Skip to main content
Independence Day! was yesterday (duh), and one of the best celebrations in a long while. Of course we wrap ourselves in glow sticks and launch water balloons at each other in blissful forgetfulness, ignoring the facts. That our country is owned by China, our state is spitting on the Constitution (to its own detriment), and we are missing a president. I mean, they tell me we have a president, but I haven't really noticed any real leadership happening. We have a celebrity, but didn't we already have a bunch of those? Yeah, so there's a lot to be frustrated about. I guess the thing to do is to rise above it. If our leadership sucks, that's just reason for us to be the better man. Or woman. If our country spends extravagantly and stupidly, that's just reason for us to learn sound judgment with our personal finances. And if our nation compromises its integrity by parceling itself out to foreign nations that have little regard for human rights or the health of our earth, why it is possible (though not easy) to boycott the whole business. It just means that we have to be more conscientious people. Scratch that. Conscientious is too tame. We have to be hard-core. We have to be both severe and extravagantly forgiving. We will run the risk of seeming inconsistent, but we will at least be good. Happy fifth of July.

Comments

  1. Wonder Jens05 July, 2009 19:18

    I would have rather been there. I got tiered of fixing peoples broken costumes and I didn't even get to see anything yesterday.

    Anime people are weird.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown05 July, 2009 21:08

    but definitely independent. marching to the toot of their own horn, the beat of their own percussion instruments, etc.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

because you were all wondering what I'm writing my dissertation on, here's a brief synopsis of my 'research context': When James Macpherson published his Fragments of Ancient Poetry in 1760, he went to great lengths to make the Fragments appear to be authentic remains of an ancient, heroic oral tradition. His reasons for this were largely political, and as such, influenced the content of the epics themselves. As an attempt to establish a particularly Scottish identity, the poems were quite effective. However, to do so required both a simplification and a manipulation of traditional mythology. Stripped of anagogical significance, the Ossian epics more or less represented an Enlightenment version of history, tradition, and mythic heritage. The stories themselves were changed by their very purpose and in turn changed the manner of representing myth in future narratives. Moreover, the emphasis on the Ossian epics as authentic tales from the past, as ‘fragments,’ served...
6 comments
Read more

window in the sub

Dear Nathaniel, I am microwaving pie that Mom bought up in Oak Glen this week on her way home from the orthodontist. As I put it in the microwave, I was full of sadness that I was not in Oak Glen with her. Why did I not go? I was working. I want to see the trees turn. I want to wander slowly through autumnal gift shops. Under the water, you cannot sense the approach of the seasons. Even here it is difficult because, after all, it's California. But I can still sense it. After three seasons in Illinois and one in Scotland, it must be with me for good. Or at least for a while. Because I am all abuzz with eagerness for fall and winter, for turkeys and dried leaves and Santa. I should start cooking again this fall. Fall foods are my favorite. Baked squash dripping with melted butter and brown sugar, pumpkin soup... this year, if I have enough money, I will put together a holiday dinner for my friends. And we will drink Scandinavian mulled wine, which is the most wonderful thing I have e...
13 comments
Read more

Book of the Week: The Hunger Games

If Cynthia Voigt had written science fiction, it probably would have looked something like The Hunger Games . In Suzanne Collins's newest novel, we meet a protagonist who seems remarkably familiar. Like Voigt's heroines, we understand her story because she seems so much like ourselves - no matter how strenuous or bizarre the circumstances, we feel certain our story would be the same. We, too, would have those resources, that practicality, that certain sensitivity that separates us from the masses. I don't say this critically - it is the book's strongest feature that it identifies with every one of its readers and says 'this could be your story.' It is not just its portrayal of Katniss Everdeen, the novel's heroine, that is familiar. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North American nation, Panem. It is a country held together by fear - a fear instilled by the capitol into each of its twelve districts and maintained by a yearly event called the Hunge...
5 comments
Read more