who knew that tieing your shoelaces would be such valuable advice.
CAMBRIDGE, England (Jan. 30) - A museum visitor shattered three Qing dynasty Chinese vases when he tripped on his shoelace, stumbled down a stairway and brought the vases crashing to the floor, officials said Monday.
The three vases, dating from the late 17th or early 18th century, had been donated to the Fitzwilliam Museum in the university city of Cambridge in 1948, and were among its best-known artifacts. They had been sitting proudly on the window sill beside the staircase for 40 years.
"It was a most unfortunate and regrettable accident, but we are glad that the visitor involved was able to leave the museum unharmed," said Duncan Robinson, the Fitzwilliam's director.
The museum declined to identify the man who had tripped on a loose shoelace Wednesday.
Asked about the porcelain vases, Margaret Greeves, the museum's assistant director, said: "They are in very, very small pieces, but we are determined to put them back together."
The museum declined to say what the vases were worth.
01/30/06 08:36 EST
This week's parsha
I was just reading this week's parsha (Bo) and it is about the last three plagues and the Israelite's flight from Egypt. This may be a stupid question, but why isn't the Torah timed to read this parsha at Passover time?
Great Website
A week or so ago someone told me about Fun Again Games and suggested that it is a really good web source for board and card games. Well, today I was going to order two games so I thought I'd compare prices. I compared Amazon to Fun Again and I ended up going with Fun Again because their price after shipping was 20 bucks less than Amazon's price. Fun Again also has tons of great lists to help you find games that you might like in addition to complete reviews of each game. Can you tell I am a happy customer? :) Anyway, it's easy to complain when something goes wrong, but people almost never send compliments to businesses, so I am giving them the best compliment a customer can give: my recomendation to use their site if and when you need to buy a game.
1/28/86 Challenger
twenty years ago tomorrow.
space shuttle challenger disintegrated into space.
i was working for oppenheimer & co. in century city.
we had news and stock tickers go accross our computers.
when the news came over the news wire, people shouted out in absolute shock and disbelief.
we went into the conference room and watched the challenger disaster stunned by what we had seen.
do you remember where you were when the shuttle was destroyed?
space shuttle challenger disintegrated into space.
i was working for oppenheimer & co. in century city.
we had news and stock tickers go accross our computers.
when the news came over the news wire, people shouted out in absolute shock and disbelief.
we went into the conference room and watched the challenger disaster stunned by what we had seen.
do you remember where you were when the shuttle was destroyed?
UET
Hey Fern, you're in the Fed Soc: what's the unitary executive theory? Was reading about it in an article, and the wikipedia article I went to for preliminary research wasn't all that helpful (furthermore, I suspect it was biased). So, I've turned to you, our local constitutional scholar. Also if you could tell me how to post a pdf file on the blog, I'd like to post a really interesting (shorty, and relatively clear) article by Jacques Derrida on the Declaration of Independence.
I have to have this!!!
I was looking for a James Madison action figure to keep my Benjamin Franklin action figure company, but instead I found a Talking Theodore Roosevelt action figure! It has real recordings of TR's speeches! The site has a ton of other presidents too.
Interesting Red Sox trivia
Roger Clemens has four sons named Koby, Kory, Kacy & Kody. All start with 'K' the symbol for a strike. Cute, eh?
Favorite Book of All Time?
Someone recently asked me what my favorite book of all time is. What a tough question! I said Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Although there are a couple that are all tied for the first spot in my mind. So, if you had to pick just ONE book as your favorite, what would it be?
Interesting Analysis of Scalia's Dissent in Gonzales v. Oregon
In light of Justice Scalia's (relatively) recent visit to Chapman, I thought you all might be interested in an interesting analysis of his recent dissent in Gonzales v. Oregon (you can read a good analysis of the case at SCOTUSblog). Professor Bainbridge has posted a transcript of a conversation between Professor Eastman and Professor Hewitt. Basically, Professors Bainbridge, Eastman and Hewitt are noting a distinction between the jurisprudence of Justices Scalia and Thomas. Justice Scalia has resigned himself to the status quo. That is, he has accepted Wickard as settled law which has created the administrative state. Justice Thomas on the other hand, thinks Wickard is an incorrect interpretation of the Commerce Clause and wants to overturn it and the massive, unruly and relatively unrestrained administrative state that Wickard made possible. The money quote is at the end of Professor Bainbridge's post, "There is much to be admired about Scalia. It no longer seems possible, however, to believe that he is developing a coherent conservative jurisprudence. Nor, insofar as results are concerned, that he can be expected to bring back the Constitution from the exile to which Wickard assigned it."
