shanlung

I am a carnivore. A good reason to be a Taoist. One way to differentiate Taoist temple from Buddhist temple in Far East, especially as both temples make liberal uses of each other images will be to see what they got on the front altar during the worship. Buddhist temple will have only fruits and flowers. Taoist temple will have fruits and flowers and roast pork and roast chicken. As long as things are done, or eaten, or drunk, or lust satisfied, but should be done in moderation, it will be ok to a Taoist Taoist should have less or even no hang ups. Now that being said, Dalai Lama loves a good juicy steak. Do not take my word! Go google "Dalai Lama loves steak" , especially if you cannot take the word of a professed Idiot. Taoistic Idiot hungering for pork chop and a beer to wash that down, but cannot for love or money while in KSA

Looking younger! Feeling younger! Better control on emotions and not giving a flying fuck to things that used to bother one in the past. Chi running here and there and in dantien and spilling over! All and that wonderful and great even if alone and only that in training in the Tao and to reach the Tao. We might want to consider what else can that be. In which I defer to words of others and plagiarised from a piece I wrote before plagiarising from John Blofeld who in turn plagiarise from Taoist Master Tseng Lao Weng http://www.shanlung.com/oldtaonirvana.html It was interesting that in my puerile curiosity in hunting the hits made on that webpage and locating that originated from here and I made my appearance here. ENLIGHTENMENT From: khamba2 - Date: Wed, Jun 2 1999 12:00 am Groups: alt.philosophy.taoism Paul Humphries <[email protected]> wrote: >Hi! >I feel a bit skeptical about enlightenment at the moment, so wish to ask >some questions to anyone who has any ideas.. >When a person reaches the state of pure, total enlightment and absolute >truth, what does this mean? Is it that they are now learning openly to >the greatest of their potential? What sort of knowledge of reality >emerges? What abilities does this give the person? How many truely >enlightened masters exist, do you think? How do they live? Would they >have any preferences in taste in music? >Cheers! Sorry that I am answering with this is an old letter. I do hope the words of Taoist Master Tseng Lao Weng can answer a bit of your question even if he did not mention his preferences for music be it classical, hard rock or heavy metal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------­---- I have mourned that many of my books stayed back in my home town while I was wandering ,working and staying elsewhere. But a selection of John Blofeld's books followed me. I thought I quote one of my favorite portion from his book 'Taoism, The Secret and Sublime' which may help others understand and decide for themselves if Taoism is a philosophy or a religion. I myself, never did feel that either path is important. He was talking to this Taoist Master Tseng Lao Weng. (now using also his format and capitalizations..) -------------------------------------------------------- Having heard from me of Sir Edwin Arnold's lovely expression for entering Nirvana, 'the dew-drop slips into the shining sea', he exclaimed with delight, but added: 'And yet it does not capture the whole. Since the Tao is all and nothing lies outside it, since its multiplicity and unity are identical, when a finite being sheds the illusion of separate existence, he is not lost in the Tao. By casting off his imaginary limitations, he becomes immeasurable. Plunge the finite into the infinite and, though only one remains, the finite, far from being diminished, takes on the stature of infinity. Such perception will bring you face to face with the true secret cherished by all the accomplished sages. The mind of one who returns to the Source thereby BECOMES the Source. Your own mind is DESTINED TO BECOME THE UNIVERSE ITSELF!' Taoistic Idiot dreaming of sitting on Pillars of Creation and watching a couple of black holes spiralling to their death and rebirth

