NOT TO GO ON AND ON...

...BUT WE HAVE THE SAME TATOO.

mr. df, let's make an appointment?

after our liquid brunch yesterday...
BECAUSE YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO GET WASTED
IN ORDER TO DESERVE SOME REHAB.
BODY CENTRAL: "one of the more blissful combinations of Swedish massage, reflexology, and dry brushing -- a treatment custom-designed to detoxify the lymph system, cleanse the body of impurities, and purportedly skedaddle fat cells."

ISABEL.

Hurricane Isabel, viewed by the international space station as it orbits over the storm.

THE NEW SEX GOD.

"Calvin Klein Underwear has a new face
-- if you choose to look at it --
in sexy U.K. soccer player Freddie Ljungberg." (movie)

but we will never forget...

Friendster Message

from mr. c

> Alright my friend,
V: we are friends now, humm?
> I switched up my profile to reflect myseld a little more. I don't want to send out mixed messages.
V: now i feel guilty. you should not listen to me. ask my friends...
> Anyway, the Raul Julia reference:
a- he's a hottie
V: flattered.
> b- Just the feeling
V: again: humm?
> I am curious to hear what you think of the updated profile. I want meet a down to earth, cool, independent thinking guy. Of course I want to be physically attracted...Does it project that?
V: but mine would be a biased opinion. it would be what mr. v thinks of mr. c. and i think he already likes what he has read. or what he PERCEIVES to be mr. c.
mr. v likes the fact he has tonned down his profile, he gets points for that. but mr. v thinks, above all, mr. c should be true to what he is (and what he is looking for) or he will attract the wrong kind of people. believe me: it's a waste of time. think first - be true to yourself - and then he will come around. (BUT, again, do not take my word on that: i'm still waiting for him too)(not to say i am TOTALLY true to myself)(i know, i told you in the beggining, do not listen to me. ask my friends...)

btw - i'm blogging this: that's what you get for calling me friend...

WE WERE SO COOL.

BAR DO LULU (a maneira de Fernando Pessoa e Noel Rosa)
by Otavio Ramos

"O bar do Lulu solta fogo pelas ventas.
Madrugada insinua ansias lentas.

A juke-box desfila Perfume de Gardenia
- me alegro ao som do bolero plangente -
beijo na boca uma negra do Kenia
(nada do que é humano me é indiferente)."

FATE vs. PREDESTINATION.

between the logarithm formula that tells me how many friends i can have
(log(N) = 0.093 3.389 log(CR) (1) (r2=0.764, t34=10.35, p<0.001))
and the bellow text on the chemicals our body releases when at the west side club, i ask, in 'carrie' mode:
FATE vs. PREDESTINATION:how much freedom there is from dna?

from: If the Buddha Dated by Charlotte Kasl

BIOCHEMISTRY 101: INTIMACY, THE LACK THEREOF, AND OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

According to Paul Pearsall, author of Sexual Healing, the biochemical response to constant infatuation, being "in-love", or seeking a sexual high without an authentic persona; connection leads us to produce large amounts of epinephrine, which creates chronic autonomic agitation or feelings of restlessness and nervousness. This, in turn, can result in irritability, fatigue, and the breakdown of the immune system, leading to chronic anxiety and depression. This experience truly is love-sickness. When people get hooked on the epinephrine high and seek only the thrill, just about anyone will do. Pearsall writes,"Hot reactive sex followed by cool feelings of regret or loneliness can eventually teach our immune system to be as... disconnected as we have been in our intimate decisions." On the other hand, when we create a mindful, loving, personal connection with another, and we are sexually attracted to that person, our bodies produce the hormone oxytocin, which contributes to feelings of intense closeness, thrust and sensual feelings.Incidentally, oxytocin is the same hormone that is secreted when a mother nurses her baby. According to Pearsall, "it's the neurochemical of intimate connection that also helps balance the immune system". It takes nearly four years of a growing, reciprocal, loving union for our bodies to stop creating a epinephrine high and secret oxytocin instead, which means that many people never have the experience of intense intimacy. When we combine the knowledge of our biochemistry with our spiritual knowledge, we can see that what is good for our spiritual journey is good for our relationships and for our immune system. There is no separation between the three. It's as is our bodies are begging us to love well, use our intelligence, and be wise in our choices.

MY FAVORITE SONGS.

You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart by Eurythmics.

Take me to the desert
Where there's got to be
A whole heap of nothing
For you and me
Take me to the desert
Take me to the sand
Show me the colour of your right hand.
Love is a temple
Love is a shrine
Buy some love at the five and dime
A little bit of love
From the counter store
Get it on credit if you need some more.
I'll be the figure of your disgrace
A criss cross pattern upon your face
A woman's just too tired to think
About the dirty old dishes in the kitchen sink.
I wish I were invisible
So I could climb through the telephone
When it hurts my ear
And it hurts my brain
And it makes me feel too much
Too much too much too much.
Don't cut me down
When I'm talking to you
'Cause I'm much too tall
To feel that small.
Love is a temple
Love is a shrine
Love is pure
And love is blind
Love is a religious sign
I'm gonna leave this love behind.
Love is hot and love is cold
I've been bought and I've been sold
Love is rock and love is roll
I just want someone to hold

SUMMERTIME.

...and the fridays are easy...
only one more left 'till fall.

GOOGLISM.

WHO IS VASCO?

vasco is $7
vasco is very handsome and i love him
vasco is infamous for holding a grudge against those who have crossed him
vasco is driven almost to exhaustion in his search for truth and self discovery
vasco is in despair for the world but blessed with optimism
vasco is starting to get nervous
vasco is very known for his texts quite explicit about sex and drugs and also in this exhibition he didn't contradict himself

I LOVE NY II.

Blood on the Street, and It's Chic

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated
the Gansevoort Market section of Manhattan as a historic district.
via gothamist

I LOVE NY.

Tuna Fish Buns & Lotus Mooncakes @ Dragon Land Bakery (125 Walker Street)
thanks mr. alo for opening up chinatown doors for me.

SEPTEMBER 11.

"There are places I remember All my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better. Some have gone and some remain. All these places had their moments, With lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, In my life I've loved them al" "I regard such terrible destructive actions as acts of hatred, for violence is the result of destructive emotions. Events of this kind make clear that if we allow our human intelligence to be guided and controlled by negative emotions like hatred, the consequences are disastrous." read His Holiness the Dalai Lama's complete message

NOT A TOTAL LOOSER YET.

25 %

My weblog owns 25 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?
via Mercurial

FRIENDS & FRIENDSHIP
or
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
or
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
or
IS THE SIZE OF MY NEOCORTEX THE ONLY CONSTRAINT ON THE NUMBER OF FRIENDS I HAVE?

"Evidence in primates suggests that the size of social groups is constrained by cognitive capacity as measured by brain size. After a point, the number and nature of group relationships becomes too complex and groups tend to grown unstable and fission. Based on these projections, human beings should reach a 'natural' cognitive limit when group size reaches about 150. There is extensive empirical evidence of social groupings of about this size in the anthropological literature. It is suggested that language arose as a means of enabling social interactions in large groups as a more efficient substitute for one-on-one social grooming in primates."

