elliottwrites's Xanga

"The Mini-Epic"

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:35:23 GMT

Jason Jaggard shared this idea with me indirectly: the "Mini-Epic." Basically you are supposed to tell an entire story in fifty words. He calls it a "haiku on crack." I think I have to say that you aren't just supposed to abbreviate a story; epics are (and I just learned this in class last week, haha) supposed to be cultural maps, expressing something of a belief system, explaining a culture's values (and maybe acting as their origin), as well as having a detail-oriented, digressive story structure. That's gonna be difficult to fit into 50 words, isn't it?

Here's one I wrote five seconds ago. It's the mini-epic version of an old favourite. Find out which after the jump.

Released from an unjustly appropriated guilt, I’m free to pursue my destiny; meet God. But will my past follow me? Dead woman, her orphaned child – redemption…

The fury of the poor reaches a fever pitch. Love for some, death for others. Will tomorrow come? Or will this dream fade?

More Here...

Ignorant Pro-Life Rhetoric is Destroying our Country

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:23:01 GMT

When I walk to lunch from work every day, I pass by a car with a bumper sticker that says, "You can't be Catholic and Pro-abortion." This "protect our family values, us vs. them, we're in a culture-war," arrogant, neo-conservative, largely B.S. rhetoric bothers me to no end.

Really, abortion should not even be a political issue because the government has no right to legislate regarding it, and it doesn't even affect 90% of the people that are up in arms about it. But because it somehow is a political issue, I'll say this:

First, nobody is “pro-abortion.” That bumper sticker is as logical as saying "You can't be Catholic and pro-sexual abuse of altar boys." Well, yeah. Does anyone really argue that what our country needs is more abortions? What the bumper sticker is really saying is, “I don’t consider you a good Catholic unless you subscribe to my political ideology.” What I’m getting at is that the religious right has co-opted a personal issue and turned it into a religio-political doctrine. Keep in mind there’s no such thing as someone who is “pro-life” who doesn’t think that the government should make abortion illegal. If you think you are, then you’re actually "pro-choice." Think about it.

Just to make sure, I’m going to reiterate: if I were consulted, I would recommend adoption or foster care over abortion 100% of the time. Abortion is, of course, bad. Almost all “pro-choice” (again, not pro-abortion) advocates understand this. "Accidental pregnancy" should not be part of our vocabulary. It's obvious that in an ideal world abortion would be non-existent - but not because it's outlawed, because everyone who is pregnant is because they want and are ready to be. I'm only getting upset about this because it's the same kind of people who have these bumper stickers that argue that abortion should even be illegal for those who are pregnant as the result of a rape. Are you serious? Chillingly, there are more of these people than you think, and apparently they have a lot of sway with our government.

More Here...

"Observations"

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:13:19 GMT

As per the requirements of Pepperdine's internship program, I'm required to write a few lines every day about my internship and my observations and growth and everything. I don't think I'm capable of writing just a few lines, but I'm also not able to write every day. I suppose I'll write in here every couple days and then just separate the entries into chunks palatable for the director.

I met my internship coordinator and toured the facilities of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission on Friday. I was surprised; for some reason I expected an office building in the city. Instead, I found a house in a little run-down neighbourhood with GHRC painted at the bottom of the mailbox. I entered and found another surprise; I don't know who I was expecting but Amanda Martin wasn't it. I think I just don't know what Guatemalans look like. She was blonde, and lighter skinned than I am. I don't know. We talked a little bit and she showed me the different rooms and desks - one for each employee, and one for each intern. That's right - two employees and two interns. Right!

Afterward she lent me a book which I began reading on the metro home - it's called "Silence on the Mountain," and it's so far a well-written creative history of a man exploring the history of Guatemala, its venture into democracy and the Agrarian Reform of 1952(?), both of which were struck down by the CIA and replaced with a military dictatorship more useful for the USA's economic interests.

Anyway, I feel as though I'm going to be learning a lot more about what the heck's gone down in Guatemala and what's going on currently. I really feel like this semester is going to be one of the most amazing learning experiences of my college career. I'm going to learn what it's like to work full-time (mostly), I'm going to learn what it's like to work in a non-profit (a super-small one, at that), directly under the executive director, I'm going to learn how to juggle classes, work, and a second job, which includes learning how to wait tables, which includes learning a ton about alcohol, which is interesting, and that's not even including how much I'm going to be learning in my classes, which are pretty much two students and a professor. Also, with this Wednesday morning briefing thing, I'm going to be learning so much about politics and international issues than I probably have ever cared to (at least politics). I'm also, probably most poignantly, going to learn what it's like to be across the country from a girl I feel incredibly strongly about and hope to marry some day (Wait! Don't say that! Whatever).