Tinkerbell had on Tinkerbell UltraLite Harness Plagiarised from Ramadan & Kitties on beach// Chess -1st Saturday IM Tournament // Tinkerbell Harness for Piper The harness design that I started in 2002 and given freely to all around the world asking only for a donation to Durell Wildlife Trust or other Wildlife Trust of your choice. I again request that of you who are going to make Tinkerbell harness. Be generous to our wildlife that share our planet. They need us more than ever. Tinkerbell harness was last refined in June 2005 and recorded into my blog here ‘Tinkerbell revisited - meeting with Tsaoling bird whisperer and quirks of harness design’ http://shanlung.livejournal.com/11424.html 2 photos of Tinkerbell in her harness below taken from blog above That had been hijacked and copied into a commercial harness that claimed 8 or 9 patents around Sept 2005 that claimed that their harness is the ‘lightest harness for flighted parrot’ and charging 50 US$. They then had the chutzpah to ‘offer’ me one of their harness . I want to puke. But don’t we know people do rob from church poor boxes. What about robbing from the voiceless creatures that I wished some $$ can go to help. But they rather the $$$ go into their bank that they can go laughing to. And what with multimillion aire bankers flogging useless derivatives to rob billions from pensionfunds so that they can get their multimillion bonuses? Or that 35 year old rigging LIBOR rates so he can get millions in bonus? Or someone with pointy elbows claiming the mantle of Wang Chongyang to milk money and accolades from his devoted minions or that plagiariser Deng of John Blofeld who combined what he stole with the D grade pulp fiction trash to create his Tao of this and Tao of that (thedaobums.com/topic/27637-deng-blofield-works-is-it-ethical/ ) Is greed the Tao of mankind? If so, let me put back my blinkers and rose tinted glasses. Idiotic Taoist I just want to drink when thirsty and eat when hungrey

Honestly! After doing a series of questions in Facebook a year ago, Facebook declared I was 24 years old. I think that will be better than looking a decade younger. As even if I look a decade younger, I still be as ugly looking as before. Idiotic Taoist who might be younger than all of you.

Tinkerbell much smarter than that. She got me to wait on her hand and foot, wings and claws. No need for her to type as she got me to type and to ferry her about. She did her part too. She rode shotgun in front. Probably her wings hiding the heat that she packing. Yes yes yes yes! I thought that was in this forum and I searched high and low for that. As I said, I tried very hard. That was almost as elusive as the Tao that I searched for! So folks reading this thread should go to that Mountain Teas and find the Tao of sipping Wulung tea, preferably from the Mountains of Taiwan.

A lot of people not only prepared to look, but went to look. But they could not find it. Those that found the Tao have better things to do than to talk to people who only know the Tao from talking the talk and not walking the walk. They know it is more gainful to drink when thirsty and eat when hungry. And smell roses when roses need the smelling. Idiotic Taoist

Do feel free to write as you wish in my moment of pain. You do enjoy twisting the knife into my gut. However that will be the very last words I see of you ever.

I believe that for anyone of the mainlanders who can read the FangTiJi well, at least 8 will not be able to read the Fantiji al all. Those people can always rely on Japanese tourist to read the Chinese words on the old Chinese granite stele or written on walls of Temples for them. It fascinate me no end that even though Jiantiji were banned in China and companies that uses Jiantiji in their advertisement were fined, major Chinese companies , such as Bank of China (Zhongquo Yin Hang) , paid the fine and continued to use the original kind of Chinese on the front of the banks. That was 20 years ago when I was working and living in Guangzhou. Perhaps that changed now and companies not fined any more for using FangTiJi in their letterheads and shop fronts. Can Chinese calligraphy be meaningful written in Jiantiji? and stylised X & X & X for the components of the Chinese words? Will a good reknowned Chinese calligrapher be paid enough money to do stylised X & X & X in those JianTiJi with the heart ripped out of the Chinese words? If that is the case, that chinese calligrapher is no goddamn calligrapher, just a chinese word hack greedy for money and more money and got no soul but a bank account. Taoistic Idiot.

As said, Chinese must be learned from characters , from ground up. I go one step further, from the components within the Chinese characters and which comprise the heart of the Chinese characters. I cannot imagine how good Chinese can ever be learned in Mainland China from the bastardised JianTiJi. Chinese with the heart ripped out of Chinese with components all gone or replaced with X and X and X. I found to my sorrow, my Chinese female undergrad guide and Chinese tutor unable to comprehend the words on old granite stele which I could partially read from the components and the Japanese tourists next to me could read but she could not read. I cannot imagine lauwai in China learning to read chinese when all they got is a bastardised pidgin kind of Chinese that they then get so proud about, not knowing they not even scratching the surface of Chinese. They will be like my female chinese undergrad guide and friend humming and hooing over Chinese words on old granite steles and written on side of temple walls and in any books printed in China other than under Mao Tze Tung. To get into a language, that language must be a living language used by the people that you live with. The FanTiJi, the complete full Chinese can only be found in Taiwan and in Hongkong. Or you can go learn the bastardised JianTiJi in Beijing and Mainland China. You might as well learn Pidgin English in New Guinea and pride yourself in fluet pidgin English. Idiotic Taoist

