Big three-oh minus one

I turned 29 today!!! I'm not one to make a big deal out of birthdays, but it kinda feels weird to know I've got only one year left and then I'll be 30! Yeah yeah-age is just a number, but there's some stigma attached to 30, and especially when I think about what I've yet to accomplish (finish Ph.D., get a "real" job, have a family at some point etc. etc.), it feels like I'm kinda missing the train!!!

Don't damn me...

Today, I think it' only fair that I share with you where my blog title comes from. This is one of my favorite Guns N' Roses songs...Gn'R happens to be one of my all time favorite bands, because I find their lyrics very poetic and their music very full of rhythm and energy. And since I tend to like songs for those two things mostly (lyrics and "energy") they kinda make the top of the list for me.

This song is (as I understand it) mostly about being hypocritical, and avoiding saying things that we think are true, because we fear it'll anger someone or get a reaction out of them. I questioned before whether being politically correct was better than being at each others' throats all the time- and the answer is probably yes, it's much better...But now I ask you this: Where does being politically correct end and being a hypocritical liar start?

Don't Damn Me Lyrics by Guns N' Roses

Don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me

Be it a song or casual conversation
To hold my tongue speaks
Of quiet reservations
Your words once heard
They can place you in a faction
My words may disturb
But at least there's a reaction

Sometimes I wanna kill
Sometimes I wanna die
Sometimes I wanna destroy
Sometimes I wanna cry
Sometimes I could get even
Sometimes I could give up
Sometimes I could give
Sometimes I never give a fuck

It's only for a while
I hope you understand
I never wanted this to happen
Didn't want to be a man
So I hid inside my world
I took what I could find
I cried when I was lonely
I fell down when I was blind

But don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me

How can I ever satisfy you
An how can I ever make you see
That deep inside we're all somebody
An it don't matter who you wanna be
But now I gotta smile
I hope you comprehend
For this man can say it happened
'Cause this child has been condemned
So I stepped into your world
I kicked you in the mind
An I'm the only witness
To the nature of my crime

But look at what we've done
To the innocent and young
Whoa listen to who's talking
'Cause we're not the only ones
The trash collected by the eyes
And dumped into the brain
Said it tears into our
conscious thoughts
You tell me who's to blame

I know you don't wanna hear me cryin'
An I know you don't wanna hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your ILLUSIONS
But your delusions are yours and not mine
We take for granted we know the whole story
We judge a book by its cover
And read what we want
Between selected lines

Don't hail me
An don't idolize the ink
Or I've failed in my intentions
Can you find the missing link
Your only validation is living your own life

Vicarious existence is a fucking waste of time
So I send this song to the offended
I said what I meant and I've never pretended
As so many others do intending just to please
If I damned your point of view
Could you turn the other cheek

But don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me
Don't damn me
I said don't damn me
I said don't hail me
Don't damn me

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I am on a semi-healthy eating kick lately...I try to avoid empty carbs, and try to eat a lot of fiber and the healthy kind of oils-the ones loaded with mono and poly unsaturated fats, i.e. olive oil, as much as I can...I try to buy organic stuff as my budget allows (especially eggs and milk, because otherwise they're horribly hormone laden!)...I've been thinking about going to farmer's markets, although I haven't been able to go to the one we have in town, yet. I heard that they're going to close soon to open up shop at a bigger place much closer to my place, so I hope to frequent the place then. I've never been to a farmer's market here (I've been to a few farms to pick apples, etc.), and have no idea what to expect as far as quality and prices go (I am guessing better and lower than "industrial-organic" respectively), but I guess I'll find out when I go. This is mostly so I can eat stuff that is relatively healthy, but also somewhat because I want to help the local farmers/economy in the name of leading a more "sustainable" life.