It seems that Friendster is a lot more than we first thought it could be. What simply started as a new way to hook-up, some people are theorizing, is the Social Software that will enable us to handle and deal with how we will relate to each other, or more specifically, how we will relate within our social network in the near future, taking in consideration all the new 'distances' (not, by any means, restrict to geographic ones) created by technology and its demands on us.

"Keeping up social relations is not simply about remembering everyone you've met or having a structure to keep track of them. It is also about having the time and ability to manage those relationships, keep information flowing, etc. Social networks are not simply about people that you can store to use as appropriate. Thus, i don't fundamentally believe that an augmented version of your network will give you the tools necessary to maintain more meaningful contacts."

This discussion comes at a time when i have been questioning what it means to be friends. Not that I use Friendster that much but it certainly has marked the beginning of a new era in social management. Beyond the sociological discussion it has also started a new software rush. Expect to see many new sites like it as in sixdegrees.com which appropriates the concept down to the name that Friendster only implied.

Apparently the anthropologist Robin Dunbar detected a cap in one's social network: he said that people can maintain up to 150 weak ties at any given point in time. 150 people, weak ties... The energy spent on maintaining those relationships... I know it is a status symbol to be popular - it's 'desirable' to have lots of 'friendsters'. But what does it say about a person? Can you seriously say you have 200 friends (the limit imposed on Friendster, not sure what's based on...)? Can you seriously say you have 20 friends?

Give me four true, meaningful friends.

I want friends i can talk to openly about me and about themselves. I want friends that will know me AND understand me even if by that i mean ACCEPT ME. I want friends i will know and understand AND ACCEPT as they are. Moles and all. It takes time and it takes an investment of time and emotion.

I want to be able to call you 'MY FRIEND'.

---

"THE SIZE OF MY NEOCORTEX" MORE RELATED READINGS:
Co-evolution of neocortex size, group size and language in humans R.I.M. Dunbar
More than one hundred and fifty Mercurial
The Magic of 150 Common Sense Advice
On Joining Friendster DaveXtreme

"525,600 minutes, 525,600 moments so dear:
HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR?
In daylights. In sunsets. In midnights. In cups of coffee. In inches. In miles. In laughter. In strife.
In 525,600 minutes.
How do you measure a year in the life ? How about love?
Measure in love, seasons of love...

525,600 minutes, 525,600 journeys to plan:
How do you measure the life of a woman or a man?
In truths that he learned or in times that he cried?
In bridges he burned or the way that he died?
It's time now to sing out - tho' the story never ends - let's celebrate!

Remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love, measure in love
MEASURE YOUR LIFE IN LOVE"

What God has joined together let no man put asunder

MY FAVORITE SONGS
LET NO MAN PUT ASUNDER
by First Choice
Frankie Knuckles Vocal Remix

I'm surprised to see your suitcase at the door
Remember the good times don't you want some more
It's not a perfect love but I'll defend it
Cause I believe that's what God intended

We got love too good to throw away

It's not over between you and me
It's not over don't want to be free

Genitalia

BAD PORTUGUESE WORDS: CHAVASCA

I AM NOT DEPRESSED

My friend Aurinha, a therapist in Belo Horizonte, would always get mad at our MISAPPROPRIATION of the word 'depressed'.

She use to ask:
Did you get out of bed today?
Did you open the shades?
Did you take a shower?
Did you shave?
Did you eat today?

"Then, you're NOT depressed", she would decide.

Biology Dictionary: DEPRESSION

Definition: Depression is the mental state of excessive sadness characterized by persistently low mood or extensive loss of pleasure and interest. To be considered a clinical condition, depression symptoms must have a duration of at least 2 weeks and include: decreases or sometimes increases in weight, agitated or sluggish activity, disturbance in sleep, appetite, and concentration."

Yahoo! Mail - jvascony@yahoo.com

PERCEPTION
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 12:20:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: mr. si
Subject: Re: thank you, mr. si

:-) everyone gets depressed... each of us for
different reasons. you are not boring... you are
always on the go. how can you be boring?

word of the day.

CATALYST
DEFINITION: something that brings about a change in something else
EXAMPLE: That's it! I've had with it. Let's move on.
SYNONYMS: accelerator, ferment, leaven

TAKASHI MURAKAMI

TAKASHI MURAKAMI
AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER

pic from Gothamist
Arts Briefing: "Mr. Pointy will be there. So will two giant balloons and a garden of mushrooms and flowers for visitors to sit on. The colorful attraction, part of which is above, under workers' care in Japan, is the outdoor art exhibition 'Takashi Murakami at Rockefeller Center: Reversed Double Helix,' opening today at Rockefeller Center and continuing through Oct. 12. Mr. Pointy, known in Japanese as Tongari-kun, is a 30-foot-tall Buddha-like sculpture that surveys 30 Rockefeller Plaza from a froglike perch. The balloons, each 30 feet in diameter, will be floating 60 feet above the Rockefeller Center ice rink."

GINA AND SINVAL'S WEDDING

We have been back for 10 days now and i've been trying to put together a site that would do justice to all the fun we had in Las Vegas. Once again, my high standards have made me loose so much time by driving me away from simple answers...

For now, this will have to do.

Gothamist

RETRACTION

"The authors of a US study that said Ecstasy caused brain damage had to issue this statement:

We write to retract our report...following our recent discovery that the drug used to treat all but one animal in that report came from a bottle that contained methamphetamine instead of the intended drug (Ecstasy).

D'oh! They did add, 'this apparent labelling error does not call into question the results of multiple previous studies demonstrating the serotonin neurotoxic potential of MDMA (Ecstasy) in various animal species, including several nonhuman primate species.'

Damn, like anyone is listening past the first admission that the study is wrong."

Quotes

"The opposite of loneliness, it's not togetherness. It is intimacy."
R. Bach

YOUR JOKING!
FROM CRAIGSLIST
Grammar Lesson
Lesson One: Your vs. You're


Let's get this straight once and for all, you offensive conglomerate of illiterates.

Your - belonging to you, e.g. - Your ass is ignant and shit.

You're - contraction from You+are (standing for, ironically, "you are"), e.g. - You're an ignant ass.

If you're still confused, let me use examples from your earlier posts, now corrected.

• damn, you're sexy


• you suck you suck you suck you're fucked up


• Discreet Encounter with Hot Hung Italian Deepthroat Swallower Will Swallow all your juice


• You: looking for 200+ porn dvds, I want your dirty underwear. [barter]
  
  and for advanced posters only:


• You're out of your mind.

Next week's lesson: Capitalization and Punctuation.

7 DE SETEMBRO:
INDEPENDENCIA DO BRASIL


Today is Brazil's '4th of July' and a quick scan through major brazilian newspapers produces almost nothing - articles. pictures, mentions...
What does it mean?
At least in the US, Independence Day has become the National Day of Barbecue & Fireworks.