Going back to what I had written, I can see why you and others can find that offensive. I mentioned before half the time I wrote with tongue in cheek and half the time foot in mouth. Sometimes I write with both tongue in cheek and foot in mouth at same time. I got a big mouth even if my photos lied to you as to the size of my mouth. But at time of writing, I honestly have no malicious thoughts in my head when my fingers did their work on keyboard. Why should I? when that we are here together indicated we have more things in common even if we may not have the same sense of humour From my last posting, and this posting, you got my answer. Thank you all for your kind thoughts. Ivan is back home with my wife. In a beautiful little white urn. From my Facebook posted below: I was with Ivan from halfway round the world and separated by 5 time zones. Seeing him from photos taken by my wife and send to me via whatsapp. I suggested how to position him to make him comfortable on his favourite pillow and to roll up towel under his head for pillow. You all know I am in Riyadh working a 66 hours week and up to 72 hours week on busy week. We all have to get on with living even while close companion walks on. Ivan passing trigger a paradigm shift in me. That life is indeed very short was brought home to me in a way no words can convey. I decided to get on with my life. The day after Ivan passing, I gave my notice of resignation. I agreed to stay on for 3 months to allow a replacement for me and for transistion. I probably will resume on my interrupted retirement and checking out of likely country and places for me and my wife. An Idiotic Taoist with a bleeding heart