What do you guys think? Are you a Scalia-ite or a Thomas-ite? Or neither? Do you think there is a place in American Jurisprudence for bad interpretations of the Constitution if the public/government has relied on that opinion for a long time?
What do you guys think? Are you a Scalia-ite or a Thomas-ite? Or neither? Do you think there is a place in American Jurisprudence for bad interpretations of the Constitution if the public/government has relied on that opinion for a long time?
Asportation
I am cite checking an opinion that is about to be published. Basically that means that I am making sure all the references to case law mean what the research attorney says they mean and checking for grammar and style mistakes. In the process I looked up the word "asportation" because I thought the research attorney had mistyped "transportation." But sure enough, asportation is a real word. It means "to carry away." All you Californians should be glad to know that the attorneys working here at the California Court of Appeal are top notch. You're definitely getting your money's worth.
What do these words mean to you?
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire! Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York! Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi! From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of
Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire! Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York! Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi! From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Zephyr
Just in case any of you are planning on trying the vegetarian restaurant on 4th and Elm in Long Beach, don't. Mick and I tried Zephyr Vegetarian Cafe for lunch today. The food was gross. It's too bad, because there were a lot of people in there at 2pm, which leads me to believe they probably had even more for the lunch hour rush. There is obviously a market for vegetarian fare in LB, but Zephyr is not up to snuff.
Eliana Bonnie Massover
In case anyone didn't get the email:
Edited to add the photos David just sent:
Eliana Bonnie Masover is here! Our precious little girl was born on January 11, 2006 at 4:10 pm in Budapest. She weighed in at 3 kg (6.6 lbs) and 55 cm (21.65 in). Mother and daughter are both healthy and beautiful (according to me - Dad), and the birth was breathtaking (although Mom may have a more colorful description). We will send pictures soon!
Love,
The Budapest Masovers (David, Kata, Ben & Eli)
Edited to add the photos David just sent:
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
James Frey, author of the widely acclaimed book A Million Little Pieces, has apparently fabricated parts of his story. I guess no one should be suprised, lying and druge abuse seem to go hand in hand.
You can read the full story here.
Police reports, court records, interviews with law enforcement personnel, and other sources have put the lie to many key sections of Frey's book. The 36-year-old author, these documents and interviews show, wholly fabricated or wildly embellished details of his purported criminal career, jail terms, and status as an outlaw "wanted in three states."
In additon to these rap sheet creations, Frey also invented a role for himself in a deadly train accident that cost the lives of two female high school students. In what may be his book's most crass flight from reality, Frey remarkably appropriates and manipulates details of the incident so he can falsely portray himself as the tragedy's third victim. It's a cynical and offensive ploy that has left one of the victims' parents bewildered. "As far as I know, he had nothing to do with the accident," said the mother of one of the dead girls. "I figured he was taking license...he's a writer, you know, they don't tell everything that's factual and true."
You can read the full story here.
The $1 book
In case anyone likes used books, there is a decent used book store on Anaheim St. called Planet Books. I went in looking for a book of Yvor Winters poems but didn't find it. Instead I got Selected Writings of Gertrude Stein. For a buck! Which is perfect because I had wanted to read The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas but I didn't really want to pay for it. I had planned on borrowing it from the library. The bookstore owner is also going to keep an eye out for Winters's poetry for me.
As an aside, I also checked out Acres of Books on Long Beach Blvd, but they didn't have any of Winters's poetry either. They did have a resident kitty whom I petted. Their website is pretty interesting for anyone who (a) is interested in the history of the store, or (b) is bored.
As an aside, I also checked out Acres of Books on Long Beach Blvd, but they didn't have any of Winters's poetry either. They did have a resident kitty whom I petted. Their website is pretty interesting for anyone who (a) is interested in the history of the store, or (b) is bored.
What books did you read in 2005?
