DAILY PHOTO: Chandravalli Lake
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The Traveler’s Worldview in 14 [More] Quotations
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not. - Ralph Waldo Emerson Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. -William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. -Albert Einstein Some beautiful paths can't be discovered without getting lost. -Erol Ozan Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live for ever. -Mahatma Gandhi There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. -Albert Einstein The journey itself is my home. -Matsuo Bashō No matter where you are, you're always a bit on your own, always an outsider. -Banana Yoshimoto There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign. -Robert Louis Stevenson One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. -Henry Miller I don't want to die without any scars. -Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver Do not chase after what is true, only cease to cherish opinions. -unnamed Zen master If any man be unhappy let him know that it is by reason of himself alone. -Epictetus BONUS QUOTATION: Respect the Gods and Buddha, but don't expect their help. -Miyamoto Musashi
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Bucktoothed Monkey Mastermind [Common Meter]
I saw a bucktoothed monkey sit on the ground all alone. It looked the doofus - its dental- mental shortfall shone, but is the size of incisors a measure of one's smarts? Has anyone done the study, gathered data, made the charts? What if that dentally-outsized primate is a dreamer- a mastermind, a supervillain, or just a first-rate schemer? What if it just wants us to think that it's a huge dimwit? So, it doesn't show its erudition, or its razor-keen wit. Instead, it waits for us to be lulled to a false repose, so that it can show us we're all a bunch of biased schmoes.
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DAILY PHOTO: Sira Fort Ruins [Kasturi Rangappa Nayaka Fort]
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BOOK REVIEW: The Department of Truth, Vol. 1 by James Tynion IV
The Department of Truth, Vol 1: The End of the World by James Tynion IVMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
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This is the cleverest and most mind-blowing graphic novel I’ve read in a long time. Like the first “Matrix” film, it challenges one’s metaphysical certitude, making one question whether the world might – just might – work differently than we think. But, more importantly, it shines a light on one of the major problems of our age, and it does so in a smart way, recognizing a core conundrum – that there are no clear-cut right answers.
The sci-fi premise at the heart of this book is the idea that collective belief shapes reality, and, thus, conspiracy theories that gain enough of a following can manifest physical evidence of their truth. This is a fascinating concept, but – even without it – the book forces one to reflect upon what might be the single most important dilemma of our age. On the one hand, people would rather believe malarkey that confirms their worldview and ideology than truth that conflicts with it. On the other hand, if people don’t have the freedom to believe whatever they please, in what sense can they be said to be free?
As I read, there were many examples from our present pandemic in which one could see this conflict in action. I saw an article in which a person who took one of the COVID vaccines but mentioned that he felt quite sick afterward was ostracized as an “anti-vaxxer.” While I’m pro-vaccine and took my shots, I’m disturbed by the idea that “off-message” statements are being so vitriolically (and, sometimes, deceptively) attacked. “Truth at any cost” will incur a terrifying cost, I’m afraid. And, therein, lies the point of this book, that the issue is complicated and it’s by no means clear who the good and bad guys are.
I’d highly recommend reading this book.
View all my reviews
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Sunrise [Haiku]
in the desert, the sunrise burns brightly, as if sand burned
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DAILY PHOTO: Pointy Rock, Chandravalli Caves
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The World Through the Eyes of a Traveler in 14 Quotes
The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see. -G.K. Chesterton If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and avoid the people, you might better stay at home. -James A. Michener A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. -Lao Tzu Not all those who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Rings If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. -Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. -Rumi What a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms. -Kobayashi Issa There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -William Shakespeare, Hamlet Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often. -Mae West You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself. -Alan Watts The journey I'm taking is inside of me. Just like blood travels down veins, what I'm seeing is my inner self and what seems threatening is just the echo of the fear in my heart. -Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. -Mark Twain Go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company. -Benjamin Franklin Wade It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -Aristotle, Metaphysics
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Golden Silk Spider [Haiku]
the spider’s mind
is one with the silken web,
tripped by vibration
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Sloth Bear [Senryu]
turning towards one,
the sloth bear becomes
more bear than sloth
Tiger Riding for Beginners 