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strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from god

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“Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Quote of the Day: “Unexpected travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God” – Kurt Vonnegut

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15 things Kurt Vonnegut said better than anyone else ever has or will

1. “i urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘if this isn’t nice, i don’t know what is.’”.

The actual advice here is technically a quote from Kurt Vonnegut ’s “good uncle” Alex, but Vonnegut was nice enough to pass it on at speeches and in A Man Without A Country . Though he was sometimes derided as too gloomy and cynical, Vonnegut’s most resonant messages have always been hopeful in the face of almost-certain doom. And his best advice seems almost ridiculously simple: Give your own happiness a bit of brain-space.

2. “Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.”

In Cat’s Cradle , the narrator haplessly stumbles across the cynical, cultish figure Bokonon, who populates his religious writings with moronic, twee aphorisms. The great joke of Bokononism is that it forces meaning on what’s essentially chaos, and Bokonon himself admits that his writings are lies. If the protagonist’s trip to the island nation of San Lorenzo has any cosmic purpose, it’s to catalyze a massive tragedy, but the experience makes him a devout Bokononist. It’s a religion for people who believe religions are absurd, and an ideal one for Vonnegut-style humanists.

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3. “Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, ‘Why, why, why?’ Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.”

Another koan of sorts from Cat’s Cradle and the Bokononist religion (which phrases many of its teachings as calypsos, as part of its absurdist bent), this piece of doggerel is simple and catchy, but it unpacks into a resonant, meaningful philosophy that reads as sympathetic to humanity, albeit from a removed, humoring, alien viewpoint. Man’s just another animal, it implies, with his own peculiar instincts, and his own way of shutting them down. This is horrifically cynical when considered closely: If people deciding they understand the world is just another instinct, then enlightenment is little more than a pit-stop between insoluble questions, a necessary but ultimately meaningless way of taking a sanity break. At the same time, there’s a kindness to Bokonon’s belief that this is all inevitable and just part of being a person. Life is frustrating and full of pitfalls and dead ends, but everybody’s gotta do it.

4. “There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”

This line from God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater comes as part of a baptismal speech the protagonist says he’s planning for his neighbors’ twins: “Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” It’s an odd speech to make over a couple of infants, but it’s playful, sweet, yet keenly precise in its summation of everything a new addition to the planet should need to know. By narrowing down all his advice for the future down to a few simple words, Vonnegut emphasizes what’s most important in life. At the same time, he lets his frustration with all the people who obviously don’t get it leak through just a little.

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5. “She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is doing.”

A couple of pages into Cat’s Cradle , protagonist Jonah/John recalls being hired to design and build a doghouse for a lady in Newport, R.I., who “claimed to understand God and His Ways of Working perfectly.” With such knowledge, “she could not understand why anyone should be puzzled about what had been or about what was going to be.” When Jonah shows her the doghouse’s blueprint, she says she can’t read it. He suggests taking it to her minister to pass along to God, who, when he finds a minute, will explain it “in a way that even you can understand.” She fires him. Jonah recalls her with a bemused fondness, ending the anecdote with this Bokonon quote. It’s a typical Vonnegut zinger that perfectly summarizes the inherent flaw of religious fundamentalism: No one really knows God’s ways.

6. “Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.’”

In this response to his own question—“Why bother?”—in Timequake , his last novel, Vonnegut doesn’t give a tired response about the urge to create; instead, he offers a pointed answer about how writing (and reading) make a lonesome world a little less so. The idea of connectedness—familial and otherwise—ran through much of his work, and it’s nice to see that toward the end of his career, he hadn’t lost the feeling that words can have an intimate, powerful impact.

7. “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”

Though this quote comes from the World War II-centered Mother Night (published in 1961), its wisdom and ugly truth still ring. Vonnegut (who often said “The only difference between Bush and Hitler is that Hitler was elected”) was righteously skeptical about war, having famously survived the only one worth fighting in his lifetime. And it’s never been more true: Left or right, Christian or Muslim, those convinced they’re doing violence in service of a higher power and against an irretrievably inhuman enemy are the most dangerous creatures of all.

8. “Since Alice had never received any religious instruction, and since she had led a blameless life, she never thought of her awful luck as being anything but accidents in a very busy place. Good for her.”

Vonnegut’s excellent but underrated Slapstick (he himself graded it a “D”) was inspired by his sister Alice, who died of cancer just days after her husband was killed in an accident. Vonnegut’s assessment of Alice’s character—both in this introduction and in her fictional stand-in, Eliza Mellon Swain—is glowing and remarkable, and in this quote from the book’s introduction, he manages to swipe at a favorite enemy (organized religion) and quietly, humbly embrace someone he clearly still missed a lot.

9. “That is my principal objection to life, I think: It’s too easy, when alive, to make perfectly horrible mistakes.”

The narrator delivering this line at the end of the first chapter of Deadeye Dick is alluding both to his father’s befriending of Hitler and his own accidental murder of his neighbor, but like so many of these quotes, it resonates well beyond its context. The underlying philosophy of Vonnegut’s work was always that existence is capricious and senseless, a difficult sentiment that he captured time and again with a bemused shake of the head. Indeed, the idea that life is just a series of small decisions that culminate into some sort of “destiny” is maddening, because you could easily ruin it all simply by making the wrong one. Ordering the fish, stepping onto a balcony, booking the wrong flight, getting married—a single misstep, and you’re done for. At least when you’re dead, you don’t have to make any more damn choices. Wherever Vonnegut is, he’s no doubt grateful for that.

10. “Literature should not disappear up its own asshole, so to speak.”

Vonnegut touchstones like life on Tralfamadore and the absurd Bokononist religion don’t help people escape the world so much as see it with clearer reason, which probably had a lot to do with Vonnegut’s education as a chemist and anthropologist. So it’s unsurprising that in a “self-interview” for The Paris Review , collected in his non-fiction anthology Palm Sunday , he said the literary world should really be looking for talent among scientists and doctors. Even when taking part in such a stultifying, masturbatory exercise for a prestigious journal, Vonnegut was perfectly readable, because he never forgot where his true audience was.

11. “All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental.”

In Vonnegut’s final novel, 1997's Timequake , he interacts freely with Kilgore Trout and other fictional characters after the end of a “timequake,” which forces humanity to re-enact an entire decade. (Trout winds up too worn out to exercise free will again.) Vonnegut writes his own fitting epigram for this fatalistic book: “All persons, living and dead, are purely coincidental,” which sounds more funny than grim. Vonnegut surrounds his characters—especially Trout—with meaninglessness and hopelessness, and gives them little reason for existing in the first place, but within that, they find liberty and courage.

