SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REAL WORLD BY ONE WHO GLIMPSED IT AND FLED 
Bill Watterson

"We're not really taught how to recreate constructively. We need to do more than find diversions; we need to restore and expand ourselves. Our idea of relaxing is all too often to plop down in front of the television set and let its pandering idiocy liquefy our brains. Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery-it recharges by running.
You may be surprised to find how quickly daily routine and the demands of "just getting by: absorb your waking hours. You may be surprised matters of habit rather than thought and inquiry. You may be surprised to find how quickly you start to see your life in terms of other people's expectations rather than issues. You may be surprised to find out how quickly reading a good book sounds like a luxury...

...We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success."

I think about your thighs,' he wrote in the second letter, 'and the warm, moist smell of your skin in the morning, and the tiny eyelash in each corner of your eye that I always notice when you first roll over to look at me. I don’t know why you are better and more beautiful than anybody else. I don’t know why your body is something I can’t stop thinking about, why those little flaws and ridges on your back are lovely to me or why the pale soft bottoms of your New Jersey feet that always wore shoes are more poignant than any other feet, but they are. I thought I would have more time to chart your body, to map its poles, its contours and terrains, its inner regions, both temperate and torrid - a whole topography of skin and muscle and bone. I didn’t tell you, but I imagined a lifetime as your cartographer, years of exploration and discovery that would keep changing the look of my map. It would always need to be redrawn and reconfigured to keep up with you. I’m sure I’ve missed things, Bill, or forgotten them, because half the time I’ve been wandering around your body blind drunk with happiness. There are still places I haven’t seen.'

Siri Hustvedt, What I Loved

So is it now I am a man

The Child Is the Father to the Man: 9 Foundational Habits Young Men Should Start Now to Raise Themselves Right

"... at this very moment, you are creating or “fathering” the man you will be in five, ten, and twenty years. So you want to be a successful, financially secure, physically fit, and well-adjusted forty-year-old? What actions are you taking NOW as a twenty-year-old to father that man?"

Whoever it is you fall in love with for the first time, not just love but be in love with, is the one who will always make you angry, the one you can’t be logical about. 

 

Jeanette Winterson, The Passion 

Dandy

Mr. Talese does concede that's he's not necessarily aligned with the times. "Now I'm an old guy, a retro fellow, maybe even stuffy. But dressing conscientiously is exalting in the act of being alive. When you go out on the town, it's an act of celebration…that you're here."

-Jacket (Not) Required

Close

 

If you want to work here, close.

Don’t depend too much on anyone in this world because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness. Ibn Taymiyyah

Why

 "But if you don't know why you do what you do, and people respond to why you do what you do, then how will you ever get people to vote for you, or buy something from you, or, more importantly, be loyal and want to be a part of what it is that you do. Again, the goal is not just to sell to people who need what you have; the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe. The goal is not just to hire people who need a job; it's to hire people who believe what you believe. I always say that, you know, if you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money, but if you hire people who believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood and sweat and tears."

Wrapper

-Joinery

Fizz

 -BS' in the Kitchen

 

The GBC (Gin, Basil, Cumber)

• 3 cucumber slices
• 3 basil leaves
• ½ tbsp sugar (or ½ tbsp of simple syrup)
• 1 ounce gin
• lime juice (to taste)
• ½ cup crushed ice
• ½ cup tonic water

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

Rope around

Tilt

-Kristoffer Sundin

Bob: I don't want to leave.
Charlotte: So don't. Stay here with me. We'll start a jazz band. 

-Lost in Translation

The Effort Effect

 Growth vs Fixed Mindsets.


The big surprise: some of the children who put forth lots of effort didn’t make attributions at all. These children didn’t think they were failing. Diener puts it this way: “Failure is information—we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, I’m a problem solver, and I’ll try something else.’” During one unforgettable moment, one boy—something of a poster child for the mastery-oriented type—faced his first stumper by pulling up his chair, rubbing his hands together, smacking his lips and announcing, “I love a challenge.”

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." -
Mark Twain

Wobble

“I would love to say that you make me weak in the knees but to be quite upfront and completely truthful you make my body forget it has knees at all.”
— Derrick Brown, Love Language

Request

 

-darling, you are not at war

Bloom

 

-?

let me touch you with my words
for my hands lie limp as empty gloves
let my words stroke your hair
slide down your back
and tickle your belly
for my hands, light and free flying as bricks
ignore my wishes and stubbornly refuse to carry out my quietest desires
let my words enter your mind
bearing torches
admit them willingly into your being
so they may caress you gently
within

-Mark O’Brien, Love Poem to No One in Particular, 1987

Feet rub

-House Doctor

Wrap

-?