To the best of my recollection, these are the books I read/listened to for enjoyment this past year:
- A Short History of Nearly Everything
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
- Reading Lolita in Tehran
- The Da Vinci Code
- The First Man in Rome
- The Geographer's Library
- The Time Traveler's Wife
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- Theodore Rex
- Mornings on Horseback
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
- The Supreme Court
- In, But Not Of
- The Gift of the Jews
- For the Defense of Themselves and the State
- The Screwtape Letters
- 1984
- Skepticism and Freedom
- Founding Brothers
- How To Run A Traditional Jewish Household
- Rough Edges : My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington
- Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter
The History of Love
I just finished Nicole Krauss's The History of Love. I first found the book by a rather circuitous route. I really enjoy reading Franklin Foer's articles (he writes for The New Republic). In one of his articles, he mentioned that his brother was an author, so I Google searched for this mysterious "other Foer." It turns out that Franklin Foer's brother is Jonathon Safran Foer (author of Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredible Close). Well, Jonathon Foer is married to Nicole Krauss. Nicole Krauss's book, The History of Love, had been an Amazon best seller for a long period of time, but I had written it off as something I probably wouldn't like (I thought it was a cheesy romance novel ala Danielle Steele). I guess the moral of this story is that you can't tell a book by it's cover. Ha! I love cheesy cliches. Anyway, the purpose of me telling you all this is that I always wonder how people find the books that they read, so I figured others might wonder about that as well.Back to the books. The weird thing is that there are reoccurring themes in both Foer and Krauss's novels. Everything is Illuminated and The History of Love are both about a search for someone profoundly affected by the Holocaust. Amazon describes the story as follows, "The History of Love spans of period of over 60 years and takes readers from Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe to present day Brighton Beach [New York]. At the center of each main character's psyche is the issue of loneliness, and the need to fill a void left empty by lost love." I won't go into more detail because I don't want to ruin the book for any of you. I highly recommend it.
Book Recommendation
For one of my classes we're reading a novel by George Perec, translated from the French by Gilbert Adair, called "A Void" (La Disparition). Here's what the back cover says:
"The year is 1968, and as Frace is torn apart by social and political anarchy, the noted eccentric and insomniac Anton Vowl goes missing. Ransacking his Paris flat, his best friends scour his diary for clues to his whereabouts. At first glance these pages reveal nothing but Vowl's penchant for word games, especially for "lipograms," compositions in which the use of a particular letter is suppressed. But as the friends work out Vowl's verbal puzzles, and as they investigate various leads discovered among the entries, they too disappear, one by one by one, and under the most mysterious circumstances...
"A Void" is a metaphysical whodunit, a story chock-full of plots and subplots, of trails in pursuit of trails, all of which afford Perec occasion to display his virtuousity as a verbal magician, acrobat, and sad-eyed clown. It is also an outrageous verbal stunt: a 300 page novel that never once employs the letter "e"! Adair's translation (which like in the French version never uses "e") is astounding."
Simply amazing, no? I was reading through it when I came across Adair's hilarious English translation without "e" of Perec's French translation without "e" of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven", called "Black Bird" by Arthur Gordon Pym (also included are PBS' "Ozymandias"and John Milton's "On His Glaucoma"). It's too cool not to reproduce (at least some of it) below:
from "Black Bird"
by Arthur Gordon Pym
'Twas upon a midnight tristful I sat poring, wan and wistful,
Through many a quaint and curious list full of my consorts slain--
I sat nodding, almost napping, till I caught a sound of tapping,
As of spirits softly rapping, rapping at my door in vain.
"'Tis a visitor," I murmur'd, "tapping at my door in vain--
Tapping soft as falling rain."
Ah, I know I know that this was on a holy night of Christmas;
But that quaint and curious list was forming phantoms all in train.
How I wish'd it was tomorrow; vainly had I sought to borrow
From my books a stay of sorrow--sorrow for my unjoin'd chain--
From that pictographic symbol missing from my unjoin'd chain--
And that would not join again
[...]
Now my room was growing gragrant, its aroma almost flagrant,
As from spirits wafting vagrant through my dolorous domain.
