Great Video

Pretty Girls, Books, My Favorite Band...

Yeah, this couldn't be much better.

A Little Bragging

Ok, about a year ago, I happened upon the little ezine Defenestration when I was looking for funny poems to use in class.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it (and found a good bit to use), and I've read it pretty regularly since then.

So, last spring when I wrote that series of stupid, silly poems about me shaving off my beard, I decided, "Heck, I'll send it to Defenestration." I thought that would add another funny story to add to my class, if it so happened to be accepted.

(Tip, if you're teaching English: "Defenestration" is the single best word in the English language, great for vocabulary quizzes. Plus, it's pretty easy to keep your class disciplined when you continually threaten to defenestrate them. Nobody, especially the guys, likes the sound of that.)

So, it was. The editors asked for a funny biography or else they threatened to write one for me. I decided that I wanted to see what they would make up, though I did write back to them the story of the poem's writing.

Anyway, I love the bio they came up with. Feel free to skip the poem. Go read the bio though.

Tonight, I was talking to Dad on the phone about the choice of Biden for VP (I like it, by the way--he's been a long-time favorite).

Anyway, at the end of the conversation, Dad revealed that he's a little worried about how invested I am in the campaign. He asked, "So, what do you think you and Kalyn will do if McCain wins?"

Immediately: "Move to Europe, maybe to heav-- Canada."

He laughed, and we hung up the phone.

But then I started thinking...

Maybe I shouldn't leave the country, especially to Canada...

After all, chances are awfully high that if you're not in America come '09, McCain's probably going to attack you...

------------

In other election news, I got my new Obama t-shirt yesterday, and I am really happy with it (my last one was too small for comfort--I've given it away).

Anyway, I hurried up and washed it so that I could wear it today--Saturday.

I'd read an anonymous email that warned that wearing Obama merchandise on a Sunday might burn off your flesh.

On the bright side, the email noted, an Obama shirt worn on Sunday in moderation could get rid of unsightly back hair. I've not got a big problem in that area, though, and so I'll just play it safe.

Frankly...

I agree with just about every word Jack Caffertywrote about McCain's performance in the recent forum at the Saddleback Church. Over and over, Rick Warren's questions opened up an opportunity for thoughtful reflection on the ways Christian faith should be translated into political action. And over and over, McCain offered brief, empty answers that nevertheless appealed to the conservative audience. He showed that he can recite the Republican platform, but I heard nothing to suggest that he can authentically respond to the challenges of human life from a perspective of faith.

He's like Bush. He's a decider, but he doesn't have the ability to understand the problem.

Obama's answers weren't nearly as smooth, but they were miles more meaningful.

Unfortunately, I think Joan Walsh was also correct that the forum didn't play well for Obama and probably never could have.

Thoughtfulness isn't in at the moment.

Reminder #40

Don't smell asparagus pee.

Heschel

I like NPR. Admitting that probably puts me a step or two closer to being one of those elite, overeducated, liberal snobs you hear so much about, but so be it, you know. I like lattes, too.

Especially, I like the program Speaking of Faith, and I recommend it very highly. All the shows are free as mp3s, so you can download them anytime. I like to listen to them when I’m doing boring, monotonous jobs like washing the dishes or scrubbing the toilets so that I can get the smell of asparagus pee out of them.

Today, I listened to an archived show while rearranging the books on the shelves in my library. The program was about the Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel. I’ve definitely heard of Heschel before as a biblical scholar (chiefly of the prophets), and everyone’s seen him in some famous pictures taken at Selma during the civil rights movement. This was really my introduction to Heschel, though.

They quoted him several times during the show, and like all of the best theologians I’ve read, he’s as much a poet as he is a theologian. I just thought I’d post some of his quotations here. Maybe you’ll go listen to the broadcast about him, too.
I’m going to use this quotation in my composition class this year. I’m going to paste it right at the top of the syllabus:

“I would say a lot of things to the young. To them, I would say let them remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can do everyone our share to redeem the world and that in spite of all the absurdities, all the frustration, all disappointment and above all remember that the meaning of life is to build life as if it was a work of art. You’re not a machine. And the young, start working on this great work of art called existence.”

The second was him responding to a question about the efficacy of prayer. I think I agree with Heschel more than with the common understanding of prayer:

“Let us not misunderstand the nature of prayer, especially in the Jewish tradition. The purpose of prayer is not to make requests. The primary purpose of prayer is to praise, to sing, to chant. The essence of prayer is a song, and man cannot live without a song. Prayer may not save us, but prayer may make us worthy of being saved. Prayer is not requesting. There is a partnership of God and man. God needs our help.”