12. “Why don’t you take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut? Why don’t you take a flying fuck at the mooooooooooooon?”

Even when Vonnegut dared to propose a utopian scheme, it was a happily dysfunctional one. In Slapstick , Wilbur Swain wins the presidency with a scheme to eliminate loneliness by issuing people complicated middle names (he becomes Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain) which make them part of new extended families. He advises people to tell new relatives they hate, or members of other families asking for help: “Why don’t you take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut? Why don’t you take a flying fuck at the mooooooooooooon?” Of course, this fails to prevent plagues, the breakdown of his government, and civil wars later in the story.

13. “So it goes.”

Unlike many of these quotes, the repeated refrain from Vonnegut’s classic Slaughterhouse-Five isn’t notable for its unique wording so much as for how much emotion—and dismissal of emotion—it packs into three simple, world-weary words that simultaneously accept and dismiss everything. There’s a reason this quote graced practically every elegy written for Vonnegut over the past two weeks (yes, including ours): It neatly encompasses a whole way of life. More crudely put: “Shit happens, and it’s awful, but it’s also okay. We deal with it because we have to.”

14. “I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled ‘science fiction’ ever since, and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal.”

Vonnegut was as trenchant when talking about his life as when talking about life in general, and this quote from an essay in Wampeters, Foma & Granfalloons is particularly apt; as he explains it, he wrote Player Piano while working for General Electric, “completely surrounded by machines and ideas for machines,” which led him to put some ideas about machines on paper. Then it was published, “and I learned from the reviewers that I was a science-fiction writer.” The entire essay is wry, hilarious, and biting, but this line stands out in particular as typifying the kind of snappishness that made Vonnegut’s works so memorable.

15. “We must be careful about what we pretend to be.”

In Mother Night , apolitical expatriate American playwright Howard W. Campbell, Jr. refashions himself as a Nazi propagandist in order to pass coded messages on to the U.S. generals and preserve his marriage to a German woman—their “nation of two,” as he calls it. But in serving multiple masters, Campbell ends up ruining his life and becoming an unwitting inspiration to bigots. In his 1966 introduction to the paperback edition, Vonnegut underlines Mother Night ’s moral: “We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” That lesson springs to mind every time a comedian whose shtick relies on hoaxes and audience-baiting—or a political pundit who traffics in shock and hyperbole—gets hauled in front of the court of public opinion for pushing the act too far. Why can’t people just say what they mean? It’s a question Don Imus and Michael Richards—and maybe someday Ann Coulter—must ask themselves on their many sleepless nights.

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Strange Travel Suggestions

Tales of global adventure.

by Ethical Traveler » 29 August 2006 at 8:50 pm

Michael McColl Director of Communications Ethical Traveler [email protected] +1 (510) 451 0267

For Immediate Release

Written & Performed by Jeff Greenwald

Appearing at The Freight & Salvage 1111 Addison Street, Berkeley, California (510) 548-1761

Wednesday, September 20th, 8 p.m. Tickets: $18.50 adv / $19.50 door

A Benefit for Ethical Traveler

“STRANGE TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS,” Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once wrote, “are dancing lessons from God.” Indeed, it’s those sudden inspirations and unpredictable encounters that make world travel so wild and illuminating.

Gregarious Oakland-based writer and globe-trotting adventurer Jeff Greenwald, best known for award-winning travel books Shopping for Buddhas and The Size of the World , presents his critically acclaimed monologue inspired by the joys of wanderlust. Audience members step onto the stage, and spin a huge, colorful Wheel of Fortune. Thirty symbols, from “The Fool” to “Meals of Misfortune,” determine the starting points for the evening’s stories.

The one-night-only performance at the legendary Freight & Salvage Coffee House will benefit Ethical Traveler, a non-profit organization co-founded by Jeff Greenwald. Ethical Traveler is an alliance of world travelers which uses the economic power of tourism to protect human rights and the environment, and to promote the ambassadorial aspects of travel.

Tickets can be reserved through TicketWeb (at 866-468-3399) or by clicking on www.tinyurl.com/myuge . For further information about Ethical Traveler, please visit http://www.ethicaltraveler.org/ . For media inquiries, contact Michael McColl at [email protected] .

Acclaim for Jeff Greenwald’s “Strange Travel Suggestions”

“The last time Jeff Greenwald’s roulette wheel of a one-man show had a run at The Marsh, I went and laughed my head off. The Marsh is a small place, so Greenwald obligingly handed my head back to me.” – Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle

“The tales…are prime takes from his continuing semireligious quest for the odd and the entertaining — intriguing, beguiling and often laugh-out-loud funny stories of consulting oracles in Senegal, how complaints are handled in India, a Nepali holy man who does amazing things with his penis, and past lives, told with the delivery of a Buddhist Mort Sahl and a sly mix of hyperbole and observation.” – Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

“There’s something incredibly appealing about a performer whose stories are true and told in a direct, unadorned and seemingly unscripted way. With his spinning wheel and endless supply of stories, Greenwald is the kind of tour guide you’d gladly and enthusiastically follow to the ends of the earth.” – Chad Jones, Oakland Tribune

“Looking for global intrigue, great laughs, and high drama? Go traveling with Jeff Greenwald and you’ll find it all — on one stage.” – Wes “Scoop” Nisker

“Hilarious, Spontaneous, Gregarious! Don’t Miss it!!” – Stephen Kent, Producer of “Music of the World” on KPFA

“Funny, keen-eyed, utterly engaging…Wherever it leads, it adds up to quite a trip.” – San Francisco Bay Guardian

Read Ethical Traveler's Reprint Policy .

Ethical Traveler Reprint Policy

Any publication can republish any Ethical Traveler News article in its original form for free, as long as the proper credit is maintained (By AuthorName for EthicalTraveler.org) and a backlink to EthicalTraveler.org is provided for any online use.

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Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from god, january 7, 2016, filed in: creative residency.

Editor’s Note: Mary Ann Henry is the 2016 New River Gorge Writer-in-Residence at Lafayette Flats. Mary Ann is originally from West Virginia, but has spent the past 26 years in Charleston, South Carolina. She arrived in Fayetteville on New Year’s Day and she will be a guest of Lafayette Flats through the end of March. During her stay, Mary Ann plans to rewrite a novel that is set in West Virginia. Her last book, published in 2014, is a collection of stories called Ladies in Low Places. This is her first contribution to the Lafayette Flats blog.

