Return, O Lord, how long?

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

Vines and the meaning of words

Rob:  A penny for your thought.

Juzno:  Yes, yes.   Pop culture has changed the meaning of words.  It used to be that when people talked about 2 plus 2 we know that the answer is four.  Now it could mean the answer is 159.  Everything is relative.  Even being relative is relative.

Rob:  How do we know what is truth then?

Juzno:  Well, there is that school of thought that denies truth.  There is no truth.  But the problem is even that statement in order to be valid has be truthful.

Rob:  Does that mean one has to start with an undeniable truth?

Juzno:  Well, yes.  How do you know that I'm not just an illusion?

Rob:  Actually you are.  You're just a fictional character.

Juzno:  Oh.

A Lazy Friday Afternoon

Rob:  How are you spending your Valentine's Day?

Juzno:  Just hanging out with the wife on a lazy Friday afternoon.  She told me I could open up the 18 year old Glenlivet.  So yea, we're all good.

Rob:  What did you give your wife for Valentine's?

Juzno:  She's still looking at the Macy's catalog.

Piping and Beer at the Backyard

Juzno:  I'm going through an emotional roller coaster.

Rob:  Oh, yea?  Well I'm going through an emotional merry-go-round.

Juzno:  You're thinking too much and you're drinking too much and you had too much nicotine.

Rob:  Oh, yea?  Well I think you just want some.

Juzno:  What kind of beer are you drinking?

Rob:  IPA of course.

Juzno:  Gimme some.

Age of Innocence

Juzno:  Okay, who took my watch while I was asleep?

Lefty:  Don't ask me.

Ismigol:  He did it.  Lefty ate your watch.

Lefty:  Whoops.

From Potentiality to Actuality (Life is good)

Art and Words © 2014 Rob Castro

Juzno:  Today is a great day for a smoke and red wine.

Aristotle:  The rain did some good.  Look at the rain drops hovering from the beautiful buds.

Juzno:  Your philosophy is about optimism.

Aristotle:  Yes, because I believe that Man is inherently good.

Juzno:  How do you square that considering that you rejected your teacher Plato's thesis that good lies in the realm of Ideas?

Aristotle:  Ah, but you see, with the power of reason, one does not need the realm of Ideas as my teacher taught - but union with the divine can be attained through the power of reason.  Wrong behavior is simply Man's ignorance and should not be attributed to the flaw of human nature.  If we could only teach people to behave a certain way, their actions would be virtuous.  Man has great potential, which can be harnessed into perfect actuality.

Juzno:  Are you optimistic then that we are moving from potentiality to actuality?

Aristotle:  Yes, the Unmoved Mover draws Man's potential.

Juzno:  Where then does reason come from?

Aristotle:  Ah, that is the question.  I suggest that we continue to smoke our freshly rolled Joya De Nicaragua Fuerte  B and keep on drinking the cheap red wine that you just served me.

Juzno:  Life is good.

Man is irrelevant

Rob:  Do you think that our culture has removed Man's rightful place in the environment?

Juzno:  Oh, I think people have been doing that for a long time now.  Lately, we've become smarter in how we implement things: We pretend that Man is irrelevant.  In doing so, we get rid of our guilt.

Rob:  Do you see that in the current state of the visual art?

Juzno:  Oh yea.  Look around you.  Man has been relegated to mere forms, objects and abstractions.  Look at Fashion Photography.  Have you lately seen how those fashion models look like?  They look so fake.  There is not a wrinkle or stray hair on their bodies.  There is no one on Earth who really looks like that.  A real human being is not supposed to like that.  I don't think the models represent Man at all.  When you look at Street Photography, man is either smaller than the entire world - or just part of the facade of the urban structure.  Years ago, they removed man in nature.  Do you ever wonder why most landscape photos do not include any human element on them?  Because to them Man is the root cause of Nature's ruin.  Man is the problem - so let's get rid of him.

Rob:  What do you think we should do to rectify this?

Juzno:  Buy my book.

Manwich at Grand Central Market

Manwich:  My wife is throwing a surprise birthday party for me today.

Juzno:  But it's no longer a surprise, right?

Manwich:  Well, I'm surprised because it's not my birthday.