The World According to Abufares of Tartous

I wonder but without conviction if a truly happy person can be creative. I am on an extended vacation, the longer I've taken in years but it's not just that. For over a month I've been swimming in a care-free state of heart and mind. The time I'm spending in front of my PC screen is not significantly less than usual. However, I'm too upbeat to write except to myself and only my very private thoughts. Vacationing is partly responsible for my overall elation no doubt but this is not to be confused with roaming like a mindless tourist among the crowd. I've been slacking alone mostly, blending effortlessly with my environment, living my days to the fullest from sunrise to sunset, rising with the birds, strolling in the woods, riding my motorcycle on country roads, skimming the top of fluffy clouds, enjoying the company of old friends, seeing my own reflection in the eyes of the most beautiful of women then falling asleep with the advent of night. I've be

Son: You keep reading all the time, don’t you get bored? Father: Oh no. Never! There’s no pleasure more immense than reading. Son: Well I agree that it’s educational but aren't the Internet and television more entertaining and efficient? Father: I’m in love with the written word. I enjoy a visually tantalizing website and I appreciate a well-produced movie but nothing touches me the way an eloquent sentence can. Son: OK, why don’t you tell me something you’ve read a long time ago. Something that stuck in your mind and touched you. Father: Um, any topic in particular? Son: Not really. A story that made you think hard when you first read it and still intrigues you now. Father: Let me think. Well OK! You know what anthropology is? Son: The study of people I suppose. Come on tell me. Father: American anthropologist Margaret Mead (1901-1978) is perhaps the most renowned social scientist  of all times. Her research on sexuality in South Pacific and Southeast Asian traditional cu