WritingWith pen and heart in hand...

History hasn’t been kind to President Nixon, and were you looking for insight into the meaning of life, his door would not be the first you would open. Maybe however it should be, for when he gives his version of the oft-ignored truism that money will not buy you happiness, you would be wise to [...]

It seems I’ve been away from New Zealand long enough now that I am beginning to experience New Zealanders as the rest of the world does. That is disarmingly open and friendly — even innocent — and not the less charitable qualities I might once have assigned. My debit card expired, and so I called my Auckland [...]

Proving that man’s best friend may sometimes have a twitching nose and cute button tail, a pet rabbit is being credited with saving its owners from a house fire in southeastern Alaska. The not at all rascally rabbit woke the owner of both house and pet early in the morning by scratching on her chest, [...]

Make no puns funny remarks Double entendres “witty” remarks ironies Sarcasms Only that which is simply earnest meant, —harmless to anyone’s feelings —unadorned unvarnished nothing to excite a laugh silence silence silence silence laconic taciturn. –Walt Whitman instructs himself in an 1855-56 notebook about the Second Edition of Leaves of Grass.

Childhood favourite Kermit the Frog shows that not only kittens and puppies can be cute, as he counts through the letters of the alphabet with a young human who likes cookies.

Australian Sri Chinmoy Centre member and painter Pranavanta John Montefiore passed away recently. Art critic, university lecturer, illustrator and exhibited seven times, Pranavanta was also an author 30 years in the making—his magnum opus on painting The Making of Paintings published in 2007. Like spirituality in today’s unashamedly material world, Pranavanta the author remains mostly [...]

Canadian musician and meditation-rocker Pavaka Ritchot recently toured Japan as a part of the Songs of the Soul concerts, performing in Tokyo, Kamakura and Kyoto. Pavaka, a student of meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy, performs music composed by the late Indian spiritual master, and has released two albums of these melodies. Learn more about Pavaka and [...]

Photos from the recent Songs of the Soul concert in Tokyo, Japan.

Welcome to a same-height party. Where the playing field of absurdity is levelled, and everybody can look equally ridiculous. Soon to be an same-IQ party as well, by the look of the beverages being consumed. Personally, I think I would prefer to remain self-conscious and short, than be self-conscious and short on style.

Article first published as Book Review: The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 by Donald Richie on Blogcritics. This is what every memoir should be. Unhindered by any attempt to be self-serving, Donald Richie’s The Japan Journals: 1947-2004 is about the most unflinchingly honest opening of the tightly turned lid of self you’ll ever read. You can’t help but [...]