Spring Forward, Fall Back

Hey! What if I updated this thing? Wouldn't that be weird?

Problem is I get tongue-tied every time I try to say what I want to say...

The details of my vacation have been withheld at the request of the CIA. They are now need-to-know classified pending further investigation.

Not much in the way of an update so far, I suppose. I'm taking a voluntary sabbatical from alcohol for the month of April. Really, I started about a week ago. So far, so good, though there was a hearty bout between the little guys chilling on my right and left shoulders earlier this evening in front of the fridge.

In entertainment, lately I'm bouncing back and forth between C.S. Lewis and my new TV adventure, Gilmore Girls. If you have any comments about the implications of my enjoyment of the show, I invite you to direct them to my bulging bicep, who will more than likely direct his secretary, my right fist, to take a message on your face. ;-) No, seriously though. Lauren Graham and Alexis Biedel are both hott as hell. (Author's note: Those of you who know me best should know that I had to look up both of those names. I only know them as Lorelai and Rory Gilmore. I'm not good with actors' and actresses' names, social lives, or fashion faux pas. Lorelai, by the way, is a beautiful name.) The dialogue on the show is written by somebody with a measurable IQ (that's an anomaly in Hollywood) Plus, there's a healthy level of sexual mother-daughter innuendo which keeps me coming back for more. Honestly, it's a good show. I had no idea what it was until recently, even though it has apparently been on the air since 2000. I've almost burned through season one now. Between that and C.S. Lewis's gripping literature, I find myself with just enough free time to work out, run, clean, and cook myself ridiculously healthy meals in between work and sleep. All in all, I'm content. Now let's go to Ollie with the Black-U-Weather Forecast. Ollie?

"It's gon' rain!"

Thanks, Ollie. Tune in next time when we uncover the truth about Roald Dahl. Great British novelist or sick, twisted megafruitophile?



Oh, one more thing. This is serious.

I love you. I miss you. You were more to me than you'll ever know.



Rest in peace. :'(

Freakonomics

I really need to update you guys on the last week and a half of my life. I have a cold and I'm reading Freakonomics right now before I go to work. I'll get back to you tonight or tomorrow. As always, names will be changed to protect the innocent.

I'll bet you didn't know Norma McCorvey was largely responsible for one of the biggest crime reductions in US history. Fascinating.

Next post - Fear and Loathing in West Virginia: Behind the Scenes

Fear and Loathing in West Virginia

What are you doing, West Virginia? Of the three of these bills, maybe.... MAYBE..... I could deal with the road bill. I wouldn't like it, but I could live with it. You get yourself into a bind and then you have to work your way out of it even if you don't like the means to that end. But extended detainment of citizens?

There are some constitutional concerns that need to be addressed before we proceed.

--House Judiciary Chairman Jon Amores (D-Kanawha)

Ya think!?!?! The bill, proposed by Sen. Evan Jenkins (D-Cabell), "would allow police to detain a person under the reasonable suspicion of committing a crime for up to six hours." Reasonable suspicion, eh? Perhaps now would be a good time to tell you the story of a very good friend of mine who was recently driving home to West Virginia from New York and her unfortunate run-in with Ohio's finest. Here's a quote from her blog:

So, I drove Mitch's car because he was way too tired to drive. Mitch fell asleep. I wasn't even speeding much...like 5 over...and a cop pulls us over. I had to hang up on Adam...poor kid.
Estimated time 11 53pm. Location- Outside of Cleveland. Mitch is awoken by the beauty of sirens. Cop takes licenses and proceeds. Cop makes Mitch get out of car. Cop questions. Cop moves toward carpet and finds some sort of substance he imagines to be "marijuana". Cop questions some more. Cop makes me get out of car. Cop places me in the back of his SUV with Mitch. WE sit. He searches the car. Takes us out of car. Asks us a million times if "we smoke". Finally, we get to get back in car. Ending time 12 34. Nice way to waste an half hour on questioning....nice. I hate cops in OHIO.

These are the people the wonderful legislators of the state of West Virginia wish to empower with an unconstitutional authority to detain anyone they damn well please for SIX HOURS! It's a high-tech, high-speed world. People get sentenced to 24 hours of jail time. Six hours is a long time. Especially considering they don't have to charge you with ANYTHING! The US Supreme Court had a hard time deciding that citizens were required to provide identification to law enforcement when they weren't driving vehicles. If this bill becomes law, I hope a cop tries to detain me for 6 hours without charging me JUST so I can get the media publicity associated with the ensuing FEDERAL LAW SUIT!

Sorry about that rant. I won't go into a rant about this last article. It needs its own post anyway, probably, and I'll leave it up to some of my friends to argue the other side here. I'm referring to the minimum wage law which was passed in West Virginia today. It's bleeding heart liberal short-sighted teary-eyed idiocy, if you ask me. And hey, look at that! You did!

Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Over the last few months I've been hard at work developing an incredible, revolutionary new piece of software which I've now implemented in my blog. It's called "comments"! The system works thusly: You click where it says "0 comments" (or however many comments there are on any post I've written), then click "add a comment". You then record your thoughts on my post in a text field in your browser. When you're finished, you either log into blogspot or you type in your name (and your website, if you so desire) and then click "Login and publish". It's neat. Then I can read what you think and respond to it, and so can all my other readers! I dare you! I double dog dare you!

Aight, Stop! It's Hammer Time!

Reading C.S. Lewis's essays has made at least one thing abundantly clear to me. If my goal is to devour all the important philosophical, theological, and political literature I can find, I'm going to need to a) stumble upon an alternate dimension like Narnia where I could live a lifetime while 5 minutes passed here, or b) live to be a hundred and seventy. Neither of these seem likely, so I guess I'll just have to aim for the sky and hope to break free of gravity before I fail miserably. At least then I'd be free-floating.

Seriously, the man has read almost every book known to man. A few weeks ago I gave up trying to add his "suggestions" to my reading list online, keeping a notebook beside my bed instead. I've filled up an entire page, three columns, and I'm barely half-way through his writings. I guess studying literature at Oxford will do that for ya, but realizing the sheer volume of reading I want to do is starting to make me look at my plans. I have often said I never wanted to finish college. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should teach while I do research and earn new degrees. I could always save up a little money and try to start some businesses. Or I could try to become a university president somewhere (those of you who know me best know there are two places above all I'd like to do this right now, but if I did decide to become a professor I would want to teach at different schools across the world, and who knows? I might fall in love with Stanford, or Cambridge, or the University of Stellenbosch or God knows where. Each school has different worlds of knowledge I could leech from while contributing my own brand of sarcastic wit to a bunch of post-adolescent neophytes (somewhat like myself right now...) Plus, you know I'd be the prof that students would love because I would party with them. ;-) I don't know. It's food for thought. A year just isn't enough for this zen road trip. A lifetime isn't enough. Or, better put, all life is is one big zen road trip. My life, anyway.

In other news, I'm officially incredibly healthy. I'm pretty sure I had the flu two weeks ago, but I didn't even realize it until two days in, and it was gone the next day. I had a mild headache (something I'm not used to), I was running a fever the whole time, but I made it to work both days, I stayed on my feet, I didn't even really feel that bad... Didn't really even notice that I might be "sick" and not just hung over 'til the last day. Plus, I'm back to running 3 or 4 times a week, I'm lifting just as much, and I've wrangled my drinking "tendency" into something much more manageable.... even enjoyable! Righteous.

Speaking of which, I'm learning more about God every day. Not that this is at all surprising, but I will never quench my thirst for knowledge about Him. (I haven't yet discovered a brand of knowledge for which I have no thirst. I just feel especially parched when it comes to theology.) More to come when I grow up. Stay posted.


On an unrelated note, I came across two noteworthy blogs in my infinite scouring of the internets this morning. I would've posted them for you this morning, but Blogspot was down. Frustrationation. Oh well.

1) MC Hammer has a blog! He seems to be doing pretty well. Mostly, he talks about his kid and sports and the state of hip hop. I'd surf on over there and check in on the baggy-pants sensation if I were you.


2) Hammertime was the lighter side of my surfing this morning. I did come across a blog of exceptional quality which struck my heart, compelling me to write this post in the first place. The blog belongs to Michael Brown, an unemployed graphic designer in Durham, North Carolina. He writes about his daily life with his wife and his three children, his on-going search for a job, and puts forth some insightful commentary on sociopolitics and theology as they manifest themselves in his life. But wait. That's not all. He maintains his blog from a computer terminal in a public library. Yes, Mr. Brown and his family are homeless. Most of his musings profess to help other homeless people across the country in coping with their predicaments. He gives some practical advice, some philosophical. I haven't had a chance to read through the whole blog, but I've definitely bookmarked this one. You might want to as well. I honestly think somebody should give this guy a book deal, quick. He's a fairly talented writer as far as I can tell. Given his social status, I'd say he can write plenty well enough to earn a buck or two.

As always, but particularly in this last matter, I'm interested in your thoughts. This is my life in the fast lane, folks. Live it. Love it. Learn it.

How Can They Meet Us Face to Face?

I ended my first book with the words "no answer". I know now, Lord, why you utter no answer. Before your face questions die away. What other answer would suffice? Only words, words; to be led out to battle against other words.

That was, hands down, the most moving piece of literature I've ever consumed.

I feel embattled in my quest for God. I don't need that kind of guidance. The world unaided provides more than enough resistance along the path I've chosen. I appreciate good intentions for what they are, but mine isn't a journey bound by the logic of this world. In all mundane matters, my thirst for knowledge and the necessity to apply the full power of my mundane logic are married into one, but this matter, by its very nature, cannot be based in logic. When its foundation is laid, all manner of logic might flow forth from it, but the fact itself to which I have committed is in a plane separate and distinct from all human thought.

