Saturday, August 18, 2007
Jeff Johnston's E-mail?
Do any St. John's people read this blog? Does anyone know how to get in touch with Jeff Johnston?
A Little Bit of Crazy Courtesy of the Talking Heads!
I see the clouds that move across the sky.
I see the wind that moves the clouds away.
It moves the clouds over by the building.
I pick the building that I want to live in.
I smell the pine trees and the peaches in the woods.
I see the pinecones that fall by the highway.
That's the highway that goes to the building.
I pick the building that I want to live in.
Its over there, its over there.
My building has every convenience.
It's gonna make life easy for me.
It's gonna be easy to get things done.
I will relax alone with my loved ones.
Loved ones, loved ones visit the building!
Take the highway, park and come up and see me.
I'll be working, working but if you come visit
I'll put down what I'm doing. My friends are important.
Don't you worry bout me. I wouldn't worry about me.
I see the states, across this big nation
I see the laws made in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones I consider my favorites.
I think of the people that are working for me.
Some civil servants are just like my loved ones.
They work so hard and they try to be strong.
I'm a lucky guy to live in my building.
They own the buildings to help them along.
Its over there, its over there!
My building has every convenience!
-The Talking Heads
I see the wind that moves the clouds away.
It moves the clouds over by the building.
I pick the building that I want to live in.
I smell the pine trees and the peaches in the woods.
I see the pinecones that fall by the highway.
That's the highway that goes to the building.
I pick the building that I want to live in.
Its over there, its over there.
My building has every convenience.
It's gonna make life easy for me.
It's gonna be easy to get things done.
I will relax alone with my loved ones.
Loved ones, loved ones visit the building!
Take the highway, park and come up and see me.
I'll be working, working but if you come visit
I'll put down what I'm doing. My friends are important.
Don't you worry bout me. I wouldn't worry about me.
I see the states, across this big nation
I see the laws made in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones I consider my favorites.
I think of the people that are working for me.
Some civil servants are just like my loved ones.
They work so hard and they try to be strong.
I'm a lucky guy to live in my building.
They own the buildings to help them along.
Its over there, its over there!
My building has every convenience!
-The Talking Heads
Buds!!!
Me, Sayra and P-funk. My beard is a little out of control. I still don't know how to trim it to fit my face.
OWM, 28, Shirtless, No Pets, Seeks Sincere Atheist!
Orthodox White Male (late 20's) seeking sincere atheist of any age to drive him to church, witness services, and argue for at least two hours afterwards. I will buy the coffee/other cheap menu item. Mere materialists need not apply, because they have no good arguments and I will refute them on the first meeting. I repeat: understanding physics does not make you an atheist! My ideal match would be well versed enough in the works of Plato to correct my errors regarding the nature of Christ without resorting to un-intuitive appeals to dogmatic statements or liturgical snippets. I will settle for an Aristotelian, as long as he provides me with a typed, double-spaced glossary of terms. Must be willing to receive blessed bread!
Stop Picking on Blogging!
"Though online publishing threatens to turn us all into self-celebrants in our own cults of idiom, I will still affirm that TO SPEAK is a religious act, in the highest sense of the word, and imitative of the very Primordial Act of God."
-An excerpt from the final post of the Scrivener.
Fair enough. To speak, and therefore, to blog is in keeping with a God-centered life. But, is this really so hard to believe? If an Orthodox friend were to tell us he is writing a book, we would nod our heads and wish him luck. Would we think, for a moment, that in so doing he is putting himself at greater risk of becoming a self-celebrant in his own cult of idiom? I don't think so. We might think he is overestimating his talents, and taking the risk of spreading his errors. But, if he is honest with his readers that he is not a priest, and if he makes his best efforts to be truthful and clear, then why shouldn't he write the book? We might even think it would be good for him, and for us, to get his errors out in the open where they can be refuted. If we should be worried about anything, shouldn't it be an unreflective way of living? It's not like deep errors just disappear without work on our part.
So, if we are okay with the cloistered self-reflective life of the author, why do we feel the need to worry about the open, sometimes contentious, life of blogging? Isn't the internet a great place for our individual errors to be exposed?
-An excerpt from the final post of the Scrivener.
Fair enough. To speak, and therefore, to blog is in keeping with a God-centered life. But, is this really so hard to believe? If an Orthodox friend were to tell us he is writing a book, we would nod our heads and wish him luck. Would we think, for a moment, that in so doing he is putting himself at greater risk of becoming a self-celebrant in his own cult of idiom? I don't think so. We might think he is overestimating his talents, and taking the risk of spreading his errors. But, if he is honest with his readers that he is not a priest, and if he makes his best efforts to be truthful and clear, then why shouldn't he write the book? We might even think it would be good for him, and for us, to get his errors out in the open where they can be refuted. If we should be worried about anything, shouldn't it be an unreflective way of living? It's not like deep errors just disappear without work on our part.