Folks of the Tao, Sorry if I do not answer individually as I am stealing a few moments at the office. But a paradigm shift took place. The posting I made yesterday in birdie and beastie forums is the catalyst. Idiotic Taoist aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Ivan We were living in Hongkong in Saikung, a tiny fishing village in the New Territories in 1994. The apartment was tiny as were most of the apartments in Hongkong. However, the apartment opened onto a huge balcony as we were on the third floor and a seafood restuarant was below and their roof was our balcony. When apartments in Hongkong were priced as to whether you had a sea view or mountain view, when on the balcony we could look out onto a sea view or turn to the right and enjoyed the mountain view. We then thought of having kitties. At that time, we were reading the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Where the two key characters were Miles , a clever manipulative guy who happened to be a runt caused by a poison gas attack on his mother when he was a fetus. He had a big handsome cousin called Ivan who was kind of stupid compared to Miles. We went to this guy who rescued 2 kittens from municipal bin. One was a runt who appeared to be intelligent and the other was a handsome tabby. So that was how Miles and Ivan came into our lives. Soon we found that Miles was the idiot and Ivan was the very clever one. They took over our balcony and then our apartment. They would explore by jumping out of the balcony and running about the roof and into places I could not imagine. One day I tossed Ivan over the balcony and told my wife he would jump back. He disappeared and a couple of hours to our shock, there was this meowing outside our door. Ivan somehow went around the apartment block, walked up a few flights of steps , and knew the door of the apartment to meow outside. Ivan was a killer. He would chirped like a bird hidden behind the balcony and leap 2 meters up to catch birds on the wing. He left presents for me by my bed. The head, with 4 small paws and a tail in the proper position and something ickky between them. Excuse me if I did not describe that exactly as I looked away while cleaning up the mess. He might leave a bird or part of a bird. He would climb up and pretend to be stuck in the roof eaves meowing away pitifully to be rescued. When I got up to rescue him, he crawled backwards. I realised he was never stuck when meal time came and he jumped right out. One morning, we woke up to hear a strange sound. We then traced that sound to a tiny baby bat which could not fly. We were sure that Ivan must have taken the mother bat. I felt sorry enough to rush out to buy a bird cage so the baby bat be kept safe until it could fly again. I fed it with bananas. One morning I woke up to see that the cage door was opened, without Batty inside. I thought that was the end, especially in the apartment with Ivan the killer cat and two feisty kittens that my wife adopted a few weeks ago. Then I heard the squeaks and saw Batty hanging upside down from the edge of a suitcase. Batty was in between Ivan front paws. Ivan was positioning his body so the 2 kitties could not get to Batty to 'play'. I could hardly believed my eyes as now and then, Ivan turned and spit at the two kitties keeping them away. Ivan saw me playing enough with Batty to decide that Batty was family. And went on to protect her. Batty was placed back into the cage again. Her flights at the beginning was weak and erratic. Batty seemed to like me and hang about me when I did my thing. Her flight became more controlled and powerful. In a few weeks time, Batty flew off my balcony. Never to return. It struck me that Ivan knew who was family even if he was a killer. That was the incident that prompted me to decide if Tinkerbell could live together with Halftail the Bimbo and Zorro the ferret in Taiwan. And later decided that Dommie and Katie be introduced slowly to Riamfada. Ivan was also kind of psychic. I reported that in http://shanlung.com/ivan1.html Miles was chased away by a vicious neighbourhood tom cat. I trapped that tom cat and released him in another village 20 km away who complained in the papers rock pythons were eating their dogs and cats. I did not like pythons to be hungry. So that was why Ivan was with us and taken to Singapore where he lived with my mom in law periodically when we were living in Taiwan and other countries. When he was with us and I in Singapore, you seen how I would cook and prepare his meals. You have seen the way I prepared the food for him, even better than what I prepared for myself or for my wife. https://www.facebook.com/shanlung We both love Ivan very very much. Above is Ivan on my shoulder. That was during our return to Singapore in Oct 2004 after leaving Tinkerbell and Taiwan and fetching Ivan back from my mom in law. I thought he forgotten me but his leap up to my shoulder to curl himself around my neck showed me how much he love to have me back. That was the first time he did that to me. A couple of weeks ago, my wife told me that Ivan might be getting blind, banging his way about and not noticing my wife waving her hands in front of him. She told me Ivan did not seem to be in discomfort and able to find his way to the food, his litter box and his favourite sofa chair that he taken over. A few days ago, my wife told me Ivan seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Then two days ago, my wife said Ivan refused to eat even though my wife spooned the wet food to his mouth. And that he wedged himself into a tight space. I told my wife to carry him to the bedroom where he spend so much time with us. This morning Riyadh time, and about noon Singapore time, Ivan was still alive. My wife did what I asked her to do. Scritch Ivan head and tell him that was from me and I love him very much. She then went to work. I called her about noon my time when she was just getting back to the apartment. She told me that our Ivan was no more with us. She told me a bit of her died. I felt a bit of me died too. They had been times I thought of leaving KSA and Ivan was part of the reason. Even though I felt that was coming over the last few days, the ending was very painful to me. I am happy enough that Ivan was not in pain and was with my wife that he loved very much.

Plagiarised from what I wrote in Wild caughts // Jackie and Jackie Mash // plug for Formosan Blue Magpies Or how birdie and beastie forums got their periodic dose of Tao while I stand on that soap box on birdies and beasties That extract. Ketile in a French forum http://www.perroquet.biz continued to ask of me "But if I understood well. The real reason why you still buy wild birds is because you don't know if you coud keep him if you have to live this country and you need to have the possibility to give your bird back to the wild... ???" That is only partly true in the present circumstances. If there are captive bred birdies, I would have given preference to buying captive bred. With their longer exposure to humans, they would be more likely to be friendlier. But neither do I say no, with the righteous indignations shown by some folks as if wild caught birds are obscene. You read my last report ( Bird born in captivity & 353 heads // Meet Jackie ) to know my frame of mind. Those kind of folks felt it would be far better for those wild to be cooked in pots, shot and buried in obscure fields of Australia, or caught to die in the cages of the shops so they feel morally good and superior. They felt 353 heads of African greys were nothing at all to their desire to feel good. They do not wish to recognise the campaign to ban all wild caught CAG indirectly caused those 353 greys to lose their heads. I so love their brand of blinkers and rose tinted glasses. If folks can tell me where that can be bought, I rather go buy that and live a happier life. If laws are all that will be required, there should be no murders in the world. And no crime either. There had been, and still are enough laws to stop all that. But I could not but recall the 3000 year old teachings of Lao Tze in that Taoist Bible , the Tao De Ching Verse 57 which go somewhat like this The more laws and restrictions there are, The poorer people become. The sharper men's weapons, The more trouble in the land. The more ingenious and clever men are, The more strange things happen. The more rules and regulations, The more thieves and robbers. Or the more laws we have, the more law breakers and criminals that we get. I do believe only if wild caughts are legal and sustainably regulated that the people living with the birds in the wild will find it meaningful to protect them to be sustainably culled as their long term interest. The treatment of legally caught wild birds will be that much better and more humane as those birds represent real value and not something to be hidden in the corner or buried in a sack. And not cook them in the pot and sell the heads, or shot and buried in a corner of Australian field. The Taoistic Idiot

