So I think that Les Miserables is a really really good book. I've only read about 100 pages so far, but it is so good. I can't believe you didn't like it Liz! It is so good! That's really all I have to say about it.
I don't like foundationalism, I don't think. Or I don't like it as it is in the minds of most of the population. But that is not for this blog.
I'm going to go read that wonderful book instead of doing physics. Physics is the worst and best thing in the world. Like most things. Except books, they are all the best thing. Them and Jesus, and you guys. And my family. And Toby, but he's gone now.
Doesn't it seem odd to anyone else that we only give out of our excess? I remember one Christmas that Wendy was so poor, she made all of our gifts by painting vases she got at thrift stores; she could hardly afford to eat. In fact, I'm sure she was deprived of some food in order to make us those vases. She would ride her bike everywhere within reasonable biking distance because she couldn't afford gas and things like that. And those were the best Christmas gifts, those vases, I love them. I was talking to Mary about this, why do we allow ourselves to waste money on others? I don't hesitate to spend nearly $50 on a family member for something that I would never buy myself. And they do the same for me, and then I have all this incredibly nice stuff (guitar, printer/scanner/copier, iBook, ipod mini) and I feel guilty for owning all this stuff already, I don't want anything else, just a basket for my bike, CDs to learn german, rain pants for biking in the rain (I love rain, I ran in the rain this morning, it was beautiful), maybe a bowl to eat out of, although the tupperware is just fine. It is disgusting to me, I am disgusting to me, as I spend $2 on tea and listen to music on my ipod while reading, watch movies on my $1500 laptop, use my scanner once every couple of months, but just for fun, the rest of the time it just sits there. And I'm grateful for the gifts that are given to me, I just feel it is a waste sometimes. My parents need a new computer, I could give them my laptop and printer/scanner, they would use the scanner more than I would anyway, plus not having a computer would help me concentrate on academics. My sister could have my ipod, she has one but its battery is shot and it doesn't hold much music. My brother actually plays the guitar much more than I ever do, and mine is a lot nicer than the one he has. I would like start playing piano more anyway, I miss that much more, I can actually play more than chords on the piano. Anyway, this is me talking about myself a lot so I'm going to stop. I just wish we didn't all live so normal, we live the same as anyone else, we are so self-indulgent. I love Christmas, and I love that we overdo it, giving is almost a vice in my family, and perhaps that is why it seems okay, because there is so much love there, and this two-hundred dollar ipod is an expression of that love.
I suppose there are two ways of valuing money too much, we can either hoard it and spend it on ourselves because we think it is so valuable, or we can get pissed at people who hoard it and spend it because we think it is so valuable, and can change the world for good. Where is the line? Maybe the second group is right to get angry, perhaps money can do a lot of good, if we give it to the right people, and I really should sell this excess and send the money to world vision or amnesty international.
I don't like foundationalism, I don't think. Or I don't like it as it is in the minds of most of the population. But that is not for this blog.
I'm going to go read that wonderful book instead of doing physics. Physics is the worst and best thing in the world. Like most things. Except books, they are all the best thing. Them and Jesus, and you guys. And my family. And Toby, but he's gone now.
Doesn't it seem odd to anyone else that we only give out of our excess? I remember one Christmas that Wendy was so poor, she made all of our gifts by painting vases she got at thrift stores; she could hardly afford to eat. In fact, I'm sure she was deprived of some food in order to make us those vases. She would ride her bike everywhere within reasonable biking distance because she couldn't afford gas and things like that. And those were the best Christmas gifts, those vases, I love them. I was talking to Mary about this, why do we allow ourselves to waste money on others? I don't hesitate to spend nearly $50 on a family member for something that I would never buy myself. And they do the same for me, and then I have all this incredibly nice stuff (guitar, printer/scanner/copier, iBook, ipod mini) and I feel guilty for owning all this stuff already, I don't want anything else, just a basket for my bike, CDs to learn german, rain pants for biking in the rain (I love rain, I ran in the rain this morning, it was beautiful), maybe a bowl to eat out of, although the tupperware is just fine. It is disgusting to me, I am disgusting to me, as I spend $2 on tea and listen to music on my ipod while reading, watch movies on my $1500 laptop, use my scanner once every couple of months, but just for fun, the rest of the time it just sits there. And I'm grateful for the gifts that are given to me, I just feel it is a waste sometimes. My parents need a new computer, I could give them my laptop and printer/scanner, they would use the scanner more than I would anyway, plus not having a computer would help me concentrate on academics. My sister could have my ipod, she has one but its battery is shot and it doesn't hold much music. My brother actually plays the guitar much more than I ever do, and mine is a lot nicer than the one he has. I would like start playing piano more anyway, I miss that much more, I can actually play more than chords on the piano. Anyway, this is me talking about myself a lot so I'm going to stop. I just wish we didn't all live so normal, we live the same as anyone else, we are so self-indulgent. I love Christmas, and I love that we overdo it, giving is almost a vice in my family, and perhaps that is why it seems okay, because there is so much love there, and this two-hundred dollar ipod is an expression of that love.
I suppose there are two ways of valuing money too much, we can either hoard it and spend it on ourselves because we think it is so valuable, or we can get pissed at people who hoard it and spend it because we think it is so valuable, and can change the world for good. Where is the line? Maybe the second group is right to get angry, perhaps money can do a lot of good, if we give it to the right people, and I really should sell this excess and send the money to world vision or amnesty international.
posted by naomo | 12:07 AM
6 Comments:
I would also like to say that althouh Hugo is very vry good, Dostoevsky is still the best ever. Period.
two things:
1) people giving away things they they enjoy is one of the red flags for suicide.
2) Jamie Rosenberry told me a (dirty) physics pick-up line the other day. It is as follows: "Is that an angular vector in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
My friend Owen on the Blockbuster that doesn't take other Blockbuster cards: 'They should distinguish it somehow, make it, like, Blockbuster PRIME.'
What do you get when you cross a mountain climber and an elephant? You can't cross them, one's a scalar.
How can you tell an extroverted physicist from an introverted physicist? The extroverted physicist looks at your shoes.
A physicist, a mathematician, and an engineer are in a lab together. The teacher gives each a barometer and tells them each to use it in order to find the height of the tallest building on campus. The physicist goes to the top of the tallest building, reads the barometer and calculates the height of the building. The mathematician ties a string to the barometer and lowers it down the side of the building and marks the spot where it hits the ground, measures the string. The engineer goes to the janitor, and says, 'I'll give you this barometer if you tell me the height of that building.'
A physicist, a mathematician, and an engineer are sleeping in adjacent rooms in a hotel when a fire breaks out. The engineer freaks out and throws all the water he can find on the fire, ruining all the carpet and furniture, then falls back asleep. The physicist wakes up and calculates the amount of water needed to put out the fire, and puts that amount exactly, and goes back to sleep. The mathematician wakes up and calculates the amount of water needed to put out the fire, and then, satisfied, rolls over and goes back to sleep.
Q: What's the difference between Max Factor and Quantum Theorist?
A: Max Factor has models that work.
Q. What did one electron say to the other electron?
A. Don't get excited. You'll only get into a state!
A neutron walks into a bar. "I'd like a beer" he says.
The bartender promptly serves up a beer.
"How much will that be?" asks the neutron.
"For you?" replies the bartender, "no charge"
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