Encounters

Today a man came up to me on the street and told me he was a face reader or whatever you call it. He told me that I have a good life but poor luck. He said I have a smart face. But there's a lot of Yin stuff near me for a long time. That's why I have bad luck. And he said I carry other people's bad luck for them too. And that's why I have these dark eye rings and don't get fat even though I eat well. He said that's why I get dreams that jolt my body awake at night.

Then he took out a golden charm and told me that today is an auspicious day for me because I met him, and he's going to be my benefactor. He said all I have to do to get rid of this bad energy is to put the charm in water and use the water to wash my face. He said then my eyebags will disappear and things will get better.

I said ok cool, interesting. So are you going to give it to me or something?

He said I have to give a donation to the temple which would be $20.

I thought about it briefly because $20 isn't a lot to improve my quality of life drastically and solve my dark eye circle problem. Even for a laugh and some hope, $20 sounds ok.

This Side of Paradise

"Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sentimentalists think they want to be in the pure, simple state they were in before they ate the candy. They don't. They just want the fun of eating it all again. The matron doesn't want to repeat her girlhood - she wants to repeat her honeymoon. I don't want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again."

Real Love

That's all there is

Belief is the thought that that something is true although it may or may not be true

"I believe that the sky is blue"

Trust is the act where you extend a belief from a specific instance but a general quality possessed by an object

"I trust my eyes (to perceive the world around me accurately)"

Faith is the possessed ability to trust in a general quality possessed by an object

"I have faith in empirical observation (as a reliable and at the very least, safe, way of deriving knowledge)"

True Love Leaves No Traces

As the mist leaves no scar

On the dark green hill

So my body leaves no scar
On you and never will

Through windows in the dark

The children come, the children go

Like arrows with no target 

Like shackles made of snow 

True love leaves no traces

If you and I are one

It's lost in our embraces

Like stars against the sun

As a falling leaf may rest

A moment on the air
So your head upon my breast
So my hand upon your hair 

And many nights endure

Without a moon 

Without a star 

So will we endure 

When one is gone and far

True love leaves no traces

If you and I are one

It's lost in our embraces 

Like stars against the sun 

2am

The nights are getting colder. 

I know.

Love

Congratulations

There was a time when all I listened to was this song but I can't remember when exactly that was anymore

Spending a lot of time with my dad these days. On Monday I got home early from work. He was watching TV and I sat down on the other sofa and started reading the IKEA catalog. He asked, what do you want to eat for dinner? And I said I wanna go to IKEA! So we drove out and had dinner at the market near IKEA and then went to buy a few little things for the house. After that we came home and lugged everything upstairs. We spent another hour sitting on the floor building up the little bench I bought for my bedroom. The whole time I was telling him about my different colleagues and friends and work and places we should go visit as a family together. 

Feeling like I'm making things better around the house and taking care of my parents is probably what makes me happiest these days. It's really all I need.

Red Snapper

I think what I'm really stuck in is the idea that if I feel very strongly about something, then I have to do it. That conviction makes something make sense. But it's so obvious that it doesn't. At the same time nothing else really makes anything make sense. It's like how justified true belief doesn't necessarily work all the time. It's just all useful tips and tricks for getting on with life. You build up all this crap around you and really it's all just to keep you barely alive.

And for what?

Sunday