"Good-for-Naught," I said, "God sought you--From Plutonian strands
God brought you--
And, I know not why, God taught you all about my unjoin'd chain,
All about that linking symbol missing from my unjoin'd chain!"
Quoth the Black Bird, "Not Again"
"Sybil!" said I, "thing of loathing--sybil, fury in bird's clothing!
If by Satan brought, or frothing storm did toss you on its main,
Cast away, but all unblinking, on this arid island sinking--
On this room of Horror stinking--say it truly, or abstain--
Shall I--shall I find that symbol?--saym it--say it, or abstain
From your croaking, "'Not Again'."
{...}
"The year is 1968, and as Frace is torn apart by social and political anarchy, the noted eccentric and insomniac Anton Vowl goes missing. Ransacking his Paris flat, his best friends scour his diary for clues to his whereabouts. At first glance these pages reveal nothing but Vowl's penchant for word games, especially for "lipograms," compositions in which the use of a particular letter is suppressed. But as the friends work out Vowl's verbal puzzles, and as they investigate various leads discovered among the entries, they too disappear, one by one by one, and under the most mysterious circumstances...
"A Void" is a metaphysical whodunit, a story chock-full of plots and subplots, of trails in pursuit of trails, all of which afford Perec occasion to display his virtuousity as a verbal magician, acrobat, and sad-eyed clown. It is also an outrageous verbal stunt: a 300 page novel that never once employs the letter "e"! Adair's translation (which like in the French version never uses "e") is astounding."
Simply amazing, no? I was reading through it when I came across Adair's hilarious English translation without "e" of Perec's French translation without "e" of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven", called "Black Bird" by Arthur Gordon Pym (also included are PBS' "Ozymandias"and John Milton's "On His Glaucoma"). It's too cool not to reproduce (at least some of it) below:
from "Black Bird"
by Arthur Gordon Pym
'Twas upon a midnight tristful I sat poring, wan and wistful,
Through many a quaint and curious list full of my consorts slain--
I sat nodding, almost napping, till I caught a sound of tapping,
As of spirits softly rapping, rapping at my door in vain.
"'Tis a visitor," I murmur'd, "tapping at my door in vain--
Tapping soft as falling rain."
Ah, I know I know that this was on a holy night of Christmas;
But that quaint and curious list was forming phantoms all in train.
How I wish'd it was tomorrow; vainly had I sought to borrow
From my books a stay of sorrow--sorrow for my unjoin'd chain--
From that pictographic symbol missing from my unjoin'd chain--
And that would not join again
[...]
Now my room was growing gragrant, its aroma almost flagrant,
As from spirits wafting vagrant through my dolorous domain.
"Good-for-Naught," I said, "God sought you--From Plutonian strands
God brought you--
And, I know not why, God taught you all about my unjoin'd chain,
All about that linking symbol missing from my unjoin'd chain!"
Quoth the Black Bird, "Not Again"
"Sybil!" said I, "thing of loathing--sybil, fury in bird's clothing!
If by Satan brought, or frothing storm did toss you on its main,
Cast away, but all unblinking, on this arid island sinking--
On this room of Horror stinking--say it truly, or abstain--
Shall I--shall I find that symbol?--saym it--say it, or abstain
From your croaking, "'Not Again'."
{...}
The Spirit of Choice
An essay that I am writing for the Chapman University Holocaust Writing Essay. Please feel free to make any comments that you like.
The Spirit of Choice
by David English
"We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events." - Gerda Lerner.
Knowing this quote, I know I cannot compare my actions to that of Chiune Sugihara's, but as the quote says, "[w]e can learn by analogy, not by example..." I can, however, compare the spirit in which our actions have been made.
Chiune, also known as Sempo, Sugihara was born in Japan and of modest beginnings. In school he excelled at English, and one day hoped to be an English teacher in Japan. However, as he grew older he became increasingly more and more interested in philosophy, foreign affairs, and religion. Chiune later married a Caucasian woman by the name of Yukiko. Soon after marrying Yukiko he started to work for the Japanese embassy in Manchuria. Then, a few years before World War II, he was stationed in Lithuania. On one morning in July of 1940, Chiune woke to find a crowd of Jews in front of the consulate office. The Jews of Lithuania knew that their only way to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, was to gain a travel visa and head east to Japan and hopefully from there to America. Sugihara was now forced to make a very painful decision. He could either disobey his superior's orders, write transit visas for these Jews and face humiliation, financial hardship, and disgrace; or Chiune could turn his back on these people in need and have to live with a guilty conscience for the rest of his life.
