The sun is about 8 light-minutes away from the Earth - 93 million miles.

"If you aren't confused by the contemporary world, you haven't fully understood it"

- some contemporary writer

"Easy is right. Begin right
And you are easy.
Continue easy and you are right.
The right way to go easy
Is to forget the right way
And forget that the going is easy."

- Chuang Tzu, c. 500 B.C.

"The victorious seek battle only after victory has already been assured."
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This somewhat contradicts what I wrote yesterday. Sun Tzu, a practical person, was concerned about effectiveness, utility, results, outcomes, etc. So, what is the right/best philosophy to live by? I don't think a normative approach to this question is possible, or desirable. The way we should live is contingent on our situations, our circumstances. Therefore the philosophies aren't necessarily fundamentally opposed to one another. If it's really war you are waging, ethical considerations will be modified. You will do whatever it takes to win. If you are doing something else, e.g. playing a game or a sport, you will constrain your behavior (e.g. you will follow rules) and should be more concerned with the process than the outcomes. In war you would want to know your enemy's communications and their plans - so spies are important. In sports, you wouldn't want to steal the other team's play-book. Unfair advantage or cheating would sabotage your joy of victory - so process takes precedence over outcomes in non-war situations. But what about business situations? Or other situations where external gains, extrinsic rewards and results matter?

I suppose the point is not to come up with an answer (it might not be possible to). The point is to be aware of these alternatives and to have these deliberations.

It's the how, not the what. The process, not the product. The struggle, not the achievement.

The how is critical, rather than the what. What is true? The characteristics of things/objects/phenomena aren't true or important to you, but the relation (or process) to the things are. The way we relate generates the significance. Objectivity doesn't mean anything to us as existing individuals. Maybe it does as speculators or abstract thinkers. Objective, external truths are irrelevant, indifferent, and you can't be passionate/inward about them. We should hold truths through appropriation. That maximizes our individual confrontation. Truths relate necessarily and essentially to the existing individual.

Can I be certain that the choices I make are really mine?

Aaron (to a couple of friends): The most important thing in Tae Kwon Do is to wear a cup.

[uncomfortable silence ensues]

Rosh (to Aaron): Have I kicked you in the groin before? [NB I trained with him at Duke]

There is no shortcut when making fresh gnocchi. Start making it *before* you're hungry.

One of the lines/ideas from "Troy" (which I'm not sure was in "The Illyad" or borrowed from somewhere else) is that the Gods envy us. Because we're mortal everything is more beautiful. Every day, every moment, could be our last. Because they can have everything forever, perhaps their experience of phenomena is the same every time. For us, because we change and our circumstances change, every time we eat something, or look at something, we experience it differently. If we look at a painting now, and at it again a year or a month from now, it's a different esthetic object. Because of the temporal aspect, we may perceive different connotations and interpret it differently. Gods would just see the same thing every time.

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds."
- Edward Abbey

I understand why people like to kiss and be kissed on the mouth, but I don't get why dogs like it too.

Evergreen (Dusted Remix)

'nuff said.

Have you ever seen a fighting rooster? I've seen a bunch in the Philippines, but I've never actually seen a fight. I hear that they have blades up to 4 inches long tied to their legs. Needless to say the fights don't last very long, and the losing side have fresh chicken for dinner that night. Because of the injuries, cocks rarely make it past their 2nd or 3rd fight. It is estimated that the number of roosters that fight and are killed in the Philippines is between 7 and 13 million each year. Is it cruel and barbaric? Does it provide a useful outlet for people to contain their feelings about a number of issues?

Whoever can start manufacturing foods with oxytocin, or foods that increase our oxytocin levels will be very rich... and very loved.

I know someone who's friend was engaged to be married. The bride-to-be went down to the Florida Keys for a bachelorette party. After a day or so, she telephoned her fiancee and told him that they weren't getting married as she met her "soulmate" in the Keys. How disturbing is that!

It is more important to know who you are than where you are going, for where you are going will change as the world around you changes. Core ideology endures as a source of guidance and inspiration.
- ideas in an article about the importance of building vision for companies.

For today's youth the question of where they are going is as, if not more, ephemeral/ambiguous than the question of who they are. This is largely but not solely because of the poor job market. It provides a host of challenges that people of previous generations never had to face.

I've been saying on and off for about 3 years that I'm going to stretch like crazy and be able to go down into the splits. Once and for all, I'm going to achieve it! I have to set a deadline... which is hard to do. I wonder if I can manage it in 4 months.

Do I or don't I have a valence for the stereotype of the exotic, sexually uncontrollable, insatiable, heterosexual male?

Coconut water.

"No knot unties itself"
- Stephen Sondheim, Into the Woods