I experienced paparazzi today. I was photographed by strangers.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

- J.R.R. Tolkien

Damned if I do, damned if I don't

"A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."

- Francoise Rene Auguste Chateaubriand

Who should be held liable for loss in cases of credit card fraud if the merchandise cannot be recovered and returned back to stores? In cases where purchases are made online or over the phone, usually the retailer has to suffer the loss. This makes me question who the real victims of identity theft are.

"Your daily life is your temple and religion."

- Kahlil Gibran

Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: [nonchalantly] I was misinformed.

Why do I feel this exchange is analogous to the story of my life?

There is a light and dark side to everything. Swords have the capacity for killing, but I have a set that is decorative. Have you ever thought about innocuous things carrying the capacity for pain and death? Even something seemingly harmless, like a grain of rice can be calamitous. I accidentally inhaled a grain as I was eating lunch, and I had one of the worst coughing fits of my life! When I thought I coughed it out, I took a deep breath... and it went back into my windpipe! I started wondering if anyone has ever been killed by a grain of rice...

I think I'll start to write a play about this topic.

The most precious jewels aren't the ones found under the ground that are cut and polished. They are the glistening gems produced from the eyes, made by our hearts.

I'm sad you've left, and I'll miss you. But, the world is a small place.

The NPD Group, which researches trends in the fashion industry, has some interesting statistics. In 1985 only 25 percent of all men's apparel were bought by men, while 75 percent were bought by women for men. By 1998 men were buying 52 percent of apparel; in 2004 that number grew to 69 percent. Something has drastically changed in society. Other than responding to changes in technology, what other behaviors have changed so much in the last 20 years?

Watch "Beijing Bicycle" (2001) - you may never think of bicycles in the same way again.

I've been reading about a fascinating subject, but I'm uncertain whether I should continue to delve deeper into it. It seems dangerous. No, it's not about building bombs. I'm not going to say what the subject is, but it holds potential for tremendous emotional distress. And no, it's not anything illegal.

I'm giddy. It's funny when lightning strikes after you think there's no chance of a storm. I, of course, am not speaking literally.

Be very careful of your use of the term autopilot, especially when describing your behaviors.

Have you ever met and got to know a phoenix? I have. More than once. Exquisitely beautiful and profound, but they're on fire so periodically you get burned. It's hard to hold them.

Dreams (that occur while asleep, or dream-like encounters in life) are special mostly because they end, and very rarely can we revisit them. We should be grateful for the few moments we were fully engaged in them. Beauty and the sublime slip away. Maybe another sort will surface in the future. The wait, the longing, makes the resurface more exciting. But we should be careful not to read dream-like encounters or circumstances as real-life fairytales.

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."

- Horace Mann

I shout LOVE in a land muttering slack damnation
as I would in a blizzards blow
staggering stung by snowfire in the numbing tongues of cold
for my heart's a funny sharp-footed thing
that charges out whimpering
even when pain cries the sign writ on it
- Milton Acorn

Three small boys were running around on a lawn, shooting and blowing each other up with imaginary weapons. I'm sure they were all around two years old. It was cute, but I was a little disturbed. I don't think children that young should be aware of such violent things. My mother, who was beside me, mentioned that I had all sorts of toy guns when I was young. But, did I have them when I was two?

A tag on a shirt of mine says "100% cotton" even though it's 100% polyester.

While you walk from point A to point B try to do part of the route with your eyes closed. If your journey involves stairs, edges, walls or other obstacles, have a peek every 5 or so seconds. This can be quite challenging, but it makes your walk a WHOLE lot more interesting. I was doing this for a while today. I suspect that practicing this often will improve coordination and balance. You'll also probably get very good at estimating how many steps it takes to get to certain points. Watch out for other pedestrians though!