When some West Virginia artist friends first suggested applying for the Winter Writer’s Residency at Lafayette Flats in Fayetteville, West Virginia, my reaction was: why would I re-visit West Virginia in the winter when the first chance I had, I high-tailed it out of the frozen tundra of my home state in winter to my cozy beach cottage in Folly Beach, South Carolina?

But, then, I recalled one of my favorite writer’s quotes: ‘Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God.’ (Kurt Vonnegut) That quote stayed with me, haunted me even. And when I returned from a back-packing trip to Ireland, I sent in my application. The result? Amy McLaughlin and Shawn Means, owners of The Flats, turned out to be my ‘literary angels’.

It’s only been a few days but the apartment/flat is comfortable and lends itself to a writer’s need to “nest”. Within walking distance are shops and restaurants and, a big bonus: a yoga studio a 90 second stroll from my front door. And beyond the town itself,with its charm and its interesting characters, lies the great New River Gorge. The drama of nature waiting to be discovered. Or ignored if I want to “hole up”and hide from the world and write. Which is what I plan to do. But it’s nice to have options in deciding just what kind of dancing lessons I want to take. — Mary Ann

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Seeking out peculiar travel suggestions

For some travelers, all it takes is an image – whether it’s through an actual photograph or a description from a novel – to prompt an urge to visit a certain place or to go on a specific adventure. These visual cues can be enough to stimulate us to start walking.

I’ve also chosen unlikely destinations by visiting islands or provinces that weren’t in my itinerary in the first place. After all, things look so much closer together and easier to get to when you’re looking at a map. My logic often goes, if I’m going to take a 25-hour ferry trip in that area anyway, why not explore the surrounding regions? In this case, a week-long visit to one place threatens to become a month of hopping from one island province to the next – and what vagabond can’t appreciate that?

Sometimes, travel suggestions come from serious introspection. Jeff Greenwald, before embarking on his airplane-free, round-the-world trip, pointed out that the drive to go on this particular journey came from his realization that airplanes made us take the size of the world for granted:

“An essential quality of travel had been lost. If I had to define it, I’d use the word continuity: the sense that the sidewalk in front of one’s house is connected, physically, with every other spot on Earth. I wanted to reclaim that feeling.” Source: “The Size of the World” by Jeff Greenwald

My personal favorite is the travel suggestion jar, which I created over a month ago (see picture). Basically, the jar contains rolled-up slips of paper with names of local provinces written on them. These provinces are all accessible via land, to minimize the scheduling restrictions of traveling by boat or air. When I get the urge to travel, all I have to do is shake up the jar, pick a random scroll identifying my destination, and proceed to the nearest bus station. I’ve yet to use it, but I’m starting to get that restless feeling vagabonds get when they’ve been home for too long.

If peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God, then actively seeking out these suggestions are our way of telling the universe that we are ready to dance.

Did you ever arrive at an unexpected destination? What prompts you to visit unlikely places?

5 Responses to “Seeking out peculiar travel suggestions”

[…] Original post by Celine Roque […]

All we do is visit unlikely destinations. 🙂

We have no travel plans. We get up in the morning, check the weather report, and head to where the weather suits our fancy.

We wind up where we wind up.

It is a lovely way to see unexpected parts of the country.

[…] Worth Taking“. His first suggestion is to pick a travel destination on a whim. I’ve discussed this same idea here at Vagablogging before, when I mentioned my “Travel Suggestion Jar”, which I use to randomly pick a […]

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Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons From God

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Author Jeff Greenwald Says Yes To All The Universe’s Wild Suggestions

Jeff Greenwald, a respected travel writer, lives by one line from Kurt Vonnegut’s book, “Cat’s Cradle.”

“Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from god.”

Greenwald has published hundreds of travel articles and five books. He’s interviewed greats from the Dalai Lama to Paul Bowles and visited 73 countries. Through his travels, Jeff has become incredibly good at boarding life’s roller coaster and enjoying the ride. So I sat down with him last weekend in a San Francisco bar and asked him how he does it.

“A man named Keith Johnstone (the British improv theater pioneer) made the observation that there are two kinds of people in the world. There are people who say ‘Yes’ and people who say ‘No.’ Because, of course, all improv is based on saying ‘Yes.’

The people who say ‘No’ are rewarded by the safety they gain and the people who say ‘Yes’ are rewarded by the adventures they have,” he said.

“I’ve never been risk averse. Adventures have been what I’ve always looked for.”

When Greenwald was in his late 20s, he got a pivotal chance to see what would happen if he said “yes” to one of the universe’s strange suggestions.

At the time, Jeff was a sculptor. He had just read “The Agony and the Ecstasy,” and became determined that he would travel to Greece and learn how to carve marble.

“Carving marble seemed like the most romantic thing in the world to me, never mind that I didn’t know the first thing about it and that the chisels I brought with me were wood chisels,” he said. Fueled by youthful enthusiasm, he decided to spend the summer on the Greek Island of Paros, by way of Athens. He had only been in the country a few days when he stopped by the archaeological museum to see the Cycladic sculptures.

“I was in one of the galleries and I saw this woman — and something just overcame me. I was overthrown by this idea that if I didn’t speak to this woman, my life was not going to go on the course it was meant to go,” he said. And instead of ignoring that weird feeling, Greenwald pressed ahead.

“She was astoundingly beautiful. I didn’t even really know what I’d say to her. She was wearing a camera around her neck. So I just walked up to her and said the lamest thing anyone could say, which is, ‘Are You a photographer?'”

Luckily, Jeff, got past that opening line and they got to talking. He ended up traveling with her around Greece as a romance developed between them. After those weeks were over, he followed her to her next stop, Nepal, where she planned to study Ayurvedic medicine. Nepal had never even been on Jeff’s radar before, but he would end up spending the next 38 years visiting and living in the country, which is now his second home.

It was an almost magical unfolding, a turn of events that, in retrospect, looked like the universe offering him a chance to change his life and take a turn he could have never imagined on his own.

Greenwald continued to look for opportunities to explore his connection to the universe and say “Yes.”

There were many of them, too many to count, though some of the best ones are immortalized in my favorite of Greenwald’s books “Mister Rajas Neighborhood.”

But, one opportunity in particular came up when Jeff was 36, living in Nepal and a friend offered to give him a Tarot reading.

“She used a deck called Mythic Tarot, which is based on four of the Greek myths, and I was absolutely fascinated with the reading she gave me and the way it all tied into myth,” he said. “And during the next few years, I got my own deck and started to do my own readings, and it really had a profound effect on me.”

As he explored the Tarot, Jeff became especially interested in two cards, the Fool and the Wheel of Fortune.

