Tell me Why

Christmas

2011-12-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

I realized after a less than savory conversation today and my reactions to it that I can be a jerk.
I am a jerk. Broken like a character from a Wes Anderson movie.
Then there is Christmas.
I am thankful for grace and forgiveness.

Merry Christmas!

Bill Mallonee

2011-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

<a href="http://billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-power-the-glory-2">THE POWER & THE GLORY by Bill Mallonee</a>

It took me a long time to warm up to this man's voice and style. Now he is one of my favorite artists.

Songs

2011-12-17T23:32:00.000-08:00

Sycamore talent show by Matthew Price on Grooveshark

Enjoy.

What better things to do during dead week...

2011-12-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

...than make random, nerdy graphics

16 years ago today

2011-12-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

16 years.
I walked off the plane into a new and wonderful place. Now there are sophomores in high school who were born the same year.
It is strange to know that time has passed but not feel it.

OtR 17/11/2011

2011-11-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

One strange thing about the concert was this. Well, perhaps not strange but at the very least unexpected, was that it left me desiring to be a better person. I wanted to leave the venue and get up earlier, run, love my family and friends more wholly, and live life deeply.

Not that it should have been a surprise. Those themes are buried in many of their songs.

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we’ve learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There’s so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I’ll be o.k. They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin’ like sleepin’ on a bed of nails. Nothin’ much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin’ is ever quite what it seems.
And I’m dyin’ inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

But tell them it’s real. Tell them it’s really real.
I just don’t have much left to say.
They’ve taken their toll these latter days.
They’ve taken their toll these latter days.

Latter Days. Good Dog, Bad Dog. Over the Rhine

Notes from Tonight's Concert

2011-11-18T00:48:00.000-08:00

Over the Rhine Setlist: 17 November 2011

Come on Boy! (The Laugh of Recognition)
Rave On
Undammed
The King Knows How
Suitcase
I'm on a Roll
Infamous Love Song
Only God Can Save Us Now "A head on collision between comedy and tragedy"
Latter Days "I'm glad I was there at the piano when it came down the wire"
Untitled New Song
Jesus in New Orleans
Trouble
All My Favorite People with Leaning on the Everlasting Arms (Instrumental)

Encore

Hallelujah
Born
Drunkard's Prayer

I am so glad I was able to attend this concert. They were simply beautiful, the backing band complemented and interpreted the songs so well (amazing harmonica playing) and I was left hoping that they would just keep playing all night.
The opening act, The Milk Carton Kids, were full of dry wit and songs far deeper than I expected. They sang songs that sounded like a person who has fled but knows that the place that he fled to is hollow compared with what was left behind.

A Reminder Why to Not Always Trust One's Google Results

2011-09-29T20:45:00.001-07:00

Punk Rock's Dead

2011-09-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

punk rock died the day the first kid said
punk ain't dead
sure it is kid and winter's cutting bait
and California dreamin' won't abate
put your baseball cap right dude
your momma didn't raise no fool

skip a few doses of the prozac
find some public pool and lie out there in the sunshine
for hours on your back
grow your hair long
free weights will get you strong
and as you turn the page you will notice
her coming of age

'cause you're both new and clean
she's the brown girl with the smell of chlorine

cut the hang nose of your internet
try and squelch control your mom and dad's
last night knock-down-drag-out argument
sure it makes you mad and it's sad
but kid you've not been had
hell we grow up too fast in this millennium
and that girl could use a friend

turn off your it's so boring out here in the suburbs
kid your dead-ends are no deader
than anyone whose gone before you
'cause summer's your time of dreaming
don't you ever give up dreaming
hey she might wear your ring
and show you secret things

I didn't used to be a Bill Mallonee fan. His voice was weird and his music was something like wanna-be country. Eventually though he won me over. His songs are honest, simple. Actually, I am not even totally sure of what he says in most of his songs (which is true for many songs that I listen to) but they convey the image of someone speaking of his life that has not gone as well as he hoped but knows that it is still a gift from God.

This song is one of my favorites of his. It speaks straight to the old boy trying to grow into a man. It is easy in that position to lean on one thing or another- to like the song says- rage against my environment and paralyze myself. Stunt my growth by saying that I am in a place that inhibits growth.

Instead, pay attention. Push and don't feel sorry for myself. He nails it with the last two lines. Maybe that girl is nearby just waiting. I can maybe have that kind of relationship. But it takes some bravery and encouragement. This song reminds me to be brave and strive for something beautiful.

That is why I love this song.

Setting life to a different rhythm.

2011-09-06T00:31:00.001-07:00

Dear Facebook,

You are not as cool as:

God
My church
My friends
Camp
Good meals
The ocean
Europe
The USA
Indonesia

The best you can hope to do is offer a glimmer of the memories and attempt to keep me informed and connected with the people that make the above list so much a part of me.

2011-08-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

I have yet to hear somebody give a better reason for why there is wind.

Cyril and Methodius

2011-07-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

I am not very well versed on these two men, but I like what I do know of them.
Everybody, honor them and go hug a linguist.

Set list

2011-06-05T17:37:00.001-07:00

Even Better Than The Real Thing
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Until The End Of The World
All I Want Is You
Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
Beautiful Day
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo
Zooropa
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy / Discotheque
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Scarlet
Walk On

Encore

One
Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore 2

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment Of Surrender

It was beautiful.

Too bad.

2011-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

The other day, upon seeing that I had a spider bite on my hand I decided to check if I had also acquired spider-like superhuman powers.

No such luck.

Maybe next time.

Leaving

2011-05-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

This scene has been breaking my heart all weekend. Especially the last six panels. The author grabbed what it feels to leave better than anybody I can think of off of the top of my head.
(Image from The Arrival by Shaun Tan.)

2011-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

"For myself, I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens; not as a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor, and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise."

-Faramir, The Two Towers. J.R.R. Tolkien.

This quote is what came to mind in response to hearing this talk on Biblical manhood.
(The website from which the audio came can be found here.)
(The sound is a little choppy, for that blame the sound guy. Which was me. So I won't be offended.)

What of the seventh day?

2011-02-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

This week I decided that I would try to have this weekend free from homework, so that way I could focus on other things, including but most certainly not limited to watching the Super Bowl and catching up on Community. It was born mostly out of being a spiritual exercise. Taking the commandment to heart and seeing what happened.

It happened, too. It was sort of amazing just to have the homework out of the way, for one thing. But then the interesting thing was how strange it was to not be hurrying around trying to finish something. Normally there is always some assignment that I have to be working on-filling my mind with a pressing goal.

It was not only strange to not have something to be working on but it was strange because I wanted to pick up something else to do. I wanted to do the schoolwork that I had committed to myself to not do. I felt sort of lost.

It gave for more time for prayer and introspection than I have had for a good while, which is good but also challenging. Is that maybe why in the Old Testament there were problems with Sabbath violations? I do not think I could give a good argument for those times but here is one question I have left for myself:

Would I rather be trying to get stuff done all the time rather than be left alone with God?

I am looking forward to this

2011-01-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

Unpacking

2010-11-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

I have moved a few times in my life. After a move it is important for me to get settled quickly and get important things unpacked; the things that sort of show a part of me or where I've been. The items that acknowledge the past in the present circumstances. The last time I made a major move was nearly five years ago but only in the past three weeks or so have some things come out that normally would have been nearly immediately unpacked. It feels good that they can finally see the light of day. What is funny about this is that the only reason that they got to come out was my brother leaving for grad school and me moving into his room.
It is strange how we grow older.

Just a picture

2010-11-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

This is what I got to see tonight

2010-10-01T00:42:00.000-07:00

One of my life goals has been completed. (And no. I did not take this picture. That would have been cool though.)

Ohmygoshholycow!!! moments of Toy Story 3

2010-06-23T10:01:00.001-07:00

So, this post will be full of spoilers. Beware. That being said this list will not be exhaustive of all of the great moments in the movie but is more the ones that stood out to me. It will also not be anything academic. This is a blog after all. Moving on...

1. The opening sequence was downright cool.

2. When Woody was mentioning all the toys that had passed on and all of a sudden Slink mentions Bo-Peep. Way to kill Woody's love interest and twist my gut Pixar.

3. Buster showing up to save the day and then rolling onto Woody fast asleep.

4. Ken and his love of clothes, such as his Ascot.

5. Spanish Buzz!

4. b. Barbie interrogating Ken.

6. The scene when all of the toys are in the garbage melter and when they see that there is no hope begin to hold one another's hands was so intense. The way Woody, true to his character, was the last to join into the circle of friends, still hoping for some way of escape for his family was moving. Then I watched and began to prepare myself for how I would emotionally deal with the death of all of these characters. I seriously thought they were all dead. (I watch Joss Whedon after all. I know leads are not safe. [Wash]) But while that was going on I was also thinking, "Pixar has guts. They are the only people who could kill off their cast like this and me be strangely okay with it all." I was wondering what that great toy box in the sky was going to look like.

7. Then came "The Claaaaw"!

8. I was almost teary eyed as Andy handed away Woody to his new little friend. Then they played together and everything was okay.

Something I loved about this movie was all of the set-ups and pay-offs that happened throughout. The makers tied the movie in with itself and the other two in such an intelligent and nostalgic way.

