Quote from Peter Thiel

 If you're not allowed to say it---it's probably true.-Peter Thiel

Quote on friends

 My friend circle now is extremely small,it's not even a circle anymore.It's a dot.-from the Facebook page of Robert Kaplan,January 26,2022

Great quote on books

 I can't imagine a home without an overflow of books.The point of books is to have too many but to always feel you never have enough.-Louise Erdrich,BOOKS AND ISLANDS IN OJIBWE COUNTRY.

Quote from Marcus Aurelius

 Death smiles at us all;all a man can do is smile back.-Marcus Aurelius

Quote from Bertolt Brecht

 Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.-Bertolt Brecht

Man from Vancouver murdered in Costa Rica

 A Canadian man from Vancouver,Brad Deering,42, was killed in May 2013 in Costa Rica in an apparent home invasion.

                       He was shot outside his home in Escazu,near the capital San Jose.

                        Police said two gunmen dressed as private security officers broke into the gated community where Deering lived.They tied up a security guard,and attempted to burglarize the home,attacking four people inside.Deering was reportedly shot three times as he tried to escape.- CBC News,May 19,2013.

Quote from Pat Conroy

 A family is too frail a vessel to contain the risks of all the warring impulses expressed when such a group meets on common ground.-Pat Conroy

Quote from Ethel Barrett

 We would worry less about what others think of us if we realized how seldom they do.-Ethel Barrett

Quote from Keanu Reeves

 Sure I believe in God and the Devil,but they don't have to have pitchforks and a long white beard.-Keanu Reeves

Rwandan proverb

 A message is given to many,but those who are meant to understand,understand.-Rwandan proverb

Canadian filmmaker shockingly murdered in Belize

 Matthiew Klinck,a 37 year-old Canadian filmmaker from Gatineau,Quebec was found stabbed to death outside his home in Belize in January 2016.He was living and working in Belize at the time of his death.He was the victim of an apparent robbery.

                        Klinck directed the 2007 film GREG & GENTILLON,about two small-time comedians,and the 2008 film HANK AND MIKE,an Easter movie about holiday mascots.

                         Belize is a dangerous country.Sadly ,the supposed killers of Matthiew Klinck were acquitted by a judge in 2019 for lack of solid evidence.

                               This is so tragic.

               

Quote on grief

Grief changes shape,but it never ends.-Keanu Reeves,actor.

Quote from Keanu Reeves

Sometimes I go out and hear people talk about irrelevant things and then I tell myself this is why I don't go out.-Keanu Reeves

Quote from Desmond Tutu

We are made for loving.If we don't love,we will be like plants without water.-Desmond Tutu

Quote from Arthur Koestler

The progress of science is strewn,like an ancient desert trail,with the bleached skeleton of discarded theories which once seemed to possess eternal life.-Arthur Koestler

Quote from Wayne Gerard Trotman

So often,the discarded love of youth is desperately yearned for in maturity.-Wayne Gerard Trotman

Song by War that I love

Low Rider-song by War

Quote from Curtis T.Jones

A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world;it just blooms.-Curtis T.Jones

Quote on massage

When you massage someone,the levels of oxytocin go up in the brain,and oxytocin is one of the chemicals that drives attachment.-Helen Fisher

Quote from Mordecai Richler

Coming from Canada,being a writer and Jewish as well,I have impeccable paranoia credentials.-Mordecai Richler

Quote on books

A book has got smell.A new book smells great.An old book smells even better.An old book smells like ancient Egypt.-Ray Bradbury

Quote from Helen Keller

Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years who have lived.-Helen Keller

Quote from Rachel Kushner

If you follow their rules,they make more rules.You have to fight people or you end up with nothing.-Rachel Kushner,THE MARS ROOM.

Quote from Aldous Huxley

But I don't want comfort.I want God,I want poetry,I want real danger,I want freedom,I want goodness.I want sin.-Aldous Huxley

Quote from Benjamin Franklin

Each year one vicious habit discarded,in time might make the worst of us good.-Benjamin Franklin

Quote on power

Power is not something that can be assumed or discarded at will like underwear.-John Kenneth Galbraith

Quote from Seneca

All cruelty springs from weakness.-Seneca

Quote from Robert Rinder

I can smell a liar like a fart in a lift!-Robert Rinder

Quote from Joe Rogan

People for the most part can smell lies.-Joe Rogan

Quote from Margaret Atwood

In the spring,at the end of the day,you should smell like dirt.-Margaret Atwood

Quote from Herman Melville

It smells like the left wing of the day of judgment.-Herman Melville,MOBY DICK.