*yawn* You should work on your remedial Engleesh comprehension classes. You been harping on the Tao caring for me and me alone in about 2 or 3 postings Idiotic Taoist

Er.. I wrote Perhaps the Tao threw this path to me as the Tao knew I could not find the Tao in my retirement and can only be found in a 66 hour work week. And not Perhaps the Tao threw this path to me as the Tao knew I could not find the Tao in my retirement and can only be found in a 66 hour work week. But do not let me stop you from reading what you wish to read as that is your right. So that you can stand on soap box and claimed I believed the Tao cares for me and for me alone. If you recall my kind of writings, you recall that half the time I write tongue in cheek. The other half the time I write with foot in my mouth. I probably poke more ridicule at myself than at the rest of you all collectively. So relax and laugh. At me even if you cannot laugh at yourself. My wife has about twice the financial assets as me. Which is why my dad/mum in law laughed when I said my money will go to fund her future boyfriends and toyboys in champagne and caviar. My wife can fund anyone , inlcuding me, now in champagne and caviar. Except I dislike bubbly other than in beers. And I think caviar should remain as eggs in the sturgeons who should go and have more baby sturgeons instead of being ripped open to extract those damn eggs to be turned into caviar. Taoistic Idiot who love bubbly beer and little baby sturgeons

Also is it your normal practise to talk on things you do not know ? Such as your infallible knowledge as to where the Tao is not to be found. And that I am resentful on anything? Excuse me if that is your normal habit to do that as I do believe you got to do what you are used to doing and psychological impossible for you to do otherwise. Taoistic Idiot

Why not? I need your ok before I post rhetorics? Idiotic Taoist

Ha ha ha! Why in the hell should I be resentful to my wife , or anyone else for that matter? She was my gf for 5-6 years and my wife and still my gf for the last 20++ years. You not knowing me , (and not bothering to read my long written blogs which include my wife in addition to birdies and beasties) and instantly becoming a pseudo pyschologist that I am resentful to my wife and a guru/pundit/knowall as to where the Tao is not. It is a standing joke with my wife , and my mum/father in law and her family that I making money for her future bf or toyboys. So that is not just something I say here but about everywhere and when. The butcher, oil seller and maker of wheels found the Tao. Liu ChangSheng found the Tao while jollying himself in a brothel. Hai Datong found the Tao by digging caves in mountain side for meditations. Not that he used those caves for meditations as everytime he finished one, someone came along and took his cave so he continued to dig and dig. Chiu ChangChung found the Tao by being unpaid carrier of people to cross river on his back for years But what am I to tell you as you are so discerning as to think Tao cannot be found where I am. You recognise the Tao the moment the Tao is within sight of you? From halfway across the world , you know that the Tao is not within my vicinity? You suggesting to me and all here that you know where the Tao can be found? Maybe instead of saying where the Tao is not to be found, you should spend your effort in hunting down the Tao and describing that to us all. Try not to miss the dancing gorillas in your hunt for the Tao After years of looking at sunrises and sunsets, which appeared to be the same whether seen from sea shores or high up the mountains, I was bored. I remembered through rose tinted glasses the excitment and adrenaline rush of huge projects. I forgot about the inevitable bullshit that came with that. And the host of people saying what beautiful cloths the Emperor wearing even though he walked about stark nekkid. Whats more, I joined in the refrain, had to join in the refrain to my fucking shame. I think this phase cannot last. I recalled this Taoist saying Joh Lu Jow Lu. Which translate to sitting on a deer looking for the deer, not knowing the deer has been carrying you on the back all the time. If you are American, that can translate to you sitting on your Harley looking for the Harley. If you think that cannot be found, that is a wish very easily becoming self fulfulling reality and you do get what you want. Hmm. self worth? Should I walk about in life full of myself and thumping on my chest and shouting I am a worthy guy? I given up most trappings. My gold Rolex is in the back of a drawer for the last 5 years and I wear a Casio with a scratch face. I care little, in fact do not care a damn as to what others think of me as I do not think of them. I suggest you should live your life and not a life according to what others want you to or think of you to to extrude and ooze out feelings of high worth. You cannot say I accomplish little. What I get in a month is more than what I spend in a year. I cannot and do not even use half my COLA. So that's pushed to the back of my bank account. I am helping to keep my wife future boyfriends in champagne and caviar. I always smile at the God or Gods. That by praying to them and begging them, that they raised a finger or hand, and our wishes all granted. I cannot even smile at the Tao as the Tao is everywhere. Not that the Tao care for us in the way God or Gods. Which is a good reason to have pantheon of Taoist gods and immortals for folks to bribe Taoist priests and abbots to pray to on their behave. And why should I care the Tao care or not care for me. Tell me where the me stop and the Tao begin and I can tell you if the Tao cares for me. Taoistic Idiot on a Path where he is tarred with resentment to wife and feathered with feelings of low worth