At the Brazilian Consulate in New York's web site there are 2 cerimonies listed: a mass (separation of church and state does not exist in Brazil) and some sort of civical thing in front of the statue of Jose Bonifacio that, weirdly and for no special reason, sits at the entance of Bryant Park on 6th Ave.





"Jose Bonifacio de Andrada e Silva: was a Brazilian statesman and scientist, often referred to as 'The Greatest Man in Brazilian History' was born in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1763. Some say that in Brazilian history, Jose Bonifacio is what Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and George Washington were in the history of the United States but all combined into one person."

CLIPPINGS FROM SUNDAY'S NYTimes.

---

VOWS: Janis Ian and Patricia Snyder

---

SLIDE SHOW:
Where Here Ends and There Begins
"The history of the past two years has increased the talismanic potency of borders in our minds. And yet despite the terminal rigidity of those most oppressive borders -- former iron curtains, military checkpoints, the wall now rising between Israelis and Palestinians -- the fact is that many of the political borders on this divvied-up globe must look something like the ones in these photographs."

---

I LOVE NY
CASSANDRA WILSON
Battery Park, Sunday afternoon at 2; free
"Ms. Wilson, a jazz singer at heart though she's become much broader than the term implies, surrounds herself with an imaginative, magicked-up idea of American rural music. While her last album was mostly covers in the service of a Southern theme, her next, 'Glamoured,' due out in a month, is covers for the sake of covers; she sings songs by Sting, Bob Dylan and Abbey Lincoln over her typically slinky, misty group sound."

---

DON'T SAY 'CHEEESE'
Canada has banned the public from smiling or frowning for passport photos, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday. Canadians must send a photo with 'a neutral expression'

---

REALITY POKES IDEOLOGY IN THE EYE

| weblog

I BLOG
Yesterday i wrote that my blog is an evolving personal ad. Today i find a description that enlightens it best even to myself in an excellent blog entry at plasticbag.org.

As i said before, i go on appropriating:
The weblog is the homepage that we wear

"There's not a lot of difference between weblogs and homepages in some respects. Both are spaces to put written content online, for one. But the fact that homepages had no sense of standard structure, required manual updating, were unbound from time and were resolutely non-discursive meant that they were static, lumpen. At their best they became monolithic tomes - bunkers for content, guides updated haphazardly that infinitesimally accrete 'content'. In terms of the distribution of the word, the homepage was like a 'Time Out Guide to {your name here}'. The simple addition of structure and mechanisms for ease of publishing have made the comparable form of expression on weblogs so fluid and quick that it borders on speech. In terms of self-representation, the homepage is like a statue carved out of marble labelled carefully at the bottom where the weblog is like an avatar in cyberspace that we wear like a skin. It moves with us - through it we articulate ourselves. The weblog is the homepage that we wear."

WISDOM OF THE DAY.

Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.

Groucho Marx

New Scientist

SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION

Masturbating may protect against prostate cancer

Exclusive from New Scientist


It will make you go blind. It will make your palms grow hairy. Such myths about masturbation are largely a thing of the past. But the latest research has even better news for young men: frequent self-pleasuring could protect against the most common kind of cancer.

jvg.com

THE GAMES WE PLAY
"After a couple of weeks of playing around with Friendster, I've discovered what it's best for: toying with the delicate psyches of your friends and acquaintances. Ah, the bitter joy. Ah, the delicious power.

Top Friendster Power Games:

The Pre-Rejection
You just signed up for Friendster, and you notice that I've been using it for a month, and didn't invite you. Perhaps we're just not as close as you thought we were.

The Delayed Approval
You can see by my profile that I was active yesterday. You sent me a 'new friend request' three days ago. I haven't approved it. Maybe it's because I'm waiting to see if anyone worthwhile signs up to be your friend before I commit to having you on my friends list.

The Unreciprocated Testimonial
You wrote me a very nice testimonial three weeks ago, yet your page still displays the pathetic notice: 'No testimonials yet. You can add the first!' Gosh, it looks like you're more interested in me than I am in you, doesn't it?

The Mexican Standoff
You're one of John Smith's friends. I'm one of John Smith's friends. We know each other, we can clearly see each other in the 'John Smith's Friends' page, and yet neither of us has attempted to add the other as a friend. It's a battle for status, and the first person to send the new friend request will forever be the loser."

New York Post Online Edition: news

THE DANGERS OF MAN HUNTING ONLINE (thanks Rico for forwarding it)

NET PAL'S PENIS SLASHED IN GAY TRYST from New York Post

September 4, 2003 -- A 37-year-old man was slashed on the penis while having sex with a man he met online, cops said yesterday. The victim met his attacker, who is in his 40s, on the Web site Manhunt.com and arranged to meet him at an apartment on West 35th Street on Tuesday night, cops said. During sex, the second man pulled a knife and slashed the penis of the younger man, cops said. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition."

Latin Grammy winners : not sure why the latin grammy has a separate 'brazilian' category - nor if i agree with it. and where are the other latin languages represented? hispanics vs latins again?

we will come back to this subject at another time...

Best Brazilian Rock Album: Longo Caminho Paralamas Do Sucesso
Best Brazlilian Contemporary Pop Album: Tribalistas
Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown, Arnaldo Antunes
Best Samba/Pagode Album: 'Ao Vivo,' Alcione
Best MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) Album: Eu Nao Peco Desculpa Caetano Veloso e Jorge Mautner
Best Sertaneja Album: 'Zeze Di Camargo e Luciano,' Zeze Di Camargo e Luciano
Best Brazilian Roots/Regional Album: 'Chegando De Mansinho,' Dominguinhos
Best Brazilian Song (Portuguese Language): 'Tristesse,' Milton Nascimento (Milton Nascimento e Maria Rita Mariano)
Best Latin Children's Album: 'Xuxa So Para Baixinhos 3,' Xuxa

MASTURBATION AS A METAPHOR II

-----from my mailbox-----
Re: and now, ur point???

> V... g'morning......

well ... read ur blog this a.m....
i wanted to tell you i think masturbation is a healthy thing ...
although i am responding to your blog at face value...
i do think you meant it as a metaphor for many other issues regarding self restraint ...
such as drugs.... laziness ... over indulgences ... i am curious how u relate to it ...
and why u choose that as a thought of the day...

why did it inspire you to use it so all those that read your thoughts would read it???

very curious...curious indeed....

----------

I LOVE TO READ but, most importantly, i LOVE to share with my friends things i find interesting in my readings.

My first job, 1981, while i still was in college in Belo Horizonte (Communications, which in Brazil can lead to a career in Journalism, Advertising or PR) was at the Communication Office for the State Bank of Minas Gerais.

My favorite responsibility was to read all major national newspapers and magazines and put together a 'clipping' of the news that matter for the President and Directors. Little did they know about the trotskyist in me. Little by little i started to include things that didn't matter (pictures, cartoons, cultural news...) and to expand the distribution (i.e. my friends outside the company and people i liked within the company). The day the President called my boss to complain he had not received his copy was the day i felt there was a purpose at that time: revolution will come from within....