Everyone in their lives come across many instances where they must make a difficult decision. And mine involved a good friend asking me for advice about a guy I happened to know. She wanted to date him and so I did a little background check on the guy in question. I found out that this guy beats his girlfriends and cheats on them as well. I told my friend that the guy she wanted to date was abusive, unfaithful and evil. I was very upset about the idea of my friend going out with this guy and wondered how I could prevent her from dating him. So I, just like Chiune, was forced to make a decision: to prevent my friend from dating the abusive guy until she realized this person's true character; or to allow her to date him, and for her to suffer, and for me to have a guilty conscience, just so I could say, "I was right and I told you so".
Both Chiune and I had to make a decision and face consequences. We faced different situations but we both knew that the choices we make will never be able to be undone. Chiune made the decision to help as many Jews as he could and wrote transit visa after transit visa after transit visa. He saved over several thousand Jews with just a pen and some paper. Chiune knew that he could turn his back on these people and close his doors and could have lived a happy and wealthy life, but he decided that a life of comfort was not as a great as a life with moral character. I was persistent with my friend until she saw first hand what this guy was like. She thanked me for helping her. I could have walked away and let her date the person and find out for herself. However, like Chiune, I also thought, and still think, that a life with moral character is greater than a life of comfort.
One cannot compare two good deeds. The circumstances of Chiune's situation were far different than mine. And so I make a comparison of the spirit in which these two good deeds were done. No one man or woman can turn the light on to the universe, but if the world works together then each good act done by each man, woman, and child will, slowly but surely, brighten our world one little notch at a time.
The Spirit of Choice
by David English
"We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events." - Gerda Lerner.
Knowing this quote, I know I cannot compare my actions to that of Chiune Sugihara's, but as the quote says, "[w]e can learn by analogy, not by example..." I can, however, compare the spirit in which our actions have been made.
Chiune, also known as Sempo, Sugihara was born in Japan and of modest beginnings. In school he excelled at English, and one day hoped to be an English teacher in Japan. However, as he grew older he became increasingly more and more interested in philosophy, foreign affairs, and religion. Chiune later married a Caucasian woman by the name of Yukiko. Soon after marrying Yukiko he started to work for the Japanese embassy in Manchuria. Then, a few years before World War II, he was stationed in Lithuania. On one morning in July of 1940, Chiune woke to find a crowd of Jews in front of the consulate office. The Jews of Lithuania knew that their only way to escape the horrors of the Holocaust, was to gain a travel visa and head east to Japan and hopefully from there to America. Sugihara was now forced to make a very painful decision. He could either disobey his superior's orders, write transit visas for these Jews and face humiliation, financial hardship, and disgrace; or Chiune could turn his back on these people in need and have to live with a guilty conscience for the rest of his life.
Everyone in their lives come across many instances where they must make a difficult decision. And mine involved a good friend asking me for advice about a guy I happened to know. She wanted to date him and so I did a little background check on the guy in question. I found out that this guy beats his girlfriends and cheats on them as well. I told my friend that the guy she wanted to date was abusive, unfaithful and evil. I was very upset about the idea of my friend going out with this guy and wondered how I could prevent her from dating him. So I, just like Chiune, was forced to make a decision: to prevent my friend from dating the abusive guy until she realized this person's true character; or to allow her to date him, and for her to suffer, and for me to have a guilty conscience, just so I could say, "I was right and I told you so".
Both Chiune and I had to make a decision and face consequences. We faced different situations but we both knew that the choices we make will never be able to be undone. Chiune made the decision to help as many Jews as he could and wrote transit visa after transit visa after transit visa. He saved over several thousand Jews with just a pen and some paper. Chiune knew that he could turn his back on these people and close his doors and could have lived a happy and wealthy life, but he decided that a life of comfort was not as a great as a life with moral character. I was persistent with my friend until she saw first hand what this guy was like. She thanked me for helping her. I could have walked away and let her date the person and find out for herself. However, like Chiune, I also thought, and still think, that a life with moral character is greater than a life of comfort.
