Kenneth Sutton's aide-mémoire
Fresh on the heels of Live8: Make prejudice history by Sir Elton John in The Observer (on the Guardian website).
I strongly believe that when thousands of us refuse to look away and stay silent, we make a difference to what politicians do and say. The sheer force of our numbers will ultimately help those who are suffering from extreme poverty and extreme prejudice all over the world.
Beppe did it, so of course I had to as well. If you have a weblog, you can click below and do it, too.
Boston’s transit authority, the MBTA, shuts down the subway system around midnight. Businesses (including restaurants, bars, and dance clubs) don’t close in Boston until 2 am. There used to be a “night owl” bus service that (barely) supplemented the T on Friday and Saturday nights from midnight until 2. Now you should just drive drunk, I guess. And of course people with service-sector jobs had just better be able to afford to own a car or take taxis.
Dragon’s Treasure is the sequel to Elizabeth A. Lynn’s Dragon’s Winter, but it’s readable on its own. I read Dragon’s Winter when it came out several years ago, and so I was a little hazy on the backstory in Dragon’s Treasure, but it went fine. I was happy to revisit the characters, and Lynn has left the door open for an additional volume, which I hope appears in due course.
Although the gay love angle is downplayed in Dragon’s Treasure, I’m amazed as always at the women authors who do gay relationships so well: Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mary Renault, Patricia Nell Warren. Lynn adds a bit of sado-masochism in some of her books (notably Sardonyx Net, one of her science fiction novels).
Martin Brookes’s Fly is a lighthearted romp through a serious subject. (Doc Smartypants, that terminology is just for you!)
As a genetics major, I did my share of raising, drugging, and examining fruit flies. Brookes puts this ubiquitous educational workhorse into the context of weighty advances in our understanding of genetics, speciation, embryonic development, and several human health concerns. And he does it with a wink and a nudge, while he’s at it.
This is the first time I’ve seen a Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra eliator) blossom:
And one of my hoyas is filled with blossoms. Here’s a closeup of Hoya lanceolata bella:
Oh that Beppe! He has no resistance, and he led me into this by his example!
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You scored as Emergent/Postmodern. You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don’t think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
What’s your theological worldview? |
I thought it was interesting that Beppe and I both had Wesleyan/Holiness show up fairly high. I’ve always thought that Friends (of all sorts) tend to confound the category-makers.
And this one, too:
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You scored as Paul Tillich. Paul Tillich sought to express Christian truth in an existentialist way. Our primary problem is alienation from the ground of our being, so that our life is meaningless. Great for psychotherapy, but no longer very influential.
Which theologian are you? |
The three-way tie was broken by saying which of three statements was most true or most important. I picked the one that was something like “God has no being. God is the ground of our existence.” Or something like that.
It seems to be the season. I’ve seen several I like. Here’s one I picked up off of Noli Irritare Leones.
Copy this whole list into your blog. Bold the things that are true about you. Add something that is true about you.