None of my birdies or beasties , or even that carpet anemone long time back, with me were/are regarded as pets. I grown to accept them as intelligent sentients that I was lucky enough to share a part of my life with. Insectivore as I use in my context will be bird that must have insects as their main source of food. Such as Yingshiong, a white rumped shama. When I shot the photo below of him flying to land on me after a month with me, he shocked the bird world at that time. People who bred shamas for 30-40 years told me even those that they had from eggs never ever landed on them. YS shocked the bird world again last year. I had given him to Jurong Bird Park so he could be in a giant aviary and rejected literally blank checks offer as I could not bear the thought of him back in a cage. And last year when I was in JBP, he showed me and the rest of the world he remembered me after absence of 7-8 years. A head with a brain the size of a peanut. Showed me more personality and feistiness than many humanoids I known. Yingshiong Reunion & Tinkerbell Idiotic Taoist

My instincts very good too. When hungry I eat! When thirsty I drink! When horny I fornicate. Kind of difficult here as wife not around, other women all dressed in black and I never certain if that will be a woman under the black dress and hijab. Idiotic Taoist drawing the line against camels and goats

66 hours will be a normal run of the mill week here. At busy times such as reporting week, I will see a 72 hour week like this week. Kind of different hours from what I known before in my early years of retirement. Which was why last night, Thursday night, all I could do was to plonk onto bed and sleep. It was full moon, not as if I knew which color it was as a dust storm hit us cutting visiblity to about 50 meters, and the moon was a bit more than 50 meters away. A waste of a good full moon as that would be a good time to howl at the moon or to come to this forum and howl away. But as said, the bed got me. Money kind of unimportant to me ever since I fluff getting my first billion and getting my Gulfstream. I declined to give the reasons why as thats irrelevant now and convinced some folks here I was a bigger idiot than what I made myself out to be. But on the other hand, if that route was done, I would not have meet my wife, gone on into Taiwan to know real Masters, know Tinkerbell, and got to know of that Taoist Immortal on that rain swept road in Northern Taiwan. I never stop learning though. At 65 years old, I am kind of uninterested in experience. In getting those experience, I fear future employer will be less worried at my health insurance and more worried at insurance for the mortuary and undertaker for me. When I retired (before it was prematurely truncated by this offer), I was trying to work through the money I already have to minimise what my wife can spend in future on her boyfriend or toyboys, or my son spending on his girlfriends. I do not spend much money, and money that I get now can help my wife keep her future boyfriends/toy boys in champagne and caviar even longer. I like another saying about work that I read about 40 years ago from Up the Organisation by Robert Townsend. It you are not in your job for the money or for the love of it, what the hell are you doing there. I suggest you should bear that in mind even more than the reason you gave to me for working on. You know I am not in it for the money even if the money is good and will go to my wife future toyboys. I am a masochist and this job can be agonising at times. As to what I do, I clean shit. YES! When shit hits the fan, I got called on to clean that up so the bosses can smell like roses. But there can only be so much and the temptation to resume my hunt for retirement places and to leave less money to my wife future toy boys. And just to walk on the Path, knowing I am walking on the Path, and perhaps never have left the Path. Idiot stumbling and lurching and reeling on the Path.