The book that I'm reading right now, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan, opened up my eyes to a whole different world as far as food/eating goes. Most of the stuff in the book, I thought I knew...But still the book managed to surprise me on so many levels, and made me question my own eating habits (which are generally quite healthy when compared to what the general population eats. I am by nature not a "snacker", and that kind of helps me stay away from donuts, cookies, chips, etc. I only eat 3 meals a day, and never skip breakfast, because I can't function otherwise LOL and avoid fastfood as much as I can) But who knew that even with healthy choices, that most of the stuff we're eating might just come from corn (did you know that a Twinkie is almost entirely made of corn????) or lack "real" nutrition, and that most of the stuff labeled as "organic" is actually-yeah hormone and chemical free- but does not necessarily come from sustainable practices? For me at least, when I read "organic" I kinda tend to think "sustainable practices", which is not the case.

It's amazing how the "industrial agriculture/food" system works. From feeding cows other cows and corn instead of grass (to make them grow faster and also to get rid of the excess amount of corn that is grown-this is for ALL the meat we buy from the supermarket unless it is labeled as "free-range") to making sure we process foods so that there's only a suggestion of nutrition in them (just so we can add it back to them artificially and "fortify" them), we have managed to make something that should be simple very complicated (and unhealthy). Of course there are so many sides of the mirror here-from making sure we have enough cheap food for everyone to how much the government plays a role in the whole thing to drive the economy, but still...We are tinkering with food too much, period.

There's a passage in the book where the author talks about a cereal or something-I can't remember what exactly, and mentions that it says on the box something like "now you can have your food with fruit in it", and says "I thought fruit itself was food!"...When you think about it, it's appalling what we consider "real food" these days. And everyone knows that to be able to get quality nutritious food, you have to shell out a lot of money-it ain't cheap. So what we're paying for when we buy cheaper, processed/nonlocal food most of the time is chemical-and-hormone dosed, more-energy-intensive-to-grow-than-the-calories-it-provides, processed-to-nothing illusion of food.

This book is a great journey through the twisted land of bountiful (yet artificial) land of food. If you think you know what's going to be on your plate for your next meal, read this book, and you'll sure change your mind.

Word of the day:Anxiety

Anx·i·e·ty (āng-zī'ĭ-tē) *
n. pl. anx·i·e·ties

1. 1. A state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.
   2. A cause of anxiety: For some people, air travel is a real anxiety.
2. Psychiatry A state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from the anticipation of a realistic or fantasized threatening event or situation, often impairing physical and psychological functioning.
3. Eager, often agitated desire: my anxiety to make a good impression.

In my case, definitely 1a, and somewhat 2.... :S


* "anxiety." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 07 Dec. 2007. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anxiety>.

Some days...

I feel like hiring a personal assistant...I've got so much stuff going on lately that I find myself unable to do most of them, and paralyzed by stress. I hate bureaucracy and doing paperwork...Grrrrrrrr!

Something to think about today

As I get ready to buckle down to do some writing for my dissertation, I wanted to share these quotes with you. For those of us who're trying to go where noone has gone before with research (whoa, that sounds way cooler than I thought it would), etc., it's a constant struggle to be able to look at things from different perspectives and to not be tied down by what we have already been taught, the conventional methods and systems (which can sort of give you horse vision). I guess it's sort of similar to being able to think "outside the box".

But of course, these don't only apply to "disserting" but to every other aspect of our lives, too... And surely, these quotes are not anti-education, and I'm not anti-education (duh, I've been in school for how long now???? ). :D

"The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones, which ramify, for those brought up as most of us have been, into every corner of our minds."
John Maynard Keynes

"Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education."
Bertrand Russel

The Golden Compass---Is it evil?

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Compass_(film) :

"On October 7, 2007 the Catholic League called for a boycott of the film. League president William A. Donohue said he would not ordinarily object to the film, but that while the religious elements will be diluted from the source material, the film will encourage children to read the novels, which he says "denigrate Christianity" and promote "atheism for kids." "

Gasp! God forbid children read something that encourages them to think critically (yeah I'm being sarcastic here). I don't get it...If you have faith, what are you exactly afraid of? If religious views can be swayed by reading a series of fantasy novels, then maybe the basis is not so sound after all...And noone makes a racket about children being brainwashed by reading Chronicles of Narnia. What's this double standard all about? Where does this criticism/controversy put us regarding freedom of speech, respecting others' rights to express their religious views, etc.?

