As requested

trout

 

“When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line
and finds himself unable to swim about freely,
he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape.
Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him.
In the same way the human being struggles with his environment
and with the hooks that catch him.
Sometimes he masters his difficulties;
sometimes they are too much for him.
His struggles are all that the world sees
and it naturally misunderstands them.
It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one.”
-Karl A. Menninger

Victoria’s Security Secret?

artsomerville.org

artsomerville.org

Not long after 9-11 I flew to Hawaii in a trench coat. Underneath I wore a skimpy sheer camisole (no bra) and long pants. I was asked to remove my coat to go through security. I started to slip my coat off my shoulders, and the security guy blushed and waved me through. On the plane, the passenger sitting next to me kept insisting I share her sandwich with her. She reached into her purse and casually pulled out a standard kitchen knife. Then she cut her sandwich in half while I braced myself for the SWAT team that didn’t show up. The rest of the flight was without incident. Once in Hawaii, I waited several hours for my luggage to show up.

Brazil: Ethos and Essence

 

 

 

 

As requested.

Long live the blog!

Lefalcon, how are things in Mukalla?  It sounds like quite a change from Aden. 

Monday night I attended a meeting of Ball State’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship.  As you recall, I’d attended once last year and had been meaning to go back.  Someone I hadn’t seen there before asked me if I was an Orthodox Christian.  No, I said, I’m a Quaker.  This was a bit of an exaggeration; I haven’t joined the Friends Church yet, but am planning to do so.  This drew a puzzled look.  “I’m very comfortable with Quakerism and can’t imagine being anything but a Quaker, and that’s precisely why I want to learn more about Orthodoxy.  I want to make sure that I’m not just looking for an excuse for being the sort of person I already am.”  “Well, Quakerism and Orthodoxy are certainly opposite ends of the sprectrum.”  I agreed.  For example, the Orthodox always tend towards the most elaborate possible liturgical forms, while Quaker liturgy consists of sitting still.  

At any rate, the theme of that meeting was  the New Year.  Because 1 September is New Year’s day in the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church.  In that spirit, I declare my New Year’s resolution to be posting more stuff on this blog.

An email I sent to P, in which I critiqued your least-favorite blogger

P-funk has been sending me emails lately with his views on society and class in Brazil, a topic whereupon my ignorance is almost total.  So I keep trying to change the subject.  Something he said yesterday reminded me of a recent posting on Steve Sailer’s blog, so I took the opportunity to introduce him to that site and my reservations about it.  With P’s permission, I copy the message below.   (more…)