Anna Karenina

"The words the peasant had spoken produced in his soul the effect of an electric spark, suddenly transforming and welding into one a whole group of disjointed impotent separate ideas which had always interested him.  These ideas, though he had been unconscious of them, had been in his mind when he was talking about letting the land.
He felt something new in his soul and probed this something with pleasure, not yet knowing what it was."

- From Anna Karenina  

In the Woods

"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life, — no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

New Zealand Timelapse

This is visually stunning and one of the many reasons why I will eventually live in New Zealand.

Day/Night (New Zealand) from malcolm tan on Vimeo.

Photography You Should See: Part 2

Continued from Photography You Should See: Part 1

Nikkos Economopoulos - Greece  (1953) 
(Source)

Jacques-Henri Lartigue - Gerard Willemetz and Dani, Royan, 1926 (1926)
(Source)

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For the following photos, all manipulation has been done in a darkroom.

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Jerry Uelsmann - Untitled (2003)
(Source) 

Jerry Uelsmann - Untitled (1969)
(Source)

Salvador Dali - Atomicus (1948)
(Source)

Jerry Uelsmann - Untitled (1996)
(Source)

Jerry Uelsmann - Untitled (1966)
(Source)

like the ebb of a tide

like the ebb of a tide

people drift

in and out.

come swim with me

their eyes whisper.

come let's go

dive into this ocean

together.

Why I Love Apple Cider Vinegar

After the amazing Southern New Mexico adventure, I came home covered in hives.  I speculated it was due to the diet and accommodations from our trip. However, after the hives went away I broke out in a rash that I am pretty sure was eczema, something I used to get quite a bit when I was younger.

Because of this, I began taking about an ounce of organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar.  I was only thinking about clearing up my rash (which went away pretty quickly) but I have noticed a bunch of amazing benefits, such as clear skin, strong nails and slightly longer eyelashes. 

Here's an extensive list of the benefits of ingesting unfiltered apple cider vinegar: 

• Clears up your skin - acne, rashes, hives, etc.
• Balances your body's PH, which helps with digestion and heartburn
• Acts as an appetite suppressant
• Improves the condition of hair and nails
• Wards of colds, stuffy noses and sore throats
• Helps reduce LDL (bad cholesterol)
• Prevents muscle fatigue after exercise & increases stamina
• Breaks down fats
• Lowers glucose levels
• Fights off allergies
• Increases energy
• Whitens teeth
• Reduces bloating and cramps
• Reduces joint stiffness and pain
• Anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal
• Removes toxins from the body
• It could lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, and potentially kill cancer cells

I fill half a shot glass with vinegar, then add a splash of water.  I also take it with about 5 - 8 ounces of water.  It tastes really, really bad.  But it is so, so good for me that I actually have begun to look forward to my twice-daily dose.  I do it once in the morning and once in the evening, preferably before eating.  You can also mix in honey (try raw, unfiltered) but I cannot due to do my strict meal plan prescribed from a holistic doctor. (I might add that not eating peanut butter is pure torture.)

I suggest you try it for a week or two just to see if it does anything for you.  I think it might.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates

Updated List of Books I'm Reading (with More Books!)

Last weekend, almost everybody that I hang out with was out of town.  At first, I was kind of bummed out about it but I took advantage of my free time.  I went through my apartment and donated about 1/3rd of the stuff I had.  

I also reorganized my bookshelf and found more books with bookmarks.  So, here's an update:

1.  Wind, Sand & Stars, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
2. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway*
4. A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway*
5. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien*
6. Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer
7. The Nigger of the 'Narcissus': A Tale of the Sea, Joseph Conrad
8. Afterwards, You're a Genius, Chip Brown
9. Fire in the Mind: Science, Faith, and the Search for Order, George Johnson
10. The God Theory: Universes, Zero-Point Fields and What's Behind It All, Bernard Haisch
11. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver
12. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
13. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez*
14. The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis
15. Tortilla Flat, John Steinbeck
16. The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene
17. Celebrity, Laphram's Quarterly Volume IV Number I
18. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman

I am actually pretty excited to finish all of these books.  I rearranged my bookshelves in such a way that my main shelf is color-coordinated (an idea I picked up from Kadin's sister) and the bookshelf next to my bed has a row of unfinished books, in the order I would like to read them.  

My "new" bookshelf! I am so proud of this.

One thing I am constantly working on in my life is making the effort to follow through.  This book project is kind of a huge deal for me... a big step toward being more focused.  So, I am going to try to not be discouraged that my list became 50% longer!

"It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through." - Zig Ziglar