Final Project: Linguistics

2010-06-04T02:14:00.001-07:00

Here is my final project for my Intro to Linguistics course. Enjoy.
The Slang Around Me
Slang is commonly found among the younger people in a culture. Maybe a word is created to describe some new phenomenon, such as the word blog, or though one means or another alters or adds to the meaning of an existing word, such as "tight", which apart from meaning "taut"; "not loose" can now mean that something is "cool", "special" or "excellent". Jargon is used to describe the specialized vocabulary used by members of a group to describe the important parts of that field in a succinct and understandable manner. So Doctors, fishermen and video game enthusiasts all would have their own jargon unique to their fields. This project will outline some of the slang and jargon that can be found among late teens and young adults, living in the United States of America. Focusing on one word in this group, this paper will seek to describe its various linguistic properties.
There are many words that stand out when looking at the vocabulary of the speakers, but for the sake of discussion eight have been selected. The words will be given, their definitions and whether or not a word falls into the category of slang or jargon.
ºSweet– A slang adjective used to say that something is "Cool" or "Wonderful". In a sentence it would look like, "Have you seen my new bike? It's sweet". Not a specialized term it falls into the realm of slang.
ºLegit– An adjective derived from legitimate, legit, is used to say that something or someone was praiseworthy or honorable, as well as to indicate authenticity. So one could say, "Man, that guy's song-writing is so legit." This word is also slang.
ºLOL– Representing the phrase "Laugh out loud" it is used to indicate the state of the speaker (or typist, depending on the circumstance) and is used as an interjection often in response to something that was found to be funny. "That video is HILARIOUS!!! LOL!!!!" is a frequently found example of LOL in action. LOL can be used as either an initialism or an acronym (pronounced [lʊl]) and is an example of jargon. Its use is limited to people who are in need of the shortened characteristics of this phrase, such as people typing and needing a short phrase that can convey emotion.
ºDiss– Diss a synonym of insult. It falls into multiple lexical categories, as a verb one can "get dissed", or as a noun one can "feel the pain of a biting diss". It is a slang term.
ºApp– An abbreviation for the word "Application" it is a noun meaning "a computer program" and is a jargon word. Primarily it is used by people involved in software but it is also gaining in common usage as more devices make claims about having many apps available download.
ºWired– Used to describe somebody who is either a) Technologically connected as in "My son spends so much time on the computer. He is wired." or b) experiencing a jittery or hyperactive state, most frequently applied in connection with caffeine "I let my friend have a triple shot espresso and now she is wired!". Both are slang terms.
ºBTW– Another abbreviation used by those heavily engaging in electronic communication, it is jargon for "By the way" and is used along with the introduction of a new or unrelated thought as in "No response yet from the league, BTW." Like LOL, BTW when used in speech can either be an initialism or an acronym and when used as an acronym takes two forms. Either [bi ti dʌbʊlju] or [bi ti dʌb] are acceptable ways to pronounce this phrase.
The final word for analysis is the word "own". This word in its root form is a synonym with "to defeat". So a speaker could say "I am going to own you at Settlers of Catan this Friday!" This word is the most linguistically complex of this sample and is worth a more detailed analysis to see it in its various linguistic properties.
Phonetically speaking, own, is fairly simple. Produced as [own] its nature lends itself well to its use in two ways. Firstly it is short and so can be used quickly in order to continue to whoever is going to experience the "own"ing but it is also sonorant in nature which can let it be carried out should it ever be used in a situation such as mockery or if it needs to be amplified for point of emphasis. Compare the ease with which own can be either extended or amplified in comparison to "defeat" in the sentence "I am going to own you!".
In terms of morphology, own, has a broad mix of options in terms of affixation. As a verb it can be used with both -ing and -ed endings as well as being able to be used to refer to someone in the third person as in "Peter owns Paul at fishing". It can take the derivational suffixes -age ([ownɪʤ͡]) or -ing turning it into a noun. "Did you see that total ownage?" which would be equivalent to saying "Did you see that resounding defeat?" is a grammatical use of this word. The nonstandard suffix -erific ([ownɪɻɪfɪk]) allows own to be used as an adjective. Most likely this is the result of a blend with the word terrific. So in theory the phrase "That was ownerific ownage that he dealt out." could be produced, though it would be unlikely. The prefixes un- and re- are both grammatical uses as well. Somebody who has been defeated again has been "reowned" and if victory was either revoked or snatched away at the last moment somebody could be "unowned".
As a word own carries with it a certain connotation. If I were to say that "I owned" something, it would mean at a surface level that I was successful in a struggle, be it against man or term paper, but it would not mean a simple victory but more of a total conquest, in other words I was not just successful, I was very successful. Own as verb always carries the need for a theme to a sentence. It is not enough to say "*Henry V owned." it must be said what Henry V owned. A grammatical use would be "Henry V owned the French at the Battle of Agincourt".
How did it develop? It is possible it was taken from the idea that victory results in possession (I won + I possess it = I own it, perhaps?). However it came about though, it is now part of the lexicon of its speakers. Who uses this term though? This word is common among a fairly small subset of U.S. English speakers. The primary users appear to be males between the ages of 14 and 24 who are or were active video gamers. Own is used almost exclusively in an informal context and in gaming it is commonly used to describe the demise of an onscreen character. Although it has seeped out of the context of video games, this word has not gained broad representation among different sexes or age groups therefore as a word it hovers between jargon and slang. The popularity of own within its field could be attributed to its brief and descriptive nature, discussed above. In a culture where economy of words is valued this word provides a quick and versatile lexical item to this subgroup.
Slang and jargon pass in and out of language quickly. Few of the terms coined last more than a few years and those that do might lose some aspects of their original nature in their preserved state. These terms are the same, it may be that app falls out of favor and instead only its long form, application, remains. They are also frequently looked down upon by those who seek to uphold a standard in a language and resist change. However new words are always added to a language, slang and jargon included. And however much their transient nature, slang and jargon, are valuable in the ways that they allow the speaker a way to express him- or herself and engage in communication.

A warning

2010-05-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Ah, the follies of youth! As I prepared for my day I looked to the outside and thought, "it appears cloudy but so it also looked yesterday, and that day was quite hot. I will not need my coat. Instead I will celebrate a beautiful day in May.". So did I dress accordingly, in garb appropriate for a warm day. Foolish was I to not remember that the weather of Portland in Spring is wanton and cruel to the unwary, luring them outdoors with promises of sunshine and then rendering them waterlogged. Ah, the follies of youth, that I fell for her cruel trap.

A Video for Thought

2010-05-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

I watched this video in class yesterday and I found the first few minutes where the speaker talks about the brain to be some of the most moving descriptions of the complexity of the human brain I have ever heard. The last two or so minutes where she draws her conclusions I would disagree with her at a philosophical level. All the same it is quite fascinating.

Middle-Eastern Studies Essay One

2010-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first essay that I wrote for my Middle-Eastern Studies class last quarter. The assignment was to explain the rapid rise of Islam; how it went from a small following to a world power in a matter of decades.

Islam in the Formation of a Civilization

Islam began in the early seventh century in the Arabian city of Mecca as a small,
persecuted group of believers fiercely following the message proclaimed by their leader
Muhammad of a single god. Out of this belief came personal devotion to him and a new social
order. By the eighth century it had grown out of Arabia and stretched from Spain to India. Today
it is one of the world's largest religions. How did this small movement so quickly and
overwhelmingly expand into what it is today? The message given by Muhammad, the social
framework established in the Qur'an and its behavior towards the people around it, gave the new
religion the legs on which it could stand and eventually burst forth onto the stage of world
history.

At the heart is the Qur'an. The revelations given to Muhammad. Its content ranged from
the Oneness of god and his power to how Muslims should operate in their daily existence. Those
that followed the message were not following a mild new faith. It required them to turn away
from the other gods around them and live in accordance with the message. The Muslim's
rejection of what was then the heart of Mecca, the worship of the gods there and the revenue that
was gathered from others making pilgrimages to those shrines, did not endear them to the leaders
of the community. Fazur Rahman (1966) in his introduction to the history of Islam points out
that the oligarchy of Mecca feared and persecuted Muhammad for his direct attack on the
traditions of the city and their commercial interests. His follower's fared no better. However, the
persecutions did not keep new people from joining the Muslim community. To be a part of the
community required more than a nominal observance. Roy Mottahedeh (1984) observes that,
“Islam left little room for compartmentalization or separation of life into sacred or secular spheres...” (pp. 55). Islam took precedence of all things and influenced every aspect of a
person's life; all was to be placed in submission to god. Once established, that level of centrality
is not easily replaced. The pillars of Islam: the declaration of faith; daily prayers; annual fasting;
the pilgrimage to Mecca (for those who able to); and the giving of an offering from one's wealth
for the poor for the betterment of the community all combine for a powerful experience. They
created a shared experience that tied the community together and gave the individual believer the
chance to practice his or her faith in a way that solidified their resolve.

In the Qur'an, Muhammad spoke not only of personal and communal devotion to god but
also to society as a whole. When Muhammad began his mission, Mecca was the seat of a highly
profitable trade route between the kingdom of Yemen and the empires of Byzantium and Persia.
It was rich and stratified, with the poor being mistreated and overlooked. Rahman (1984)
describes Mecca at the time of the first revelations as a place of great wealth differences,
dishonest trade practices and a wealthy class that cared not for the poor, orphans or the
oppressed. From the very beginning, Muhammad spoke out against these practices. So it was
among the ones that the Meccan society at large ignored that the Prophet found the people who
were to make up the majority of the early Muslims. It was not the wealthy or those with great
status that heard the call of Muhammad. Rather, it was people who were not viable members of
the economic and social life of Mecca. In his account of the life of Muhammad, Hazrat Mirza
Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad (n.d.) puts it this way about the early converts, “In his Message
and in his teaching there was hope for the degraded, the depressed and the young....Young men
thought the avenues of progress were going to be thrown open to them.” (11). Here was a
message that they could spring for; it was not a message only for the rich but also for the
marginalized. As time progressed the message for all, even the low, was not lost: fair treatment of the poor remained a frequent command and the giving of alms became one of the five pillars
of the faith.

Women in Arabia at that time had a low status. Though the standards that the Qur'an set
forth might not impress a current Westerner, it set to improve the lot of women. William
Cleveland and Martin Bunton (2009) illustrate that under Islam women saw polygamy curtailed,
divorce regulations put in place and were given legal status as capable of inheriting from the
estate of a family member. Though not the most drastic measures taken it was a great
improvement. Though women were not placed as equals in the Qur'an they gained by following
this new faith.

As well as dealing with social issues, it cannot be overlooked that Muhammad was
simultaneously building the foundations of a state. In moving to Medina from Mecca,
Muhammad was placing himself not only as the leader of the religious life of the Muslims but
was also taking the role of civic leader. The Qur'an speaks of Judgment Day but is not silent
about the way Muslim society is to function. Cleveland and Bunton(2009) say that, “[The]
Quranic revelations were intended to direct all the affairs of the ummah [Muslim community],
including relations among other human beings.” (pp. 26) and that, in legal and state matters, the
action being performed was not a secular but religious action for the Muslim.(12) The latter
section of the Qur'an, written while in Medina, contains a greater emphasis on these aspects. And
though it was not comprehensive in the creation of a complete civic code, between it and the
examples of Muhammad that were written down (called the hadith) there was a sufficient
framework for the sophistication of Islamic law in the following years.

As the Muslims were unifying themselves, Arabia was not a unified whole. There were
many tribes with different religions, and social obligations that stretched only as far as the tribe.Inter-tribal conflicts were common. Medina, at the time of Muhammad was locked in civil war
between the Aus and Khazraj tribes (Rahman, 1984). Islam gave a unifying feature to the
landscape. Under the leadership of Muhammad the people were a part of the larger Muslim
community and not simply one tribe or another. Within this community all were Muslims and
subject to the commands of the Qur'an and the judgment of Muhammad. As it expanded, more
and more tribes converted to Islam, and though the unity was not perfect it was a drastic change
from the prior conditions in the region. It gave Muhammad and his successors a fairly unified
group to lead in the often militaristic expansion of Islam.

