Birthday(s)

Some parties take you high, some deep...

What is the major reason to celebrate birthdays?

 

a) to count the years

b) to get presents

c) to exchange all the kisses

d) to say “Oh, shit, again...”

 

Whatever drives you crazy about birthdays is OK.

Maybe calculating if you are already entitled to receive a birthday card from Royal Family, or you still have to wait a little...

Maybe just some pleasant expectations, who will remember, how...?

 

Most frequent thought lingering through birthday celebrations is “Time is really passing...”. As time simply is, more adequate thought would be “”Look at my journey through time...”. And birthday anniversary is as good a day as any to try to find where (when) in the maze of time we are.

If you get occasional feelings you are 33 years, 25 years, 14 years, 98 years old – all at once, it's not necessarily a sign you have to change your personal shrink.

Our minds and souls are jumping through the time as a young kitten playing with a favorite toy.

Our memories are taking as back, our dreams are taking as towards the future, everyday tasks keep us anchored in the present...

 

Maybe it would be a good idea to enjoy and celebrate (silently, inside of our souls) each and every day. True, not everything touching us is worth celebrating, but many things are.
A kind of refocusing of our inner sight, away from unpleasant garbage dumps, shallow people; towards pleasant valleys, a mountain high, clear streams and peaceful lakes... could help.

 

 

 

Just a fair warning

Trust me with your life...

Is it a fact that scuba diving instructing can do anybody?

When you explore underwater dreamland (for the first or twentieth or two-hundreds time), what do you expect from your dive guide, divemaster, instructor?

 

a) he knows shit about diving

b) his attention to you is extremely focused (on your wallet)

c) he can calm you by stating: “Trust me, I'm Paddy!”

d) service is cheap

 

If you choose answer d, answers a, b and c will be fulfilled automatically.

 

I'm not overly demanding scuba instructor. I also do not expect the world to be a perfect place.

However, when I hear leader of “PADI trecking, skuba diving and monkey business” selling crap to his victims, I still wish for some medieval measures to take care of swindlers.

 

Problem is, we take certain things for granted. If I see a sign PADI on a dive shop, I expect it's a PADI certified resort. Meaning a certified instructor is running the operation, it's professional, reliable and safe for scuba activity.

 

In Bali, Indonesia, you can see PADI sign on trucks (denoting a good delivery services), PADI jungle tours (denoting they are jungle experts), dive shacks (implying you should trust them with your life), PADI toilets (this one I haven't figured out the advantage yet)...

Looks like PADI and Indonesian government decided PADI logo is public domain in Indonesia and therefore of no use for you when choosing some reliable dive operation.

 

On what you can rely in corrupted and / or incompetent jungles of south east Asia?

 

PADI logo on a signboard? Anybody can put whatever he thinks will bring some traffic.

Government control? Are you kidding?!?!

Guardian angel leading you to a safe facility? Hmm, better sell your ticket for Bali.

PADI taking all legal steps to prevent misleading innocent divers? See “Government control”.

 

So far, I repeat, so far, PADI official web pages with a Dive Shop Locator are still not compromised. You can find only legitimate PADI dive businesses there.

It would be prudent to ask for advice also your diving friends, your certifying instructor, maybe advice from your local diving club, do some internet research – anyhow, it's your safety and pleasure in question, not mine :)

Is the world heading towards Stupidityville?

Wau!!! Iiiiiiiiiii!!!

A serious question is if we can jump off this wagon heading where we really do not want to end.

How fast are we approaching destination?

Any stops on the way?

Can we get off?

 

a) journey is too fast and too pleasant

b) we travel first class

c) all my friends are on this train

d) everybody loves me on this train

 

If you check surrounding countryside, you may notice we are already there. We can do a simple experiment. Send a tweet to your loving partner, standing next to you, watching amazing sunset. “Iiiiiiii, fab sunset!!!” When you see your partner googling for pics of fab sunsets, you'll know destination Stupidityville has been reached.

Is it so bad?

No.

It's worse.

 

I've seen ghost of George Orwell, watching this train taking humanity into oblivion, crying helplessly. And all the artists, writers, poets, even two philosophers..., they simply couldn't get the meaning of Ha!!!, Wau!!!, Iiiiiiii... and similar eloquent onomatopoetic expressions, that denote all the mysterious depths of our souls today.

 

There is a proposal of an EU / USA directive to throw certain types of heretics on e-stakes and burn them.

The worst and most dangerous to our brave new world are:

 

Individuals soaking in different shades of green in their garden, while listening to crying of Mark Knopfler's Fender Stratocaster guitar...

Crazy highlanders, enjoying the snow covered paths in the Alps or sipping mocha under palm trees in a small, medieval Mediterranean coastal town and relishing the good company...

Maniacs willing to read a book after book, taking a walk after walk, a road-trip after road-trip, still operating on the weird assumptions that best interface for human to human interaction are fingers touching fingers, not the screen...

 

Somehow, I've never been a devoted fan of big crowds. Either yelling at football matches, screaming with a bunch of illiterate revolutionaries, posting five times a day stupidities on antisocial networks, crowding on a Rio de Janeiro beaches...

Joining hordes of e-community for the sake of being e-compatible with society? No, thank you.

 

A few trusted friends, some good, old immorality, some wise cats to remind me of priorities in life, some good dives, some chili in my meals, some shameless waste of time – and life makes sense.

Perceptions of Bali (and everything else)

A winter path in the Alps or a frog fish in Bali?

How you can be sure this is a scene from a winter walking tour in the Alps or really sure this is an underwater photo of a frog fish in Bali?

As you have your eyes and brains it's rather easy.

 

a) snow on branches is typical for Alps

b) bare trees and branches are typical for wintertime Alps

c) dark brown frog fish in the center is typical for underwater environment

d) corals growing from the underwater wall are typical for Menjangan walls

 

If you were with me when taking this photo, you would know. As it is, even unedited photo, additional information, your eyes, your brain, your vast knowledge accumulated through years... doesn't help.

Your perception will still let you recognize it for what it is or for what it isn't.

And this is a just a photo.

 

Very much same goes for our perceptions of ideas, facts, people... And yet in these a touch more important departments we can be so sure of our proper perception that it hurts.

I have no doubt whatsoever that she is lazy, he is stupid and greedy, that the Moon and clouds are making love, that rainbow tastes way sweeter than a snowflake...

In two cases I'm sweetly right, in two I'm brilliantly wrong - no wonder so much aggravation, stress, anger and other nice things are floating around...

 

It's interesting that most of the things about which nobody could say true or false with any degree of certainty, we can easily declare as holly truth.

Not even the fact, that most of our perceptions are in fact the most beautiful examples of misperceptions, can not change our sacred perceptions.

Well, if our “infallible” perceptions make as happy, so be it...

Or...?