I think this third one was the one that most struck me. I was reading the poet Rilke one day recently, and he always repeats the mantra, “Hold to the difficult.” Heschel here is responding to a question from Frank Reynolds, and I thought he was articulating in a different and valuable way why we must hold to the difficult, even if it’s going to make ourselves vulnerable:

Frank Reynolds: You speak of reverence for the word. You know, I'm reminded that it's only in the last few years that we enacted a piece of legislation called "Truth in Advertising." Why should any of us be surprised at statements made by politicians or by diplomats who are after all interested in their own well-being, or the well-being of their country. Why should we be surprised at the abuse of language when we see it all around us? Isn't it built into our society today?

Abraham Joshua Heschel: I would say about individuals, an individual dies when he ceases to be surprised. What keeps me alive — spiritually, emotionally, intellectually — is my ability to be surprised. I say, I take nothing for granted. I am surprised every morning that I see the sun shine again. When I see an act of evil, I am not accommodated — I don't accommodate myself to the violence that goes on everywhere. I'm still surprised. That's why I'm against it; why I can fight against it. We must learn how to be surprised, not to adjust ourselves. I am the most maladjusted person in society.”

Insanity Runs In My Family

It really does, and I do seem to take after the crazier sides of the family. So it goes.

Anyway, I got a bit of confirmation about my family's mental quirkiness yesterday while visiting my parents.

We were eating asparagus at supper, and Dad said, "Have you ever noticed that asparagus makes your urine smell awfully funny? It happens almost immediately. You eat it and go straight in there, and it ends up smelling funny right away."

Mom: "He's right. That's true."

Me (with a rather stunned look on my face at our dinner conversation--we usually talk about who has died recently): "Uhm. I don't believe you. And how did y'all learn this?"

Dad: "Well, I went pee a few times after eating asparagus, and I noticed it stinking, and..."

Mom: "...he came out and mentioned it to me, and I had noticed it myself, and we put it all together."

Me: "And these are the genes I have."

Later, I called Kalyn (my sister) to tell her about how close we were to having to put both Mom and Dad in a nursing home, and her response shocked me a little.

Kalyn: "They're right. Me and BJ talk about it all the time."

She was serious.

How did I come from this bunch and still turn out so normal?

Anyway, if you're curious, when I went pee after that phone conversation, I did notice that the urine smelled, but you know, I'm not sure how different it smelled from normal urine. I think they're all crazy.

I hate politics.

I really keep trying to ignore the election. I've done my homework, and I've known for a while who I'm voting and rooting for. He's not perfect, but I certainly like him more than most politicians. And I respect him. I figured it's best, at this point, to not pay too much attention to the election cycle. It's only going to be ugly right now (on both sides), and I'm only likely to become nervous or angry. Or both.

I've not been able to stop myself, though, and right now I'm angry.

I'll admit that I've always held a bit of respect for McCain, though I've rarely agreed with him. I never thought he had nearly as much integrity as he's supposed to have had, but there were moments, at least, when he showed to have a touch more of it than most politicians.

As a result, his campaign the last week has been really disappointing, really disgusting, to me. It's been as low as I've seen a campaign be in my lifetime (clearly worse than the Swift Boating episode, though not as blatant). His campaign, at this point, seems to be primarily orchestrated so as to 'otherize' Obama, to make him seem foreign, unpatriotic, insidious, and presumptuous--outside of the mainstream. The foreign trip Obama made last week played into this narrative, so that despite the trip's success, he's been hurting in the polls.

I think Bob Herbert does a tremendous job of outlining some of the ways in which Obama's race has been exploited, quite subtlely, by McCain's campaign to otherize Obama. David Gergen (who's the best political analyst anywhere, in my opinion) made much the same case this morning on This Week.

The ad McCain put out that depicts Obama as a sort of anti-Christ seems to me to be the most despicable example of it.

And so, I'm angry and really agree with Herbert that it's frustrating to hear McCain complaining that Obama is pulling the race card. McCain is absolutely the one attempting to use race divisively, even if he's being very circumspect in doing so.

I've definitely lost whatever respect I once held for McCain. And I'm going to have a really difficult time trying to keep myself away from politics this summer.