PROMPT: Oldest Clothes

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What’s the oldest thing you’re wearing today?

A pair of flip-flops I got in Tagbilaran, Philippines almost ten years ago when an airline lost our luggage and we had to replace our travel wardrobe from the slim pickings of a local store. (It was actually a well-stocked store, but Filipinos tend to be smaller — but when they aren’t, they’re apparently much bigger. So, sizing mostly went: XS, S, M, XXXL, XXXXL. And I needed an L in Filipino sizes. Actually, the bigger stock probably just doesn’t turn over. Maybe the lack of L’s suggested it was a popular size.)

Not bad for a cheap purchase meant only to hold up through a crisis.

Green Fort [Haiku]

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mossy-walled:
 the seaside fort blends
  with jungle backdrop.

Sleeping Dog [Haiku]

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waves crash on rocks;
 distant lightening flickers.
  dog sleeps - unstirring.

DAILY PHOTO: Stony Shore of Om Beach, Gokarna

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Foul Wind [Lyric]

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Trees are wagging,
   Whipping, and waving
 That were still but 
   A moment ago.
 Dark clouds snuck in
   With pattering rain,
 But, oh, how those 
    Foul winds do blow!

“The earth has many keys” (1775) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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The earth has many keys,
   Where melody is not
 Is the unknown peninsula.
   Beauty is nature's fact.

But witness for her land,
   And witness for her sea,
 The cricket is her utmost
   Of elegy to me.

Night Swimming [Free Verse]

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Trudging into lapping waves
   On a dim and dusky eve.

Chest deep
   One pops up, pressing one's chest 
      Onto the water,
   And swims toward a distant 
      Silhouetted rock outcrop.

But it doesn't stay silhouetted.

Soon, one is heading into
      A grand, black abyss,
   There is no shape in this world,
   Only the feel of limbs -- pulling & kicking.

Sounds grow ever more feeble --
      And ever more rare --
   Until the smell of seawater becomes
      A bright and vivid sensory experience --
         Layered & textured.

Rolling onto one's back, one can see
   Patches of sparkling stars
      In the cloud gaps. 

One lays upon the waves --
   Feeling as though one conforms to them 
       As one floats like a piece of driftwood --
   And sees the twinkle of distant stars,
      In a world too vast to understand.

DAILY PHOTO: Monkey Beach Monolith

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BOOKS: “Live Like a Philosopher” by Massimo Pigliucci, Gregory Lopez, and Meredith Alexander Kunz

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Live Like A Philosopher: What the Ancient Greeks and Romans Can Teach Us About Living a Happy LifeLive Like A Philosopher: What the Ancient Greeks and Romans Can Teach Us About Living a Happy Life by Gregory Lopez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Hachette / Headline Press

This book is for a person in the market for a philosophy of life, but who only knows that they want a system rooted in Ancient Greece. While the coauthors are all Stoics, the book explores twelve additional philosophies and gives each roughly equal consideration. In addition to the expected systems, such as Epicureanism, Stoicism, Platonism, and Skepticism, there are also several lesser known or defunct philosophies such as Cyrenaic hedonism, Cynicism, Pyrrhonism, and Megarianism.

The book is organized into four parts. The first examines schools that value pleasure (Cyrenaicism and Epicureanism,) the next investigates schools that focus on virtue and character (Aristotelian Peripatetics, Stoicism, Cynicism, and Political Platonism,) the penultimate focuses on systems encouraging doubt or caution in knowledge (Socratic philosophy, Academic Skepticism, Sophism, and Pyrrhonism,) and the last set are posed as questionable candidates for a life philosophy (i.e. those of the Pythagoreans, Megarians, and Neoplatonists.) The last three schools are questioned on various grounds, including: is enough known about what its practitioners believed, did they live their philosophy or just ruminate on it, and could the system be considered a full-fledged philosophy (as opposed to a stance on a specific issue or issues.)

The book is presented in self-help fashion, with each chapter ending in a set of exercises designed to help the reader build practical understanding of each school. The goal of these exercises (as comes together in an appendix) is to help the reader determine which philosophy is best suited to their disposition and inclinations.

I enjoyed this book. The authors use stories to convey ideas and the book’s readability is kept inviting to general readers. If you’re interested in better understanding Greek schools of philosophy, I’d recommend the book as quick and easy way to get a better grasp.

View all my reviews

“Loss and Gain” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [w/ Audio]

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    When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
  Little room do I find for pride.

     I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
  Has fallen short or been turned aside. 

     But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
  The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.