Jack Vettriano The City Cafe

Jack Vettriano The City CafeJack Vettriano The Cigar DivanJack Vettriano The British Are Coming
Another worried look passed between the two programmers. Lunkwill cleared his throat. "There must be some mistake," he said, "are you not a the Milliard Gargantubrain which can count all the atoms in a star in a millisecond?" "The Milliard Gargantubrain?" said Deep Thought with unconcealed contempt. "A mere abacus - mention it not." "And are -Cognate Neutron Wrangler," said Deep Thought thoroughly rolling the r's, "could talk all four legs off an Arcturan MegaDonkey - but only I could persuade it to go for a walk afterwards." "Then what," asked Fook, "is the problem?" "There is no problem," said Deep Thought with magnificent ringing tones. "I am simply the you not," said Fook leaning anxiously forward, "a greater analyst than the Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?" "A five-week sand blizzard?" said Deep Thought haughtily. "You ask this of me who have contemplated the very vectors of the atoms in the Big Bang itself? Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff." The two programmers sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Then Lunkwill leaned forward again. "But are you not," he said, "a more fiendish disputant than the Great Hyperlobic Omni-Cognate Neutron Wrangler of Ciceronicus 12, the Magic and Indefatigable?" "The Great Hyperlobic Omni

Peeters Sanders Arch

Peeters Sanders ArchPeeters Roland gatePeeters Rockford TrailPeeters Reynold shighland
as long as he could remember he'd suffered from a vague nagging feeling of being not all there. Most of the time he was able to put this thought aside and not worry about it, but it had been re-awakened by the sudden inexplicable arrival of Ford Prefect and Arthur Dent. Somehow it seemed to conform to a pattern that he couldn't see. Ford couldn'ta reason for anything he did at all: he had turned unfathomably into an art form. He attackedof extraordinary genius and naive incompetence and it was often difficult to tell which was which. Arthur slept: he was terribly tired. There was a tap at Zaphod's door. It slid open. "Zaphod ...?" "Yeah?" "I think we just found what you came to look for." "Hey, yeah?" Ford gave up the attempt to sleep. In the corner of his and keyboard. He sat at it for a while and tried to compose a new entry for the sleep. He was too excited about being back on the road again. Fifteen years of virtual imprisonment were over, just as he was finally beginning to give up hope. Knocking about with Zaphod for a bit promised to be a lot of fun, though there seemed to be something faintly odd about his semi-cousin that he couldn't put his finger on. The fact that he had become President of the Galaxy was frankly astonishing, as was the manner of his leaving the post. Was there a reason behind it? There would be no point in asking Zaphod, he never appeared to have

Bierstadt Kerns River Valley California

Bierstadt Kerns River Valley CaliforniaBierstadt Falls of Niagara from BelowBierstadt Deer in a LandscapeBierstadt Cows Watering in a Landscape
few days ago I finished reading The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin. It’s a short book (96 pages) so it didn’t take much time to read. But, despite its shortness, I learn some lessons from it that I want to share with you.
Keys to success from the best in the world and those who are just mediocre.
Here are some keys to success from the book:
1. Aim to be the best in the world
This is something that many people never think of. Even if they think about it, many of them eventually forget it when the journey get tough. The The DipThe Dip is Seth Godin’s term for the time in your journey to success where things seem to be difficult, where what you get is not comparable to your effort, and where it’s easier to stop. It’s the time where the pain seems to be bigger than the gain. The ability to go through the Dip makes the difference between those who become

