February 2012
3 posts
3 tags
January 2012
4 posts
1 tag
What the “Effeminate Christianity” crisis says... →
Let’s show the world what we women are really capable of–and perhaps, perhaps we’ll soon see the day when the church’s weaknesses are addressed directly, rather than blamed on women. Perhaps we’ll see the day when women are given equal opportunities in which to help the church repair those weaknesses. Perhaps the church will start to see us, not just as submissive wives and daughters, but as...
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December 2011
2 posts
“Only if Santa’s magic were true could we celebrate this holiday with a clear...”
– Santa Claus Economics, James Shelley
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October 2011
9 posts
1 tag
3 tags
The Emotional Medium
This little quibble sparked some thoughts on the essential role of music as a medium.
helenkashap advocates for musicians to get out of practice rooms, and, as cliché as it may sound, go live a little:
In a musical society that is so obsessed with competition, perfection, and unfaltering work ethic, it is difficult to convince anybody, including myself, that the experience of life – the...
“He who does not weep does not see. They are to be admired and pitied, as one...”
– Victor Hugo, Les Misérables.
“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his...”
– St. Francis of Assisi (via sabbatical)
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“Utopia, moreover, we must admit, quits its radiant sphere when it makes war. It,...”
– Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
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“We have repeatedly stated that the crisis that we are facing in our world is not...”
– On Earth As In Heaven: Ecological Vision and Initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Via Al Gore
September 2011
5 posts
3 tags
“To love is to suffer.
To avoid suffering, one must not love.
But then one...”
– Love and Death (1975), Woody Allen
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Should achieving happiness be the primary pursuit... →
James Shelley doesn’t think so, and I concur:
Sheer happiness for happiness’ sake leads to numbness. I can not imagine any other consequence. For once happiness is achieved, what remains? Does not the bubble of the happiness economy eventually burst under the surplus of indulgence?
August 2011
13 posts
1 tag
“Life has no error messages.”
– Don Norman, Living with Complexity. But life has error/danger signifiers, and they are less likely to be dismissed than your average popup error box. How can machines make error signifiers more effective? One easy thing we can do is to stop using error messages, if possible, then when we have no...
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Structural inequalities are not solved by a few... →
Most of the people who will be writing, speaking and pontificating about the disorder this weekend have absolutely no idea what it is like to grow up in a community where there are no jobs, no space to live or move, and the police are on the streets stopping-and-searching you as you come home from school. The people who do will be waking up this week in the sure and certain knowledge that after...
A Tale of Two Hearts →
[…] someone who ignore traditional caution to become emotionally involved in the lives of those who treats, these are doctor-gamblers because they have to be. The people who most need their help, have nothing more to lose. They take the chance, or they die, so that’s not much of a choice. But it’s the emotional risk that I wonder about, because the doctors don’t have to take...
July 2011
18 posts
Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts. →
If you dedicate your existence to being likable, however, and if you adopt whatever cool persona is necessary to make it happen, it suggests that you’ve despaired of being loved for who you really are. And if you succeed in manipulating other people into liking you, it will be hard not to feel, at some level, contempt for those people, because they’ve fallen for your shtick. You may find...
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“Music was actually the most intellectual of all arts, as was evident from the...”
– Dr. Faustus
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“As in «Didone» and «Dido and Aeneas», the chromatic pattern evokes an individual...”
– Alex Ross, writing about lament descending bass line in Crucifixus of Bach’s Mass in B minor. Excerpt from Listen to This, listen to the complete Crucifixus movement at the audioguide for the book.
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“As it stands, we must accommodate technology. It is time to transform the...”
– Don Norman, on the stupidity of machines. May be obvious, but still worth noting.
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WatchMariza sings Fado, rough translation