To that end, what is the virtue in pressing me to seek out "both sides" of an argument which does not exist? All the mind I have is set into that desire, and I am beginning to think our entire lives are dedicated to that purpose, but it seems to me dangerous to condescend anyone but a child or a fool by thrusting upon him that which he hasn't seen (or can't yet see) for himself. If the man has any passion for the matter, it can only serve to drive a wedge between him and his concerned benefactor; worse still, the lesson stands to be lost in translation.

Even still, I'm worried about what lies behind this. You urge me to look to both sides of the story told on Earth. Let that be my concern. If you agreed with me, would you still urge me to seek out the "truth"? We must presuppose Euclid or Aristotle or Newton or Einstein to have theorized correctly before we can delve into any number of our modern activities, and we do so regularly. Do you, then, urge me to look to both sides of these stories for truth? So why the passionate disposition in this matter? Yours is not a proselytizing ideology. What is the motivation for ensuring that I've heard both sides before I make any decisions? Given my choice, what do I stand to lose if I'm wrong? Even if your advice may indeed change my mind, to what end?

Again, I enjoy challenges to my philosophical, scientific, physical, and artistic endeavors. I often seek them out. My spiritual journey does not share a roof with any of these facets of life. They are mortal. This walk is difficult, almost impossible to bear at times. I will bear those burdens which God sees fit that I should endure, and no less, but neither do I seek any more.

These are my misgivings. I struggled to author them, and they are infantile and confused. They could be said to be addressed to the world at large, and in fact they are, but they are obviously more direct than that as well. I pray these words are well met where they fall, for they are only those. Words. I use them here to deliver human love to human ears. These words exist for that purpose. They fall short in communicating that which exists outside our nature. That is a conversation reserved for a time when all the experiences and the lessons life has to impart upon us have expired; that is to say, Till We Have Faces.

By the Bright, Shining Light of the Moon

We live in a beautiful world...

What's up, the internets? No excuses. Just been neglecting my blog. Really, it's been a conscious decision, not like I just forget or am too lazy. Any time I have enough free time to write in here, I realize that there's a lot of other things I want to do. Namely, read a book, work out, play a song, cook, clean, get ready for work, go to work, or sleep. That's right. My life has about 8 flavors right now. The beautiful part isn't in the selection.... it's in the intense depth of each one of those flavors. Quality over quantity, here. It's producing amazing results.

As far as reading goes, I've been slowed down recently by trying to get back in touch with a lot of my friends. I spent a month or so pretty well cut off from the world reading non-stop, and I knocked off a bunch of books, but I needed to talk to some people. I talked to one of my favorites tonight, and it was definitely soul food. I needed that more than anything at this point, even if it was only for a few minutes.

C.S. Lewis..... Always been my favorite author, and I never even knew why. The Chronicles of Narnia are obviously amazing, and even as a child I was aware that there was some degree of Christian metaphor in those pages, but you can't really appreciate the depth of his story-weaving until you've given his more "grown-up" works some serious thought. If I was born into Christianity, walked away from Christ (and even almost the very idea of God) of my own accord, and given my footing and my sight again by one of God's more blessed chilrden, C.S. Lewis very definitely delivered my mind, body, and spirit back across the distance I had transgressed.... and by his momentum, propelled me exponentially further toward God than I had ever been before. I recognized soon after "turning around" the potential for my faith to be reborn a phoenix from a dove, but it was impossible to imagine the world from the eyes of a phoenix without those flames burning across your own field of vision. Now, my sights ablaze and my vantage point granted by the wings of God, I can see just how long a journey this really was meant to be. It looks more difficult even than the hardest times I've seen behind me, but at the same time it looks easier than ever.

I don't know when I'll post again. It was just a quiet evening, too cold to run, the music set my mind to work, and here it is. I expect another, albeit smaller-scale, disappearance in the coming weeks so I can get my reading back on track. I'm going to finish The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tonight and then read Till We Have Faces. I'll be thinking of you.

With a joyful heart, a peaceful mind, and a tattered spirit, I bid you farewell. Meg says the moon is yellow in the midnight sky.

What Time is It?

This is why I love Purdue.

This..... heh.... this is something which, if the guy turns out to be onto something, will be the biggest discovery since that whole flat world theory was put to rest.

I'm in a very bad mood tonight, through no fault of yours (unless you're one person...) and I'm trying to keep myself distracted by reading geek news. It's not working. I should be freaking out excited about that second one. I'm not.

I'll try to write something substantive some time soon. Don't hold your breath, though. I have a day off tomorrow, but I'm evidently going to spend it asleep, having stayed up all night because of someone's a) stupidity or b) extreme thoughtlessness.

Boiler up!