Parents mostly have control of their children. If they find the movie at odds with their beliefs, then they can keep their children from seeing it. But trying to stop this movie from being shown is ridiculous...It's almost like saying "we're not going to publish the books either, lest children read them and become atheists". It is so ironic how the books criticize the stronghold of the Church (or organized religion in a broader perspective) over humanity, and the institution being criticized validates the concerns by acting exactly the way criticized.

Insatiable is not sustainable!

I saw this on the bumper sticker of a car the other day...I really like it!

Ughhh Part 2

From phdcomics.com

Still having an existential crisis...Arrrrghgghhhh...I think I'm going crazy, and I can't get out of it!

And suddenly when I was trying to go to sleep last night, this thought occurred to me: What did Noah do with the fish? They would be OK with a flood...And say ducks..They can swim...Did he get some of those in his ark too? How can anyone really believe this happened???

Ughhhhh

I think I am having an existential crisis :S

My friend's trip for a worthy cause

My friend Eric and his girlfriend are doing an amazing thing by traveling to South-East Asia this fall to undertake volunteer projects for those in need. I really admire their dedication. I know that at least one of them had to quit a very secure job that he really liked doing to be able to do this.

You can read more about this donation here. I will try to post updates as they update their blogs (and you can check it out for yourself here), but in the meanwhile, if you feel like it, please feel free to chip in, and know that your money will be well spent!

Plush microbes-continued

Wow...I just received a batch of microbes via mail today-thanks to my uber-thoughtful boyfriend. Now I've got HIV, rhinovirus (the common col virus), influenza virus, pimple bacteria, and E.Coli (ehmmm just the toys of course!)

Aren't they cute???

Back row (left to right): Rhino, flu, HIV, pimple
Front row: E. Coli





And here's Sissy (my cat) playing with E.Coli!

Plush microbes

**Note: For some reason, my posts look different than the way they look on the preview screen, they look all jumbled up. Is anyone else having this problem? Is it my template that's the problem? Can I change the size of the section where my posts appear???**

I want one of these things! Or all of them!Ummm, not the actual microbes of course, just the toy versions. Click here to check them all out!




For example, here's the common cold bacteria:































And here's E.coli! Aren't they cute? And while you're at it, check out the action shots, they're funny!

:)

Click here to see this person's other cartoons.

Online Communities

You can find more comics by this person here. I like his sense of humor.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

I'll be at Barnes and Noble tonight at midnight to pick up my pre-ordered copy of the new Harry Potter book. I can't wait to see what happens in the end!

I must say, I really like the adult version of the cover in the UK. If I had the option, I'd definitely go for that one.

Interesting discussion

This one caught my attention on the interfaith forum. The discussion is about whether God needs religion or not (which in my opinion is worded very poorly).

You can click here to see what people are saying if this topic is of interest to you at all.

Word of the Day: Procrastinate

pro·cras·ti·nate Pronunciation[proh-kras-tuh-neyt, pruh-]

–verb (used without object)
1.to defer action; delay: to procrastinate until an opportunity is lost. –verb (used with object)
2.to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.


[Origin: 1580–90; <>pro-1 + -crāstināre, deriv. of crāstinus of tomorrow; crās tomorrow + -tinus suffix forming adjs. from temporal advs.); see -ate1]

Will it help if I use it in a sentence? " Procrastination is something I've come to master as a Ph.D. candidate."