The Fool, the first card in the most important suite of the deck, symbolizes a fool with a ready heart and mind, ready to embark on a new journey, enthusiastic, despite the many dangers and unknowns before him. The Wheel of Fortune, meanwhile, symbolizes a time when the universe is rolling the dice and anything could happen. Jeff identified with both.

“Once you start thinking of yourself as the fool and all travel, your whole life, actually, as a dancing lesson from god, you really are much more open to all of the steps or missteps you might take,” Greenwald said. “Because you realize that there’s a deeper underpinning, a spiritual meaning to it. In a way, what Kurt Vonnegut was describing with that line (about travel suggestions) was the Wheel of Fortune, that it’s sort of a carousel of possibilities, and when you want to be open to that, you can leap on to the wheel and have any kind of experience you want,” he said. “(Throughout my life) I’ve had to pursue things because the idea came to me and then wouldn’t let go.”

Greenwald is the first to admit that not all of his pursuits have been graceful. After all, most people don’t tango flawlessly in their first lesson.

“I did some things that I’m very often embarrassed about, but I’m so thankful I did them,” he told me. For instance, Greenwald published his first book of poems when he was 20. Two of them were recently added into an anthology of horrible writing from good writers, he told me. When Greenwald was asked to read them at an event promoting the book, he laughed so hard that he was unable to speak.

“Two fish avoid me,” he began, reciting a line from one of them. “Naked on the coral reef, I am recognized.”

Sounded okay to me.

Of course, other pursuits have gone better, perhaps because of, not in spite of, Greenwald’s willingness to dive in and play the fool.

In 2003, for instance, the manager of a San Francisco theater asked Greenwald if he would read some of his stories on stage during a show. He agreed, but said that he wanted to perform despite the fact that he’d never gone on stage before. His travel story show “Strange Travel Suggestions,” was born.

During the performance, Greenwald regales the audience with tales from travel to every corner of the globe, from evading militant radicals during an eclipse in Iran to scuba diving in the Philippines, while channeling the spirit of the Wheel of Fortune. Like life, the show takes unexpected twists and turns as he invites audience members onstage to spin a wheel that decides what genre of story he will tell. It’s essentially improv, filled with stories he’s honed, brought alive by the lifelong, electrifying practice of saying “Yes.”

“I don’t know why I travel,” Jeff told me. “But what it connects me to is my sense of readiness. We often lose our sense of readiness… We go through our lives with this sense of being used to everything that happens to us. But when you travel, you’re forced to be ready again. You’re forced to be vigilant about everything entering your sphere of vision and your sphere of emotion and your creative sphere. And you can do yourself justice in a way that you can’t living by the straights of your usually narrow and predictable life.”

There’s a Yiddish proverb, ‘One should live if only to satisfy one’s curiosity.’ And my life has always been motivated by curiosity. Of the best places I’ve gone, almost all of them are by accident, and I would say, all trace back to that encounter at the museum … everything sort of traces back to that one sudden leap of faith.”

Breena Kerr is a journalist and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her work has been published in the Washington Post, Vice and others. Always fascinated by mysticism and spirituality, her global wanderings have exposed her to philosophies and traditions from many corners of the earth. In her spare time, she plans her next trip, practices yoga and studies her tarot deck.

Cat's Cradle

Cat's Cradle (1963) is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut . It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other targets along the way.

Chapters 1 & 2
First sentence of the Book of Bokonon ; chapter 4
Dr. Hoenikker's Nobel Prize acceptance speech (in its entirety); chapter 5
Describing a fictitious unpublished novel, 2000 AD ; chapter 5
Written by Newt Hoenikker, Dr. Hoenniker's younger son; chapter 6
Said by Sandra, a prostitute; chapter 11
John, Sandra (a prostitute), and a bartender; chapter 11
Said by Dr. Asa Breed; chapter 15
Often expressed as Any scientist who can't explain to an eight-year old what he is doing is a charlatan.
Said by Naomi Faust, secretary to Dr. Breed; chapter 25
Said by Naomi Faust, secretary to Dr. Breed; chapter 26
Despite having a definite source, this particular line is misquoted on the Internet in many ways, with "unexpected", "strange", and "unusual" commonly substituted for "peculiar", and "arrangements" for "suggestions".
John and Marvin Breed; chapter 31
About Emily Hoenikker, wife of Dr. Hoenikker; chapter 33
Said by Marvin Breed about Dr. Hoenikker; chapter 33
Marvin Breed quoting Emily Hoenikker about Dr. Hoenikker; chapter 34
About Newt Hoenikker, a midget; chapter 59

Tiger got to hunt, Bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder, "Why, why, why?"

Tiger got to sleep, Bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand.

John and Julian Castle; chapter 81
Dr Julian Castle about Dr Schlichter von Koenigswald; chapter 83
Spoken by the character "John" about "Frank Hoenikker"; chapter 85
Said by Dr. von Koenigswald; chapter 98
Dr. von Koenigswald, Chapter 98
Part of the Bokononist last rites; chapter 99
Chapter 103
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Said by Horlick Minton, Chapter 114
Chapter 116
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Said by Mona Aamons about Bokonon; chapter 121
Said by Mona about suicide; chapter 121
Chapter 123
This is a variation of the poem "Maud Muller" by John Greenleaf Whittier : "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
Chapter 124
Said by Newt Hoenikker; chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
This is the last line in the book.

External links

Satire books
Metafictional works
Philosophical novels
American novels

Peculiar Travel Suggestions, the Mightiest Dancing Lessons

Table of Contents

Sometimes being an adult can get quite frustrating. Life can lack the adventure and spontaneity that colored our youth. Or at least the amount of unplanned craziness we all expect to have when we’re younger.

Many years ago I was introduced to an author who would later become my favorite: Kurt Vonnegut. I was quickly attracted to his unique and entertaining style of writing. And I found concepts and ideas throughout his books becoming a part of who I was.

The Cursed Kurt Vonnegut

A great example is an idea in the book Hocus Pocus. The character spoke about his reason for never cursing. He believed it weakened the strength of his thoughts and opinions.

Now, I grew up a classic potty-mouthed New Yorker. But I also grew up wanting to make sure any point I make gets across as quickly and effectively as possible. So it was imperative I gave this idea some thought. I considered all the most famous quotes and speeches I had heard. And the people I knew who had the most influence on me and others around me.

And not a curse word to be found.

I took this to heart, stripped my vocabulary of the expletives, and watched as over time the words became somewhat repulsive to me. I also watched as the words became more powerful. Their infrequent use made them more intense when they were actually used.

