16 Mar Irish Catholic Boys School, Late 19th Century
"There once was a beautiful nun who didn't have any fun taking boys for a run because she had none." Merry Saint Patrick's Day...
12 Mar Peter Schjeldahl
"[T]he years that you spend as a nobody are painful but golden, because no one bothers to lie to you. The moment you're a somebody, you have your last truth. Everyone will try to spin you--as they should, with careers to think of." It is a blessing to interact with those who don't respect us, as it reveals much about their nature and how they perceive us; as well as our nature by virtue of how we react to them. In a society where people are politically correct to the point where even close friends don't speak openly about personal matters, no one knows who they or anyone else is....
07 Mar Bactrian Silver Trumpet, Late 3rd – Early 2nd Millennium BC
At first sight, this object engaged my attention; great presence (which has not diminished with time), surreal, and enigmatic as it seemed to have an ambiguous utility function. Initially, I thought it was a hearing aid; the top inserted in the ear and the bottom the mouthpiece. Others have guessed it a spout for pouring wine or an implement used for snuffing out a candle. However, notwithstanding other creative uses, it's a mini trumpet a shepherd would use to get the attention of another shepherd in the distance. Now, I see it metaphorically; a mouthpiece through which the breath of God enters a human head which processes the breath into sounds. The sounds are music. The sounds are signals, like words. An apt description of this blog as I, your humble writer, am just here to convert the breath of God into words for all to hear....
03 Mar Way Of Way 28
Intellectuals are mischievous entertainers. They make fools of those who take them seriously who in turn wreak havoc on everyone who doesn't....
24 Feb Way Of Way 203
Empathy is giving a beggar some money. Compassion is giving a beggar a job....
23 Feb Smart Guys, Wise Guys
Educational institutions identify smart guys who society ushers into jobs that make laws and rules. The smart guys painstakingly work at rule-making, take themselves very seriously and get quite upset when people break or find ways around their rules. Wise guys figure ways around laws and rules and invariably laugh, for relatively less effort they are better remunerated than smart guys. When wise guys figure ways around rules, smart guys eventually take notice and write more rules to thwart the wise guys. Of course, the wise guys figure ways around the new rules. This minor cycle continues until at some point the rules cause the wise guys to work relatively longer and for less renumeration than the smart guys. Then, the wise guys move on to other venues for better opportunities. Soon after, price goes up and quality goes down for the goods or services subject to the rule-making. Ultimately, it’s clear that the smart guys weren’t so smart. They’re fired from the organization at which they worked and their rules are abolished. A new system emerges with limited rules, causing prices to go down and quality to rise. However, soon after, smart guys are hired again to make rules. A new grand cycle then begins....
21 Feb Buddha Or Psychopath
There is a Buddha parable that goes like this: One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.” Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?” The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.” The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger is yours to deal with." At that moment, the angry young man awoke and became a lifelong disciple of Buddha. This story is reminiscent of my relationship with my father. From the time I was 13 until I went to college, my father was often angry with me; frustrated that I questioned his authority and mocked his core social and political beliefs. He screamed at me and on occasion hit me (not to hurt me but to vent his frustration). One time he said: "I wish you were never born." To which I replied: "That's your problem." Was my reply reflective of a Buddha nature or a psychopathic mental disorder? My father would likely say the latter (he at times called me a "sadist") as my reply didn't bring him to see the light; it just made him more angry. After my father's untimely transition from life at 60 years old, I was once overwhelmed by sadness and tears; reflecting on not having awakened father to experience life as it is and not solely as he was....