Reading
I normally plow through books in my spare time. I had a lot less of it as of the last part of this year. It took me until just a few days ago to finish a book I started this summer at the lake. It was only short of 400 pages, small compared to my normal reading.
Now, however, I am reading "John Adams" by David McCullough. I had already read "Truman" by him, but this book is so different. His writing really captures the time the men lived.
One odd note that struck me as I was reading this afternoon was a statement of purpose that Adams wrote and had published on what a new American government might look like. The form of the government was remarkably similar to what we have now.
The part I found the most interesting is that he took time to outline one very important part, or function, of the government, so that it might function at peak ability.
"Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially for the lower classes of people ... no expense for this purpose should be considered too extravagant."
It is no wonder that our government cannot function if the citizenry is as poorly educated as we find ourselves today. Granted, the total level of education in this country has risen tremendously in the last century, but what has come of it? Is anyone more aware of our, or their own situation? No, unfortunately we have educated ourselves in the ways of the economy. We have neglected the very basic structures that should contribute to an egalitarian society. But instead of being able to make our own decisions about the issues of the day we must rely on politicians that are willing to curry favor for pork projects and campaign donations. Instead of selecting our political representatives out of patriotism and knowledge, it has become a popularity contest. We elect those who are endorsed by celebrities; who themselves have dubious backgrounds.
Why fix the education and create a body of intelligent citizens when the current system is working out so well for those in charge of it.
Some people feel as if they have no control. Most of the time I feel as if I have no control. The unfortunate part is that we think that life is about control.
I read a lot. I read alot in college. What I found most interesting were those pieces I read in Modern Poltical Theory. Locke talking about the natural law and how ideas like that revolutionized the way society has functioned ever since.
Instead of having an absolute law, created by an absolute ruler, we have realized that the rules of our society are inherent. We all have inherent rights just by the virtue of having been born. Whether you feel like this is a religious conviction, or just a revelation based on observing human behavior, remember this:
Someone at some point in the history of our species felt that you were special enough to fight for the inherent rights you now have.
Whether that person knew that is what they were fighting for you or not is another question. But they did, and you now have the "control" to fight for those inherent rights everyday, no matter how constrained by societal or economic forces you may be.
Family and New Year
A new year, a brand new year.
Yesterday I had a conversation with Catherine about making the office have more of an internet "presence." So she has since started a blog and Twitter. I am not a fan of Twitter at all, so I refuse to join.
That got me thinking that even though we have all of these strange new ways to connect to people, most of us feel more isolated now than we would have had to before.
Which leads me to my topic this morning. I am glad we chose to stay here in Michigan so we can have days like today. Really, it's all about family. For awhile there, we were very isolated from our families. We lived on the south side of GR and they all lived north. Now, even though we live in GR, and our parents still live in Cedar, it's not that far. I am really looking forward to this summer. A whole summer with a place at the lake will be great.
So I get to repeat what generations of my family and many other families in Michigan experience. Traveling north for the weekends, getting out of town. It is a time honored tradition now. It existed rarely before the fifties, but it's been going strong for over 60 years now. In the full scope of history, it's not that long. But in the timeline of one short human life it can mean the difference between happiness and friendship and lonliness and despair.
I am wondering why I keep stopping on these stupid TimeLife infomercials while I am flipping through late night TV.
Tonight's is "Romancing the 70's." Given the way I was raised I kind of expect to have a wide range of knowledge of older songs.
I know a lot of them, Jim Croce, Elton John, Rod Stewart, John Denver, and even Tony Orlando and Dawn. But apparently there was a group called "Bread." The standards seemed awfully low back then.
