Minor Confession: The Ethics of Eavesdropping

I'm having a bit of an ethical dilemma at the moment. It's not much, a trifle really, but I don't feel guilty about something (VERY NOT NORMAL FOR ME) that seems to be sketchy ethically and I'm confused by that. What I'm talking about is eavesdropping. I'm starting to pick up the habit! (GASP!) Well, not exactly. While I've always assumed that eavesdropping is wrong, I'm wondering how far that application goes? I mean do I really need to hum to myself to not overhear a personal conversation going on between strangers in line with me? It hardly seems practical or worth the effort, especially when I'll never see those people again. So when you are trying to do it with people you know, it's no good, but when it's unintentional, then hopefully it's okay.

Now that I've said that can we talk about how fun eavesdropping can be? I am attending college at the moment and am very often amused and bemused by the people and the atmosphere here. I wouldn't call it a battle of the sexes exactly, that image is too violent, but the atmosphere is definitely charged, tense, which leaves a lot of room for humor.

Eavesdropping on a Woman Scolding 1655, a painting by Nicolaes Maes.

So I was walking from one class to another today and randomly landed myself slightly behind two guys absorbed in conversation. Without really meaning to, I got an earful of their conversation. The drift was this; the one had a date and was talking over his various options with his friend. His approach struck me as an interesting medium between a cool, pragmatic, almost mathematical approach and a militaristic strategy. Linguistically, anyway.

I just found this great quote that captures the idea I'm trying to think about. "Love and War are the same thing, and stratagems and polity are as allowable in the one as in the other." - Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616), Don Quixote (1605 -1615)' Hmmmm....... 

Well, my favorite snip-it of the conversation was the fact that he wanted to take her to a show so he wouldn't have to think of as many questions to ask her. Ha ha ha ha. Come on, that's funny!

Have you ever overheard something that made you want to laugh, cry or jump in and add your two cents?

Political Commercial, how they did things in the good ole days

This is a political commercial that came out during the cold war.You can find more from a bunch of different years at   www.livingroomcandidate.org. That's one way to make history more interesting!

An invention I wish someone would come up with

Thinking about what I would want by the way of a present for my birthday this year, I realized I wanted a  camera. I have one, I know, but I bought it in high school, and with every year those days seem more distant, slowly becoming part of not just a different world but one in a parallel universe.

Why that? What about a camera is so fascinating? It's not so much the actual object and it's actual function as an artistic tool that capture my imagination and envy at the moment, it's the idea of a camera, this idea that you can actually capture and hold on to a moment or an experience or a feeling. It's like the scene in the X-Men movie where the Professor stopped time, called a time out, and then used that time to evaluate the situation and what was really going on. We wrestle with time but time always wins. We can use it wisely but it's rules are ever in place, we never get more or less and no matter the bribes, it continues on, not ignoring our entreaties but never acquiescing to our requests, willing to listen while all the while continuing to tick along with every clock on the planet.

This really hasn't ended up where I wanted to go. I just wanted to tell you and all the extremely intelligent people out there of an invention that I would really like someone to work on, or tell me if it exists (I'm 96.5% sure it doesn't). It appeals to this idea in an even more intense way, so I think it would be a profitable enterprise as well. And now for the grand idea (oh no the hype was too much!) an optical tracking camera.

I have no idea how that would work, but the basic idea is a camera that tracks your eye movement and focus and then at your signal takes a picture of whatever it is you are looking at. The minimal size possible is obviously preferable. They could be disguised as sunglasses or horn-rimers, or a head set. Again, all this is very vague I know, but that's how all ideas form. Hands-free or almost hands-free would be a big plus as well. Imagine actually being able to CAPTURE snapshots from your life, as you walk, talk, move laugh, unbeknownst to everyone around you and without having to dig your camera out of your bag, wait for it to turn on and then sigh as you realize that time has already flitted what you were intrigued by away. Maybe it is just me, but I mourn for those lost moments, those glances and snippets that fade, no matter the intensity of your desire to gather them together for further investigation. So somebody do me a favor. Make me a camera, a recordable window to the world. Modern technology is pretty amazing, but stopping time, that's magic. So there is it, an open invitation to all.Try it, I dare you!

Portlanders: How Brian Doyle has done us proud

Initial reaction:

I LOVE college. I would never find all of the fascinating things my professors connect us students to on my own. That's the reason I'm here. Most recent find: Brian Doyle. I added his photo to my account on a site called Pinterest with the caption "Imagery on steroids". Talk about pictures and talk about stories. On ers.byu.edu you can watch a lecture that he gives at Brigham Young University. It is to a LDS (mormon) audience, so it is a bit catered toward that crowd but I believe it is an awesome presentation, reading, conversation, conglomeration of insights and laughter. And what fantastic insights they were!