During its expansion Islam encountered other religions along its path. Polytheism was not
tolerated. Since the belief in one god is so central to Islam, polytheism was a direct enemy of the
faith. Islam was, though, fairly tolerant of the other major monotheistic religions in the area.
Christians and Jews were “People of the Book”; co-believers in the one true god, albeit their
views were seen as distorted. As Islam came to dominate the area there was no persecution from
the Muslims so long as the others lived in harmony with them. Rahman (1984) explains that
when Muhammad established himself at Medina he signed a charter with the Jews of the city.
Muhammad was placed as the overall leader of the city but the Jews were allowed to function as
a separate community who were to come to the defense of Medina should the need arise.
However, on two occasions the Jews were accused of siding with the Meccans and in a third
instance openly did so. For those breaks of faith they were treated harshly. They were not equals
in the community though. Annemarie Schimmel (1992) points out that as non-Muslims they
were, among other restrictions, required to pay a special land tax and were not allowed to build
new places of worship. However due to many Christian's differing theology from that of
Byzantium, being under the rule of Islam was sometimes more advantageous than being under the Christian Byzantine empire. They were allowed to worship as they would in relative security
but as second class citizens.

The message of Islam was one that was to be spread throughout the world. The world was
divided into the world of Islam and the world of unbelief, and it was the duty of the Muslims to
bring in a unified world of Islam. As Islam expanded it encountered non-Arabs, particularly
during the conquests following the death of Muhammad. Though some felt that Islam was to be
simply an Arabic religion, such as the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty, the message itself was a
universal one. As non-Arabs converted they were added to the community. As Muslims they
were held to the same laws and tried in the same courts. For the conquered there was inclusion
into the system of the conquerors. Giving them a chance to utilize the structures of Islam to
advance in position.

In 610 C.E. not many in Mecca would have supposed that the message brought by
Muhammad would, with such astounding speed, cover the territory that it did. But with the
message's unifying nature in the pursuit of a higher calling, structuring of daily life and the
treatment of other religions and minorities around it, Islam prevented the community from
collapsing after the death of Muhammad and gave Muslims the basis on which they could
expand out into the world.

References
Ahmad, Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud (n.d.). The life of Muhammad. Rabwah, Pakistan:
The Ahmadiyya Mulim Foreign Missions Office, Tahrid-I-jadid
Cleveland, W. L. & Bunton, M. (2009). A history of the modern Middle East (4th ed.). Boulder,
CO: Westview Press.
Mottahedeh, R. P. (1984). The Foundations of state and society. In M. Kelly (Ed.), Islam: The
religious and political life of a world community (pp. 55-72). New York, NY: Praeger.
Rahman, F. (1966). Islam New York, NY; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Rahman, F (1984). The message and the messenger. In M. Kelly (Ed.), Islam: The religious and
political life of a world community (pp. 29-54). New York, NY: Praeger.
Schimmel, A. (1992). Islam: An introduction. (A Schimmel Trans.) Albany, NY: State
University of New York. (Origional work published 1990.)

Seeing as the Olympics are well under way...

2010-02-18T00:26:00.000-08:00

it is about time to show my colors.

Photo 1.

2010-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Aceh Besar, Aceh, Indonesia

2010-02-05T12:30:00.001-08:00

The first signs of Spring are coming.

For my Dad

2010-01-09T00:14:00.000-08:00

From Opus:

Fellows, if your wife is ever in the hospital and you want to prove to her, once and for all, that you love her, spend the night on that “couch” next to her bed. The bruises and shooting pains should be proof enough of your unconditional love and adoration.

My Dad did this two nights in a row this last December. He is that cool.
Happy Birthday!

Keyboard

2009-12-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of what my keyboard looks like:

Here is a picture of how it operates:

It gets a bit confusing.

To Fox

2009-12-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Fox Broadcasting Corporation,

Several years you had on your network a unique and brilliant show called Firefly. Though I did not see it then I have since watched it. Firefly quickly became one of my favorite shows. I am saddened that it only lasted about one season because of its low ratings.

Now this year there is a new show out. It started in February. It is called Dollhouse. And though it did take a while to get going and has a plot-line that is difficult track for a first time viewer it has now also shown itself to be an original, relevant, thought provoking and downright enjoyable show.

Now imagine my dismay when it became known that you would be canceling Dollhouse at the end of its second season. I was worried that it might happen. People had been drawing parellels to Firefly, saying that Dollhouse also awaited a premature end. I hoped that they were wrong. But they weren't.

My question now is: Why? Why cancel a show with so much potential and dedicated viewers? Why not rather build it up? Move it to a better night (it must be agreed upon that Friday night is a dead zone for television) and build up some excitement, rather than shove it off into a corner and quietly pull its plug.

Truly, my question is: Why do you hate my life?

Sincerely,

An 18-25 year old male

P.S. Could you please bring back Firefly for a more seasons?

The adventures that come with doing yard work

2009-11-02T22:50:00.000-08:00

I was sitting on my friend's roof today. As coming down was becoming the order of business I noticed something. I had gone up the ladder with the legs parralel with the house so if I were to put my foot on it I would be putting my weight on two of the ladder legs. Bad news. So I sat there, pondering the merits of trying to get down the ladder to jumping off the roof. Then the neighbor came and held the ladder for me. Problem solved.

Shakings

2009-10-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Padang. Samoa.

Inspired by Erik over at untitled...

2009-10-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

What are your favorite spaceships? What makes these spaceships so special to you?

Bonus: Draw your own spaceship and post it.

From the National Geographic

2009-09-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture and I thought it would give an image of what I was around in Indonesia. The picture was taken at a gas station in West Sumatera.

2009-09-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today, I put away my backpack.

Anne of Green Gables and Contextualization (a more than slightly protentious title I suppose)

2009-08-18T01:41:00.000-07:00

Marilla felt more embarrassed than eveer. She had intended to teach Anne the childish classic, "Now I lay me down to sleep." But she had, as I have told you, the glimmerings of a sense of humor - which is simply another name for the fitness of things; and it suddenly occurred to her that that simple little prayer, sacred to white-robed childhood lisping at motherly knees, was entirely unsuited to this freckled witch of a girl who knew and cared nothing about God's love, since she had never had it translated to her through the medium of human love.

Written Between Classes (A Bit of Nonsense for the Day)

2009-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Joe Schmo has a dodo.
His dodo performs boat shows.
What a blow to Joe Schmo,
If his dodo (who does boat shows)
Should fall in the snow
And get ice up its nose

A Request

2009-07-01T22:37:00.000-07:00

Do any of you my wise and diverse readers have any ideas for readings, several paragraphs, no more than two pages, I could assign to my students. They are adults and have a good grasp on English and I think readings would be a helpful addition.
Here are the boundaries:

Appropriate (not that I am really worried that any of you would suggest what is not.)
Accessible on-line. So I can either copy, paste, print or give the web address.
Not overly difficult. But still challenging is fine.

Aside from these the whole world is yours. I would like to hear your ideas.

If You Know Me You Will Know What This Means

2009-05-13T08:45:00.001-07:00

Some Tidbits of Random

2009-05-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

I ate one of these. A few hours later my stomach felt a little weird.

So are you a nerd if you are excited to download a spreadsheet of the International Phonetic Alphabet? Because I just did and I was very excited. Of course I have no idea what most of the sounds are or what they mean when they say, "labio-dental flap" but it is still cool that these sounds encompass most of human speech. Yes, my Grandfather is a speech pathologist and my friends are linguists.

So I found out about the world's most expensive coffee a few weeks ago. It comes from southern Sumatra, among other places. And yes it is first eaten and then passed out of an animals system. But when they only eat the best you know you have the best bean. See more from Wikipedia here.

I'm now something of an official teacher. It is a strange feeling. Any teacherly types have some advice for the young one?

A Little Pop Culture

2009-03-22T01:28:00.001-07:00

So this is "Idola Cilik 2". Roughly translated to Children Idol. These are the two finalists performing.

Modes of Transportation

2009-03-08T01:10:00.000-08:00

There are about a million of these trucks, and their variations, around here.

So there are probably deeper thougts I could express right now but this is what is really on my mind

2009-03-08T00:56:00.000-08:00

I really want to listen to the new U2 album. In its entirety, at loud volume. A whole lot. But I can't track it down. Not that I am looking very hard. And since my browser has decided to not use sound I can't listen to it on their MySpace. What am I to do?

On Wells and Trips

2009-02-08T16:48:00.000-08:00

13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" 16 So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD. 17 "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty men.

I never used to understand this passage. What an ungrateful wretch David must be to pour out this water that his men had just risked their lives for. They had worked so hard for that water, for David to just pour it out on the ground seemed bizarre to me. Why didn't he just drink it? Now I think I better understand this passage. Having asked from people their support for a trip that I feel God is calling me to I was not prepared for what would come. People did give and they keep on giving, they say they will pray for me, they throw me parties, they say they will miss me and all I want to say is that I do not feel worth any of this in the least. I want to do what David did and just pour the gifts on the ground before God and say, "Far be it from me to do this...". Though I suppose you could say with good reason that they are not really giving to me but to God they have still chosen that this particular thing is how they want to give to God. I doubt many of the people involved would have given directly to where I am going but now that I am going there they have taken interest, at least by sharing their hard earned money. Money? Isn't there one of the worst global recessions in years going on? Aren't people losing their jobs and homes right and left? Shouldn't have these good friends looked after their futures and their families rather than give it to some upstart kid? The kid that isn't even totally sure all the time God really called him and what he felt isn't just some TCK three year itch. It doesn't make sense. I am completely humbled. There has been no parallel, that I have experienced, to compare to this current circumstance. I want to do what David did but I can't. So now I go. Hopefully more in tune with what I should be doing, with God. The Mighty Men just wanted to get someone that they loved and respected some water that he had asked for, but David seeing all of that devotion displayed knew immediately that he did not deserve it. I don't deserve it either. Thank-you all the same though. We shall just have to see how God uses this I suppose.

Fun With Paint

2009-01-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

I've been having some fun with Paint lately and I thought I would share my creations with the world. So here you go world.

Nerdy, no? Bonus points to the people who figure out the jokes or stories within the pictures. Especially the "Women of the Future" piece.

