Archive for February, 2010

C.S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory that the best method of preaching and teaching is to do so introspectively. So I shall stand up on the podium and berate myself and hope to learn from it.

At the end of the day all you did was stare at the TV screen. Sometimes there is a fantastic story and it is fun… But there is a lot more out there. So go do it!

That is all. Have a great weekend. I know I am going to.

We live in a wonderful time, in a vast and wonderful world. A thousand or so years ago your life was largely decided from the time you were born. If you were born to privilege you had a few choices before you but if you were born to be a pauper, so you were. But even in in those times people were still faced with thousands of decisions every day that could drastically alter their lives. Sure, they couldn’t take a flight to Fiji, but they could punch their mother and somehow I think that would alter their life.

Later today I am going to a QPR Suicide Intervention course. I was bribed into this for extra credit and… well… extra credit is always a fantastic bribe. But when I have talked to people in the past who are dealing with suicidal ideations I cannot help but to think of the millions of choices that this person is discounting. Imagine yourself on the precipice. You are about to do something to end your life, but instead you can simply being your life anew. What is to stop you from stowing away aboard a merchant ship destined for Australia or Italy? What is the worst that could happen? Surely it couldn’t be worse than death.

That’s just an example of the many choices we have. Tomorrow you can start a new career or kick a toddler. It’s all in your hands! It is both encouraging and frustrating to see the many choices that are before us each day, but nothing should hold you back from trying new things. Life is not a point in time, but a progression through it. You won’t ever “get there” so have fun along the way and make that choice that is atypical or goes against your rules.

I for one, will not be taking my advice because I’m naturally a stodgy old coot. But that shouldn’t stop you!

Comic from xkcd.

I apologize for the peppiness and the excessive use of the word “but.”

It might as well come from there. Greek authors used to invoke a muse to lead them through their poems/stories. The only muse invocation going on now is whe a rapper says, “yeah, yeah, uh-huh” or “g-yuh” or something like that.

Listen I know you’re positive about your musics but I don’t want to be reminded 37 times.

http://akrobotics.com/comics/akrobotics

The internet is insane. The thought of data being moved around the world in milliseconds is just craziness. Another bit of craziness? The fact that no one talks to each other anymore.

Everything is, text this, e-mail that, facebook me, blah blah blah… Even Google Voice transcribes your voice mails so you don’t actually have to listen to another person’s voice, because that’s just too much to ask for.

With the diminishing of personal conversation, we also lose spontaneity. Unfortunately for me, I still talk to people. That’s why everyone thinks I’m crazy.

http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/

I love reading Hark! A Vagrant, it’s funny. Especially the greek lyrist Bon Jovi, classic.