Month: April 2025

I somehow managed to struggle my way through all five volumes (1186 pages), with the help of the Lexicon and of course a number of online sources (Alzabo Soup). Took me in total nearly five months. Claims of being a masterpiece of twentieth-century literature seem to me to be a bit far-fetched. They say that you can't just read it but rather you have to re-read it who knows how many times before acquiring a mere inkling of understanding of what it is all about. The story is very abstract and difficult to follow. Flooded with archaic terminology dating from the ancient world and medieval period, long-forgotten dinosaurs and mythological creatures, very bizarre. A darkly religious inner journey, in search of the solution to a dying sun, time warps, inadvertent miracles, aliens from a higher dimension, on and on. Would I recommend it? Well, I guess it depends on your mood. It's now high time for me to read a fun book and enjoy myself.

This was my very first "favorite" song, Cracklin' Rosie by Neil Diamond, and I remember hearing it for the first time, just like it was yesterday.

There I was, sitting alone in the passenger's seat in my mother's car parked on the corner, waiting for her to come back from some errand (at the church?) when the song came on the radio. Loved it right away.

It was early 1970, I believe, and I was about 12 years old. That's around 55 years ago, and it remains one of my favorite songs.

Back in the second half of the sixties, my mom would open the back door early in the morning and let all us kids escape into the unknown world.

We would have many adventures for hours on end, and the days flew by. Playing games in the neighbors backyard, running up and down the streets, disappearing into a distant vacant lot, exploring houses being built, crawling through underground forts and tunnels we had dug out and built, sitting along the riverside watching various light cruisers, destroyers and transport ships being sent off to the Vietnam War, climbing up the cherry trees and collecting cherries we sold on the street for a dime a bag, etc.

At the end of the day, my mom blew this loud whistle that could be heard a mile away, and we all knew that that was the distant call that meant we had to come back home for dinner.

What a fantastic childhood that was!

The law of Dharma, or better known as the purpose in life, goes something like this.

"Everyone has a purpose in life ... a unique gift or special talent to give to others.

And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals."

—   The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra