Oscar Wilde @ MindSay

During all the mass cleaning (mentioned earlier) I threw away basically all remnants of my junior high/high school life. I don’t really attach much feeling to stuff like that. What I did save during all my cleaning, however, is my books. I love books and reading.

 

So I’ve decided to collect books instead of other crap to hand on to my potential offspring/nieces/nephews when I die. Now this means I’m going to have to start searching for first editions and signed copies (all blessings upon google and ebay). After search around for a couple hours after having this idea I realized what an expensive and heavy hobby this is going to be. I think it will be more fun that way; a little bit of a challenge to keep buying books without going broke or breaking my book case.

 

At any rate first book I’m going after is “A House of Pomegranates” by Oscar Wilde. Currently I’m searching for a 1^st American Edition (as the English ones are over a grand, Yikes!). I found one copy that I’m considering buying.

 

I think my mom wishes I would save my money for college books, instead of ones that will sit in my apartment.

 

Tough shit though for her. I’m caving to my inner child and going “I want it, I want it!” It’s even more annoying when it’s the voices inside your head being juvenile instead of actual children.

 

Some months ago I wrote about our going to a 3-day trip to see NIN’s concert there. We visited a few things there. The weather was wonderful so we could have a long walk through the world-famous Pere Lachaise cemetery, where Jim Morrison was buried. I took a few pictures of that day… here they are…

 

First thing one has to see in Paris, I suppose, is the Eiffel Tower, especially because it wasn’t very far from our youth hostel. That’s the view we had while eating our sandwiches… I regret that Paris couldn’t afford to paint their buses another colour than the traditional Londonian red! Red buses for my beloved London, and nowhere else!

 

 

 

 

Le Grand Palais, where we saw an exposition on Egypt on the last day of our trip...

 

 

 

 

 

The same day, for dinner, we went to eat a delicious Couscous in a nice Algerian place not far from Place Pigalle and Le Moulin Rouge… That’s one of the best couscous place I’ve ever been to!

 

 

 

The day after, we went to The Pere Lachaise Cemetary and had a long walk there as it was sunny and not cold at all. There are very old tombs and many of them are quite particular, genuine and even spooky sometimes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one  I found spooky… there was only a small space to look into it, that’s why I used my camera to see what was inside… the view of that abandoned dusty child-angel appalled me …The burial dates were rather old too… It made me feel strange to think that no one has visited that place for a long time, maybe decades… it makes the place feel quite desolate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, this cemetery really looks like a Necropolis… I don’t know how to explain this strange impression I have when I have the opportunity to visit it… It is as if those older tombs formed a real city.. and in a way, they give life back to those who have been buried here.

 

 

  Chopin's Grave.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this frame funny, as it stood empty in such a place… so we had to find a way to enliven it a little!

 

 

   
 

"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid."
Lord Henry, The Picture Of Dorian Gray

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. " Oscar Wilde

 

According to a Japanese legend, two monks were walking down the road when they saw a finely dressed young woman standing before a large mud puddle. She explained that she had no way of crossing the water without ruining her clothes. Without saying a word, the first monk picked her up in his arms and lifted her safely across the obstacle.

 

A few hours later the second monk said in an accusatory tone, "How could you have picked up that lady? Don't you know that the rules strictly forbid us to touch a member of the opposite sex?" His friend smiled and then replied, "I put the woman down back at the puddle. Are you still carrying her?"

 

Like the second monk, many of us are still carrying old hurts, resentments, and lost opportunities that we picked up many mud puddles ago. As long as we remain stuck in the past, we cannot fully hear the inner voice, which speaks to us in the present. Thus, in order to tap our intuition, we need to release and heal our unfinished business.

 

By following the example of the first monk, we can put the past down and walk on. See your past experiences as teachings that have guided you to this present moment. An endless array of opportunities and possibilities lie before you. Immerse yourself in this good, and the old hurts will have no place left to make their home.