One year later my clippings where out of hand. Most of it were news that didn't matter and the distribution list was more inflated than the country's economy: i always carried a stack in my car for the regulars at Bar do Lulu. Most importantly, i had had a conflict of interest with the trotskyist in BH: they wanted me to go under in the 'revolutionary movement' and i wanted to come out of the closet.

Fast forward 20 years and a couple of lives and i find myself in NY so appaled by the contents of my internet mailbox (mostly junk, INCLUDING and ESPECIALLY jokes, dirty pics and chain mail) that i take upon myself the QUIXOTIC task of elevating the level of the discussion by mailing 'internet clippings' to my friends. Some loved, most didn't have a comment and one asked to be removed from my list because his mailbox was already full of junk.

I guess that mailing list was this blog's relative that passed away.

I never really thought too much about my choice of clipping. They were things i found interesting. That i wanted my friends to read. SIGNPOSTS SO WE WOULD NOT LOOSE EACH OTHER BY TAKING DIFFERENT TURNS ON THE ROAD. Sellfish? Nah, just afraid we would not recognize each other at the end.

Recently, in talking with two important new people in my life - that learned so much about me so fast that i CANNOT not believe in spiritual connection (is it, then, a sign that GOD exists?) - i've come to realize that all along these clippings have been a constantly evolving PERSONAL AD. This is who I really am, these are the things that interest me: all of them. The serious AND the silly.

I'm the sum of this blog. It doesn't make sense? It's incomplete?

I know.

EVOLUTION.
I just had an insight on why i LOVED the movie "Adaptation" so much: i'm just like that screenplay writer, trying to convey too much in too little and, in the process, never finishing the story, leading him into feeling frustrated.
And the opposite of the actual book writer, who was able to convey everything from orchidae fila to the meaning of life with stops on the history of Florida in a very pleasant and accessible way.

BUT I DIGRESS...

MASTURBATION AS A METAPHOR
or
CAN FREUD EXPLAIN?
MY POSTING CHOICES

"The conscious level of mental activity is the level on which all thought processes occur. What one thinks, conceptualizes, or understands takes place on this level of activity. The pre-conscious is where information is stored away, but is easily obtainable. Fond memories and the knowledge of how to perform day-to-day activities are examples of information stored at this level. The unconscious is where memories and information are stored which cannot be accessed readily. Most of a person's past history is stored on this level of consciousness, as well as those thoughts and memories which have been put out of mind in order to preserve a person's mental stability and/or to prevent pain (repressed).

FREUD noticed the many conflicts within thought and mental processes, and the seeming battle between levels of consciousness led him to define these forces. He identified three distinct forces, which he referred to as the id, ego, and superego.

FREUD defined the id as the drive within us to bring ourselves pleasure (the pleasure principle). The id is concerned with satiating all basic urges from thirst and hunger to sexual desire, and is determined to attain satisfaction at any cost. People act on the id alone when first born, and as time progresses, they learn to suppress these desires in the interest of conventionality; they realize that a person cannot merely have whatever he/she wants whenever he/she wants it, and that the individual must act in accordance with society. A person who is very spontaneous, hedonistic, or self-centered may be a product of their id, and the inability/unwillingness to repress or suppress it. The desires of the id are often placed in the subconscious, and can manifest in dreams in order to bring about wish fulfillment, so that the individual is not psychologically damaged by the constant suppression of these thoughts and the inability to relieve the tension that causes.

The ego is what brings about one's understanding that one is a part of a society, and cannot always satisfy the urges of the id. The ego does not necessarily ignore the id, but rather governs and controls it. It often devises a plan to obtain that which the id desires; for example, responding to hunger by waiting until lunch-time and going to the store to buy a sandwich, the ego has satisfied the will of the id, but done so in a controlled manner, rather than ravenously seeking out food when hunger is first sensed. The ego is often seen as being responsible for practical and rational decision making.

The superego governs over all of these, and is often seen as the conscience. The superego is concerned with the long-term ramifications of actions, adherence to what is "right and wrong," and producing pride or guilt as a result of one's actions. The superego is often more a product of society than the individual, as society dictates what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior; it often tends to direct the individual to act in a way which is viewed as positive by society, even if at the expense of personal satisfaction.

It is clear that the mind is very rarely dominated by merely one of these forces, due to the fact that by nature they often conflict; one can see that the need to provide satisfaction with disregard for society (the id) is a polar opposite of the need to satisfy the will of society with disregard for the individual (the superego). The purpose of these different forces would seem to be providing a "check and balance" system for the mind, and insuring mental stability and personal wellbeing."

Tongue-in-Cheek

Most people have difficulty saying anything with their tongue in their cheek.
EXPLAINING TONGUE-IN-CHEEK
But some people actually do stick their tongue against the inside of their cheek after saying a joke to show that they're only kidding.

Nerve.com - Scanner by the Nerve Staff

Nerve.com - Scanner by the Nerve Staff:

"Relax, Don't Do It

Suggestions for overcoming the urge to masturbate, from a Mormon missionary guidebook circa 1970.

When the temptation to masturbate is strong, yell _STOP_ to those thoughts as loudly as you can in your mind and then recite a pre-chosen Scripture or sing an inspirational hymn. It is important to turn your thoughts away from the selfish need to indulge.

Make a pocket calendar for a month on a small card. Carry it with you, but show it to no one. If you have a lapse of self-control, color the day black. Your goal will be to have _no black days_. The calendar becomes a strong visual reminder of self-control and should be looked at when you are tempted to add another black day. Keep your calendar up until you have at least three clear months.

In the field of psychotherapy there is a very effective technique called _aversion therapy_. When we associate or think of something very distasteful with something which has been pleasurable, but undesirable, the distasteful thought and feeling will begin to cancel out that which was pleasurable. If you associate something very distasteful with your loss of self-control it will help you to stop the act. For example, if you are tempted to masturbate, think of having to bathe in a tub of worms, and eat several of them as you do the act.

During your toileting and shower activities, leave the bathroom door or shower curtain partly open, to discourage being alone in total privacy. Take cool, brief showers.

Arise immediately in the mornings. Do not lie in bed awake, no matter what time of day it is. Get up and do something. Start each day with an enthusiastic activity.

Keep your bladder empty. Refrain from drinking large amounts of fluids before retiring.

Reduce the amount of spices and condiments in your food. Eat as lightly as possible at night.

Wear pajamas that are difficult to open, yet loose and not binding.

Avoid people, situations, pictures or reading materials that might create sexual excitement.

It is sometimes helpful to have a physical object to use in overcoming this problem. A Book of Mormon, firmly held in hand, even in bed at night has proven helpful in extreme cases."

Gothamist

WHAT MATTERED TO AMERICANS LAST WEEK

Thread about the most calculated kiss since Michael Jackson-Lisa Marie Presley

ALEGRIA = HAPPINESS NO MORE?

MAIL EXCHANGE WITH MR. DF

> V.... hi...
did u get to steve's?

SINVAL & I WERE THERE FROM 7PM TILL 12

how was ur day yesterday?

