What is Up.

So yeah, I haven't posted in a while. A lot has happened.

1) Changed residency. I now live with GQmag and James on Beat Poet's Rd. I don't have the internet set up there yet. It's on Alex's To Do List.

2) I've realised how busy I ought to be right now. Crossroads, people, looking for jobs, doing Masters, admin, watching boxed sets. I anticipate the busy-ness so much that I'm going to have to go part time study. Thankfully I have a white board, which is a good way to get organised. It does not, however, replace motivation which is a key component in being an organised person.

3) Realised how many things I'm addicted to including sugar. Today is a refined sugar free day. There have been many temptations, including Jeremy's caramel slice and Ann-Petra's post FOCUS cherry slice. Another addiction is "bad boys" (which is a related addiction to sugar), which is so embaressing and lame, I know. I even feel lame writing about it. Although, I think it is a fallacy to think that exciting & interesting guy = bad guy.

4) Emily lent me Boundaries Before Marriage, which I wish I'd read earlier. Has made me realise how much I need to change (or rather what God will change) before I can contemplate another relationship. I'm hoping I can internalise it all so that it revolutionises my way of thinking about relationships.

5) Have you ever read Elements of Style? I think blogs would fail the high standards put forward by White, not least because the style is totally self-centred, a big no-no. But on the other hand, it's not like this is a great literary effort I'm expecting people to read and appreciate and *pay for*.

No, I said that.

You know how on Arrested Develoment (in Season 3) George Bluth has a Surrogate? A guy who has a camera strapped to his forehead and an ear piece, who speaks the words of George Bluth so that George Bluth can be present in absence. Anyway, it would be classic to have a Surrogate Party. Everyone stands around like robots and utters the words of their chosen hypothetical disembodied employer (their employer being the celebtrity, mother, president etc who hired them).

Okay, it would be a pretty wierd party and I'm probably not explaining it very well, but the concept would be pretty hilarious. Or maybe it's just hilarious because its something I saw on Arrested Development.

Ahem.

In other news, I'm moving to West Hobart tomorrow. A couple of guys from church needed a housemate and I needed a house.

And I got the course work in the mail for that highly sexy Masters in Government Sponsored Educational Party Planning I'm doing. I haven't looked at it yet.

Pablic Anouncment

I tried to give blood today, but they wouldn't take it...

Because I have HIV.

Joke!

My heamo-goblins were too low, I was too dehydrated and my viens are too puny. I got a free milkshake though, and some biscuits.

It seems this blogs serves as a PA, whereby the lurkers tell all their friends and delurk by relaying information to me. Because of this, I'm just letting you know a personal fact about my life... that I'm pregnant.

And I'm gay.

Joke!(applies to both of the above identity statements)

That tactic always makes other news easier to swallow (Shaun, that's not an inuendo... although... I think I just made it one). That being Seth (as in Texas Seth ) and I are just at "just friends" status. I think things are better this way and I feel happy about the decision.

All American Frat House Homecoming Block Party

“And now we've made Jesus Anglo-Saxon, we an be anti-semitic again!”

“Yay! Filthy Jews!”

Shaun

Superheroes who pray together...stay together.”

Dan

W.W.J.D.

“What would JeffProbst do?”

Candy and Brad (see below)

W.W.J.D.

“What Would Juju do?”

Anon

“Meet Capitalist Jesus. It's no longer grace without works, but instead a very competitive interest rate.”

Shaun

As Jack was introduced to his new boss he thought, “Great, another CEO with a messiah complex.”

Shyborg

“I have come to tell you the good news,” said the first Mormon.
“What is that?” said Jesus.
“You are no the only god,” said the second Mormon.

Sherrin

“Jesus, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Jake.”

Japh

“This is Youssef from the Toga Company – he likes dudes.”

Anon

“Jake, meet your new boss, our Lord Jesus Christ, through him and for him all things are made. Expect an increase in profits this year.”

Shyborg

Jesus (to Businessman 1): “Go, and sin no more.”

Businessman 1 (to Businessman 2): “He knows about the money laundering??”

Shyborg

“This is our new consultant, Jesus. He's got some great ideas to increase efficiency in our winery division.”

Shaun

This is my benefactor Jesus. He's great, I take out all these loans from him and I never have to repay them! Yay grace!

Shaun

“What do you mean you don't wash your hands here?”

Anon

“Drop the zero – and get with the hero.”

Anon


Here is "Brad and Candy" at the All American Party



Obesity epidemic



The Klan was there to make sure there was no racial mixing.



He aproved of the cake, black brownie underneath, white icing on top. "Cos white always is on top!"



K-Fed was there to promote his latest single. That is, to promote the latest: that he is single. (Both of which is bad news.)



Hence the pimp'n. Watch out Brittney. Good you weren't there.



There's photographic evidence that he got more action later. Can't show the photo here though. Let's just say that there's more than one way to get ahead in life. (The picture was accidental... we didn't mean to get sprung)

We also had a tourist and an All American Boy. Joel has a cushion under his shirt.



There's more photos. I'll post them later.

Edit: Word to the Emily Gough School of Costuming. Every costume party she without fail will pull of a costume that is just perfect for the theme, and not only her costume but she'll well costume those in her proximity. She has a great eye for detail and I think this maketh the costume. She also stays in character. She's a brilliant actress.

Mwha ha ha!

I'm going to kill you all with my foooood!

Mwha ha ha ha!

