Eclectic Amateur

Doug has reminded me that the proper term is "People's Republic of Ann Arbor".

Hi Anne. No, I hadn't seen Midwest Conservative Journal yet. I'll have to keep an eye on this. While I'm certainly a Midwesterner, I'm pretty sure I'm not a conservative. At least politically. (I used to think I was a liberal. I've decided that's not true, I'm actually a Distributist.)

On the other hand, as far as being an Episcopalian goes, I seem to be something of a theological ultra-conservative these days. All I lack to be a true reactionary is attachment to the 1928 BCP.

Spent most of the day gardening today. Bliss!

And the angelfish that hatched yesterday are still doing fine. They aren't much to look at right now, just little white yolk blobs with a madly beating tail, but we've got hope for them. This is the first batch in several spawnings that have made it this far, so it's very encouraging.

I've been completely successful in not thinking about work all day. Other than to think "this is so much better than being in the office."

I neeed more days like this.

A Ballade Of An Anti-puritan

They spoke of Progress spiring round,
Of light and Mrs Humphrey Ward--
It is not true to say I frowned,
Or ran about the room and roared;
I might have simply sat and snored--
I rose politely in the club
And said, `I feel a little bored;
Will someone take me to a pub?'

The new world's wisest did surround
Me; and it pains me to record
I did not think their views profound,
Or their conclusions well assured;
The simple life I can't afford,
Besides, I do not like the grub--
I want a mash and sausage, `scored'--
Will someone take me to a pub?

I know where Men can still be found,
Anger and clamorous accord,
And virtues growing from the ground,
And fellowship of beer and board,
And song, that is a sturdy cord,
And hope, that is a hardy shrub,
And goodness, that is God's last word--
Will someone take me to a pub?

Envoi
Prince, Bayard would have smashed his sword
To see the sort of knights you dub--
Is that the last of them--O Lord
Will someone take me to a pub?

This is one reason why I love G. K. Chesterton.

Labels: ChesterBelloc

Yes Roy, I still live outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan ("the Berkely of the Midwest"). And I know my place well enought to not (usually) get lost driving around, even through the downtown maze of one-way streets.

"Remember: Wherever you go, there you are."
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai

Are parents boycotting public schools?, asks Wendy McElroy. We sure are. So are many of my coworkers and neighbors. My highly unscientific and ancecdotal take is that many is becoming most, at least in my circles.

Labels: homeschooling

Thanks to Mark Shea for the link and for pointing me to Anne Wilson's blog.

Greg Popcak includes an interesting interpretation of Old Testament history:

If the Old Testament shows anything, it shows that God really hates whiners.

Wow. Orson Scott Card sure looks prophetic:

[I]n Afghanistan, there were many who remembered how America helped them win their independence from the Soviet Union's attempt to rule them. But they saw that America was willing to violate their sovereignty and bomb their land ... for Monica's dress.

Mr. Bill made a hero out of Osama bin Laden. Monica's dress was the best thing that ever happened to him. Mr. Bill's most terrible legacy may be this: He has raised out of obscurity the charismatic leader who may be able to do what no other has been able to accomplish: unite Islam in holy war against us. When Muslims look at bin Laden, the man who can blow up American ships and laugh at American missiles, and at Bill Clinton, the man who kills foreigners and breaks oaths and plays sex games in the White House ... no wonder so many of them believe that God is on their side.

... And when your enemies and your friends have contempt for you, the world is an infinitely more dangerous place. They now will dare what they would never have dared before, because they have seen how soft and selfish and scared we are...

This was written almost a year before 9/11.

Place in this World

Looking for a reason
Roaming through the night to find
My place in this world
My place in this world
Not a lot to lean on
I need Your light to help me find
My place in this world
My place in this world

-- Michael W. Smith, "Place in this World"

Why is this weblog "My Place in this World"? Because I couldn't think of a better title. Because I'm thirty-(mumble) years old and I still don't know what my place in this world is.

Sheesh. Enough angst to choke a teenager up there in the previous paragraph. Clearly, I need to get some more sleep.

I suppose since Mark and Doug and Roy have blogs, I might as well join in. Can't let them have all the fun and glory.