OSCAR WILDE- This man is nothing short of a genius. I am reading some of his selected works,among them," The picture of Dorian Gray". I find myself lured to this book everytime I get some free time. Why? It is amazing to see Oscar Wilde's ideas and thought processess being echoed through one of the characters,Lord Henry. The reason I am blogging this is because some of Oscar Wilde's ideas are worth putting down and blogging them is a definitive way to committing those ideas to memory, forever!

The following are some of his ideas which some you may simply not agree with and some of you may! Whatever be the reason, all I am doing while reading his book is purely enjoying him.

"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at all the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are!..."

Maybe, Oscar Wilde was talking about himself when he says "Look at all the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are!..." because frankly to me he is not in the least good looking. His face is on the cover of the book I am reading and it is nothing short of hideous to me. Of course you cannot judge someone's looks by just looking at a cover but you can atleast get a faint idea. Well! Beauty is subjective and all that but nevertheless.

"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one."

"And beauty is a form of genius-is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is one of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty...People say sometimes that beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as thought is. To m, beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible."

" To get back one's youth, one has merely to repeat one's follies."

"...no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men prepresent the triumph of mind over morals."

Ok my friends, this is all for now. Hope these quotes become food for thought! I shall put up some more when I commence my reading of the book again, which is probably tonite, and then you can catch a glimpse of this genius's mind again!

Nestled in the beautiful mountains of Mount Madonna county is the small but not so very old temple of Lord Hanuman. The drive to the temple is through the mysterious woods of the mountains. Upon reaching there I was immediately transported to some place in India, I really don't know why. Once you get down from your car in the car park you can see the peaceful sign of OM ( in the devnagri script) with a small man-made waterfall rippling over it. This whole thing is diagonally behind the temple almost on the foothill of one of the mountains. The whole sight is so peaceful and welcoming.

There are about 14/15 steps to the sanctum sanctorum. I cannot express the sudden surge of feelings that I experienced when I was climbing the steps. There is something about the Almighty that makes you feel that way. Once we reached there we were pleasently surprised upon seeing a caucasian temple pujari, performing the "arti" and handing over the "prasad" to us. The "prasad" was delicious, something made of rice and coconut I think. After gobbling up the "prasad" and headed down to the Anjanaya cafe. For all you mortals out there who dont know who or what "anjanaya" is, this is for you- Anjani is Lord Hanuman's mother and he is known as Anjanaya-son of Anjani. So we flocked right into the open arms of Anjanaya , ready to eat! So apt a title I thought, "Anjanya's cafe", always serving, just like a mother.

The scenery, the air, the chirping of birds, the gentle zephyr, everything had some tranquility to it. I wished I could someday come and stay in one these places and get in touch with myself. We are all so caught up in a tangled web of duties, chores, relationships, etc!

The temple visit was delightful! JAI HANUMAN!

Did anyone of you notice the irony in the location? Lord HANUMAN temple in Mount MADONNA County! :-)

Last weekend my family and I went for some easter celebrations. I had my sons take part in the BIG BUNNY RUN as a part of the celebration. On reaching there my boys were all ready to meet the BIG BUNNY and take off from the start line! I was impressed with the way in which the whole event was organised. All the participants were given a bright red T-shirt each, to fire them up for the run I guess, and plenty of water, energy drinks, a plate of fresh fruits and even pizza ( not a whole one, but just a slice) and all this for free! We paid just $5 for the Bunny Run ticket so expecting a whole pizza for free would be just too much!

The adults' race was the first to take place. So much enthusiasm, so much energy and what a festive spirit! Some of the men and women who were running were so old that I couldn't help but wonder if these people have been running all their life...I am very sure one of them was an octogenarian! Hats off to these people for their vibrant spirit and zest for life! And everyone was a winner in the Big Bunny Run! Looking at these people it did not look like anyone of them was worried about the so called economic slump that has so many people in depression...Most of them were all charged up and just took off when the horn was blown by a volunteer....

Next the kids! All of a sudden by younger one was not too eager to go for the run. I realised why. He was scared of the big horn that was being blown to start a race. Somehow we got him to get to the start line and then BAM! Both my kids were sprinting like as though someone was after them to kill them..My husband and I were cheering them on and on and in my mind I was like " gosh, is this the olympics or what???!!" All the kids were given a medal each, seeing the look on all the kids' faces was amazing. "MOM, looooooooook a medal!"

After a photo session with the BIG BUNNY we were heading home when my husband looks at the boys and says" my fellas, we should start practising for the next year's race from this weekend" !!!!!!!! This weekend is just around the corner mind you and I have not heard anything from my husband about the so called practice! Let me wait and watch.....