One cannot compare two good deeds. The circumstances of Chiune's situation were far different than mine. And so I make a comparison of the spirit in which these two good deeds were done. No one man or woman can turn the light on to the universe, but if the world works together then each good act done by each man, woman, and child will, slowly but surely, brighten our world one little notch at a time.
Podcasts
Lately I've been getting into podcasts. A podcast is "a non-music audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player." Basically, it's like listening to a radio show on your iPod.
There are tons of really cool podcasts on an unbelievably diverse amount of subjects. For example, the Rabbi at CSULB Hillel creates a weekly podcast which discusses that week's parsha. Chabad also does something similar. There is even a rabbi who has created a podcast course on Kabballah. NPR also makes all of its shows available as podcasts. I subscribe to their show about books, the one about etymology and their show about up and coming musicians. Other cool podcast subscriptions I've seen have been from the National Constitution Center (featuring debates about constitutional issues between leading scholars) and an ESPN daily podcast.
Podcasts are great for those of us who enjoy doing two things at once. You can clean your kitchen and catch up on the wonderful world of Harry Potter (The MuggleNet podcast was the first podcast I tried). You can do your grocery shopping while listening to a discussion of Rashi's views on this week's parsha (Vayigash).
There are tons of really cool podcasts on an unbelievably diverse amount of subjects. For example, the Rabbi at CSULB Hillel creates a weekly podcast which discusses that week's parsha. Chabad also does something similar. There is even a rabbi who has created a podcast course on Kabballah. NPR also makes all of its shows available as podcasts. I subscribe to their show about books, the one about etymology and their show about up and coming musicians. Other cool podcast subscriptions I've seen have been from the National Constitution Center (featuring debates about constitutional issues between leading scholars) and an ESPN daily podcast.
Podcasts are great for those of us who enjoy doing two things at once. You can clean your kitchen and catch up on the wonderful world of Harry Potter (The MuggleNet podcast was the first podcast I tried). You can do your grocery shopping while listening to a discussion of Rashi's views on this week's parsha (Vayigash).
More poems
Fern-
I'm glad you liked Yvor Winters, I really love him. That also gave me some more insight into other people you might like.
Everybody-
NPR has a a program called All Things Considered that feature's different literary artists from around the world. Among the notables have been: Diane Di Prima, Ceslaw Milosz, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lucille Clifton, Quincy Troupe (my personal fave), Charles Harper Webb, and Marilyn Chin (a writing prof of mine). These and several other contributors are published in a collection Cathy Bowman edited called Word Of Mouth. You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Borders but it's also probably at your nearest college library as well. They're more contemporary than Keats and Browning, and so I find their influences are right on the surface which I like. You can probably find it in Google Print. I have a copy you can see too. Or:
Preparation by Czeslaw Milosz. I LOVE THIS POEM.
Married by Jack Gilbert. Also on that page is Anseo by Paul Muldoon which is great, if you like Winters you'll like him. All of Gilbert's stuff is like Married. Like poetic journal entries.
Memory by Lucille Clifton. Not everyone likes her, but many do. She's had a very interesting life. All of her material has very raw emotional content as this one does.
I'd recommend getting the book. Have fun, let me know what you guys think.
I'm glad you liked Yvor Winters, I really love him. That also gave me some more insight into other people you might like.
Everybody-
NPR has a a program called All Things Considered that feature's different literary artists from around the world. Among the notables have been: Diane Di Prima, Ceslaw Milosz, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lucille Clifton, Quincy Troupe (my personal fave), Charles Harper Webb, and Marilyn Chin (a writing prof of mine). These and several other contributors are published in a collection Cathy Bowman edited called Word Of Mouth. You can find it at Barnes & Noble or Borders but it's also probably at your nearest college library as well. They're more contemporary than Keats and Browning, and so I find their influences are right on the surface which I like. You can probably find it in Google Print. I have a copy you can see too. Or:
Preparation by Czeslaw Milosz. I LOVE THIS POEM.
Married by Jack Gilbert. Also on that page is Anseo by Paul Muldoon which is great, if you like Winters you'll like him. All of Gilbert's stuff is like Married. Like poetic journal entries.
