Monday already?

Wow, the weekend was a busy blur. Looks like it's back to work for me.



(Nah, actually I like what I do.)


cartoon from here

happy birthday, sinclair lewis

Do you recall your first "light bulb" book? By that I mean the first book you read where the ol' light bulb went on and you realized there was more to it than just the plot and/or characters. You discovered symbolism... or irony... or metaphorical language. In short, you discovered depth, and voila! there was a whole new world out there in literature-land.

Well that book for me was Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt which I read in high school. It is a satire on conformist, middle-class American life, and (even though published in 1922) still seems relevant today.

I've always been sort of grateful to my pal Sinclair, so when we visited Minnesota a few years back, we made it a point to stop in Sauk Centre, his childhood home. We did the whole tourist thing -- went through the interpretive center, toured his house, etc. I even picked up a first printing of his 1949 novel, The God-seeker. (He was sort of losing his touch by then, but oh well.)

Anywhooo... I heard on the radio today that it was Sinclair Lewis' birthday. So a tip of the hat and blow of the candles to Mr. Lewis!

ch-ch-ch-changes

I hate to post back to back youtubes, but this one was waaaaay too good not to share.
(I've always loved this Bowie song, and it fits perfectly for Election '08!)
Enjoy!

highbrow meow

Hamlet, as it was meant to be performed. By cats.

books 'n' movies

First, the movie!
Hubby & I went to the Kelso Theater Pub (what's better than a movie with pizza and the beverage of your choice?!) Saturday night to see Atonement. I hadn't read the book on which it was based, but probably will now. I thought the film was excellent (stunning visuals, strong acting) -- and the ending was both unexpected and poignant. (And that's all I'm gonna say about the ending!) After the movie, I think you can't help but do some philosophical/ethical pondering on the topic of righting wrongs in life...

Next, the book!
Today I finished reading the novel Bee Season, which was part of my Christmas present from Offsprings #1&2. (There is also a film based on this book, but I haven't seen it.) Myla Goldberg tells the story of a rather eccentric Jewish family. (Actually, eccentric isn't the half of it. This family would be a strong contender for Dysfunctional Family of the Decade.) I'm not sure how Goldberg pulls it off, but she manages to tie together Jewish mysticism, spelling bees, Eastern religious cults, and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Whew! This book also had an unexpected and poignant ending.

Hmmm... Guess this was the weekend for unexpected and poignant endings -- witness the Superbowl outcome!

Cape Disappointment

The Empty Nest Hiking Club had high hopes to try out the new webs (yeah, that's hip talk for snowshoes) today, but the weather was totally uncooperative -- including high avalanche risk, sno park closures, etc. The situation could be summed up in one word: disappointment.

So we decided to embrace that word and head to the coast to hike at Cape Disappointment. It was a nice hike which included visits to two lighthouses in the area. Two minute video below if anybody is interested...

adventures in pseudo-science

Well, it was bound to happen. Creationists, who have had scant success getting their papers published in serious scientific journals, have launched their own online 'scientific' journal. The Answers Research Journal has begun posting 'research' and articles which are "consistent with the biblical account of origins." According to their website, the ARJ is "peer-reviewed", however the journal's guidelines discourage non-creationists from conducting any reviews. (Okaaaay. That keeps it objective!)

Here's a quote from an article on bacteria and viruses from their very first journal:

Ubiquitousness and persistence of...microbes in the biological ecosystem strongly implicate a beneficial microbe-host interaction in the original creation and subsequent disruption of the beneficial microbe-host interaction after the Fall.

Translation: Darn that Eve! Bacteria and viruses were happy and good in the Garden of Eden:

Then Eve just had to chomp on the fruit, and the microorganisms became dudes with nasty 'tudes:


You know, I'm thinking God doesn't really need these folks to try and make things fit into a little restricted box...