House of

Twinkle toes

-?

Ohhi.

Point is

Sem título: Tecelar (Untitled: Weaving) , 1956 - Lygia Pape

Neck up

-Youngjun Koo

Sock pop

- Justin Bridges

Penny Lane

-Justin Bridges

Desire

Absence, element and new light.

Thumos

 ...a chariot (representing the soul) is pulled by a rebellious dark horse (symbolizing man’s appetites) and a spirited white horse (symbolizing thumos). The charioteer, or Reason, is tasked with harnessing the energy of both horses, getting the disparate steeds into sync, and successfully piloting the chariot into the heavens where he can behold Truth and become like the gods."

Thumos plays a role in both the emotional and evaluative parts of that equation. As we mentioned last time, the task of Reason as the “charioteer” is to take stock of his own desires, and those of his two horses, and then to choose to satisfy only his best and truest ones – those that lead to virtue and arête, or excellence. Reason’s ally in this task is his white horse, or thumos, which can be trained to help make this kind of judgment.

The way to best make use of thumos is “simple:” directing it towards its natural aims – that which is noble and fine, honorable and excellent. Plato believed that thumos was made to “fight on behalf of what seems to be just,” and the Greeks saw this force of the soul as essential in making moral choices. In the poetry of Bacchylides, Apollo declares that the way to “delight thumos” is by “doing holy acts…for this is the highest of gains.”

In order to get thumos to pursue noble aims, Plato argued, you had to teach it to respond to Beauty, Truth, and Goodness. This can be done, I believe, by learning to use, and finely tuning your innate radar for such things. When you encounter what is Good, you can feel it resonate in your soul and swell your heart. Interestingly, one of the functions the Greeks assigned to thumos was the producer of “reverent awe.” The proof that something is Good is that it helps make you a better man – it bears good fruit. The more your thumos picks up on these signals, and responds to them, the better it gets at doing so, and as this virtuous cycle continues, your thumos grows ever stronger and you progress as a man.

Thumos does not simply draw you to that which is good, it inspires you to fight for it. Thumos’ natural home is the battlefield. Its most essential nature is that of an aid to courage, strength, and indomitability for the warrior in combat. But its spur to fight operates off the battlefield as well. It drives a man to stand up for his ideals, cherished causes, and moral choices. It also fuels his desire for recognition, honor, and status – the drive to become the best of the best in any arena of competition – whether sports, profession, or even simply life itself. In any situation where you choose not to back down from your beliefs and goals despite opposition, and refuse to give in when others try to crush you, thumos is by your side.

-"Got Thumos?" - The Art of Manliness

"I've seen you, beauty, and you belong to me now, whoever you are waiting for and if I never see you again, I thought. You belong to me and all Paris belongs to me and I belong to this notebook and this pencil."

-A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway.

Lserz

-Tommy Ton

Cheeky much

When it comes to men who are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do.

Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #8: Success at Last

 
“Reading the works of men who had arrived, he noted every result achieved by them, and worked out the tricks by which they had been achieved — the tricks of narrative, of exposition, of style, the points of view, the contrasts, the epigrams; and of all these he made lists for study. He did not ape. He sought principles. He drew up lists of effective and fetching mannerisms, till out of many such, culled from many writers, he was able to induce the general principle of mannerism, and, thus equipped, to cast about for new and original ones of his own, and to weigh and measure and appraise them properly. In similar manner he collected lists of strong phrases, the phrases of living language, phrases that bit like acid and scorched like flame, or that glowed and were mellow and luscious in the midst of the arid desert of common speech. He sought always for the principle that lay behind and beneath. He wanted to know how the thing was done; after that he could do it for himself. He was not content with the fair face of beauty. He dissected beauty in his crowded little bedroom laboratory…and, having dissected, and learned the anatomy of beauty, he was nearer being able to create beauty itself.”

Press

-.L. (Ling)

I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes; on my face they are still together. Warsan Shire

Oscar Wilde said that if you know what you want to be, then you inevitably become it - that is your punishment, but if you never know, then you can be anything. There is a truth to that. We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing - an actor, a writer - I am a person who does things - I write, I act - and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.

-Stephen Fry

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.

"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Sprouts

-?

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look into the reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or our family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

 

Thich Nhat Hanh

White sides

-?

Borders and context.

Is that it?

"A lot of being able to to do that – to really laugh with someone – is to be present in the moment with them, and to not try and control the future, or manipulate the past. You just be with them. And you make fun of the guy in the too-tight blazer walking by your table together. Or she spills her coffee because you were doing an impression of your weird roommate and she laughed so hard she knocked it over.

