Last Post For The Year

I mean it this time. But I wanted to say, "Merry Christmas!" to y'all before I get home (I leave day after tomorrow! Woot woot!) to share my lasagna woes.

I'll be the last bloody Davis to arrive home...I hope there's hot lasagna waiting! (please God, make it lasagna) The lasagna here is....less than desireable. It has no meat, and is chock full of vegetables. Vegetables! Instead of meat, we have zucchini. Excuse me? Zucchini? And kale? And okra?! Eww! Frikkin vegans, lasagna is ITALIAN. You need ITALIAN SAUSAGE LIKE WHAT MOM PUTS IN HER LASAGNA.

We had lasagna last night and I almost wept for disappointment. I was a sad, sad, freshman. (two more days...

Last of all, I will share with you a MERRY CHRISTMAS picture! Appreciate the Christmas Cheer! I know the little kid does, hahahahah.

Isn't it adorable? It always makes me smile -I'm such an ogre- :)

If it doesn't suit you, try this one. :)

Yeah! Go Santa!

Aussies are fun people

This is what they say!

"I don't give an oodnadatta if you can't gundagai my uluru. Feel pitjanjatjara to wolloomoolloo my wingecarribee

1371

Seven Days And I'm Outta Here!

Can we get a "w00t w00t!"? Next Friday around 0900 I leave for Lamy, a town of approximately 135 people. That'll be fun.

This semester was fun. I got to read a load of books, and I'll be reading Thucydides when I get home. I think I'll get the Thomas Hobbes translation, despite a universal recommendation for the Landmark Edition (Crawley translation plus a bunch of maps and summaries). The Hobbes translation (yes, the Thomas Hobbes who wrote Leviathan) is so beautiful. It has the advantage of being of poetical beauty comparable to that of the King James Bible, while retaining cutting edge accuracy that, in David Grene's opinion (and probably mine after I read it) has not been equalled since.

Thucydides will be fun. I loved Herodotus, and think that he was a first-rate historian (you gotta get used to his recounting of myth and legend), but further that he was more objective than modern historians. We have so much to learn from these Greeks. History has a way of repeating itself. We all "know" that, but it never hit home for me until after the Iliad and The Histories. If we as a nation read more books like this, more struggles and wars could, in my opinion, be avoided.

This was a fun semester. I am of the mind that I am in the right place and that St. John's is the finest liberal arts school in the world. Period. There is no other school like this no matter where you look. Period.

This is a very disjointed post, with the effect being similar to that of driving a stickshift with bad use of the clutch. I apologize. But after writing so many papers, it is a relief to have the privilege of writing informally.

Oh, and it's snowing. We have about eight inches and more is on the way! Is it snowing back home in good old Illinois? And is it icy??

Aha! Dinnertime! See y'all next week!!
~Toodles!

Winter in San Francisco

... yes, the flowers are real. December in San Francisco is lovely. What a welcome relief, not to have to worry about falling on the ice or bundling into a winter coat for one weekend. Linda and I had a great time, shopping and yakking, riding cable cars and buses all over the city. Going to the opera was a special treat! We decided that we must do this on an annual basis.

Final Semester Hurrahs.

Yah my semester is winding itself up with papers, papers, and more papers. Ugh. Sometimes I almost wish that St. John's was a normal college and we had tests. Instead we have papers every two weeks. This means me as a writer has fantastically improved, but it also means we're frantic little freshmen running around like chickens in heat. (I really like that metaphor - Homer would be proud)

I've only got one more paper due before the semester is up though; Heraclitus. Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic philospher (all philosopher is divided into two sections; pre-Socratic and post-Socratic. It's like history. We date history pre-Jesus and post-Jesus) who wrote aphoristically and whose writing survives only in fragments quoted by other writers like Plato, Aristotle, Tacitus, and even medieval philosophers like Geoffrey of Monmouth. He's pretty cool, but really hard to understand. He makes Plato look easy. We need to write a four or five page paper on two sentences of Heraclitus; translate them (embed the Greek text within our paper), and spend a goodly amount of time on analysis and discussion. It's sort of like a miniature seminar paper or at least a good model thereof. Here's one of the sentences I will be translating. Abby, see what you can do with it. Hahahahahahah! Maybe Mom can help you out with them:

Πολεμος παντων μεν πατηρ εστι, παντων δε βασιλευς, και τους μεν θεους εδειξε τους δε ανθροωπους, τους μεν δουλους εποιησε τους δε ελευθερους.

Here's the other one:

Ειδεναι δε χρη τον πολεμον εοντα ξυνον, και δικην εριν, και γινομενα παντα κατ΄εριν και χρεων.

Don't these look like fun? I sure think they do. In fact, these are exactly the sentences that the Greek class was translating when I was a prospie! Isn't that delicious? Not only did it make it easier to translate (I asked a freshman to translate these in my journal and remembered them for a whole year), but it made it so much more fun. Heraclitus is the man. War being common and Justice being strife... you'll grow to love him!

I'll go finish my paper now. Toodles!

Grandpa meets Grandson

Hey, I can be a proud grandpa, can't I?? I finally got to meet Caedmon today! Definitely one of the highs in a guy's life is when he meets his grandson for the first time.

All right, I'll add some pictures of the rest of the family! I'd say grandma and mama look plenty proud, too!

Another one of the rest of us with Caedmon. Zach was taking the picture, so no Zach!

New Cells for Mom, Dad, and Timothy

Yes, I finally decided to upgrade our cell phone lines, and as soon as Timothy gets his either today or Monday, we'll all three be reachable by cell. I'm not posting the numbers, but email us and we'll get back to you on that!

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!

Lowdown on ALL the Presidential Candidates.

Anyone who tells you that News can't be reported in one month chunks needs to spend some time at the pool and stop living their life like the bonus round of Jet Salom. Political News especially is just the same old gags dressed up with new names and faces. If you've read Thucydides or Homer you'll know: not much has changed in the past 3,000 years. Still, it is important to maintain the habit of interest and involvement, lest someday, being habituated to carelessness, we allow some great opportunity to pass us by.

One of the few things in Politics that nearly a majority of Americans care about is who will be the next President of the United States. Perhaps this anomaly of interest is explained by the American proclivity for amusement in all manner of pageants; from American Idol to Ms. Universe to the Presidency.

Upon reviewing the lineup, these things I know:

Joe Biden is even more petty and nitpicky than Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton has more politics in her veins than blood.

John Edwards is the third Rock Star vying for the single Democratic nomination.

Mike Huckabee like' sophistree, an' his proficiency there-in evident-in his sharply gains among the polls.

Rudy Guiliani was knighted by the Queen of England...England, the country we fought so fiercely to be free of in 1776...President, a Knight! I'll eat my hat! ... Oh, and don't you think it is unfortunate that he is capitalizing on the deaths of 3,000 Americans?

