Wednesday, September 28, 2011

the best wednesday, ever

on the drive down to evergreen today, my eyes were inundated with yellow and orange. the hue of the scenery was such that around nearly every turn of the road i strongly desired to stop and admire the glow of the leaves basking in the sunlight.

Beirut tonight. so fucking excited.

on the way down, we very much enjoyed listening to: sun king by the Beatles and never ending math equation by modest mouse.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

busy. inspired. fall.

i have not been able to carve out an hour to blog these last couple weeks. i have been doing a bit of traveling to and from denver, and doing a lot of creative baby things.

the science world seems to be inspired also! the most interesting stories are being published. if you are interested in science, you have probably heard about the neutrino particle. firstly, turns out, the neutrino has mass. secondly, and most importantly, the peeps at CERN doing the OPERA experiment have published an paper showing how the neutrino can travel faster than the speed of light. you can read the published paper from my dropbox account, here.  now, there is much speculation in the physics community about the possible short comings of the findings, and they are not going to be taken lightly. after all, the idea of light's speed  is at the base of most of the theory of special/relativity. einstein would be elated to know that a particle with mass can travel at or faster than (c) the speed of light. there is also much speculation by observers like myself about the possible implication of time and time travel if something can move faster than light. this possible finding may not directly change our lives or perceptions of the universe in this lifetime, but perhaps the human race is closer to understanding some truths about our existence.

i also encountered a super interesting article about scientists at UC Berkeley  "decoding" brain waves and "translating" them to images. Slate.com did a piece, including the images, which you can find here.   the website for UC Berkeley has the data and clips, and an explaination that goes a little further, here. i urge you to visit and thumb through. it is terribly interesting.

leaving for denver to see my favorite indie band, Beirut! i am to uranus excited for the show. so i am listening to every single song of theirs until the moment i get to the show!

i tots mcgoats want this for xmas, a beirut music box! .
i love the take away show, beirut style.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

romance

i recently did a survey on the book of face for my married friends. i asked them if their husbands were "romantic" and the overwhelmingly repeatative response was "no". there were a few friends who have spouses who really seem to have a flare for romance. i followed through with some of the ladies with romantic husbands, i asked what they did that was romantic. The answers included: dates, flowers, trips, jewelry, surprise events (sky diving, rafting, skiing), home cooked meals, spa time, cards, poetry... the list goes on and on and only a few ladies replied!

the list inspired me to qualify my idea of romance. i have come up with a list. just for reference, in case my husband asks.

qualifications of romance:
hand holding
kissing sessions
setting up the baby sitter for an evening alone
setting up and executing a date(of any sort really)
hot springs at night
a single flower
oil massage
slow dancing in the bedroom
a whole movie of snuggling
love notes!!

i am nearly positive that life gets in the way of fiery hot romance that you see in ridiculous movies, but what is stopping anyone from making life more romantic? other than a Y chromosome? this season always inspires a faintly romantic feeling in me. one that i desire to keep alive for the snowy season. i am putting "being more romance" on my list of ways to better life. now to inspire my significant other to do the same...

current tonal amusement: death cab for cutie, what sarah said

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

poor people, xian lens

As I drove through Denver, I saw an alarming number of homeless people. I couldn't help but contemplate the inequality of wealth, very much present in my home state. I gave  an old man a bagel that I bought for my babies. I generally do not give homeless money (we are incentive based creatures) but I did have perfectly good food that he could eat. I still feel a bit bad about contributing to the problem but I have not yet thought of a solution that I can contribute adequately. I was reminded that day by a "preacher" that I lived in a Xian society and that the "xian" thing to do would be to give the homeless money and shelter. Although I do not believe the "preacher" had a firmer grasp on his religion than I do, I found myself putting on the lens of Xianity and thinking about being "poor."

Reason is the chief quality of human action that, to Aquinas, makes the existence of poor in a society intolerable. Laws must be made in regard the common good in Aquinas’ just society, which reflects that of which we observe outside of society, since Aquinas was reconciling Aristotle’s empiricism with theology: “nature inflicts a loss on the part in order to save the whole,” Aquinas states. Nature does not act against God’s willing of its' purpose. It finds itself equilibrium, if even at the cost of one of God’s creations. This might be taken as a shortcoming of God or a limit to His perfect goodness; Aquinas might have reminded only God can see the true entire consequence of action and is in fact benevolent. In the Reply to Objection, Aquinas says that any human law that goes beyond the scope of the Commandments should not be obeyed.

Society must reflect the laws of nature, since the men with the greatest reason are philosophers (who reflect on what they see), they must create positive law (the laws of the political bodies.) If while studying the laws of nature, philosophers are witnessing the workings of God, uninterrupted by human will and society, society must reflect the nature of natural laws, and anything outside of that is unjust. Nature equitably shares itself. When in a state of nature, no things are possessions of the few, all exists for all of nature to share and benefit from. Society must reflect nature. Therefore, society must find an outlet to distribute wealth and burden those who have more than others, or else that society is unjust.

The Gospel of Luke would not tolerate poor people in a society where wealthy people were, either. It is told in Chapter 19 that Jesus was wandering through Jericho, when he comes across Zacchaeous, the tax collector. When Jesus approached, the greedy rich tax collector realized the wrongness of his ways, and gave away half his wealth and gave back anything he once stole from the people of Jericho. Jesus then told Zacchaeous that he was saved because of this deed. This story is indicating that if you are rich, you must give away your wealth to those that have less than you, and if you do not do so, you are not getting into heaven. A just society must have avenues for you to redistribute your wealth, and if it does not, it less not just. A just society, to Luke, would not tolerate the existence of poor people, it would redistribute it cumulative wealth to its entire people. While reading this inference, I am reminded of the communist utopia; a society which promotes common ownership of all resources to all members, which would not have inequalities in wealth and thus would not promote greed, coveting, or stealing. You could live by the virtues of the Bible easily in a communist utopia; free from ownerships of possessions (material, marriages or family constructs), free to devote your time to the common good and living an ethical life.

Both Luke and Aquinas are opposed to human laws which go against the divine good. Although those that are poor have less material possessions to be attached to (and thus may have the opportunity to be closer to God), the laws and the construct of an unjust society would keep the poor impoverished and without the capabilities to be close to God. That may be because the laws of an unjust society prohibit Xianity or do not adequately provide for the religious providers of that community. The laws might allow for some to be incredibly wealthy while others work and receive not enough. This is explicitly laid out by Aquinas when he said “burdens are laid on subjects according to the common good.” According to Aquinas’ tradition, a just political society would not tolerate inequalities of wealth if poor people exist within that society. The wealthy have an obligation to the poor: to be taxed to take care of the inequality of wealth.

(Holy Bible, Luke, Chapter 9, paragraph 3 and this text from Thomas Aquinas)
current tonal amusement: Ben Prestage

Friday, September 9, 2011

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

paper bird

i am headed to denver to catch a show or two of my favorite denver based band, Paper Bird. i am thoroughly excited to give them the fan art i made for them. i have never done a fan art piece before, so this is special. i listened to my favorite album by Paper Bird, anything nameless and joymaking and churned this shadow box project out.





happy beginnings for my favorite season! 

Thursday, September 1, 2011

september

i find myself utterly delighted amidst the changing leaves and rainy days
my bed seems softer
the blankets more inviting
this necessary change is desired and fulfilled as i pull on my sweater and zip up my jeans
morning dew blankets the world as i walk the dog; it reminds me to be thankful things simply are
i let music hold my hand and offer me a sweet embrace
still my heart longs for something more
i'm getting lost in the fog
the haze of entanglement
my muse is the season