Another quote from Eva Hoffman

 The vision of an entire world becoming just like us is at least as discomfiting as the thought that most of it won't.-Eva Hoffman

Quote from Eva Hoffman

 The authentic is almost never found by being pursued;but there is no missing it when you are in its presence.-Eva Hoffman

Quote from Phil Jackson

 Winning is important to me,but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing.-Phil Jackson

Quote from Donald E.Westlake

 What advice I would give to anybody about anything.Life is a slow-motion avalanche,and none of us are steering.(When asked in an interview about what question he's tired of being asked).-Donald E.Westlake

Tree competition

 Trees compete for resources such as water,sunlight and soil nutrients.

Quote on architecture

 The only thing I learned from architecture is keep the bathroom and the kitchen near each other,so you don't have to run pipes all over the place.-Donald E.Westlake,source :www.avclub.com

Quote from Donald Westlake

 The trouble with real life is,there is no reset button.-Donald E.Westlake,DROWNED HOPES(2011),page 264.

Quote from Leon Krier

 In fact,the public will accept any city plan and skyline provided that its architecture is traditional.-Leon Krier

Quote from Helen Fisher

 Nobody gets out of love alive.You turn into a menace or pest when you've been rejected.-Helen Fisher

Quote from Neil De Grasse Tyson

 In any city with lots of skyscrapers,lots of skyline,the moon seems bigger than it is.It's called the moon illusion.-Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Quote from Jean de la Bruyère

 The first day one is a guest,the second a burden,and the third a pest.-Jean de la Bruyère

Quote from Viktor Frankl

 What a man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him.-Viktor Frankl

Quote from Joe E.Lewis

 Show me a friend  in need and I'll show you a pest.-Joe E.Lewis

Quote from Bobby Heenan

 A friend in need is a pest.-Bobby Heenan

Quote from Oliver Herford

 A pest is a person who can talk like an encyclopedia,and does.-Oliver Herford

Quote from Sylvia Plath

 I am a garden of black and red agonies.-Sylvia Plath

Quote from Leonard Cohen

 Let's be alone together.-Leonard Cohen

French chef murdered in Costa Rica

 A French tourist Christophe Jean Lietaert,48,was murdered in Playa Del Coco,Guanacaste,in January 2020 in Costa Rica.He was the victim of a brutal stabbing.He was stabbed in the neck,arm,and chin  while vacationing in Costa Rica.

                    He was a French chef.He had been in Costa Rica to celebrate his birthday.

                           An argument over a cellphone provoked the altercation that ended his life.What a sad and ghastly killing!

American doctor murdered in Belize

An American doctor from Virginia,Gary Swank,53 and his tour guide were murdered in June 2019 in Belize during a fly-fishing expedition.Dr.Gary Swank was a cardiologist.He was on vacation with his wife and school-age children when he was killed by gang members.What a brutally sad end to the doctor's life!

                              

Quote on marriage

Marriage,as an institution,is as dead as the dodo bird.-Joan Fontaine

Quote from Lawrence Osborne

His youth was a wingless Dodo.-Lawrence Osborne

Quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The heyday of woman's life is the shady side of fifty.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Quote from Jonathan Franzen

The first thing that reading teaches us is how to be alone.-Jonathan Franzen

Quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

I shall not grow conservative with age.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Quote on ignorance

Ignorance is not bliss.Rather,ignorance is blistering.-Craig D.Lounsbrough

Another quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

It is impossible for one class to appreciate the wrongs of another.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The more complete the despotism,the more smoothly all things move on the surface.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Canadian murdered in Brazil

Dean Tiessen,a Canadian and a father of four from Leamington,Ontario was killed in a botched car jacking on December 7,2013 in Brazil.He was in Brazil to explore opportunities for his agricultural business,& only moments before his death had been posting enthusiastically on social media about the beauty and opportunity of Brazil.What a sad and senseless murder!

Quote on anger

Anger can be borne-it can even be satisfying -if it can gather into words and explode in a storm,or a rapier-sharp attack.But without these means of ventilation,it only turns back inward ,building and swirling like a head of steam-building to an impotent,murderous rage.-Eva Hoffman

Another quote from Radhika Mundra

Spread love,joy and compassion because the world needs it,for hatred and pain need no escort;they know how to survive without it.-Radhika Mundra

Quote from Radhika Mundra

There is so much hate in this world,but the most despicable are those who find themselves entitled to hate because of mass opinion.-Radhika Mundra

Quote from Patricia Highsmith

My imagination functions much better when I don't have to speak to people.-Patricia Highsmith

Quote from Kyran Pittman

You can coat that shit in sugar,but it's still shit.-Kyran Pittman

Quote from Nelson Mandela

I never lose.I either win or I learn.-Nelson Mandela

Quote on love

For what is love if not a promise of eternal companionship?-Radhika Mundra

Quote from Franz Kafka

Truth is only an aversion.-Franz Kafka

The zombie ant fungus

One of the most famous fungi in the world is ''the zombie ant fungus.''It takes over the mind of an ant,causing it to climb up a branch and cling to the underside of a leaf before mummification.Once locked in place,the mushroom-like fruiting body of the cordyceps sprouts from the ant and eventually releases its spores.