Gets on my nerves really. Once I start working, I can stay focused for hours. My problem is actually gathering the will to sit down to "work". Arrgh, I was not like this, what's happening to me??? I've come to realize I work much better under pressure, with deadlines and such. When left on my own, I will take my time to finish "boring" tasks. Somehow, there always seem to be more urgent tasks to be done than writing, or experimenting, such as rearranging the books on the shelves by authors' last names, doing the dishes/laundry, wondering what to eat for dinner and looking up recipes, or rearranging items on desk for better work efficiency (for the 5th time that day). Sometimes my floors suddenly look like they badly need vacuuming, and sometimes I just have to scrub my bathtub (there'a a certain element of "analness" in my nature by default though, in case you can't tell) before I can start work-or not. You would think with such a tidy desk and a clean house I would have no problems concentrating on work. Things that usually don't occur to me when I'm having fun suddenly start mattering once I sit in front of the computer or pick up a pen. In the lab, since there's no housework to be done, I find myself washing bottles, and cleaning countertops. If my house and lab are clean, you can sort of tell I've been trying to work. I am by no means a slacker, I always get things done on time, and can really work hard if I concentrate. I don't have this problem when I'm making lesson plans, or grading papers, or working on proposals. The procrastination always comes hand in hand with dissertation work, not much of anything else really. I think this is why liking your topic matters...I've got nothing to be excited about. :S

I think I must get my advisor to set my defense date sometime in late fall...That will definitely put my bum to work. After all, a good dissertation is one that is DONE I guess.

Oh...And sometimes I get a sudden urge to blog...I wonder why!

Kitchen adventure

I really like cooking and eating at home (especially when I have the time for it), but I think this past Sunday was my first "real" attempt at cooking something that required a lot of effort by myself- and the results were not that bad...

Yours truly cooked what you see here on the left from scratch, rolling out the the dough and everything. It's much like ravioli, with the dough filled with meat inside, boiled and topped with garlic yogurt and a mixture of burnt oil and pepper. It's a Turkish dish called 'manti".(umm yeah...yogurt with garlic, you heard that right! hehe). :) I think it turned out alright cause my boyfriend gulped it down and went for seconds. I toiled away for about 2.5 hours in the kitchen for this, to produce only a few plates' worth of food (half of which I froze). If it were to be prepared for a big crowd one would definitely need a lot of help, but I hope to be able to cook this for friends sometime. :)

Who knew rolling out dough was such a workout??? I've had a stiff/sore neck for a while now (damn computer, and damn not doing yoga for a while! I really need to get back to my workout schedule) but yesterday my whole upper back, chest, shoulders and neck were aching like crazy, I could barely move. All I could do was lie down (which is really not doing much of anything and makes me feel guilty). Today I am feeling much better, thanks to Advil liqui-gels and icy-hot patches. I'm not sure the rolling action was to blame for most of the pain though-I think I know the main culprit- it's the wet hair/AC combination. I kind of feel like I have a head cold, too. Sheesh, and it's so hot outside!

Houston we have a problem...

Greetings from Houston!
It's been a while since I last blogged, and I thought I would log on and let you dear readers (of which there are only 3 that I know of! LOL) know what's up with me. First off, no, I haven't relocated to Houston (hey but you 3 already know that :P), I'm only here for a conference. Thank goodness my presentation was yesterday, and today afternoon I got to take some time off, got back to my hotel to change into my good old comfy Converse shoes (I HATE dressy shoes, they are so uncomfortable when you wear them for extended periods of time...So are formal clothes...), and hop around the city. When I first arrived here Sunday, I was a little worried, because it was raining and there was no one on the streets (well there were actually a lot of people, but they were quite scary...), and there was no place to eat at 4 pm!!! Everything was closed (yes even the McDonald's!). Anyway, yesterday I was stuck at the conference from 8 am-8 pm so I didn't get to see anything, but today, the weather was nice and I thought I'd do some sightseeing. For being the 4th biggest city in the US, the streets weren't as crowded as I thought they'd be (a lot of people drive places here I was told), I got to walk around in downtown and also take the metro to the museum district and visit the Museum of Natural Science, which was very nice. Anyway, I am going back home tomorrow, which is OK because I think I am done here. The city is nice, but I must say, there's a weird urine and sewer like smell in the air in downtown at parts, and some parts were quite dirty...

