Today the top news story was the millions and millions of Americans who would be traveling this holiday (that is, Thanksgiving) despite the high(er) costs of travel. Whatever. I, on the other hand, will be spending my holiday (that is, Late Semester Catch-Up Day) the same way I’ve spent it since third grade: finishing up assignments that will be due during the last two weeks of the semester and working ahead as much as possible so as to have some breathing space after the semester ends.
I had to make a short (15-minute) presentation in one of my courses Monday, and I enjoyed the time when my professor could not merely read from the text but had to (at least pretend to) listen to the interesting things I had to say for once. I wish I could do a presentation every day: it might make the course tolerable. And intellectually stimulating.
Yesterday Texas music (and indeed world music) was diminished by the death of Chris Whitley—an exceptional musician with a divine gift for songwriting. I had only recently began listening to him (thanks to the payola system between music corporations and broadcasters), but over the past few months the two CDs of his I own have caught up (in terms of use) with some CDs I’ve owned for a decade. [For more info about Chris, check out the sidebar with links to his official site and to some tracks.]
Today is Labor Thanksgiving Day in Japan, and for whatever reason, I have very distinct memories of this holiday from my two years there. On the first LTD, I painted my living rooms walls pastel green, thereby killing several brain cells because I couldn’t open the windows (it was rainy and cold outside). Come to think of it, my memories of my first LTD in Japan are a bit fuzzy. But the following year I was in Osaka at the United Nations Conference on Human Rights in Asia, staying with my pal Tak (whom I met in Israel the previous summer), drinking beaujolais nouveau for the first time. The cult of beaujolais nouveau is strong in Japan: some connoisseurs charter boats to go out past the International Date Line in order to get to drink it earlier than those poor suckers left in Japan. (It’s always released the third Thursday of November.)
Happy Thanksgiving to all my faithful (and even faithless) readers; I hope you have a great holiday. (And for those of you who also will be celebrating Late Semester Catch-Up Day: remember not to work too hard!)
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Saturday, November 19, 2005
"Exporting Democracy"
Friday, November 18, 2005
Big Murtha Fucka
Finally, an elected official that has big enough testicles to take on this illegal and morally reprehensible war. Kudos to Congressman Murtha, Democrat from Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District. I love how the bastards (and at least one bitch who made it to the evening news tonight) have tried to label him a coward despite his years of military and public service, especially those bastards (and at least one bitch) who have neither served in the military nor have had their own children serve, especially during an actual war. Fuck 'em all. There are 10,000 ways to support our troops. None of them includes standing around saying, "I support our troops." At least one real way to support our troops is not to have them destroy a country's infrastructure and murder 10s of thousands of civilians in a country that absolutely never posed a threat to our own security. I can think of a handful of bastards (and at least one bitch) who would make good war casualties. May they never know real war, and may they finally see how wrong they truly are.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Szukam sponsora
Oh, what the hell!
I wish that shrill, whiney incompetent fuck would stop bitching about what absolutely every thinking and feeling human knows to be true. And no, I'm not talking about your mother! I'm referring to our "reprehensible" Vice President. Reminds me of a church sign I saw recently:
A-fucking-men! And hallelujah!
Attractive college student seeks discreet benefactor. My interests include music, art, international travel, and long strolls on the beach.I should've thought of this a long time ago....
I wish that shrill, whiney incompetent fuck would stop bitching about what absolutely every thinking and feeling human knows to be true. And no, I'm not talking about your mother! I'm referring to our "reprehensible" Vice President. Reminds me of a church sign I saw recently:
A-fucking-men! And hallelujah!
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Urim and Thummim
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
Between the Thing & the Symbol of the Thing
Started a conversation a few days ago about the pathological (mis)understanding of metaphor by fundamentalists. It's what I tend to do out of the blue as a sign (or a symbol?!?!) that I usually tend to think really deep thoughts. Fundamentalists (let's just call 'em "Fundies" for the remainder of this post) see symbol in all designs of nature: a rainbow as promise from G-d, a hurricane as punishment. But when it comes to something as (purely) symbolic and metaphoric as a text (i.e., the Bible), every word is a physical manifestation of some external reality (instead of something that has been translated into symbolic language).
Case in point: just left St*rfucks a little while ago after enduring an entirely useless conversation with the clerk ("barister," if you speak St*rfuckian). My bill came to an even $6.66. He wanted to know if I wanted to buy something else so as not to have to pay an even $6.66, as if paying an even $6.66 would eternally damn my soul. "No thanks, I'm not superstitious." Then he proceeds to tell me about some (stupid) customer a few days earlier who insisted on buying something extra so as not to have to pay an even $6.66! Funny how consumerism and (so-called) Christianity go hand in hand. It's as if (purely symbolic) money really means something else!
Case in point: just left St*rfucks a little while ago after enduring an entirely useless conversation with the clerk ("barister," if you speak St*rfuckian). My bill came to an even $6.66. He wanted to know if I wanted to buy something else so as not to have to pay an even $6.66, as if paying an even $6.66 would eternally damn my soul. "No thanks, I'm not superstitious." Then he proceeds to tell me about some (stupid) customer a few days earlier who insisted on buying something extra so as not to have to pay an even $6.66! Funny how consumerism and (so-called) Christianity go hand in hand. It's as if (purely symbolic) money really means something else!
Monday, November 7, 2005
Friday, November 4, 2005
Transcarpathian Dreaming
Here are some other photographs I found online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)