Calvin: They say the world is a stage.
But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines.
Hobbes: Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell if we’re living in a tragedy or a farce.
Calvin: We need more special effects and dance numbers.
— Calvin and Hobbes, from “Calvin & Hobbes,” on the tragicomedy of life
—
image credit: sbs
thought it might be interesting
to expose the cats to a bit of world geography
while sipping a refreshing drink.
so far they have refused to take any quizzes
but i’m confident they are learning by osmosis.
—
“without geography, you’re nowhere.”
i have exactly one blog follower
in the micro country of liectenstein
with so many interesting things about this amazing tiny place
here are just a couple of examples:
in 1886 liectenstein had an army of 80 men who fought during the austro-prussian war
they suffered no injuries or deaths
and returned with 81 men because they made a new italian friend from the opposition army.
the army was disbanded soon after and they haven’t had an army since.
—
and then there was the accidental invasion which didn’t cause much of a stir:
i really love their approach to life
and i’m guessing my one reader is a pretty laid-back person
and with such a tiny country
perhaps a descendent of that new italian friend they brought back from the war?
here’s to liectenstien!
—
“be so good they can’t ignore you.”
-steve martin
—
image credit: expat.com
-frederick beuchner
one kinder who has created his own atlas
teaches another
about the world he’s discovered
by reading books.
and the Dinos are standing by too
just taking it all in.
—
“the wide world is all about you:
you can fence yourselves in,
but you cannot forever fence it out.”
-j. r. r. tolkien
kinders get ready to enter a ‘new/old world.’
—
“so many worlds,
so much to do,
so little done,
such things to be.”
-alfred lord tennyson
“the world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
-jean-jacques rousseau
—
the kinders know this to be true.
what a lovely little place
discovered on a walk in the woods
nestled beneath the old trees
resting on a blanket
of the softest pine needles
open to all who happen by
who lives here?
—
“when you’re wide open, the world is a good place.”
-sharon salzberg
—
nichols arboretum, ann arbor, mi, usa. november 2018
what is an antipode?
two places diametrically opposite each other on the earth’s surface.
they are very rare.
what is the shortest route between them?
a straight line through the center of the earth.
i recently saw ‘vivan las antipodas’
released in 2011
directed by russian documentary maker
victor kossakovsky
who had a radical idea
to visit these places
and shoot four antipodal pairs:
argentina/china
spain/new zealand
chile/russia
botswana/hawaii
he filmed it in a way
that literally
turned the world
upside down
and back again
for 108 meandering minutes
i was blown away
by the beauty
of
the landscapes
the people
the animals
the music
the colors
the contrasts
the connections
some things are universal
life
death
money
sex
family
friends
community
survival
love
it was
quietly
stunning
and
it was
dizzying.
