[0157]

"Knowest thou not the beauty of thine own face? Quit this temper that leads thee to war with thyself."

-- Rumi

[0156]

What do you do when the things that once excited you, do so no more? When the things you once looked forward to only make you queasy at best now? I want to surround myself with new things to do, new gregarious people to meet, new shoes to tread the streets on, new food to devour, new sights to see. I want to oust the old and welcome the very much needed "nouveau." I want to feel invincible when I walk, shedding my old layers. I want to be able to escape into myself at least; especially when no other place offers much solace. At this point finding refuge even within my own being is a daunting task. I want to renew my view on life, to refresh what keeps me going. I want to be able to walk into that dark room with pumping music and not think about anything but the bass in my heart. I want to be able to sip that chocolate martini and not think about anything but the sweet richness on my taste buds. I want to be able to read Tolstoy's words and not think about anything but the literary genius before me. I want to be able to walk down the street on a brisk evening and not think about the things that constantly haunt me. I want my mind to just let me be.

[0155]

You wear nothing but you wear it so well.

-- DMB

[0154]

You think the shadow is the substance...

[0153]

And then he said...

If I were lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, because then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.

[0152] Words with no English Translations Part I

L'esprit de escalier: (French) The feeling you get after leaving a conversation, when you think of all the things you should have said. Translated it means "the spirit of the staircase."

Waldeinsamkeit: (German) The feeling of being alone in the woods.

Meraki: (Greek) Doing something with soul, creativity, or love.

Forelsket: (Norwegian) The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.

Gheegle: (Filipino) The urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute.

Pochemuchka: (Russian) A person who asks a lot of questions.

Pena Ajena: (Mexican Spanish) The embarrassment you feel watching someone else's humiliation.

Cualacino: (Italian) The mark left on a table by a cold glass.

Ilunga: (Tshiluba, Congo) A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time.

Saudade: (Portuguese, Galician) The feeling one gets when realizing something one once had is lost and can never be had again.

Sgriobn: (Gaelic) The itchiness that overcomes the upper lip just before taking a sip of whiskey.

[0151]

What an astonishing thing a book is. One glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of different epochs.

[0150]

"We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came"

[0149]

I'm tired. I need a new city, I want to leave all this behind. I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of this sunset.

[0148] Do you fall in love often?

Yes, often. With a view, with a book, with a cat, with photo's, with friends, with complete strangers...

[0147]

I have much to look forward to in life, much to see, much to enjoy.

[0146]

"Men always want to be a woman's first love. That is their clumsy vanity. We women have a more subtle instinct about things. What we like is to be a man's last romance."

[0145]

I've been walking in the same ways as I did, and missing out on the cracks in the pavement. Tutting my heel and strutting my feet. "Is there anything I can do for you dear? Is there anyone I could call?" No and thank you, please madame, I ain't lost, just wandering. Round my hometown, memories are fresh. Round my hometown, the people I've met, are the wonders of my world. I like it in the city when the air is so thick and opaque. I love it to see everybody in short skirts, shorts and shades. I like it in the city when two worlds collide. You get the people and the government, everybody taking different sides. Shows that we ain't gonna stand shit. Shows that we are united. Round my hometown, memories are fresh.

[0144]

Smart listens to the head. Stupid listens to the heart.

[0143]

[0142]

Said I don't want to walk this Earth if I gotta do it solo.

[0141]

Petrichor;

n. The scent of rain on dry earth.

[0140]

I was feeling like a creep as I watched you asleep face down in the grass in the park in the middle of a hot afternoon. Your top was untied and I thought how nice it'd be to follow the sweat down your spine. Caught by a wave, with my back to the ocean. It knocks me off my feet and just as I find my footing, here you come again.

-- DMB