So, if we are okay with the cloistered self-reflective life of the author, why do we feel the need to worry about the open, sometimes contentious, life of blogging? Isn't the internet a great place for our individual errors to be exposed?
My Fantasy Quote!
"Your letter-perfect summation of my argument, coupled with your blindingly evident refutation of said argument, has not only won me over to your way of thinking, but has engendered in my newly-refashioned heart an irresistable attraction to you and your unique way of living; all of this despite your high-handed, brusque manner, your sloppy way of dressing, and your pungent body odor."
Why? What's your fantasy quote?
Why? What's your fantasy quote?
Meeow!!!: Fantasy Quote!
"Goodbye, you were the best thing that ever happened to this company and me and I will always remember your ability to create order out of chaos in a manner strangely reminiscent of God."
Awesome fantasy quote courtesy of Meow! Click on the Meow link at right for more awesomeness.
Awesome fantasy quote courtesy of Meow! Click on the Meow link at right for more awesomeness.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
5 Rules For Expelling Bats
(1) Do not assume the bat wants to get out.
There is a reason why he is in your house. Only he knows this reason. I assume it has something to do with catching bugs.
(2) Contain him in a room with a door, not merely a window, to the outside.
This is an important rule. The bat will resist your attempts to make him fly outside. You need an opening at least as big as a door. If you have french doors, you are ahead of the game.
(3) Keep him flying.
Bats can stick to walls. When he does this, wave your arms at him to get him flying. Eventually, you will have to poke him with a stick to dislodge him. After a while, he will submit to the poking and make a strange clicking noise. He has outsmarted you. He knows he is safe on the wall. In this case, skip to rule (4) subsection b.
(4) Make the bat think he is in a smaller space than he actually is.
(a) The best way to do this is to "become a wall". To do this, stand in the middle of the room and wave your arms at him when he flies near you. Do not be afraid to touch him. He is actually quite soft. Eventually, and this will take a surprisingly long time, the bat will decide to fly outside. Congratulations!
(b) If your bat will not dislodge, obtain a small garbage can or other receptacle and a piece of paper to cover the opening. By now he is tired from flying and smug from outsmarting you. It will not be hard to pop the can over him and slide the paper under the can. Run, do not walk, to the door and dump him on the lawn. If he escapes before you can get out of the house, go back to rule 4 subsection a.
(5) Do not be ashamed of wanting to kill the bat, especially if this is the 4th time in a month that you have had to deal with him.
There is a reason why he is in your house. Only he knows this reason. I assume it has something to do with catching bugs.
(2) Contain him in a room with a door, not merely a window, to the outside.
This is an important rule. The bat will resist your attempts to make him fly outside. You need an opening at least as big as a door. If you have french doors, you are ahead of the game.
(3) Keep him flying.
Bats can stick to walls. When he does this, wave your arms at him to get him flying. Eventually, you will have to poke him with a stick to dislodge him. After a while, he will submit to the poking and make a strange clicking noise. He has outsmarted you. He knows he is safe on the wall. In this case, skip to rule (4) subsection b.
(4) Make the bat think he is in a smaller space than he actually is.
(a) The best way to do this is to "become a wall". To do this, stand in the middle of the room and wave your arms at him when he flies near you. Do not be afraid to touch him. He is actually quite soft. Eventually, and this will take a surprisingly long time, the bat will decide to fly outside. Congratulations!
(b) If your bat will not dislodge, obtain a small garbage can or other receptacle and a piece of paper to cover the opening. By now he is tired from flying and smug from outsmarting you. It will not be hard to pop the can over him and slide the paper under the can. Run, do not walk, to the door and dump him on the lawn. If he escapes before you can get out of the house, go back to rule 4 subsection a.
(5) Do not be ashamed of wanting to kill the bat, especially if this is the 4th time in a month that you have had to deal with him.
Me, Big-D, and J-Dog! Swing it!
Me, Big-D, and J-dog. We are three totally swingin' bachelors, keepin' it real, and real dirty, at our pad in R-dale MN. We currently have two bats living in our house. We don't know where they go during the day, but at night they come out and fly around our living room and J-dog's room. You get used to it pretty quickly.
Yesterday we were talking about lady troubles; comparing notes and such. Big-D told us that he made the mistake of asking his ex-girlfriend whether she had ever met his Mom.
She responded, "Yes!", and walked off in a huff.