Snow

2008-12-21T01:33:00.000-08:00

Right now there is snow on the ground. Not in the tiny amounts it usually is when it snows around here. No. There are some two foot drifts in some areas and at least four inches in most places. And now, late at night, the whole sky is glowing with an orange hue as the street lights reflect off the snow back into the cloudy sky. I want to go for a walk in it right now, but that is neither safe nor smart. So now I must watch it for the final few minutes I have left in this day.
I don't know why it is that snow excites me as much as it does. Perhaps it is memories of days gone by. But even though I do have fond memories of snow I do not think that is the reason why. This late at night I doubt I will find the reason for my love of snow so let it be suffice to say that snow excites me, and is a blessed gift from above.

Darlin’ Christmas is coming
Salvation army bells are ringing
Darlin’ Christmas is coming
Do you believe in angels singing
Darlin’ the snow is falling
Falling like forgiveness from the sky

Go Blazers (Update)

2008-12-04T17:14:00.001-08:00

Being a Blazers fan is a difficult life, full of all the ups and downs (mostly downs for far too many seasons) that come with sports. But over the past two years there has been a surge of hope within me that, perhaps, greatness will come again to Portland.

P.S. After I posted this video the next time I saw any report of the Blazers they had been solidly trounced. The irony of it all.

Since Posting A Video Is A Lot Easier Than Actually Writing Something

2008-12-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

Batman

2008-11-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Unrealistic. I think not. The week preceding the release to The Dark Knight it seemed as though it was going to save the world and rock your socks off at the same time. And even though it has been out for a few months I think it still has this aura around it of overwhelming greatness. At least if you ask the right person about the movie.
If you happen to be bumping around YouTube one day, check out this guys channel. His videos are great; nothing like a series featuring comic book characters.

It Is The Day Before Election Day (Ballot Blues)

2008-11-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

I am attempting to vote. Can I choose this guy? He is an up and coming Senator with strong morals and a drive to see things through to the end. He takes on the corrupt even if he is the only one who is trying. He stands for the poor and beaten down; a peoples man. But where is he now? Drat you Frank Capra for giving me romantic notions about politics.
Ironically enough there was a man running for a local office in my city by the name of Jefferson Smith, but he isn't on my ballot.
I will be glad when this is all over. I like the fact that I can choose my officials but it is awful tiresome when supporters of both major parties predict end of the world scenarios dare I cast my vote for the other party. (To be fair the link only gives one side's view, but I'm sure you can find a suitable companion somewhere on the web.)
The other names on the list for President aren't that appealing either. (Nader, McKinney, Barr, Baldwin)
By the way: If you are eligible to vote and haven't done so I would recommend it as a learning experience. It is doing me good. I can't sit in quite as much ignorance as usual concerning matters of government in my city, county, state and country. For instance I didn't know that I could vote for Secretary of State, much less know what that office is responsible for.
But after all of the deals go down tomorrow this is still going for me:

...confirm it in your heart and soul that the day after the election, God is still on His throne, and Jesus is still at His right hand. Certain things are not on the ballot, as the sovereignty of God is not. When Christians react to elections with despair and panic, they are demonstrated that their faith is in the wrong place. If the election goes badly, do not soak your hair with lighter fluid, set it off, and then run in tight, little circles. Be a Christian. If the election goes well, do not act you have just been saved. Salvation is not something that Caesar holds in his hand, whether to give or withhold.

Via Opus.

Look what you find when you go wandering through Wikipedia

2008-09-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

This is the flag for "The Most Serene Republic of Venice". Pretty cool flag wouldn't you say?

More flags that you probably have never seen, representing countries you probably haven't heard of, can be found here.

Lamentations 3

2008-09-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

Instant gratification. That is a phrase that has been kicking around in my head today. In my American mind the desire to want things now, quickly and as soon as possible. Give me results or I will think of it as a failure. This mindset is widespread. It is evident in the way I live and in the products around me. I choose to drive rather than walk forty minutes, though a walk could be beneficial. I can buy an assortment of TV dinners to put into my microwave, rather than cook my own meal. There is fast food and pornography. The culture of the U.S. wants what it wants when it wants it.

Does this do harm to my life? I think it has an effect overall, at least, and in some places is harmful. Specifically in my walk with God. I pray and that God will answer me now is my wish. What happens though, when the prayer is not answered as soon as possible? When I do not feel closer to God today, as opposed to yesterday. Am I willing to wait, heaven forbid, two weeks? A year? Until after I am dead? (Though at that point I suppose I will not be waiting anymore. But you see the point.) If growth is not immediate, if prayers are not answered quickly will I then think that God does not answer my prayers or work in my life? I surely hope not.
At lunch today a man was talking about how sometimes it took years of prayer for some people in the Bible to see their prayers come to fruition. Am I capable of waiting? At age forty Moses thought he was ready to lead the Hebrew people but it was only after forty more years tending sheep in the dessert that God called to him from the burning bush.

What shall I do then? Try, I suppose. Learn what it means to wait on the Lord. What does that look like? I still don't know for sure.

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Home

2008-08-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

Eight years and two days. That is a long time.

I miss it.

Religion or Relationship? Or Both?

2008-06-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

I found this link via Opus.
Take some time to read the comments, they are fascinating and challenging.

The (poke) war is over

2008-05-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

So my Facebook page was disabled today. And I think that I shall not bother to restart it. At least for a while. I will soak up the ease on my time. (Though now I am spending time talking about now having more free time. Is that Irony?)
So Facecul - I mean Facebook: Farewell.

Quote

2008-04-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

"Do you feel any need to leave the Shire now-now that your wish to see them has come true already?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. I don't know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back. It isn't to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want-I don't rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me."

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. J.R.R. Tolkien.

Happy Valentines Day From the Knights

2008-02-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

In case anybody didn't know Knights: Season 2 is up and running over at this little site. But that is not why I called this little meeting. The reason is that I would like to wish everybody a happy Valentines Day, Knights style.

English 104: Finals Edition

2008-02-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here we have the final of the final papers, for my English class. This essay is an one thousand word minimum, compare and contrast essay, comparing and contrasting the various literary elements of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "Good Country People". Both are excellent by the way and I highly recommend them.
Having already explained the requirements of the essay I now give you: The Essay

Nothingness and Redemption

Flannery O’Connor created two great works of art with the publishing of “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People”. And within these two works of art she has a similar theme of the Salvation, or Redemption, of the protagonist in response to the evils committed by villains who have no belief. To present this theme she uses some similar elements of the two stories and some very different. Exploring the characters, conflicts and symbolism of the two stories this paper hopes to reveal perhaps some new level of understanding towards these two stellar works of literature.

On the surface the protagonists of the two stories, Hulga and the Grandmother don’t seem like very similar people, one is a Grandmother, a lady, as she calls herself, who looks back fondly (almost too fondly) on days gone when people were nicer and a good man was easier to find. On the other hand Hulga is rude, has a Doctorate in Philosophy, and loves the idea of nothing. There is not much similar in these two descriptions but they have a similarity not mentioned: Both characters are shallower than they believe. For all of her university training Hulga is not a true believer in nothing. She just knows words to say. This is shown by her shock in Manly’s change of behavior, from a simpleton and Bible salesman to someone who declares about the truth he sells, “I hope you don’t think I believe that crap! I may sell Bibles but I know which end is up and I wasn’t born yesterday and I know where I’m going!” leaving Hulga alone, “sitting on the straw in the dusty sunlight.” (O’Connor 1030). Similarly the Grandmother would like to think of herself as a good person, but it takes her encounter with The Misfit to really make her a good person. All throughout her encounter with The Misfit she begs and pleads not for the life of her family but for The Misfit to spare her life. Near the end of her life she cries, “You’ve got good blood! I know you wouldn’t shoot a lady! I’ll give you all the money I’ve got!” (O’Connor 1041). A key point of difference between these two characters is that the Grandmother’s transformation is described while the changes in Hulga’s life can only be assumed. But it is a sure thing that her life has to change after her experience in the barn with Manly.

The Misfit and Manly both act as catalysts for change in the lives of the protagonists but they have a key difference: Manly is not searching for anything except a good time. He is a firm believer in nothing. The Misfit on the other hand looks at his life and says, “It’s no real pleasure in life.” (O’Connor 1041). As for question of Jesus The Misfit seems to believe he exists but can’t decide if he did what the Bible says he did. This indecision even causes him great distress. As he says, “Jesus was the only one that ever raised the dead…and he shouldn’t have done it. He thrown everything off balance. If He did what he said, then it’s nothing for you to do but thow away everything and follow Him, and if He didn’t, then it’s nothing you can do but to enjoy the few minutes you got left the best you can by killing somebody or burning down his house or doing some other meanness to him. No pleasure but meanness.” (O’Connor 1041). But he can’t even enjoy his meanness no matter how many people he kills. Manly on the other hand cares not for Jesus in any way nor is he looking for a way to justify what he does. He may be a Bible salesman but he sure doesn’t believe what in what he sells.

Before a villain is ever encountered, conflicts arises between the protagonists of the stories and their families. Both Hulga and the Grandmother rub against their families like sandpaper, Hulga because of her ugly attitude and the Grandmother because of her constant griping, wishing for the good days. Both of these earlier conflicts could be described as the things that the protagonists need to be saved from. On a deeper level though, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and "Good Country People" share another conflict: both of their female protagonists come face to face with villains and the nothingness they believe in. In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” the poor mixed up Grandmother’s encounter with The Misfit destroys her but in the end also brings her to repentance: “[The Misfit’s] voice seemed about to crack and the grandmother’s head cleared for an instant. She saw the man’s face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, ‘Why you’re one of my babies. You’re one of my own children!’ She reached out and touched him on the shoulder.” (O’Connor 1041). She is immediately killed after this action but the change in her is clear. In “Good Country People” the conflict doesn’t lead to as dramatic of a change but Hulga’s encounter with Manly Pointer does change her. It changes her by Manly razing Hulga’s lofty intellectual ideas of nothing and showing what believing in nothing really looks like; he does this by being himself. In the end he declares to Hulga as he is leaving her stranded in the barn, “‘And I’ll tell you another thing Hulga,' he said, using the name as if he didn't think much of it, 'you ain’t so smart. I been believing in nothing ever since I was born!’” (O’Connor 1030).

