Day 2089, In the North.
Day's picturesAuthor: Christiaan van Gaal
Day 2088, or anything else.
Day's pictures
Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why it is violent? Because you are separating yourself from the rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality, by tradition, it breeds violence. So a man who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, to any religion, to any political party or partial system; he is concerned with the total understanding of mankind.
Day 2087, Bad air!
Day's pictures
Friedrich Nietzsche
On the Genealogy of Morals
First essay: ‘Good and Evil’, ‘Good and Bad’
12 – At this juncture I cannot suppress a sigh and one last hope. What do I find absolutely intolerable? Something which I just cannot cope alone with and which suffocates me and makes me feel faint? Bad air! Bad air! That something failed comes near me, that I have to smell the bowels of a failed soul! … Apart from that, what cannot be borne in the way of need, deprivation, bad weather, disease, toil, solitude? Basically we can cope with everything else, born as we are to an underground and battling existence; again and again we keep coming up to the light, again and again we experience our golden hour of victory, – and then there we stand, the way we were born, unbreakable, tense, ready for new, more difficult and distant things, like a bow that is merely stretched tauter by affliction. – But
Day 2086, empty.
Day's pictures, Poetry
Maybe it was me
that you were so full of yourself
~
but after the party
I found you
on the ground
empty
in the dirt
Day 2085, hearing.
Day's pictures, Poetry
When I was young
I could be still
hearing
you
~
but
like now
I don’t remember
what you said to me
Day 2084, adventure light.
Day's pictures
After visiting family in Salt Lake City (in 2016), we decided to drive back via another route then we came. We wanted to see the salt flats, and from there, we would see. On these kinds of driving vacations, we never plan too far ahead; we take a general direction, and after a couple of hours, we see where we are heading and pick a motel a few hundred kilometers down the road, and that’s then our goal. I like adventure, but it is also nice to know you have a bed for the evening halfway through the day; I still remember the days that you are still looking for a place to stay in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.
On this particular day, we decided to take a decent-looking gravel road south just after the salt flats and drove on this road for half an hour when we saw a smaller dirt road going more southeast. The road was pretty good, but we also drove a normal front-driven car, so I started to worry a little, especially when the first car we saw was a big pickup after an hour or so. I thought that the worst that could happen was that we had to drive all the way back to the main road, but after a little while, I saw a tiny car driving in our direction, so I knew we would be fine.
Day 2083, Nature.
Day's pictures
Henry D. Thoreau
Walden
The Pond in Winter
AFTER a still winter night I awoke with the impression that some question had been put to me, which I had been endeavoring in vain to answer in my sleep, as what—how—when—where? But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips. I awoke to an answered question, to Nature and daylight. The snow lying deep on the earth dotted with young pines, and the very slope of the hill on which my house is placed, seemed to say, Forward! Nature puts no question and answers none which we mortals ask. She has long ago taken her resolution. “O Prince, our eyes contemplate with admiration and transmit to the soul the wonderful and varied spectacle of this universe. The night veils without doubt a part of this glorious creation; but day comes to reveal to us this great work, which extends from earth even into the plains of the ether.”
Read the rest on Gutenborg.org
Day 2082, unclear.
Day's pictures
Friedrich Nietzsche
Daybreak, Book II
115.
The so-called “Ego.”—Language and the prejudices upon which language is based very often act as obstacles in our paths when we proceed to explore internal phenomena and impulses: as one example, we may instance the fact that there are only words to express the superlative degrees of these phenomena and impulses. Now, it is our habit no longer to observe accurately when words fail us, since it is difficult in such cases to think with precision: in former times, even, people involuntarily came to the conclusion that where the domain of words ceased, the domain of existence ceased also. Wrath, hatred, love, pity, desire, recognition, joy, pain: all these are names indicating extreme conditions; the milder and middle stages, and even more particularly the ever active lower stages, escape our attention, and yet it is they which weave the warp and woof of our character and destiny. It often happens that these extreme outbursts—and even the most moderate pleasure or displeasure of which we are actually conscious, whether in partaking of food or listening to a sound, is possibly, if properly estimated, merely an extreme outburst,—destroy the texture and are then violent exceptions, in most cases the consequences of some congestions,—and how easily as such can they mislead the observer! as indeed they mislead the person acting! We are all of us not what we appear to be according to the conditions for which alone we have consciousness and words, and consequently praise and blame. We fail to recognise ourselves after these coarse outbursts which are known to ourselves alone, we draw conclusions from data where the exceptions prove stronger than the rules; we misinterpret ourselves in reading our own ego’s pronouncements, which appeared to be so clear. But our opinion of ourselves, this so-called ego which we have arrived at by this wrong method, contributes henceforth to form our character and destiny.
Day 2081, horizon.
Day's pictures, Poetry
Utah, America, 2016
A long horizon stretches in front of us
and a path leads us
to the sun
the rain
or night
~
we don’t see a trail
but something urges
we don’t even see
where we tread
~
over and over
again
~
we always seem to be halfway
looking back
to the other horizon
that follows us
it seems
Day 2080, moments.