I love traveling, yet I realized that traveling alone is not as fun as traveling with someone. When you're going places like the museums, etc. it doesn't matter if you're alone (and maybe it's even better because you can do whatever you want w/o worrying about what someone else wants...I also love to walk places whenever I am at a new place (I actually love to walk wherever I am), so I don't have to worry about people complaining they're tired if I'm alone), but here I am at 8:30 pm stuck in my hotel room, getting bored (I have my reservations about going out alone after dark in a city I'm not that familiar with), and there's not much to do except watch TV , which I am not a big fan of (don't ask me why...I have no explanation, I just feel like I should be doing something else whenever I sit in front of the TV for more than 45 minutes. And I hate watching movies with commercials every 10 minutes). If there was someone with me I could still be out, maybe.

I've been so busy preparing for this conference, doing research, working crazy hours, (and spending time with my boyfriend hee hee) etc. that I haven't had time to blog. I think I may resume posting now.

And along the lines of what I was blogging about before I disappeared, when I was traveling down here, I had a connecting flight in Atlanta, and both in Atlanta and Houston airports, I heard them announcing the chapel was open for worship 24 hours a day. Don't know if that's something new or if it's common practice, and I have no problem with the chapel itself existing, but the announcement every few minutes was weird. Anyway, so now you know, if you get a sudden urge to engage in worship activity in between flights, and can't do it from where you're sitting, and desperately need a chapel, you can go to the chapels in Atlanta and Houston Airports. And I'll know you're not traveling with Delta if you're in the chapel, because with Delta you never know. You have to keep your eyes fixed on the flight schedule in case they cancel your flight after they check you in and decide to put you on an earlier flight, but don't bother to tell you...Yup, happened to me...Thank God I wasn't in the chapel...

Morality

Interesting article from NY Times...

Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior

And two interesting quotes:

"Religion can be seen as another special ingredient of human societies, though one that emerged thousands of years after morality, in Dr. de Waal’s view."

“The profound irony is that our noblest achievement — morality — has evolutionary ties to our basest behavior — warfare,” he writes. “The sense of community required by the former was provided by the latter.”

Is it because I am interested in these things that I "come across" this stuff more and more lately, or is there a lot of research going on out there??? Ties in beautifully with my "Mythologies of War and Peace" post...

Bittersweet

I cry everytime...Disregard the cheesy video, this was the only way I could post the audio. :)


Bittersweet
written by Rumi, edited by Deepak Chopra, reading by Madonna
----------
In my hallucination
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel

I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:

Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl

I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you

Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns

Twist in my Sobriety

I have always loved this song by Tanita Tikaram. Anyone who is old enough to remember the 80s, especially those from Europe, will remember this song when they hear it. The lyrics are to love, although I'm not totally sure I understand them. It is quite "mysterious". Here's the video (equally haunting) for your viewing pleasure, and the lyrics. If you would like to dissect the lyrics, have a go at it and let me know what you think they mean. I think I have some idea, something about our way of life and life in general, resignation, strength/will, but I can't put it all together. :)
I read somewhere it is about the "evening news"...Also, Maya Angelou has a book titled "All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes". Hmmm, maybe the song IS about evening news...

I feel like there's something in this song about turning our heads away from all the "problems" in the world when we actually pretend to "care" and "be good/giving"...Something like we all talk the talk, but how many of us actually walk the walk? Something about hypocrisy...Especially in the first few lines, where she says "all god's children need traveling shoes (Angelou's book is an autobiography of her life Africa, so maybe there's a reference there to the "developing world" or people in need...I think there's a portrayal of "unhappiness" and underprivileged people in the video, too), drive your problems from here, all good people read good books, now your conscience is clear, I hear you talk girl (you read, you sound intelligent when you talk, you're "good" because you "cared"?)...The eyes being holograms, does that stand for witnessing and taking things into memory? "Twist in my sobriety" sounds cool, although I have no idea what that means. Something that just adds to her state of being sober apparently, haha...And the use of sobriety and the word "twist" there form a nice contrast. Love drawing red from the hands- a religious reference? You pig out 'til you've seen the light-you live carelessly until you actually start seriously caring?

