So i'm back. It was just under a month; what can i say, i don't always appreciate change. So why did i come back? I could say "because i was bored," and i have said that to a few people, and it's true. But the real reason? I missed it. The more commercial feel of the website still bothers me a little, and if i were coming here for the first time i would probably be less inclined to join, but i've been here for awhile and i know what the site has to offer, the cool people and the funny discussions (oh, and the hot naked chicks, can't foget the hot naked chicks). So yes, to make a long story a single phrase in length: i've come crawling back.
So what happened with me in the month that i was gone. The biggest thing, i graduated. I now have my BA. As a graduation present my dad took me to Maui for two weeks. We stayed with some family friends, went on some hikes, had coffee in this wonderful little coffee shop in Paia called Cafe Des Amei (if you're in Maui and you like coffee, especially espresso, go there). I cooked a lot, and they were thrilled because they do not cook hardly at all, this despite the fact that they have one of the nicest kitchens i've ever worked in: granite countertops, six burner closed gas grill, convection oven. As someone who cooks often, this was a treat for me, although it did turn me off to gas stoves; i think i'm going to look into electromagnetic.
Other than that i did nothing for two whole weeks. Largely this is because i can't stand the water, and when you're on an island and you don't like the water, this tends to limit you opportunities regarding activities. But i did manage to read an entire book, Jitterbug Perfume, which i loved, and i will be looking into more Tom Robbins books soon.
We watched a good movie called Man Friday with Richard Roundtree and Peter O'Toole. It's Robinson Crusoe told from the perspective of the native, partially a critique of white power and imperialism, partly a critique of the arrogant Christian dogma that endorsed both as well as a distored worldview hinged on shame and fear.
Our friend also lent me a book about the Antichrist, though it's not a religious book. Called The Story of B, it is from the same author of Ishmael and proposes a much more plausable archetype for the Antichrist than the Hitler + Stalin + Mao + Neron X George Bush to the power of ten that other people think it's going to be. That is assuming you buy into the Christian mythology in the first place.
I've always thought that's where Christianity was lacking as a religion: mythology. Other religions have many gods, all kinds of monsters, superheros, magical treausures. Christianity has a guy walking around to fishing villiages talking about virtue; that's not exciting, that's just the Middle East version of Socrates, Confucius or Buddha. Some valuable stuff, but not exactly a bestseller. And yet ironically it is a bestseller, the best bestseller to be exact. There is that fire and brimstone bit at the end, but it's just a dream and more like a horror film than mythology. But the Tao Te Ching is the second most translated book in the world, so that gives me some hope.
I've just started the book so i will have to report how it is later when i've read more. But i can say that the writing, stylistically speaking, leaves something to be desired. It's too self-conscious and a bit stilted, like it was trying too hard to sound intelligent and just came off sounding a bit clunky.
That's it for now, i'll add more later. No quote today because i wasn't prepared (what? didn't i say i just graduated? no more homework for me! at least until graduate school).
So what happened with me in the month that i was gone. The biggest thing, i graduated. I now have my BA. As a graduation present my dad took me to Maui for two weeks. We stayed with some family friends, went on some hikes, had coffee in this wonderful little coffee shop in Paia called Cafe Des Amei (if you're in Maui and you like coffee, especially espresso, go there). I cooked a lot, and they were thrilled because they do not cook hardly at all, this despite the fact that they have one of the nicest kitchens i've ever worked in: granite countertops, six burner closed gas grill, convection oven. As someone who cooks often, this was a treat for me, although it did turn me off to gas stoves; i think i'm going to look into electromagnetic.
Other than that i did nothing for two whole weeks. Largely this is because i can't stand the water, and when you're on an island and you don't like the water, this tends to limit you opportunities regarding activities. But i did manage to read an entire book, Jitterbug Perfume, which i loved, and i will be looking into more Tom Robbins books soon.
We watched a good movie called Man Friday with Richard Roundtree and Peter O'Toole. It's Robinson Crusoe told from the perspective of the native, partially a critique of white power and imperialism, partly a critique of the arrogant Christian dogma that endorsed both as well as a distored worldview hinged on shame and fear.
Our friend also lent me a book about the Antichrist, though it's not a religious book. Called The Story of B, it is from the same author of Ishmael and proposes a much more plausable archetype for the Antichrist than the Hitler + Stalin + Mao + Neron X George Bush to the power of ten that other people think it's going to be. That is assuming you buy into the Christian mythology in the first place.
I've always thought that's where Christianity was lacking as a religion: mythology. Other religions have many gods, all kinds of monsters, superheros, magical treausures. Christianity has a guy walking around to fishing villiages talking about virtue; that's not exciting, that's just the Middle East version of Socrates, Confucius or Buddha. Some valuable stuff, but not exactly a bestseller. And yet ironically it is a bestseller, the best bestseller to be exact. There is that fire and brimstone bit at the end, but it's just a dream and more like a horror film than mythology. But the Tao Te Ching is the second most translated book in the world, so that gives me some hope.
I've just started the book so i will have to report how it is later when i've read more. But i can say that the writing, stylistically speaking, leaves something to be desired. It's too self-conscious and a bit stilted, like it was trying too hard to sound intelligent and just came off sounding a bit clunky.
That's it for now, i'll add more later. No quote today because i wasn't prepared (what? didn't i say i just graduated? no more homework for me! at least until graduate school).