Peculiar Travel Suggestions

Vonnegut’s influence on me had no bounds. There was one phrase from his incredible novel Cat’s Cradle that has had more impact on me than any other: “Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.”

As you make your way through the twists and turns of life, every once in a while someone will suggest you do something you’ve never done before. You will have an opportunity to wander outside your comfort zone, and see things differently than yesterday.

Those moments aren’t just fun one-time breaks from your normal reality. They are the bread and butter of who you will later become! And so it has been for me, time and again. In my youth I was invited to a youth group meeting . It was something outside my realm. Something that I really did not understand or see the point of. But it was a peculiar travel suggestion, with potential galore for changing my life forever.

And it most certainly did!

That one decision was the starting point for a path I am still trekking down . For sure there have been other peculiar travel suggestions along the way. Many I’ve followed, and many have had their impact. The path hasn’t always been an easy one , but it certainly has always felt like there’s been some type of plan guiding the way.

Dancing Lessons from God

In more recent years I was invited to a friend’s home to hang out and play some games. I didn’t know my host very well, nor did I know any of the other guests. My instincts and inertia could have easily gotten the better of me. After all, it was exceedingly hot outside. I was better off just staying home, reading, and napping.

My host’s peculiar travel suggestion would be a key moment on the path eventually leading to our marriage .

And thus has been the pattern of my existence for as far back as I remember. When my days had too much of a pattern, and I was too rigid and unwilling to follow the ebbs and flow of life, or there were elements holding me back, little noteworthy happened.

And therefore when I told stories about myself, I noticed they were all old. Anything and everything that seemed interesting or noteworthy about me happened a long, long time ago.

In the Comfort Zone

And now here is where I stand. I find comfort in day-to-day routines. I like knowing what my day will look like and what’s coming up in the near future. Any break from my routine, even a small one, upsets my balance. Leaves me somewhat unnerved. That’s why they call it the “comfort zone”…

Yet at the same time there are changes that need to happen. There are improvements to myself as a person I so vehemently wish I could make happen. And if things continue on the same path they’ve been zooming down since I was a teenager, these changes won’t just happen on their own. Change happens when a peculiar travel suggestion enters my world, and I’m brave enough to follow the unknown path.

Shaking Things Up

And it seems this is the only true way meaning occurs in my life. It’s like a snow globe that settles into whatever it is, but the true beauty shines when things are shaken up.

But the shaking can’t happen by force. I can’t just shake my own snow globe or artificially insert my own peculiar travel suggestions. This disingenuous method of finding meaningful change is unlikely to produce any results.

Waiting for Peculiar Travel Suggestions

That’s not to say I have no control, nor that I lack an important role in inevitable and exciting changes that lay ahead. I must lay the foundation, and create the right atmosphere for change to naturally flow from what’s happening in my life.

There is so much I want to happen in the future, so many goals I wish to achieve. I want to see new levels of professional and financial success . I wake up daily yearning to return to levels of religiosity and Zionism I haven’t felt in what seems like ages. And I want joy in my days, the extent of which I could not have imagined.

I’m out there. God, I am wandering through life, each day awaiting Your peculiar travel suggestions. I patiently seek Your dancing lessons.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

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Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God

Posted by Lafayette Flats http://www.lafayetteflats.com/

Editor’s Note: Mary Ann Henry is the 2016 New River Gorge Writer-in-Residence at Lafayette Flats. Mary Ann is originally from West Virginia, but has spent the past 26 years in Charleston, South Carolina. She arrived in Fayetteville on New Year’s Day and she will be a guest of Lafayette Flats through the end of March. During her stay, Mary Ann plans to rewrite a novel that is set in West Virginia. Her last book, published in 2014, is a collection of stories called”Ladies in Low Places.” This is her first contribution to the Lafayette Flats blog.

The concept of Home. Much has been written. Much is misunderstood.

But, then, I recalled one of my favorite writer’s quotes:”Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God.” (Kurt Vonnegut) That quote stayed with me, haunted me even. And when I returned from a back-packing trip to Ireland, I sent in my application. The results? Amy McLaughlin and Shawn Means, owners of The Flats, turned out to be my ‘literary angels’.

It has only been a few days but the apartment/flat is comfortable and lends itself to a writer’s need to “nest”. Within walking distance are shops and restaurants and, a big bonus: a yoga studio a 90 second stroll from my front door. And beyond the town itself, with its charm and interesting characters, lies the great New River Gorge. The drama of nature waiting to be discovered. Or ignored if I want to “hole up” and hide from the world and write. Which is what I plan to do. But it’s nice to have options in deciding just what kind of dancing lessons I want to take.

*More from Mary Ann and the owners of Lafayette Flats, Shawn and Amy, can be seen on their blog at http://lafayetteflats.blogspot.com/

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Moving Pictures

Just a quick note.

I’m starting to put my photos up on a Flickr page. There’s a link to it on the right. Enjoy!

More coming soon…

OK bye for now.

WWOOFing in Gunma

Okay, I finally made it to my second post and it’s a long one. I’ve been pretty busy lately so its hard to find time to write. Hopefully after I’ve gotten caught up they’ll come more often.

First off, for those of you that don’t know or only know bits and pieces, the reason I’m here in Japan is for an exchange program called World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming (WWOOF). WWOOFing (as it’s usually known as) can be done in around 50+ countries around the world. Most countries have a national program that you can get a membership to. Here’s the premise, straight from the WWOOF website ( http://wwoof.org ): “WWOOF organisations link people who want to volunteer on organic farms or smallholdings with people who are looking for volunteer help.” In return for the help, the host provides accommodations and food. Its a really great way to travel on the cheap. Where I am now, if I could spend absolutely no money to live here if I needed to. If the word “organic farm” scares off some of you, not all places are farms. Hosts range from small berry farms and vegetable gardens to nature schools, inns, cafés, and outdoor sports centers but most all of them have some sort of organic, environmental, or self-sufficient aspect to them.

The host I’m staying with now makes their money off of allowing people to fish on their property and running a fly-fishing school every once in a while. The Komoriyas are a family of 5 that live in the mountains in Gunma prefecture.

Here’s a map of the prefecture I am in relative to the rest:

Hiro is the father, the one that makes us do all the work. He’s super energetic when it comes to working. Maybe a bit too much cause he gets ahead of himself sometimes. Reiko is the mother and the one that I had contact with when making arrangements. She works in the train station 5 minutes down the mountain from the house. Their kids are Anri, super adorable 6 year old girl, Ryoma, really loud 8 year old boy, and their older sister Karin, age 10. Hiro and Reiko speak enough English to get along. As for the kids they’re all fun to be around even though I have no idea what they’re saying 99.999% of the time.