The symbolism of these two encounters is very interesting especially considering Flannery O’Connor’s firm belief in God which cannot be excluded when analyzing her stories. It is intriguing when looking at the antagonists of the two stories, Manly Pointer and The Misfit, that in a very strange way despite their despicable ways, they act as saviors for the protagonists. In the case of Manly Pointer, he might believe in nothing, but he also removes Hulga’s ability to stand on her own faulty beliefs in nothing. As she says to Manly before he shows his true self, “We are all damned…But some of us have taken off our blindfolds and see that there is nothing to see. It’s a kind of salvation.” (O’Connor 1028). But it is only when Manly symbolically pulls off her blindfold by taking away her leg, and showing her real nothing that she can move on to a true salvation. The Misfit also serves as a Messiah for the Grandmother. The Misfit does this by forcing the Grandmother in the end to come to a place where she can see the world unselfishly and reach out in love. Also in the action it is possible that the saved might also be the savior. For it is only after the Grandmother calls him her own that he sees that, “It’s no real pleasure in life.” (O’Connor 1041). After being touched by someone who truly loved him, even if it was for just a moment, he can now never be the same. There is a symbol not dealing with salvation that is exclusive to “Good Country People” and that is Hulga’s false leg. Her leg might literally be her means of getting around after the accident that took away the real limb, but deeper than that, it is her crutch, something she can stabilize her life around. O’Connor describes Hulga’s attitude towards her leg as, “[S]he was as sensitive about the artificial leg as a peacock about his tail. No one ever touched it but her. She took care of it as someone else would his soul, in private and almost with her own eyes turned away.” (O’Connor 1028). Her leg was her stability and before her experience with Manly she was stable, stable in her intellectual superiority and her firm belief in nothing. She even smugly tells Manly, when he asks if she is saved, “In my economy…I’m saved and you are damned but I told you I didn’t believe in God.” (O’Connor 1026). But when Manly takes away her leg she shows that it was all a weak belief because she might say she believes in nothing but she expects others to behave like they say they do (Therefore a belief in something). Such as when Manly shows his true character she says angrily to him, “You’re a Christian! … You’re a fine Christian! You’re just like them all - say one thing and do another. You’re a perfect Christian, You’re…” (O’Connor 1029). It is in this encounter that Hulga finds out that to truly believe in nothing it will take away everything she holds dear.

“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Good Country People” share similarities but they are not interchangeable. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” focuses on the redemption of its leads, where “Good Country People” is more about the destructiveness of disbelief and the start towards redemption. But even with these differences “Good Country People” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” both serve as excellent parables of redemption and the emptiness of life that comes with a belief in nothing.

Works Cited

O’Connor, Flannery. “Good Country People.” The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. 7^th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 1016-1030.

O’Connor, Flannery. “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.” The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. 7^th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 1030- 1041.

History 101: Finals Edition

2008-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

For this class I was supposed to write a book review on any book off of the pre-approved book list or find my own acceptable one. I chose the book list. On it I found a book called The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. It looked interesting so I chose it. Having the whole term to read the book and do the report I naturally waited until the last three or so weeks to really get going on the project. But I did manage to get it done in time and turned it in right before doing the final. The only qualifications were that it should be from about three to five pages and that I review the book and not just recap it.
Here it is.

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes: Life from the Other Side

In The Crusades Through Arab Eyes the author Amin Mallouf presents a history of the crusades from the time of the Frankish invasion of Palestine in the year 1096 on through to the end of Frankish occupation in the year 1291. Throughout this history Maalouf sets out to, in his own words, “To tell the story of the Crusades as they were seen, lived, and recorded on ‘the other side’ - in other words, in the Arab camp.” (xi). Maalouf carries out his task in a very compelling way. Maalouf’s narrative moves along nicely from event to event in the two hundred years of war with the Franks. His forward is brief and to the point, describing what he wishes to do with the book and sets up the main emphasis of the epilogue. In this forward he describes his philosophy, “Rather than offer yet another history book, I have sought to write, from a hitherto neglected point of view, what might be called the ‘true-life-novel’ of the Crusades, of those two centuries of turmoil that shaped the West and the Arab world alike, and that affect relations between them even today.” (Maalouf xi). And he does present the history more as a novel than a textbook although he does not forsake academic integrity, as seen when one of his sources gave the death toll of an Arab city in the hundreds of thousands, Maalouf interjects with, “Ibn al-Athir’s figures are obviously fantastic, for the city’s population at the time of its fall was probably less than ten thousand.” (Maalouf 39). Which brings up a very important part of the book: Maalouf consistently cites the accounts of Arab scholars or historians from the time of the Crusades. By doing this Maalouf gives the narrative an authentic tone and also by giving the reactions he presents some of the culture of the Arabs at the time. Within the text there are no footnotes, although at the end he goes chapter by chapter giving notes and sources for each chapter, if he uses an Arabic word he defines it within the narrative. Maalouf does not insert maps during the story but rather has one map at the very beginning of the book giving the political map of the Middle-East in the time of the Crusades and one at the end presenting the current political map of the Middle-East. Within the main body of the text, the background he gives on certain events is very interesting. Such as when to adequately describe one of the instances of the infighting that went on in the Arab camp he goes into the back story of the Assassins sect, the radical cult of devoted killers.

As his story begins, Maalouf opens with a prologue that is set three years after the start of the Crusades. And in this prologue he presents a kind of overview of much of what happens throughout the book. He presents the cries of the faithful of Islam, hoping for those in power to unleash justice on their invaders, and their disappointment when those leaders turn a deaf ear to their plea. Perhaps most importantly he introduces one of his many contemporary sources. For it is after he does this that he proceeds to go back three years to where it all began.

As chapter one begins Maalouf opens with a quote by the chronicler from the prologue. In this quote Maalouf foreshadows much of the first chapters, namely the trickle of terror that starts to run through the land of the Arabs as the Crusaders enter their territory. From that point on he moves sequentially through the entire occupation of the Holy Land by the Crusaders. The perspective he gives for the Crusades is very interesting partly because of the sources he uses and how he presents them. For instead of taking in all of his research and paraphrasing it all, he instead lets the people of the times speak for themselves much of the time. This does not mean that he does not have his own words for what is going on throughout the book but he will first let the witnesses of the events speak for themselves, then he will go about interpreting the information given. This way of presenting his information is very satisfying and vital for his main objective of giving the perspective of, “The other side” (Maalouf xi).

While he is not hesitant to show the faults of the Crusading armies (and there were many to be sure) he also is willing to bring into the light the flaws of the Middle-Eastern armies, such as the wars of succession that followed the death of nearly every leader mentioned throughout the book. Maalouf does have a sort of bias in favor of the Arabs throughout the account though, but it is not without reason. It is very difficult to not feel sympathy for the invaded peoples for they were so advanced in almost every way over the Crusaders, only to be invaded by an army brutal enough to, in one instance Maalouf cites, describing the Crusaders, the self proclaimed ‘defenders of Christendom, fighting even with the “Christian” empire of Byzantium, “All the Rum [Byzantines] were killed or despoiled… some of their notables, pursued by the Franj, attempted to seek refuge in the great church they call Sophia. A group of priests and monks came out … begging the attackers to spare their lives, but the Franj paid no heed to their entreaties. They massacred them all and plundered the church.” Maalouf (221, 222). It is these instances when his bias can seem very justifiable.

In conclusion, the book is well written though sometimes I would get lost for a couple pages, not clearly seeing what was going on in the narrative. This usually came about due to the many different names presented to me that with which I was not familiar. So the fault is not really the authors. Aside from this though, his book is an insightful look on events that should be taken into account even today when considering the affairs of the Middle-East. He even mentions this in his epilogue, in which he spends much of its time talking about the effects the Crusades had on both East and West and the differences between the two societies. He ends the epilogue with the dramatic phrase, “And there can be no doubt that the schism between these two worlds dates from the Crusades, deeply felt by the Arabs, even today, as an act of rape.” (Maalouf 266). And that is one of history’s purposes as a science is it not? To better understand the events of today through the lens of the past.

Works Cited

Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades through Arab Eyes. New York: Schocken Books, 1984

Writing 121: Finals Edition

2008-02-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

So here we have it. The first of my three final papers that I had to turn in. I was going to edit it according to my teachers suggestions but I haven't. It was positive overall so an edit wouldn't do too much, just help the readability and flow a little more.
This paper is a research paper that was supposed to deal with identity and force or in other words, humans and conflict. Regardless I chose to do my paper, after much conflict and mind changing, on the country of Slovakia and the effects that communism had on it. The length requirement was five pages and it was supposed to draw on at least three academic articles and two full length texts. You would not belive how few articles there are on the effects of communism on Slovakia or even eastern Europe in general. Nonetheless I finished it at five a.m. on the morning it was due and turned it in at ten a.m.
So without further ado I present to you my essay.

Slovakia & Communism

In 1939 Slovakia was a peaceful, pristine country composed of approximately 50% agrarian economy. By 1993 Slovakia was a country full of factories high-rise apartments, densely packed cities and an economy centered on industry. What happened in the intervening 54 years that brought such dramatic change to this small central European nation? It is my intent to show in this paper that the changes in Slovakia were a direct result of the communist regime. In this paper I will use periodicals, books and journals to present a short history of Slovakia, a brief description of typical communist practices, in demonstrate the impact communism had on the Slovak nation and people.