Top 50 Films of the 2000s
1. Munich (2005)
2. Lost In Translation (2003)
3. Children of Men (2006)
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
5. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
6. Memento (2000)
7. Minority Report (2002)
8. There Will Be Blood (2007)
9. The Dark Knight (2008)
10. Kill Bill, Volume 1 (2003)
11. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
12. Moulin Rouge (2001)
13. American Psycho (2000)
14. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
15. Adaptation (2002)
16. The Hours (2002)
17. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
18. Amelie (2001)
19. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)
20. The Departed (2006)
21. The Incredibles (2004)
22. The Prestige (2006)
23. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
24. Gladiator (2000)
25. Vanilla Sky (2001)
26. The Lives of Others (2006)
27. I Heart Huckabees (2004)
28. 25th Hour (2002)
29. Volver (2006)
30. Bowling For Columbine (2002)
31. Collateral (2004)
32. Ratatouille (2007)
33. Juno (2007)
34. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
35. Mystic River (2003)
36. Donnie Darko (2001)
37. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
38. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)
39. Closer (2004)
40. Walk The Line (2005)
41. The Bourne Identity (2002)
42. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
43. The King of Kong (2007)
44. Star Trek (2009)
45. The Wrestler (2008)
46. Once (2006)
47. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
48. Away We Go (2009)
49. A History of Violence (2005)
50. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
# of films, by year
8 (2002, 2004); 7 (2006); 6 (2001); 5 (2005, 2007); 4 (2003); 3 (2000); 2 (2008, 2009)
Best of 2009 Top CDs
1. Regina Spektor - Far
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
4. Silversun Pickups - Swoon
5. Pearl Jam - Backspacer
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
7. Eels - Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire
8. A Fine Frenzy - Bomb in a Birdcage
9. David Gray - Draw the Line
10. Moby - Wait for Me
Top Movies work in progress
1. Away We Go
2. Star Trek
3. Sherlock Holmes
4. Avatar
5. Where the Wild Things Are
6. The Informant!
7. The Men Who Stare at Goats
8. Watchmen
9. Public Enemies
10. Angels & Demons
Top Video Games played, not necessarily released, in 2009
1. Bioshock
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
3. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
4. NCAA Football '10 (2009)
5. Half-Life 2
6. Rock Band 2
7. House of the Dead: Overkill (2009)
8. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
9. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
10. Silent Hill: Homecoming
Top Books read, not necessarily released, in 2009
1. Nick Hornby - Juliet, Naked (2009)
2. Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - The Watchmen
3. Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
4. Mark Blake - Comfortably Numb: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd
5. Flannery O'Connor - Everything that Rises Must Converge
6. Dave Eggers - Zeitoun (2009)
7. Brian Vaughan & Pia Guerra - Y: The Last Man
8. Patrick McGilligan - Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness & Light
9. Michael Kane - Game Boys
10. Mark Oliver Everett - Things the Grandchildren Should Know
"If the FCC is going to investigate anything it should be that Lambert may be compromising the reputation of gay men everywhere. Gay men have proudly worked hard for centuries to cultivate the appearance of having good taste. Tom Ford, fashion designer and the living embodiment of homo-sexy refinement, is even bringing his mission to movie theaters this month with "A Single Man.’’ And then comes Lambert with his Mystic Tan, makeup, and eyeliner to steamroll it all back dozens of years.
"Even more offensive than the bump, grind, and kiss is that Lambert is now taking it upon himself to explain why folks had a difficult time digesting his American Music Awards performance. 'People aren’t used to seeing gay men portrayed that way on TV,' he told Ellen DeGeneres last week. 'The gay male image in the media tends to be very cliché.’ So, let me get this straight. Lambert, who dresses like the immaculately conceived love child of Siegfried and Roy, is not a cliché? Cut to me giving the TV the side eye and scratching my head. He’s a bundle of clichés, and represents a very outdated image of the flamboyant gay performer. Freddie Mercury and his stretch unitards were more groundbreaking, and definitely sexier."
- Boston Globe style columnist Christopher Muther.
So, I went out drinking tonight. Ann from Homelux is great. Liam is cute too! I love laid back people who know what douche bags some of the Menard people are. Can I have Liam for Christmas? Please?!
“The Camaro is a big tranny mess getting ready for a night on the piers.”
And maybe I’m wrong, but I think you’d be hard pressed to find a straight guy who wouldn’t want to fuck a dude, so long as he was this wickedly good looking, magnetic to all who entered his orbit, able to rip off a sub-5-second 0-60 time, and had some boobs.
The Great American Challenge is the world’s biggest dildo. It’s 15 inches from tip to base, has an “insertable” length of 10.5 inches, a diameter of approximately three inches at its meatiest, and weighs nearly five pounds when loaded up with the batteries that control its vibrating mechanism. Why do I mention this, aside from my contractual obligation work a penile reference into every single review? Because I recently spent some time with the Dodge Challenger, and in addition to some rather obvious nomenclatural similarities—the car is American, and has the word Challenge inserted 10.5 inches into its name—it reminded me of this tool in a number of different ways: They both come in a range of indiscreet, but oddly compelling, colors. They’re both styled and proportioned so as to evoke an aura of power, raunch, seduction, and terror in near equal measures. Each is significantly larger than a two-liter bottle of Sprite. And they’re both far more appealing to look at than to actually use. (Also, ownership of either one is guaranteed to elicit accusations of overcompensating.)