Memory by Lucille Clifton. Not everyone likes her, but many do. She's had a very interesting life. All of her material has very raw emotional content as this one does.
I'd recommend getting the book. Have fun, let me know what you guys think.
Cell Phone Do Not Call Registry
Just a reminder that at the end of this month, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. You WILL be charged for these calls.
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
You can also register online: http://www.donotcall.gov
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years.
You can also register online: http://www.donotcall.gov
11:07 a.m. McDonald's Whittier & Hadley
#15660
Wednesday
January 4, 2006
A fast-moving fire exploded out of a fryer this morning, wreaking catastrophic damage upon our restaurant. Fortunately no one was injured.
The managers and crew are devastated; the restaurant they are so proud of, for which they fought for and won the trophy for highest sales of any CedarCorp restaurant for the second year in a row ($3,244,000) is severely damaged.
Isabel, a member of our team since opening day told me, "this has been my home away from home for ten years!" Don't worry, Isabel: we'll be back, better than ever.
It will cost more than one-half million dollars to restore the restaurant, and we will be closed for 5 months.
Class(es)
Well, it's that time of year again. I'm back in Chicago (where the weather is a balmy 40 degrees, with no snow, rain, or wind--I'm psyched). I've had my first two classes, "Topics in Contemporary European Philosophy" and "Hegel's Theory of Freedom" and I'm really excited about tomorrow's "Language, Politics, and Political Theory," though the prospect of reading Hegel and Heidegger at the same time is a little daunting (I may just head to the pub, and learn Monty Python style, according to the "Philosopher's Drinking Song). My professor for "Topics" is an interesting chap, a guy named Arnold Davidson, who also teaches philosophy at the University of Pisa. He's bald with a longish beard and a bum arm (rumor has it that it was damaged during a trick gone awry thus ending his former life as a magician). Complete with a largish hoop earing, he looks, well, like a pirate. All that's missing is the parrot, but no doubt there are a number of sycophantic grad students that will apply for the position.
P.S.
The Philosopher's Drinking Song, for your enjoyment
Immanuel Kant was a real piss-ant who was very rarely stable.
Heideggar, Heideggar was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel.
And Whittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel.
There's nothing Nieizsche couldn't teach 'ya 'bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.
John Stewart Mill, of his own free will, after half a pint of shanty was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away, half a crate of whiskey every day!
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
And Hobbes was fond of his Dram.
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart:
"I drink, therefore I am."
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed.
P.S.
The Philosopher's Drinking Song, for your enjoyment
Immanuel Kant was a real piss-ant who was very rarely stable.
Heideggar, Heideggar was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel.
And Whittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel.
There's nothing Nieizsche couldn't teach 'ya 'bout the raising of the wrist.
Socrates, himself, was permanently pissed.
John Stewart Mill, of his own free will, after half a pint of shanty was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away, half a crate of whiskey every day!
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
And Hobbes was fond of his Dram.
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart:
"I drink, therefore I am."
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed.
Lazy Sunday
I've enjoyed this video for two weeks now. It has been all over the internet... If you haven't watched it yet just go to the link and enjoy!
Lazy Sunday link
South Park Censored
Look at this
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060103/en_tv_eo/18055
I think it is wrong for people to demand south park's removal from the air. This type of thing happens all the time on late night cartoons, but in reference to Jews and Muslims. What do you think?
-m
http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060103/en_tv_eo/18055
I think it is wrong for people to demand south park's removal from the air. This type of thing happens all the time on late night cartoons, but in reference to Jews and Muslims. What do you think?
-m
Person(s) of the Year
As we put to bed 2005 I always enjoy the end of the year shows or magazines that deal with the person(s) of the year. Who or whom (I don't know which one is correct. I teach math remember). Who is your person(s) of the year. Use any criteria you want. I will post mine under comments so as not to unduly sway people either for or against.
What was your favorite Rose Parade float?
I think mine was Trader Joe's float (I can only find an illustration):
I also liked the City of Long Beach's float:
I also liked the City of Long Beach's float:
Happy New Year!!!
Anyone wanna fess up about their resolutions? Mine is to stay organized by keeping my planner up-to-date.
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