GOOD/NOT GOOD AS THE PARTY CONTINUED

did u have fun at alegria? i had a good time... but as i said before i went.... and i feel more commited to it now afterwards... i am ready for a long break from the partying and clubbing....

SAME HERE BUT HOW CONVENIENT YOU STILL GOT TO GO TO THIS ONE...

i am functioning better than i thought today at work... i am pretty tired... but some how i am summoning up the strength to pull it together, thank you dear god!

WE ARE PAST THE SOCIALLLY ACCEPTABLE AGE

today is renato's b-day... i am taking him to dinner tonite... to bottino...

FELIZ ANIVERSARIO RENATINHO

and i bought him a gucci belt for a gift...

A QUEEN, NONETHELESS

he gets off tonite from work at 9ish... i can't believe i have to be awake that late... but i cannot disappoint him... i am falling big time for him... yikes... thinking of dressing up in nice clothes... hiring a car service to take me to pick him up at the store with a dozen roses in my hand .... he deserves it....

HIDDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MUNBLE JUMBO: "i am falling big time for him..."

later... Mr. DF

LOVE, MR. V.

ZUMANITY

is the new 'Cirque de Solei' in Las Vegas. MC'd by Joey Arias, costumes by Thierry Mugler, bodies by the entire world, it is totally erotic exploration, basically asking the question, by using live examples, WHAT TURNS YOU ON?

ZUMANITY is a stunning exploration of the hidden forces behind desire, and a celebration of human diversity. In an intimate theatre, beautiful performers beguile the audience with a never-before-seen blend of fashion, art, music, dance, circus arts, personality and sensuality.

VOYER: GO AHEAD, DON'T BE SHY. PEEP INTO THE WORLD OF ZUMANITY.

THE WEDDING

the wedding was at the alladin's wedding chapel at seven pm on the twenty-seventh day of august two thousand and three.

the minister spoke of what it means to become one couple while still remaining two individuals.
and the importance of respecting each other's space.

so i question: what is marriage?

are pre-arranged marriages that still prevail in middle-eastern countries any more valid than, for example, the unselfish act of marrying a friend to help him have a better life?

donald and marla
liza and david
liz taylor and ...
my parents
phil and his 'husband'
doug and joe
gina and sinval.

which is the best?
who is to say?

who is respectfull?
who is caring?
who is loving?

what is love?

"Let it not be immortal, since it is flame
But let it be infinite while it lasts."

Sinval & Gina
respect each other
care for each other
have love for each other

Sinval & Gina
ARE MARRIED!

ART MY FART.

i'll state the obvious: LV is all about money.

money money money money money
money makes the world go around.

SO if a hotel has an art exhibit it's foolish to search for a higher motivation. the job of art curator in a LV hotel must be part of the marketing director's responsibilities.
and art shows are not on the top of anyone's to do list here.

AND that's how i find myself alone at the 'andy warhol - the celebrity portraits' with audio guide by liza minelli.
the show is the best example i could never come up with to explain my point.

i like warhol. and was glad to see, once again, the pieces in real life. they've been published countless times but as with any work of art, the experience of seeing it live is transcending. liza's narration adds absolutely nothing but is very suiting - they are short comments on the celebrity portrayed and a chance she has to drop names.

PORTUGUESE WORD OF THE DAY

Saudade
'The beauty of this word is that it cannot be translated easily.

Take nostalgia/yearning/longing/sadness/fondness, put them in a blender.. add some sugar, a little salt, and a dash of cachaca all while listening to some samba and you will have something that almost defines "saudade".'

A saudade é um filme sem cor que meu coração quer ver colorido

Saudade is a black and white movie that my heart wants to watch in technicolor.

LAS VEGAS DAY TWO.

Kenny has been an extremely generous host, everything has been planned to perfection.
We were put at the Alladin and it's a fine hotel, all amenieties included. The wedding party has 8 rooms in total. Him & Sinval have been here for 3 weeks straight, working on fashion shows, and know their way around pretty well. 'Around' is a figure of speech because all LV is is 'The Strip'.

The strip is an island surrounded by desert. One road. A long road that looks misleadingly short. The Bellagio is across the street but it takes us half hour to walk there.

Besides Kenny, the bride and the groom, the cast of characters includes the bride's parents and a friend of theirs, Tracy who works with Kenny, Heather, Gina's best friend, Phil from Boston, Joe and Doug, Nilma from Brasil and Paulo, one of my friendster's friend and Sinval's friend as well. 14 people.

I did not know most of them but it does not strike me as odd that we get along so well. We are sort of all from the same tribe - in this case, close friends of Gina and Sinval, and it makes sense we share similar views and attitudes.

None of us are tourists, really. We all are NY cynical about LV. (my first impressions from yesterday still hold BUT i must admit I was under the influence of a couple of cosmopolitans and also add that LV is MUCH nicer at night. LIGHTING is everything.)

Day two was spent by the pool. The weather is hot and perfectly dry. Insularly selfish we are, there is no one else in town that looks remotely interesting. Except for Alex.

Alex is 3 years old and instead of playing in the kid's pool he orbits nearby but refutes my attempts of friendship. For about 5 minutes. Then we become buddies. He is from Afeganistan and he is gorgeous and he is the kind of child i love: smart. I believe one reason kids like me is because i do not baby talk them. Not treating them special makes them treat me special.

The wedding was set for 7pm at the hotel's chappel.

Untying the Knot

ADAPTATION

While he tends to speak crisply and definitively, my words circle back, my thoughts evolving as I speak. And I, too, ask:
"So how is it that ordinary love ordinarily fails? If love is, as Wallace Stevens suggests, a dwelling ''in which being there together is enough,'' how does silence fall on a thousand evenings and the possibility of intimacy flicker and die? How do lovers become lonely? "

"It's so you to raise questions like that'' he says, in the way that the fondest of phrases -- it's you, darling! I understand you! -- can metamorphose into the bitterest, as caring begins to be seen, through the lens of years, as controlling.

Like most powerful, pervasive dynamics, the tensions found expression in incidents almost too trivial to recollect.

Another way of describing the relationship was that he had more trouble compromising and being in a relationship than I did. It cost him more to accommodate me, so he resented it more. That's as much of a truth as that everything revolved around me.

Over time, we had sex less often, and when we did, we had less of a feeling of reaching one another. The shift was subtle enough that neither of us can place it -- did it happen in Year 5, 6, 10? Without saying so, each attributed the distance to the other.

LAS VEGAS DAY ONE.

to quote a friend of mine:
"and all you have to do is say yes!"

resistance is futile. i caved in watching the dancing water fountain in front of the bellagio.
sarcasm gone, i lead the applause at the end.

resistance is futile. all it took was winning my first 50 with one quarter.

rehearsal dinner was at olives @ the bellagio. as you might know, my stubborness resulted in a cosmopolitan drenched mother of the bride.

afterwards we went to a private party for perry ellis (it's fashion week here) where tracy young was dj'ing. the vip pass hanging from my neck was like garlic to a vampire. it screamed to me: YOU ARE NOT VIP.

resistance is futile

and that was the first day - the day i caved in and decided that i would have fun in LV.