And when I talk about “us” I’m talking about the two other WWOOFers that are staying here as well. Kevin, who is originally from New Hampshire but has lived in Japan on and off for the past 8 years and has been living around East Asian for the past 20 and Joris, from Holland, who has just come to Japan for the first time like me and is WWOOFing here for 3 months.

Initially, my plan was to teach English in South Korea starting September 2008. Thats a pretty big step, no leap, for someone like me who has never even left the country, let alone taught English. So when I found out about WWOOF I thought that it would be a great way to immerse myself in another culture and prepare for teaching. Now the plan is this: WWOOF in Japan until December, WWOOF in Korea until February, then teach English in Korea starting in March and lasting a year.

Anyway, here are some pictures of where I’m staying. The first one is Yamaneko lodge, the place where WWOOFers stay. We sleep in on the top floor on 3-inch thick futons and meager pillows. The location is really nice. Loads of beautiful scenery around the stream.

And here’s the “bridge” we walk over to get from Yamaneko lodge to where the Komoriyas live. An accident waiting to happen.

This is how the light looks on every clear morning from the porch of the lodge.

Just down the stream next to the little bridge we walk across every morning.

The front of the Komoriya’s new house from the road.

Kevin and Hiro taking a break on the inside

One of these days (I don’t remember which but I think it was the first week), I rode a bike up the road that goes past the house, where the only traffic is that of government workers that ride up and check weather instruments. There are many points where water comes out of the mountain and across the road under a small grate. Usually its a tiny waterfall that spits out of a hole but a ways up, I found this in a miniature grotto. It was one of of those little moments in life that was really special.

We get all of our meals cooked for us, which is really nice. They always consist of rice or noodles with a bunch of other vegetables, which sometimes makes me miss meat. Usually everything is so good though, that I don’t even think about it. I’ve gotten to try a bunch of new foods, which is exciting. Here’s a few:

Natto - Fermented soybeans. A traditional Japanese food but definitely an acquired taste. Smells like a toilet.

Japanese mayonnaise - If American style mayonnaise tasted like this, I think more people would like it. It has an egg-like taste and we eat it with green beans.

Plum wine - Hiro makes his own plum wine. The one in this container was actually really good.

Japanese Pears - Delicious! I don't like the pears you usually get in America but these are awesome. Sweeter and aren't textured like sand.

Bitter Melon - Like the name says. Not my thing.

Umeboshi - Pickled ume fruits. Also gross.

Mamma Africa's Zulu Peri Peri sauce - Not Japanese, but I still tried it. 9/10 hot like it says on the side. 2 drops was spicy enough. Pretty good too.

Moving on from a very tasty subject to a not so tasty one, if theres one thing that this place has a lot of, its spiders. They say the average person eats about 20 spiders a year. My guess is that I’ll reach my yearly quota with no problem in the time that I’m here. The lodge I’m staying in (Yamaneko lodge) is practically covered in them, inside and out. Most of the ones inside are house spiders but some of the ones outside are freaking huge orb weavers. The one outside the downstairs window was dark gray and about the size of a Susan B. Anthony dollar. Scary…

I got a picture of this one in the new house we’re working on. I found it right above me as I was looking for a place to put a light.

So I think that’s all for this post. I really want to go to bed but I really want to be done with this, so I’m going to stop now and leave more for next time. Should be some more pictures coming up of the surrounding area too.

Daily Observation! (and yes, I realize this is more like bi-monthly observation) 75% of cars in the cities I’ve been to look brand new and the other 25% is last year’s model. And I’ve been to a lot of small, old towns so it’s not like this is downtown Tokyo I’m talking about. See an old run down house with weeds growing everywhere? There’s likely a shiny new car in the driveway.

Oh and the cars are reaaally small here. Seeing a medium sized sedan here is like seeing a limo in the US.

How to make jet-lag

Okay. My first post. Finally.

There’s a lot to cover so I’ll be splitting it up into a few posts.

The first week has been both hectic and relaxing but overall very tiring. Lets start at the beginning. I flew out of Washington Dulles at 8:00am, meaning the day started around 4:30 in the morning. Keep this in mind because it will be important later. It was a quick hour and a half flight to Toronto Pearson airport at which time the nearly 4 hour layover began. When I got off the plane, my first stop was the international connecting flights desk. After telling nearly 90% of the people that got off the plane that their desk was for international connections and not domestic arrivals because nobody reads signs, to say they were annoyed would be an understatement. Fortunately, the woman I talked to had a sense of humor.

Me: So, my bags are being transferred to my next flight? Her: They should be. Me: Should be? Her: Alright, yes. They will be. Me: Okay, because its pretty important I keep those bags. Her: Well, you are flying Air Canada after all.

The first thing I noticed about the airport was how nearly every store in it sold liquor. The duty free shop was about half liquor, half perfume. There was even a Bacardi Rum Bar right dead center in the terminal. If you ever want to get sauced at an airport, Toronto Pearson is the place to go. They also have this weird monolithic piece of modern art in the main terminal as well. Basically, it’s four half a foot thick, huge pieces of curved steel painted black. Pretty simple, yet cool to see in person.

This thing is huge!

A more artistic look

Here’s the gate for my flight

This is where I spent a couple of hours. Absolutely nothing to do.

At around 1:20pm, with much anxiousness and excitement, I got on my first flight to Japan. I’d say I had that feeling for around 2 hours before the monotony of sitting on a plane for 12 hours kicked in. The flight wasn’t too bad though. I watched Caddyshack and City Slickers through one side of a headphone, got 4 meals, and the people next to me mostly slept the whole way. 12 hours and a couple naps later the plane touched down in Tokyo’s Narita airport. Before, when I heard the name Tokyo I immediately thought of a bustling metropolis of shiny new buildings with about as many trees as you would find on the moon. So I was certainly surprised when we landed in an almost rural area at a very plain looking airport.

The first thing I noticed when I got into the terminal was how hot it was. Air conditioning in Japan is far less of a priority than it is in America. Literally the only time that I felt a fan the entire rest of the day was for about 5 minutes on a train when a small rotating fan clicked on. From immigration and the baggage claim, I made my way to the train ticket kiosk where they quickly turned down my traveller’s checks and made me get yen.

