My friend Tammy and I have decided to stretch ourselves artistically: we’ve started a team photo blog. It started with this post and after some hemming, hawwing, direction changing and good ole fashioned procrastination we have it up! And there are posts posted!!
We chose “Two Sides to Every Story” because our original idea was to have a post theme and have our two takes on it. Tammy generated 25 random words for us to use. That proved too hard for the newly initiated photo bloggers, so we’re going with things that are interesting to us in some way. My goal is not to focus on family pictures, you can get enough of that here. I also hope to learn to use my camera better, enough to warrant a new lens in 2010.
One afternoon of graduate school I was sitting outside the student union taking in the sunshine. I’m sure I had a stack of books. I do remember I was waiting on a friend. Two younger students, clearly freshman, approached and asked if they could ask me some questions – they were doing a survey. I said sure. It’s very common for psych classes to send out their students to do informal polling for papers, etc.
They ask about life goals – did I have any?
Sure, I am *in* grad school after all. I ask which class they’re polling for.
They deflect.
They ask if I feel like I am able to achieve my goals.
Sure, I keep coming back. I ask which class they’re polling for.
They answer: not a class.
They ask another question.
I ask what they’re doing.
They were recruiting for a Christian organization on campus. Okay. I wish they had been upfront about that to begin with – would have made the conversation more fun from the start. Once we were all aware of everyone’s agenda things got interesting.
Them: how can you achieve your life’s goals without Jesus in your life?
Me: Why do I need Jesus? I can have faith and religion without Jesus.
Them: Huh?
Me: Not everyone needs to go through Jesus to get to God.
Them: Yes you do, if you do not accept Jesus … you go to hell.
Me: Really? All the God fearing Jews that died during the Holocaust went to hell?
Them: No. They accepted Jesus.
Me: Huh?
Me: Uhm.
Me: What?
Then there was a part where I gently explained that not knowing anything about the competition before trying to sell their product was a fail (I was, after all, in business school).
They stood their ground. (Was I now a challenge?)
Me: so, a man who rapes his wife and beats his children can have salvation if, on his death bed, he asks Jesus for forgiveness?
Them: Yes.
Me: And a man that cares for his family and his community and never harms a fly but hasn’t accepted Jesus as his personal savior goes to hell?
Them: Yes.
Me: And you’re okay with that?
The girl cried some more. They slowly walked away. I watched where they went, wanting to see who the would target next. Instead they just left. Maybe they went to the library to read about comparative religion. Heh.
The hypocrisy of main stream religion is baffling to me. I cannot wrap my brain around it. I do not understand how people who claim to be Christians think they have the right to condemn other people. My brain cannot process how Pat Robertson has followers. He says that the Haitians made a pact with the devil. Does he think that because they practice Voodoo? Anything that’s not his brand of Christianity is devil-worship? How do all those people with strong faith, with belief in the golden rule, with a love for their neighbor regardless of their views let this man represent him? Where did all those people wearing the WWJD bracelets go? Do they honestly believe that Jesus would look the other way and let people suffer? If their god is a benevolent one, he would not. And if their god is malicious, how can they have faith in him?
Not just any geek because I spent actual time today trying to decide which analogy I prefer to describe my work habits: LIFO/FIFO or stack/queue. For those that haven’t had to sit through a year of accounting, LIFO is last in, first out and FIFO is first in, first out – both are inventory tracking methods. Stack is that new things get put on the top and handled first (same as LIFO) and queue is new things go to the end of the line (FIFO). So, now that everyone is caught up with the voices in my head, let’s move on.
I was thinking about whether my work habits are queue based or stack based. Do I make a list and add new things to the end, handling the list from 1 to N? Or do I take on new things and put them on the top of the list? I think, that in reality, I do neither exclusively. I apply some sort of priority algorithm to the task and then decide what to do. So, what is that? Modified queue?
Yes, this is what the inside of my head sounds like.
What’s your responsibility handling paradigm? How do you take on new obligations/opportunities? Do you give something else up or do you squeeze more into your life? I take on more until I need to take to my bed. I’m not sure that’s entirely healthy. It takes other forms sometimes. Sometimes I ignore the impending thing I need to do and then act like my lack of planning was me being all easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy. When in fact I’m so far past freaked out that I just sort of shut down. I try not to be such an over-doer.
Today my application to graduate school was completed and it’s somewhat intimidating. I expected to be relieved that it was complete. I’ve been working toward this day for seven months. Instead? I’m sort of freaking out. I’m becoming more concerned that I will get accepted than that I won’t (although, in reality I should be concerned about not being accepted – they take 20 people per year. Statistically, my chances are slim.). Also, sometimes? I worry about the wrong things. Which is where the stream of consciousness becomes helpful – it distracts me … so I wonder: do I stack or queue?
Welcome to twenty ten people. What changes are afoot in your neck of the woods?
I think this picture captures the true color of Elliot’s eyes accurately. I’ve lost count of the number of doctors/teachers/grandmothers that have warned me that those eyes with those eyelashes are going to cause problems later in life.
When my kids were small I took their picture with the same bear on their monthly birthdays. After their first birthday it became an annual event. Aren’t they going to love that on their 16th, 21st and 30th birthdays?
Here is Audrey at 4-years old with the trusty nameless bear and her two green kitties. You can see her at 3-years, 2-years, 1-year and 1-month here.