John McCain may have gotten the White House confused with the Margaret E. White House for Elderly Persons when he announced his candidacy.

Barack Obama is just as visionary as he looks in this picture, but doesn't even have the balls to say "ass" in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "...we are, as stated before, kicking A-S-S" ~ Senator Obama (09-11-07)

Ron Paul sends me really boring emails, but people keep telling me he is actually cool.

Bill Richardson has enough spunk to make an ad in which he is at a "Job Interview" for the Presidency. Also he is our Governor.

Mitt Romney is a Mormon, probably has some sort of plan for Iraq, is a Mormon, and aside from all that, he is a Mormon.

Fred Thompson has an intricate understanding of the reality of our legal system from his work Law & Order, but hell, we might get a good speech or two out of him.

Albert Einstein is the smartest man who ever lived, and he was right when he said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were when we created them."

Unfortunately, Albert Einstein is not running in this election. Instead, we must take our chances with the latest bunch of preeminant political hacks. But that's just id; the significant problems we face were created by political hacks and at their level of thinking. How then can any politico save us?

So it seems there will be little innovation to American politics next year. And thank God: for dramatic change is not befitting of government, although it is constantly touted in the rhetoric thereof. Government should remain constant, and it is the People's perogative to be flexible until the Government prevents them from bending in the direction they wish to pursue, and they are at last compelled to stand up and demand change. This is the most exciting moment in Politics, the moment every presidential-hopeful dreams of spearheading. Real change, however, is slow and subtle. Real change cannot be affected in four years. And the structure and stability of our Government relies upon this fact, lest some tyrant succeed in changing the world "for the better". This need for stability may explain why the forerunner in any election remains Prevailing Apathy.

Prevailing Apathy relies on our comfort and complacency and lack of real knowledge to maintain a system of government that does not consistently and deliberately strive to serve its constituents. Prevailing Apathy allows our great country to be run into the ground and embarrassed in front of the people of the world. Prevailing Apathy is our best defense against the upstart and overambitious politicians.

And so, with such a dominant and persuasive candidate controlling this election, why should we even bother getting out of bed that fateful day next November? Because, even though every candidate running is fundamentally the same, there is one interesting and subtle element of real change: an element that might go unnoticed until the last paragraph of my long-winded post: the one thing that might make this election worthwhile: the one iota of evidence that social change is in fact occurring. This year, a black man and a woman are running. And this year, they both have a chance.

Vive le Republique!

Happy Thanksgiving

So what are you thankful for?

Even though most of you won't be around the table this year, I am thankful for each and every one of you (and looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!)

Don Rags Don Rags

Augh!! Tuesday is my Don Rag! Augh! Stress! Fear! Terror!

All my tutors will gather about a table and talk about me as a student in the third person with me present for 15 minutes. Yikes. Not only will that be REALLY AWKWARD, I am a *wee* bit nervous. Having Ms. Ames or Mr. Pagano analyze how I behave in class will be nerve-wracking. (gulp)

I am going to have Beethoven calm me down.

Later.

new videos

They're up on YouTube. I'm going to try to embed it here but I don't know if blogger will accept it.

Nate, ride, snow

I've talked to Nate a little since going to WLC. He's only one day into the actual course but he says it sucks, it's cold, and it's snowing all the time. He took his PT test this morning and passed. All in all it's not as bad as it has been, he has certain times he's allowed to use his cell phone. Caedmon adjusted pretty well, though he had a little breakdown this evening where all he wanted was "DADDDEEEEEEE!"

On that subject I was wondering if Caedmon and I might be able to grab a ride to Chicago to pick Nate up when he comes in. I don't know what my car situation will be at the time, though I'm sure I could arrange a ride for him fairly easily. I just thought I probably wouldn't be the only one who would like to go meet him at the airport.

I should be going, things to do now that little one is down. I'm hoping to have more YouTube action by tomorrow evening, to include the "BEEF!" video--very amusing, trust me--and Caedmon watching the snow (yes, we had snow yesterday, though it's gone already). ;-)

Veteran's Day

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month... remembering the veterans in our family, past and present!
Our ancestor Jonathan Fletcher, was 19 at the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. Your great-grandfather, Chester Coleman, served in Mexico and France during WW I. Your grandfather, Delmar Davis, served in WW II. Your uncles, James Jackson, the 16 year old Marine taking Guadalcanal, 1942, and Sergeant Joseph Yakemonis, Air Force mechanic serving in both WW II and the Korean War. Your great-aunts, Eleanor and Ellene, working swing shift in the factory riveting bomber wings onto the planes! (I asked Aunt Ellene how on earth their father allowed two nineteen year olds to do this, and she said, "it was easy, we just threatened to run off and join the Navy!" we don't doubt it.)
And of course, hats off to our very own SPC Geoff M. Davis, home after a year serving in Iraq, and Sergeant Nathaniel A. Davis, linguist on active duty.
WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU.

shopping etc.

Just thought I'd let everyone know I did a little Christmas shopping in anticipation of coming home. Let's just say it will be a very chocolatey Christmas. Except for Geoff. I almost settled for Haribo, but Baeren Treff's gummis are so much better--I'll make a trip downtown to get some before I come home. ;-) Anyone have any special requests? Still planning on being home in a little less than 2wks. Caedmon and I will try to make it up a couple times before Nate flies out. Are there any special days we should plan on? I was thinking maybe sometime the weekend after thanksgiving? I'm sure the first few days will be a bit chaotic, but I'm also sure that I will have a bit of free time, especially during the day. In other news, I bought Lola a kennel the other day, she hasn't *willingly* entered it all the way, but when we "helped" her she did just fine in there, which makes me feel better. It sounds funny, but I'm kind of excited about letting her run around in a yard. More later...

The Retainer Tales - Volume I

So life with a retainer is no biggie at all. I never forget to pop it in and I always (well, almost always) remember to brush it at night. I'm not scatterbrained (or so I like to think) so casual problems are avoided.

BUT - I have some sad tales to tell of my retainer.

First, a prelude. I have been so one-minded about leaving my retainer on my plate and throwing it out that I think of nothing else. So I avoid common retainer problems but the consequence is that I have more....strange problems.

Problem No.1. One fine morning after lunch some core members and I (core is a group of five or six Johnnies that share all the same classes) decided to have some fun and study Greek. We meander over to the mailroom and and while they check their mail I run to the bathroom. On the way, I play with my retainer - I'm moving it around, and all of a sudden, pop it out of my mouth and onto my tongue! Luckily it didn't fall on the floor. I am delighted! I try again, and it works! Fantastic. I nip into a stall and lift the lid, and therein lay my mistake. For while I am standing above the toilet I pop the retainer out again.

Yes, you guessed it. It popped right out, no problem, but failed to stop on my tongue. It sailed right out of my mouth and landed in the toilet with a perky plunk.

Ms. Robertson told me she heard a wail of dismay emanating from the bathroom.

