"Robert, there is a creature inside you I am not good enough to bring out, strong enough to reach. Sometimes I have the feeling you've been here a long time, more than one lifetime,and that you have dwelt in private places that none of the rest of us has even dreamed about. You frighten me,even though you are gentle with me.If I didnt fight to control myself with you,I feel like I might lose my center and never get back"

"She wished him steaming trains that left from winter stations"

"Before I became a man I was an arrow - a long time ago"

"Falling from Dimension Z"

"In retrospect, it seems inevitable - it could not have been any other day - a case of what I call the high probability of the improbable"

"Ways that whisper to you in the final moment before sleep comes, when the barriers have fallen. ways that rearrange the molecular space between a male and female, regardless of the species"


"Analysis destroys wholes.some things, magic things, are meant to stay whole. if you look at their pieces, they go away"

"The old dreams were good dreams, they didnt work out but I am glad I had them"

"The bottle unopened


and glasses empty


she reached to find them


somewhere north of Middle River,


in Iowa.


I watched her with eyes


that had seen a Jivaro's Amazon


and the Silk Road


with caravan dust


climbing behind me,


reaching into unused


spaces of an Asian sky."



"To ancient evenings and distant music"


" There was room to dance again. In a slow, unremitting way she was turning home, toward a place she had never been"

"around the ancient tower .. i have been circling for a thousand years"


"This is why I am here on this planet at this time Francesa. Not to travel or make pictures but to love you.I know that now. I have been falling from the rim of a great high place somewhere back in time,for many more years than I have lived in this life.and through all of those years, I have been falling towards you."


"i am the highway and a peregrine and all the sails that ever went to sea"

"In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainity comes only once, and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live"

My favorite quotes from "The Bridges of Madison County". This post was orginally written on 8/21/08. Not sure why that is relevant, but I loved the book and so I needed to post this.
This city is beautiful. As in breathtakingly picturesque. Perfect setting for a rom-com. On a different note, I've been wondering a lot lately. Ruminating. Are we living our lives virtually ? Has social media changed inter-personal dynamics? Where does one draw the line between work and play?

I am on social networking sites, and somehow as luck would have it, I am in the position of using social media as a career tool as well. I've had this blog for almost five years now and I've managed to keep it personal. Religiously so. Not once has a little sliver of what I do for a living somehow mysteriously find it's way in one random post. Never. And I work hard to keep it that way. No accidental posts on FB, no tweeting a particular post I am proud of. That's one of the reasons I love this space. It's a personal part of me.

But I find myself almost paranoid to write about this very beautiful city that I am in this week. There are stories to be told, pictures to be described. There are tales about lost heroes to be written about, yearnings, the peace in solitude but mostly just the old world charm. The idyllic boat-rides, the horse drawn carriages, the winding river , the fairy-tale like setting in the Venice of America. The bases, the uniformed men, the guy with ten kids , and the really sexy crew cuts. But I hesitate to use the words, I know Uncle Sam is looking over your shoulder, and the last thing I want is some random traffic just because I was specific about a location. Security concerns, you see. Where are the days when all you blogged about was Sonu Nigam. And that worked out just fine :)

And then there are these posts about the year that has been. Losing grandma, moving, the travels, the people, the experiences. Wondering about life, wondering about yourself.It's what someone once called "delicious ambiguity". You know, talking about embarrassing moments or how your back hurts like hell. But that requires displaying a certain kind of vulnerability and you sometimes forget how to. Sticking to music posts seems a safer option, you know.

A lot has been said about creating your "personal brand" online. Using social media to "market yourself". It's about defining your persona, give people a glimpse into your personal life - to basically humanize yourself. That's all great but what happens to the real you? At what point do you feel safe enough to let people see you, in all your imperfect glory?

I could use a place of no pretense, no judgement right about now.No need to choose words to express yourself. Just silence. No words.