Pissarro The Artist's Garden at Eragny

Pissarro The Artist's Garden at EragnyRobinson House in VirginiaRobinson On the CanalCassatt Girl with a Banjo
didn't realize that this was because of an old drinking game that Ford learned to play in the hyperspace ports that served the madranite mining belts in the star system of Orion Beta. The game was not unlike the Earth called Indian Wrestling, and was played like this: Two contestants would sit either side of a table, with a glass in front of each of them.effects of Janx spirit is to depress telepsychic power. As soon as a predetermined quantity had been consumed, the final loser would have to perform a forfeit, which was usually obscenely biological. Ford Prefect usually played to lose. Between them would be placed a bottle of Janx Spirit (as immortalized in that ancient Orion mining song "Oh don't give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ No, don't you give me none more of that Old Janx Spirit/ For my head will fly, my tongue will lie, my eyes will fry and I may die/ Won't you pour me one more of that sinful Old Janx Spirit"). Each of the two contestants would then concentrate their will on the bottle and attempt to tip it and pour spirit into the glass of his opponent - who would then have to drink it. The bottle would then be refilled. The ga would be played again. And again. Once you started to lose you would probably keep losing, because one of the

Gockel Sailing the Caribbean II

Gockel Sailing the Caribbean IIGockel Sailing the Caribbean IGockel Rustic Flower Collage IIGockel Rustic Flower Collage I
for this short a trip, with the air this calm.”The blimp’s twin can-mounted propeller fans, slung from the back of the gondola, were , it could fry us in the gondola.”“The storm’s winding down. No lightning,” Corky observed.“There was lightning earlier today.”“Only a little. I told you, Trotter, we in government control the storm. When we want lightning, usually driven by a riding-lawnmower engine. The turning blades produced an acceptably soft sound, but the engine racket made stealthy travel impossible.“With little or no headwind,” Trotter said, “I can run two hours on batteries, maybe longer. But I hate this rain.”“It’s just a light drizzle now.”“Lightning,” Trotter said. “The thought of lightning makes my bowels loose, and it ought to do the same to yours.”“It’s inflated with helium, isn’t it?” Corky asked, indicating three discarded cylinders of compressed gas, each the size of a hospital oxygen tank. “The Hindenburg was hydrogen. I thought helium didn’t explode.”“I’m not worried about an explosion. I’m worried about being struck by lightning! Even if lightning doesn’t rupture the bag and set it afire

John Singer Sargent Girl Fishing painting

John Singer Sargent Girl Fishing paintingJohn Singer Sargent Dorothy Barnard paintingJohn Singer Sargent Atlantic Storm painting
This afternoon, sound accompanied none of the four porn films. Mick had muted all of them.“Janelle was so special,” Mick said tenderly, nodding toward the video wall, referring to his lost girlfriend. “One cool swingin’ chick.”Although See that? Every one of those guys just loves her. Men loved Janelle. She was truly groovy.”Mick’s voice swelled with wistful longing. In spite of all his Hefnerian hipness, he had a sentimental streak.“I just got back from Trotter’s in Malibu,” Corky revealed.“You kill the son of a bitch yet?”“Not yet. You know I need him for a while.”“Oh, look at that.”“She’s really something.”“You’d think that would hurt.” his Bart Simpson pajamas might seem frivolous, Mick dwelt in a somber memorial mood. All four screens featured classics from Janelle’s extensive filmography.Pointing to the upper-right-hand screen in the four-screen stack, Mick said, “That thing she’s doing right there, no one—no one—ever did that in film before or since.”“I doubt anyone else could,” Corky said, because the eye-popping trick in which Janelle was vigorously engaged involved her legendary flexibility, for which perhaps she alone among all humanity carried the necessary gene.Referring to his gal’s costars in the upper-right-hand video, Mick said, “Those four guys love her.