Alas, what could I do? I had no choice but to reach down into the foamy yellow water, pull out my retainer sinking happily to the bottom of the S-bend, and wash it as best I could.

I told this story in the hopes of getting sympathy from my core. Did they sympathize? Heck no. They laughed till they cried. Phillistines.

Alas, for this is but the beginning. There are still other sad stories concerning my retainer, whom I have named Croesus.

new dates

Just wanted to let everyone know what our current plans are. Nate leaves for WLC Monday (the 12th) I'm going to fly out with Caedmon on the 19th of November. Due to being home for so long, Lola gets the misfortune of coming with us. Nate's class/training/thingy ends December 14. He will still fly out on December 18th. Then we all come home together on the 1st of January and, due to the time change, get back to Germany on the 2nd. Whew. It feels about as crazy as it sounds. But on the bright side everyone should be able to see Caedmon a bit more and a bit earlier. Off to go take a friend to the airport...

bald

Nate shaved is head. With a razor. Completely bald. As you can probably tell I'm absolutely thrilled. To his credit he did it because he's going to WLC on Monday. He was told on Friday that he'd go on the 14th, then he got told this afternoon he was going on the 12th. So I may try to come home a bit earlier. My parents have offered to cover the airfare charges because as of right now, it looks like it would mean forfitting my tickets in December. The problem at present is what to do with Lola for 45 days (to include Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's). I'll try to keep everyone posted on the latest...

Happy Birthday to Abby! She turned 14 today, and she went with Mom to Rockford to do some shopping for her birthday, a new watch, some new clothes, and calligraphy supplies with money from Grandma. We're at home this evening watching "The Man Who Knew Too Little" with Bill Murray. Zach made her the most delicious homemade chocolate cake with raspberry filling, so rich that one piece was enough for even Dad! We used the timer on Dad's camera so we could all be in the picture (I was asked to remove other photo -- will post another later. Sorry.).

A Better Birthday Post

It is my greatest pleasure to inform you all that our esteemed sibling and relative, Abigail "Abby" Davis, has reached her 15th year and is now 14. Congratulations! Some birthday advice:

• Ask for books for your birthday. Lots of books. Start reading Plato's dialogues - you are ready.
• There is little that is more important than keeping your mind sharp. Read daily and often.
• Find the good anime and watch it. Trust names like Miyazaki.
• Practice beautiful Baroque music - start learning a Bach Invention. Soon you will be ready for Scarlatti
• Run every day to clear your mind and relax.
• Study Scripture often.
• Have fun.
• Don't trust boys.

Happy birthday little sister! I hope it is a good one. Keep on pluggin' away in the (ever smaller) Davis household!

I'll see you next month.

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Fourteen!!! Whoo hooo!

Christmas confirmed/Picture

We officially have plane tickets now. We fly into O'hare December 18th 3:16pm and return on the 1st 2:42pm. Here's a pic of us on Halloween.

Mom & Dad 26th Anniversary

Here's a picture of Mom and me near the occasion of our 26th anniversary. Actually, we were going to Zach Thomure's wedding to Nikki. Doesn't Mom look good in the black dress?? We were invited to the wedding reception at Dixon, but later we went to Appleby's for some appetizers. On our anniversary earlier this week, I grilled steaks and had dinner ready for Mom when she came home from teaching at Sauk. Zach and Abby helped us make the dinner perfect! Abby made the tastiest French Silk pie (that went fast! -- Mom posted the recipe on a chocolate thread in her BallyK forum and got rave reviews), and Zach helped Dad grill the steak so that it tender and juicy. The best steak we've had in awhile!

Nothing much has been happening up here at Mile High, I've been working again and crossing my fingers for my application to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

I managed to find my self in a car accident last week. Seriously, brand new car and I'm stopping for a red light and someone turns left right in front of me. It was nearly a 6 car pileup, thankfully it wasn't and the damage to the Mustang was minimal although rendering it un-driveable. I think I've been in a rental for longer than I've had to Mustang. Thankfully, the insurance company took liability for the accident right away and even had me fax the bill for my rental car so they could pay it. I was pretty close to freaking out about the whole situation, Clint told me to take a chill pill.

I've gone through almost everything here, I have alot of stuff. Moving back to Illinois is gonna be a hassle, although I have the help of a few friends...I'm gonna have to rent a truck/trailer in order to get everything moved.
Nothing much more this week except waiting for the car to get fixed. Went to a haunted corn maze with a group of friends up north in Greeley tonight, was actually kinda cool. I've managed to catch bronchitis again, yay me! I'll be glad when this mass of sickness is over:P

Christmas

Nate has officially turned in leave for Christmas. It hasn'tn been approved yet, but assuming it does get approved and assuming we can still find affordable airfare by the time it gets approved, I was wondering if there are any important dates/events/other goings on that we should try to fit into our schedule. Nate has mentioned Grandma Thelma's birthday for example. I know it's a bit early to be thinking about all this, but I think a "tentative schedule" of sorts would be the best way to keep conflict to a minimum (namely with my family) and I want to make sure we all get to spend plenty of time together. I'll keep everyone posted on the latest.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Twenty six years! Hooray!

How To Get In Contact With Me/Christmas List

I guess I am fairly hard to reach aside from email. I am rarely, if ever, in my room longer than three minutes at a time until 10:00 on a weeknight.

However, on the weekend I usually study in my room for about an hour. This is the hour inbetween everything else; the Anime Club doesn't meet until 8:00, the library is closed, and I'm done practicing. So between 6:30 PM and 7:30 PM on Saturday I am usually in my room if anyone wants to give me a call (Mom and Dad try to reach every week and FAIL miserably)

The other part of this post is disgustingly materialistic and I always feel vaguely guilty about doing it, but here is my Christmas list courtesy of Amazon.com. Understand I need none of this and if you throw stuff at me that I've never heard of, awesome. But if you're stumped, here's some hints.

These are only suggestions. I love classical music (Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, etc.), all sorts of books, and anything you think I might enjoy.

brrr

It's getting cold over here. We're expecting hi's in the low 40's and lo's in the high 20's this weekend. Brrrr. That's about how cold it normally gets here in January.

Meanwhile, we haven't been doing too much. Nate mostly works on his classes, Caedmon works on making messes, and I've been working on crafts/family history. We hired a babysitter and went out to dinner for our anniversary on Wednesday, but otherwise things are pretty normal. Caedmon and I are going to Ramstein for shopping/lunch @ Chili's today with one of my friends. I guess I should get ready so we can leave her in about 30 min. :-p

In Which I Move One Step Closer To Geekhood.

I have joined the Anime Club. (waits for Elena to choke back vomit)

This indeed makes me far more of a geek, but really, all St. John's guys are geeks. The girls are fairly normal; just a bit more philisophically minded. But the guys....no hope for us. We have our frat boys, never fear, but our frat boys.....love Verdi and Mozart's....operas. Yeah. You can imagine.