Feisty seagulls

Seagulls screech at each other while fighting over a discarded pizza crust.

                         Seagulls often steal people's food;they are clever and intrepid.Some people get their French fries stolen by a seagull.

Atacos Atlas

Atacos Atlas,the amazing butterfly disguised as a snake is considered the largest butterfly in the world.

Canadian tourist and photographer murdered in Costa Rica

Canadian tourist and photographer Bruce McCallum was murdered in March 2017 in Costa Rica.He died after being stabbed by a thief with the intention of stealing his camera in Puerto Viejo,Limon.

                                McCallum was in Costa Rica during a sabbatical year that would take him to different parts of the world.He was a photographer and a professor of mathematics in Toronto.

                                             On the day of the murder,the 51 year-old was about to capture images of the sunrise in Puerto Viejo.What a sad end to his life!

Quote from Eva Hoffman

 There is nothing like a gleam of humour to reassure you that a fellow human being is ticking inside a strange face.-Eva Hoffman

Quote from Radhika Mundra

 Nothing inspires cleanliness more than an unexpected guest.-Radhika Mundra

Canada's First Lady of Jazz

 Eleanor Collins(born November 21,1919) is nicknamed 'Canada's First Lady of Jazz'.In January 2022,she is 102 years old and is still alive and quite healthy.

                       Eleanor Collins was honoured with a commemorative stamp in her name in January 2022.Congratulations!

Anna Swaney murdered in Belize

 Anne Elizabeth McComb(1976-2016),executive producer of digital operations at ABC 7 Chicago,was found murdered in Belize on January 15,2016.She was only 39.Shocking.

                                           American and Canadian tourists-beware while visiting Belize.Belize has a very high homicide rate.

Northern Indiana native killed in Belize

 Northern Indiana native Paul Signorino and an American friend were unfortunately killed in a machete and gun attack in Belize in May 2015.

Quote from Duke Ellington

 A problem is a chance for you to do your best.-Duke Ellington

Quote from Donald Westlake

 The older a man gets-----the longer it takes for him to get a grin organized.-Donald E.Westlake

Quote from Terry Pratchett

 Grinning like a necrophiliac in a morgue.-Terry Pratchett

Quote on loners

 If you meet a loner,no matter what they tell you,it's not because they enjoy solitude.It's because they have tried to blend into the world before,and people continue to disappoint them.-Jodi Picoult

Quote from Alice Grandoit Sutka

 I'm trying to practice a relationship to time that sees it non-linearly,and also as an abundant resource.It's an honest attempt to regulate and balance my nervous system by divesting from artificial timelines and capitalist urgency.-Alice Grandoit Sutka

Quote from Marty Rubin

 No lunatics are more ruthless or dangerous than the fanatics who claim to be on a mission from God.-Marty Rubin

Quote from Christopher Lasch

 In a dying culture,narcissism embodies the highest attainment of spiritual enlightenment.-Christopher Lasch

Quote from J.R.Tolkien

 Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.-J.R.Tolkien

Forest

 The Japanese have a phrase for time spent amid trees:Shinrin-yoku(forest-bathing)-" to absorb the forest atmosphere."

The Khasis

 The Khasis are a tribe in India that grow their own bridges.For generations they have passed down the art of tree-root manipulation,forming centuries-old 'living bridge's out of the powerful roots of the Ficus Elastica trees.

Central Park in New York

 Central Park in New York is home to a 3,500 years old Egyptian obelisk popularly known as Cleopatra's Needle.Weighing 200 tons,it was gifted to the United States in 1877 in gratitude for the US not interfering in Egyptian politics.

Quote from Arthur C.Clarke

 Human judges can show mercy.But against the laws of nature,there is no appeal.-Arthur C.Clarke

Quote from Rumi

 Look for the answer inside the question.-Rumi

Quote from Phillip Farris

 There is a big difference between your job and your work.-Phillip Farris

Quote from Wendell Berry

 In the stillness of the trees I am at home.-Wendell Berry

Quote from Bob Marley

 The truth is,every one is going to hurt you.You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.-Bob Marley

Bald eagle nests

 Bald eagle nests are generally 5 feet wide and three feet deep.The largest recorded bald eagle nest was 9.5 feet in diameter,20 feet deep and weighed almost 6,000  pounds.

