From a meditation manual, title forgotten

Restrain your senses from objects that arouse craving or hostility.

It is important to find and follow a path that makes the heart sing.

Bo scandal breaker at U.S. embassy

“Two things were clear the moment he walked in: this was a very big deal, and this was a very unsavory character. This is not the Dalai Lama who walked in the door.” NYTimes 4/18/2012

Why Trees Matter

"In Japan, researchers have long studied what they call 'forest bathing.' A walk in the woods, they say, reduces the level of stress chemicals in the body and increases natural killer cells in the immune system, which fight tumors and viruses. Studies in inner cities show that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in a landscaped environment."--Jim Robbins, NYTimes, 4/12/12

Frank Langella true memoir

Frank Langella's memoir, Dropped Names, is a true memoir, that is, a collection of memories of other people. "The word has been corrupted these days to mean essentially the recounting of anything traumatic or even vaguely interesting that happened to the author, but it used to be more commonly used to describe recollections of famous figures: other people....A natural raconteur, he seems to fit precisely Henry James's famous description of the novelist as one 'on whom nothing is lost.'"--Charles Isherwood, NYTimes, 4/14/12, review of Dropped Names

This I Believe, February 7, 2010

Never be cruel. Live artistically. Never lose your sense of humor.

Happiness ingredients, Amy Bloom

The fundamentally sound, Sure-Fire Top Five Components of Happiness: 1) Be in possession of the basics--food, shelter, good health, safety. (2) Get enough sleep. (3) Have relationships that matter to you. (4) Take compassionate care of others and of yourself. (5) Have work or an interest that engages you.

The real problem with happiness is neither its pursuers nor their books; it's happiness itself. Happiness is like beauty; part of its glory lies in its transcience. ..To hold happiness is to hold the understanding that the world passes away from us, that the petals fall and the beloved dies. No amount of mockery, no amount of fashionable scowling will keep any of us from knowing and savoring the pleasure of the sun on our faces or save us from the adult understanding that it cannot last forever.

NY Times January 31, 2010

Ballet

"All real ballets, W. H. Auden wrote in his essay 'Ballet's Present Eden,' take place in a world where there is no memory and no anticipation; the joys of life are those of the immediate and eternal present. Auden, a friend of George Balanchine, was referring the 'The Nutcracker,' but he might as well ahve been talking about childhood."

New York Times, Roslyn Sulcas, November 30, 2009