We make jokes about non-Euclidean geometry, reference Plato's dialogues in obscure, humorous ways, and dress up as Moses sophmore year for an Ark Party at the top of Camino de Monte Sol. Are we geeks? I leave that up to you.

But to return to anime. Abby and Zach have already been infected - most notably with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Elena of course hates it :( but probably because she's never seen good anime. Probably Pokemon and DragonBall Z. Good anime "Takes you to a place where you are intellectually very uncomfortable and explores that issue", according to the head of the Anime Club (who oddly enough is my economics study group tutor)

I have been blessed that I have only seen good anime. Bredon is mostly to thank for that - a handful of Miyazaki movies, Lain, Akira, and most recently, Millennium Actress.

Part of why I like good anime is because of culture shock. The Japanese treatment of familiar Western themes of love, romance, honor, and virtue are handled is such a different way than I am normally accustomed to understanding them.

Another reason is perhaps a sense of nonresolution. Many anime movies end on the cinimatic equivilant of a C minor diminished seventh chord. (ask Dad to play that on the piano) Not every issue in human life fully resolves and anime reflects this.

Lastly, and most importantly for me, good anime is a beautiful art form. Everything ties itself together in a magnificent display of Japanese culture, history, and worldview.

Go ahead. Don't knock it till you've tried it. (this may or may not apply to Mom and Dad who probably do not care for Japanese animation)

Do you ever have a day like this?

I Am Deprived

So there are computer labs at St. John's. Obviously. But the Internet, while decent for web research, email, and browsing, will not permit one to watch Youtube videos - the bandwidth is too small.

Why is this a problem, you may ask? Normally it wouldn't be. But the greatest interpreter of Chopin and Schubert I have ever heard (Krystian Zimerman, a Pole) is on Youtube and I do not own any of his recordings. I have never heard anyone play the Schubert Impromptus or the Chopin Ballades with more grace, poise, and musical sensitivity. His Ballade No.2 in F major is an exquisite jewel.

In addition, the finest Scarlatti interpreter, Ivo Pogorelich ( Czech Republic) is also on Youtube. His Scarlatti is the cleanest, finest, and effortless playing I have ever heard. Hearing him play, you could imagine that Scarlatti intended that his sonatas be performed on a nine-foot Steinway.

So; two fine artists, both of whom are removed from me.

And I am deprived.

Because I'm the Mom

Surely some of you will recognize some familiar phrases here.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=19601620

Back in Thornton, CO

I discovered that not having anything to do can get pretty boring, so I went and got my job back at The Home Depot yesterday, so that'll keep me busy until I figure out what I'm doing with school.

Here's a few pictures from the Star Wars exhibit in Chicago. I forgot my actual camera, so my camera phone will have to do.

About our blog Title

Why exactly is our family blog called Widdershins? I looked thru the blog for the answer and didn't find one.

some photos

We've all been a bit under the weather this weekend, but it's been a good time to catch up on managing my photos. So here are a few new ones (I think). They were all taken in Wiesbaden.

BradtheDad finally gets in the game

Well, I thought it's overdue for me to be joining in the fun, so here goes. Geoff has been visiting us for the past few days, but he left early Sunday morning in his brand new Mustang. And the GT Mustang is still sittin' in yours truly's driveway, so I didn't have to turn in my man card just yet! Geoff, whether by accident or design remains unclear, also left behind a few refreshments for dear old dad, which were procured in Ireland. Here's a picture of Geoff with his Mom in front of his new Mustang.

Here's another one of the dad with the GT. I guess he'll get to drive it to work a time or two more. Eat your heart out Timothy!

Welcome Back, Geoffrey

We have enjoyed having Geoff in and out this week (you know Geoff, doesn't stay in one place too long!). More pics will follow. He is off back to Denver today.

Mom's New Look

Well, what do you think? I haven't done anything different with my hair in most of your lifetimes....

Mon

it runs in the family

It has been a somewhat eventful weekend in our household. We decided that for our anniversary present we would get a new laptop, this way I could still access a computer (a hub for many of my interests/obsessions from photography to knitting) and Nate could work on his school assignments and whatnot. So yesterday I went out and found us a nice little cheap-but-efficient Compaq. Today, Nate had a glass sitting next to our old Gateway notebook and sure enough Caedmon took the liberty of knocking over right onto the computer. After 5 very stressful hours of letting it air out in front of a fan we are glad to report that it is still operational and Nate was able to recover his nearly completed 15page paper on the Civil War. Still, I couldn't help but remember an earlier post regarding a cellphone/being hard on technology and think that maybe it runs in the family. :-p

Favorite Children's Books

Dad has promised (or threatened?) to get himself onto this blog and post this question but I will jumpstart him by asking you the burning question: What were your favorite childhood books? I think Dad would like to compile a list for a buddy with young'uns. What would you recommend for the age 3-5 crowd and why?

Free Classical Music Concerts Are Loads Of Fun

Providing, of course, you get to the Great Hall in time and get a good seat. I almost did not, because half an hour is barely enough time. I will pay more attention in the future.

The concert was the Miro Quartet playing Beethoven's String Quartet No.4 in C minor, and then Charles Ives String Quartet No.1 "Revival Service". Then Mr. Pesic joined them in the Dvorak Piano Quintet in A minor.

Never have I heard chamber music of this caliber. And seldom have I heard pianists of this quality. Remember Alon Goldstein playing the Beethoven Piano Concerti in May, Mum and Dad? Mr. Pesic is that good. He makes the piano sing out above the strings in glorious peals of sound.

The Beethoven quartet was fierce and brutal. The first movment (in sonata-allegro form, of course! This is Classical Beethoven) was formed with gypsy/Hungarian motives but very Beethovenish. Sort of like a Moonlight Sonata for strings.

The Ives quartet was also fun, dissonant, modern, but really familiar - it incorporated elements of hymns like "Crown Him With Many Crowns" and "Be Thou My Vision". Pretty cool.

But the Dvorak quintet brought the house down. This was unspeakably amazing. Even though the Steinway was old and beat up, it sounded fabulous working with the Miro Quartet. The rhythms and pulsing melodies through the four-movment work were simply astounding. Mom might not believe it, but I sat as still as a German in the Great Hall listening to that concert. I didn't move until the movement was over.

All the concerts are free for the St. John's community, but people from Santa Fe showed up too - mostly old people. That is how it is these days - you have the Classical Cult, but apart from these strange teenagers obsessed with Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert, it's old people.

I love free concerts!

fall

***

I thought I'd share a few more pictures. It's starting to get cold here (highs in the 50's lows in the 40's). Caedmon is not only walking but also climbing. His favorite hobbies at present include climbing on the futon and crawling through the coffee table. Oh, and trying to call Lola. He likes to yell for her, and usually he's ignored, which just makes him yell louder. Anyway, here are some of our fall pictures. Enjoy. (p.s. I hate blogger's photo attachment, it messes with the formatting.)