Formal learning of Chinese might work for some. That did not work for me. I needed to get into Chinese very fast as even though I am ethnic Chinese, my mother tongue is English, courtesy of the old British Empire when Singapore was a British colony. I was suddenly dumped into Taipei where 99.99% of folks there only use Mandarin or local dialect. I decided I had to get into Chinese quickly and very soon rounded up Chinese tutors who incidently were girls and parcelled them out as a different tutor for each evening of the week. Got into semi disaster when three turned up one evening at same time that I then resolved by getting even more tutors. In a couple of months or so, I got to the stage I could talk in Chinese to someone and eavesdrop and follow nearby conversations of nearby Chinese. When I found myself speaking Chinese in my dreams when I slept, I knew I cleared that last hurdle. I could speak Chinese from my heart and hear that in my heart and did not need to mentally translate in my head. Who cares that those who studied Chinese formally had more elegant words. I got into Chinese to enjoy myself and to know others. My advise to you do not worry too much about your lack of Chinese in getting around. Nice to be prepared. But no matter how well prepapred you think you are, it will actually be when you are there and how well you can smile that matter and not the language that you know. And do think about starting that journey in Taiwan which will be the best place for you to pick up Chinese as Taiwanese are so much more friendly than people in Mainland China. You might not even care to leave Taiwan for China once you go there. Follow the Tao and go with the Tao Taoistic Idiot who learned Chinese language the fun and friendly way.

Very cute! Going beyond ordinary mundane 0 and into the mental and metaphysical realms which cannot be proven true or false in which all reasonings can go and be buried out of sight. Maybe for all we know Alex knew the answer to 1 divided by 0 but did not have the words to write it all down for us. I go beyond my former carpet anemone who had no brains but a crazy amorphous nervous system and which cater regardless if it was the size of a golf ball or expanded to larger than tumescent dinner plate and quivering excitment when I walked into the room. Do not talk of my footsteps. As then he/she must have a memory of my footsteps and ability to detect timing and nuances as I walked to differentiate with other people footsteps. No brains at all in any sense as we know it, but maybe more intelligence than some entities here who shown clearly intelligence not related to presence of brains. For all we know, we might be like those Victorian scientists who felt they knew all to be known. For that matter , Romans of Julius Cesar time thought they known all that can be known. And the American Patent Board wanted to dissolved itself in late 1800s as all to be invented was already invented. Some of the mealworms that I used to feed Yingshiong my insectivore had more personalities than some humans I known including some entities here. Ah!! mentioned of my cat calls for some fotos of my cat! Much more personality then my meal worms and therefore much much more personality than many humans. OK You excluded as it is clear you have personality of some sort, much more than mealworms or carpert anemone. I have had enough gifts from my kitties. I tried to minimise that by keeping kitties in the house in evening and nights. I suggest folks should do that to lessen the destruction of wild birds and mice, which go to feed owls and predators. Tinkerbell, my CAG of Taiwan will take no shit from me. If I crossed the line (set by her ) inadvertantly , she let me know in no uncertain terms by flying to me to shit on one shoulder and flapping immediately to shit on the other shoulder (we were so told birdies take 45 minutes between shit). If my transgression was really bad, she would nip me hard. Riamfada never ever will bite me (other than once when she mistaken my hand for my wife ) Riamfada gave me her first painful bite BUT she remembered I was unfair or displeased her. She would hold that in her mind and heart and BITE my wife to take it out on me. My wife became her body guard to make sure I did not inflict my puerile or morbid curiousity on Riamfada. My wife knew she got to pay the price. This dawned on us after a month as humans , and me and wife in particular, a lot less intelligent than Riam. Idiotic Taoist of somewhat doubtful personality or maybe zero personality

Drink when you are thirsty Eat when you are hungry Remember you never can buy drink or food but rent that only for a short while before they got to leave your body. Please do the return in appropriate places. Idiot who was thirsty and hungry and now looking for the loo

