Dualism and Labadists
I still find it hilarious that the greatest reproach and insult a Calvinist can call another Calvinist is "Anabaptist." I apologize to any of my Anabaptist bruddas, but it seems that you and JC (John Calvin that is) are not on the kindest of terms.
An interesting and cold realization has come to me: I am afflicted of the Western consumer culture. I crave the new, the best, the self-pleasuring, and the self-indulgent. To produce enough to satisfy your need: that is the creedo of the Protestant work ethic. To want more because you do not have: that is the rallying cry of consumerism. This fact is only broadened because my teacher is a Canadian socialist, and brings up the topic of economics readily. He's very careful not to imply that we are wrong if we are capitalist, just that we need to consider the evils it may produce. His intricate dance around unseen toes makes me smile a little.
An interesting and cold realization has come to me: I am afflicted of the Western consumer culture. I crave the new, the best, the self-pleasuring, and the self-indulgent. To produce enough to satisfy your need: that is the creedo of the Protestant work ethic. To want more because you do not have: that is the rallying cry of consumerism. This fact is only broadened because my teacher is a Canadian socialist, and brings up the topic of economics readily. He's very careful not to imply that we are wrong if we are capitalist, just that we need to consider the evils it may produce. His intricate dance around unseen toes makes me smile a little.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Niebuhr
Should I feel guilty for borrowing gratuitously from Machall.com for my account images? Just a little maybe.
For reasons I no longer try to fathom, I decided to study my DCM reading for 3 hours instead of playing a perfectly good game of broomball. I'm either dreadfully sick in the brain or sickeningly studious. I vote for the former.
Mom called today and said that the late fee for my tuition payment was waived because we applied for a loan quickly enough. It seems my college education will continue. While I normally accept that it is my stake in life to make due by the skin of my teeth, this one wasn't my fault directly. It was a dire case of collective loafing on my parents' part and mine. We all thought the other was doing the work.
I got to bed at 3:00 last night and I barely made it through class and work. Today, I must sleep earlier, as in now, as in the present moment of existence, as in I'm going to stop typing and regain the REM I so desperately need.
For reasons I no longer try to fathom, I decided to study my DCM reading for 3 hours instead of playing a perfectly good game of broomball. I'm either dreadfully sick in the brain or sickeningly studious. I vote for the former.
Mom called today and said that the late fee for my tuition payment was waived because we applied for a loan quickly enough. It seems my college education will continue. While I normally accept that it is my stake in life to make due by the skin of my teeth, this one wasn't my fault directly. It was a dire case of collective loafing on my parents' part and mine. We all thought the other was doing the work.
I got to bed at 3:00 last night and I barely made it through class and work. Today, I must sleep earlier, as in now, as in the present moment of existence, as in I'm going to stop typing and regain the REM I so desperately need.
Freedom is the ability to say 2+2=4
All else follows from that. Ah, good old 1984, how I remember thee well. This book just crawls with essay potential.
I never knew how well I do at service jobs until today. Theoretically, my paperroute was a service, but I rarely saw the customers, and only then to collect payment. Here in the ITC, I am the jolly provider. It actually gives me mirth and a kind of nervous exuberance to fiddle with Dreamweaver over a confused student's shoulder, to print off emails for a wrinkled alumni, to fix the blasted printer when it tells me that the outbin is full even though I most assuredly emptied it. These things, while tiresome at times, make me smile. I get a little mental "high" from people just walking up to my desk to ask me questions. I feel nigh euphoria when they thank me for a job well down. I may very well die of giddy laughter when I get my paycheck next week, becuase I've been putting in excessive amounts of hours these days.
My Interim class bodes well. I've been doing well on the quizzes, the readings are interesting (City of God by Augustine, Engaging God's World by Corny Plantiga, and some other book by Mauv), and I even have a study group coming up tonight with some good friends.
It's strange...I've always known that I love theology, to delve into the black abyss of the almost inconcievable and drink deep of the nearly incomprehensible. But these days...I feel good about doing such acts. I really feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life.
I never knew how well I do at service jobs until today. Theoretically, my paperroute was a service, but I rarely saw the customers, and only then to collect payment. Here in the ITC, I am the jolly provider. It actually gives me mirth and a kind of nervous exuberance to fiddle with Dreamweaver over a confused student's shoulder, to print off emails for a wrinkled alumni, to fix the blasted printer when it tells me that the outbin is full even though I most assuredly emptied it. These things, while tiresome at times, make me smile. I get a little mental "high" from people just walking up to my desk to ask me questions. I feel nigh euphoria when they thank me for a job well down. I may very well die of giddy laughter when I get my paycheck next week, becuase I've been putting in excessive amounts of hours these days.
My Interim class bodes well. I've been doing well on the quizzes, the readings are interesting (City of God by Augustine, Engaging God's World by Corny Plantiga, and some other book by Mauv), and I even have a study group coming up tonight with some good friends.
It's strange...I've always known that I love theology, to delve into the black abyss of the almost inconcievable and drink deep of the nearly incomprehensible. But these days...I feel good about doing such acts. I really feel like this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Rejoice, Comrades, in the Simple Pleasures of Life
How I smile as my mind buzzes fro and to, sailing mightily on a caffeine shock. While Kalihari tea is an exotic romp in the world of brown non-carbonated beverages, the superb, savory, stable Earl Grey keeps me going during these long hours at the ITC.
A 16oz. tankard of Earl Grey, an archaic copy of 1984 by George Orwell, and a lab that lacks people as an Atkins diet club lacks vegetarians. What more could a lad such as I desire and long for? More than I dare imagine, I suppose.
This template, while satisfactory in its minimalist, elegant coding, lacks that certain flare one must expect from anything involving the word Sharara. I shall revise in the near future. I'll have to find background, or maybe an image to put at the top. Let the creativity flow!
A 16oz. tankard of Earl Grey, an archaic copy of 1984 by George Orwell, and a lab that lacks people as an Atkins diet club lacks vegetarians. What more could a lad such as I desire and long for? More than I dare imagine, I suppose.
This template, while satisfactory in its minimalist, elegant coding, lacks that certain flare one must expect from anything involving the word Sharara. I shall revise in the near future. I'll have to find background, or maybe an image to put at the top. Let the creativity flow!
An interesting choice, I'd say
Sharara: Hindi for fire. Why, do you say? Because I'm a fiesty devil that likes to stick it to the man? Because I'm a closet pyromaniac with a penchant for India? Nay, for I am slow to anger as well as arson. I simply asked a good friend of mine what her favorite word in Hindi/Punjabi was and this came to be. Majestic, I say.