If Slovakia’s history could be summed up into one phrase it could very well be the history of a people conquered by those around them. From the early middle-ages through 1918 Slovakia was ruled by the Magyar (or Hungarian) empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

A truly Slovak history begins with the formation of the Greater Moravian Empire during the year 833. In his book, A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival, Stanislav Kirschbaum describes Moravia’s short but violent history this way, “In oral Slovak tradition, its existence takes precedence over its short history; expressed in another way, this means that the Slovaks remember that they had a state in the ninth century but they hardly know its history” (Kirschbaum 26). The Empire of Great Moravia lasted for only seventy-four years but was able to give Slovakia a start point for a formal history and the formation of a national identity. The end of the Moravian empire in 907 came about at the hands of the Magyars and Kirschbaum points out that, “The history of the Slovaks after the fall of Great Moravia became interlocked until the twentieth century in the history of the Hungarian state.” (Kirschbaum 38). Tied to the history of Hungary for over a thousand years Slovakia was still able to develop its own language and culture. During this time the Magyars fell to the Austrian Empire which eventually made way for the combined monarchy of Austro-Hungary. After the end of World War I in 1918 the Allied powers divided the territory of the defeated powers and one of those powers was the Austro-Hungarian Empire which was the current ruler of Slovakia. The fallen empire was divided into several smaller states according to the treaty of Versailles and one of those states was the country of Czechoslovakia: a country made up of what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Within Czechoslovakia the Slovak portion was given the short end of the stick. The policies of the government heavily favored the Czech role in the country. Necessary improvements were made in Slovakia and it was brought further along in modernization but in comparison to the state funds spent on Czech lands it is plain to see that there was a certain amount of favoritism on the Czech part. As Europe was tensing during Hitler’s pre war years Czechoslovakia was not forgotten. A primarily German region of Czechoslovakia called Sudentenland was annexed by Nazi Germany. Fearing that the state, not able even to protect itself, would not be able to protect Slovak interests, Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia. (Kirschbaum 180) Slovakia’s independence that started in 1939 was brief and illusionary for it was really no more than a puppet state of the Third Reich. As H. L. Agnew puts it, “Slovak independence, declared on 14 March 1939, was probably accepted if not welcomed by the great majority of Slovaks. … Nevertheless, the achievement of independent statehood for Slovakia came with strings attached: the course of the war ran against Hitler, [and] German relations with the new Slovakia amounted to a form of protectorate…” (Agnew 628, 627). In 1945 the war ended and Slovakia was reinstated into Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia after the war enjoyed democracy for only a brief time for in 1948 the country of Czechoslovakia was taken over from within by the Communist party of Czechoslovakia that instituted a Stalinist type regime. The communist takeover was nothing less than a coup; though some of the socialist leaders were elected into power democratically those elected quickly took control over the rest of the government and instituted a Stalinesque communist state. Under the communist regime every aspect of the life of a Slovak was altered social, economic, political, religious and national.

The social aspect of life in Slovakia was changed by the centralization of people, pulling them off of farms and putting them to work in the city. Those that remained on the farms were required to join large, state owned, collective farms (although not everybody did so). Apart from this there was also censorship of the press and the arts. All forms of media had to fit with the communist ideal or else they were not allowed. In a series of interviews with Czechs who lived during communism Megan Stride posed the question of journalistic integrity in the face of censorship, here is part of the answer: “Even the "best" newspapers and magazines were propagandistic, [Tomas] Nemecek says. “As a profession, journalism was seen as generally discredited and unfavorable." (Stride 34). Propaganda didn’t just come from news sources it also came from the many sculptures erected in praise of communist leaders such as Lenin or Stalin. Schools were also taken over and changed. All textbooks were modified to fit with the socialist world view every subject from history to science was used as another form of propaganda. Human rights were also neglected; the rights of the individual were placed second to the greater good of the collective. Slovakia and the Slovaks points out the capriciousness of the system, “Many were imprisoned simply because they had alienated someone in power.” (Slovakia and the Slovaks 578).

Also there were some major overhauls of the economy of Slovakia. Up to 1948 Slovakia had been involved in industry but after the communist takeover the regime threw everything it had into making industry the cornerstone of the Slovak economy. Slovak heavy industry boomed. Slovakia and the Slovaks reports that, “Between 1948 and 1989 industrial production increased by 3,251%. In 1963 Slovak industry produced more than that of the whole of Czecho-Slovakia in 1937.” (Slovakia and the Slovaks 578). The statistics do not present the whole situation of the economy of Slovakia and how communism affected it. Factories employed more workers than necessary, wages were low, and even common household necessities were not always available.

The government of Czechoslovakia was run independently of the Kremlin, holding single party elections for the national parliament. But the Kremlin held enormous sway over the goings on of Czechoslovakia, as seen in the Prague Spring of 1968. The Prague Spring was a series of reforms led by the Communist party leader (the highest power in the Czechoslovak government) Alexander Dubcek. These reforms were an attempt to create "Socialism with a human face". Some of the reforms instated by Dubcek were, in the words of John C. McGinn: “Censorship and other restrictions on freedom of the press were allowed to lapse. Political figures sentenced during the show trials in the 1950s were rehabilitated” (McGinn 114). The reforms according to the encyclopedia, Slovakia and the Slovaks, were, “…unparalleled in the history of socialist countries until that time” (578). The reforms were also soundly halted. Fearing that Czechoslovakia was becoming too liberal the Soviet Union and several other Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia, put an end to the reforms, and removed Dubcek from power. The Soviet military would not leave Czechoslovakia until 1990. Before the invasion though, Dubcek put in motion a bill to federalize Czechoslovakia that was realized on January 1^st 1969. Federalization was supposed to allow for greater autonomy of the Slovak nation but in actuality the normalization government put in place by the Soviets after they removed Dubcek nullified much of the power granted to Slovakia in the bill.

In Slovakia dissension towards the communist government was neither very organized nor vocal for the greater part of the time the communists were in power. Protests were usually conducted on the private level: Refusal to join a collective farm, minor sabotage of state equipment and occasional strikes. Overall protest took a more gentle form: That of showing religious devotion in the face of a fiercely atheistic government. Why would religion play a role in protesting the regime?

There was a great amount of religious persecution perpetrated by the regime in the predominantly Roman Catholic Slovakia. Religion was seen as an enemy of the regime and therefore was not tolerated by the ruling government. During its most oppressive phase, the early 1950s, the government, took the liberty of shutting down monasteries, convents and other religious organizations. It also proceeded to imprison priests and even denied children of the imprisoned access to a secondary education. Even when the outright persecution slowed considerably in 1953, oppressive laws were placed on churches restricting what could be done within the church walls and there was an outright ban on religious activities outside of church buildings. Despite these measures, the church continued to carry out its programs, albeit in secret. Not all churches were so rebellious though. The government did allow churches to operate if the church and its priest were registered with the government, which in essence meant that said church would have to toe the communist party line and the priest would be in the employ of the government.

The church in Slovakia however, would never be silenced and would later play a key role in the final deconstruction of the communist government. As Kirschbaum writes, “Historically a religious people, the Slovaks turned to the practice of their faith as a way of showing their opposition.” (Kirschbaum 248). During the late seventies and all throughout the eighties unrest and dissension was becoming more and more commonplace, and the church, particularly the Roman Catholic majority, had its own unique way of making itself heard. As opposed to the Czech protests that took its most dramatic form in the human rights plea Charter 77, Slovaks instead protested by participating in mass pilgrimages to holy shrines within Slovakia. The two largest of these pilgrimages took place in the towns of Levoca and Sastin, bringing together an estimated combined total of 200,000 people. Another significant demonstration was the Candlelight Demonstration of 1988 in the capital of Bratislava. About 2,000 people participated in the peaceful demonstration that was put down savagely by the regime. As outrage concerning this and other human rights infringements grew throughout the country, demonstrations become more and more commonplace culminating in the month of November 1989. Starting on the 17^th of November protests were carried out in all of the main squares and thousands went on strike. These pressures provided the catalyst for the demolition of the Czechoslovak communist government.

In June 1990 Czechoslovakia held its first true elections in forty-two years. Due to disagreements in the subsequent two years on how to handle the federation of the two halves of Czechoslovakia, the national parliament of the two countries decided that the best option was to “divorce” the two countries and on January 1^st 1993 Slovakia officially became an independent country. But what scars or improvements did the communist regime leave behind in the young countries not so distant past? Communism’s scars could be seen in the environment of the country polluted by the industrial boom, a high unemployment rate, a near vacuum of any major cultural achievements, and an economy that needed to be reorganized from the ground up. Did communism have any positive effects on the nation or the people of Slovakia? It helped to modernize the country, but that process had already been started before the coup happened. This country full of mountains and high-rises has forever been changed by the totalitarian communist regime that once ruled it only a short time ago.

Works Cited

Agnew, Hugh Lecaine. "NEW STATES, OLD IDENTITIES? THE CZECH REPUBLIC, SLOVAKIA, AND HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF STATEHOOD." Nationalities Papers 28.4 (Dec. 2000): 619-650. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Portland Community Coll. Lib., Portland, OR. 4 December 2007. <http://0- search.ebscohost.com.library.pcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5440681&si te=ehost-live>.

Encyclopedical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Slovakia and the Slovaks. Bratislava: Goldpress, 1994

Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. A History of Slovakia: the Struggle for Survival. 2^nd ed. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005.

McGinn, John G. "The Politics of Collective Inaction: NATO's Response to the Prague Spring." Journal of Cold War Studies 1.3 (Fall 1999): 111-138. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Portland Community Coll. Lib., Portland, OR. 8 December 2007. <http://0- search.ebscohost.com.library.pcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6934208&si te=ehost-live>.

Stride, Megan. "EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT COMMUNISM, BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK." New Presence: The Prague Journal of Central European Affairs 9.2 (Summer 2007): 31-35. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Portland Community Coll. Lib., Portland, OR. 10 December 2007. <http://0- search.ebscohost.com.library.pcc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=25954154&s ite=ehost-live>.

Writing 121: Essay 2

2008-01-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

Rather than post the whole essay, I will just put up my favorite part: The epigraph

Lookin’ for to save my, save my soul
Lookin’ in the places where no flowers grow.
Lookin’ for to fill that God shaped hole. . .

To bad I didn't write that part, Bono beat me to it.

English 104: Essay 1

2007-12-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

Here is my first English paper; a personal response essay on one of the short stories read for class called "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". I chose this one over the other options because I actually had a response to this story which I thought would be helpful for a personal response. Once again, enjoy if you feel like it.

What Are We Talking About When We Talk About Love?

