my bones are half-asleep

what a cool weekend! ryan and jessica wed as one and it was a privilege to witness. last night I dreamed I had befriended a man who was a sociopath. I was nearly sure of it. his game was to act as the "intermediary" between suave men and women who may conceivably find them attractive. He would tell a woman that a certain man had been thinking about her and wanted to meet her, despite the fact that he never gave her two glances, as far as she could tell. THEN, when the woman bit, he would set the two up, and the attractive man would probably eat the woman or something; I hadn't actually figured it all out yet. I protested any meeting with any man, on the grounds that A. I didn't care and B. I was engaged, but I found myself in a car with the sociopath and he wasn't about to let me out. Luckily he hadn't discovered the "child lock" button so I unlocked the passenger side and jumped out, running, and the alarm went off shortly thereafter. anyway, the sky is gray and the day seems half-asleep, too. mind: off. shower: late. swallow group: beckoning.

the question of innate aggressiveness, per EB

But we were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems, not our corpses.

Robert Ardrey, African Genesis, 1961

good morning

to the right of ann coulter

well these girls sure are cute.

beyond the valley of the jerk(s)

wow. i never knew.

judgment

we saw p & p (with the lovely mr. and mrs. tebo). neil found the storyline to be akin to "pablum," and was gratified to find, upon later research, that one mark twain was of similar assessment. diana countered neil and mark's assertion with, "yes, but what do you expect; it's jane austen." diana was pleased by the endless shots of misty countrysides and sunny interiors, as well as the smoldering countenance of mr. d (who, incidentally, bears resemblance to one mr. g). neil found some small solace in keira knightley, but was generally bored by the overall absence of ennui and subversion.

times story

what does our mormon readership (hi emily) think of this story? most interesting part:

Unofficially, church leaders have tacitly approved an alternative interpretation of the Book of Mormon by church apologists — a term used for scholars who defend the faith.

The apologists say Southerton and others are relying on a traditional reading of the Book of Mormon — that the Hebrews were the first and sole inhabitants of the New World and eventually populated the North and South American continents.

The latest scholarship, they argue, shows that the text should be interpreted differently. They say the events described in the Book of Mormon were confined to a small section of Central America, and that the Hebrew tribe was small enough that its DNA was swallowed up by the existing Native Americans.

what's the deal with that?!

in name only

A. How come I never hear anything good about the administration? Secondly, what is up with tomkat? Could there be another woman?

satori

we don't need you to buy us one of these because we already have one, and it is cool.

2005 movies revisited

Neil	Diana
1. A History of Violence	1. A History of Violence
2. Caché	2. Caché
3. Last Days	3. Brokeback Mountain
4. Tropical Malady	4. Last Days
5. The Ister	5. Batman Begins
6. The New World	6. Pride & Prejudice
7. Match Point	7. Match Point
8. Brokeback Mountain	8. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
9. Batman Begins	9. Wedding Crashers
10. Wedding Crashers	10. The New World
11. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan	11. Syriana
12. The 40-Year-Old Virgin	12. The Squid and the Whale
13. The Squid and the Whale	13. Munich
14. Syriana	14. Broken Flowers
15. Munich	15. The Chronicles of Narnia
16. Me and You and Everyone We Know	16. Hitch
17. Broken Flowers
18. The Chronicles of Narnia
19. Pride & Prejudice
20. Hitch
21. Sin City

the universe in my head

neil talking to the sun

I was thinking, walking with Neil on the Maui shores, about how I move around in my head to different subjects, like "Emily" and "my job" and stuff. And each subject has its own associations and related sensory and informational data. All of which are memories, i.e., relevant to what's in my head, but not relevant to this place at this time.

