Happy Birthday to Me

Well it took long enough, but I am no longer a teenager.

Oddly, it feels like it happen a long time ago.

Wow. I am glad today is over.

Maybe it won't seem so bad tomorrow.

Midterm Update

I'm still alive and I think I still have my sanity- though I can't be as sure on that one.

Right now I'm confused on whether I should get started on my youth project or my MASSIVE midterm for Theology and Culture...

If I'm still alive by Friday night, I'll be alright.

24:52

I ran the 5K put on by the Great Commission Center today.

I had 2 goals:

1. Finish
2. Finish before any of the child competitors

Mission accomplished!!

Birds of a Feather

Currently I am chilling/ studying at Quills Coffee, my new second favorite coffee shop. I must say this place is so hip it's practically off the meter, and since they brew Sunergos beans you know that the coffee is excellent.

I ordered an Iced Miele (a charming drink comprised solely of featuring honey, cinnamon, espresso, and milk) on recommendation from my buddy Aaron O'neil which did not disappoint.

I'll definately be back here often.

Wow! I can't say how much I love Neil Rackers! Way to hit the winning field goal with one second left on the clock!

Confessions

From Confessions - Saint Augustine (p. 29)

"... in the theaters I sympathized with lovers when they sinfully enjoyed one another, although this was done ficticiously in the play. And when they lost one another, I grieved with them, as if pitying them, and yet had delight in both grief and pity. Nowadays I feel much more pity for one who delights in his wickedness than for one who counts himself unfortunate because he fails to obtain some harmful pleasure or suffers the loss of some miserable felicity. "

MLS

Saturday I went to my first ever Major League Soccer game in Columbus, Ohio and watched the Chicago Fire defeat the Columbus Crew one - nil.

It rained the entire 90 minutes and since we neglected to check the weather forcast for Ohio we were caught without so much as an umbrella. Brandon Stern, however, stayed nice and dry under his parka and track jacket.

My favorite part of game was the Chicago Hooligans who drove 7 hours to watch the game. This group of 60-70 diehard fans led organized cheers for the entire game (most of which were adapted from Green Street Hooligans). The most humorous/ controversial cheer included the line "We wear red/we wear white/ we are F***ing dynamite"- which ticked off more than one soccer mom with little kids.

Surprises

Today was filled with a lot of surprises.

Dr. Mohler quoted the song "John Wayne Gacy Jr." by Sufjan Stevens in class this morning. I had no idea that Dr. Mohler even knew who Sufjan Stevens was, let alone actually owned several of his albums. Just goes to show that one should never underestimate Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.

I got stung by a bee at work today; this was surprising because I have never been stung before by a bee or wasp. Evidently, I'm not allergic.

In perhaps the most schocking (and pleasent) surprise of the day, Jessica Cimato randomly showed up on campus- this after telling no one she was making the 15+ hour trip from Fort Meyers.

Just goes to show you that you never know what might happen.

Miscalculation

So I definately was still up at 1:45 AM thinking, "hey! I can still get 6 1/2 hourse of sleep tonight!"

..... *do the math in my head again*

"oh wait, i mean 5"

Plato: Republic

(from Republic page 13)

Socrates: "You would argue that that the good are our friends and the bad our enemies?"
Polemarchus: "Yes:
S: "And instead of saying simply as we did at first, that it is just to do good to our friends and harm to our enemies, we should further say: It is just to do good to our friends when they are good, and harm to our enemies when they are enemies?"
P: "Yes, that appears to me to be the truth."
S: "But ought the just to injure anyone at all?"
P: "Undoubtedly he ought to injure those who are both wicked and his enemies.
S: "When horse are injured, are they improved or deteriorated?
P: "the latter."
S: "Deteriorated, that is to say, in the good qualities of horses, and not dogs?"
P: "Yes, of horses."
S: "And dogs are deteriorated in the good qualities of dogs, and not of horses?"
P: "Of course."
S: "And will not men who are injured be deteriorated in that which is the proper virtue of man?"
P: "Certainly"
S: "And that human virtue is justice?
P: "To be sure."
S. "Then men who are injured are of necessity made unjust?"
P: "That is the result."
S: "But can the musician by his art make men unmusical?"
P: "Certainly not."
S: "Or the horseman by his art make them bad horsemen?"
P: " Impossible."
S: " And can the just by justice make men unjust, or speaking generally, can the good by virtue make them bad?"
P: "Assurdly not."
S: "Any more than heat can produce cold?"
P: "It cannot."
S: "Or drought moisture?"
P: "Clearly not"
S: "Nor can the good harm anyone?"
P: "Impossible."
S: "And the just is good?"
P: "Certainly."
S: "Then to injure a friend or anyone else is not the act of a just man, but of the opposite, who is the unjust?"
P: " I think that what you say is quite true, Socrates."
S: "Then, is a man says that justice consists in the repayment of debts, and the good is the debt which a just man owes to his friends, and evil the debt which he owes to his enemies- to say this is not wise; for it is not true, if, as has been clearly shown, the injuring of another can be in no case just."

How Should We Then Live?

I just finished this book yesterday and I must say I quite enjoyed it. Beyond just merely outlining a history of western philosophy and civilization, Schaffer examines how these philosophies shaped and guided the culture around it, particularly through the arts ( thankfully, he uses a lot of cool pictures). Whether it be how the dualism of Thomas Aquinas shaped the direction of modern thought, eventually leading to Immanuel Kant's noumenal and phenomenal dichotomy, or how the classical music of Richard Wagner was written to propogate materialism and nihilism, Schaffer provides an insight into the deeper meaning behind culture and the arts of which previously I was almost completely unaware.

I leave you with a short clip from the first chapter.

(Schaffer: 19)

"People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People's presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the world. Their presuppositions also provide the basic for their values and therefore for their decisions. "