Day's pictures
In 2016 we drove from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City to visit family. We could have flown directly to Salt Lake City, but the drive through Arizona and Utah is really beautiful, so we chose to rent a car and drive. The roads are quiet, and you can drive for hours without passing a village, let alone a city. For me, the landscape is very special, the endless deserts with vast views, for some precious moments you can feel…
Day 2079, Calydon.
Day's pictures
I love to go to museums, but one thing that I do wrong is bringing a camera with me. With the camera in my hands, I look at the sculptures and jewelry but also how to take pictures of these objects and the rest that is exhibited. Doing this, I often forget to read what it is that I take pictures of, or I just glance at the text. I was in Greece 7 years ago, and for some reason, I felt the urge to see where all these objects I have taken pictures of are coming from.
I have found a lot of information on the internet, and you can read endlessly about the objects and where they came from and follow a trail of links. I do not intend to describe these objects in detail here on this blog; I just hope you get interested and start reading and searching yourself.
For this particular sculpture, I searched for the name of the museum in Athens, and after 30 pages of pictures, I finally saw a picture of this particular sculpture. I found the image on a site called hellenicaworld.com, and I found it specifically here and more here.
Day 2078, Rhyton.
Day's pictures
According to Wikipedia, a Rhyton is: a roughly conical container from which fluids were intended to be drunk or to be poured in some ceremony such as libation*, or merely at table. They are typically formed in the shape of an animal’s head, and were produced over large areas of ancient Eurasia, especially from Persia to the Balkans. Many have an opening at the bottom through which the liquid fell; others did not, and were merely used as drinking cups, with the characteristic that they could not usually be set down on a surface without spilling their contents.
*a ritual pouring of a liquid, or grains such as rice, as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead.
I also found some good information on this site mywowo.net
Day 2077, amazing.
Day's pictures
When I look at art or a jewel like this, especially made more than 2000 years ago, I always envision the artist or craftsman making this in patience, sitting in some contemporary workshop. I hear the noises outside their workshop and imagine what they think about while going for the groceries after work.
I also see all the little details and wonder how they made it and what kind of tools they used. Can you imagine making the little chains one by one, and what about the figure that protrudes out of the “chield”, if I correctly remember, it is not made out of solid gold but formed out of a thin plate. I think it is amazing, and the unknown artist will never have imagined that their work eventually ends up in a museum more than 2000 years later…and can be seen all over the world on a computer screen or telephone.
Day 2076, Artemis.
Day's pictures
Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the patron and protector of young children and women, and was believed to both bring disease upon women and children and relieve them of it. Artemis was worshipped as one of the primary goddesses of childbirth and midwifery along with Eileithyia. Much like Athena and Hestia, Artemis preferred to remain a maiden and was sworn never to marry.
Artemis was one of the most widely venerated of the Ancient Greek deities, and her temple at Ephesus was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Artemis’ symbols included a bow and arrow, a quiver, and hunting knives, and the deer and the cypress were sacred to her. Diana, her Roman equivalent, was especially worshipped on the Aventine Hill in Rome, near Lake Nemi in the Alban Hills, and in Campania.
From Wikipedia.
Day 2075, Amphitrite.
Day's pictures
In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite was a sea goddess and wife of Poseidon and the queen of the sea. Under the influence of the Olympian pantheon, she became the consort of Poseidon and was later used as a symbolic representation of the sea.
Amphitrite was a daughter of Nereus and Doris; they called her the personification of the sea itself (saltwater). Amphitrite’s offspring included seals and dolphins. She also bred sea monsters, and her great waves crashed against the rocks, putting sailors at risk. Poseidon and Amphitrite had a son, Triton, who was a merman, and a daughter, Rhodos.
From Wikipedia
Day 2074, Knowledge and Wisdom.
Day's pictures
Knowledge and Wisdom
Bertrand Russell
Most people would agree that, although our age far surpasses all previous ages in knowledge, there has been no correlative increase in wisdom. But agreement ceases as soon as we attempt to define `wisdom’ and consider means of promoting it. I want to ask first what wisdom is, and then what can be done to teach it. There are, I think, several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of these I should put first a sense of proportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a problem and to attach to each its due weight. This has become more difficult than it used to be owing to the extent and complexity fo the specialized knowledge required of various kinds of technicians. Suppose, for example, that you are engaged in research in scientific medicine. The work is difficult and is likely to absorb the whole of your intellectual energy. You have not time to consider the effect which your discoveries or inventions may have outside the field of medicine. You succeed (let us say), as modern medicine has succeeded, in enormously lowering the infant death-rate, not only in Europe and America, but also in Asia and Africa. This has the entirely unintended result of making the food supply inadequate and lowering the standard of life in the most populous parts of the world. To take an even more spectacular example, which is in everybody’s mind at the present time: You study the composistion of the atom from a disinterested desire for knowledge, and incidentally place in the hands of powerful lunatics the means of destroying the human race. In such ways the pursuit of knowledge may becorem harmful unless it is combined with wisdom; and wisdom in the sense of comprehensive vision is not necessarily present in specialists in the pursuit of knowledge.
Read the rest here.
Nochrisis 