GOING TO LAS VEGAS.

flying above canyons
the earth looks so old.
and brown.
and beige.

like my grandmother's face.

there is a road that goes from nowhere to nowhere
and i realize i have been following it for a long time.

it's been a long time nowhere.

the road takes a sharp turn left and i do not.

i look at the earth again
and it's brown and beige.

and it's beautiful.

like my grandmother's face.

LAVOISIER
or
matter is neither created nor destroyed

i have no talent i can speak of.
i can write and i can draw
but i can't write well
and i can't draw that well either.

are people with no talent destined to become critics, reviewers?

i'm an opinion hypochondriac, a taste chameleon.


SO I GO ON APPROPRIATING...

---

CLIPPINGS FROM THE SUNDAY TIME

UNTYING THE KNOT

It makes no sense to say that a good marriage requires parity, as most marriages in the world and throughout history have been based on entirely different principles. You might even conclude from America's unusually high divorce rate that the expectation of equality and personal fulfillment is itself a more problematic prescription than that of honor and obedience.

---

'One, a Brazilian, looked like Hollywood's notion of a diplomat — slender, graying, elegant, with a touch of an accent in the many languages he spoke. One, an Egyptian, was a hard-living, hard-drinking, hard-smoking, hard-thinking specialist in managing chaos.

Both died on Tuesday in Baghdad, crushed under the rubble of the Canal Hotel, the makeshift headquarters of the United Nations in Iraq.

---

Recipe: Classic Margarita:

Lime slice, 1/2 inch thick, for salting glass
Kosher salt
2 ounces silver tequila
1 ounce Cointreau
3/8 ounce fresh lime juice.
1. Rub lime slice around outer rim of cocktail glass. Place salt in a dish. Holding glass parallel to dish, coat only the outside with salt. Place glass in refrigerator.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add tequila, Cointreau and lime juice. Shake well. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Yield: 1 drink.

---

SAINT OF THE MONTH CLUB

August's San Paolo

HOROSCOPE.

Gemini:
Emotionally, you may feel as if you are running up against a brick wall.

GUAYABERA Juan Cristobal Napoles Fajardo also known as "El Cucalambe" (1829-1862)

Oh, guayabera ! camisa de alegre botonadura. Cuarto bolsillos, frescura, de cana brava y de brisa.

Oh, Guayabera! Cheerful buttons shirt. Four pockets, coolness, Of brave sugar cane and breeze.

WE SAW MARS, THIS WEEKEND, FROM THE PINES

this was the weekend the weather was perfect.
that my friends and i made a pact
that we stuck with the pact.
that we learned more about each other and ourselves.
that we discovered there was fun to be had.

it was also the weekend

we saw mars and it moved like an airplane with a red blinking sidelight.
kojakaroo was knocked to the floor by my wind-milling arms.
i was told i was weird. "no, wait, not weird, let's say... unique"
my love for chocolate clashed with the 420th ingredient in the (several) brownies i ate at Mr. M's picnic.

but this weekend when

i heard erich fromm say that love is a decision,
i listened to erich fromm say that love is commitment,
i paid attention to Mr. M telling me about his commitment ceremony, erich fromm and how love is a promise,

i thought of you.

this was the weekend Pink Martini kept singing to me: "LET FOREVER BEGIN TONIGHT"

THE NIGHT I HEARD CARUSO SING.

Everything But The Girl from: Idlewild

'I've thought of having children
But I've gone and changed my mind
It's hard enough to watch the news
Let alone explain it to a child
To cast your eye 'cross nature
Over fields of rape and corn
And tell him without flinching
Not to fear where he's been born'

IT'S A DECISION, IT'S A JUDGEMENT, IT'S A PROMISE.

Yesterday morning, i read to Mr. DF from "The Art of Loving". Later, in a totally unrelated event, in talking to Mr. M about his commitment ceremony, he said that one of the readings came from a Erich Fromm book. It was exactly the same passage:
"One neglects to see an important factor in love, that of will. To love somebody is not just a strong feeling--it is a decision, it is a judgement, it is a promise. If love were only a feeling, there would be no basis for the promise to love each other forever. A feeling comes and it may go. How can I judge that it will stay forever, if my actions do not involve judgement and decision?"

ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES I HAVE SEEN!

I'M TRYING HARD.

Horoscope
Gemini
Use your innate creativity to make things happen today, dear Gemini. This doesn't always take the form of a finished product. It can be used to come up with new and innovative ways to approach a task, project or problem. Trust in your ability to discover such ways. As a Gemini, you're known for your sharp thinking and creative ability. Combining the two can make an unstoppable tool to finding solutions to most anything.

Friendster - Messages

BUT MAYBE SEAN HAS A POINT...

Friendster Mail: "From:Daniel
Date: August 22, 2003 7:19 AM
Subject: Re: hun, you need a pic
Message: First I have to find one where I am wearing clothes."

Friendster - Messages

CULTURED PEARLS OF WISDOM

what's the point of spending hours trying to figure out what are the books&movies i should list on my profile so i can come across as 'cultured' and 'desirable' if i'm going to be judged by my friends choice of clothing or lack thereof?

Friendster Mail: "From: Sean
You are connected to Sean through: You => Erik => Alan => Randy => Sean
Date: August 21, 2003 6:16 PM

Message: all your friends are naked! (or nearly so! )"

President Bush: "I caution those who may try to take the speck out of the neighbor's eye when they've got a log in their own."

CNN.com: numbers check
Should marriage be legally defined as only a union between a man and a woman?
Yes: 53% 11,719,607 votes
No: 47% 10,566,993 votes
Total: 22,286,600 votes

Friendster - Donn

as my friend Donn says: "i find i live life by something the great philosopher Popeye said...
' i y'am what i y'am... and it's all that i y'am...'"

B U D D H I S M 1 0 1

Buddha said:

"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

BUT

after observation and analysis,
when you find that anything agrees with reason
and is conductive to the good and the benefit of one and all,
then accept it and live up to it."

KLAS-TV Home

Meanwhile, in the middle of the desert, where i'm flying to next tuesday...



"Powerful thunderstorms dumped as much as three inches of rain on parts of Las Vegas and Henderson causing the mayor of Las Vegas to declare an emergency. It is the worst storm the city has seen since 1999. The flash flooding resulted in road closures, damaged home and numerous rescues."

Computer G(r)eek.

Unfortunately we are in a QUEUE, not in a STACK:

"Sorry, you are such a great guy but you were f.i.f.o. (first in, first out)."

Sometimes you pass on (or get passed on) ONLY because you want to meet other people before you settle.

I wish you realize how luck you were you met me.

An African Native of World Popularity

summer is...

from dailycandy

The New York Quiz
1. Who described New York as 'a sucked orange'?
2. What is the opening line of Annie Hall?
3. What are the three ingredients in a correctly made egg cream? (Hints: Not egg. Not cream.)
4. What is the oldest house in New York City?
5. How many restaurants does Keith McNally actually own today? Bonus question: Name his newest, which opens next week.
6. Max's Kansas City was the hottest club of the late '60s. Where was it?
7. Who are Betsey, Bunky, and Nini?
8. Who is the famous Walter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
9. What is the name of the only wine shop in New York City that is open on Sundays, and why can it stay open when others can't?
10. How many World Series have the Yankees won?
11. Where else can you hear the three women and one man who recorded the announcements for the new subway cars?
12. What was the Flatiron Building originally called?
13. How much distance (in moving traffic) counts as one click on a taxi meter?
14. How many acres is Central Park?

