Thursday, May 31, 2007
Simeon Joseph Plew
Born at home in La Habra on 05/30/2007 at 5:19pm
8lbs. 8oz. 21inches
Mom and baby boy are doing great!
Details to follow on the Bluecanopy.
(15) comments
Born at home in La Habra on 05/30/2007 at 5:19pm
8lbs. 8oz. 21inches
Mom and baby boy are doing great!
Details to follow on the Bluecanopy.
(15) comments
Thursday, May 24, 2007
All Too Close to Home
With the very imminent (ahem) arrival of our third child I found Molly's article on Get Religion to be rather close to home. The article focuses on a practice known as Selective Reduction, a means of aborting unwanted fetuses when a mother is carrying more children than she would like to give birth to. For anyone who has seen/had and ultrasound, the descriptions of the "reduction" will be moving. My writing is crap, just read the article:
We call it ‘selective reduction’
As an afterthought: I was laying in bed last night waiting for my brain to finish its final laps and slow enough for sleep and I realized something. The doctor's "ethics" and those of the bioethicist he worked with can be directly traced back almost 260 years ago to Jeremy Bentham and the early voices of Utilitarianism. Now I am certain we can find roots and traces of this sad philosophy earlier on, but here we find it clearly spelled out. A rough paraphrase of Bentham's philosophy, the greatest good is that which causes the greatest amount of pleasure for the most people. It's pleasure economics, basically. In fact Bentham is known for having come up with Hedonic Calculus. Good job old chap!
(0) comments
With the very imminent (ahem) arrival of our third child I found Molly's article on Get Religion to be rather close to home. The article focuses on a practice known as Selective Reduction, a means of aborting unwanted fetuses when a mother is carrying more children than she would like to give birth to. For anyone who has seen/had and ultrasound, the descriptions of the "reduction" will be moving. My writing is crap, just read the article:
We call it ‘selective reduction’
As an afterthought: I was laying in bed last night waiting for my brain to finish its final laps and slow enough for sleep and I realized something. The doctor's "ethics" and those of the bioethicist he worked with can be directly traced back almost 260 years ago to Jeremy Bentham and the early voices of Utilitarianism. Now I am certain we can find roots and traces of this sad philosophy earlier on, but here we find it clearly spelled out. A rough paraphrase of Bentham's philosophy, the greatest good is that which causes the greatest amount of pleasure for the most people. It's pleasure economics, basically. In fact Bentham is known for having come up with Hedonic Calculus. Good job old chap!
(0) comments
Monday, May 21, 2007
Come to Daddy (a la Aphex Twin)
Come on buddy, we got a van just for you, and your brother is just dying for a reason to sit in the back row! I know you like it in there, but are you not even a little curious to see what's out here?
Someday...someday soon.
(11) comments
Come on buddy, we got a van just for you, and your brother is just dying for a reason to sit in the back row! I know you like it in there, but are you not even a little curious to see what's out here?
Someday...someday soon.
(11) comments
Friday, May 18, 2007
A Friendship
He made restless forays
into the edge of our marriage.
One Christmas Eve he came late,
his dark hair crackling with frost,
and ate his carnation buttonhole
to amuse the baby.
When I had the second child,
he came to the foot of my bed at dusk,
bringing pineapples and champagne,
whispering "Are you awake?" --
singing a snatch of opera.
The Nurse tapped him on the shoulder.
At the end, we took turns at his bedside.
I curled up in the chair; listened to each breath
postponing itself indefinitely.
He opened his eyes once, and I leaned forward:
"Is there anything you want?"
"Now she asks", he murmured.
CONNIE BENSLEY (1986)
Found Here.
Found Here.
(3) comments
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Distortion
I like to change words around in songs, in poems, generally just turning about any phrase, short or long. It is definitely an annoying past time of mine. I used to make up band names, great names for songs, etc. One song name was actually picked up by a band and used on their album for the title and chorus. Meh.
So, the other day while perusing Papa Herman's blog In the Process of Weeding Out, one of those silly turn abouts came to mind and I impulsively commented:
"thought of an alternate name for your blog should you ever require one:
(1) comments
I like to change words around in songs, in poems, generally just turning about any phrase, short or long. It is definitely an annoying past time of mine. I used to make up band names, great names for songs, etc. One song name was actually picked up by a band and used on their album for the title and chorus. Meh.