As Mr. Doyle (I know he would hate me referring to him like that, sorry, I'm tainted by academia!) himself tells us, he has quite a reputation for crying and making others cry. I, personally didn't cry while he was speaking, sniffle sniffle, but that's really only because I was watching it in the library. I did laugh out loud however, and try to cover that with a cough, not weirding out anyone to an exorbitant degree. I loved the lecture. There were so many good ideas that it is going to take me some time to work through them all. I always have to let things sit and simmer and settle into all their far corners and implications until I really feel comfortable writing about them, which has begun to cure me of the terrible sin of procrastination. I'd say I'm at least on the road to recovery, but most addicts would say the same.

Would you like to know my only complaint? Here it is. He doesn't have a blog. Why doesn't he have a blog? Come on! I may be spoiled with such easy access to genius and innovation as one of the Web 2.0 generation but please, just give the people what they want! Supply and demand, there is a rule about that somewhere (smiley emoticon). If anyone happens to have his email, let me know so I can let him know! Thanks and check out that link, it's a fun ride that I highly recommend!

ers.byu.edu

ENJOY!!!

Not just a link

That's right, this is not just a link, it's a link to a SENSATIONAL article about new media and how the world is changing. Geared especially towards college students, it's a great piece for anyone. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

http://www.academicevolution.com/2009/01/dear-students.html

LOVE IT!!!!!!

So much for once a week

Well, I haven't been doing too well on my goal of writing every week, seeing that I haven't posted anything in almost a month. So here is an update. Since I finished Mockingjay I also read the Hunchback of Notre Dame (LOVED IT), went on a week vacation to Mt. Shasta, California and a good friend's wedding and reception. It might not sound like much if you don't keep in mind that all the while I've been working like some kind of animal trying to save up money for school. I figured that I could take each of these subjects in tern and give yall a brief summary.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame was FANTASTIC. I absolutely adored it. The picture painted by Hugo of fifteenth century Paris was all encompassing, yet detailed enough to set you down on the street, watching the story unfold. I was stunned by the depth and reality of the characters. It's place in the classics is indisputable.
My favorite thing about the book was the extremes Hugo managed to exhibit. Beautiful, angelic, other-worldly grace and perfection as well as supernatural brute strength and agility and then the most famous, that monstrous ugliness that repels even the most charitable and open minded. Least known and remembered, but for me the most interesting psychologically was the ghost priest, Claude Frollo the archdeacon of Notre Dame. His character portrayed the extreme in intelligence and intellectual pursuit. The pursuit that reached the height of the collective learning of his age and then pressed onward to the forbidden, for lack of subject matter and satisfaction. All three of these characters meet an unhappy end, shedding an interesting commentary on humanity's reaction to any extreme.
Extremes, those that don't fit the mold, either by conscious choice or nature's whim, seem to evoke the most negative of responses. I've always been fascinated by this. How people react to the different, the unusual and the unexplained. This was SUCH a good read!!!! I highly highly highly recommend it. Worth the investment and the patience it takes to make through Victor Hugo's numerous tangents, essays on art, architecture and poetry hidden inside his novel. They are super interesting and insightful but it can derail the story for you if you are not careful. I guess this short summary is not quite as short as I had planned but it was such an excellent work and this is my blog so I'll do what I want!
Lake Shasta in northern California is a six hour drive from our home in Portland. We used to go every year but as kids grew up and moved out, Shasta was put on a back burner. It wasn't until this year that we finally decided to make a comeback and get our sunburn on. As kids we would get fried from being in the water from sun-up to sundown. What good can sunscreen do against a lake, the biggest most intense magnifying glass there is?
The area is gorgeous, it's California, so it brings the heat with a vengeance, but it's so close to Oregon that a beautiful green coats everything except the red rocky shores and the jagged stony cliffs. We decided to camp on one of the little islands for the week. Reason number one it's free and number two, you wake up, get on your suit and off you go. It was so much fun!
There are four layers that make up Lake Shasta, the water is the bottom, a intense blue-green, opaque any farther down then five feet. It rivals Mediterranean coasts with the sun on full shine, bringing out all those brilliant colors. The next layer up is the shore. I wouldn't call it a beach because it's not sand, but a reddish beige ring of clay, mud and small crumbling rocks. It makes a flawlessly even ring around the lake and each of the islands, identical in height and color, with only the occasional rock formations to differentiate the landscape. Next up is the trees, that deep Oregon hunter's green that you feel like you could just fall right into. Rich and full firs, pines and cedars with foliage filling in the wholes for a thick blanket of green. Then of course is the incomparable sky, cloudless and luminous. It stretches on forever in every direction, but it's very best, we were all a little surprised to find out, is at night. I have never seen so many stars. The big dipper was about as visible as a really big dipper hanging in the sky would have been, along with Cassiopeia and Hercules and Pegasus. Thank heavens for the Google sky app! Instead of the usual neck craning marathon of straining to see some stars, trying to make the lights you can decipher into the constellations you can barely remember from star charts, it was more like connecting the dots in a children's book. There were shooting stars of all kinds, crashing into the atmosphere with a intense boom of light and then vanishing or streaking all the way across the sky before fading from view.

