Anthony Knows How It Goes Down.

"For a firm- rooted believer in such immeasurable ideas as these, which he punctuated with brisk application of the poker to the brave sparkle and glow of the fire, Anthony has a very pleasant appreciation of the measurable and the finite, and nobody in whom I have acquaintance has so keen a zest for life and its enjoyments as he.
He had given us this evening an admirable dinner, had passed around a port beyond praise, and had illuminated the jolly hours with the light of his infectious optimism...
'I adore life,' he said. 'I find it the most entrancing plaything. It's a delightful game, and as you know very well, the only conceivable way to play a game is to play it extremely seriously. If you say to yourself, "It's only a game", you cease to take the slightest interest in it. You have to know it's only a game, and behave as if it was the one object of existence. I should like it to go on for many years yet..."

Taken from 'In the Tube' by E.F Benson

Over and Out.
ED.

The Uncountable Selves.

"Nothing was, nothing will be; everything is, everything has being and presence."

This may not make sense.

You have no doubt read or are going to read the title of this blog post. Let me explain my internal dialogue reader... and I may involve you in this (yes... you) if you read on...

...but first forgive my initial self- contemplation.

Might I be so bold to say that I genuinely like people (90% of the time). I'm not the "I don't like people" person  and I never have been, regardless of mortal imperfections that are a part of our condition (and if you don't happen to like people that is fine, if that is your nature). For me, people are fascinating constructs of flesh, bone, thought, ideas... as many people say, every person is a complex world. Well, if that is the case then I want to explore all of these varied and fascinating worlds that float through my senses every day if the opportunity arises. We live in a universe of not only fellow worlds. I can go so far as saying all people are universes, multi- verses... or even omni- verses, completely endless and eternally renewable as long as we exist as people. We are complex creatures... monkeys with wings if you want to put it that way.

I have also always been what some may term a drifter. Unlike some people, I enjoy the company of people that are different to me as well as people I am similar to and so I can easily drift between social groups at will. I suppose you get the comfort that comes with hanging around people that are like you which is great I suppose... but talking to someone different to you is a joy because it enlightens you, challenges your views about the world and opens your eyes to many things also... and makes you a better person. Why should I shorten possible life experiences just because I might want to stay with people that are like me? Different people are one of the keys to a well rounded life. As Al Pacino said so perfectly on the silver screen as Keanu Reeves watches on,

"I'm a fan of man!"

One of the ways I make sense of people and explore the brains and minds of others is through reading books, knowing and exploring characters, scenes and situations in novels mostly for enjoyment and enlightenment but also so that it may help me to understand people in the world I see. It is no surprise that a lot of Freud's ideas about the human mind came from literature... and why not, stories are more than stories... they tell the psychological tale of the person, people or society and the inner impulses of the people who wrote them... plus more.

I'm getting to the point now... I think.

It only occurred to me recently that I seem to like being an observer. It's seems that I am the type of person that is a part of everything and part of nothing... and I don't know why but it always seems to have been this way (perhaps it is the same for other people as well). The question seems to crop up... where do I fit in? The answer that comes to me every time is... everywhere. Call me a townie, a rocker, a folkie, a hippy, a nerd, a dreamer, a writer, a skeptic  an idealist, whatever else... I am all of these things and others.

When it comes down to it I AM MORE THAN ONE PERSON AND MORE... AND SO ARE YOU.
I am the person I am and the person I want to be. I am Ed the son and brother, Ed the mate, Ed the vague person you know from that social gathering a few days ago... so even then I am more than the people I am, I am also the many people that others think I am. I am hundreds of people. And on top of that we are constantly reborn in a state of mental evolution. We are not the person we were a few years ago.

We are a microcosm as complex and real as the macrocosm.

We fit in everywhere and no where because we are endlessly complex creatures.

Hope this was an enjoyable, informal read.

Over and Out.
ED.

Clark Ashton Smith And Books For Children.

' "Go not too often among ruins," said the Daemon in one of his rare moods of admonitory confidence. "For there is a strangeness in the shadows which these memorials of the vastness of the Past, broken though they may be, have thrown for so many centuries upon the selfsame spot as in the dawn of their erection" '
Taken from 'The Peril that Lurks Among the Ruins' by Clark Ashton Smith.

I am the type of person that needs brain stimulation a lot. I hate the idea of switching off and not being able to think, consider and be away from the beauty of thought, culture and the world of ideas... hopefully saying this doesn't make me sound like a knob.
It is my view that I can stop thinking when I'm dead, so until then I can enjoy a life of constant thinking, reading, writing, memorizing and so forth... because the inner world and my interaction with and understanding of it is the best way to attain any form of paradise in this life... for me anyway.
One way that I keep beauty and mind stimulation by my side is memorizing stuff that sounds good; poetry, quotes, anything that brings me that feeling that I have bettered myself from learning. One thing that I have done is memorize (mostly) the prose type poem, 'The Peril that Lurks Among the Ruins' by Clark Ashton Smith. I have known the poem for quite some time now and I have loved the imagery that comes from it.

 The above picture is what instantly drew me to Smith. I looked at that picture and thought,
"What a dude! What is this soulful looking person all about then?"
The picture itself is a work of art, something that I would love to have on my wall.
Smith is one of my greatest inspirations at the moment...  Hermann Hesse is the other one.

One other subject that has been in my thoughts is books for children. In the last blog post I copied out a quote from a book in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, a quote that has been with me since I was about ten.
It got me thinking about perhaps writing something for kids. When I was young, my life or the perception of what I was capable of changed when I read the Redwall books. I identified with the heroes who rose up from being normal kids and through a crisis that was caused by an opposing character, the hero becomes the person they were meant to be. I always liked the message that the Redwall series gave, doing the right thing, having compassion and so forth.
But if I was to write a story what would be the message that I would want to give kids? I suppose I would want to encourage them to think for themselves, to have principles and to know the ins and outs of human nature and encourage them to nourish their minds as well as the rest of them, give them the urge for self exploration... as well as other good things.

The mind is the throne of a persons reality. I suppose if you can improve it then reality morphs into something far greater.

Over and Out.
ED.

One Great Childhood Memory.

Quote taken from the book 'The Long Patrol: A Tale of Redwall."


"What more is left to say, my friend? Redwall Abbey is as it always has been, basking in the shelter of Mossflower Wood, the gates ready to open any old sunny days to weary travelers  friends and visitors, all good honest creatures, like yourselves. Please come and feel free to stop for a season, any time. You are always welcome."

You're welcome for that quote, reader of the blog... also say thanks to Brian Jacques as well.

Over and Out.
ED.