Man, I’m so glad that I printed out the train directions in Japanese. I’d probably have ended up sleeping in a train station and gotten robbed in the middle of the night. The only way my suitcases would’ve been protected is the fact that one weighs about 70 lbs. Not exactly a quick getaway. Anyway, through some gestures and broken English, I bought a ticket on the Kesei line out of Tokyo’s Narita airport on an hour and half long ride to Takasago, which I ended up missing the first time because of this neat little facet of the train system that I wasn’t clued in on. Maybe most railways are like this. I don’t know, I’ve never had experience with good public transportation. Looking at my directions gives the indication that I get off at Takasago and then get back on the same line and go 2 stops further to Isesaki. This is sort of correct. Apparently theres an express Keisei line that I was on that stops at the bigger stations and in order to get to the smaller ones, like Isesaki, I have to hop on the “local” Keisei line. I started getting suspicious when after Takasago we blazed past Isesaki and a few others. Thanks to the help of a well…helpful…station attendant I figured out the right train to get on and backtrack to Isesaki. This pretty much exemplifies the rest of the night. Confusion. No more missed trains or stations but at each station I went through the ritual of looking very lost, tired, and confused and then asking an attendant or ticket person where the hell I’m supposed to go. Thank God for those directions in Japanese…

So yeah, the rest of the night was super tiring. Thats why there are only pictures of the Toronto airport. I just couldn’t be bothered to bring out my camera. I’ve gotten plenty of shots of train stations since then so it’s okay. I ended up at my destination, Sori station, on the smallest train I’d ridden on so far (about the size of a Greyhound bus) at around 10:30pm, Japanese time; 9:30am US time. Hiro, the head of the family at the first place I’m staying, was there to meet me, asleep in his small white van. The first thing he said to me was probably 2 or 3 sentences in Japanese. Instant panic was my reaction since I thought he knew I didn’t speak the language. Pretty soon though his Japanese was infused with a little bit of English, to my relief. We made good conversation on the way up to his house, which is a 5 minute ride up a mountain on a tiny, windy, one lane road that is supposed to support two way traffic. He showed me to the cabin that will be my home for the next month and I met the other WWOOFer named Kevin, originally from New Hampshire but now living in Japan. Hiro made us some noodles since I hadn’t eaten in about 9 hours and then off to bed around 11:30.

So, let’s recap: wake up at 4:30am on Sunday, fly/be in airports for 18 hours, ride on trains for 6 hours, and go to bed at 10:30am Monday morning (11:30pm Japan time). Thats 30 hours of hell.

Oh, and then I got up at 6:30 the next morning.

I’m sure most of you are wondering what I’m doing here exactly and where “here” is. I’ll explain more about that in the next post. For now, here’s my “Daily Observation” about Japan.

Daily Observation! Everyone has cellphones. I mean everyone. If you’re 100 years old and don’t have a cellphone you’re not hip. Riding on the trains, its not unusual to see a a twelve year old kid next to a 60 year old man, both texting like it’s their job.

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Starfish by Eleanor Lerman

1. I don’t know anything. I am but a tiny speck in the universe who dared to make plans because I thought I needed to.

2. Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God, says Vonnegut. Today it felt more like jousting though.

3. I think you would say, things are unfolding as they should. Or: sleep on it.

4. How strange life is. Don’t you think?

Starfish Eleanor Lerman This is what life does. It lets you walk up to the store to buy breakfast and the paper, on a stiff knee. It lets you choose the way you have your eggs, your coffee. Then it sits a fisherman down beside you at the counter who says, Last night, the channel was full of starfish. And you wonder, is this a message, finally, or just another day? Life lets you take the dog for a walk down to the pond, where whole generations of biological processes are boiling beneath the mud. Reeds speak to you of the natural world: they whisper, they sing. And herons pass by. Are you old enough to appreciate the moment? Too old? There is movement beneath the water, but it may be nothing. There may be nothing going on. And then life suggests that you remember the years you ran around, the years you developed a shocking lifestyle, advocated careless abandon, owned a chilly heart. Upon reflection, you are genuinely surprised to find how quiet you have become. And then life lets you go home to think about all this. Which you do, for quite a long time. Later, you wake up beside your old love, the one who never had any conditions, the one who waited you out. This is life’s way of letting you know that you are lucky. (It won’t give you smart or brave, so you’ll have to settle for lucky.) Because you were born at a good time. Because you were able to listen when people spoke to you. Because you stopped when you should have and started again. So life lets you have a sandwich, and pie for your late night dessert. (Pie for the dog, as well.) And then life sends you back to bed, to dreamland, while outside, the starfish drift through the channel, with smiles on their starry faces as they head out to deep water, to the far and boundless sea.

Michelle in NYC

It’s just July over here T. and I have been away from this teeming City for as much time as possible so far, escaping to woods up North where old friends welcome me. Today’s poem is so simply comforting and calming, I will have to steal it and re-blog at my own site (and mention your site of course). You are a master of poem choice and storage, as prolific as Poetry.org, and ALP sites, but your selections so much more of consistent interest to me. So just to say thank you and wish you well.

A beautiful, brilliant poem. I enjoy your posts so much! Poetry is a much-needed vitamin for the soul in our way of living, and these poems are much-appreciated pearls of wisdom, beauty and deep significance.

Celebrate 19 years with us

🎉 celebrate 19 years with us 🎉.

For nearly two decades, Read A Little Poetry has been a haven for words, a place where poetry lovers gather to find solace, inspiration, and meaning. As we mark our 19th anniversary, I’m filled with gratitude for this journey we’ve shared.

This passion project has always been—and will always remain—free for all who wander here. If Read A Little Poetry has touched your heart or brought light to your days, would you consider supporting it through a small donation on Ko-Fi? Your support helps keep this space alive for all of us who cherish the power of poetry.

Thank you for being part of this community, today and for years to come. Let’s continue holding poets to the light together.

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High Vibe Honey
BOOK BONUSES
radical self love

“Unexpected Travel Plans Are Dancing Lessons From God”

H e had a face I couldn’t stop looking at. We’d only been on two dates, but one of them had lasted 19 hours. Now he was sitting in my living room, flicking through my book, reading passages of it aloud to me while I blushed uncontrollably.

Earlier in the week he’d mentioned that he was going to L.A., so I asked him how long he was going for.

“A week,” he replied. “You should come with me.”

I visualised my week in my head. I had no real pressing reason to stay in NYC, and I’m always up for an adventure, but I wasn’t sure how serious he was. I changed the subject. So when he looked at me a couple of hours later and asked, “Well, are you going to come away with me?,” I grinned and said yes.

Three days later, I met him in L.A. We checked into my favourite hotel (and home away from home) and had one of the best weeks ever.

