Synaxis TV

1. For those needing some context about the effect that fall break had on my sleeping schedule, please know this. I went to bed Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m., woke up at 1:30 a.m. or so for a few hours, during which I went grocery shopping and watched part of a DVD, then slept some more until 3:30 p.m.

2. My Atheism Discussion Group meeting at the Unitarian Universalist church last night was absolutely wonderful. The topic I had selected for the night was why atheists are resistant towards ritual, which led to a discussion about how atheists are sensitive to ideology and wary of ritual as a possible foundation for fascism, and the possibility that atheists resist ritual because they are by nature questioning beings and it is difficult to maintain a critical nature while you are having a passionate experience.

3. I almost forgot to mention that I lost a good friend the other night — my pen! I had been a longtime Dr. Grip user, but had discovered the wonders of the G2 over the summer when I decided to move to a pen with a finer tip (I got the 05, not the 07). I had really gotten used to that pen and enjoyed watching the ink level go down, so I’m a bit sad that it’s gone. Fortunately, I still had an extra fine ink cartridge left, so I just put that into my old Dr. Grip.

For some of you this may sound strange, especially those of you who don’t have intimate relationships with your writing utensils, but it’s taking some getting used to. This pen is fatter and heavier, so the writing experience is much different. At first my hand got sore and I was thinking that I might just have to get a replacement G2, but I also noticed that it seems to write much finer. Initially I just thought it had something to do with the cartridge, but that wasn’t it. Since the pen is heavier, I don’t have to push down so hard, so that’s why it writes finer. So, I’m going to give it some time and see what happens, but the finer writing is nice. I just worry about how it is going to change the flow of my thoughts when I am writing.

1. Weird muscles in my legs hurt from jumping rope.

2. “What am I going to do with my life,” said the tea kettle.

3. I could not live without music (and movies) — take that books! (Well, ok books, I do like to listen to music while I read you. But it might be good for you to dwell on Adam Sandler’s (as Billy Madison) debate on shampoo and conditioner.) And since music (and movies) is (are) so mobile now, I can be a successful nomadic exile!

4. Fall break is not good for my sleeping schedule.

5. I simply enjoy writing.

6. I like lists.

7. I waited for something a little more inspirational than that which is present before posting this, but it didn’t happen.

8. Maybe this will work. I’m trying to get my head around this experience of being absolutely crazy about someone, then experiencing a slight shift where you wonder how you could possibly have felt that way to begin with. Is it truth? Or the mind protecting itself? Either way, I’m glad it happened to me.

9. This too. What the hell is the experience of wanting to be so close to someone that holding them as tight as you possibly can is not enough? What is that? Is it the literal experience of physically trying to grasp something that is symbolic?

Reading about changes in Habermas’s position on religion has inspired an inquiry. If people can resonate with or consider themselves to be Buddhist without accepting all of the metaphysical underpinnings associated with the religion, then why not the same with Christianity (I have the sermon on the mount in mind)? And does this then mean that I am as much a Christian as I am a Buddhist?

1. I’ve noticed that there’s this little thing I do different from other people in conversations. At least, I haven’t seen anyone else do this. In a group of people I will elicit one person to tell a story to another person that I think that person will find interesting. I really enjoy it, but I’m not entirely sure how I started doing it, nor am I clear on its purpose or function. I do know that I really enjoy collective conversations. It really bothers me when I am in a group of people with conversation splitters, people who will dodge out of the collective conversation to have a conversation only with you. I guess part of the reason it bothers me is that I miss out on what everyone else is talking about, but I really just enjoy everyone sharing one big conversation.

2. For whatever reason, I seem to be ok with this town, and therefore the ghost of this town’s future. I’m not entirely sure what changed. Maybe the few small elements here have made me satiated. I do know that I was a little disconnected from my work at the beginning of the semester and have rekindled my academic curiousity. Who knows. It could also possibly be the result of a different approach I’ve developed towards dealing with displeasure. Either way, what this means is that maybe I will end up in academia after all.

1. I would like romance movies a lot better if they were all like the Sound of Music.

2. Apparently, the magic snooze time is: 1 minute.

1. After this long conversation about being late to shit last night with my friend Erin, I missed the bus. What to do? I decided to drive to campus, but had trouble finding a spot. I had almost given up when I saw a space and turned around, but someone else got it, and I finally did give up. However, another space opened up by chance (that I might not have been able to get if I hadn’t gone for the other space), and I got to park. I ran ran ran to Japanese and got there in time to take my quiz. Nothing like starting your day with an epic of privilege and temporal miscalculations.

2. I know it hurts, but the world is far too fucked up for us to do much about it. What then?

3. Yes, Legally Blonde is pretty awesome (I know it couldn’t really happen, but it’s an empowerment myth, ok?). It was strangely inspiring. And I think I am in love with Selma Blair. My tastes are so predictable. Though, as I ponder, they have changed…

1. The Internet is a very strange place.

2. It’s strange to think about how much a part of my life the AASG was, is, and will continue to be. I can’t imagine my life without the experiences I had as a part of the AASG, especially since that was how I met the people I consider to be my closest friends.

I only have two brilliant things to relay tonight:

1. Apparently, semioticians don’t care for poststructuralists.
2. Twizzlers are still quite tasty, but by no means are they chocolate.