Welcome Home Geoff!

... well he's not exactly home yet but he is, thank God, stateside, waiting for transport back to Fort McCoy and probably home by the end of the week. Geoff, we have missed you and look forward to catching up on a long year away. Hip, hip, hooray!

Results of First Lesson - Tear down technique, rebuild.

This is kinda long so if piano bores you, skippit.

So I had my first meeting with Mr. Pesic. I met him at 2:30 PM in the Jac Holzman room (meaning the room with the brand new Mason & Hamlin). I played my Bach Fugue and my Schubert Andantino in F sharp minor for him.

Hokay, first a bit about Mr. Pesic. He received his A.B. and M.S. from Harvard in physics in '69 and '70 respectively and followed up with his doctorate in Physics from Stanford in 1975. He is also a fantastic, fantastic musician. He is on a complete cycle of Brahms and Schoenberg; all the piano works of these composers. (this is sort of like playing all 32 Beethoven sonatas) Not only is he a brilliant phsyicist, he is expertly qualified to teach music, having studied it all his life.

I have, according to him, a "real sensitivity and love" for the music. He said he could hear how much I love Schubert and Bach just by hearing the piano sing. He also said that is how musicians succeed - they love and respect the music and are sensitive to it.

BUT - My time of unprofessional piano instruction has at last come back to haunt me. For too long I have been stiff at the piano, tensing up to achieve volume, practicing with the wrong methods, playing with my fingers rather than playing with my arm weight. This was slowed with my study with Mr. Novak but bad habits crept back in.

Beethoven discovered and perfected the art of pianistic relaxation, better known to day as Weight Performance. He taught it to his pupils, who taught Liszt and Chopin, and now this is the standard way of performing. If you use this method, it will enable you to play in old age (like Wilhelm Kempff if you know who he is) and helps deal with arthritis. If you don't use it, you can still become amazing (Aunt Linda comes to mind) but you can be devastated by arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. So I am learning this new method from the bottom up (Mr. Novak also told me a bit about it)

While playing, keep your arm TOTALLY RELAXED. First practice dropping your hands onto the piano like a gorilla. Hold your right wrist up with your left hand, completely relax your right hand, and let it drop. BANG. The piano keys roar, and a natural forte arises from strings. Support your arms on the keyboard; don't tense your shoulder or back at all. Completely relax. All the power comes from your weight. Some people have heavy arms while some people have very light arms (myself and Mr. Pesic come to mind here) but still all can practice using weight.

When you strike the key, hold the idea in your head that you play through the keyboard and down through the bottom of the piano. Think of it as a musical karate chop - go through. Then once you've gotten the hang of that, practice scales - shift your arm weight from finger to finger, never allowing non-working fingers to hold weight at all. Never have the arm supported by anything except the fingers playing.

I will practice this method until I perfect it, and then I will learn a couple simple pieces to cement the method to myself. For all interested, I am learning another Bach Prelude and Fugue (I'm not telling which one; it is a surprise!) a Beethoven sonata, and some piece that Mr. Pesic will recommend for me.

So I am really exited. The Search and Rescue thing fell through, but I ran out of serious money (I'm worth a little over $100 at this point) and I didn't have enough to buy equipment. Besides, it would clash with piano.

And piano comes first.

I'll play stuff for you when I come home for Christmas!

P.S. The great thing about the weight/relaxation method is that when you use it, you are always completely relaxed whilst performing. Goodbye nerves! I will enjoy performing even more than I do already.

EDIT - this does mean that I begin lessons with Mr. Pesic. I meet him again on Wednesday for him to check my progress and we will meet again on Sunday after his concert (Dvorak and Brahms/Schoenberg).

Is this for real?

Okay, you smart college kids. Check out the vids on YouTube and tell me if YOU think diet coke and menthos would do this. My Spanish class students assured me that it is the real thing.
P.S. No one can accuse me of not knowing where to find a good time on Friday night!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKoB0MHVBvM

Dean's Lecture 31 August.

This lecture was delivered by the Dean of St. John's College to us little freshmen. I really enjoyed it.

Regarding its form, I was told by a Junior, "If I were a freshman, I would be crying." This lecture is a perfect example of what St. John's wants in a Senior essay.

Link!

Don't you wish you attended St. John's now?

Life is ironic

About 6mo's ago I bought 5 fish, 4 of which died within a month. I believed the connection was to either changing the water or letting the water temperature getting too cold, so #5, a little neon, has been swimming around in a rather algae covered tank for several months now. I had debated flushing him but did not like the thought of ending the life of my sole survivor. Today I finally decided to change the water. He's presently side-swimming.

Transcript of Osama ben Laden's September Video

So Osama went on TV again and handed us a little tirade. I thought it is rather important to read, so we can understand a little bit of the mind of the guy who destroyed the World Trade Center (Unless you're a kook who believes that George Bush used a remote control to crash the planes) <--- actual conspiracy theory.

All praise is due to Allah, who built the heavens and earth in justice, and created man as a favor and grace for Him.And from His ways is that the days rotate between the people, and from His law is retaliation in kind: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and the killer is killed.

And all praise is due to Allah, who awakened His slaves' desire for the Garden, and all of them will enter it except those who refuse. And whoever obeys Him alone in all of his affairs will enter the Garden, and whoever disobeys Him will have refused.

As for what comes after:Peace be upon he who follows the Guidance.

People of America:I shall be speaking to you on important topics which concern you, so lend me your ears.

I begin by discussing the war which is between us and some of its repercussions for us and you.To preface, I say: despite America being the greatest economic power and possessing the most powerful and up-to-date military arsenal as well; and despite it spending on this war and its army more than the entire world spends on its armies; and despite it being the major state influencing the policies of the world, as if it has a monopoly on the injust right of veto; despite all of this, 19 young men were able -by the grace of Allah, the Most High- to change the direction of its compass. And in fact, the subject of the Mujahedeen has become an inseparable part of the speech of your leader, and the effects and signs of that are not hidden.

Since the 11th, many of America's policies have come under the influence of the Mujahideen, and that is by the grace of Allah, the Most High. And as a result, the people discovered the truth about it, its reputation worsened, its prestige was broken globally and it was bled dry economically, even if our interests overlap with the interests of the major corporations and also with those of the neoconservatives, despite the differing intentions. And your information media, during the first years of the war, lost its credibility and manifested itself as a tool of the colonialist empires, and its condition has often been worse than the condition of the media of the dictatorial regimes which march in the caravan of the single leader. Then Bush talks about his working with al-Maliki and his government to spread freedom in Iraq, but he in fact is working with the leaders of one sect against another sect, in the belief that this will quickly decide the war in his favor. And thus, what is called the civil war came into being and matters worsened at his hands before getting out of his control and him becoming like the one who plows and sows the sea: he harvests nothing but failure.

