A lot of people have asked me what taomonkey means. Here is an explanation of why I chose this as my domain name.

Firstly, I have always been fascinated by eastern philosophy. The simplicity and yet profound aspect of explaining life and all its complexities in the most understandable minimal way has always been something I have been drawn to. I took a Chinese culture class in college and when the topic of Taoism came up, I was interested immediately. I bought a copy of the Tao Te Ching for my last cross country trip in autumn of 1996 and found it very enlightening.

So why monkey? Monkeys are cool. My niece nicknamed me “Uncle Monkey”. Mostly because of my “oo oo AHH!” monkey call. Also, because I would climb on the swing set with her and act crazy.
In the Chinese classic, “Journey to the West”, the Monkey King, Sūn Wùkōng, was a main character. A trickster-hero of sorts. But he also had a simple wisdom. He manages to bring out the lighter side of the dangerous journey.
The monkey has been a symbol of the fool and trickster in many cultures. However, it is the fool that points out the obvious and questions why things are a certain way when no one else dares to ask. It is always important to keep a sense of humor when things are too dark.

And finally, the real reason I chose taomonkey for a domain… it was available.