Translation not needed

Ahh... miss Japan.

(Pictures by Helene Dodet Portfolio. More here)

The Sound of Silence

"I should be able to live exactly as I chose, obedient to no necessities but those imposed by wind and night and cold, and to no man's laws but my own."

-- Richard Byrd

Maybe it is selfish to desire solitude.
Afterall a retreat into oneself necessarily means cutting off friends and family regardless of length of time.
And it is hard to justify at times, for it's not like all solitary beings are retreating to compose the next Walden.
But silence, especially in this increasingly interconnected world, is luxury.

"What is clear is that most of us persist in equating aloneness with loneliness, and company with companionship, despite a lifetime of evidence to the contrary. "We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers," is how Henry David Thoreau put it after two years as the sole inhabitant of a house he had built in the Massachusetts woods. You're never more alone than when you're in a crowd. A cliche, perhaps, but most of us recognise the truth in it."

- Read rest of article here.

(Picture from here. What a great view!)

the moments of perfect bliss

one Sunday morning as he contemplates the perfect moment:

a warm summer breeze from the garden, the scent of cherry blossoms, the chatter and giggles of his two young children from the nursery, and the sight of his young wife sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

Münster “suddenly felt pain creeping up upon him: a chilling fear, but also a realization, that this moment must pass.

This second of absolute and perfect happiness—one of the ten to twelve that comprised a whole life, and was possibly even the meaning of it.

(read rest of article here)

Chicago in spring

feet dangling off the bar stool

seated by the kitchen countertop.

chinese stir fry and 25 dollars prosecco

dancing shadows cast by moving vehicles

tall bay windows and muted greys.

when the universe and all desires collided

to create a silent moment of absolute perfection

(Picture from here)

Tres Chic

The ballerina theme really seems to be taking off this season!

What a great video to put one in the mood for a spring road trip. Vanessa Bruno and Lou Dillon; potent chic combination.

Ha ha ha

This made me laugh...Happy Monday!

(picture from here)

all you need is love

(Jackson Eaton portfolio, more here)

I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it.

In 1937, JD Salinger was a student at Ursinus College and fellow students remember him striding around campus in a black chesterfield with velvet collar and announcing that he was going to write the Great American Novel.

Arguably, he has.

And then he wanted to move on. But the world didn't want that and incessantly probed his quest for solitude and silence. They call him the American Tolstoy.

Quest for fame, fortune and recognition; everybody gets and it is, to an extent, not interesting.

To seek anonymity, not as a passive aggressive ironic way of getting more attention but a real sincere wish to be left alone and not recognized, that's too strange and hence much too interesting to respect.

Bliss of eternal silence.

"It's funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they'll do practically anything you want them to. "
-- The Catcher in the Rye

J.D.Salinger. RIP.