So these are some of the results of the freedom about whose spreading he is talking to you. And then the backtracking of Bush on his insistence on not giving the United Nations expanded juridiction in Iraq is an implicit admission of his loss and defeat there. And among the most important items contained in Bush's speeches since the events of the 11th is that the Americans have no option but to continue the war. This tone is in fact an echoing of the words of neoconservatives like Cheney, Rumsfeld and Richard pearle, the latter having said previously that the Americans have no choice in front of them other than to continue the war or face a holocaust.

I say, refuting this unjust statement, that the morality and culture of the holocaust is your culture, not our culture. In fact, burning living beings is forbidden in our religion, even if they be small like the ant, so what of man?! The holocaust of the Jews was carried out by your brethren in the middle of Europe, but had it been closer to our countries, most of the Jews would have been saved by taking refuge with us. And my proof for that is in what your brothers, the Spanish, did when they set up the horrible courts of the Inquisition to try Muslims and Jews, when the Jews only found safe shelter by taking refuge in our countries. And that is why the Jewish community in Morocco today is one of the largest communities in the world. They are alive with us and we have not incinerated them, but we are a people who don't sleep under oppression and reject humiliation and disgrace, and we take revenge on the people of tyranny and agression, and the blood of the Muslims will not be spilled with impunity, and the morrow is nigh for he who awaits.

Also, your Christian brothers have been living among us for 14 centuries: in Egypt alone, there are millions of Christians whom we have not incinerated and shall not incinerate. But the fact is, there is a continuing and biased campaign being waged against us for a long time now by your politicians and many of your writers by way of your media, especially Hollywood, for the purpose of misrepresenting Islam and its adherents to drive you away from the true religion. The genocide of peoples and their holocausts took place at your hands: only a few specimens of Red Indians were spared, and just a few days ago, the Japanese observed the 62nd anniversary of the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by your nuclear weapons.

And among the things which catch the eye of the one who considers the repercussions of your unjust war against Iraq is the failure of your democratic system, desipte its raising of the slogans of justice, liberty, equality and humanitarianism. It has not only failed to achieve these things, it has actually destroyed these and other concepts with its weapons -especially in Iraq and Afghanistan- in a brazen fashion, to replace them with fear, destruction, killing, hunger, illness, displacement and more than a million orphans in Baghdad alone, not to mention hundreds of thousands of widows. American statistics speak of the killing of more than 650,000 of the people of Iraq as a result of the war and its repercussions.

People of America:The world is following your news in regards to your invasion of Iraq, for people have recently come to know that, after several years of the tragedies of this war, the vast majority of you want it stopped. Thus, you elected the Democratic Party for this purpose, but the Democrats haven't made a move worth mentioning. On the contrary, they continue to agree to the spending of tens of billions to continue the killing and war there, which has led to the vast majority of you being afflicted with disappointment. And here is the gist of the matter, so one should pause, think and reflect: why have the Democrats failed to stop this war, despite them being the majority? I will come back to reply to this question after raising another question, which is: why are the leaders of the White House keen to start wars and wage them around the world, and make use of every possible opportunity through which they can reach this purpose, occasionally even creating justifications based on deception and blatant lies, as you saw in Iraq?In the Vietnam War, the leaders of the White House claimed at the time that it was a necessary and crucial war, and during it, Rumsfeld and his aides murdered two millions villagers, and when Kennedy took over the presidency and deviated from the general line of policy drawn up for the White House and wanted to stop this unjust war, that angered the owners of the major corporations who were benefiting from its continuation. And so Kennedy was killed, and al-Qaida wasn't present at that time, but rather, those corporations were the primary beneficiary from his killing. And the war continued after that for approximately one decade. But after it became clear to you that it was an unjust and unnecessary war, you made one of your greatest mistakes, in that you neither brought to account nor punished those who waged this war, not even the most violent of its murderers, Rumsfeld.

And even more incredible than that is that Bush picked him as secretary of defense in his first term after picking Cheney as his vice-president, Powell as secretary of state and Armitage as Powell's deputy, despite their horrific and bloody history of murdering humans. So that was a clear signal that this administration -the administartion of the generals- didn't have as its main concern the serving of humanity, but rather, was intersted in bringing about news massacres. Yet in spite of that, you permitted Bush to complete his first term, and stranger still, chose him for a second term, which gave him a clear mandate from you -with your full knowledge and consent- to continue to murder our people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then you claim to be innocent! This innocense of yours is like my innocence of the blood of your sons on the 11th -were I to claim such a thing. But it is impossible for me to humor many of you in the arrogance and indifference you show for the lives of humans outside America, or for me to humor your leaders in their lying, as the entire world knows they have the lion's share of that. These morals aren't our morals.

What I want to emphasize here is that not taking past war criminals to account led to them repeating that crime of killing humanity without right and waging this unjust war in Mesopotamia, and as a result, here are the oppressed ones today continuing to take their right from you. This war was entirely unnecessary, as testified to by your own reports. And among the most capable of those from your own side who speak to you on this topic and on the manufacturing of public opinion is Noam Chomsky, who spoke sober words of advice prior to the war, but the leader of Texas doesn't like those who give advice.

The entire world came out in unprecedented demonstrations to warn against waging the war and describe its true nature in eloquent terms like "no to spilling red blood for black oil", yet he paid them no heed. It is time for humankind to know that talk of the rights of man and freedom are lies produced by the White House and its allies in Europe to deceive humans, take control of their destinies and subjugate them. So in answer to the question about causes of the Democrats' failure to stop the war, I say: they are the same reasons which led to the failure of former president Kennedy to stop Vietnam War. Those with real power and influence are those with the most capital. And since the democratic system permits major corporations to back candidates, be they presidential or congressional, there shouldn't be any cause for astonishment -and there isn't any- in the Democrats' failure to stop the war.

And you're the ones who have the saying which goes, "Money talks". And I tell you: after the failure of your representatives in the Democratic Party to implement your desire to stop the war, you can still carry anti-war placards and spread out in the streets of major cities, then go back to your homes, but that will be of no use and will lead to the prolonging of the war. However, there are two solutions for stopping it. The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you. This is our duty, and our brothers are carrying it out, and I ask Allah to grant them resolve and victory. And the second solution is from your side. It has now become clear to you and the entire world the impotence of the democratic system and how it plays with the interests of the peoples and their blood by sacrificing soldiers and populations to achieve the interests of the major corporations.

And with that, it has become clear to all that they are real tyrannical terrorists.In fact, the life of all of mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories of the major corporations, yet despite that, the representative of these corporations in the White House insists on not observing the Kyoto accord, with the knowledge that the statistic speaks of the death and displacement of millions of human beings because of that, especially in Africa. This greatest of plagues and most dangerous of threats to the lives of humans is taking place in an accelerating fashion as the world is being dominated by the democratic system, which confirms its massive failure to protect humans and their interests from the greed and avarice of the major corporations and their representatives. And despite this brazen attack on the people, the leaders of the West -especially Bush, Blair, Sarkozy and Brown- still talk about freedom and human rights with a flagrant disregard for the intellects of human beings. So is there a form of terrorism stronger, clearer and more dangerous than this?

