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| The Finer ThingsFirst I don't know what TJ is talking about, we agree about near everything, he just likes putting stuff in stupid ways to try to confuse me. Exactly!
1. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Who doesn't want to read a book once banned in America!?! So, it's supposed to be lewd and obscene, it's also hailed as a wonderfully written book. Who knows it might have some redeeming quality. It's rated as the 50th greatest book of the 20th century by the Modern Library. Plus I want to see what George and Jerry were so worked up about.
2. Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley
I've always meant to read A Brave New World but never got around to it, and I'm guessing other in the group have read it. So Here is Huxley's somewhat lesser read novel which I'm hoping no one has read yet. "His characters decry the dangers of sacrificing humanity for intellectualism". Sounds like an interesting topic.
3. Descent Into Hell by Charles Williams
I read another of William's novels when I was taking a class that introduced me to his work. It was enjoyable and thought provoking, though I wish I had someone to discuss it with at the time. This is supposed to be his best novel, described as a "theological-thriller". Comon, it's got a succubus in it!
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| Legislate This! Most self described Christians still don't believe in self
government; or at least think it's easier to let government do it for
them. Also most believe it's the FEDERAL
governments job to enforce Christian law, which is a terrible idea. My
opposition to this idea (which I believe is consistent with the
constitution and the founding father's opinion) is that this is the
opposite of what the federal government is supposed to do. It's not
supposed to dictate to us what marriage is, what is good or bad to put
in our body, or even when life starts (unless in an amendment to the
constitution).
Some Christians would probably even favor federal legislation
banning bad music lyrics or blasphemy. I myself at first supported the
war in Iraq because I agreed with the motives and proposed outcome of the war:
killing murdering Muslims and removing an evil man from power. It took
time for me to look past my personal desires and look at the war from
the perspective of what our military was created for... defense. As
much as Saddam deserved to die, and as good as democracy would be in
Iraq, he was not a threat to us, and we should mind our own business
and try to convince people to be like us through diplomacy and by
leading a good and successful example.
This plan of attack should sound familiar... it's the Christian way
of apologetics. We don't want to become like Constantine and force
others to be like us. It doesn't work and it makes it harder to tell
who our true allies are.
The constitution gets name dropped a lot, but few understand how it
is supposed to be used. The bill of rights was almost never put into
the constitution because many founding fathers thought there was no
reason. The constitution already stated everything the federal
government was to have jurisdiction over (that being very little), so
why bother stating congress can't do something when it already wasn't
given that power in any of the articles. Further, why enumerate
certain rights when people already had these rights. But the addition
of the bill of rights made the 9th amendment necessary. "The
enumeration in the Constitution,
of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others
retained
by the people." Since the constitution didn't take any rights away
from the people, the 9th amendment basically is just saying, "we
highlighted some rather important rights that everyone already had".
The Constitution only establishes how the federal government is
supposed to work and how the states relate to one another. It was
never intended to legislate the rights of the people, this matter was
left to the states. Let's remember that meaning of the word "state" in
1791 was "nation". What the constitution originally meant is long
gone, and I fear we won't ever see it's original intent in action
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| "The Parents" - The last place you want to go where they have to take you in.That makes it sound worse than it is since it's also the first place I'd want to go where they have to take me in. I feel young again living in the garage and running across our back patio in my underwear every morning. Not a lot has changed there except I now have ten times more stuff and have to find a place for everything. My awesome furniture is in storage, I hope I get to take it out soon. I'm thinking maybe three months, but that is most likely a fleeting hope. We will see. Two and a half years have passed since that special day that I spent in a house I could call my own, kind of. It was a great time with a lot of great parties. It was all of my friends that made them so memorable. So get ready... just because I've moved home doesn't mean the parties are over, it just means they are sponsored. Once I get settled in I'm having a BBQ/poker/Spa party... thats right playing poker and eating ribs in the spa! So stay tuned, and you will be hearing from me. always an optimist: http://xkcd.com/314/ | | |
| Fun reading. I've only recently come to the realization of how important my grandfather was in his field of expertise, and what kind of impact he has had on the world. I'm hoping to have his research materials archived at DWR, otherwise I have a feeling I will end up with it forever, which may not be a bad thing. btw work is great, school is over for now, and life is looking up =)
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| ENGLISH IS BETTER THAN ANGLO, WHO KNEW?After a few years of on and off again trying to learn to play this Anglo concertina the frustration is killing the idea of ever actually knowing a few old jigs to play around a camp fire. After a tid-bit o' research apparently I purchased the wrong kind of concertina, and should have gone with an English which is not only chromatic, but has the same notes when you push in as when you pull out, making it many times simpler. At least after all this time I can play one song.
It's spring break, and my job hasn't started yet which leaves me very little I actually need to do. So I decided to spend most of my time preparing for this philosophy essay of which I haven't received the actual assignment yet, but I have a good idea what it will be about. One possibility for this paper is to write in the form of a myth. What better way to write about philosophy of mythical literature then to write a mythical story myself. I know my teacher would get a kick out of it.
We are all very used to reading books or seeing movies set in medieval times and have no problem with magic and talking creatures being a part of this world. I just started reading Charles Williams' Place of the Lion and he has stepped it up a chronological notch to the early 20th century: Plato's noumenal world colliding with our own could best be described as "magic" when it's represented with lions, butterflies and crowned snakes. The last movie I remember set in modern times that collided with a magical realm was probably "The Never Ending Story", which I'm sure almost everyone reading this loved in their youth. This just goes to show a story of a futuristic world of tomorrow clashing with Middle Earth, Narnia, or Malacandria needs to be written. Kevin charged me with 10 pages by 8 a.m. this morning. I already failed that deadline, but perhaps if I concentrate it wouldn't be impossible to produce it by the end of spring break. It's time to do something worthwhile, so until I can afford that English Concertina, writing may have to do.
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