Quote from Arthur Conan Doyle

 There are always some lunatics about.It would be a dull world without them.-Arthur Conan Doyle

Some obscure girl songs from the sixties I like

 1.Tied Up With Mary-Diane Ray 

2.Snow Man-Diane Ray 

3.That's All I want from you(1963)-Diane Ray

4.My Summer Love(Is Heading For An Early Fall)(1963)-Diane Ray

5.That Boy's Gonna be mine-Diane Ray

6.Just So Bobby Can See-Diane Ray

7.Slow Dancing with Don-Diane Ray

8.You'd be so proud of  me -Diane Ray

Quote from George Alec Effinger

I would rather win a man's mind than compel his obedience.-George Alec Effinger

Quote from Anais Nin

Ordinary life does not interest me.-Anais Nin

Quote from Donald Shoup

It's unfair to have cities where parking is free for cars and housing is expensive for people.-Donald Shoup(born 1938),professor.

Song by Opus that I like

Life Is Life-song by Opus.

Quote from Carl Safina

We put the murderer in charge of the crime scene.-Carl Safina

Quote from Mike Heath

Even the best of friends need time apart.-Mike Heath

Quote on war

War is a sink hole that sucks money and men into it and is never filled.-Margaret George

Quote on love

Love is not a landmine,but a sink hole.-Auliq Ice

Quote from Elizabeth Gilbert

So sadness is a place?Sometimes people live there for years.-Elizabeth Gilbert,EAT,PRAY,LOVE.

Quote from Donald Shoup

33% of urban traffic is actively seeking parking space.-Donald Shoup

Humor about sugar

My doctor told me my sugar is too high.So I moved the sugar container to a lower cabinet.-Kay Pennington,Middle Aged Humor,FACEBOOK,January 11,2022.

A few famous mattress brands

1.Sealy

2.Stearns and Foster

3.Tempur-Pedic

4.Serta

5.Beautyrest

6.Marshall

7.Aireloom

8.Hotel Collection

A few famous baggage brands(luggage makers)

1.Heys

2.Bugatti

3.Swiss Wenger

4.Delsey

5.Travel Pro

6.London Fog

Quote from Abraham Lincoln

Laughter is the joyous universal evergreen of life!-Abraham Lincoln

Quote from Jim Rohn

Don't join an easy crowd;you won't grow.Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high.-Jim Rohn

Quote from Jonathan Turley

In Washington,taskforces work like Tylenol:they reduce the symptoms of scandal while leaving the substance untouched.-Jonathan Turley

Procrastination

People generally  put off tasks that are gut-wrenching,aversive,anxiety-provoking or boring.

                          In order to avoid procrastination we have to  improve mood management around unpleasant tasks and also improve time management.

                                When you have goals laid out make sure they're not too big,stressful or overwhelming.Some big goals should be broken down into various subgoals and subtasks.

Quote from John Muir

 I am losing precious days.I am degenerating into a machine for making money.I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men.I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.-John Muir

Quote from Paul Auster

 I tend to think that everything counts.In the end,each life is no more than the sum of contingent facts,a chronicle of chance intersections of flukes,of random events that divulge nothing but their own lack of purpose.-Paul Auster,THE NEW YORK TRILOGY.

A dance song I like

 Rise up-song by SunKids featuring Chance.

Three Jennifer Lopez songs that I like

 1.Waiting For Tonight-Jennifer Lopez

2.Let's Get Loud-Jennifer Lopez

3.If You Had My Love-Jennifer Lopez

Quote from T.S.Eliot

 Success is relative:It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things.-T.S.Eliot

Quote from Thomas Merton

 But there's a greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question.-Thomas Merton

Quote from William E.Simon

 The advantage of the cauliflower is that if all else fails,you can always cover it with melted cheese and eat it.-William E.Simon

Quote from Bell Hooks

 Love saves us only if we want to be saved.-Bell Hooks

Quote from Amos Oz

 Nasty thoughts are more like worms in the cauliflower!-Amos Oz

Quote from Sharon Salzberg

 Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope---a slight change,and all patterns alter.-Sharon Salzberg

Quote from Louise Gluck

 Whatever returns from oblivion returns to find a voice.-Louise Gluck

Quote from Friedrich Nietzsche

 There are no beautiful surfaces without terrible depth.-Friedrich Nietzsche

Quote from Sun Tzu

 The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.-Sun Tzu

Unusual delicacy in China

 Eggs boiled in the urine of young virgin boys is considered a traditional delicacy in certain areas of China.

