“A Slumber did my Spirit Seal” by William Wordsworth [w/ Audio]

A slumber did my spirit seal;
I had no human fears:
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.

No motion has she now, no force;
She neither hears nor sees;
Rolled round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.

PROMPT: Habit

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

Movement and exercise.

Evergreen? [Tanka]

"the trees are green!"
except when blue, white, or black:
in morning sun,
in peak sun, in moonlight,
under dense clouds, or no clouds.

DAILY PHOTO: Scenes from Mussoorie

Monkey Insight [Kyōka]

langur in a tree
remains still as others flee;
it seems to know
my limitations as well as
its own capabilities.

“A Recluse” by Wang Changling / Amy Lowell [w/ Audio]

A cold rain blurs the edges of the river.
Night enters Wu.
In the level brightness of dawn
I saw my friend start alone for the Ch'u mountain.
I gave him this message for my friends and relations:
My heart is a piece of ice in a jade cup.
This is the Amy Lowell translation of a poem by Tang Dynasty Poet, Wang Changling (王昌齡) --a.k.a. Shaobo (少伯) 

Foggy Stream [Lyric]

A thick cloud nestled into the
valley down below,
I wonder if the forager
in that streambed knows
that it's sunny above.

Five Wise Lines (August 2024)

Empires arise from chaos, and empires collapse back into chaos. This we have known since time began.

The romance of the three kingdoms by luo guanzhong

Being poor is a mere trifle. It is being known to be poor that is the sting.

Jerome k. jerome; “On being hard up”

The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him…

Sun tzu; The art of war

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.

Jerome k. Jerome; “On being idle”

The wise man, like a child, can be filled with wonder at anything.

Tibetan proverb

DAILY PHOTO: Mussoorie Monkeys

BOOKS: “DC vs. Vampires, Vol. 1” by James Tynion IV & Matthew Rosenberg

DC vs. Vampires, Vol. 1DC vs. Vampires, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Site

In this opening volume in a series that pits a set of the DC pantheon of superheroes against a shadowy vampire cabal, we learn that the vampires are preparing for attack and that they’ve infiltrated all levels of society to degrees unknown — even the Justice League. This volume focuses heavily on the extended “Bat-Family” along with Oliver Queen’s smaller Green Arrow team, but includes many more superpowered characters in varied roles. Though it also ignores some of the most powerful characters, a big risk for such a huge ensemble cast. (One wants to save some big guns, but it begs the question of whether Superman is fiddling while the world burns.)

I like how tension was built in this story, and how information is revealed to the reader, allowing one to be gripped by questions of how the characters will learn what one already knows and with what consequences. The volume ends with a big reveal, though not with any kind of resolution. So, it’s not a standalone story in my view.

I found the volume engaging, but feel it suffers from the unavoidable problems of having too many characters, particularly characters of the god-tier variety.

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