More Here...

"Updates"

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:59:37 GMT

I really don't like when people call their posts "updates," especially when they type a post: "This is an update." And that's it. Silly. But that's really what this is; I don't have time for a post or anything (or I don't have the energy) and this is why:

Places I've lived in 2008

Malibu, CA (January - April)
Cupertino, CA (April - May)
Asenemaso, Ghana, Western Africa (May - June)
Phoenix, AZ (July)
Cupertino, CA (August)
Arlington, VA (Currently, until December)

Lots of moving and travel. Craziness. I'm currently in Arlington for Pepperdine's Washington, DC Internship Program; it is freaking amazing! It's hot here now, but it is so gorgeous. I had to go to IKEA today to get some spare hardware for a desk I bought on craigslist, and I passed through the University of Maryland campus–that is a real college. Or, that is a good college (inside joke alert!) Wow, it was so beautiful. I have to go to grad school over here, if I go to grad school. I'm still figuring out my internship, it's either with the Guatemala Human Rights Commission or the Polaris Project–I'm hoping for Polaris, but they haven't confirmed whether I'm accepted yet.

I bought a bike yesterday, and have been riding it and, oh, how I love it. It feels so romantic or something. I'm hoping to save on Metro fare, which is quite expensive! But you can take your bike on the Metro anyway, so that's helpful, though I think I can't do that during rush hour which is kind of when I'll need it anyway. So hopefully I can just bike to work, I don't think it's too far. Last night I got lost trying to ride the 12 or so miles from where I bought the bike back to my apartment, but I missed a turn and got lost and ended up taking the Metro back after riding aimlessly around downtown Arlington for a while. Today on the bike, on my way to IKEA, I bailed in the middle of the street and luckily didn't get hurt (though a car had to scramble not to hit me). Isn't that always the fear? I'm going to be so cautious riding it now. DC isn't great on bike lanes or anything yet; I saw a sign that said "Share the Road" but there were no bike lanes anywhere. Am I supposed to ride in the middle of the street? My bike is beautiful though, I'll hopefully have a picture soon.

More Here...

Misunderstanding

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:59:02 GMT

If I've gotten anything out of Anna Karenina so far, it's a novel about misunderstandings. Falsely attributing meaning to body language, assumptions regarding ambiguous statements, misplaced usage of the cooperative principle, plain not understanding what another has said, etc–and it's usually between lovers.

And I wonder how often this happens. I mean, it's easy to wax philosophical about the inaccuracies and inadequacies of language and to quote Nietzsche or something, like, about how words can never fully translate meaning or something by their very nature. But I mean like, practically, how many times in a day do I say something and am misunderstood? Probably quite often.That begs the question, how important is it to be entirely understood? In normal, everyday interlocution, not too much, but in Anna Karenina, the misunderstandings always seem to happen between lovers.

I would think that if not in most circumstances, definitely in a conversation with one's lover, being understood is very important. I don't mean being right, mind you, or like, in an argument, having your side understood. What I mean is, if you say, and I'll take this example from the book, "I want to go with you to see your sick brother on his deathbed," you want your husband to understand that you want to go because it's important to him and because his brother is now part of your family, not because you are bored when he's not around the house and you're looking for a diversion. An important disinction, I would say. What I'm also noticing so far is that much fo the misunderstanding stems from of some kind of subsconsious, self-serving non-disclosure.

God, this post sounds so, uh... sesquipedalian? Haha, that means prone to the overuse of long words! And it's a long word!? Get it? I don't want to link quantz again, but I've literally spent hours poring over the over 1,000 brilliant comics in their archives over the last couple days, and the influence is apparent. This word is from there.

Read on...

Friday, July 25, 2008

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:47:46 GMT

I think this comic is funny!

But it raises an interesting "would you rather?" : spend eternity with the woman with whom you've been married, say, 40 years, and have come to love, or with your "soul mate," who you have never met but who is, well, your soul mate?

PS) Change the genders if you have to.

What steps can average people take to live a "greener" life? Do you have any tips to share?