Edmund Blair Leighton The Accolade painting

Edmund Blair Leighton The Accolade paintingIvan Constantinovich Aivazovsky The Ninth Wave paintingFrank Dicksee Romeo and Juliet painting
ninety each of O, W, and E.Owe. Woe. Wee woo. Ewe woo.Beside the cookie jar lay Paws for Reflection, the hardcover book by Donald Gainsworth, who had trained guide dogs for the blind and service dogs for people in wheelchairs.Beetles, snails, foreskins, pin it with his stare, as in the bathroom at Dunny’s penthouse apartment.For the glass of water, he went into the kitchen, where no mirrors hung.Curiously, his attention was drawn to the wall-mounted telephone cookie jar with tiles, book ...Next to the book stood the sutured apple opened to reveal the doll’s eye. THE EYE IN THE APPLE? THE WATCHFUL WORM? THE WORM OF ORIGINAL SIN? DO WORDS HAVE ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN CONFUSION?Ethan had a headache. He probably ought to be grateful that a headache was all he had, after dying twice.Leaving the six gifts from Reynerd on the desk, he went into the bathroom. He took a bottle of aspirin and shook a pair of tablets into his hand.He intended to draw a glass of water from the bathroom sink and take the aspirin. When he glanced in the mirror, however, he found himself looking at his reflection only briefly, then searching for a shadowy form that shouldn’t be there, that might slide away from his eyes as he tried to

Guido Reni Angel of the Annunciation painting

Guido Reni Angel of the Annunciation paintingFrancois Boucher Venus Consoling Love paintingFrancois Boucher The Toilet of Venus painting
the hotel, where the arriving and departing vehicles seem to be those makes that retail for six figures, he leaves his car with valet parking. He tips the attendant twenty bucks, going in, because he’s not likely to be around long enough to spend all his cash on pleasures for himself.The sumptuous luxury of the lobby embraces him with such warmth of color, texture, and form that Dunny could easily forget that the night outside is cold and rainy.Richly deal. Connections are being secured here; money is being made; sexual excesses are being plotted.These people are energetic, optimistic, flirtatious, loud, and convinced of their immortality.In the manner that Cary Grant once navigated crowded parties in the movies, as though skating while everyone around him walked with leg weights, Dunny glides past the bar, among the paneled, expensively appointed, lighted for romance, a textbook on glamorous decor, the hotel bar is huge, but crowded in spite of its size.[213] Every woman in sight, regardless of age, is beautiful, by either the grace of God or the knife of a good surgeon. Half the men are as handsome as movie stars, and the other half think they are.Most of these people work in the entertainment industry. No actors, but agents and studio executives, publicists and producers.In another hotel, elsewhere in the city, you might hear several foreign tongues, but in this place only English is spoken, and only that narrow but colorful version of English known as the dialect of the

Jean Fragonard The Bolt painting

Jean Fragonard The Bolt paintingJoaquin Sorolla y Bastida The Milkmaid paintingJoaquin Sorolla y Bastida The Beach at Biarritz paintingJoaquin Sorolla y Bastida Resting Bacchante painting
grizzled beard in wet ravelings of mist and drab drizzles, the hard face of night had not quite yet appeared.On a west-side street of art galleries, of high-end shops, of restaurants in which elitist attitude was served more efficiently than the food, Ethan tucked the Expedition tight up against a red curb, two wheels in a flooded were an hour away from opening their doors. Early lamplight gilded the dripping leaves of curbside trees and transformed the wet sidewalk into a path paved with pirates’ treasure.Without umbrella, Ethan moved in the shelter of shop awnings, all of which were tan or forest-green, silver or black, except for that in front of Forever Roses, which was a deep coral-pink.The florist’s shop might as aptly have been named Only Roses, gutter, confident that the parking patrol issued tickets far less enthusiastically in foul weather than in fair.The in this neighborhood, seeking a sophisticated and exclusive clientele, stood behind shop fronts without flash, relying on subdued signage. Mere money whispers.The retail shops were not yet closed, and most restaurants

