Reconnections

I reconnected with an old friend today.

If you know me, you probably know that I haven't exactly been the best about keeping in touch with all my high school friends. It's kind of unfortunate, but it's kind of just the way life works. There are certain people that I really care about staying friends with though. And it makes me sad to think that some of them have been slipping through my fingers. Not that it's not partially my fault, as I don't always make the effort to reach out.

This makes me reflect on my time at Rice. I worry that I'm not making the most of my time, and that five years from now, I won't have the friends or memories to give me comfort on a lonely night. The feeling of nostalgia is much sweeter when you have someone to share it with.

Being off campus this year has been especially taxing on the amount of interaction I've had with my friends. It's just not the same when everyone doesn't live, sleep, eat, function in the same building.

I'm not exactly sure which college friends I'll still be close to in five years, but I hope the important relationships will stand true. I hope that there'll still be people that I care about, and who care about me.

In short, reconnecting felt really good. I guess that's what the holidays are all about.


Happy Thanksgiving.

Darwin Day Mystery Resolved!

So Michael solved the mystery of the Darwin book: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/10/30/how-creationist-origin-distorts-darwin.html

That's disappointing. And unsettling. And now I feel conned and swindled. Although, I do feel better that I have the book than if someone else were to have the book. Someone who would read the introduction and be easily influenced, that is.

Really though, I have to question the effectiveness of this campaign. I mean, seriously, how many people feel the need to read On the Origin of the Species (my roommate aside), even if it is free? It's not exactly leisure reading material.

I guess the the people they're trying to reach are the scientists who firmly believe in evolution. Because those are the people who might actually be interested in reading the book. And Ray Comfort hopes that his introduction will magically sway their opinions.

I suppose that might work.. I did consider reading the introduction - it seemed innocent enough at first glance. I still might read it just for shits and giggles. But that might just make me angry. And you don't want to know what happens when I'm angry...

Just kidding. About being the Hulk, not about anything else.

Man, I'm not sure what to do with this book now. The article mentioned book burning, which sounds appealing. But... I don't believe in burning books. A little too Qin Shihuang for me. But I feel embarrassed having it on my shelf. And it takes up space. And and... I just feel it's a waste of paper. And ink. And time, and money, and resources. It's more of a waste than I am - and that's saying something. ;)


And... WTF AM I DOING BLOGGING WHEN I HAVE A PROJECT THAT IS EFFECTIVELY DUE IN LESS THAN SIX AND A HALF HOURS?

Apparently, I only feel the need to blog when I really need to be doing other things.

Just another way of procrastinating, I guess. I must really hate myself, haha.


More to blog about later: People discovering their true passions in college (cheesy, I know. Don't have the time right now to make it sound cool.)

Darwin Day

Darwin Day is February 12...

So why did someone tell me "Happy Darwin Day" and hand me a copy of On the Origin of the Species in West Lot today??

Maybe he missed the memo.

Leonid Afremov

Today, through wasting far too much time on Facebook, I discovered the paintings of Leonid Afremov.












































I love the colors. And the impressionistic element. Everything, together. I just can't get over it.




















































Of course, his style, and even subject matter, tends to be very consistent, which also makes his pieces somewhat repetitive. Nonetheless, an amazing artist. Not that it's for me to judge, of course. Check out his gallery for yourself. Let me know what you think.

I've never been much of a religious person, and often I feel both skeptical and uncomfortable around those who are so heavily steeped in their religion. But seeing how much strength and comfort their faith provides them really puts things in a different perspective.

Once in a while, I read my friend's blog, which mainly details the trials that life has put on her faith and the process of finding her way back to God. Maybe it's just because of her eloquence, but I am amazed at how much her faith can do for her. It really makes me have much more of an appreciation and respect for others and their faith. If most conservative Christians approached their faith in this manner, perhaps the rest of the society (let's just call them the skeptics) wouldn't feel the urge to scoff and roll their eyes... or run in the opposite direction. Then again, maybe this is how they approach their faith - I'm just not in the right avenues to witness the expression. Another thing to think about... Those who do approach their faith in the right way - the healing, nonabrasive, giving way - aren't really the ones who are usually captured by the media. Probably contributes to society's cynicism.

Just something to think about.

---

Okay... back to studing for my econ test... :/

Archuleta, Vonnegut, and Too Much Television

I've been hearing "Crush" by David Archuleta a lot on the radio lately, so I decided to look at some Youtube vids of his days on American Idol. He's so adorable! I was surprised to see how young he was. I would've never been able to tell from his voice. Or maybe it's just that it seems that there are more famous female singers who are young than famous male singers who are young... Other than, you know, the Jonas Brothers. But the Jonas Brothers sound young. Because all they sing is teeny-bopper stuff. That, and well, they can't really sing, can they? Except Nick Jonas...

Anyway, here's a video:





Is it me or does he look really young? I don't remember boys looking that young in high school, but then again, I guess I was young back then too. Anyway, that's probably mostly why I think he's adorable. That, and I love his voice. He's so good. Good job, Idol.

***

So I read about 5 pages of Jane Eyre. And then I got distracted by Vonnegut and started reading Mother Night. Good stuff so far.

I was looking at New York Times's best seller list the other day, and I noticed how so many of them are being adapted into movies. The Time Traveler's Wife, My Sister's Keeper, Julie and Julia... Does Julie and Julia even have a plot line? I thought it was just someone blogging about cooking. But then again, not everything needs to have a plot to be interesting.

After seeing the trailer for The Time Traveler's Wife, I really want to read it. My Sister's Keeper makes me curious about Jodi Picoult's writing. Julie and Julia doesn't pique my interests so much.

***

I've also started watching So You Think You Can Dance again. Here's a dance that was done to Jordin Sparks's "Battlefield," another song I've been listening to a lot today.



Another show I just started watching is Hell's Kitchen. This is probably the first cooking show that I've actually enjoyed watching. It's so intense!

Ennui

I seem to be suffering from a bout of ennui, or so I think. Although, to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I completely understand all the nuances of the meaning of the word.

Anyway, that led me to Wikipedia, which led me to Sylvia Plath's poem of the same title:

SYLVIA PLATH

Ennui

Tea leaves thwart those who court catastrophe,
designing futures where nothing will occur:
cross the gypsy’s palm and yawning she
will still predict no perils left to conquer.
Jeopardy is jejune now: naïve knight
finds ogres out-of-date and dragons unheard
of, while blasé princesses indict
tilts at terror as downright absurd.

The beast in Jamesian grove will never jump,
compelling hero’s dull career to crisis;
and when insouciant angels play God’s trump,
while bored arena crowds for once look eager,
hoping toward havoc, neither pleas nor prizes
shall coax from doom’s blank door lady or tiger.

I think I rather like this poem. Like all good poems, this one probably has layers upon layers of hidden meaning that I have yet to understand, but I'll look into that later.

Speaking of Sylvia Plath, did you know she stuck her head in an oven? I think I knew that at some point, but had forgotten. It almost sounds comical until you realize how terrible it is that that's actually how her life ended. Never a good sign when you're so depressed you want to stick your head in the oven.

I think I'm going to start reading Jane Eyre, which I bought several months ago. I have this really bad habit of not reading the books that I actually own. I think it's because I figure that, since I own them, I'll have plenty of time to read them in the future. No rush, no deadline... leads to major procrastination.