I could be totally off base here, can anyone help me out? :)

All god’s children need traveling shoes
Drive your problems from here
All good people read good books
Now your conscience is clear
I hear you talk girl
Now your conscience is clear

In the morning I wipe my brow
Wipe the miles away
I like to think I can be so willed
And never do what you say
I’ll never hear you
And never do what you say

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you’ll never be
More than twist in my sobriety

We just poked a little empty pie
For the fun people had at night
Late at night don’t need hostility
The timid smile and pause to free

I don’t care about their different thoughts
Different thoughts are good for me
Up in arms and chaste and whole
All god’s children took their toll

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you’ll never be
More than twist in my sobriety

Cup of tea, take time to think, yeah
Time to risk a life, a life, a life
Sweet and handsome
Soft and porky
You pig out ’til you’ve seen the light
Pig out ’til you’ve seen the light

Half the people read the papers
Read them good and well
Pretty people, nervous people
People have got to sell
News you have to sell

Look my eyes are just holograms
Look your love has drawn red from my hands
From my hands you know you’ll never be
More than twist in my sobriety

Mythologies of War and Peace

I happened to pick up my copy of Myths to Live By by Joseph Campbell this morning when I was having breakfast, and I was pleasantly surprised to be reminded that he had a section there (section 9) titled "Mythologies of War and Peace". After all the talk about war and religion and "human nature", this section made so much more sense. The section starts out:

"It is for an obvious reason far easier to name examples of mythologies of war than mythologies of peace; for not only has conflict between groups been normal to human experience, but there is also the cruel fact to be recognized that killing is the precondition of all living whatsoever:life lives on life, eats life, and would otherwise not exist."

And then a few sentences down:

"Plainly and simply: it has been the nations, tribes, and peoples bred to mythologies of war that have survived to communicate their life-supporting mythic lore to descendants."

The whole section is some 30 pages long so it's impossible for me to quote everything he says, however, it's a nice reference for understanding where this whole "religion"and "war" connection comes about, and certainly, it is not just exclusively an Abrahamic Religion issue. He talks about many ancient civilizations, and also the Abrahamic religions...And towards the end he says (and the year he's saying these is 1967):

"But we have heard the likes of all this more recently and close at hand. The idea, as we have seen, became assimilated to the Biblical image of Israel; and in the period of the Dead Sea Scrolls passed on into apocalyptic Christianity (see Mark 13:3-37). It is the idea essentially of the dar al-Islam and dar al-harb of the Arabs. And we have it again in the peace of Moscow-spies, informers, police crackdrowns, and all."

Good old Joseph Campbell...So, this whole "war" thing, with or without religion, is I guess in our "genetic coding" somehow. What I think is, the only reason we have violence and war in the books (and throughout mythology) is because it is in human nature to begin with, and thus, things got written down that way. And if even Buddhist monks can encourage people to wage war, I don't know what that says about our natures in general.

On a slightly different note, something from Sam Harris' book caught my attention: That it is the age of nuclear weapons and therefore any religious war will have terrible consequences. I agree that we live in dangerous times like that, however, I'm not really sure if those terrorists have access to nuclear weapons. Is he talking about us nuking them? Because we have done it (twice!) in the past. I read somewhere that the whole "suicide bombing" thing is happening because it is the cheapest method for causing that many casualties, not because everyone is dying to become a martyr and go to heaven. If going to heaven was guaranteed, I'd like to really see their leaders blow themselves up. Not gonna happen is it? But if they are "cheap" like that, I highly doubt they have access to nuclear weapons, etc...Nuclear weapons were a far bigger threat during the Cold War if you ask me...But then again I'm no expert. Sheesh, can I get into trouble for blogging about these things???? I sometimes feel "uncomfortable"...LOL

Reading List

I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR today, and one of the books discussed was "The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity" by Elaine Pagels and Karen King. The interview was interesting, and it also reminded me that I had intended to check out "The Gospel of Judas" published by National Geographic Society a while back, and totally forgot about it. So today on my way back from the lab, I made a detour and stopped by the public library. Unfortunately, they have the book on order, which means they don't yet have it. But it's on its way. Once inside the library, of course I couldn't stop, and ended up checking out 4 books, although I already have a "list" of books I am reading. So now my whole reading list has changed, since the books I checked out today are due back April 4th. These 4 books make up my current reading list:

