I.I want to discuss politics on this blog, but in order to do so I need to develop a vocabulary. I have a meta-political pet peeve which I believe I can name and explain through a discussion of the parlance of magic. In honor of Penn and Teller, I’m going to try to make the world a slightly better place by giving away a secret to a magic trick. This is a big no-no in some parts of the magic world, and so I’m sorry to magicians everywhere. It’s for the greater good...
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Again, I will list the books I've read and the books I've "read" this past year. Most of these are in the audio"book" format. I spent a lot of this calendar year commuting to various universities where I was an adjunct. I also watch our youngest son, and so to get some peace and quiet, I opt to wash dishes while Megan gives the boys their baths and catches up with them. This gives me some extra time with the headphones.
I recently found these notes, which I wrote on 18. July, 2016
There is an ancient argument for the existence of God. For many centuries it worked to produce pious men and women. Even brilliant thinkers were swayed by its simple clarity. The argument runs thus: Consider the stars. This alone was enough -- once to persuade the souls of men that there was an author of sublimity. But tonight, I look upon the night sky in my city -- which I have loved -- and see the glow of growth: reddish, and when there is fog, possessing its own beauty. I recently received an e-mail from someone asking about "how to get someone to counseling." This person knows that I have a history of mental illness, and that I am open about this, and that I am interested in talking to others about it, and was hoping I could help them with someone they care deeply about.
In the interest of sharing my thoughts with anyone whom it could help, I decided that I might share that account here. Eventually, I want to reflect on why I have chosen to be as open as possible about my experiences, even though people over-sharing online gives me the creeps, and I loathe the feeling that I'm acting self-important. To anonymize the content as much as possible, I've opted for "they/them" as a gender neutral, third person singular pronoun. My middle-school grammar teacher was the amazing James Goodson, and because of him I know that these words are actually plural. Unfortunately, I have no other elegant way of respecting privacy. Anyway, here's the story: He broke off and anguish gripped Achilles. The heart in his rugged chest was pounding, torn… Should he draw the long sharp sword slung at his hip, Thrust through the ranks and kill Agamemnon now? -- Or check his rage and beat his fury down? -Homer (Illiad Book I; Robert Fagels, Transl.) I'm a boss-a** b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b**** I'm a boss-a** b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b**** I'm a boss-a** b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b**** I'm a boss-a** b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, b**** I'm a boss-a**... -Nicki Minaj I.
A dear friend once described the willfully ignorant to me: “It’s as though they had super-powers!” It is strange, indeed to think how one can believe what one knows not to be so. It is somewhat akin to flying. Upon reflection, it is perhaps even more to be desired. For flying is sometimes dangerous, and one must leave the comforts of home. To be able to believe oneself to be flying without leaving the living room -- why, that affords all of the delights of both! I've been experimenting with Google Sites to make websites for my courses. Here is my first go:
sites.google.com/view/cather-religion-media I'm still updating it, but I have to teach, so I'm on the run. UPDATE: I went on a Saul Bellow kick: 65. The Adventures of Augie March 66. Herzog 67. Mr. Sammler's Planet 68. Humboldt's Gift and then a Michael Lewis stint: 69. The Big Short 70. The Undoing Project 71. Liar's Poker 72.* Don Quixote (Part One) -- I ran out of time before I could finish part two, and the Chicago Public Library repossessed the book. Thanksgiving break was great, but it meant less time in the car, and so less time with El Caballero de la triste figura. 73. Francine Prose: Reading Like a Writer (this is, apparently, her actual name) 74. David Brooks: The Road to Character 75. Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment ----- The books that I read this year in actual book format were mostly for the classes I was teaching or else for bedtime reading with my son (I will let you guess which is which). 1. Genesis 2. The Gospel of Mark 3. The Acts of the Apostles 4. Job 5. Augustine: Enchiridion (the Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love) 6. Plato: Apology 7. Crito 8. Euthryphro 9. Machiavelli: The Prince 10. Robert Bolt: A Man for All Seasons 11. Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics 12. Cicero: On Obligations 13. Kant: Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals 14. Mill: Utilitarianism 15. Aquinas: Treatise on the One God (Which is really just a longer section of his Summa) 16. Alice in Wonderland 17. The Invention of Hugo Cabret 18. The Wind in the Willows 19. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (the CORRECT way to begin the Narnia series) 20. Prince Caspian 21. Voyage othe f Dawn Treader 22. The Silver Chair 23. A Horse and His Boy 24. The Magician's Nephew 25. The Last Battle My Audible account says that I've been using it since October of 2016. It feels like less time than that, but as one gets older, one's sense of time speeds up. I started listening because a YouTube channel I follow was sponsored by Audible. I thought it would be cool to support the channel, and at the same time I could possibly better myself in some regards. A few months ago, I discovered that I could also borrow audio-"books" from the Chicago Public Library. Things were almost in place for the listening binge I've been on for the past two years. The next puzzle piece came during a party where a friend of a friend who studied economics talked about listening to podcasts at double-speed (hey, it doubles the ROI of your time!). The final piece has been my lowly adjunct lifestyle, in which I spend at least five hours per week in the car. This gives me lots of time to listen, and I've been going through my list at something more closely approximating the pace some of my friends do their actual reading.
So in an effort to keep track, I'm putting together a list of the "books" I've been auditing (I just can't bring myself to call it reading, so maybe this will catch on). I had a short chat with my wife's grandmother, who has also discovered the wonderful world of audiobooks, and we agreed to send each other our respective lists. Of course I had her list in my hands three days later, which was sometime in August? Here, then (finally) is my list: In the last months of 2016, I listened to three audiobooks:
2017:
2018: (Which started in roughly the order I listened to them, but then became a mishmash because I'm using multiple platforms)
Audiobooks I haven't finished (currently in the process of auditing, or that I've already checked out), but plan to finish before the year's end:
Audiobooks I was unable to finish for various reasons:
My resolution for the end of the year is to come back and list the book-books that I've actually read, and perhaps provide some commentary on the lot of them, since, as it turns out, I have opinions! UPDATE: I went on a Saul Bellow kick: 65. The Adventures of Augie March 66. Herzog 67. Mr. Sammler's Planet 68. Humboldt's Gift and then a Michael Lewis stint: 69. The Big Short 70. The Undoing Project 71.* Don Quixote (Part One) -- I ran out of time before I could finish part two, and the Chicago Public Library repossessed the book. Thanksgiving break was great, but it meant less time in the car, and so less time with El Caballero de la triste figura. |
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