Waterskiing near Deer Island, Shasta Lake

We went in to town every night for dinner and supplies and then would drive our boat back to our island in the dark. The cool breeze blowing and hint of heat left by the day made it almost like a dream, a hazy in-between time to muse and let thoughts weave whither soever they wish. That might be the highlight of the trip for me. Well, that or the thrill of wakeboarding. It does not in any way trump the absolute blessedness of carving fresh powder on the mountain but digging in deep and swinging way out to the edge, almost coming even and riding alongside the boat, well, that's a good feeling too. There is something about the wind rushing past me that is just intoxicating. I'll try to get my fix doing the least dangerous and least expensive activities, but you know junkies! Hahaha.

My favorite wedding shot

What was next on the list? Oh yes, my good friend's wedding and reception. There is something about a temple wedding that just makes you want to cheer. You can hardly keep it in. At least that's how this particular wedding was for me. Somebody found somebody else that they love and they made it to the temple where they can have to promise of an beautiful eternity together, never being separated, not even by death. I just feel like jumping up and down and shouting "You made it!"
Obviously, the marriage ceremony is only the beginning but what a fantastic way to start. There are so many ceremonial things people do these days to add weight to the ceremony, like the music and the flowers, the frills and lace so to speak but I've always like the simpler styles. Keep it simple, keep it real. I guess it just needs to be balanced, like everything in life. We live to find the perfect center of the paradoxes that pull us apart.
Well, I wish every happiness for my friends and want to remember one thing she did at her reception which I'd like to do at mine. After the father's dance with the bride and the mother's with the groom, they played a couple songs and anyone in attendance could dance with the bride or groom, but it cost you. You slip them some well-wishing cash in exchange for a few moments on their wedding day. Maybe it's a capitalistic thing to do but extra cash never hurt any young couple I ever heard of! Well, it's been an interesting last month and the next few weeks are sure to be good, seeing as I'll be heading out to school soon and I've got a half marathon to finally start training for. Aiyiyiyiyi!!!
That's it for this week. God be with you til I write again!!!!

Mockingjay Review

Wandering through the aisles of Target the other night I couldn't help picking up a bright blue copy of Suzanne Collins' ending to the Hunger Games series. I had heard mixed reviews from family and friends but decided, in light of the fact that I enjoyed the first two so thoroughly that I would give the third one a chance, especially since the weather has brought about a lull in my work schedule and I keep being surprised to find myself with extra time on my hands.
So, using my incredible powers of self-restraint, I kept myself from jumping in until I reached just inside our front door and from then on I was a step above useless until I had it finished the next day. That is fairly normal for me, so I would advise you not to read too much into that. Action-wise it is every bit as scintillating as the first two, but on an even larger scale as the action moves outside of the arena and into the streets. For those who have never heard of this new innovative new series, I first really became a fan after reading about the writer, at the back of first novel. The novels give an unprecedented look at the psychological and emotional trauma children experience when exposed to violence and manipulation, poverty and brutality. Looking at the novels with this in mind, I can't help but be chilled by the fact that these feelings and experiences very likely parallel those of many children living in war zones or unstable countries.
My personal opinion? This last thread in the beautiful web woven by Collins is a masterstroke. Well written, full of twists, turns and action, although skimping a bit on the romance if you ask me, it's a well crafted, satisfying end to a bewitching tale. The most powerful reason I can fall so fully in love with this book and the series as a whole is the morals. I just love how well Collins puts moral issues on the table and leaves the reader thinking, what would I do, pushed to this extreme? The ugliness of war is shown in full force but also the power of standing up for humanity and sticking it out when things seem unbearably dark. The themes are poignant. I may have cried. In the end, I would say it's worth the read and a lingering impatient anticipation of what else Suzanne Collins might be saving up her sleeve for her next adventure, which I can't wait to share. And for the MOVIE!!!!

Beginnings

Every week as a missionary I wrote an update, a letter, a story, an adventure, a thought or conundrum. The thing is, I wrote something. And I miss it. Real writers are made by writing. Consistent reading and writing is the only sure way to develop that capacity and I have a feeling it is a skill that'll come in handy sometime. Especially now as my family and friends wed and spread (across the country that is) I'd like a way to keep in touch and maybe touch some of them with the idea of doing the same. So here is the prologue to all the irregular entries to follow. I'll try to get something down at least once a week. That way it can be some sort of random sampling of my life. The probability of it giving us some sort of interesting or valuable information goes way up with the number of posts. Happy reading and buon giorno!!!

Practice makes me!

So here is the situation. I miss writing. I want to do it more. So here it goes!