Anjou Pear

Red Anjous now can be found on grocery produce counters from late September or early October through the spring months.

The best indication of ripeness for any pear is the thumb test: gentle thumb pressure near the stem will yield slightly when the pear is ripe.

Depending on their level of ripeness when purchased, it may take several days before they are ready to eat. The results, however, are well worth the wait. Red Anjous develop a mild, sweet flavor with very smooth texture and abundant juices when ripe.

La Petite Mort

Having been surrounded, I thought it was going be a real problem … spending the night in a hotel room, queen size bed, windows wide open to the anticipation of a warm sunny day, and two travelers having come hundreds of miles … just to come:

“the pleasures in this world,
soft breeze, soft
thighs, a bit of music,
words that make
a good sound …”

It might cause us to experience some real discomfort, a little death or La Petite Mort!

Signals

So many signals around Fortunate those who decode
Plenty points to be found Where does the secret abode
--Hafez

How do you really know?

I knew it, I knew it! Behind those gazing eyes there was something deeper; an anxious excitement, trying to play it safe while exploring, discovering, and prevailing.

Dancing to the winds
Of the heaven’s dreams,
Your hair of silky willow

You toss and turn
till your neck, finally
finely settles on the pillow

But, how do you really know?

Where does the hand become the wrist? Where does the neck become the shoulder? The watershed and then the weight, whatever turns up and tips us over that razor’s edge between something and nothing, between one and the other.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16875

"Like an outdated map my borders are changing"

What does it mean to be finite?

To live in a lake, and hide

From waves, sharks, ocean’s wide

To travel down the same creeks

To abide by the same rocks

Take a leap beyond the rim

In the ocean you shall swim

Going beyond everyday whim

Just to find yourself scream

Rejoicing your infinite dream!

Festivus&Kwanzaa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Kwanzaa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

for or against

“If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be 'for' or 'against'. The struggle between ‘for’ and ‘against’ is the mind’s worst disease.” - Sent-ts’an, 700 C.E. China

the master

"You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door
that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall
find yourself before an audience, the pen still behind your ear, the ink
stains on your fingers, . and after a time the master shall say, 'I have
nothing more to teach you.' And now you have become the master ..

--Stanton Kirkham Dave

being a cynics

I recently set up a donation box in the main lobby of my dormitory to collect warm winter clothes for a local shelter. Today I saw my roommate donating a bag full of sweaters and shirt. The first think came to my mind was he’s getting rid of his old clothing. This thought was further reinforced with a piece of memory I had from his early Fall shopping spree. But, soon I realized I was labeling his actions as less than a noble act by attaching alternative motives to his maybe “wholly generous action”. Yes, I have become a cynic and I can’t find a way to escape from it! Why do I question people’s motive, and why do I give a higher weight to the less noble one? From a pragmatic point of view what difference it makes what the person’s motive is; all I’m doing is finding a match between a public need and individual’s desire to give away or to donate their belongings. There is no value judgment involved here!

 

Today

Yesterday is Already a Dream and Tomorrow But a Vision, But Today Well Lived Makes Every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness and Every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope!

How's it your fault?

But, how is it your fault,
When you're blind by default?
Or the wind that blows
And it makes you wipe your nose
Since it's cold out there
And a shelter is nowhere near!

My Heart (by firstcomet)

My heart,
I see time
finding it's way,
through my veins,
my hands, my face,
And alas, my soul!


My heart, remember?
Taste of bygone seasons;
Apple ciders,
Hot Chocolates,
Mango lassies,
And Milky-way punches?


My heart,
I hear you,
Ticking, embracing,
The weight of time,
The senility of future,
And the amnesia of now!


Will you be there
Next midsummer night?
To share the scent of delight,
To wake a quiescent star,
To sing a song on your guitar?

A Philosophy of Learning and Doing:

 

We can't learn everything at once. We can't do everything at once. We can neither learn nor do effectively without thinking about what we've done. So pick a goal that presents itself and try to meet it. When you have, stop and rest. Think about what you have done and see what you've learned from it. Then, after your mind is calm and thoughtful, go after another goal.                                     And again. And again. And again

 

To pass another day (by firstcomet)

Bear with me, until tomorrow,

Or sometime near,

Meanwhile, do something

Shave your beard,

Raise those eyebrows,

Put a nostrum on those wrinkles,

The snake oil, the dead-sea spa,

clean the wax your ears

Then just relax ...

To fool another self,

To pass another day!

Conflicts

This is a new topic that touches a very deep behavioral trait of those grew up under rigid educational or parenting systems. In particular, the more of a conformist an individual in such systems is the more stress he/she will face.

One definition of stress is the amount of energy one spends staying in an uncomfortable situation. In this sense the pain caused by physical exercise is a stressor, and the heavier your bench-press weights are the higher the stress.

The problem with growing up in rigid systems is that the individual has to constantly flight against his/her natural impulses. Ironically, the smarter you are and thus the better your performance record within the system, the more expectations are placed on you to conform to the norms. Therefore, the more constrained and stressful your life becomes. Eventually, you become your own worst critic and in a constant state of worry about how others might react to your actions.

How much you’ll miss out by not exploring the boundaries of your perception of properness?

Stanley Milgram

"My only pleasure is to sit on a curbstone and watch the sky for an occasional bird flying south for the winter. I am not used to being so very much alone, and I can think of a few sweet faces with whom I wouldn't mind sharing my pillow when the hour for sleep comes around.... I'm listless, uneasy, dissatisfied, bored and fed up. I suffer from status insecurity, incipient mononucleosis, and sexual privation. I'm the little man looking around for some totalitarian movement I can join." –Stanley Milgram

Maturation

The rain drops dissolving the ice cubes of longing

And the orange colored mangos dropping

In a sudden season of maturation!

 

Imagine!

… that the brain needs to categorize. And yet, imagination stems from the ability to break this categorization, to see things not for what one thinks they are, but for what they might be!

1) Perception->Categories->bombard with new experience

2) Fear response->stress, group-think, reframing events

3) Social intelligence-> familiarity and reputation, iconoclasts need connectors, butterflies do not change the ecosystem of the jungle ... trees do.

Ego (by firstcomet)

Just as my toast popped out
out of mind, my ego unwittingly dropped out
I bended over to pick up the junk
Just to put it back where it belonged
But then I saw two mice
Pulling it on opposite sides
So, I reached to my plate
And picked the only slice of bread
Split into half; one for Tom the other to Ed
Then, they both fled
And so I was left,
With the insipid ego instead!