Living the Middle Life: July 2007

Higher Things, For You, Post #1

I just got back from my week of Lutheran awesomeness. The conference was really cool. Lots of cute Lutheran chicks. Me and some other guy I was sitting next to (I didn't catch his name.) during the ball game agreed with Pr. Preus, Lutheran chicks are the cutest. (We got on the subject because we were discussing how the national youth gathering may have more chicks, but the HT one got the more doctorally sound ones.)

On Wednesday I picked up one "girlfriend", and on Thursday I picked up two more.

I didn't pick up any on Friday. ...but after the Divine Service when I was leaving the chapel, I bumped into the Swedes. Pr. Olaf was talking with Pr. Cwirla. I managed to get in a quick picture of myself with Pr. Olaf. I then started taking pictures of all the Swedes who were waiting for their Pastor. (I took a lot of pictures of people I didn't know.) There was this one girl didn't want her picture taken. (Shame, because she was kinda cute.) But I made a deal with her. If I wasn't allowed to take her picture I had to get a hug. Which she agreed to with an expression of bewilderment and amusement.

And then I got hugs from a couple more of the Swedish girls. and I gave a manly gangsta hug to one of the guys.

What? You say the conference wasn't all about girls? Thats... crazy... What was it about then? :-P

I'll post an actually serious post about the conference later. But first I'm going to have finish Harry Potter, catch up on over a week of interent, post the 120+ pictures I took up onto facebook, and probably a few other things I've not thought of yet.

Being sociable with used car salesmen

So I'm going up to Janesville to drop off the van at the auto shop. Something with the gas tank not opening up when you try to refuel it. My mom and brother were supposed to meet me there with the sedan so I'd have a ride home.

Now, as I swung by Mike's house to drop off his sketchbook, I expected to get to the auto shop at least ten minutes after they did. Yet as I pull up, they were nowhere to be seen.

I thought that they must have parked over by the dealership office on the other side of the parking lot. What because it has air conditioning and all. So I decide to check it out, just in case.

Now, there's a bunch of fellows hanging about the entrance of the office. I think to myself, "I don't have to talk to them, I'll just be able to take a quick look through those massive windows they have in place of walls. I'll be able to see if they're inside."

At this thought I slapped myself. That's no way to act! Talking to people isn't going to kill me. But it would look strange if I walked by just looking, then left again. So I decide to walk straight up and take a look about. Even make an inquiry if the atmosphere is light enough.

It did indeed turn out to be plenty light and friendly. One of the salesmen walked up to me and asked if I needed help with anything. I thanked him for his offer, and told him I was only looking for my mom. He said he hadn't seen them, but if they showed up, he's point them my way. I thanked him again and took my leave.

I suppose it's pretty sad to be this proud of being so assertive and sociable. But it's cool. That good feeling of being proud of myself will help me be friendlier in the future. ^_^

The Paris Salon

So I'm reading these books called "Getting to know the world's greatest artists" by Mike Venezia. It's a series children's biographies on the great artists.

I'm just finishing up the Impressionists.

Each biography of an Impressionist tells about how the absurdly elitist Paris Salon art show wouldn't take their paintings. They wouldn't take them because the painting were thought to be done "wrong". It was all blotchy, less pictures of objects and more impressions of objects. Silly art show, don't they know any better.

But one thing I just noticed now was the reasons he gave for why certain artists are good, despite what the Salon might think. And his reasons are almost always "He used bright colors." Also, any artist he DOESN'T say this about, he ALWAYS finds some complement about the color they used.

When you think about this, this is really the same as the Salon. He has his own views as to what is right, and what is wrong, art. Yet even though he is the same, he must refute the elitism of the Salon, because that's the historical dogma of today.

It's a nifty example of a thought I've had for some time. That is that society doesn't betters itself over time. It never breaks free from tradition and other so called "hindrances to free thought". These only change form.

Ethan posted another example of this on his blog some time back. It was mostly based off of Professor Peter Saccio lecture series... something or other.

http://stormman.blogspot.com/2007/02/dating.html

This all, in turn, places a huge impact on the argument we sometimes hear that goes something like, "Well, they were just brainwashed back then."

"Brainwashed" meaning being heavily influenced by whatever it is that influenced people at that period in history.

We look at them and see their hopeless, brainwashed state, and we feel proud of ourselves that we're out of that philosophically dark era, and into the light of the presence. But we don't see that we are just as foolish and influenced as they were.

Nothing ever changes. They were all brainwashed then, and we're all brainwashed now. I know I'm brainwashed, and I'm proud of it. :-D

New Bedroom

I got me a new room.

The reasons why I switched rooms with my sister are long and mostly nullified now. So it seems like it ought to be futile. But I did get a bigger room, with more windows, out of it. It also got me motivated to throw a bunch of junk out. (I did ended up keeping at least half of my useless junk, yet, at least that means that I threw out half :-D )

I wanna get a giant white board to hang on my wall. That would rock.

But I'm not allowed to put stuff up on my wall for at least another three weeks. Apparently new paint and wacky-tac don't mix.

I took four pictures while I was in the middle of putting things away.

The world's smallest political quiz

I found this through the Rachels on Facebook. It's the worlds smallest political quiz.

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

It's very short, and very easy to tell what answer you will get before you tell it to "score it". But it's really cool, and really good.

My score was 80% personal and 100% economic. What'd y'all get?

Star Wars vids

A bunch of videos I found, some that were directed to me. All pertaining to Star Wars. Some are absolutely brilliant, some are just okay. I put the time of the videos under them. Chad Vader is an entire series, there are eight episodes out now.

Darth Vader being a jerk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJK1MSwXGnk