Frederic Edwin Church Cross in the Wilderness painting

Frederic Edwin Church Cross in the Wilderness paintingFrederic Edwin Church Rainy Season in the Tropics paintingWilliam Merritt Chase Idle Hours paintingWilliam Merritt Chase Reflections painting
submersible ascending from an ocean trench, and drove toward the exit, but Ethan alone was on foot.Mottled by years of sooty exhaust fumes that formed enigmatic and taunting Rorschach blots, the low gray ceiling appeared to press lower, lower, as he walked farther into the garage. Like the hull of a submarine, the walls THE ARMENIAN RESTAURANT ON PICO Boulevard had the atmosphere of a Jewish delicatessen, a menu featuring food so delicious that it would inspire a condemned man to smile through his last meal, and more plainclothes cops and film-industry types together in one place than you would find anywhere outside of seemed barely able to hold back a devastating weight of sea, a crushing pressure.Step by step, Ethan expected to discover that he wasn’t after all alone on foot. Beyond each SUV, behind every concrete column, an old friend might wait, his condition mysterious and his purpose unknowable.Ethan reached the Expedition without incident.No one waited for him in the vehicle.Behind the steering wheel, even before he started the engine, he locked the doors

Claude Monet The Petite Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil painting

Claude Monet The Petite Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil paintingClaude Monet The House on the River Zaan in Zaandam paintingClaude Monet The Fields of Poppies paintingClaude Monet The Corner of the Garden at Montgeron painting
the post How to Save Time in the Long Term, I wrote that we need to minimize our potential regret to save a lot of time in the future. The reason is that we lose more time not by how we do things but by what we don’t do. So I made a list of things that might give me the biggest regrets in the future if I don’t do them. This is my personal list but many of the items are applicable to everyone.That’s why you need to diversify your income. Diversifying your income gives you a safety net to prevent financial problems. Here are some tips on income diversification:
Income diversification prevents financial problemsOne of the items in my list is income diversification. Not diversifying my income is something that could make me regret in the future. The risk is clear: I would get financial problems if my primary source of income disappear. There is definitely no fun in seeing your income drops to zero or near zero especially when you have a family to feed. I’m afraid that this is a potential problem for many people, in particular those who work as employees. If for some reasons they lose their jobs, there is a possibility that they will fall into financial problems.

Thomas Kinkade The Garden of Prayer painting

Thomas Kinkade The Garden of Prayer paintingThomas Kinkade Lombard Street painting
give. It need not be said that I refused to listen. The Men of Minas Tirith are true to their word.' But what he thought that the Lady had offered him Boromir did not tell.And as for Frodo, he would not speak, though Boromir pressed him with questions. `She held you long in her gaze, Ring-bearer,' he said.`Yes,' said Frodo; `but whatever came into my mind then I will keep there.'`Well, have a care! ' said Boromir. `I do not feel too sure of this Elvish Lady
Thomas Kinkade Lakeside Manor paintingThomas Kinkade cottage by the sea painting
ended lamely.All of them, it seemed, had fared alike: each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others.`And it seemed to me, too,' said Gimli, `that my choice would remain secret and known only to myself.''To me it seemed exceedingly strange,' said Boromir. `Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to and her purposes.'`Speak no evil of the Lady Galadriel! ' said Aragorn sternly. 'You know not what you say. There is in her and in this land no evil, unless a man bring it hither himself. Then let him beware! But tonight I shall sleep without fear for the first time since I left Rivendell. And may I sleep deep, and forget for a while

Thomas Gainsborough River Landscape painting

Thomas Gainsborough River Landscape painting
how the world will bewhen winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things that I have never seen:in every wood in every spring there is a different green.
I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,and people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.It was a cold grey do not doubt that news of the discomfiture of the Riders has already reached him, and he will be filled with wrath. Soon now his spies on foot and wing will be abroad in the northern lands. Even of the sky above you must beware as you go on your way.'The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle
Thomas Gainsborough Mr and Mrs Andrews paintingSandro Botticelli Madonna and Child paintingSandro Botticelli La Primavera painting

day near the end of December. The East Wind was streaming through the bare branches of the trees, and seething in the dark pines on the hills. Ragged clouds were hurrying overhead, dark and low. As the cheerless shadows of the early evening began to fall the Company made ready to set out. They were to start at dusk, for Elrond counselled them to journey under cover of night as often as they could, until they were far from Rivendell.`You should fear the many eyes of the servants of Sauron,' he said. 'I