1) The End of Faith by Sam Harris...Yeah yeah, I decided not to be stubborn and see what he's got to say. :) I even started reading it...Woohoo...I'm not impressed so far, and I figured out what my problem with him is: It's not so much that what he's saying in essence is not good, it's just the fact that he's got a lot of things wrong which makes me question his credibility (like I said before), and although he's got an extensive bibliography and "notes" section at the end, I find myself asking "and where's the reference for that????" for some of the things he says. *shrug* I will read it until the end though.
2) Why Religion Matters by Huston Smith...I don't think this is a book I will particularly enjoy reading and I will probably find many things to disagree with, but I'd like to hear what he's got to say, because I am like that...
3) Nothing Sacred-Women Respond to Religious Fundamentalism and Terror edited by Betsy Reed...A book of essays written by "feminist" activists and authors of different religious backgrounds. It questions the link between discrimination against women and fundamentalism. I have a feeling I will really like this one. This might actually be one I might buy for my own library.
4) Lamb-The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore... A friend of mine recommended this author's books to me. I've never read anything by Christopher Moore before, but after all the "serious" stuff I was checking out today, I thought this would be a light and funny read on a "related" matter, the childhood of Christ...Heh...It is fiction of course. If I like it, I might end up reading all of his books. I started reading it tonight a bit and so far so good. It is funny at least, and funny is something I need more of in my life lately.

So my other list will have to wait, and that's OK, because even though I'd started reading these books, they are in my own library, and I can always go back to them. They were:
1) Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
2)The World Treasury of Modern Religious Thought edited by Jaroslav Pelikan...This one actually has essays by Dostoyevsky, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, Carl Jung, Immanuel Kant, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, to name a few. It is split into 8 parts:
1) The Unbeliever
2) The Will to Believe
3) The Grandeur of God
4) Reverence for Life
5) The Reconstruction of Tradition
6) Love Abides
7) Visions of the Other World (this part consists of essays on "mysticism")
8) Faith and Freedom
Overall, it consists of 66 essays, and it makes a very interesting (and enlightening?) read. Written by scholars, and modern "thinkers", it's a good anthology for understanding the role of religious tradition in modern life. Highly recommended.

3) Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan...The reviews I read said this book isn't as good as her previous books, but she's one of my favorite authors, so I think I'll read it regardless.

Hmmm, so that's what's going on here as far as reading goes. I must confess I'm not reading as much as I want to read every day, because there are so many other things I have to read and keep up with in the "scientific" and "academic" front that my brain is completely shot at nights. And sometimes after a day of reading oh-so-not-artistic scientific lingo and research related journal papers, all I want to do is listen to some music and browse through some magazines, such as Better Homes and Gardens (which my friend referred to as "a magazine moms read" judging from the age of women posing in the pictures...hehe...Which is probably true but I like reading stuff about home renovations, decoration, gardens, crafts (gasp), and food), Fitness, Harper's Bazaar, or Marie Claire. I do have a "girly girl" side after all... :)

National Day of Reason

This year, Thursday May 3rd is the National Day of Reason. Do your part, and support religious liberty! Take part in an event near you. :)

Many who value the separation of religion and government have sought an appropriate response to the federally-supported National Day of Prayer, an annual abuse of the constitution. Nontheistic Americans (including freethinkers, humanists, atheists, agnostics, and deists), along with many traditionally religious allies, view such government-sanctioned sectarianism as unduly exclusionary.

Political Correctness

The previous post urged me to write about something that I've been thinking about for some time now.This quote from John Cloud's article I posted from Time magazine, I really like :

"Speech codes are one of the many social devices that keep us from all murdering each other with our bare hands in the grocery aisle."

