Adventure

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world.
The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it.
Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness.
In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both.
This will change you.
Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

Όλα από μία πόρτα περνάνε..

Τα σπίτια φυτρώνουν και αυτά σαν τα λουλούδια
Μαραίνονται και αυτά με τα χρόνια, σαν τα λουλούδια
Άμα παίζαμε το video της ζωή μας γρήγορα, θα μέναμε εκστατικοί
Μπαίνεις για πρώτη φορά στο σπίτι σου αγκαλιά στα χέρια, μόλις γεννιέσαι
Βγαίνεις μετά, αγκαλιά στα χέρια ή με το καρότσι
Μετά με τα παπούτσια σου, τα πρώτα
Μετά με ένα παιχνίδι στο χέρι και έναν σκούφο μέχρι τα μάτια, και το άλλο χέρι στο χέρι των γονιών
Μετά κρατάς μία σάκα
Μετά μόνο τα κλειδιά και ένα πουλόβερ «Που ήσουνα τόσες ώρες»; «Άσε με μάνα!»

Και από εκεί και μετά όλο και κάτι κρατάς.. Την πρώτη σου βαλίτσα για την εκδρομή
Τον πρώτο σου έρωτα, τον φέρνεις σπίτι όταν λείπουν οι δικοί σου
Μετά κρατάς το παιδί σου, εσύ και το φέρνεις
Μετά κρατά τους δικούς σου, που μεγάλωσαν και τους πας όπου θέλουν
Μετά κρατάς το στόμα σου κλειστό και λες λίγα
Μετά κρατάς τα έπιπλα για να περπατήσεις

Όλα από μία πόρτα Περνάνε, όλα περνάνε
Η ζωή η ίδια είναι ένα πέρασμα
Περνάς καλά; Να περάσεις καλά! ..Περαστικά, περαστικός..
Περαστικός ήμουν... Έτσι έπρεπε να λέει ο έρωτας όταν έρχεται και σε βρίσκει
..Απροειδοποίητα... και εμείς του λέμε περάστε




Λίνα Νικολακοπούλου

And so the story goes ..

They weren't not in love. It's just that the subject, as such, never really came up. It kind of loomed over them like a blissfully stupid cloud. The love cloud.

Guaranteed to rain on your brain, 'til you're moanin' with seratonin.
Maybe what was happening was that they were in love with the idea of being in love. But that's still love, right? Instead of loving each other, they loved an idea. An aspiration. A wish. The other person was more or less of an afterthought. Somewhat expendable, or at the very least, interchangeable.

I love that you make me feel like I'm in love. You, on the other hand, I can take or leave.
Of course, it was just a matter of time before the truth of each other, the hard fact of their unique selfness, their one-of-a-kind snow-flakiness, became unavoidable.

I may be a broken toy, but you are a Chinese crib factory that uses lead paint.
Saying goodbye in these circumstances is always very awkward.

"I just had your car towed."

"That's okay, those Flip videos I
said I erased are now on the internet."

Oy vey ..

We tell ourselves stories. We weave together different plot lines, wondering if the outcome of the story might be different were we to have done or said something other than what we had done or said, all the while knowing that the various alternative outcomes are just more stories - fictions meant to distract us from what's actually happening. And so we pause from weaving and commence breathing, gently and non-judgmentally saying hello to what is...

Oy vey.

It is what it is

I hear the phrase "it is what it is" a lot these days. I like it.
The words strike me as an attempt to express a minor epiphany. The speaker is announcing in a casual way that they accurately perceive an unchangeable reality and have accepted it as such. There's no defeat implied, it's just an articulation of consciousness doing its thing.
An evolutionary step forward from "c'est la vie," which implied a weary, apathetic resignation.
Another phrase I've been hearing quite often is, "it's all good." This one really bothers me. A cursory look around would indicate that "it" is not even remotely "all good."





CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS

Up in smoke

Sigmund Freud was an avid pipe smoker. Legend has it that during a lecture he gave about the sexual implications of oral fixations, a mischievous attendee asked him what the unconscious meanings were behind his constant pipe puffing. The great man's answer was, "Sometimes a pipe is just a pipe." Over the years this quote somehow morphed into "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Regardless, the intent is the same. Every once in a while there is no subtext, no hidden meaning. In my own experience I would suggest that "Sometimes a monkey is just a monkey." That being said, I think we can all agree that a cigar is always an ignitable penis.




CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS

What does't kill us ..

What doesn't kill us makes us bitter.

I used to believe that to be both funny and true. Years later I learned that pain could also be the touchstone for personal growth, which of course points back to the original saying, "what doesn't kill us makes us better." Not funny, but perhaps closer to the truth. Or at least the truth I choose to believe in these days. So, having recently experienced a bit of pain, am I better? Well, let's review: I think I'm fairly immune to name-calling now. I'm not sure I could have made that claim a few months ago. I've also come to see that the things I used to think were big deals, are not. Problems appear to be relative. If you have a big one, it makes all the others seem almost charming in comparison. And finally, when your life takes a path you could never have foreseen, it's humbling. In a good way. It's kind of like a friendly reminder from the universe that while you may think you have the starring role in the movie of your life, you're actually just a bit player trying to grab a quesadilla off the craft services table when no one's looking.

So, to sum up: I now have a thicker skin, I'm less likely to sweat the small stuff, and, perhaps most importantly, I have a renewed sense of humility. All in all, better.



CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS

The woman

The woman changes in every moment.. dark becomes light .. but then light becomes dark..

We have no hope in hell to understand this ..

Equals U say?

and I told him what I thought..

she said "the world is too fragile for people to be untrue...

there's too much at stake and life's too short for lies.

And you're the worst kind of person in the world,

because you wasted my heart..."


and he said ..

''We don't love the people we love because they are perfect..

we love the people we love because they 'are'

.. even after they are gone''

Dear _________ !!

Dear movie,
Please don't do anything exciting while I'm gone!
Sincerely, I really gotta pee!

Dear forest animals,
I've been singing for over an hour, where are you?
Sincerely, too lazy to clean the house.


Dear dream,
Please cut to the chase. My alarm clock goes off in 2 minutes, and I don't like cliff hangers.
Sincerely, dreamers.


Dear greasy individuals,
When your hair is water repellant, it's time to take a shower.
Sincerely, my gag reflex.

Dear Noah,
We could have sword you said the ark wasn’t leaving ‘til 5.
Sincerely, Unicorns

Dear Icebergs,
Sorry to hear about the global warming. Karma’s a bitch.
Sincerely, The Titanic

Dear Voldemort
So they screwed up your nose too?
Sincerely, Michael Jackson

Dear Justin Bieber
Ariel would really lover her voice back.
Sincerely, King Triton

Dear Rose
There was definitely room on that raft for the both of us.
Sincerely, Jack


Dear windshield wipers
Can’t touch this.
Sincerely, that little triangle

Dear ''friend'',
Please know that Facebook is a place to reconnect with friends, not to start your own prostitution ring.
Sincerely, sick of looking at the slutty pictures and the desperate statuses.

Dear best friend,
When I die, immediately clear my web history.
Sincerely, seriously, it's important.

Dear Superman,
I feel your pain, we are scared of rocks too.
Sincerely, scissors.

Dear Board of Education,
So are we.
Sincerely, students everywhere.

Dear women who breast feed,
Doesn't feel so good, does it?
Sincerely, cows everywhere.

Dear male population,
Just because you have one, doesn't mean you need to act like one.
Sincerely, the female population.

Dear "my dog ate my homework",
You've been replaced.
Sincerely, "my printer broke."

Dear 72-hour deodorant,
why?
Sincerely, shower.

Dear peanut butter and jelly,
WHY DOESNT ANYONE EVER MENTION ME?!
Sincerely, bread.

Dear heart,
Please stop getting all up in my business. Your job is to pump blood, that's it.
Sincerely, brain.

Dear tectonic plates,
Calm the heck down.
Sincerely, Chile, Haiti, New Zealand, and Japan.

The L word