Hopper Sunlight on Brownstones

Hopper Sunlight on BrownstonesHopper Sun at OgunquitHopper Street Scene GloucesteHopper Steps in Paris
They followed the track for some while, for it offered much the easiest way down, but they went cautiously, and their anxiety increased as they came into the dark woods, and the path grew plainer and broader. Suddenly coming out of a belt of fir-trees it ran steeply down a slope, and turned sharply to the left round the comer of a rocky shoulder of the hill. When they came to the comer they looked round and saw that the path us get away. Now we know who made the path -and we had better get off it quick.''There is no need, I think,' said Strider, coining out. 'It is certainly a troll-hole, but it seems to have been long forsaken. I don't think we need be afraid. But let us go on down warily, and we shall see.'The path went on again from the door, and turning to the right again across the level space plunged ran on over a level strip under the face of a low cliff overhung with trees. In the stony wall there was a door hanging crookedly ajar upon one great hinge.Outside the door they all halted. There was a cave or rock-chamber behind, but in the gloom inside nothing could be seen. Strider, Sam, and Merry pushing with all their strength managed to open the door a little wider, and then Strider and Merry went in. They did not go far, for on the floor lay many old bones, and nothing else was to be seen near the entrance except some great empty jars and broken pots.'Surely this is a troll-hole, if ever there was one!' said Pippin. 'Come out, you two, and let

Matisse Blue Still Life

Matisse Blue Still LifeMatisse Blue NudeMatisse A Woman Sitting before the WindowMatisse A Sitting Nude
was going to let them pass unhindered after all.But after a while the air began to get hot and stuffy. The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. Now stronger than ever they felt again the ill will of the wood pressing on them. So silent was it that the fall of their ponies’ hoofs, rustling on dead branch fell from an old overhanging tree with a crash into the path. The trees seemed to close in before them.‘They do not like all that about ending and failing,’ said Merry. ‘I should not sing any more at present. Wait till we do get to the edge, and then we’ll turn and give them a rousing chorus!’He spoke cheerfully, and if he felt any great anxiety, he did not show it. The others did not answer.leaves and occasionally stumbling on hidden roots, seemed to thud in their ears. Frodo tried to sing a song to encourage them, but his voice sank to a murmur.O! Wanderers in the shadowed landdespair not! For though dark they stand,all woods there be must end at last,and see the open sun go past:the setting sun, the rising sun,the day’s end, or the day begun.For east or west all woods must fail…Fail - even as he said the word his voice faded into silence. The air seemed heavy and the making of words wearisome. Just behind them a large

Da Vinci Ceiling decoration

Da Vinci Ceiling decorationHopper The Martha McKeen of WellfleetHopper The Lighthouse at Two LightsHopper The Circle Theatre
shudder. What sort of a fellow was he? says I to the Gaffer. I don’t know, says he; but he wasn’t a hobbit. He was tall and black-like, and he stooped aver me. I reckon it was one of the Big Folk from foreign parts. He spoke funny.‘I couldn’t stay to hear more, sir, since you were waiting; and I didn’t give much heed to it myself. The Gaffer is getting old, and more than a bit blind, and it must have been near dark when this fellow come up the Hill and found him taking the air at the end of our Row. I hope he hasn’t done no harm, sir, nor me.’this rider and the Gaffer’s stranger,’ said Pippin. ‘We left Hobbiton secretly enough, and I don’t see how he could have followed us.’‘What about the smelling, sir?’ said Sam. ‘And the Gaffer said he was a black chap.’‘I wish I had waited for Gandalf,’ Frodo muttered. ‘But perhaps it would only have made matters worse.’‘Then you know or guess something about this rider?’ said Pippin, who had caught the muttered words.‘The Gaffer can’t be blamed anyway,’ said Frodo. ‘As a matter of fact I heard him talking to a stranger, who seemed to be inquiring for me, and I nearly went and asked him who it was. I wish I had, or you had told me about it before. I might have been more careful on the road.’‘Still, there may be no connexion between