Big-D wracked his brain for when he had introduced the two. He finally remembered, which was good. But, he made the mistake of walking up to her and proudly proclaiming,
"I remember. It was at that concert in October of 2006."
Of course, she was not impressed.
I decided to lay out some bachelor wisdom for Big-D.
"Listen bro.", I said, "If you had really wanted to impress her, you should have remembered some little detail from that day like, say, what she was wearing. Then you could have said something like 'Man, you looked great in that blue dress.'"
Big-D nodded his head, mulled it over, and then hit me with some wisdom of his own.
"Or", he said, "I could have said: 'Gosh, you smelled lovely that day.'"
That's even better! Then you don't even have to remember what she was wearing. What woman would ask for specifics about her perfume? Kudos to you Big-D. The student has become the teacher!
Yesterday we were talking about lady troubles; comparing notes and such. Big-D told us that he made the mistake of asking his ex-girlfriend whether she had ever met his Mom.
She responded, "Yes!", and walked off in a huff.
Big-D wracked his brain for when he had introduced the two. He finally remembered, which was good. But, he made the mistake of walking up to her and proudly proclaiming,
"I remember. It was at that concert in October of 2006."
Of course, she was not impressed.
I decided to lay out some bachelor wisdom for Big-D.
"Listen bro.", I said, "If you had really wanted to impress her, you should have remembered some little detail from that day like, say, what she was wearing. Then you could have said something like 'Man, you looked great in that blue dress.'"
Big-D nodded his head, mulled it over, and then hit me with some wisdom of his own.
"Or", he said, "I could have said: 'Gosh, you smelled lovely that day.'"
That's even better! Then you don't even have to remember what she was wearing. What woman would ask for specifics about her perfume? Kudos to you Big-D. The student has become the teacher!
Worst Play Ever or Clever Use of Song Lyrics? You Decide!
[Joe pleads with his lover Susie on the couch at his apartment.]
Joe: We've got tonight. Who needs tomorrow? We've got tonight, babe. So why don't you stay?
[Susie stands up, grabs coat. Moves stage left.]
Susie: No. I'm never gonna dance again. Guilty feet have got no rhythm.
[Joe stands and moves stage left, puts arms around Susie]
Joe[tenderly]: Why do you build me up, buttercup, just to let me down?
Susie [tearing herself away]: I'm going to Graceland!
Joe [getting angry]: Private eyes are watching you! They see your every move!
Susie [pulling a gun]: Graceland!
Joe[hands in the air]: Relax! Don't do it!
Susie[inching out the door with the gun pointed at Joe]: Memphis, Tenessee!
Joe[scornfully]: I'll survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I'll be alive.
Susie[scornfully]: What's love got to do with it?
[Susie slams door.]
[Slow Curtain]
[The End]
Joe: We've got tonight. Who needs tomorrow? We've got tonight, babe. So why don't you stay?
[Susie stands up, grabs coat. Moves stage left.]
Susie: No. I'm never gonna dance again. Guilty feet have got no rhythm.
[Joe stands and moves stage left, puts arms around Susie]
Joe[tenderly]: Why do you build me up, buttercup, just to let me down?
Susie [tearing herself away]: I'm going to Graceland!
Joe [getting angry]: Private eyes are watching you! They see your every move!
Susie [pulling a gun]: Graceland!
Joe[hands in the air]: Relax! Don't do it!
Susie[inching out the door with the gun pointed at Joe]: Memphis, Tenessee!
Joe[scornfully]: I'll survive. As long as I know how to love, I know I'll be alive.
Susie[scornfully]: What's love got to do with it?
[Susie slams door.]
[Slow Curtain]
[The End]
Remembering The Sovereign Good
The first response to the profane expectation of the feeling of happiness-or to the bad habit of imprisoning oneself in this expectation, as if there were not above us a serene and boundless sky-is remembrance of the Sovereign Good or awareness of its Reality and Beatitude. It is this awareness that allows us to perceive the relativity and pettiness of our "complex" of happiness and to notice that in this expectation there are two fundamental vices, namely, concupiscence and idolatry: two things, therefore, that take us away from God and consequently from Felicity as such, the source of all happiness.
Frithjof Schuon
Prayer Fashions Man
Cookies are good because of the Sovereign Good. Have you ever seen a holy man eat a cookie? I would imagine they do it in a detached way, as if they were tasting one for the first time, and the last time. Have we ever really tasted a cookie if we have not tasted it like that? Not that the main point is to learn how to taste cookies. But, if we have trouble tasting something as small and silly as a cookie in a detached way, how about when we try to meditate on, to taste, the Truth not for any pleasure or gain to be had from it, but simply because it is the Truth? How could we, who cannot resist the lure of sweets, not be turned into some sort of lustful, raving monster, at the slightest glimpse of the Good Itself?
