Tori's blog.

Once upon a time, there was a king who ruled a great and glorious nation. Favourite amongst his subjects was the court painter of whom he was very proud. Everybody agreed this wizzened old man pianted the greatest pictures in the whole kingdom and the king would spend hours each day gazing at them in wonder. However, one day a dirty and dishevelled stranger presented himself at the court claiming that in fact he was the greatest painter in the land. The indignant king decreed a competition would be held between the two artists, confident it would teach the vagabond an embarrassing lesson. Within a month they were both to produce a masterpiece that would out do the other. After thirty days of working feverishly day and night, both artists were ready. They placed their paintings, each hidden by a cloth, on easels in the great hall of the castle. As a large crowd gathered, the king ordered the cloth be pulled first from the court artist’s easel. Everyone gasped as before them was revealed a wonderful oil painting of a table set with a feast. At its centre was an ornate bowl full of exotic fruits glistening moistly in the dawn light. As the crowd gazed admiringly, a sparrow perched high up on the rafters of the hall swooped down and hungrily tried to snatch one of the grapes from the painted bowl only to hit the canvas and fall down dead with shock at the feet of the king. ’Aha!’ exclaimed the king. ’My artist has produced a painting so wonderful it has fooled nature herself, surely you must agree that he is the greatest painter who ever lived!’ But the vagabond said nothing and stared solemnly at his feet. ’Now, pull the blanket from your painting and let us see what you have for us,’ cried the king. But the tramp remained motionless and said nothing. Growing impatient, the king stepped forward and reached out to grab the blanket only to freeze in horror at the last moment. ’You see,’ said the tramp quietly, ’there is no blanket covering the painting. This is actually just a painting of a cloth covering a painting. And whereas your famous artist is content to fool nature, I’ve made the king of the whole country look like a clueless little twat.

“

—

Banksy

torii bunnii’s photostream on Flickr.Went PRO tonight for the next two years! Hopefully in two years I will actually be PRO! Check it out. Mostly a lot of old hipstamatic prints. More to come. Putting y ass in gear.

Mural painting on Blue Swallow Motel of old Route 66 in Tucumcari, NM

torii bunnii’s photostream on Flickr.

Went PRO tonight for the next two years! Hopefully in two years I will actually be PRO! Check it out. Mostly a lot of old hipstamatic prints. More to come. Putting y ass in gear.

Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;

Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

“

—	William Blake

In Place of Time: The Art of Change »

“Happiness is not the belief that we don’t need to change. It’s the realization that we can.” -Shawn Achor

I know a number of people, including myself, who are reluctant to encounter change. Be it a change in life circumstances, a change in relationships, a change in condition, or responsibility -the list goes on. These are transitory moments, and however large or small they create a shift in our mental homeostasis; throw us off of our established rhythm and require us to move into a new mode of operation (adaptation). Because of this, many have come to associate such transitions with negatory impact. Especially in those who are most comfortable in the absence of change and presence of ‘stability’ and constance. I believe in American culture, we’ve become accustomed to constance and have been subliminally taught to be weary of change. Perhaps because the nature of our culture implies the pursuit of a goal to the point where once the goal is achieved, nothing else need be done. As well as the nature of modern life encourages stability to the point where ‘rocking the boat’ is viewed as undesirable.

Yet, when we examine life as a whole, we see that the nature of life is to adapt to change. Life in itself is about change and the process of adaptation which prepares us for future shifts in life. Some of these shifts are purely positive and desired, some (in the immediate sense) are taken to be negative or detrimental, others have a strange mixture of both. Each kind has its place in human existence. The greatest skill in life is the skill to adapt to unforeseen circumstances encountered in life. Such a skill is a mastery of living in this world, and can be achieved by any person willing to put the effort forward over the course of their time.

In earlier times, change was encountered immediately. There was no other choice, for the issues during earlier times of mankind pertained to survival, which would be unfeasible if there was a delay in action. Nowadays, many of the changes in life have the potential to be prolonged not just over days -but weeks, months, and in some cases years. We’ve set up a society which is ok with putting off issues and neglecting needs for change until the inevitable moment of last chance. This delay in action is a digression in respect to evolution, for as I see it, progressive evolution would ideally lead to a faster rate of adaptation and acceptance.

If one goes through life adapting to the shifts, learning how to balance their personal, mental homeostasis, he or she enables themselves to experience the greatest gift in life. Self sustained dependability. If you can depend on yourself, you know that no matter the circumstance that there will be a way to get through. No longer will everything be someone else’s fault, all accountability for the adjustments in life is on you and you receive soul power over the way you handle circumstances.

However simple this is to describe, the process is much more complex and isn’t achieved easily. But, it is entirely doable, given the effort and awareness of the life in your hands. I suppose I could say that my New Year’s Resolution is to keep this all in mind as much as I can, and do my best to live by it. Accept change, adapt to what life throws at you in order to keep living the life you wish to live. Take the opportunities that will foreseeably make life better, and get over the hurdles that make life more tough. We don’t have control over what events occur in our lives, but we do have control over how we respond and take action.

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paperzombie:

~ Leeds United

Rad bus in Tucumcari, NM »

torii bunnii posted a photo:

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast… a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

“

—	Edward Abbey (via dharmasnapshots)

Secret!

Watch the sunrise
Say your goodbyes
Off we go
Some conversation
No contemplation
Hit the road

Car overheats
Jump out of my seat
On the side of the highway baby
Our road is long
Your hold is strong
Please don’t ever let go Oh No

[Chorus:]
I know I don’t know you
But I want you so bad
Everyone has a secret
But can they keep it
Oh No they can’t

I’m driving fast now
Don’t think I know how to go slow
Where you at now
I feel around
There you are

Cool these engines
Calm these jets
I ask you how hot can it get
And as you wipe off beads of sweat
Slowly you say “I’m not there yet!”

[Chorus x2]

My apple cinnamon, apple cinnamon sauce. :-) having the bare minimum really opens your creativity

Float on!

I backed my car into a cop car, the other day.

Well he just drove off, sometimes life’s ok.

I ran my mouth off a bit too much, oh what did I say.

Well you just laughed it off, it was all ok.

And we’ll all float on, ok.

And we’ll all float on any way, well.

A fake Jamaican took every last dime with a scam.

It was worth it just to learn some sleight-of-hand.

Bad news comes don’t you worry even when it lands.

Good news will work its way to all them plans.

We both got fired on exactly the same day.

Well we’ll float on good news is on the way.

And we’ll all float on, ok.

And we’ll all float on, alright.

Already we’ll all float on.

No, don’t you worry, we’ll all float on.

Alright, already, we’ll all float on.

Alright, don’t worry, we’ll all float on.

Alright already we’ll all float on.

Alright don’t worry even if things end up a bit too heavy.

We’ll all float on…alright. Already we’ll all float on.

Alright already we’ll all float on, ok.

Don’t worry we’ll all float on.

Even if things get heavy, we’ll all float on.

Alright already we’ll all float on.

(Alright)

Don’t you worry we’ll all float on.

(Alright)

All float on….

-Modest Mouse

I ooze tackiness!

My Wednesday night.

Showering, laundry, making tillapia and carrots, hookah smoking and the movies Moon and Klimt from Premiere Video… Alone. Goodnight

I just love these mirrors!

Waiters have a sense of humor…

Calm. Calm. Calm.