Wisdom by Hindsight
I can totally relate to the message in this image. There are some hyperactive friends of mine who keep wondering how I can be such a couch potato and this blog post is for them. Not that I expect them to understand but, this is my explanation for their puzzlement.
I must however add that I am not much into snacking but instead, into solving crossword puzzles and reading.
How about you dear reader?
I got this cartoon strip earlier today which triggered off a long forgotten memory of detective fiction.
I don’t know how many of my regular readers will remember a character called Mike Hammer. He was a detective in novels written by Mickey Spillane. I think that I have read all Mickey Spillane’s novels as during those days, there was no television or diversions other than cinema and willy nilly one read. Since I was also travelling a lot, I used to buy books in railway station book stalls and was quite well known in some of them.
There were other writers too but, this particular opening that Snoopy uses is a classic Mike Hammer one if my memory serves me right.
It is a pity that he stopped with just a few stories of that particular genre. He was very entertaining and easy to read.
Have you read Mickey Spillane? Do you think that the criticism that he got from the regular literati was justified?
Ah, fill the Cup – what boots it to repeat
How Time is slipping underneath our Feet
Unborn tomorrow and dead Yesterday
Why fret about them if Today be sweet!
~ The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Snoopy’s pithy observation says enough about this topic and I simply leave it at that and close this post.
This is my take on this week’s Friday 8 On 1 blog post topic. The other seven bloggers who write on the same topic every Friday are Maria. Sanjana, Padmum, Raju, Shackman , Srinivas and Conrad. This week’s topic was suggested by Raju. Please do go over to their respective blogs to see what they have to say on the topic. Thank you.
“In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people’s home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you’re young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!”
~ Woody Allen
Life is like a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.
~ Charles Schulz,
Let me explain why I dug up that quote.
There is a bit of painting work going on in my home and I got some wet paint on to a favourite white kurta. I would have normally sent the kurta with my Jeeves to the local dry cleaner to get the stain removed but since I was going out for a pedicure anyway, I decided to go myself. To my surprise, I saw the establishment being run by a very smart lady, rather unusual for that business here. She took one look at the stain and said that it was hopeless and if I wanted to wear the kurta I should dye the whole garment to the colour of the paint, chocolate brown! I was taken aback and exclaimed that I could not very well wear a brown kurta as I would look weird. The lady promptly suggested that if Amitabh Bachhan can wear coloured kurtas, I could too.
I hemmed and hawed and suggested that I was not in the same league to which, the lady said, that it was the Big B who was not in my league!
What speed gear should I have changed to?
PS. I took her advise and have arranged for the kurta to be dyed. I shall wear it and take a photograph to publish a follow up post to this.