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:45:00 GMT

Whenever I think of environmentalism, I remember two important maxims: Don't bite the hand that feeds you, and Don't shit where you eat. Because the Earth is both the hand that feeds us and where we eat, environmentalism is simply a lifestyle that attempts to take these maxims to heart. Now, because we aren't always buying cars or changing the light bulbs in our houses, the media attention focused on hybrid vehicles and fluorescent lighting doesn't influence a lifestyles change. Instead of feeling helpless, here are some other ways that you can do your part to love on Mother Earth.

1. Carpool or walk! The next time that you have to go to the store, or to town, or wherever, call a few friends and see if anyone else needs to go as well. Chances are, they do! Every time you carpool instead of driving alone, you cut in half the amount of gas that would be spent if you had each gone separately. Similarly, if it's a nice day, then just grab a friend and walk wherever you're going. If it's too far, it's too far, but there will always be excuses. Human beings are supposed to have 30 minutes of exercise a day anyways. Kill two birds with one stone! You need the exercise, and the Earth will thank you.

2. Don't wash your clothes so often. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to wash t-shirts or pairs of jeans every time you wear them, and wearing clothes a second time is not "gross" or unsanitary (you should probably still wash your underwear after each usage, however). Unless you stained your pants or sweat profusely onto your shirt, it's probably not dirty enough to need washing. Washing machines use approximately 10 gallons of water per load. If you simply folded your shirt or pants and wore them again, once, before washing them, you would cut your washing machine usage almost in half. Not only would this save hundreds of gallons of water in the long run, it would save you tons of money on washing clothes. It's win-win!

Read the rest after the jump.

"Spending, Simplicity, & Spontaneity"

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:58:16 GMT

On Saturday I went to the Cupertino Flea Market (Every 1st Saturday of the Month in the DeAnza college parking lot!) for the first time in years. I found out why! No, just kidding, but it's not somewhere I'll go again, probably, and here is why: It's been brewing in me for a while, but going to Ghana, I think, really cemented it: I can't any longer rationalize spending money on needless things. Crazy, right?

The purpose for my going (for some reason) was to find a receiver and some speakers because I have a turntable and a couple albums but I don't have the required electronics to make them work. So I was walking around and actually, maybe I will keep going to the flea market, for used books, at least, because I found a Steinbeck anthology and I'd lost my copy of East of Eden and it's nice to have a copy, and it was only $2.00 so that was cool. But I found this lady with a nice turntable and it reminded me why I was there, and she had a bunch of good Beatles records and stuff, but she didn't have a receiver. And this other guy there said that some other dude on the other side of the flea market was selling like a whole set. And I went and found him, and he was!

Read the rest after the jump.

"2008 Reading List"

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:50:17 GMT

[/] Beloved by Toni Morrison
[x] Sula by Toni Morrison
[x] Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
[x] The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
[x] The Brothers Karamosov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
[x] Martin Luther by Martin Marty
[x] Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
[x] Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
[x] Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel
[/] Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
[x] The Wind-up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami
[ ] Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
[x] Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
[x] Brunelleschi’s Dome by Ross King
[ ] The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
[ ] I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
[x] The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner
[x] Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
[x] How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
[x] Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
[ ] The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
[ ] Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
[x] Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne
[x] Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
[x] Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
[x] The Tipping Point by William Faulkner
[x] 1984 by George Orwell
[x] Three Cups of Tea by William Faulkner
[x] The Prophet by Khalil Ghebran
[x] The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus
[x] Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus
[x] Traveling Mercies by Anne Lammot
[x] Congo by Michael Crichton
[ ] Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
[ ] The Lost World by Michael Crichton
[ ] The Stand by Stephen King
[x] Under the Overpass by Mike Yankowski
[/] Anam Cara by John O' Donohue
[ ] The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Any suggestions?

"Out of Africa"

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:39:27 GMT

I'm back. I think the most startling thing is how easy it has been to transition back to American life... I sort of hoped I'd have culture shock, that I'd adjusted to the African simplicity or whatever or to taking cold showers or just something. No dice. I do have to say that when I looked in my closet I was appalled at how many (how much?) clothes I still have. Another purge is coming, I suppose.

I decided what my summer project will be, and I'll share it with you, my faithful readers. I'm going to resurrect the never-really-alive ghanareads.wordpress.com and actually do an entry for every single day I was in Ghana. That's about 40 days. We'll see if I stick to it this time...

More to say, but I'm busy.

Grace & Peace,
Elliott