In Raymond Carver’s short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” two married couples sit around a coffee table, drink gin, and ponder what love is. The dominant speaker throughout the story is a cardiologist named Mel. Mel wonders if his wife Terri’s first partner Ed actually loved her. Mel also wonders how he could possibly say he loves Terri and yet have felt the same thing with his first wife whom he now deplores. The interactions between him and the other people are interesting because it appeared to me that what they talked about when they talked about love was not love at all.
Ed is the one character that stuck out in my mind, which might seem odd because he actually doesn’t appear except in conversation, but the discussions of his actions towards Terri are so much a part of the story creating some of the only conflict among the characters. Speaking of Ed, Teri recollects that he, “Loved her so much he tried to kill her” (Carver 187). That statement rubbed me the wrong way. I remember thinking about that statement against what I hold as my standard for love found in Christian scriptures. Descriptions such as, “Love is kind…It is not self-seeking…It always protects” (New International Version, 1 Cor. 13. 4,5,7) and, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15. 13). Ed says that he loves Terri but under this lens does he? In my mind he does not. There is passion expressed about their relationship but there is also passion in the most brutal war. I do not think that passion alone means love. What about his other actions? Maybe by what he does he can show that he loves Terri? He is willing to shoot himself because he has some feeling for her but he is laying down his life for his own desires not for another person.
Another piece of the story that stuck out to me is that as it progresses and they continue to talk the couples all end up intoxicated, sitting in the dark. The narrator observes at the end when all of their ideas run out, “…not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.” (Carver 195). They are trying to find out what love is but all the while they are deadening their senses and reason with gin and falling deeper in the darkness of ignorance. The symbolism of them trying to gain the light of knowledge in the darkness was striking. It made me think that love as I see it should be something that is found in the light not in the dark. I did not want any part of what these people saw as love: I immediately wanted to read about what I think love is. I do not want what these people offer on the subject because they do not seem to know themselves what it was that they actually feel for each other, whether what they feel for each other is a lasting bond between them or just a temporary feeling. I would rather have the love that Mel saw between two of his patients, an older couple recovering from a serious car wreck, he said the husband was feeling depressed but not because of the accident but because “…he couldn’t see his wife through his eye holes…the man’s heart was breaking because he couldn’t turn his go***n head and see his go***n wife” (Carver 194). This description of what love is touches on something real. It is not describing some feeling that wears off and then sinks a marriage; it is a love that is a lasting part of somebody’s life. And that stands out to me from the rest of the story because nobody else in this story has that kind of love.
I do not want it to appear that I know all about this subject, I definitely do not. But from what I do know and believe about love the darkness they are in at the end of the story is can be seen as a picture of their own limitations and shortcomings. The four people talking about a very deep and complex subject do not hold the answers, they just create more questions about what it is they are talking about when they talk about love. But from what I see the answers are not supposed to be found in the story. [Professor's note: What about the old couple?]

Works Cited
Carver, Raymond. “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. 7th ed. Ed. Ann Charters. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 187-195.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002

Writing 121: Essay 1

2007-12-18T15:16:00.000-08:00

This is the revision of the first paper I did this year and it was for my Writing 121 class. The book mentioned is Persopolis by Marjane Satrapi and the topic for the essay is: "'The Story of a childhood', in the course of the the story, how dos Marji grow up? Focus on one or two important characteristics of her coming of age: either qualities of her personality or character, or aspects of the outside world."
Enjoy if you feel like it. (But don't enjoy it to the point of theft. That would be very bad.)

A Childhood Left Behind

Persopolis is the story of the author Marjane Satrapi growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of 1978-1979 and during the war with Iraq from 1980-1988. In the story, Marjane goes from being a nine-year-old girl who wants to be a prophet to a fourteen-year-old that has experienced the pain of loss more dramatically than anyone her age should have to. At the end of the book, Marjane's parents decide that it is time for her to leave Iran and go to school to Austria to get away from the war. In one of the closing scenes of Persopolis, Satrapi depicts her parents, sitting across from her on a couch in their otherwise barren living room in Iran, and Marjane's parents are telling her the idea and she says, "But I'm only fourteen! You trust me?" (147). They reply that they do. Marjane's family, personality and experiences compel her to come to a place of early independence.

When Marjane is ten years old a full scale revolution is under way in Iran, and she sees herself as Che Guevara. In this scene, and all throughout the book, Marjane shows a need to be somebody else. Early on, while she sees herself as a prophet, she wants to be, "justice, love and wrath of God all in one." (9). But by the end, she is just wanting to fit in somewhere, even skipping out on class to hang out with some older girls. In both cases, she shows her imagined maturity by trying to be something she isn't.

Marjane's family is a very modern family, and this influences her view on the radical religious regime. Later on in the story, when she is asked to participate in religious observances, she mocks the self-torture sessions her teachers ask her to perform daily. It is fair to note, though, that the rest of the children mentioned in her school are like this too. She says, "Every situation provided an opportunity for laughs" (97). When facing punishment from the teachers for misbehavior Satrapi states, "We were all united" (97). Her family identifies themselves as socialists. Her parents give her books on socialism, and her father's brother, Uncle Anoosh, whom she adores, has his doctorate in Marxism-Leninism. Because of her family influence, she views the world differently.

Marjane's family believes in the importance of education. Near the end of the book Tehran is being bombed consistently, and Satrapi says, "Now that Tehran was under attack, many fled. The city was deserted. As for us we stayed. Not just out of fatalism. If there was to be any future, in my parents' eyes, that future was linked to my French education. And Tehran was the only place I could get it." (137). The parents' willingness to keep themselves in a dangerous situation for the sake of Marjane's education shows how much value they put on good education. Also, earlier on in the story, Marjane cuts class to hang out with some older girls in her school, and when she is confronted about this by her mom she tries to cover it up by saying it was just a religion class. Her mom is not pleased and, after calling Marjane on her lie, she says, "...Now is the time for learning. You have your whole life to have fun! What are you going to be when you grow up? ..." (113). The mother's behavior shows her belief that education plays a key role in a child's maturing process.

At fourteen, Marjane says she is a rebel. School is a struggle between her and the faculty. But rebellion and growing up are two different things. Marjane shows some very real signs of maturing near the end of the book, when her parents decide that it is time for her to leave the country and go to Austria for school rather than stay in war-torn Iran. The way she handles herself and follows through on the plan is admirable, but at the same time, what it means for her is saddening. For Marjane to leave Iran means not only a change in culture for her, but also leaving behind everything she knows, including family and friends. Before she leaves, Marjane has her friends over to say good-bye, and she says, "I never realized how much they loved me. And I understood how much they meant to me." (149). Also, when she is at the airport saying good-bye to her parents, knowing that she will never live with them again, she says that, "Nothing is worse than saying good-bye. It's a little like dying." (153). In both of these cases we see her maturing greatly during a very short amount of time, and at this point her "Story of a Childhood" ends.

Perhaps that also means, in Satrapi's mind, this is when Marjane's childhood ended, in a line of strangers at Mehrabad airport, her mother collapsed from grief, while Marjane is on the other side of a wall of glass. (153) Throughout Persopolis, Marjane's life goes through many changes, from her knowledge of her prophetic destiny, to her falling in love with punk rock. But throughout all these changes, her family is always a constant, always there. That her parents feel that they can trust Marjane on her own shows that they feel that, with the way she has been brought her up, they believe she will be fine on her own. Like Marjane, I have also left places I love, and I was struck by her depictions of leaving and how true they are. Saying good-bye is a little like dying. But, even so there is hope, because not only is somebody leaving behind what they know by leaving, they are going someplace new, with new experiences to be had. And maybe Marjane will find that, not only is saying good-bye a little like dying, but arriving someplace new is a little like waking up.

Works Cited

Satrapi, Marjane. Persopolis: The Story of a Childhood. 1^st ed. New York: Pantheon, 2004

Now Presenting the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread...

2007-12-13T23:19:00.000-08:00

I love my church. The video mentioned at the end, is right here:
Sound Men Dance

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It's All Over

2007-12-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

School ended tonight at 7:50 P.M. I am now a free man for four whole weeks. Nice.

Now that this happy occasion has occurred I will begin to post some of my essays up here, because really, who doesn't want to put up their hard earned effort for the whole world to see? So those will be put up soon.

I'm free.

Yay.

Happy Reformation Day Eeryone!

2007-11-01T22:02:00.001-07:00

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory...
To continue with Luther's theses go here. Or here.

Music News

2007-10-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

If in need of good music look no further than Over the Rhine's Trumpet Child. It is wonderful (the title track is stirring) and can be found here.

An outpouring

2007-10-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

6While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, 7a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. 9"This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."
10Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 11The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. 12When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. Matt. 26:6-13

The notes on my Bible said that the Greek for "beautiful" in v. 10 has an aesthetic meaning to it not just ethical. That made me think about how some things don't have to be deep and profound but can just be beautiful. But perhaps it can't be beauty for it's own sake but rather must be an outpouring of love for God. Take for example the stars, they are beautiful and Psalms 19 even says that

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard. [a]
4 Their voice [b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

So are they not beautiful for their own sake but rather are beautiful because they are pouring out the praises of God?

As a side note look how both passages say that the acts are lasting "There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. [a]4 Their voice [b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world." or "Wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Thoughts? Gross theological errors?

I Can't Think of a Good Title For This Post so Here is the Post

2007-10-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Opus for bringing this piece of art into the open, but Opus found it here first.

Brotherly Love in the Ancient Near East

2007-10-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

As for the problems between us, I suggest that the fault may not lie with ourselves but with our messengers; let us bring them to trial, cut off their heads, mutilate their bodies, and live henceforth in perfect friendship.
Excerpt from a letter from king Hattusilis of the Hittites to the King of Ahhiyawa c. 1260 B.C.

Isn't it good to know that is all that it takes to get along?

New stuff from the DOA

2007-09-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Behold! A new video from the Dorks Of America so good it will knock your socks off.

And this is just one in a series of eight films. Now you have something to look forward to in this world.

School

2007-09-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

I thought school was supposed to increase your knowledge of things, not make the brain incapable of forming cohesive thoughts and sentences.
I really hope it is just the first couple of weeks that make me feel like this.

Since I've Been Gone (You Can Breathe For The First Time)

2007-09-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Two very talented artists have passed away. (Here and here.)

The locals have been out getting a good rain tan. (Here and here.)

School is becoming more of a reality the closer it gets.

Jeffery Overstreet has released a new book to the world.

I became a paintball master. Or I went for half an hour, I forget.

And since I can't post without one enjoy this video.

Victory

2007-09-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Today, I got to join the problem instead of being part of the solution to the environmental woes of this world:
I now have my driver's license. Also: while pulling out of the DMV after the test I turned wide. Ironic isn't it?

With great power comes great responsibility.

September

2007-09-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

I would just like to mention that today is the first day of the best month of the year.

Incoming Good Movie Alert

2007-06-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

This next week Pixar's Ratatouille comes out. And if you were a little put off by the plot subject (a rat becoming a chef?) don't be. See, rave reviews here, and here. This naturally means we should all go see it. Of course we would anyway because it is directed by Brad "Incredibles" Bird. And it's a Pixar movie. So go see it.

Farewell Good Friends; For Now

2007-06-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving for camp in the morning so unless I am feeling crazy enough to post on the weekends I will be signing out from Blogger until August 28. I'll see you then!

(Camp! Woo-Hoo!)

Questions You Can Only Think Up If You Are A TV Junkie

2007-06-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

If you're in a bind who do you call: Jack,
Jack,

Or maybe Jack?
If you can't tell I've been watching more TV than I usually do.

Alphebet You.

