seraphimarts's Xanga

Wow...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:59:39 GMT

I am still really quite over-scheduled. The demands of all aspects of my life seem to keep invading each other. If one ever read the Dune series, I sort of assume this is what Alia must have (in some tiny fraction) felt like as she slowly slipped into abomination... all of these demands, competing for limited resources (i.e., my time), and getting cranky at each other....

Oh well.

Pupusas and margaritas are in order for tonight!

A month has flown by....

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:25:12 GMT

I've been shocked at how I've been so busy that I haven't had a moment to blog or play on facebook or any ot the other past-times of which I was historically so fond.

Anyway, where are things. Well I had two incredibly stressful weeks. I've one again become a bit over-committed to various things. I did have the good fortune, however, to just leave town this weekend. We went up to Rehoboth Beach, and it was just simply great to get out of the city for a day or two and to just unwind a bit. It's now back to the grindstone again, but I feel like I was able to build up some small amount of emotional reserve... a very good thing as I was clearly totally spent.

How to contextualize how spent I was... hrm... well the best/worst story involved sitting around with about 40-50 other people from the Parish in the undercroft, having a group discussion about sometime, to which I throw in my two cents, someone takes my idea and runs with it, whereupon I just started crying.... Not too loudly, mind you, but it just wouldn't stop... so for the next hour, while everyone is talking, I'm sitting there, a total wreck. This delightful old lady walked up to me and patted me on the back during it and gave me cocktail napkins to to help get me through it. It really was pretty funny, particularly considering how tolerant I am of weakness, in myself and others.

Oh well...

Lots of politics going on these days. It'll be interesting to see where things work out. I'm actually serving as Treasurer for one of the D.C. City Council campaigns. It's kind of bemusing to see my name up on signs and such... I might end up going to the National Convention this year. I don't know. I don't really have the time to take off for it, but we'll see.

Still haven't had a housewarming party yet. I think we need at least 3 more pieces of furniture (2 club chairs and a small loveseat/bench for the bay window) before it's ready for an event. Hopefully, however, it'll happen soon rather than later. Actually, we might end up having a political fundraiser/housewarming party. That way no one has to feel like they have to give us stuff that we wouldn't know what to do with anyway....

Anyway... my cellphone number has changed. If you didn't get the update, just shoot me a message for it. Give me a call somtime; I could probably use a friendly voice.

Love and miss all y'all.

Who would have thought...

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:10:57 GMT

... that finding an elegant, lockable wall mount mailbox would be so difficult. I need something with lines (overall architectural design) that work with my Federal style house... and I want something that isn't ubiquitous, but there only seems to be a finite number of designs out there that would work, and everyone in my neighborhood seems to have them already....

Heh

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:44:47 GMT

"Look, it's terrible, I know, but weakness really, really bugs me, to the point that if there is a wounded bird on the sidewalk, I look at it and I go: I think I'll just kick it."

- Jodie Foster tells Britain's Daily Mail

Hrm... I love quizlets...

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:06:10 GMT

http://www.upperroom.org/methodx/thelife/test.asp

You are a Sage, characterized by a thinking or head spirituality. You value responsibility, logic, and order. Maybe that's why you were voted "Most Dependable" by your high school classmates. Structure and organization are important to you. What would the world be like without you? Chaos, that's what! Your favorite words include should, ought, and be prepared. What makes you feel warm and fuzzy? Like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof it's tradition! tradition! tradition!
Because you love words, written or spoken, you enjoy a good lecture, serious discussions, and theological reflection. Prayer for you usually is verbal. You thrive on activity and gatherings of people, such as study groups. Sages on retreat likely would fill every day with planned activities, leaving little time for silence or solitude.

We need Sages for your clear thinking and orderly ways. You pay attention to details that others overlook. Sages make contributions to education, publishing, and theology. You often are the ones who feel a duty to serve, give, care, and share with the rest of us.

On the other hand, sometimes you seem unfeeling, too intellectual, or dry. Can you say "dogmatic"? You may need to experience the freedom of breaking a rule or two every now and then. God's grace covers Sages too, you know!