That’s what matters, man. More than any candlelit dinner. You’re just going to shit that lobster out anyway in 12 hours. That laugh, though, will last for years.

Life is too short."


-Ned Hepburn

Pensive

John Coltrane and Miles Davis , NYC, 1959. © Don Hunstein.

"God must be a painter. Why else would we have so many colors?"
-Alicia, A Beautiful Mind

Gifting

-?

They told me that to make her fall in love, I had to make her laugh. But everytime she laughs, I’m the one who falls in love. 

- Tommaso Ferraris

Once you decide on your occupation… you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That’s the secret of success… and is the key to being regarded honorably

 

Jiro Ono - “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” 

Neckline

-?

More shots like this.

Feet stumpin

-?

Potted

-?

"Sometimes while I ride the subway I try to look at each person and imagine what they look like to someone who is totally in love with them. I think everyone has had someone look at them that way, whether it was a lover, or a parent, or a friend, whether they know it or not. It’s a wonderful thing, to look at someone to whom I would never be attracted and think about what looking at them feels like to someone who is devouring every part of their image, who has invisible strings that are connected to this person tied to every part of their body. I think this fun pastime is a way of cultivating compassion. It feels good to think about people that way, and to use that part of my mind that I think is traditionally reserved for a tiny portion of people I’ll meet in my life to appreciate the general public."

– Dean Spade

Stretch

-Jennilee Marigomen

 

Holy Cow Lisa from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.

Shaded

-Mr Harris Tweed

Navy. Pensive. Composed. Refined.

Seasons

-langleav

BW

"As tempting as it is to sum up their joint efforts with Kind of Blue, Davis and Evans were not all about melancholy and moodiness. On Jazz at the Plaza, a simple four-song album Miles’ sextet recorded live on Aug. 9, 1958, there’s a 10-minute version of “My Funny Valentine” featuring Davis and Evans as the sole soloists; Trane and Cannonball both lay out. Muted trumpet and brightly stroked piano are alone to spar, at moments halting and punchy, then playful and flowing. It’s a lighthearted conversation between two masters totally familiar with one another, enjoying the composition and the company."

-Miles Davis and Bill Evans: Miles and Bill in Black & White

Rock, scissors and some paper.

 

Have a seat

 -?

Twiggy

-?

Room touches: branches in vases; tied-up pile of firewood on floor.

Buzz

-Alexandra Grecco

Slain.

Sight

The adventure doesn't begin until something goes wrong...

A cynic once told G. K. Chesterton, the British novelist and essayist, “Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall not be disappointed.” Chesterton’s rejoinder? “Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for he shall enjoy everything.”

The grass isn’t greener on the other side. It’s greener where you water it.

Brushstroke

Jack Daniel's meets The Signpainter from Travis Robertson on Vimeo.

Spruce

-Printed Love

Succulent plants for my room.

Nothing

"We accept the love we think we deserve."
"Can we make them know they deserve more?"
"We can try."

-The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Combi

-GQ

Sharp crisp colour scheme; navy, baby blue, grey.

Slipknot

-GQ 

DIY bandana scarf

"I think we all speak a different kind of language than each other, but you sound a whole lot like coffee on a Sunday morning and the rain is falling bitter against the windowpane and your elbows are making holes in the countertops, and I only want to tell you that I wish I was as close as the threads of your t-shirt, and if I can’t be that, then I’ll be content with drinking my drink beside you, with the rain sloppy open mouth kissing the roof, trying to dismantle the etymology of a conversation that falls out of the realm of words."

-Shinji Moon, He Loves the Rain

 (Who is Shinji Moon?)

Around

 -Vanessa Gade

You'd go back to

-?

Ceilings. Pseudo-floating island top. No clutter.

Tiptoe

--because im addicted

The heart wants what it wants. There’s no logic to those things. You meet someone and you fall in love and that’s that.

-Woody Allen

Stance

 

 Power-posing.

"Just don't fake it to make it, fake it to become it."

Eyes

“The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Chorus

“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Parapsychology

Déjà vu, from French, literally "already seen", is the phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced had been experienced in the past.

Jamais vu (from French, meaning "never seen") is a term in psychology which is used to describe any familiar situation which is not recognized by the observer.

Presque vu is similar to, but distinct from, the phenomenon called tip of the tongue, a situation when someone cannot recall a familiar word or name, but with effort one eventually recalls the elusive memory.

Reja Vu is the feeling something that has happened or is happening will happen again at some point in the future.