Click here for the answers.

No Meio do Caminho (Carlos Drummond de Andrade)

'No Meio do Caminho'
English translation:

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

In the middle of the road there was a stone
there was a stone in the middle of the road
there was a stone
in the middle of the road there was a stone.

Never should I forget this event
in the life of my fatigued retinas.
Never should I forget that in the middle of the road
there was a stone
there was a stone in the middle of the road
in the middle of the road there was a stone.

Translated by Elizabeth Bishop

BISHOP, Elizabeth and BRASIL, Emanuel (eds) An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Brazilian Poetry . Wesleyan Univertsity Press, 1972

BRAZILIAN POETRY.

No meio do caminho
Carlos Drummond de Andrade

No meio do caminho tinha uma pedra
tinha uma pedra no meio do caminho
tinha uma pedra
no meio do caminho tinha uma pedra.

Nunca esquecerei desse acontecimento
na vida de minhas retinas tão fatigadas.

Nunca me esquecerei que no meio do caminho
tinha uma pedra
tinha uma pedra no meio do caminho
no meio do caminho tinha uma pedra.

DailyCandy NYC - Chinaman Walks into a Bar ...

Mental note: new place to try.
from DailyCandy NYC:
Chinaman Walks into a Bar ...
"The beginning of a bad joke? No, just a new bar on the Lower East Side.
Barrio Chino borrows its name from Havana's Chinatown district. (And you thought they invented Cuban Chinese cooking on the Upper West Side.) "

Homosexuality and Theravada Buddhism

B U D D H I S M 1 0 1

Buddhism and Homosexuality
by A. L. De Silva

"Some have argued that there must be something wrong with homosexuality because so many homosexuals are emotionally disturbed. At first there seems to be some truth in this. In the West, at least, many homosexuals suffer from psychological problems, abuse alcohol, and indulge in obsessive sexual behaviour. As a group, homosexuals have a high rate of suicide. But observers have pointed out that such problems seem to be no more pronounced amongst African and Asian homosexuals than they are in the societies in which they live. It is very likely that homosexuals in the West are wounded more by society's attitude to them than by their sexual proclivity, and, if they are treated the same as everybody else, they will be the same as everybody else. Indeed, this is the strongest argument for acceptance and understanding towards homosexuals."

Help Wanted

Much as happiness is the solution to depression and tallness the remedy for shortness...
Help Wanted by Walter Kirn

"Maybe a redefinition of ''work'' is called for so that the term will no longer refer to making things (or to manipulating symbols) but only to buying and using them up -- tasks we still excel at. Maybe Americans should be paid consumers, retained by China to absorb the output of the factories that closed here and opened there but won't be able to stay in operation unless the American workers who got canned can purchase the things they no longer get paid to make. How about a Marshall Plan for Cleveland financed by Beijing?"

marshall ramsey

somehow i deleted my blog template and could not recover it.
first i was frutrated.
then i tried to rebuilt it.
then i started working on a new template.
hence all the changes throughout the day.

but

the whole thing showed me, once again, that
i stick around longer than i should: changes are good
attachment to material things is the source of frustration and anxiety
i'm lazy: you can/should always improve

and that

maybe the reason to my blog is the search for the path to nirvana.
or, at least, enlightenment.

and that you can also have fun while at it.

::

"Holy Enron! Who knew our grid was more stressed than we are?"
Maureen Dowd

"Thursday reminded us of the tenuousness of our romance with technology; we spend our days using a thicket of high-tech equipment without a clue about how it actually works or what to do when it doesn't.

We have BlackBerrys that are also telephones and Palm Pilots that are also cameras and cellphones that also send text-message mash notes. We take it on faith that the power will come on when we switch on computers to send e-mail around the world instantaneously from our air-conditioned, well-lit, cable-TV-equipped, key-coded, A.T.M.-financed worlds, without ever knowing that our power might be originating in Canada — eh? — or looping eerily around Lake Erie."

::

Ella...

...is on PBS tonight.

bewitched, bothered and bewildered
I've sinned a lot, I'm mean a lot
But I'm like sweet seventeen a lot
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I

From: mr. h
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 17:23:31 -0400
Subject: Re: my posts

My dear mr. v

Yes. You are alive indeed. And you can do whatever you want with your blog--as well you should. It is your blog after all. I don't disagree with anything you say. Nothing is carved in stoned, however. I think it's more interesting to read something you write one day and then hours, days, or weeks later read how your opinion has changed on the matter. It shows growth. I admit in all my writings, freely, that I contradict myself all the time. I do. I also make fun of it. What I write one day changes from moment to moment. When I finish writing a piece I sometimes think, how silly. But I'm done with it. Now I can move to something else or see the errors of my thinking when I set it down on paper. You'd be surprised at how many times I've said to myself, "What an idiot." But writing helps me think and look at myself better. When we learn to dance and celebrate our contradiction, we become human. When we learn to make fun of ourselves, we become divine. Be divine! But above all, have fun. In everything you do.

mr. h

::

my postings

i know you said postings should not be changed but, fuck it, maybe that's my differencial in a world of blogs. i do not want my opinions to be set in stone. evolution is good when it is good. wish in life i could go back and erase things i've said and done. but i can't. on MY BLOG i can. and i will. and if ppl get pissed, that will be their problem. i'll have at least - and at last - caused a reaction. to every action a reaction?

i'm alive.

reasons i'm a 'modern man'

question for mr. h: is the chair pleasing physically and esthetically? if so, can i say it is spiritually pleasing?

z e n   &  m o d e r n
	beauty should be affordable. beauty should be accessible. form should follow function. clean is better, less is more. practice dettachment: no clutter. (this list is still evolving)

::

CNN.com QuickVote
53/47
with about 22M votes

::

mail from belo horizonte
luiz has a new dog

::

Brazilian Modern Art
Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973)

"Although she did not take part in Modern Art Week in 1922 (she was in Paris at the time), Tarsila do Amaral became a kind of 'first lady' of the modernist movement in Brazil and played a part of great importance."



'Abaporu'-1928
óleo/tela 85 X 73cm
Assin.:"11-1-1928", aniversário de Oswald de Andrade

Abaporu - the most important brazilian painting. it was painted as a gift to the writer Oswald de Andrade, her husband at the time. she and her friends were in shock when they saw it finished: they felt it represented something exceptional. Tarsila named it Abaporu ('the man who eats' in tupi-guarani, a native brazilian language). that inspired Oswald to write the Manifesto Antropófago and their group of friends, representants of brazilian intelectuals of the time, to start the Movimento Antropofágico, with the intention to 'digest' the european culture and transform it in something brazilian. This was a radical take on the ongoing Movimento Modernista brasileiro at the time.