01. I miss somebody right now.
02. I don’t watch much TV these days.
03. I love olives.
04. I own lots of books.
06. I wear glasses or contact lenses.
07. I love to play video games.
08. I’ve tried marijuana.
09. I’ve watched porn movies.
10. I have been in a threesome.
11. I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship.
12. I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
15. I curse sometimes.
16. I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.
17. I have a hobby.
19. I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.
20. I’m TOTALLY smart.
21. I’ve never broken someone’s bones.
22. I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal.
23. I hate the rain.
24. I’m paranoid at times.
25. I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
26. I need money right now.
27. I love sushi.
28. I talk really, really fast.
29. I have fresh breath in the morning.
30. I have long hair.
31. I have lost money in Las Vegas.
32. I have at least one brother and/or one sister.
33. I was born in a country outside of the U.S.
34. I shave my legs (females) or face (males) on a regular basis.
35. I have a twin (or a triplet, or somesuch).
36. I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.
37. I couldn’t survive without Caller I.D.
38. I like the way that I look.
39. I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.
40. I know how to cornrow.
41. I am usually pessimistic.
42. I have a lot of mood swings.
43. I think prostitution should be legalized.
44. I think Britney Spears is pretty.
45. Slept with a Suitemate.
46. I have a hidden talent.
47. I’m always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.
48. I have a lot of friends.
49. I am currently single.
50. I have pecked someone of the same sex.
51. I enjoy talking on the phone.
52. I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants.
53. I love to shop.
54. I would rather shop than eat.
55. I would classify myself as ghetto.
56. I’m bourgie and have worn a sweater tied around my shoulders.
57. I’m obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal.
58. I don’t hate anyone. I dislike them.
59. I’m a pretty good dancer
60. I don’t think Mike Tyson raped Desiree Washington.
61. I’m completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
62. I have a cell phone.
63. I believe in God.
64. I watch MTV on a daily basis.
65. I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.
66. I love drama. (Somebody else’s, not my own)
67. I have never been in a real relationship before.
68. I’ve rejected someone before.
69. I currently have a crush/like someone.
70. I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
71. I want to have children in the future. (But odds of this are pretty slim.)
72. I have changed a diaper before.
73. I’ve called the cops on a friend before.
74. I bite my nails.
75. I am a member of the Tom Green fan club.
76. I’m not allergic to anything.
77. I have a lot to learn.
78. I have been with someone at least 10 years older or younger.
79. I plan on seeing Ice Cube’s newest “Friday†movie.
80. I am shy around the opposite sex.
81. I’m online 24/7, even as an away message.
82. I have at least 5 away messages saved.
83. I have tried alcohol or drugs before.
84. I have made a move on a friend’s significant other or crush in the past.
85. I own the “South Park†movie.
86. I have avoided assignments at work school to be on Xanga or Livejournal.
87. When I was a kid I played “the birds and the bees†with a neighbor or chum.
88. I enjoy some country music.
89. I would die for my best friends.
90. I think that Pizza Hut has the best pizza.
91. I watch soap operas whenever I can
92. I’m obsessive, anal retentive, and often a perfectionist.
93. I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
94. I love Michael Jackson, scandals and all.
95. I know all the words to Slick Rick’s “Children’s Storyâ€.
96. Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
97. I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it.
98. I have dated a close friend’s ex.
99. I like surveys/memes.
100. I am happy at this moment.
101. I’m obsessed with guys.
102. I am bisexual.
103. Democrat.
104. Conservative Republican.
105. I am punk rockish.
106. I am preppy.
107. I go for older guys/girls, not younger
108. I study for tests most of the time.
109. I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I’ve ever met.
110. I can work on a car.
111. I love my job.
112. I am comfortable with who I am right now.
113. I have more than just my ears pierced.
114. I walk barefoot wherever I can.
115. I have jumped off a bridge.
116. I love sea turtles.
117. I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup.
118. I believe in prophetic dreams.
119. I plan on achieving a major goal/dream.
120. I am proficient on a musical instrument.
121. I worked at McDonald’s restaurant.
122. I hate office jobs.
123. I love sci-fi movies.
124. I’ve never been in love.
125. I think water rules.
126. I am going to college out of state.
127. I am adopted.
128. I like sausage.
129. I am a pyro.
130. I love the Red Sox.
131. I have thrown up from crying too much.
132. I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved.
133. I love kisses.
134. I fall for the worst people and have been hurt every time.
135. I adore bright colors.
136. I love Dear Abby.
137. I can’t live without black eyeliner.
138. I think school is awesome.
139. I think pigtails serve a purpose.
140. I don’t know why the hell I just did this stupid thing.
141. I usually like covers better than originals.
142. I don’t like multi-textured ice cream
143. I think John Cusack is adorable.
144. I f**king hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays.
145. I watch Food Network way too much.
146. I love coaching youth sports.
147. I can pick up things with my toes
148. I can’t whistle.
149. I can move my tounge in waves, much like a snakes’ slither.
150. I have ridden/owned a horse.
151. I still have every journal I’ve ever written in.
152. I have played lots of fantasy role playing games.
153. I’ve lived in a foreign country.
Salman Rushdie has an article in TheStar.com: Just give me that old-time atheism! (via Arts & Letters.) I’ve not read any of his books, so I was interested in seeing what he had to say. Unfortunately, he has just as simplistic and limited a world-view as that which he is skewering:
It is among the truths believed to be self-evident by the followers of all religions that godlessness is equivalent to amorality and that ethics requires the underpinning presence of some sort of ultimate arbiter, some sort of supernatural absolute, without which secularism, humanism, relativism, hedonism, liberalism and all manner of permissive improprieties will inevitably seduce the unbeliever down immoral ways.
All religions, you say? Harumph.
I ended up suspecting Rushdie of being one of those writers who believes that being uniformly critical (without offering any solution, suggestion, or resolution), if done with great style, makes for successful writing.