Food 52

 Kumquat

 A Sweet Pea Chef

Hungry Native

Quote of the Day

“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.”
― Nikki Giovanni

Art of the Day

Katsushika Hokusai 

The Great Wave at Kanagawa (1832)

Photograph of the Day

Truman Capote Rescuing the kitty.

Pure Vegetarian

Fashioneestar

Literary Quote

“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.”

 — James Branch Cabell From The Silver Stallion

Literary Pick (**)

Nausea

-Jean Paul Sartre

Not nearly as good as his plays in No Exit. Sartre claimed Nausea to be his magnum opus. Existentialism is a philosophy I deeply believe is the doctrine of life. So I was surprised and disappointed that Sartre, being the forefather of existentialism, offered this, his crowning achievement, with little to no theory. Nausea reminded me much of Fernando Pessoa's Book of Disquiet, in the sense that it presented a profoundly disturbed individual attempting to cope with the meaningless of everyday life, but lacking purposeful argument.

Quote of the Day

When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past. 
~Author Unknown

Literary Pick (***)

Easy French Reader

-R. de Roussy de Sales

Finally finished this, my second French workbook. The only drawback about this practice textbook is that there were no English side-by-side translations. I had to often refer to a French dictionary and Google translate throughout the entire book.

Quote of the Day

“If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.”

-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Literary Pick (**)

Breaking the Surface

-Greg Louganis

I owned this book for quite some time, but for some reason or other continued to put off reading it. Not sure why I've always admired Greg Louganis.. I'm not a big Olympic follower, and I'm not into swimming as a sport either. Perhaps my admiration for him began after he hit his head on the springboard during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Korea, and much later hearing the news of his HIV status, which I could've sworn he came forth with immediately after his diving accident, but it turns out he actually came out in 1994. In this bio Greg Louganis comes off as whiny and self-pitying. I was initially taken back by it. He has never appeared like that in his televised appearances... I thought it would have an affect on how I felt about Louganis, but after finishing I've decided I still think he's a remarkable athlete who's been through a lot. I feel sad that he hasn't been able to find a meaningful relationship, which seems to be something important to him. I hope he continues to do well in life and in health.