Word of the Week

antinomianism (n) - the theory of the doctrine of divine grace that believes Christians are released from having to obey moral law.


In other news: Norway is currently the most peaceful country in the world (studies show); I am confused on how the world works in terms of economics - thinking of Darfur at this point; the Scripps National Spelling Bee is this week (click this link for an interesting article on spelling bees in other countries); and celebrities are stupid...... or the fact that Americans choose to give these crazies celebrity status is stupid. I'm not sure. No - I'm sure.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I just finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. WOW. Of course, I have known the story for years (who doesn't?) but for some reason I had never read the book. I had gotten maybe three chapters in on one occassion and couldn't get much further at all. This time however.......... this time.....


Oscar Wilde is such a brilliant writer. I remember getting roped into reading transcriptions of his trials one evening browsing at Barnes and Noble. He was a hero of a speaker!


In this book, his thoughts on life, age, society, morality - are all so generously and wittily explained through the two rakish characters of Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. Wilde questions how intrinsic our virtue really is and what kind of relationship we have with art.


I have so much more to say on the book, but I feel sort of strange about it - it being such a staple in literature, I feel much like I might if I were reviewing Goodnight Moon or Green Eggs and Ham. So, I'll be terse: read it. It is thoroughly disturbing (and the disturbing ones are always the good ones)!



In other news: My internet connection seldom works properly; Children of mothers who eat plenty of apples during pregnancy are less likely to develop asthma, research suggests; Seven US soldiers and an interpreter have been killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq, the US military says; and the U.S. government has issued a quarantine order, the first since 1963, for a man with a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis.

The autumn winds blow chilly and cold

Today, when I was thinking about friends I hadn't been keeping up with, I was surprised to find myself wondering if they had blogs. Everyone seems to have them these days; I'm not sure how I feel about that. Many of my friends keep themselves abreast of the goings-on in my life by reading my blog and I do the same with them. However, in doing so we avoid any real connection , don't we? Is blogging a way of connecting with the world or disconnecting from it?

I think of you out there. Let's have coffee sometime. I'll blog about it.

I get all the news I need on the weather report.

In the spirit of competition, I share with you a cribbage board. A used one. One that shows the score of the most recent game that Monte and I played.


I'm red. Do you see my little red peg at the far right of the game tracker? Do you still see Monte's at start? Not having even left the harbor? Yes. What is that called? A sweep? I SWEPT this week's cribbage game! HaHAH!

In other news: White tea just doesn't do it for me and it is becoming overcast and windy outside...... THUNDERATION!

I just can't seem to get enough of the sky out here. This was yesterday.

As long as you have a sane reason from a reliable source.

The show Gilmore Girls has come to an end and so (sorry mom) I devote this post to the show. Last night the CW aired the last episode. Though the last season didn't seem as good, though the ending seemed kind of hasty, and though I stopped blogging about it, it still remains one of my favorite shows and I'm going to miss it every Tuesday night! (until I find something else to celebrate with my pizza and wine)

I loved the various relationships in this show: The embarrassing, stressful, and supportive family relationships. The odd, estranged, and even more familial friendships. The schisms in generation, community, and social class. Unlike other popular shows, the characters grew and changed over time. The relationships between them did the same - becoming closer or filled with more tension season by season.

For a show that was half soap-opera, half teen drama, it did a surprisingly good job of keeping up. Fiction is supposed to imitate life. However, this is one of those fictions that for me, opened up aspects of the world that I might not have otherwise noticed (high society, renaissance fairs, private schools, bards in today's society). The show's cultural references to literature, film, politics, current events, and music were at times over my head, and at other times, when I got the joke, felt like little high fives. Is this me being maudlin?

Anyway, I learned a lot from Gilmore Girls. I learned that a devilled egg is one part yolk and two parts mayonnaise; that if you don't get into a good school, your only other option is to marry rich; if you work for eleven years at 1500 jobs, you can afford to buy a house; themed parties are cool; anything can be a competition; boys don't like funny girls; one night in a hallway does not a true naked man make; and that Vicious Trollop is an excellent name for a lipstick.

Now that I will no longer be watching television on Tuesday nights, I am left with The Office and Scrubs on Thursdays. Perhaps I don't watch enough television.

my breakfast

In other news: (what I learned from my TV watching last night): There is going to be a Nancy Drew movie! It comes out on June 15th! Cingular is the new AT&T! Cingular's name is now AT&T! I don't get it. Maybe I do watch enough TV.

A Gallimaufry of Recent Adventures

I am currently enjoying a bowl of wok-seared lamb; so if this post sounds a little sybaritic, that is why.

My dear friend, Megan, came to visit this week. It was great to see her, since it is seldom we have the leisure for true and lengthy chats. We ate a lot (clearly - just look at the picture below) and spent a lot of time reminiscing and catching up.

We are impressive eaters!

Gilmore Girls is coming to an abrupt end. I have long sensed that it was time for the show to go off the air since it has pretty much extended all story lines as far as possible quite some time ago. Since I have yet to watch this week's episode, I have two left. I'm sure I will blog about them when the show has finally finished, despite my mother's rather dramatic sighs at having to read such inane posts.

Today's sky.

In other news (already censored for depressing content): The Queen toured Goddard space center in Maryland on her recent tour of the eastern U.S. before returning to England; After a search of more than 30 years, an Israeli archaeologist says he has found the tomb of King Herod; Pamela Anderson wears see-through shirts; And there exists an Oxford Companion to Food and Drink.

The Diamond Age

Today I finished the book The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. I read it in three days. I could NOT put it down.

When an illustrated primer, which is really an extraordinary computer of the nanotechnological world, is stolen, it falls into the hands of a very young girl who happens to be a member of a poor, tribeless class. This child, immersing herself in a fairytale world that closely mirrors her own troubled life, is educated and raised outside of any system that is in place or understood at the time.

In this futuristic world where Matter Compilers can produce anything material, national governments are obsolete, and law seems arbitrary; Nell, the primer's rogue engineer, and the woman whose voice has kept Nell company through the primer's pages some long years are all on an odyssey which may end up changing the entire future of humankind.

Though the book started a little slowly for me, I soon found myself unable to put it down. Each thread of story-telling was so creative and each character so well written, that I found I could perfectly picture the book's world and all its wonders. It was such a fun and exciting read! Thank you to those who recommended it to me!

In other news: Delegates say that experts at a major UN climate change control conference in Bankok have reached a deal on how to best handle the problem; Now they have to actually do something; Walter Shirra of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs died yesterday; Wolfowitz blames 'unclear' bank rules for the scandal over his girlfriend's pay; and Paris Hilton's boyfriend is an idiot.