A little something to tide you over while I get my house back in order, both literally and figuratively. Speaking of being tide-over: Audrey has lots of idiomatic phrases she uses correctly (for example, “I’m pulling your leg.”) and just as many where she misses the mark. When asking for a snack it’s not uncommon for her to ask for a little something to “tied me up” until lunch. I don’t correct her.
This is Audrey is her Halloween costume: a Goodwill bargain at just $6!
I may be illiterate but I surround myself with very, very smart people. Take for example my friend Gary. He’s a magnificent orator and his speech is thoughtful. I wish the debate on healthcare, and every other government interest, could be articulated this well by the media.
For those who don’t know I’ve been in Toastmasters for 2 years and recently I developed a speech that had excellent reviews. As such I gave it as a test speech at a contest and subsequently was invited to another Toastmasters club to give it a 3rd time. They captured it on video. Maybe it’s meaningful to someone out there in the blog-o-sphere.
Yeah! We’ve made it to the end of the 1001 Books list. I honestly thought I would fair better than I did given my general studies undergraduate degree. In all, I have read 27 of the books on this list.
901. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
902. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
903. Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
904. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
905. Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
906. The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
907. La Reine Margot – Alexandre Dumas
908. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
909. The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe
910. Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens
911. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
912. Lost Illusions – Honoré de Balzac
913. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
914. Dead Souls – Nikolay Gogol
915. The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendhal
916. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe
917. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
918. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
919. The Nose – Nikolay Gogol
920. Le Père Goriot – Honoré de Balzac
921. Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac
922. The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo
923. The Red and the Black – Stendhal
924. The Betrothed – Alessandro Manzoni
925. Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
926. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner – James Hogg
927. The Albigenses – Charles Robert Maturin
928. Melmoth the Wanderer – Charles Robert Maturin
929. The Monastery – Sir Walter Scott
930. Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott 931. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
932. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
933. Persuasion – Jane Austen
934. Ormond – Maria Edgeworth
935. Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
936. Emma – Jane Austen
937. Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
938. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
939. The Absentee – Maria Edgeworth
940. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
941. Elective Affinities – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
942. Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth
943. Hyperion – Friedrich Hölderlin
944. The Nun – Denis Diderot
945. Camilla – Fanny Burney
946. The Monk – M.G. Lewis
947. Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
948. The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
949. The Interesting Narrative – Olaudah Equiano
950. The Adventures of Caleb Williams – William Godwin
951. Justine – Marquis de Sade
952. Vathek – William Beckford
953. The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade
954. Cecilia – Fanny Burney
955. Confessions – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
956. Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
957. Reveries of a Solitary Walker – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
958. Evelina – Fanny Burney
959. The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
960. Humphrey Clinker – Tobias George Smollett
961. The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie
962. A Sentimental Journey – Laurence Sterne
963. Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne
964. The Vicar of Wakefield – Oliver Goldsmith
965. The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
966. Émile; or, On Education – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
967. Rameau’s Nephew – Denis Diderot
968. Julie; or, the New Eloise – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
969. Rasselas – Samuel Johnson
970. Candide – Voltaire
971. The Female Quixote – Charlotte Lennox
972. Amelia – Henry Fielding
973. Peregrine Pickle – Tobias George Smollett
974. Fanny Hill – John Cleland
975. Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
976. Roderick Random – Tobias George Smollett
977. Clarissa – Samuel Richardson
978. Pamela – Samuel Richardson
979. Jacques the Fatalist – Denis Diderot
980. Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus – J. Arbuthnot, J. Gay, T. Parnell, A. Pope, J. Swift
981. Joseph Andrews – Henry Fielding
982. A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
983. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
984. Roxana – Daniel Defoe
985. Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
986. Love in Excess – Eliza Haywood
987. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
988. A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift
989. Oroonoko – Aphra Behn
990. The Princess of Clèves – Marie-Madelaine Pioche de Lavergne, Comtesse de La Fayette
991. The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
992. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
993. The Unfortunate Traveller – Thomas Nashe
994. Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit – John Lyly
995. Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais
996. The Thousand and One Nights – Anonymous
997. The Golden Ass – Lucius Apuleius
998. Aithiopika – Heliodorus
999. Chaireas and Kallirhoe – Chariton
1000. Metamorphoses – Ovid
1001. Aesop’s Fables – Aesopus
The 1001 Series site has the books listed in table that you can sort by author. It’s made me find a few books that I had neglected to acknowledge earlier (like The Handmaid’s Tale).
Assuming I live an average life expectancy, I have 43 more years on this planet. I have not yet read 974 books on this list. To finish this list I would have the read just over 22 books per year from this list alone. I’m not seeing that happen. Maybe if I become a book per week reader I could do it. But some of the tomes on this list are just not doable in a week. And too many have no appeal for me. My author tastes lean toward the pop culture (if Douglas Coupland were on this list I would have cleaned up) and the alive female author variety (Toni Morrison, Joshilyn Jackson, Amy Tan).
Here’s my challenge to you: what are your ten all-time favorites, to date of course? Which ten books would you keep with you if you were only going to be able to read them, and them alone, for the rest of your life? Compilations don’t count (for example, the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy or the selected works of Ernest Hemingway). Tell me before Tuesday, November 4 and I’ll make a pretty graph. Also, go get on Shelfari. You’ll like it – I promise.