So I was thinking about how the world according to me is actually contained inside my brain (in what form, I don't know; I think that was an earlier post that never got satisfactorily answered), and my brain is in my head! Like, I already knew that the world as I see it is actually the world according to me, as opposed to you, but I never had thought about the physical location of those ideas. My head! So I am seeing a tree, and not only am I seeing the tree according to my visual and cognitive interpretation, but the tree itself is entirely (physically) separate from that interpretation.

neil with a rainbow

It was a nice musing, because it illustrated how if, at a given time, I shift the way I choose to see or focus on something in my brain (e.g., Do I care about this person? Can I forget this information?), it changes only what I am thinking about at that time anyway. Only the way things are arranged in my head.

I am still working on application. Maybe when I watch the State of the Union address tonight I will first try to erase any preconceived ideas from my mind and give the president a blank slate, although not yelling after 5 minutes may be well beyond my philosophical ken.

the week in review

today I worked 7.5 hours. I have new insight into the orientation difficulties that plague so many of my patients.

"Neil, did you get a chance to go to the bank?" "It's Sunday, Diana." "Oh yeah." "Did you check the mail already?" "Mrs. Pumpkington, it's Sunday." "Oh yeah." "Today was tough, but at least tomorrow's Tuesday." "No it's not."

Oh yeah.

Yesterday we went to a tai chi workshop aaaaall day. I learned how to respond, not react, and neil observed and kept me company. Tai chi is mostly about harnessing the life force and listening to a bird 100 miles away and yielding if somebody tries to hit you.

Then we went to a barbecue and met a couple of realtors near a really cool portable fire pit. Then we saw Match Point, which was OK. Neil was interested in its angle on the Crime and Punishment story.

Thursday we went to a wake for the spouse of my coworker. We went to their wedding in October. He killed himself and I found it interesting that his casket was open. Also we found it interesting that spirited Christian somebody-died rock (as opposed to Christian death rock, which could be more interesting) was blaring the whole time.

Surreal.

I don't remember what happened earlier than that -- oh yeah, on Weds. we attended and attempted to register for a Final Cut Pro (digital video editing) class at Pima Community College. Alas, the room was bursting with other kids who wanted to do the same, so we'll have to wait. At least we're officially registered at PCC.

west wing is ending and diane lane is only 41.

we're making a wedding blog but it's not ready yet.

i don't think God wants me to work on Sundays anymore.

Anyone who wants to be a marine or a pilot can try this.

bye.

dues to leave my shoes on

does anyone else find this prospect a tad nausea-inducing?

sort of

funny. you might also enjoy this if you know what sabermetrics is without having to click here first. update: ok, more links expunged from the bookmarks vault at here npd winter paring expo: m o r e .

smell you later

!

2005 movies

Neil	Diana
1. A History of Violence	1. A History of Violence
2. Last Days	2. Cache
3. Cache	3. Brokeback Mountain
4. Tropical Malady	4. Last Days
5. The Ister	5. Batman Begins
6. Match Point	6. Match Point
7. The New World	7. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
8. Brokeback Mountain	8. Wedding Crashers
9. Batman Begins	9. The New World
10. Wedding Crashers	10. Syriana
11. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan	11. The Squid and the Whale
12. The 40-Year-Old Virgin	12. Munich
13. The Squid and the Whale	13. Broken Flowers
14. Syriana	14. The Chronicles of Narnia
15. Me and You and Everyone We Know	15. Hitch
16. Munich
17. Broken Flowers
18. The Chronicles of Narnia
19. Hitch
20. Sin City

transcendent "timewaster"

i just spent roughly the last hour here. i recommend some accompanying listening selections. anything will do, really. even mr. bojangles seems to heighten the experience! thanks beck.com links page!

today

something for the rest of us?

Christians are suckers

Excerpted from Jonathan Safran Foer's "A Beginner's Guide to Hanukkah" in yesterday's NYT: Christmas Christmas is a holiday that Christian children celebrate because they aren't Jewish. Instead of eight nights of presents, there is only one. And instead of getting to eat delicious and nutritious latkes, they are forced to drink something called nog, which isn't even a real word. They touch each other's sweaters while they sing together around pianos, they get into the "spirit," and here's another bad thing about Christmas that should make Jewish children excited about celebrating Hanukkah: Christmas trees are a terrible fire hazard.