This is why I tell you: as you liberated yourselves before from the slavery of monks, kings and feudalism, you should today liberate yourselves from the deception, shackles and attrition of the capitalist system. If you were to ponder it well, you would find that in the end, it is a system harsher and fiercer than your systems in the Middle Ages. The capitalist system seeks to turn the entire world into a fiefdom of the major corporations under the label of "globalization" in order to protect democracy. And Iraq and Afghanistan and their tragedies; the reeling of many of you under the burden of interests-related debts, insane taxes and real estate mortgages; global warming and its woes; and the abject poverty and tragic hunger in Africa: all of this is but one side of the grim face of this global system.

So it is imperative that you free yourselves from all of that and search for an alternative, upright methodology in which it is not the business of any class of humanity to lay down its own laws to its own advantage at the expense of the other classes as is the case with you, since the essence of man-made positive laws is that they serve the interests of those with the capital and thus make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The infallible methodology is the methodology of Allah, the Most High, who created the heavens and earth and created the Creation and is the Most Kind and All-Informed and the Knower of the souls of His slaves and the methodology that best suits them. You believe with absolute certainty that you believe in Allah, and you are full of conviction of this belief, so much so that you have written this belief of yours on your dollar. But the truth is that you are mistake in this belief of yours. The impartial judge knows that belief in Allah requires straightness in the following of His methodology, and accordingly, total obedience must be to the orders and prohibitions of Allah Alone in all aspects of life. So how about you when you associate others with Him in your beliefs and separate state from religion, then claim that you are believers?! What you have done is clear loss and manifest polytheism.

And I will give you a parable of polytheism, as parables summarize and clarify speech. I tell you: its parable is the parable of a man who owns a shop and hires a worker and tells him, "Sell and give me the money," but he makes sales and give the money to someone other than the owner. So who of you would approve of that? You believe that Allah is your Lord and your Creator and the Creator of this earth and that it is His property, then you work on His earth and property without His orders and without obeying Him, and you legislate in contradiction to His Law and methodology.

This work of yours is the greatest form of polytheism and is rebellion against obedience to Allah with which the believer becomes an unbeliever, even if he obeys Allah in some of His other orders. Allah, the Most High, sent down His orders in His Sacred Books like the Torah and Evangel and sent with them the Messengers (Allah's prayers and peace be upon them) as bearers of good news to the people. And everyone who believes in them and complies with them is a believer from the people of the Garden. Then when the men of knowledge altered the words of Allah, the Most High, and sold them for a paltry price, as the rabbis did with the Torah and the monks with the Evangel, Allah sent down His final Book, the magnificent Quran, and safeguarded it from being added to or subtracted from by the hands of men, and in it is a complete methodology for the lives of all people. And our holding firm to this magnificient Book is the secret of our strength and winning of the war against you despite the fewness of our numbers and materiel. And if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard. Don't be turned away from Islam by the terrible situation of the Muslims today, for our rulers in general abandoned Islam many decades ago, but our forefathers were the leaders and pioneers of the world for many centuries, when they held firmly to Islam.

And before concluding, I tell you: there has been an increase in the thinkers who study events and happenings, and on the basis of their study, they have declared the approach of the collapse of the American Empire. Among them is the European thinker who anticipated the fall of the Soviet Union, which indeed fell. And it would benefit you to read what he wrote about what comes after the empire in regard to the United States of America. I also want to bring to your attention that among the greatest reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union was their being afflicted with their leader Brezhnev, who was overtaken by pride and arrogance and refused to look at the facts on the ground. From the first year of the Afghanistan invasion, reports indicated that the Russians were losing the war, but he refused to acknowledge this, lest it go down in his personal history as a defeat, even though refusal to acknowledge defeat not only doesn't do anything to change the facts for thinking people, but also exacerbates the problem and increases the losses. And how similar is your position today to their position approximately two decades ago. The mistakes of Brezhnev are being repeated by Bush, who -when asked about the date of his withdrawing of forces from Iraq- said in effect that the withdrawal will not be during his reign, but rather, during the reign of the one who succeeds him. And the significance of these words is not hidden.

And here I say: it would benefit you to listen to the poignant messages of your soldiers in Iraq who are paying- with their blood, nerves and scattered limbs- the price for these sorts of irresponsible statements. Among them is the eloquent message of Joshua which he sent by way of the media, in which he wipes the tears from his eyes and describes American politicians in harsh terms and invites them to join him there for a few days. Perhaps his message will find in you an attentive ear so you can rescue him and more than 150,000 of your sons there who are tasting the two bitterest things: if they leave their barracks, the mines devour them, and if they refuse to leave, rulings are passed against them. Thus, the only options left in front of them are to commit suicide or cry, both of which are from the severest of afflictions. So is there anything more men can do after crying and killing themselves to make you respond to them? They are doing that out of the severity of the humiliation, fear and terror which they are suffering. It is severer than what the slaves used to suffer at your hands centuries ago, and it is as if some of them have gone from one slavery to another slavery more severe and harmful, even if it be in the fancy dress of the Defense Department's financial enticements.So do you feel the greatness of their suffering?

To conclude, I invite you to embrace Islam, for the greatest mistake one can make in this world and one which is uncorrectable is to die while not surrendering to Allah, the Most High, in all aspects of one's life -i.e., to die outside of Islam. And Islam means gain for you in this first life and the next, final life. The true religion is a mercy for people in their lives, filling their hearts with serenity and calm. There is a lesson for you in the Mujahideen: the entire world is in pursuit of them, yet their hearts, by the grace of Allah, are satisfied and tranquil. The true religion also puts peoples' lives in order with its laws; protects their needs and interests; refines their morals; protects them from evils; and guarantees for them entrance into Paradise in the hereater through their obedience to Allah and sincere worship of Him Alone.

And it will also achieve your desire to stop the war as a consequence, because as soon as the warmongering owners of the major corporations realize that you have lost confidence in your democratic system and begun to search for an alternative, and that this alternative is Islam, they will run after you to please you and achieve what you want to steer you away from Islam.So your true compliance with Islam will deprive them of the opportunity to defraud the peoples and take their money under numerous pretexts, like arms deals and so on. There are no taxes in Islam, but rather, there is a limited Zakaat [alms] totaling only 2.5% . So beware of the deception of those with the capital. And with your earnest reading about Islam from its pristine sources, you will arrive at an important truth, which is that the religion of all of the Prophets (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them) is one, and that its essence is submission to the orders of Allah Alone in all aspects of life, even if their Shari'ahs [Laws] differ. And did you know that the name of the Prophet of Allah Jesus and his mother (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them both) are mentioned in the Noble Quran dozens of times, and that in the Quran there is a chapter whose name is "Maryam", i.e. Mary, daughter of Imran and mother of Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them both)? It tells the story of her becoming pregnant with the Prophet of Allah Jesus (peace and blessings of Allah be upon them both), and in it is confirmation of her chastity and purity, in contrast to the fabrications of the Jews against her.