My starting post here was lifted from a series of postings in birdie and beastie forums and therefore might not be comprehensible to darkstar. Not that those who read me over the last decade and more in those context comprehend me either. And to set the record straight, I am not inneundoing I comprehend what I wrote either so darkstar is in good company. For those who do not know of my birdie and beastie, they should not google but a quick click or 2 on my webpage and the photos that will come out will tell them more as photo (and I assure you none of them photoshopped) speak more than a thousand words and what about many photos as against a mere photo. What I took to be normal relationship between me and my birdies and beasties were exclaimed as weird and not normal in forums with folks there asking how I trained them as if I am a trainer with secret knowledge getting my birdies and beasties to respond with military precision. I found it impossible to tell them that I was the mere trainee and it was my birdie/beastie that were the real trainers. All that I did was to talk to them, and most important of all, to listen to them in the first place. As if you do not bother to listen to them, why should they bother to listen to you? Maybe this explain better Tinkerbell Legacy - - Rant 03 (a flighted parrot mentality) & Understanding the mind of your grey I was normally shouted down by people who were experts or attended courses conducted by experts which make me even more convinced I am truly the Idiot. That experts seemed so fixated on their expertise that they know all to be known. And like that tree that fell in the forest did not fall if no one heard the tree fall, knowledge will not be knowledge until an expert wrote on that and thereafter, can fit square pegs into round holes or holes of any size and shape. I nearly burst with laughter when no less expert than Irene Pepperberg came along to declare to the world that Alex understood the concept of Zero with the world singing hosannas to Irene (just a note I do have immense respect for Irene and Alex. The work she did was one of the catalyst of my entwining my life with Tinkerbell) My birdie Yingshiong demonstrated he knew zero and I described that in Yingshiong on my shoulder and concept of zero (extract from above) Recently Alex the CAG got into news with what was claimed that he understood the concept of zero. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=alex+parrot+zero&btnG=Google+Search Wow! I do like Alex, but the way those researchers went ape that Alex knew zero was so funny to me like they never realised that probably even amoeba might know the concept of zero. In any case, YS demonstrated very clearly he also understood the concept of zero when he was digging in the milli box when perched on my shoulder. When he ate all the millis, he knew there were zero millis left. Instead of pecking forlornly into an empty box, he flew off my shoulder to the door perch. He would wait for me to move that milli box from its state of zero to its dozen of millis before he responded to my recall, and that hopping up routine to my shoulder. He then demonstrated he understood zero when he flew off after he emptied that box. He showed that 4 times this morning. So folks, Alex is not the only bird that knew zero. YS knew too. If you check your birds, I am sure they all knew zero. Do they peck and peck in an empty bowl not realising the bowl is empty? I am sure even amoeba knows too. If it ran out of food in its vicinity, the amoeba will ooze on to another spot when it can find food. It is indeed the privilege of Marblehead to believe what he want to believe. Long long time ago, I used to have marine aquarium tanks. Never mind the fishes in there who shown to me they have got different personalities. One of my favourite creature i was a green carpet anemone. Those wanting to know what they are need only to click below https://www.google.com.sa/search?q=carpet+anemone&sa=X&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=1017&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=yRcVVeTSIYjiUeyFgdgJ&ved=0CB0QsAQ I feed that about once a week. Yet it seemed to know when I was in the room and even if I did not feed it, would swell up in size and undulate in a beautiful display. Anyone else who entered that room would not get that response unless they went in with me. At least the ant got a brain. The anemone did not have a brain. And yet it was more intelligent and more sentient than some humans I do know. Idiot who might not have brain either

It might well be that you do know even if you are not sure as against those who speak but do not know. Normally found in cases of wives who know everything to be known , and as corollary , of mother-in-laws too. And might well be extendable to the they of the ' They say' We are so lucky to have such font of wisdoms casting pearls left and right regardless if you want the pearls or not. Allow me to remain the Idiot here and where ever I go and into places where even where angels fear to tread asking if the clothings worn by emperors or kings or presidents or CEOs or soothsayers or russian with pointy elbows are as glorious as they so described. Idiotic Taoist