A quote on writing

“One does not only wish to be understood when one writes; one wishes just as surely not to be understood.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Twinkle twinkle little smile

I remember this character from Samurai X.  He was an orphan living with relatives.  They usually beat him even for small things especially when they're drunk (which is OFTEN).  Then one day, while his uncles were punching and kicking him, he suddenly smiled.  Confused, his uncles stopped and then left.  He realized that they thought he was enjoying being beaten up and as psychos probably know, it's not fun to inflict pain on people who enjoy getting hurt.  So the little boy smiled whenever his uncles and aunts beat him because it was the only way he knew to make them stop.  Then he just smiled all the time.  Well, he killed them eventually but that's not the point.

People sometimes ask me how I know that something is wrong with them even when they look happy.  It's because of this, when your mouth smiles, the eyes should twinkle.  So next time you see someone smiling, do not assume that they're fine.  Sometimes they smile to mask the pain.