A treasure trove of the bizarre & the extra-ordinary, the beautiful & the refreshing.

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion" ~ Albert Camus

Playing with dolls

"As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." ~ Henry David Thoreau (from "Walden")

The Cinnamon Peeler If I were a cinnamon peeler

I would ride your bed

And leave the yellow bark dust

On your pillow (...) Painting by Hamish Blakely

Dust If You Must Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better,

To paint a picture or write a letter,

Bake a cake or plant a seed,

Ponder the difference between want and need?

(...)

At Times I Almost Dream At times I almost dream

I too have spent a life the sages’ way,

And tread once more familiar paths.

Perchance

I perished in an arrogant self-reliance

Ages ago; and in that act, a prayer

For one more chance went up so earnest, so

Instinct with better light let in by death,

That life was blotted out—not so completely

But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,

Dim memories, as now, when once more seems

The goal in sight again.



From "Paracelsus" by Robert Browning

Drawing: Cleopatra by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Sonnet XVII I do not love you as if you were the salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.



I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.



I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way



than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.



Pablo Neruda

"Some lose all mind and become soul, insane.

some lose all soul and become mind, intellectual.

some lose both and become accepted" ~ Charles Bukowski

"I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here… rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness… give me truth." There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;

There is a rapture on the lonely shore;

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and music in its roar;

I love not man the less, but Nature more... ~ Lord Byron

"Sadness gives depth.

Happiness gives height.



Sadness gives roots.

Happiness gives branches.



Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth.



But both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes simultaneously.



The bigger the tree, the bigger will be the roots.

In fact it is always in proportion.

That’s its balance." ~ Osho

Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?!"

Gossip A woman was gossiping with a friend about a man she hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this - that night she had a dream A woman was gossiping with a friend about a man she hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this - that night she had a dream (...)

The Road not Taken Two roads diverged in a yellow wood (...)

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real

Invictus

The Man & the Ostrich A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. As he sits, the waitress comes over and asks for their orders (...)

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave." Mahatma Gandhi Painting: Sabina Nore

"Some people never go crazy.

What truly horrible lives they must lead." ~ Charles Bukowski

Fun and relaxation are important...

Never argue with an idiot. They'll drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie Psychic Spoon Bender

Shortest Story Ever Told It is said that the shortest story ever told was written by the then young Ernest Hemingway, who said he could write a complete story in only six words! (...)

The Persistence of Frog

"If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher.

I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself." Confucius

Aldous Huxley vs. George Orwell Amusing Ourselves To Death

Comfortably Numb Numbness versus Sensitivity

The Education System

A matter of equipment A couple went on vacation to a fishing resort up north. The husband liked to fish at the crack of dawn. The wife liked to read (...)

Fawlty Towers Too much butter on those trays

Woody Allen "When I was kidnapped, my parents snapped into action. They rented out my room." "For some reason I'm more appreciated in France than I am back home.

The subtitles must be incredibly good." "Some guy hit my fender, and I told him, 'Be fruitful and multiply,' but not in those words."

"Work like you don’t need the money,

love like you’ve never been hurt

and dance like no one is watching." ~ Randall G Leighton

"When she transformed into a butterfly,

the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty,

but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back

into what she always had been. But she had wings." ~ Dean Jackson Butterfly, liquid drawing by Shin Young Ho

Kahlil Gibran on Children Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. Photo by Stanley Kubrick

"An intellectual

says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist

says a hard thing in a simple way." ~ Charles Bukowski

Australian Humor Questions asked on an Australian Tourism site & answered by helpful Australians Questions asked on an Australian Tourism site & answered by helpful Australians (...)

When you are old A poem by William Butler Yeats

Love Passion Obsession Painting by Fabian Perez

"Every word is a prejudice." ~ F. W. Nietzsche

The Story of Two Wolves A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson A Grandfather from the Cherokee Nation was talking with his grandson (...)

"Happiness only real when shared." ~ Christopher McCandless

The 3 Worst Chinese Tortures A young man was lost wandering in a forest, when he came upon a small house. He knocked on the door and was greeted by an ancient Chinese man with a long, grey beard A young man was lost wandering in a forest, when he came upon a small house. He knocked on the door and was greeted by an ancient Chinese man with a long, grey beard (...)