::

B U D D H I S M 1 0 1

• Is Buddhism a Religion?

To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:

1. to lead a moral life,
2. to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
3. to develop wisdom and understanding.

• How Can Buddhism Help Me?

Buddhism explains a purpose to life, it explains apparent injustice and inequality around the world, and it provides a code of practice or way of life that leads to true happiness.

• What did the Buddha Teach?

The Buddha taught many things, but the basic concepts in Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

• What is the First Noble Truth?

The first truth is that life is suffering i.e., life includes pain, getting old, disease, and ultimately death. We also endure psychological suffering like loneliness frustration, fear, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. This is an irrefutable fact that cannot be denied. It is realistic rather than pessimistic because pessimism is expecting things to be bad. lnstead, Buddhism explains how suffering can be avoided and how we can be truly happy.

• What is the Second Noble Truth?

The second truth is that suffering is caused by craving and aversion. We will suffer if we expect other people to conform to our expectation, if we want others to like us, if we do not get something we want,etc. In other words, getting what you want does not guarantee happiness. Rather than constantly struggling to get what you want, try to modify your wanting. Wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness. A lifetime of wanting and craving and especially the craving to continue to exist, creates a powerful energy which causes the individual to be born. So craving leads to physical suffering because it causes us to be reborn.

• What is the Third Noble Truth?

The third truth is that suffering can be overcome and happiness can be attained; that true happiness and contentment are possible. lf we give up useless craving and learn to live each day at a time (not dwelling in the past or the imagined future) then we can become happy and free. We then have more time and energy to help others. This is Nirvana.

• What is the Fourth Noble Truth?

The fourth truth is that the Noble 8-fold Path is the path which leads to the end of suffering.

• What is the Noble 8-Fold Path?

In summary, the Noble 8-fold Path is being moral (through what we say, do and our livelihood), focussing the mind on being fully aware of our thoughts and actions, and developing wisdom by understanding the Four Noble Truths and by developing compassion for others.

• The 5 Precepts?

The moral code within Buddhism is the precepts, of which the main five are:
1. not to take the life of anything living
2. not to take anything not freely given
3. to abstain from sexual misconduct and sensual overindulgence
4. to refrain from untrue speech
5. to avoid intoxication, that is, losing mindfulness

from BuddhaNet

::

Brazilian Poetry III:

Let it not be immortal, since it is flame /
But let it be infinite while it lasts
translation from
UPNE | An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Brazilian Poetry

SONÊTO DA FIDELIDADE Vinícius de Moraes

SONNET ON FIDELITY Translated by Ashley Brown

De tudo, ao meu amor serei atento Antes, e com tal zêlo, e sempre, e tanto Que mesmo em face do maior encanto Dêle se encante mais meu pensamento. Quero vivê-lo em cada vão momento E em seu louvor hei de espalhar meu canto E rir meu riso e derramar meu pranto Ao seu pesar ou seu contentamento. E assim, quando mais tarde me procure Quem sabe a morte, angústia de quem vive Quem sabe a solidão, fim de quem ama Eu possa me dizer do amor (que tive): Que não seja imortal, pôsto que é chama Mas que seja infinito enquanto dure.

Above all, to my love I'll be attentive First, and always with such ardor, so much That even when confronted by this great Enchantment my thoughts ascend to more delight. I want to live it through in each vain moment And in its honor I must spread my song And laugh with my delight and shed my tears When she is sad or when she is contented. And thus, when afterward comes looking for me Who knows what death, anxiety of the living, Who knows what loneliness, end of the loving I could say to myself of the love (I had): Let it not be immortal, since it is flame But let it be infinite while it lasts.

veritas

posted by mike benedetto in useless! worthless! insipid!:

"Never watch movies just because you remember them fondly from your childhood. You'll suffer and there's no one you can blame but your own faulty memory and poor childhood taste."

::

BENEFIT: AID 4 AIDS 08.20.03

AID 4 AIDS & Jesus Aguais
invite you to celebrate...

HAVANA NIGHTS
Oceans 21 Restaurant
21 West 9th Street (5th / 6th Ave)

Wednesday August, 20th, 2003
6pm – 11pm
Join us for an evening of Cuban cocktails, raffles, gambling, & hors d’oeurves

$20 cover price @ the door.

All proceeds benefit AID FOR AIDS

Help those in need

::

from Mark Nelson

"I haven't brought up this up this OLD girlfriend of mine for awhile...
I have been reminded as of late, of the ravages & destruction that this 'girl' has been actively doing in our world. I love everyone! But...
I HATE her...
I used to hang w/ Kris ALL the time, & a year ago, I told it it was either her or me...
I WON... She left
that should have taken care of it... NASTY thing!
But NO She leaves reminders of her sorry self EVERYWHERE around me.

Kris loves a party... She loves to party... She loves to make you feel you are the center of the universe.
She likes to control situations around her...
She 'seems' to make you feel SO good about 'stuff'.
She is hi-maintenance & needs to be dealt w/ constantly.

PEOPLE: She is NOT your friend.

If you have someone you care for who hangs out w/ Kris...
Or because of Kris you don't care for them lately...
She changes people. Sort of the Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde syndrome.
Kris is a drug; If you need a drug in your life, let it be LOVE.

Kris is short for Crytal Meth: She is THE ultimate bitch.

I may be winning my battle, but the war continues...

Those who do this drug, think they control it. NO YOU DON'T
Those who do this drug, don't think others know it. WE DO
Those who do this drug, become paranoid & delusional. YOU DO
Those who do this drug, think they are invincible. YOU AREN'T
Those who do this drug, think they are better lovers. NO NO NO
Those who do this drug, think they get more work done. NOPE
There is NOT a cure for this. The only help is abstinance.
There is NO argument people.
She is DESTRUCTIVE.
She RUINS lives...

Have I made my point?"

::

Perfect day

from mr. h:

"And when I woke up, I remembered I dreamt I had brunch at the Grange, then went to see Madame Sata, and walked all over SoHo, and shopped at the Apple Store, and ate cheese cake flavored rice pudding, and rode the elevator at the Prada store, and listened to music all night. And then we kissed. And in my dream, you were there."


from Lou Reed:

Perfect Day

Just a perfect day
Drink sangria in the park
Then later, when it gets dark, we go home
Just a perfect day
Feed animals in the zoo
Then later a movie too, and then home

Oh it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Oh such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

Just a perfect day
Problems all left alone
Weekenders on our own, it's such fun
Just a perfect day
You made me forget myself
I thought I was someone else, someone good

Oh it's such a perfect day
I'm glad I spent it with you
Such a perfect day
You just keep me hanging on
You just keep me hanging on

You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow
You're going to reap just what you sow

::

a great movie

Rice to Riches

Gothamist Review



"five things you can do with the Rice to Riches pudding container after you are done with it:
1. Soap dish
2. Fancy dog food container
3. U.F.O. for your low budget animation movies
4. Place to put your change
5. A reminder that you need to get the fuck out of New York and start living a real life where you don't think about rice pudding all the time"

::