Expensive Singapore

 In 2021 Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in.

                       Singapore is tiny and land-scarce.

                                    But Singapore used to be a fishing village.It used to be sleepy jungle and swampland.In the 1960s the government of Singapore embarked on an urbanisation project  and put up a lot of high-rise buildings.In the 1960s,villages known as kampongs were bulldozed by the Singapore government;the government took land away from villagers and others and rehoused them in skyscrapers.

Three songs by 10 cc that I ike

 1.The Wall Street Shuffle(1974)-10cc

2.Dreadlock Holiday(1978)-10 cc.

3.Clockwork Creep(1974)-10cc.

Quote on January

We spend January walking through our lives,room by room,drawing up a list of work to be done ,cracks to be patched.-Ellen Goodman

Quote from Emo Philips

At my lemonade stand I used to give the first glass away free and charge five dollars for the second glass.The refill contained the antidote.-Emo Philips

Quote from Shawn Achor

The contents of the glass don't matter;what's more important is to realize there's a pitcher of water nearby.In other words,we have the capacity to refill the glass,or to change our outlook.-Shawn Achor

Quote from Greg Egan

Diaspora starts about a thousand years from now.Most of human civilisations has moved inside computers,essentially,a major branch of our descendants consists of conscious software.-Greg Egan

Quote from John Zande

We are all hydrogen's diaspora.-John Zande

Quote from Eleanor Crumblehulme

Cutting libraries in a recession is like cutting hospitals in a plague.-Eleanor Crumblehulme

Quote from Tom Waits

You're innocent when you dream.-Tom Waits

Quote from Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Think long thoughts in short sentences.-Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Song from Destiny's Child that you like

Survivor-song by Destiny's Child.

Quote from Khalil Gibran

Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future,but from wanting to control it.-Khalil Gibran

Connecticut

Connecticut's Griswald Inn is one of the most historic restaurants in the U.S- it's been open for business since 1776.

Quote from Howard Zinn

Historically,the most terrible things-war,genocide and slavery have resulted not from disobedience,but from obedience.-Howard Zinn

Quote from Nina Simone

You have to learn to get up from the table when love is no longer being served.-Nina Simone

Quote from John Madden

 Self-praise is for losers.Be a winner.Stand for something.Always have class,and be humble.-John Madden

Another quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 Human beings lose their logic in their vindictiveness.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902)

Quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 Self-development is a higher duty than self-sacrifice.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Quote from Euripides

 The wisest people follow their own direction.-Euripides

Quote from Alan Watts

 A man does not really begin to be alive until  he has lost himself,until he has released the anxious grasp which he normally holds upon his life,his property,his reputation and position.-Alan Watts

Quote on secondhand books

 Secondhand books are wild books,homeless books;they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather,and have a charm that the domesticated volumes of the library lack.Besides,in this random miscellaneous company we may rub against some complete stranger who will,with luck,turn into the best friend we have in the world.There is always hope.-Virginia Woolf,STREET HAUNTING.

Quote on opinion

 Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings,and not the intellect.-Herbert Spencer

Food waste and hunger

 Food waste is a symptom of a failed agricultural system;hunger is a failure of a political system.

Unique Canadian Prime Minister

 Until 2021 Wilfrid Laurier is the only Canadian Prime Minister to win four elections in a row.

Large Lebanese diaspora

There is a large Lebanese diaspora in The Gulf states,especially in Saudi Arabia.

                                  40% of Lebanon's GDP in 2021 comes from remittances sent home by Lebanese working abroad.

Quote on New Orleans food

New Orleans food is as delicious as the criminal forms of sin.-Mark Twain

Quote from J.D.Salinger

I'll read my books and I'll drink coffee and I'll listen to music,and I'll bolt the door.-J.D.Salinger

Quote from Patti Smith

I have loved books all my life.There is nothing more beautiful in our material world than the book.-Patti Smith

Quote from Cormac McCarthy

At one time in the world,there were woods that no one owned.-Cormac McCarthy

Quote from Dean Koontz

Every failure hollows out my heart a little further,and no success is able to refill any of that emptiness.-Dean Koontz

Theft very sad

In 1587,Mary,Queen of Scots carried her gold rosary beads with her to her beheading.

                                On May 21,2021 thieves broke into Arundel Castle and stole her rosary beads.

Quote from Dew Platt

A soulmate must be one to whom you can tell your dark secrets and never feel ashamed and someone in whose arms your instincts are unashamed.-Dew Platt

Quote from Alexandra Robbins

Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit.-Alexandra Robbins

Quote from Simone Weil

Contradiction is a lever of transcendence.-Simone Weil