One morning I stole his hat and went out with Christina and Alie from Made U Look Photography to shoot some pictures. I’ve known them for years and they are my absolute favourite photographers. Christina and Alie shot my book cover and killed it — everything they shoot is magic, and I was so excited to see them again!

We started out on Hollywood Boulevard, the iconic street which is paved with stars devoted to the biggest and brightest in show business. Tourists kneel on the filthy pavement, weirdos in costume harass people for tips, and dozens of stores sell the same kitschy souvenirs.

Oh, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get photobombed by Mickey Mouse.

The only stars I got excited about were Walt Disney and Liberace. Pretty telling, really.

That is not forced enthusiasm. It is REAL! Liberace was insane, but he was a fucking boss.

We walked back up Hollywood Blvd towards Grauman’s Chinese Theatre .

Outside the theatre, celebrities press their hands, feet, cigars (Groucho Marx), etc. into the concrete to leave their mark. Almost all of the women who’ve done it have had teeny-tiny hands.

Diagonally opposite the Chinese Theatre is the Roosevelt Hotel which has so much history. Marilyn Monroe lived there for two years when her career was first taking off, and she had her first photoshoot there. The pool features a mural painted by David Hockney, and the hotel is (allegedly) super-haunted. Ooooooooooh la la.

I love this stained glass window at the top of the stairs.

After our quick trip the Roosevelt Hotel, we jumped in Christina’s yellow Volkswagen and drove to Beverly Hills. Such a good sign… In my dreams, all burglars wear a trenchcoat with the collar flipped, an eye-mask, and an extremely conspicuous hat.

Beverly Hills is just as beautiful as you’d imagine. Lush manicured grass and greenery (even in the midst of the drought), palm trees as far as the eye can see, and ornate gates for days.

And impeccable roses which I couldn’t resist getting up close and personal with. (Flower pervert, all day, every day.)

Just loungin’ on someone’s lawn like it’s my own.

The moral of the story is this: take a chance and embrace adventure, and if a cute boy invites you on a cross-country trip, you should definitely say YES.

Quote in the title is by Kurt Vonnegut. Photos by Made U Look Photography . Dress by Betsey Johnson , hat by Creep Street , boots by Dr Martens , heart necklace from my upcoming collection!

COMMENTS

"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
A Kurt Vonnegut quote on travel suggestions from God. Quote of the Day: "Unexpected travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God" - Kurt Vonnegut Photo: by bambe1964, CC license on Flickr ...
"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."--Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Tonight I was wearing one of my strangest T-shirts. For decades I have been known for my wide variety of T-shirts ...
Quote: "Travelling suggestions from strangers are postcards from god
Best answer: Agreeing with, and piggybacking onto, nebulawindphone's answer: Vonnegut has the line — "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God" — come through the in-story writings of the religious figurehead in Cat's Cradle, Bokonon. And as Wikiquote says, "Despite having a definite source, this particular line is misquoted on the Internet in many ways, with ...
15 things Kurt Vonnegut said better than anyone else ever has or will
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God." In Cat's Cradle , the narrator haplessly stumbles across the cynical, cultish figure Bokonon, who populates his religious writings ...
Strange Travel Suggestions
"STRANGE TRAVEL SUGGESTIONS," Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once wrote, "are dancing lessons from God." Indeed, it's those sudden inspirations and unpredictable encounters that make world travel so wild and illuminating. Gregarious Oakland-based writer and globe-trotting adventurer Jeff Greenwald, ...
Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God
Unusual travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. - Kurt Vonnegut quotes at AZquotes.com
Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God
But, then, I recalled one of my favorite writer's quotes: 'Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God.' (Kurt Vonnegut) That quote stayed with me, haunted me even. And when I returned from a back-packing trip to Ireland, I sent in my application.
Seeking out peculiar travel suggestions
Many travelers love quoting (or misquoting) Kurt Vonnegut's line about how peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God. In a way, the urge to arrive at an unusual destination or to embark on an unlikely journey is similar to dancing lessons.
Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons From God
Kurt Vonnegut quote: Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons From God. Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons From God. Authors. Topics. Lists. Pictures. Resources. Kurt Vonnegut Quote. Source; Report... Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons From God. Kurt Vonnegut. Cat's Cradle (1963)
Author Jeff Greenwald Says Yes To All The Universe's Wild Suggestions
Jeff Greenwald, a respected travel writer, lives by one line from Kurt Vonnegut's book, "Cat's Cradle." "Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from god." Greenwald has published hundreds of travel articles and five books. He's interviewed greats from the Dalai Lama to Paul Bowles and visited 73 countries.
Cat's Cradle
Its melody was "Home on the Range." The words had been written in 1922 by Lionel Boyd Johnson, by Bokonon. The words were these: "Oh, ours is a land / Where the living is grand, / And the men are fearless as sharks; / The women are pure, / And we always are sure / That our children will all toe their marks.
Peculiar Travel Suggestions, Dancing from God
"Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God." A Kurt Vonnegut quote that has been my guiding light since I was young and inspires me to this day.
Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God
The quote by Wampeters Foma and Granfalloons, "peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God", captures the profound and transformative nature of unconventional travel experiences. By referring to these suggestions as dancing lessons from God, the quote suggests that venturing into unfamiliar territories and embracing peculiar travel suggestions can enable personal growth, spiritual ...
Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God
But, then, I recalled one of my favorite writer's quotes:"Peculiar Travel Suggestions are Dancing Lessons from God." (Kurt Vonnegut) That quote stayed with me, haunted me even. And when I returned from a back-packing trip to Ireland, I sent in my application.
Alex Galitsky
"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God"--Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. "Travel hasn't satisfied an appetite. It has created one"--Alby Mangels ... Travel is my passion. I absolutely love visiting new places, meeting different people, and learning new things. I have a big wall world map hanging over my workdesk as a constant reminder ...
Moving Pictures
"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God" Moving Pictures "Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God" ... for volunteer help." In return for the help, the host provides accommodations and food. Its a really great way to travel on the cheap. Where I am now, if I could spend absolutely no money to live here if ...
Starfish by Eleanor Lerman • Read A Little Poetry
Starfish by Eleanor Lerman. 1. I don't know anything. I am but a tiny speck in the universe who dared to make plans because I thought I needed to. 2. Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God, says Vonnegut. Today it felt more like jousting though. 3.
"Unexpected Travel Plans Are Dancing Lessons From God"
We'd only been on two dates, but one of them had lasted 19 hours. Now he was sitting in my living room, flicking through my book, reading passages of it aloud to me while I blushed uncontrollably. Earlier in the week he'd mentioned that he was going to L.A., so I asked him how long he was going for. "A week," he replied.