Uh... I have to admit I have to think a bit, for that one.

I know! Why don't I look up what others have already said about me?

I feel shy though.

Here's something from J, a poet:

Thank you for your gentle, kindly presence and the warmth you bring to every space you enter.

Thank you, J.

And, from O, a restauranteur:

You play the piano so beautifully.

Aw, you're gonna make me blush. Thank you, O.

Okay, I think that's enough.

snapshots

bookshelf

1. The Heptameron, by Marguerite De Navarre
2. The blood of others, by Simone de Beauvoir (translated from the French).
3. Developing the leaders around you: How to help others reach their full potential, by John C. Maxwell.

#lunaticus

And, on a more than one occasion, a butterfly has floated past me, like a visitor from a far-away planet. I recall a humorous quip: “Life is like being stuck in a traffic jam, and moments of beauty are like the butterfly that floats past your windscreen as you stew inside your car: rare but much-needed.”

new-to-me stuff

1. the Bhairav scale, in an Indian raga. What is a raga? If a musical composition were to be a painting, a raga seems to be a kind of colour palette.
2. EPK is an acronym for Eka Pada Koundinyasana. In the field of “yoga”. I use inverted commas because yoga used to mean something else, a long time ago; but, these days, people view yoga as a kind of stretching exercise for the physical body.
3. If I write a sentence in Indonesian language – say, I want to write, “I gaze below, looking” – I could use either aku or beta to refer to myself. i.e. Beta menatap ke bawah. Or: aku menatap ke bawah. However aku seems to be the de facto choice among modern-day Indonesian people. Could beta be an anachronistic word today, though it may have been the fashion, a mere fifty years ago?

bookshelf

1. Malcolm Gladwell. The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference.
2. Simon Grigg. How bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the song that stormed the world.
3. Roman Koshelev. (2023). Peo. Semela. Sefata: A philosophical tale.

#lunaticus

But kind souls are holding space for me to soothe this pain, in community. Feelings of gratefulness and gladness wash over me.

Some nice things that have helped me to navigate surges of sadness and other emotions:

• gelato
• sharing my sorrows with a friend whom I feel emotionally safe with
• impromptu sing-along sessions with strangers at public pianos (featuring pop songs with sad tear-jerking lyrics)
• long solo walks, on both quiet nights and sun-drenched days
• Anne Lamott's (hilarious) book: “Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son”.
• organic vegetables at dinner-time

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

May I direct you now to Anne Lamott's Substack (e-newsletter). She's like an auntie who stays far away, lucid-eyed and pithily humorous when she comes over suddenly and gives you uncomfortable kisses that you never asked for, but which you appreciate anyway.

https://annelamott.substack.com/

#lunaticus

With the help of a few wonderful and illustrious women, I managed to serve them with salad, and lentil soup, and pizza, all of which were vegan or at least vegetarian. They left behind a reasonable amount of local currency, as a reciprocal gesture.

“We are big eaters,” one of them said, cheerily.

They requested information and I looked up some online resources to furnish them with. The following is a non-exhaustive list:

1. https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/dining/home-cafes-singapore-coffee-matcha-trend-465956
2. https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/
3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268504712_Generation_Names_in_China_Past_Present_and_Future
4. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=d937e20c-d28d-451b-a661-951a056c8c33

After the night ended, one of their party sent a message: “So nice to meet you. Let us keep in touch.”

And so concludes one chapter in the book that is their life-sojourn. It is my undeserved privilege to have been part of their story, which has had many twists and turns, I am sure.

snapshots

bookshelf

1. Michael J. Fox. (2010). A funny thing happened on the way to the future: Twists and turns and lessons learned.
2. Editors: Ong, Zhang et al. (2023). Assault on the body: Sexual violence and the gospel community.

#lunaticus

I attempt to distill my experiences into a Venn diagram below.

snapshots

I took away a quote (attributed to John C. Maxwell):

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

And what does healthy, effective leadership look like?