Whoever wishes to find that out for himself must listen to the verses of this magnificent chapter: one of the just kings of the Christians -the Negus- listened to some of its verses and his eyes welled up with tears and he said something which should be reflected on for a long time by those sincere in their search for the truth. He said, "Verily, this and what Jesus brought come from one lantern": i.e., that the magnificent Quran and the Evangel are both from Allah, the Most High; and every just and intelligent one of you who reflects on the Quran will definitely arrive at this truth. It also must be noted that Allah has preserved the Quran from the alterations of men. And reading in order to become acquainted with Islam only requires a little effort, and those of you who are guided will profit greatly.

And peace be upon he who follows the Guidance.

Since no one else has countered Tim's threat of total blog domination, I suppose I will have to start posting more (and unload--or rather upload--my arsenal of photos).

Things here have been pretty boring. Nate continues to plug away at his master's courses. I can't quite keep track of everything he's doing but I believe he's taking a course on ancient Greece, one on the Civil War, and soon to start another on 20th century America.

Caedmon has started throwing temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way, and even more frequently when he can't do something that is utterly impossible. His latest trick is to pull up his shirt and say "buhwee" (translation=belly). Nate also taught him how to say cookie, which he says pretty well but sometimes gets combined with cracker ("cahcuh") resulting in "cahkee." It's funnier to hear than transliterate.

Meanwhile, I've gotten onto a crafting kick. The only problem is that there aren't any decent craft stores in/around Wiesbaden. But presently I face a larger dilemma: a friend of mine is taking her parents to Brugge, Belgium, tomorrow and has invited me to come with. I have absolutely no interest in her itinerary (canal cruise and visiting a sea park) but every desire to go to Belgium. I don't want to be impolite by asking to go seperate ways, but I also don't want to take a 9hr round trip car ride just to ride around on some boats and see some dolphins. I think I will probably end up sitting this one out.

Well nap time is officially over and I am being handed a cup and asked for "wa wa" so I should sign off. More later...

Iraqi vets

So there's this rather amateurish troupe up on the north side called the Annoyance theatre, and I was there for a performance on Friday, and tomorrow they have a lineup about Iraqi vets opposed to the war, with vets reading about their experiences and perspectives and different troupes performing on the same theme.
Alas, I can't go as I have a cell biology lab exactly at that time (how university conflicts with one's social life! Ridiculous.), but I've been thinking about it a lot lately, especially as we have our own Iraqi vet coming home very soon. Get your arse back to the States, please, Geoff. We've missed you!

On a different note, been reading Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community by Wendell Berry. I am consistently impressed with this man's clear vision and articulation of social problems and their possible solutions. More on this later; it's a quarter to two in the morning. Peace out!

Weekly Update

So I have decided to post how stuff is going in New Mexico every week or so. Elena doesn't need to do this because she's a big grown up Junior but I am a wet freshman so I will do so.

This may mean I sort of monopolize the blog but the Other Authors have two options - post more to balance the page content or ban me from posting. Anyway, here we go!

So it's been a great week. I arranged to meet Mr. Pesic (musician in residence at St. John's) for lessons on Saturday the 22nd. I'll probably play my Bach, Chopin, and Schubert. If he wants to hear it I will play Rondo alla Turca.

The work here is pretty intense. Even though I only have four classes, Monday and Thursday I have classes pretty much all day, with small breaks for meals and whatnot. Those are also the days I have Seminar, so I'm not through until 2130 and then I just want to sleep.

Tuesday and Friday I only have one or two classes, but I work those days so studying time is drastically reduced. Same for Wednesday.

Mostly, the hardest days are the first three days and then it planes out. It's kind of tough to organize my time properly but I'm doing a fairly good job.

Friday was the Ark Party. The Sophmores make an ark (modelled after the Ark of the Covenant), put a beer keg inside of it, and carry it up the hill behind campus, an 800 foot summit; Camino de Monte Sol. There they have a wild party. Sadly, I did not go because it conflicted with the lecture that night, Jihad: The Muslim Concept of Holy War. I went to that instead and it was very interesting.

Today during church there was a baptismal service for about six babies. They, their parents, and their godparents were all around the baptismal fount. The pastor came over and started baptizing - no big deal, just take the naked baby, plunk it in the water, and presto! Done! The infants did not seem to mind either; four of the six accepted it without a qualm and even seemed to have fun, gurgling happily the way only babies can.

BUT - there was an exception. A male infant, when he was plunked in the water, let out a screech and began to howl. The congregation burst out laughing and the baby was baptized, with much applause. Fun times.

One last thing. During the past two weeks, I have been scoping out the Fine Arts Building and checking all the grand pianos they have. Curses, the class doors are locked most of the time! The six-foot Steinways are there behind the window, BUT I CAN'T REACH THEM! Torment!

But they are usually unlocked during the weekend. And Dad (make sure you tell him) will love this: they have a brand new Mason & Hamlin piano on the second floor. Yeah, tell Dad he can turn purple with envy now.

I am enjoying myself. So that's my week. Next fortnight, stay tuned to The Life of Timothy In Many Parts!

Toodles.

Teacher Certification?

Does anyone know anything about becoming a certified teacher in the state of Illinois? (mamagoose?) The military is running a pilot program called Spouses to Teachers (similar to their Troops to Teachers) which will reimburse the cost for taking certifcation exams, and I don't know all of the details yet, but I also have no idea what all the certification process entails. I've already sent an email to the program representative in Illinois, but I was hoping I might be able to learn more while I wait for a response.

Thanks!

11 September - Six Year Anniversery.

It's been six years since New York was attacked by militant Islam in the beginnings of what now seems likely to be a widespreading war. Six years since the Trade Center was destroyed, D.C. threatened, and United Flight 93 stopped a third attack.

A heckuva lot has changed since then. The United States is at war, and will be for decades regardless of who steps into the Oval Office in 2008. The world now realizes the chaos and danger that militant Islam presents (Or orthodox Islam, depending on your interpretation of the Qur'an)

One thing is very certain; the world will not be the same again. Even though in the six years that have elapsed, not another attack has taken place. The conflict in Iraq will spread to Iran and the war will continue, with or without America's input.

Let us remember the victims caught up in a struggle dating back thousands of years, all the way back to the 700s. The people in the Trade Center could not possibly understand the rivalries that have existed between Europe and the Islamic world since far before the Crusades.

Pray for the familes hurt by this attack and the conflicts that have followed.

And pray for peace.