a clock of their own and some tables like the bedside table have a clock with an alarm as if fire would break out any minute. I usually need a ladder to reach the clock under the staircase. It is battery powered but two electric bulbs are inside to make it shine like a lamp. You can imagine how much work I have when summer or winter time sets in. Particularly the one under the steep staircase is not only difficult to reach but dangerous as well. I have to climb a ladder which I put between the wall and the banister. So, it is extremely unsteady. Some recommended buying a radio clock but I like the Roman numerals of the old clock.

I had an appointment. I knew I was late, so I hurried and was nearly run over by a car in my haste. I was out of breath when I sat in the office. I looked at the clock face on the wall. It kept ticking mercilessly. Then I turned my eyes to a painting on the opposite wall. A line in the middle read: Time is an illusion. The outlines became vague and the painting was eventually blurred when I fixed it. I thought of the biological clock, the Circadian rhythm or do you call it the internal clock? I mean I know wherever I go, there is a clock or a watch, even when I am on holiday. I know there is one inside me too. My body is a ticking clock.

I am persecuted by something which measures time; measuring something which doesn’t even exist. I know some people are past oriented and appointments are made for a time of day rather than a specific hour and I also know some others are future oriented and everything is scheduled down to the minute. I have to clock in and out everyday for I work by the clock. Please, don’t clock me but I think working is an insult. To me, the future is unknown. If you want to know it, why don’t you go to a fortune-teller? The past, although known, is transformed to a dream or a phantom and the present, what is it? It is devoured by the past as soon as it sees the light of the day. So, whether you place something unknown in front and something known but over and done with behind, doesn't really mean anything. Both are beyond reach anyway. When I am at home I keep my eyes on the clock until I run against the clock. If you know anything about clocks in addition to overclocking your heart or your processor, don’t forget when you are in a hurry: Time is an illusion.

 


Jamshid, 29 September 2007

Comments

I broke my dear watch one month ago.Now I keep on 'watching' my naked wrist . I look for the two hands but there is only my wrist and at the end of it: my hand. Long ago,I used to teach without the help of a clock or a watch so as to work my timing in the classroom. My preparations done, I tested them in situ and it worked pretty well. You should know Dr that I'm working with young pupils with many levels in one single class

There is neither watch nor ring just the expected passage of cows going home which announces the end of the schoolday. Did you think about cows as a time mark? no click just hooves on the pavement. Nice text again Dr!

Thanks Alain. The cow as a time marker reminds me of animal time concept. For example the time a she-camel needed to be milked again was used as a unit of time in some parts of old Arabia. The names of the days of the week show us how we developed our time measurement. I never raised the question but maybe somebody knows why the English have watch and clock. Is it taken from French (montre and horloge)? Watch could be a literal translation from French montre. Germans have only Uhr.

Yes, time took the fore a long time ago ( since Aristotle or Saint-Augustine?). Why do you mean by necessity rather than accessory? As for me, I object to making a judgement about values or aesthetism. I just try to forecast the likely changes technology might trigger in our habits. Time markers are many and linked to other functions on other modes ( visual). I also agree we should be on the watch as to the benefits or the effects of technology. I 'm thinking of education for example: the use of electronic messages instead of the traditional letter entails many unsuspected consequences : the pleasure to receive the object letter and wait ,the pleasure to write which takes some time, the wrist that aches could be on the wane. This classical side must not be overlooked even though one must be conversant with the latest technologies.

Cellphones just like pocketknives : many functions in one object. Video conversations.. To what extent will this functional condensation alter our habits and behaviour? I noticed that time wasn't so much asked in the street as it used to be. Is What time is it? soon obsolete ? What about bell towers ? Sometimes I wonder whether ticks will be heard or listened to by our children. It is already true nowadays. New habits, new soundscapes!

Don't you think so nowadays watches are accessory? and technologic devices such as moblies are necessity rather than a accessory.I think people use wathes as a fashionable, stylish accesory. It's no longer a tool which is for learning the "time". As people nowadays can learn the time from everywhere, from their "mobiles","laptops", "electronic organisers".Though it's relatively very new inverntion can you think of a life without your mobile phone? This fact, isn't it a proof that "mobiles" are necessity.