Arcadian Idyll: an idealised vision about rural life, a country paradise. Arcadia was and still is, a mountainous region in Greece. It was populated mainly by shepherds and the sleepy and fluffy flocks of sheep. In reality, rural life in Arcadia was harsh, poor and beholden to the ravages of unpredictable weather. However thatContinue reading “Ancient words of the day: Arcadian Idyll”
Author Archives: Content Catnip
Inspirational People: Tenzin Gyatso
“If we look at human history, we will find that a good heart has been the key in achieving what the world regards as great accomplishments in the fields of civil rights, social work, political liberation and religion for example. “A sincere outlook and motivation do not belong exclusively to the sphere of religion; theyContinue reading “Inspirational People: Tenzin Gyatso”
On silence and idleness
“Happiness is in the quiet, ordinary things. A table, a chair, a book with a paper-knife stuck between the pages. And the petal falling from the rose, and the light flickering as we sit silent.” Virginia Woolf, The Waves Time Moves Slow by Bad Bad Good “Nothing thicker than a knife’s blade separates happiness fromContinue reading “On silence and idleness”
Book Review: Awaken in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-discovery by Mark Coleman
Awaken in the Wild is a really great introductory book about the connection between mindfulness and the natural world. Published in 2006, it feels before its time in terms of the themes of overstimulation from technology and mindfulness. There are around 40 brief and themed sections in the book, with a short lesson and thenContinue reading “Book Review: Awaken in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-discovery by Mark Coleman”
Book Review: Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism by Camille Paglia
Contrarian feminist Camille Paglia’s ideas infuriate most feminists. Her ideas are not for the faint-hearted or lilly-livered – she is a sex-positive, pro-abortion transgender woman with a no bullshit, straight-talking style that she combines with playful erudition and poetic pyrotechnics in this book. The New York Times review of her book basically called her aContinue reading “Book Review: Free Women, Free Men: Sex, Gender, Feminism by Camille Paglia”
The richness of lovers and tribes
“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on by body when IContinue reading “The richness of lovers and tribes”
Film Review: Blinded by the Light
Director Gurinder Chadha who is known for the film Bend It Like Beckham, has created another feel-good film. Blinded by Light is about a Pakistani British teenager Javed who learns how to cope with the ecstacy and heartbreak of life through the music of Bruce Springsteen. Set in a working class suburb of London inContinue reading “Film Review: Blinded by the Light”
Book Review: In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World by Simon Garfield
Are you fascinated and delighted by small things? Then I’ve found the ultimate book for you. In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World by Simon Garfield. Each chapter delves into a miniature world of its own and there is only a tenuous connection between them, but no matter. All is forgiven because learning allContinue reading “Book Review: In Miniature: How Small Things Illuminate the World by Simon Garfield”
You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger
A palm tree stands in the middle of Rusafa, Born in the west, far from the land of palms. I said to it: How like me you are, far away and in exile, In long separation from family and friends. You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger; And I, like you,Continue reading “You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger”
Unusual augurs of thunder in medieval England
In times of yore ( yore occurring around 1389) the appearance of thunder was a mixed bag. Thunder during January augured bumper crops, along with war when it crackled over the sky. However, thunder in December heralded abundant fruit trees, provisions and harmony among people. Harry the Hayward’s Thunder Prognostication Chart (1389) Sources: The BodlieanContinue reading “Unusual augurs of thunder in medieval England”
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