So, the other day while perusing Papa Herman's blog In the Process of Weeding Out, one of those silly turn abouts came to mind and I impulsively commented:
"thought of an alternate name for your blog should you ever require one:
In the Process of Weirding Out
…uhh, i think it’s cool."
Papa, being the gracious fellow that he is, gave me the nod and voila!
(1) comments
Friday, May 11, 2007
Grad you ate shin...
So, today is the day. The long awaited, long expected, long longed for day of commencement. I must make a few admissions though. In light of what is usually an exciting time for many, these days are also a bit glum. I thoroughly enjoy school, I want to get the catalog and find all of my classes for the fall semester, meet new profs, get to know them, and learn something new, not withstanding their own teaching ability. Folks keep asking me, "Aren't you glad to be done??" No, not really. I love the realm of ideas, I feel a bit existential at this point in my life, and this realm allows me to pick through the rubble of civilizations hoping for a fuller understanding of what exactly I'm doing here. Also, graduating means I have to figure out a direction for my life, which means I need to pick a master's program. Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward philosophy (stop gagging).
Well friends, here I stand, at the corner of "here and nowhere". Lots still to figure out. Your prayers are appreciated. Maybe I just need to go backpacking.
Coming soon...I am a Shot of Espresso.
(9) comments
So, today is the day. The long awaited, long expected, long longed for day of commencement. I must make a few admissions though. In light of what is usually an exciting time for many, these days are also a bit glum. I thoroughly enjoy school, I want to get the catalog and find all of my classes for the fall semester, meet new profs, get to know them, and learn something new, not withstanding their own teaching ability. Folks keep asking me, "Aren't you glad to be done??" No, not really. I love the realm of ideas, I feel a bit existential at this point in my life, and this realm allows me to pick through the rubble of civilizations hoping for a fuller understanding of what exactly I'm doing here. Also, graduating means I have to figure out a direction for my life, which means I need to pick a master's program. Any suggestions? I'm leaning toward philosophy (stop gagging).
Well friends, here I stand, at the corner of "here and nowhere". Lots still to figure out. Your prayers are appreciated. Maybe I just need to go backpacking.
Coming soon...I am a Shot of Espresso.
(9) comments
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Wiki Wiki
Okay, for good or for bad, I admit that I go to Wikipedia several times each day to look up information on innumerable topics including this list from the last 3 days:
Peter Singer
Modus Ponens (I'm very forgetful)
Modus Tollens
ADD
VVT-i
Cromwell
Kaffir
Kaffir Lime
Honda Oddyssey
The Great Ejection
Git (sad, I know)
Blood Orange
The Water Boys
Mike Scott
Jeremy Bentham
John Stewart Mill
Minyan
Quorum
Sacrum
For the majority of these searches I was interested in the history, context, background, and back-story behind these men, trees, mental disorders, mini-vans, Yiddish terms, and anatomical features. That's the draw for me, to know just a little bit more.
Today, I came across this short article from Pew that really floored me.
So, I'm curious, any Wikipedia scoffers reading out there? Speak up, I'm interested in what critiques are being volleyed back and forth.
(7) comments
Okay, for good or for bad, I admit that I go to Wikipedia several times each day to look up information on innumerable topics including this list from the last 3 days:
Peter Singer
Modus Ponens (I'm very forgetful)
Modus Tollens
ADD
VVT-i
Cromwell
Kaffir
Kaffir Lime
Honda Oddyssey
The Great Ejection
Git (sad, I know)
Blood Orange
The Water Boys
Mike Scott
Jeremy Bentham
John Stewart Mill
Minyan
Quorum
Sacrum
For the majority of these searches I was interested in the history, context, background, and back-story behind these men, trees, mental disorders, mini-vans, Yiddish terms, and anatomical features. That's the draw for me, to know just a little bit more.
Today, I came across this short article from Pew that really floored me.
So, I'm curious, any Wikipedia scoffers reading out there? Speak up, I'm interested in what critiques are being volleyed back and forth.
(7) comments
