Hillary Hanh moves —  Impressive as birds in spring — A muse to follow!  Daily Stoic: I study because I know I am not smart enough to figure all this out on my own . . . and I must figure it out. That's my purpose in life: to understand better that I may hit nearer my mark of being a virtuous man.  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: Violin Concerto In E Minor, Op.64, MWV O14: 3. Allegro non troppo - Allegro molto vivac e by Felix Mendelssohn, as played by Hillary Hanh Daily Shakespeare: Henry IV, Part I , Act 1 Scene 2

Dodos on the loose!  Pickwick come back here right now!  Plock plock! Sits on egg.  Daily Stoic: I must keep the Big Picture™ in mind. Details are important, but "without a destination, it doesn't matter which way you go," right?  As things change in my life, I must adapt, fixing them into my plans so I can continue to make progress toward my goal.  If I cannot, I'll mire and waste my time and efforts, accomplishing nothing.  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: String Quartet with Didjeridu: no.14 ‘Quamby’ by Peter Sculthorpe  Daily Shakespeare: Sonnet 145

Triple event strikes!  Three kaiju wreck Tokyo!  Giant robots ho!  Daily Stoic: The less I want, the more I have. The more freedom I have. Cf. Siddhartha . . .  He wanted for nothing and this gave him the advantage. He was already satisfied, nothing anyone had to offer need tempt him. He could choose or not choose as he wished.  What a power this is!  Today's Meditation: Today's Music: Lay a garland by Robert Lucas Pearsall  Daily Shakespeare: The Winter's Tale , Act 4 Scene 4

Meriting response,  — A lovebird's call to a mate — Or requiring one.  Daily Stoic: If I look at scary, anxiety-inducing situations, examine them for what they are: humans in rooms (or outdoors) saying and doing things.  That's it. Just people.  Maybe they're attractive. Maybe not. Maybe they're rich. Maybe not. Maybe they're smart. Maybe not.  Maybe the place is man-made. Maybe it's natural. Maybe it's decorated from around the world. Maybe it's Spartan.  Maybe the words are formulaic, an ancient ceremony. Maybe they're impromptu and unscripted.  But it's just people, places, words, and actions.  Nothing special unless I deem it so.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Prélude in G flat major, op. 11 no. 13 by Alexander Scriabin Daily Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet , Act 1 Scene 2

Welcome to the show,  Dazzling flowers of lightning  Perform flashy tricks.  Daily Stoic: If I'm in a sparring match, a practice round with a fellow student, errors and mistakes are easily forgiven. It's a lack of knowledge and control our both of our parts, not malice, not malfeasance.  Why don't I understand that so much of life is practice and deserving of the same benefit of the doubt?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Caprice in A minor, op. 1 no. 24 by Niccolò Paganini Daily Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1

Change my mind? If needs.  Seasons follow one another,  They change. So do I.  Daily Stoic: If contradictory evidence arises, I should examine my premises and, if necessary, change my mind.  I would count my life wasted if I believed the same things I believed 20 years ago. WTH had I been doing, or, more accurately, not doing, during that time such that I have learned nothing, grown not a whit?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Six Pieces from Kuolema, Op.44, 1: Valse triste by Jean Sibelius  Daily Shakespeare: Sonnett 55

What of virtue, then?  Creatures scurry in the dark,  Follow nature's path.  Daily Stoic: It's just a room. That grand hall hosting the drancy fess ball. Walls, carpet or wood or stone on the floor. Paintings or paper on the wall. A/C vents and electrical outlets and a janitor's closet down the hall to the left.  It's just a stadium. That championship site. With stinking toilets and rude cashiers and other fans who yell in your ear the whole time rooting for the wrong team.  It's just a person. That Supreme High Poohbah looking so impressive up on the TV screen. They eat french fries and throw up when ill and snore at night.  Strip away the trappings and there's nothing so much different from who I am and where I live.  We're all just human.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Symphonie Nr. 5 C-moll, Op. 67: IV. Allegro  (at 21:12) by Ludwig van Beethoven Daily Shakespeare...

Wind! Winds! And more wind!  Playing in the hurricane,  Ultimate son time.  Daily Stoic: I can choose my mental states. I don't always — sometimes I let my emotions get the better of my reason — but I can if I focus.  It's up to me to pay closer attention, to make it happen.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: How Sweet the Moonlight    from Merchant of Venice by Jocelyn Pook Daily Shakespeare: As You Like It , Act 2 Scene 3

Expected things fail,  It's a rain that never comes,  That's ok. All good.  Daily Stoic: Humans, as rational animals, set their purpose unlike any other creature. How like a god .....  Biologist E. O. Wilson said, "We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology."  Can my rationality overcome my monkey brain? (The more primitive lizard brain is involved in the three Fs, not in "driving the bus" so to speak.)  Built-in emotional reactions, minus decided action, constantly try to short circuit my plans for a calm and tranquil life; giving in to — hell,  CREATING — the impulses which, if believed, turn every situation into a crisis.  That why I have to think about it so damn much. If I don't, the monkey drives and who knows where I'll end up?  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Danza Gaya by Madeleine Dring Today's Shakespeare: Julius Caesar , Act 3 ...

Calculated risks,  Like diving into dark holes,  Boy, I'm bad at math! Daily Stoic: My attention is fickle indeed. Sometimes on point, too often MIA.  Minimizing errors is a matter of attention according to Epictetus. That would help explain why I make so many.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Khovanshchina, Prelude: Dawn Over the Moscow River by Modest Mussorgsky Daily Shakespeare: Julius Caesar , Act 3 Scene 1

Teedle teedle twee Otters play upon the stream.  What game have we t'day?  Daily Stoic: Good is virtue; wisdom, justice, temperance, courage. Good is not the money, the fame, the power, the products, the services, the THINGS which modern life hasn't taught me so. Since good is found only in internal attitudes, it can be mine anytime I desire.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Music for a While by Henry Purcell Daily Shakespeare: Macbeth , Act 1 Scene 5

Late night 'nanigans Small creatures playing at life,  Here we go again!  Daily Stoic: Offer assent only to those impressions and judgments which correspond to reality. Withhold these from those mistakes we so often make, piling false facts upon unsteady foundations, creating a house of cards built on sand and dust.  Today's Meditation: Today's Meditation II: Today's Music: Valse lente – slow waltz by Germaine Tailleferre