2007-06-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

A]- ANY FAVORITE MOVIES?: Lord of The Rings, Serenity, Man Without A Past,...
B]- BIRTHDAY: Why yes I do have a birthday. I'm so glad you asked. You can get me presents if you like. I also agree with Foolish Knight's rant: "(By the way, I strongly dislike the dating system used in the United States. Few things about the country of my birth infuriate me more than our month/day/year dating system. Doesn't Europe's day/month/year make so much more sense? Seriously.)"
C] - CRUSHING?: Well I'm sitting on a chair at the moment. So you could say I am crushing the chair.
D] - DRINK YOU LAST HAD: Water.
E] - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO: Hm.
F] - FAVORITE MUSIC GROUP: U2; followed closely by The Arcade Fire
G] - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS: Bears all the way.
H]- HOMETOWN: Have you ever asked an MK this question before?
I]- INSTRUMENT(s): Kazoo. (I'm actually pretty good on the kazoo.)
J] - JUICE: Black Currant
K] - KILLED SOMEONE: No. Unless Halo alter egos count. If that is the case then yes.
L] - LONGEST CAR RIDE: Oregon to Georgia via Canada (Look at a map to see how absurd that statement is.)
M] - MIXED FEELINGS ON: Patriotism
N] - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: Three
O] - ONE WISH: To find a living dinosaur in some jungle somewhere.
P] - PERSON WHO CALLED YOU LAST: My brother.
R] - REASONS TO SMILE: See here.
S] - SONG YOU LAST HEARD: "Discotheque" by U2. (Well, not really. Strains of Divine Discontent were coming from the bathroom after I listened to "Discotheque".)
T] - TIME YOU WOKE UP: 6:45 or so.
U] - UNDERWEAR: The definition is here if you want to know.
V]- VEGETABLE(S): Tomatoes are bad. Most of the time. Spinach is good.
W]- WORST HABIT: Back seat driving.
X] - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: My manly chest. (As I say it with a smirk on my face.) But since this question has been changed:
X] - XENOPHOBIC?: I should hope not considering where I live.
Y] - YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL: The orca, cheetahs, tigers, dinosaurs and kangaroos.
Z] - ZAFFER OR ZAIBATSU?: Zaffer.

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers

2007-05-23T21:52:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Mr. Overstreet at Looking Closer for this amazing video.

On Fairy-Stories

2007-04-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Let us not divide the human race into Eloi and Morlocks: pretty children --"elves" as the eighteenth century often idiotically called them -- with their fairy-tales (carefully pruned), and dark Morlocks tending their machines. If fairy-story as a kind is worth reading at all it is worthy to be written for and read by adults. They will, of course, put more in and get more out than children can. Then, as a branch of genuine art, children may hope to get fairy-stories fit for them to read and yet within their measure; as they may hope to get suitable introductions to poetry, history, and the sciences. Though it may be better for them to read some things, especially fairy-stories, that are beyond their measure rather than short of it. Their books like their clothes should allow for growth, and their books at any rate should encourage it.

J.R.R. Tolkien from his essay "On Fairy-Stories".

Random Musings of The Blogger Why Vol. 2

2007-04-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Honey and grapefruit make a delicious snack.

The short stories Monday and A Brilliant Idea And His Own (by Mark Helprin) are both very satisfying stories.

The change of both weather and feel around here between early March and April is wonderful.

One week of chemistry left. Rejoice!

I just realized that I put up a post in this exact same style three hundred sixty-six days ago.

If you just can't wait for Spider-Man 3 to come out and need a comic book fix check this site out. (Caution: There is violence despite what it may look like on the surface)

That's all folks.

Happy Easter. (Edit)

2007-04-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Easter is here and apart from being a very exciting, important and fun day I don't have anything to say about it that hasn't been said before. But thankfully there are other people with fresh words on the subject. So if you would like to read them they are: here, here and here. O, and here too.
Happy Easter to all and to all a good night for Christ is risen indeed.

Also, see My Old Sketchbook for the Easter series by Eriol.

Chemistry

2007-04-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

I'm taking chemistry this year and as such I am drawn to science in conjunction with the news. (Whether by just wanting to know what I am learning about or by genuine interest in the subject can vary from case to case). But nonetheless because of said interest this website grabbed my interest immediately. Seeing the effects that DHMO has on the environment and individuals is mind blowing.
Go check out the site. Be an informed citizen.

Another Cool Internet Video (I should start making these installments)

2007-03-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Neon Bible

2007-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

The other day I purchased the new Arcade Fire album Neon Bible. Arcade Fire's previous album, Funeral, set a very high standard for their next album and I think they have met that standard. I wont write a review (that is not my strong point) but if you want to see what a professional thinks of Neon Bible you can look here. Also here are some of my favorite tracks from the album:
"Keep The Car Running"
"Intervention"
"The Well And The Lighthouse"
"Windowsill"
"No Cars Go"

Go listen and enjoy.

New blogs

2007-03-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

There are a few new bloggers in the midst so why not go out and give them a warm welcome. They are:
Germo at Fickle Fidelity, Spork at Blazing Iron, and SpillandSpell at Children of The Burning Heart
Go forth and make welcome.

?

2007-02-28T10:38:00.000-08:00

This link is to bizarre to explain so you should just go here and tell me what you think.

I didn't know you could do that with a treadmill.

2007-02-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

Best music video I've seen since Did I Step On Your Trumpet?.
O.K. Go Here It Goes Again

The first of the series mentioned below

2007-02-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

The first movie scene I would like to talk about is from the shortest of the movies I will be mentioning in this series. It is the chase scene from Pirates: Season 1, Episode Seven. This movie is the finale of the season fraught with trouble for our heroes Johnny and Roger. One of the most disheartening problems was when the Man in the Sombrero took their treasure map. After a series of adventures featuring seagulls and a knight they once again face their enemy the Man in the Sombrero. They fought with him and almost beat him but then he takes off running. And it is then that one of the best chases since What's Up Doc? begins.
When Johnny and Roger are chasing the Man in the Sombrero around the building trying to get the map back; it excites me every time I see them. Particularly when the Pirates go in and out of doors chasing their nemesis. The best of door switches is when the Man in the Sombrero runs into Roger, knocks him down, and as they chase him through one door he comes out another while their still going through the first. Such brilliant editing. Then when all seems lost Johnny flings the Magic Pig towards their adversary and brings him down.
I think the scene excites me so much because I was on the set when it was being filmed and I couldn't really see this working out to be as amazing as it is. It is a scene that is not only edited magnificently but also is so heroic that I can't help but like it.

Over and over.

2007-02-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

I like movies. That is probably evident from the side bar and other posts in the past. And there are some movies that I love so much to watch them repeatedly would be a treat and not a curse. But within those movies are scenes that just suck me in, make me happy or give me the shivers. The kind of images that when you think back on the movie you think of this scene.
Over the next few days (weeks maybe) I would like to mention some film scenes that strike me in the ways mentioned above and why they do what they do.
It would be very professional of me to put up the first of said movies up tonight but I am tired and would like to go to bed so now the first installment is pending. Stay tuned for further updates.

My diploma

2007-02-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

For not having my diploma yet I think that this is pretty positive

You paid attention during 91% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Thanks to Katie for finding this.
Question: What does autodidact mean?

Edit: I took the Genius quiz. Much harder. So if your looking for a challenge you know where to find it.

Blog changes

2007-01-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

I made the big jump from "Classic" to "Not Beta anymore" tonight so bear with me while I edit the page to taste. If you have any suggestions or recommendations do not hesitate to leave a comment about it.

Link City

2006-12-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I went on a link spree so here you go.

If you have been looking for the best videos on the web go here.
If you need to have some music to jig to go here.
If you are looking for insightful music reviews and thoughts from the heart go here.
And to add your vote the Knight's poll of 25 favorite movies go here.

That's all folks.

Arcade Fire

2006-12-17T23:18:00.000-08:00

Listen to the new Arcade Fire single Intervention here.

25 things to do with my life.

2006-12-05T19:09:00.000-08:00

Number One: Know what I am doing with my life.
2. Get to stay for at least a month in all seven continents. (That's right: Antarctica.)
3. Draw something really, really amazing. Like gallery good.
4. Have Spider-Man powers. The thing with this one is then I have to use them right. Oh well, at least then I would have an answer to number one.
5. Get married.
6. Have kids.
7. Be a fantastic father and husband.
8. Learn Korean. The Korean language has a really cool alphabet.
9. FIND A LIVING DINOSAUR AND NOT BE KILLED BY IT. Seriously. Think how cool it would be to find one.
10. Own the Millennium Falcon or Serenity or both. (The real ones)
11. To be really good on some instrument, I don't really care that much just one.
12. To be a part of a gold medal winning Slovak hockey team.
13. Ride in a bobsled.
14. Have a horse in my possession (that I didn't steal) with some wide open space to ride really fast.
15. Ride in an F-4 Phantom jet.
16. Spend extended periods of time with my friends from Slovakia; in Slovakia; in the Tatras. 17. Own a functioning light saber. (Once again, the real kind. That does all the cool things)
18. Have a thriving relationship with God.
19. Drive a really fast car on a straightaway.
20. Be a part of a Mere Image movie. Preferably the Sword movie. Just with a budget this time. Maybe even with actors. I didn't say the MI people had to act.
21. Resolve Middle-Eastern conflict with a non-violent solution.
22. Get enough hours for my license.
23. Have free, non-expiring, always working-wherever-I-go, insurance for that license.
24. Be in a boat and see a whole big pod of Killer-Whales go swimming by breaching like crazy. 25. Destroy banner/pop-up ads.

There you have it. Once again I will break the ruthless cycle of tagging and tag no one

Oi!

2006-11-27T21:56:00.000-08:00

While roaming the artificial world known as the internet I came upon a very scary thing.
Something like 40% of the people I know have MyS-----. It is a very scary realization seeing how much I hate it. You know what was really weird? i was looking at one persons "friends" list I saw one person that I knew and while looking at their "friends" list I saw a camp person. It was very strange. Now if you'll excuse me I think I need to read some Dostoevsky or something.

Snow

2006-11-27T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's on nights like this that I really hate concrete and cars. You know, when it's snowing and you think "what fun" and then it hits the concrete and melts completely. And cars only make it worse, just think of all the pollution they are putting into the air, heating the air temperature and slowing down snow fall. If there were no cars there would be no concrete then the first problem would be taken care of, unfortunately-and fortunately- there are automobile in existence so I guess I will just have to come to terms with my fate and deal with it.
Although this doesn't mean that I still won't hope that it snows so much that all the roads close and the only way to get around is to walk or sled. That would be fun times. Alas that I live in a temperate rain forest. In any case my sentiment remains the same: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.