Month: May 2008

Continuing my unable-to-not-read-it exploration of fanaticism (I don’t know why this is so fascinating to me right now; I turned into an apostate a long time ago), I found a Rolling Stone article online about born again Christian Zionism–that is, evangelicals who believe the end times are near and a holy war with the Middle East is imminent (and necessary for God’s plan). It’s not unbiased, of course, but it’s funny and it’s thought provoking and so very scary. The quote of the day from it:

“It occurred to me that over the past decades, any number of our prominent political leaders (from Jimmy Carter to Chuck Colson to W himself) had boasted publicly of their born-again experiences, broadcasting to Middle America an understanding of their personal relationships with God. But whereas once these conversions were humble things…the modern version might very easily be this completely batshit holy-vomitus/demon-exorcism deal. The thought that any politician could claim this kind of experience and not be immediately disqualified from public service seemed utterly terrifying.”

1. As I mentioned, I read Under the Banner of Heaven this week, and just…wow. So depressing and creepy and, like a train wreck, oddly fascinating. (And if I had read something about life under Taliban rule, or the early Christian church, I would be saying the same thing. As I said, I hate Illinois Nazis–I mean, religious fanatics.)

2. The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association National Conference is going on NOW at the South Towne Expo Center. This is how I met alpacas a few years ago–the show is all weekend, there are vendors and exhibits, and there are a bunch of furry camelids inside a convention center. Do you need more reason than that?

3. Despite those compelling reasons I’ll have to miss the show this year, because I will be camping. In the rain. And 34 degree nighttime lows. I told my friend Sean about my plans, and he said, “I’d rather be at the Rainbow Room.” Wouldn’t we all, Sean.

I finished Of Human Bondage yesterday. I enjoyed it, but I also would have equally enjoyed not reading it. It’s engrossing, but the language never made me stop and say, “Wow!”; and there was just too much introspection from the main character about the meaning of life for my taste.

It also seemed almost comically existential to me: Philip’s conclusions about the futility of life only reminded me of “The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook” (worth a click). For example, he visits his old school:

He thought bitterly how much he had wanted to do and how little done. It seemed to him that all those years, vanished beyond recall, had been utterly wasted. The boys, fresh and buoyant, were doing the same things that he had done, it seemed that not a day had passed since he left the school, and yet in that place where at least by name he had known everybody now he knew not a soul. In a few years these too, others taking their place, would stand alien as he stood; but the reflection brought him no solace; it merely impressed upon him the futility of human existence.

Dude, easy there. He also falls in love–a happy thing, right? Not really:

He had thought of love as a rapture which seized one so that all the world seemed spring-like, he had looked forward to an ecstatic happiness; but this was not happiness; it was a hunger of the soul, it was a painful yearning, it was a bitter anguish, he had never known before…When she left him it was wretchedness, and when she came to him again it was despair.

And so on, for quite a few pages. And then at the end he finds happiness with a different girl, and in one chapter we’re told that all of his angst and unhappiness and obsessions with his other love will be cured by marriage. (If it had been about a red-haired girl and had more hijinks, that ending would have made me think I was reading Anne of Green Gables.)

So, a good book–just not to my taste. (And seriously, click through that Sartre link. My best friend and I thought it was the height of cleverness in high school.)

I sure do, because otherwise I’ll complain about Blogger’s photo uploading issues, and how cold the office is, and the rain that will continue through the weekend while I’m camping, and the fact that Under the Banner of Heaven is so depressing, and that it actually ties in well with Of Human Bondage, another depressing book about unhealthy obsessions and their ultimate futility. And a protagonist with a club foot.

Blogger, we could have avoided all of this. It’s a good thing I have the real Toby to look forward to tonight.

I finished one of the two dresses I want to make before next weekend when I head back to the prairies for a family reunion, but it needs a modeled shot because it looks like a big beige sack on the hanger. However, Mr. Isbell is out of town and Toby, despite how smart he is, has a hard time taking pictures.
So I took a picture of him instead:

Updated: Blogger photo loading is being difficult. I guess this was meant to be photo-less today.

Have you ever wondered, “Hm, what’s younger than John McCain?” Well, now there’s a site that tells you–www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com.

The internet is awesome. (It, too, is younger than John McCain. Or me, for that matter.)

1. I saw Don Giovanni this week and I’d have to say it’s the best Utah Opera production I’ve seen since La Boheme about 10 years ago. The set is ugly and boring, but it was so well-performed. It even made me regret not playing in the pit…for a minute. I saw people I knew in there, too.

2. Also music related: Given my extreme distaste for being around pot smokers, my pre-conceived notions about the music, my most recent exposure to it from a mainstream movie, and my whiteness, would it be too awful of me to get a Bob Marley CD? I’ve been listening to it on the shared iTunes at work all week and, um, I really like it.

3. Thank you, weather, for being warm this weekend. Please don’t snow again.