I have always loved deli pickles and have been inhaling them a lot recently, specifically Klaussen.
And, while many don’t call them pickles, I recently developed a fondness for green olives. They hit so right, I’ve been adding them to salads and lunch plates, even sneaking a few out at night. Yum!
I’m a big nature lover, so I’m not only picking up trash when I go camping/hiking. When I see these stacks, I usually dismantle them manually, tossing stones in separate directions to blend in to the surroundings. I find them a lot near creek beds and streams, so it’s obvious it was a photographic opportunity for some influencer.
If they are actual cairns (trail markers), I leave them be. They are more identifiable with obvious weathering and growth around them. They’re usually constructed with larger rocks so that they are more visible and endure the tests of time.
Musashi Miyamoto: I first read Go Rin No Sho (Book of Five Rings) at 7 years old. It’s always been a favorite of mine as I find his philosophy quite meaningful and practical in everyday life. I highly encourage the read.
Others:
Sun Tzu: The Art of War
Laozi (Lao Tzu): Tao Te Ching
You never go full shrimp.
Anime food looks amazing. I especially love Dragon Ball Super with all the food Bulma feeds to Goku and friends. Sitting next to Whis eating sushi would be top tier.
I do believe in reincarnation, in that we are all physical manifestations of what you could call “God”. That means that everyone you meet, every dog you pet, every ant you accidentally squish, is synonymous with the divine. We are all constantly reincarnating throughout the universe, and this should be looked at no more acutely than the cells in your body constantly dying and being reborn.
I guess you could call it pantheism, though I tend to follow philosophies like Zen Buddhism and the Tao and it still seems to work.
Looking at existence in this way can form a new understanding, nay, a new reverence towards your life and the universe. Then you will understand who you really are and why you’re here. The real power of God is in manifesting everywhere, all the time, all at once. After all…
And that is, of course, why the images of the Hindu gods are shown with many arms or many faces: because it is saying that all arms are the arms of the divinity, all faces are its masks.
-Alan Watts, Out Of Your Mind
Do you know what love is? A chemical. Electrons in your brain sending signals. Are you familiar with Ophiocordyceps unilateralis? It’s a fungus that infects ants. It’s amazing, really. The spores take over their central nervous systems and force them to climb to a high point, and then the fungus begins to grow up, bursting from the tops of their heads like a branch. And it kills them, of course. All so it can spray new spores over the jungle, infecting more ants. When people say love, that’s what I think of.
I like to bow and namaste. Even with the worst things, I still give reverence to the universe, and despite my dislike for something or someone, these too have meaning, somehow, someway. It is not my position to know why, just that I recognize it and accept it.
Did I ever tell you what the definition of insanity is? Insanity is doing the exact… same fucking thing… over and over again expecting… shit to change… That. Is. Crazy.
Those extended handshake durations will be his undoing!
There is a wonderful story about Ikkyu, a Zen monk who lived in the fifteenth century in Japan. It seems the governor of the province where Ikkyu lived posted a sign next to a twisted and gnarled pine tree. If you’ve hiked in high altitudes, or along the coast, you can often see trees like this – trees that have been sculpted by the artistic winds and rain they are exposed to. The sign read, ”Whoever can see this crooked pine tree as straight will receive a prize.”
“People who walked past the tree and read the sign stopped and tried to figure out this riddle. How could they see this crooked tree as straight? Many people circled the tree, some several times. Others laid flat on the ground and looked up from below. A few climbed the tree and one person brought a ladder so as to get a glimpse of the tree from above the crown. “But nobody figured out how to see the crooked tree as straight.”
“So the riddle went unsolved and word of this challenge spread throughout the province.”
“One day Ikyu came walking by and read the sign. He looked at the tree and immediately went to the governor’s estate. He claimed, ” I have solved the riddle and would like my prize.” Somewhat surprised, and perhaps a bit suspicious the governor asked, “how did you see the crooked tree straight?” And Ikkyu answered, “It is crooked.” A crooked tree is crooked and to see it “just as it is” is to see it straight.”
Most recently…
Sit down with a glass of unsweetened cold brew tea, ripping my Yocan Orbit after inserting a nice dab of a gassy live rosin, all while vibing to Akira The Don’s That Golden Sound album. Chill af.
Now he can get indoctrinated by a UA drone. Outstanding move.
I am done with Dave and Busters. What a shitshow. Some of the machines are always broken, the food is mediocre at best, and I just want to play fun games, not win tickets for shitty prizes. Where are all the real arcade machines?!
This isn’t even my final form.
I don’t pirate things I boycott. Professionals have standards.
Look, as long as they don’t mess with Lego, I don’t give a shit. Most toys are trash and I should know: I’m a parent.
Ay girl… ay girl… ay girl, I know you hear me…
Excuse me, nurse? Can you take my temperature? Because I think I have Jeffrey Combs fever over here!
It’s insidious!