That is a very true statement. So this makes me ask: How much of a person's "personal identity" is defined by religion? The only way I can explain why people get upset when someone questions their belief (or lack there of) is that they take it personally at some level. So does that mean our personal identities have a "religious", "spiritual", "non-religious" component, depending on what we choose to believe? Is religion a part of our identity (or made a part of our identity) as much as our skin color, body shape, and sexual orientation? Do we have to be politically correct when it comes to religious beliefs/subjects and matters of faith? I think as long as it's a two-way street, there's no harm in that. Does that go against reason when you have to tolerate dogmatic nonsense? Possibly so...But it is maybe better than "murdering each other with our bare hands". What do you think?

Dante's Prayer

This song, from Loreena McKennitt's album "Book of Secrets" is one that I really like...She writes in the CD-booklet:

"December 18, 1995, Trans-Siberian Railway:
Dante's The Divine Comedy keeps running through my mind as I gaze out at the landscape passing before me, thinking of the people who inhabit it and how they share this human condition... Are we helping or hurting each other?... How has the West come to this place of transition? Honourably? What are we bringing them? What are their expectations? Are our lives really what they imagine? We always want to believe there is a place better than our own..."

Dante's Prayer

When the dark wood fell before me
And all the paths were overgrown
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone

I did not believe because I could not see
Though you came to me in the night
When the dawn seemed forever lost
You showed me your love in the light of the stars

Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea

When the dark night seems endless

Please remember me

Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and the fire

Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars

Breathe life into this feeble heart
Lift this mortal veil of fear
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears
We'll rise above these earthly cares

Please remember me
Please remember me ...


Loreena McKennitt

Pictures: Jennifer Strange's paintings inpired by Dante's Divine Comedy.

Interesting article

I've been crazy busy the past 2 days, so I haven't had time to continue writing Part 2 of the blog I started before. I will hopefully get back to it tonight.

In the meanwhile, I came across this interesting article about how well the war on terror is going, and what consequences it's had on national security here in the US, and also who benefited from the war...You can click here to read it.

Doing a good deed...

I donate regularly to Bless the Children, Inc., a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged children worldwide. It makes me feel good to know that I am at least helping, in my own limited ways, to help these children become productive members of their societies and good citizens of the world. It is heartbreaking to know that more than half the children worldwide in developing countries lack at least one of the necessities (nutrition, health-care, and education) essential to their proper development.

There is something about doing good deeds that gives me a high...I feel euphoric when I can help someone, and even more when I know what I do affects more than one person. I've been thinking more and more lately about becoming more involved with an organization where I could help people more directly...Maybe join Habitat for Humanity, or just help out with the soup kitchen at a local church. I'd like to join Engineers without Borders, that would really be an incredible opportunity for me, but I seem to be tied down here in VA until I can complete my doctoral degree...Who knows, maybe by the end of the year I could be packing my bag and moving to Africa or South America, or some other place in the world where I could put my skills to work, and help people!!! (nothing like feeling gratified by what you do...)

In the mean while, I will just keep donating, and collecting and re-distributing all sorts of materials..I currently have a 19" monitor that I am hoping I'll be able to send over to St.Kitts to be used at a school or hospital, and an assortment of lamps that I am hoping to find good homes for. You know how it goes, one person's trash is another's treasure, and I somehow seem to be lucky when it comes to finding "treasure"...LOL...People around me are always asking "Do you need a ___________?", and I usually don't, but I always know someone who does. Or always can donate them places. Not to mention it keeps all that stuff from going to a landfill...

It's 3 am in the morning, I just got back from hanging out with a friend, I think I'd better go to bed. I'm hoping to be able to sleep tonight, my cat drove me crazy last night...She's sleeping on the couch right now, I hope she won't become hyperactive once I hit the sack. :) G'night! Or is it good morning???

Helloooooo...

Hey everyone,
This is Pinar and I'm new to this "blogging" community. I do not have any time to blog anything of essence today, but if you're interested in learning a bit more about me, you can go to www.myspace.com/pinaroz and check my page out.

Cheers!