Food for thought: “the hype is about Servant Leadership. Be that as it may, everyone wants to be a leader, but no one wants to be a servant.

The below slide is from a talk that targets 18-year-old impressionable young adults, (often from broken and dysfunctional families).

As they say: you gotta start 'em early.

bookshelf

1. The Tirukkural, translated from Tamil into English, by Gopalkrishna Gandhi.
2. Interpreting Star Wars: Reading a modern film franchise, by Miles Booy.
3. Blindness, by Saramago. Translated by: Giovanni Pontiero.

#lunaticus

Why haven't I heard about it earlier in my life? I asked Jill, my friend from England, and she said that the Chinese people do not usually hear about neem because the tree simply does not grow in China.

However the medicinal effects of neem appear to be well-known – or, dare I say, even ubiquitous – in India. (according to Wikipedia: “Margo soap uses margosa [also known as neem] as its main ingredient.“)

snapshots

Warning: image-heavy content follows.

Someone gifted an Ibanez guitar, and someone else gifted a graphics tablet (a Huion HS64).

I put the two together, and used this one tablet to sketch the other guitar.

But I realise that using a graphics tablet is a strain for my body though – I guess humans simply did not evolve to use computers and gadgets.

If we agree that the earliest civilisation is Mesopotamia – and Wikipedia contributors suggest that the earliest recorded history of said Mesopotamia is 3100 years Before Christ (B.C.)– then, when I do my math, it's been five thousand years since a human started strolling up and down the face of this good planet – and computers arrived only on the scene in, what, the 1980s, (Anno Domini (A.D)!), maybe. You do the math. I should tell my boss that my body was wired for fishing in rivers instead of hunching over a glitchy “smart”-phone.

As an aside, I used JS Paint to make the above sketch. Over at: https://jspaint.app/

The above is a e-postcard that my Internet-friend sent me, from her travels in Sikkim.

According to Wikipedia contributors:

“Sikkim is the least populous and second-smallest among the Indian states. Situated in the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including alpine and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third-highest on Earth.”

I attended a conference, titled: “Intermission: Well-being for artists”. The gist of it is: as an artist, you cannot make art without giving yourself sufficient care. No art without care.

You have to think about how to get your body and mind into your Window of Tolerance. (diagram below).

Thanks, Ms. Nikki Disney, (from Artist Wellbeing company) for flying all the way to South-east Asia, and thank you, Richard Bamford Therapy, for the handy diagram above.

bookshelf

I've flipped through the following books.

1. The Souls Of China: The return of religion after Mao. by Ian Johnson. (2017).
2. Designing Coffee: New Coffee Places and Branding. by Lani Kingston. (2023).

#lunaticus

I've been disciplined about applying betamethasone cream to my eczema skin.

Weather has been pleasantly cool – albeit a little grey – and I've been grateful for little waterfalls of sunshine, once in a while.

The sound system at my (vegan) restaurant is damaged; I have no insight (yet) into whether repairs are possible. In the meantime, I'm counting on the floor-to-ceiling window view, and the organic food, to pull their weight. And I believe customers are there for conversations with their favourite people. As long as humans want to meet their social needs with their buddies, my team is happy to host them. I'm thankful for a wonderful team (behind-the-scenes) as well.

snapshots

bookshelf

I've flipped through the following books:

1. The end of animal farming : how scientists, entrepreneurs, and activists are building an animal-free food system, by Jacy Reese.
2. A postcard for Annie, by Ida Jessen

#lunaticus

And I believe that this moon-aligned behaviour is alive in practitioners of the Jewish tradition.

Different faiths, same moon. Different beliefs, same planet.

without further ado, here are snapshots from my part of the world:

Warning: image-heavy content follows

Verlaine's poem, Clair de Lune (Moonlight), from 1869 AD

Votre âme est un paysage choisi Que vont charmant masques et bergamasques Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.

Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur L'amour vainqueur et la vie opportune, Ils n'ont pas l'air de croire à leur bonheur Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,

Au calme clair de lune triste et beau, Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres Et sangloter d'extase les jets d'eau, Les grands jets d'eau sveltes parmi les marbres.

Your soul is like a landscape fantasy, Where masks and Bergamasks, in charming wise, Strum lutes and dance, just a bit sad to be Hidden beneath their fanciful disguise.

Singing in minor mode of life's largesse And all-victorious love, they yet seem quite Reluctant to believe their happiness, And their song mingles with the pale moonlight,

The calm, pale moonlight, whose sad beauty, beaming, Sets the birds softly dreaming in the trees, And makes the marbled fountains, gushing, streaming— Slender jet-fountains—sob their ecstasies.

translation courtesy of https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/853446.html

#lunaticus

1. Dvořák Symphony #5
2. Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in Cm, Op 18
3. Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A Major?
4. Eroica
5. Beethoven's 5th piano concerto, 'Fate'
6. Tchaikovsky, 'Pathetique'. Symphony no. 6 in Bm, Op. 74
7. Liszt's Mephisto Waltz No. 1, 'Dance in the village inn'
8. Edward Elgar Sonata for violin and piano in E Minor, Op 82
9. Mozart's Concerto for oboe and orchestra in C major (K. 314)
10. Brahms Symphony No. 1. C Minor Op. 68
11. Schumann Op. 115 'Manfred Overture'
12. Schubert piano sonata No. 16 in Am D. 845
13. J.S. Bach. Well-tempered Clavier No. 2. No. 16 in Gm. BMV885
14. Chopin Etude Op. 10-4
15. Liszt Études d'exécutíon transcendante No. 5 'Feux follets'
16. Debussy “the isle of joy”
17. Brahms 'Paganini variations' Op. 35-1
18. Ravel 'Phantoms of the night '
19. Beethoven's Symphony No. 7
20. Stravinsky. Three movements from Petrouchka.
21. Beethoven. Sonata No. 23 in Fm, Op. 57 'Appassionata'
22. Schumann. Sonata No. 2 in Gm, Op. 22
23. Debussy. Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.
24. Sarasate. 'Carmen Fantasy'.
25. R. Strauss. 'Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche'.
26. Chopin. Preludes Op. 28 No. 21

#lists #piano #lunaticus #TinyLetter #literature

First, the song 'Soledad!'

Let the horse run free, don't pull on his reins, for the day may come when you want him to run but can't

Don't let your heart be tainted by evil, and if love has gone... let it go, Soledad!

In Spanish:

Deja correr el caballo no le tires de la rienda, que puede ser que algún día quiera correrlo y no puedas.

No manches tu corazón con tinta de la maldad, y si el cariño se ha ido ... ¡déjalo, Soledad!

The next song is 'My heart is breaking' or 'El corazón se me parte'

My heart is breaking with grief and misery knowing you are in the world yet dead to me I told a stone in the street of my misfortune: see what effect my words had, that stone broke in two!

In Spanish:

El corazón se me parte de pena y de sentimiento al ver que estás en el mundo y para mí ya te has muerto A una piedra de la calle le conté yo mi dolor: ¡mira lo que le diría que la piedra se partió!

Finally comes the (poignant) song 'The Evening' or 'La tarde':

The evening became sad, breaking olive boughs and watering fields and fields of wheat with the tears that fell from its clouds

Centuries-old wheatfields, centuries in oblivion, the evening wanted to kill itself and hanged itself from an olive tree

The Spanish words, which are what are sung, are:

La tarde se puso triste quebrando ramas de olivos y con llanto de sus nubes regando trigos y trigos.

¡Trigales de siglos llenos! de sigolos en el olvido, la tarde quiso matarse y se colgó de un olivo

#TinyLetter #literature #lunaticus