A blog dedicated to the joy and adventure of thinking (and often spiced with humor).
“The fewer the words, the more they punch.
“The fewer the words, the less anyone hears something new.
“Two hundred and eighty-eight characters are for those who would repeat to me what is already in my head.
“Economize when telling me what I already know, but speak whatever volumes you must to show me new worlds.”
— Paul Sunstone (I have spoken, your turn now).
(About a 5 minute read)
It has long been my personal, tender opinion that the pure Japanese genius for first seeing nearly everything as an aesthetic experience, and for then optimizing the aesthetics of those experiences — that the Japanese genius for that has only been defeated once — and once only — in the entire cultural history of that remarkable people.
The Japanese genius for aesthetics was overthrown when it took on sex.
Continue reading “A Indelicate Post on the Most Delicate Topic of Simpatico Sex”
(About a 2 minute read)
“The morning sunlight, in the spring, bounces off the sconces on the pendulum lights [in my kitchen] and creates a star-like pattern on the ceiling. It’s a signal that spring has arrived.” — Robin, Breezes at Dawn Blog [Brackets Paul’s].
Anyone wishing to find his or her own true voice — but who is uncertain what that means — would do well to study Robin’s posts on her blog, Breezes at Dawn.
Of course, it is nearly impossible today to express a wholly new idea, especially outside the sciences. Those who do now and then manage to come up with something even approaching a wholly new idea tend to be keen observers, rather than creative alone.
Robin is quite obviously a keen observer (see above quote), but — offhand — I can’t recall her expressing any more original ideas than the rest of us. What makes her voice her own are not the ideas she expresses, but the virtually unique and special way in which she expresses them.
In short, her style.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Paul offers his opinion on the key importance and function of muses. Bonus: Five tips on picking a good muse or avoiding a bad one.
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THE CRITICS GO NOVA! “Paul Sunstone’s definition of ‘art’ is far too broad to be useful. It makes any effort at communication an art, including Parikhit Dutta’s habit while a young man of getting drunk on Friday nights at the Tarry-All Tip and Pour Bar, then signing his name in the snow outside in his own pee. On the few nights up in the Tarry-All Mountains when there wasn’t any snow, Parikhit would simply stand swaying drunk for up to 45 minutes looking as pathetically lonely and lost as that moose that wandered into Downtown Colorado Springs back in the summer of ’01. Paul Sunstone’s ‘Good Muse, Bad Muse’ resembles nothing so much more than Parikhit Dutta’s very worse autographs on his most drunken Friday nights.” — Gus “Gunning Gus” Johnson, The Blog Critic’s Column, “Leper’s Gulch Gazette”, Leper’s Gulch, Colorado, USA.
Continue reading “Good Muse, Bad Muse! The Use and Abuse of Muses”
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Paul’s thoughts on the notion that artists feel things more deeply than other folks.
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THE CRITICS ROAR: “Sunstone’s ‘Artists’ post puts me in mind of 1975 when the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco lingered on his death bed for weeks before having the proper decency to exit the world and take his damnable evil with him. ‘Artists’ is by most common measures a short blog post, but Sunstone nevertheless manages to make it a long one. You soon find yourself praying for it to end. Praying hard for it to end.” — Gus “Gunning Gus” Johnson, The Blog Critic’s Column, “Leper’s Gulch Gazette”, Leper’s Gulch, Colorado, USA.
SUMMARY: The image of a cosmic dancer appeals to many people and is open to many interpretations, including the notion presented here that it represents the state of consciousness of a spiritually enlightened person.
(About a 7 minute read)
The great mythologist, Joseph Campbell, enjoyed attributing his own thoughts to others. Thus, he interpreted Nietzsche’s “Cosmic Dancer” to be someone who dances between opinions and points of view, rather than resting heavily on any particular opinion or point of view.
Although Nietzsche himself never quite saw it the same way, Campbell’s image is an attractive one. Not only is there truth to be found in an ability to see things from many points of view, but in both intellectual and spiritual terms, it is the very opposite of fanaticism.
Images have a way of taking on a life of their own. What is created to symbolize one thing can soon come to symbolize many things. Some long time ago, I posted on this blog one possible interpretation of the cosmic dancer image (You can find that post here, if you’re interested). Since then, the post has gotten at least a few hits a month, mainly — if the search terms are any indication — from people looking for a definitive interpretation of the term “cosmic dancer”.
(About a 7 minute read)
When I was 20 years old, I discovered — for the first time in my life — that I was in love with a woman. That was surprising enough, but my surprise was compounded when I kept meeting people who knew her.
Nearly everyone, you see, agreed about her so much that almost all of them pointed out first and foremost, “Alison is beautiful, both inside and out”. They agreed on some other things too. Highly intelligent. Compassionate. But I noted at the time that the first thing nearly everyone said about Alison was that she was “beautiful both inside and out”.
Continue reading “Is it Really True that “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”?”