Famous Sages:

Mr. Spock | Dilbert | Elrond
Dietrich Bonhoeffer | Maya Angelou | Linus (Peanuts)
Yoda (Star Wars) | Andy Griffith | Mr. Miyagi
The Buddha | Rodin's The Thinker | Moses
Ross Geller | Matthew (the Gospel writer) | Tiger Woods

Saints who were Sages:

• Ann Eliza Worchester Robertson
• Anne Sullivan
• Anselm
• Anthony of Padua
• Antoinette Brown Blackwell
• Athanasius
• Bede
• Bernadino of Siena
• Bernard of Clairvaux
• Boniface
• C.S. Lewis
• Chundra Lela
• Columba
• David of Wales
• Dominic
• Donald M. Baillie
• Elizabeth Lange
• Emily Balch
• Hilda of Whitby
• Irenaeus
• Jerome
• John Baptist de la Salle
• John Knox
• John of Avila
• John Wesley
• Justin
• Leoba
• Macrina the Elder
• Mary Mazzarello
• Matthew
• Melania the Younger
• Narcissa Whitman
• Pandita Ramabai
• Paul
• Peter Casinius
• Prudence Crandall
• Rabanus Maurus
• Simeon Stylites
• Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz
• Thomas
• Thomas Aquinas

Wow...

Tue, 27 May 2008 17:47:19 GMT

So I step away from the computer for five days, and so much has changed in some of y'all's lives. Hope everyone had a good Memorial Day. I'm off to Toronto this coming weekend for a wedding. Maybe some fun pictures will get posted later then.

Cheers!

Sigh... I wish more people had rudimentary understandings of economics

Thu, 22 May 2008 11:02:44 GMT

The Economy, Not Tax Rates, Drives Tax Revenues; Revenues = 19.5% of GDP, Whether Rates Are 28%-91%

You Can't Soak the Rich (Wall Street Journal op-ed), by David Ranson:

Kurt Hauser is a San Francisco investment economist who, 15 years ago, published fresh and eye-opening data about the federal tax system. His findings imply that there are draconian constraints on the ability of tax-rate increases to generate fresh revenues. I think his discovery deserves to be called Hauser's Law, because it is as central to the economics of taxation as Boyle's Law is to the physics of gases. Yet economists and policy makers are barely aware of it. ...
On this page in 1993, he stated that "No matter what the tax rates have been, in postwar America tax revenues have remained at about 19.5% of GDP." What a pity that his discovery has not been more widely disseminated.
The chart nearby, updating the evidence to 2007, confirms Hauser's Law. The federal tax "yield" (revenues divided by GDP) has remained close to 19.5%, even as the top tax bracket was brought down from 91% to the present 35%. This is what scientists call an "independence theorem," and it cuts the Gordian Knot of tax policy debate.
The data show that the tax yield has been independent of marginal tax rates over this period, but tax revenue is directly proportional to GDP. So if we want to increase tax revenue, we need to increase GDP.
What happens if we instead raise tax rates? Economists of all persuasions accept that a tax rate hike will reduce GDP, in which case Hauser's Law says it will also lower tax revenue. That's a highly inconvenient truth for redistributive tax policy, and it flies in the face of deeply felt beliefs about social justice. It would surely be unpopular today with those presidential candidates who plan to raise tax rates on the rich – if they knew about it.

Oh Bulltwaddle...

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:19:59 GMT

"We welcome your comments and feedback. However, please remember any message or other communication sent to Walgreen Co. becomes the exclusive intellectual property of Walgreen Co. and does not entitle the author to any form of compensation"

Pshaw that emailing them in any way ceeds my own copyright to work.

Elektra Tonight...

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:05:29 GMT

Should be good times and a nice break from working on the house, life, etc...

I'd forgotten it was only one act, but it makes sense as dragging the action out any further would be more painful than some of the drawn out scenes in Rigoletto that were probably interesting in the uncensored original.

A few photos from the weekend...

Mon, 12 May 2008 09:33:05 GMT

Despite all the unprecedented rain, there were some really quite lovely moments this weekend...

Feast of Pentecost with Rt. Rev. Montgomery (IX Bishop of Chicago (Ret.)).

New House. Considering all the humidity, one would have thought my
suit wouldn't be so wrinkly. Just serves as a reminder, "Posture. Shoulders
back or your suit will gather wierdly!"

And then it got COLD and rainy, so we stoked the fire.