God, in his mercy, entered the smallest, pettiest parts of human nature, and is remaking them in the likeness of Himself. His greatness is not of an overwhelming kind. He will not clear away our pettiness if we do not want him to. He is giving us the chance to repent before He comes in power.
Frithjof Schuon
Prayer Fashions Man
Cookies are good because of the Sovereign Good. Have you ever seen a holy man eat a cookie? I would imagine they do it in a detached way, as if they were tasting one for the first time, and the last time. Have we ever really tasted a cookie if we have not tasted it like that? Not that the main point is to learn how to taste cookies. But, if we have trouble tasting something as small and silly as a cookie in a detached way, how about when we try to meditate on, to taste, the Truth not for any pleasure or gain to be had from it, but simply because it is the Truth? How could we, who cannot resist the lure of sweets, not be turned into some sort of lustful, raving monster, at the slightest glimpse of the Good Itself?
God, in his mercy, entered the smallest, pettiest parts of human nature, and is remaking them in the likeness of Himself. His greatness is not of an overwhelming kind. He will not clear away our pettiness if we do not want him to. He is giving us the chance to repent before He comes in power.
Yeah Baby!!!! I AM LOTR!!!!!
Which literature classic are you?
J.R.R. Tolkien: Lord of the Rings. You are entertaining and imaginative, creating whole new worlds around yourself. Well loved, you have a whole league of imitators, none of which is quite as profound as you are. Stories and songs give a spark of joy in the middle of your eternal battle with the forces of evil.
Take this quiz!
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Wednesday, August 15, 2007
All About "All About Eve"
"Everybody has a heart, except some people." Bette Davis in All About Eve.
Bette Davis, indisputably, has a heart. Just look at the pictures up top. She might have painted on her eyebrows, but there was no plastic surgery for this aging beauty. If the eyes are the window to the soul, then Bette Davis makes you feel like a Peeping Tom. Margo Channing, the character that Bette plays in All About Eve has a heart. But what about these "some people" who have no heart? Who are they?
Two characters in AAE stand out as particularly heartless: the young actress who calls herself Eve, and her Svengali: an obscenely urbane theatre critic. These two people are united in one thing: cold hearted excellence. Eve, as Margo's assistant, makes life easier for everyone. This is just a cover for her raging ambition. As the movie unfolds we begin to see that she will do anything to be a star. Margo has an inkling of Eve's duplicity, but can't convince herself, or others, that Eve is really as manipulative as Margo suspects. Eve, though inwardly worshipping herself, to outward appearances worships two things: the theatre (said in a high falutin' accent) and Margo, who, despite her age, is the most sought after actress on Broadway. Margo only half-worships herself. She knows that her beauty is declining, she abhors the theatre groupies that idolize her, but one part of her secretly loves the attention. It is this part of her that prompts her to hire Eve as her assistant. In struggling to see Eve for what she really is, Margo comes to purify herself of the last vestiges of self-worship that remain in her noble soul.
Margo is helped in this task by the doggedly patient love of her beau (I hate that word, but it fits in this case) Bill Sampson. Bill sees the beauty of Margo's soul and spends the whole movie trying to get Margo to accept his love. She persists in castigating herself for becoming old and out of place. In a heart-rending scene, he realizes that the only way to help her is to break it off with her. Given how right they are for each other, he can't believe what he is doing (this is a paraphrase of what he says): "This is like something in a book. I wouldn't believe it unless I had seen it." To which Margo responds sheepishly, "Where are you going? To see Eve?" It's a pathetic attempt at jealousy. Margo knows that her spiritual struggles are responsible for the rift, but she won't admit this to herself. Bill's response is perfect: "Suddenly, that makes it all believable."
With Bill out of her life, Margo's head clears. She begins to see that, in the interest of maintaining a certain image of herself, that of the beautiful actress, she is choosing a life of loneliness. [Feminists beware of oncoming quote] In a reflective moment she says (this time a direct quote):
Funny business, a woman's career, the things you drop on the way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman. It's one career all females have in common - being a woman. Sooner or later we've got to work at it no matter how many other careers we've had or wanted. And in the last analysis nothing is any good unless you can look up just before dinner or turn around in bed and there he is. Without that you're not a woman. You're something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings but you're not a woman. Slow curtain, the end.
What's that Bette? Women need men to be complete? Sounds right to me! The larger point that this movie makes is that our heartlessness comes from our choice not to rely on anyone outside of ourselves. Why do we do this if it makes us lonely? I think the movie has an answer for this, but I don't want to give it away. Rent it and get yourself some wisdom!
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