3.29.2004
Birfday Post
I really haven't been thinking about my birthday, but I am incredibly touched that other people have been. . . and these are folks who only learned my birthday in the last year, so I was totally not expecting anything.
Thanks to RonFez Mark for starting my official-unofficial birthday thread here. . . you're such a sweetie!
Thank you also to the guys who posted birthday greetings in the thread, namely furie, reefdwella and JustJon. I especially like the POW-MIA pic in furie's post, which made me giggle.
Thanks to The Diva for the funky and way-cool Yahoo! birfday e-card. . . it was especially nice to open something cheerful at the office, instead of something work-related. =)
Thanks to Gary for his birthday greeting in the comments to the last post I wrote. Thanks for remembering! =)
And last, but not least, thank you to my wonderful Matthew who didn't make fun of me for getting sunburned, tucked me in last night and wished me "Happy Birthday" twice before the alarm went off at 6am today. See you tonight. =)
All in all, this has been a happy, albeit low-key, commemoration of the completion of my 26th trip around the Sun. Thank you all for sharing it with me and I look forward to many more!
I really haven't been thinking about my birthday, but I am incredibly touched that other people have been. . . and these are folks who only learned my birthday in the last year, so I was totally not expecting anything.
Thanks to RonFez Mark for starting my official-unofficial birthday thread here. . . you're such a sweetie!
Thank you also to the guys who posted birthday greetings in the thread, namely furie, reefdwella and JustJon. I especially like the POW-MIA pic in furie's post, which made me giggle.
Thanks to The Diva for the funky and way-cool Yahoo! birfday e-card. . . it was especially nice to open something cheerful at the office, instead of something work-related. =)
Thanks to Gary for his birthday greeting in the comments to the last post I wrote. Thanks for remembering! =)
And last, but not least, thank you to my wonderful Matthew who didn't make fun of me for getting sunburned, tucked me in last night and wished me "Happy Birthday" twice before the alarm went off at 6am today. See you tonight. =)
All in all, this has been a happy, albeit low-key, commemoration of the completion of my 26th trip around the Sun. Thank you all for sharing it with me and I look forward to many more!
3.23.2004
Today's Quote:
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche
While I haven't been the biggest fan of existentialism, and have not the familiarity with Nietzsche that perhaps I ought, this quote seems to me to be an appropriate caution to all governmental leaders. . . and it is one that has been ignored by all governmental leaders.
In case you're wondering what brought this philosophical turn, I am currently working my way through Reading 'Lolita' in Tehran - A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi. I find it to be very interesting, and, in parts, it might be describing the state of our own uncertain nation at the moment.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. - Friedrich Nietzsche
While I haven't been the biggest fan of existentialism, and have not the familiarity with Nietzsche that perhaps I ought, this quote seems to me to be an appropriate caution to all governmental leaders. . . and it is one that has been ignored by all governmental leaders.
In case you're wondering what brought this philosophical turn, I am currently working my way through Reading 'Lolita' in Tehran - A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi. I find it to be very interesting, and, in parts, it might be describing the state of our own uncertain nation at the moment.
3.12.2004
Why I Don't Discuss Politics With My Grandmother:
Politics and religion are surefire ways to kill a cocktail party.
I read this today on Snopes and it reminds me of what I wanted to say when I wrote a letter to the editor of my college newspaper when loudmouth Fr. Joe decried the idea of homosexual marriage.
That was nearly 7 years ago and that kind of hatred is just as ugly now as it was then. It's this kind of self-serving divisiveness that makes me wonder about our stance of moral superiority in the world. . . and it makes me understand how other nations can hate us so much.
Politics and religion are surefire ways to kill a cocktail party.
I read this today on Snopes and it reminds me of what I wanted to say when I wrote a letter to the editor of my college newspaper when loudmouth Fr. Joe decried the idea of homosexual marriage.
That was nearly 7 years ago and that kind of hatred is just as ugly now as it was then. It's this kind of self-serving divisiveness that makes me wonder about our stance of moral superiority in the world. . . and it makes me understand how other nations can hate us so much.
3.01.2004
Quote of the Day
"Literature is perhaps the most important element of general education because it disciplines the mind, stirs the heart, and refines the taste, whereas other subjects only affect the mind." - 1938, Taha Hussein
On a personal note, this is a big, gigantic f-you to the woman who used to say "I don't have time to waste reading a book" . . . that quote is what reading does to you. It expands your capacity for learning and empathizing with humanity. If that's a waste of your time, I'd really like to know what's a more valuable use.
"Literature is perhaps the most important element of general education because it disciplines the mind, stirs the heart, and refines the taste, whereas other subjects only affect the mind." - 1938, Taha Hussein
On a personal note, this is a big, gigantic f-you to the woman who used to say "I don't have time to waste reading a book" . . . that quote is what reading does to you. It expands your capacity for learning and empathizing with humanity. If that's a waste of your time, I'd really like to know what's a more valuable use.
