QUOTESSAYS

I suppose life in one way could be considered just a string of inconveniences strung together with breaks to eat and sleep. This quote is from the "prince of paradox" G.K. Chesterton. I pretty much realized by the end of high school that I was probably not going to be able to live my life with any form of consistent linear trajectory. In retrospect I truly believe getting my brain slapped around with what I am guessing was about 500 plus mgs of Oswley's finest LSD at 14 derailed any chance of me taking life too seriously from then on. Having no idea that the Kool-Aid I just drank contained enough acid for a bull elephant to trip balls just added to the adventure. I wasn't quite right for a whole week, more likely not quite right for the entire almost 60 years since that fateful day. The deck had been permanently shuffled. Hey, all's well that ends well. At any rate, and for whatever reason, I have lived life pretty much like a pinball game, getting shot out of the

Dalai Gun | Snopes.com My cover photo of the Buddhist kids playing with guns got such a wide range of response that it got me curious as to the Dali Lama's official stance on self-defense with firearms. I was surprised, but this quote has been vetted and is legit. It was addressing the present-day phenomenon of school shooters and had been asked him by a high school student in Portland, OR. Now it does have another part not included in this quote and that is: "Not at the head, where a fatal wound might result. But at some other body part, such as a leg." Actually, that is horrible advice. Even if you aim for center mass you will probably either miss or hit someone in their arm or leg. The police position is even more humanely Buddhist than the Dali Lama's, as in if you aren't going for deadly force don't even fire your gun. Trying to wing someone will just increase your odds of being killed or injuring or killing an innocent bystander. That only works if you a

  I sold real estate in the city with the largest concentration of Arabs in the USA. Many of the old-time agents would not work with them. Arabs drove a hard bargain. I was forced to, as I was a newcomer to the city and had no 'sphere of influence', as they like to say in real estate. I actually melded great with their style of business, made many connections, and did very well courting them. They had money, were smart, and came to the party ready to deal. I also had many conversations with them about the never-ending conflicts in the Middle East. There was a reason they were now living in Detroit. The major lesson I came away with was there was no clear cut right and wrong in the Middle East. I see the FB posts all day taking partisan sides as usual, from the safety of a padded office chair sitting in front of a computer. The usual mass media suspects are also lining up with their patented brands of distorted, one-sided propaganda of either 'Jew bad/Arab good' or '

 AI's definition of consciousness sure beats anything human philosophy, psychology, religion, or biology has come up with yet in my book. I get this funny feeling we may be a species in decline. I keep on hearing Nero's fiddling in the background whenever I hear the daily news, or a politician attempt to speak clearly lately. Something is just off.

  Actually I am a pretty happy agnostic. Just admitting I don't know is the only honest answer I can come up with. Any other and I would be lying. Atheism doesn't work for me any better than religion. Both take a measure of faith I don't possess. The spectrum of my five senses is way too limited for me to know anything really. I do have some theories though. The very first thing I do every morning, and have for the past 35 years, is turn on my tortoise's heat lamp(Sun) and give him a plate of lettuce(manna from heaven). After Urtles eats and suns for a couple of hours he goes to the corner of his luxurious habitat and scratches to get out. I pick him up and Urtles is free to roam the house for the day until I put him back in his habitat. The majority of that time will be spent fucking an old clog I have provided him(Eve) until he is tired and crawls under my bed, where I gather him up at the end of the night and whisk him back home, safe an sound. As Gods go, I'm no

 We are probably not even capable of comprehending any ultimate truth, or even define the word really. But we can organize our lives around concepts we make up. The results of that approach have been a mixed bag historically. The devil is always in the details. I get by with self-generated fluid illusions that I can morph to fit situations that may arise and avoiding people in robes or backward collars professing truth. So far, so good....