I've just had a small taste of the glee hackers get when they circumvent the law. See this image below? You can only get it in two places, off the internet at about 200 pixels across OR full size (aprox. 70x50 cm) from Mardel's Christian Bookshopp in US and A's Bible Belt for about $200. It's copyright, so you can't right click the fullsize image. So I took a screen shot. Worried that I'm making this public? They can sue me if they want to. That would be a really Christian thing to do, now wouldn't it?



It's now sitting on the desktop at about 500 pixels across, and I just printed one out for the caption contest I'm having at the All American party tomorrow night. As for the image, doesn't it just defy expression or comment? Which means the caption contest could prove difficult, but I'm excited with what people might come up with.

I love creating novel party themes. I should be a party planner but its probably a hard industry to crack and my ideas are too left field. Like a "Tie Die is Back In" Party and a "Monsters Come Out of the Closet" Party. I'd also love to throw one where everyone has to dress like Elton John.

I think that's why I'm doing Museum Studies. It's a respectable way to plan educational, serious, government funded "parties"...

o_O

...I think I'm just rationalizing doing something so unsexy as Masters in Museum Studies. I used to enjoy telling people I did philosophy. I said it with so much pride. Now I'm embaressed and usually have to prefix it with "this sounds really nerdy, but..." It's just about the most unsexy thing to study. People are usually suprised or bored or boredly suprised when I tell them what it is I do. Actually "tell" is not the right word, since I avoid telling people. It's more a "don't ask, don't tell policy", but people always freaking ask. Surely there are more exciting things we can talk about, people?

Nagel is dead.

The bat called Nagel who lives in my room may have died. I smell something dead. Or maybe that's just good writing, intelligence and culture. Nagel has died a few times but always reincarnates, which leads me to suspect that there is a bat colony in the roof.

Here is the invite for tomorrow night.

Personhood

I've been thinking about the age old problem of personhood. An intuitive place to start is that which we do not share with animals. That is, characteristics that are not just sophisticated extensions of animal traits, like intelligence, creativity and humour. Possibly language as a phenomena falls into this catagory, since its animal counterpart is communication in the form of sqwarks and growls. Jeremy and I were discussing this topic, and he thinks there's an awful lot we share with animals, much more than we think. I think I agree, that the apex of humaness is really the only defining quality of personhood.

I think this takes us to consciousness (do animals have this? Who knows? Is there any way to find out that does not beg the question?) and more narrowly to a kind of agency or the Greek concept of nous (Aristotle's definition, sans the passive part). This is something we can only observe internally, and so our guess that animals don't have nous is as good as our guess that other humans have nous. For the moment, let's just assume that this is a good guess.

Nous must be more narrowly defined then mind. This is because there's a lot in our minds that we seem to have no control over; images induced by suggestion, the inability to redesign the house in a daydream and certain habits of thinking that we fall into that psychiatrists try to cure us of. I've just described the view of our mind from the inside, as if it is stuff just like our bodies are stuff. Yet nous is distinct from our minds when we describe it naturalistically, as I've just done. Nous is "control central" that is the apex of personhood, but is only best described by negation. It is the ultimate non-natural, it exists over and above the natural, it gives meaning.

On the other hand, why must personhood be limited to pure agency and spontenaity (in Kant's sense)? Why can't we have a nebulous defintion of personhood? Indeed, on such a narrow defintion, large parts of humanity seem to be excluded from personhood. The mentally handicapped, unborn babies, and possible all humans up to the age where one starts to control even their own thoughts, and this can happen quite late; up to the age of 21 and beyond!

But then again, perhaps nous is helpful to catagorically define personhood. Perhaps its true that the types of humans excluded from personhood do not manifest what we think nous should manifest. But this probably misses the point. The whole idea of nous is that its not a natural phenomena to be observed in humans. It is a ruling aspect of the world. So, we can include all humans as persons because, catagorically, the only place (apart from God) where nous is to be found is in humans. Of course, I don't really like the phrasing there, as "to be found" still implies a naturalness to nous.

However, a catagorical definition starts to smell circular. Perhaps we should try an entirely different tack and define personhood from the outside, arms, legs...no that doesn't work. Or simply throw it in the "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it" basket, which is getting really full, what with Time, Language and Beauty already in there.

And it's a pretty important question, and fully deserving of seemingly nit-picking discussion; we can't go around in life taking for granted ethical questions.

Untitled with Titles

Some titles for somethings:

"I Look Hot on MySpace"

And

"Gay Monster Coming Out Party"

Which would actually be a great party theme. A Coming Out party (I've always wanted to have one of those, where um, no one actually "comes out" heh heh), subtitled "the Monsters Come out of the Closet". That would be awesome. Next party (after this Friday's All American Bash at St George's - everyone is invited btw, just dress American) will be this. I make invitations now (not in the narrow sense of "now").

And something grotesque before you eat lunch:

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

People would be better off if they applied to their lives the distinction between the following concepts:

Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. If you do first year philosophy, you'll learn about these. A lot of people do first year philosophy but few people put into practise what they learn (which is probably a good thing in philosophy, since it can really mess you up. Try living a day as a Humean).

Anyway, we often confuse these two categories or ignore them altogether, such as in the arena of relationships. For example, we sometimes think that because sexual attraction is a necessary condition for a relationship, then it must be also a be a sufficient condition for a functional relationship. When we act on this and realise that sexual attraction fails to make a relationship work, we throw the baby out with the bath water and assume that it is not even necessary. In fact, it only failed the sufficient condition criteria, not the necessary condition criteria. You can see its important to remember the distinction.

Likewise, you might be deterred from giving a gift to someone you wronged because you know the recipient of the gift will not take the gift as making things right. So you don't give a gift. But maybe you ought to, because giving a gift would be a necessary step in the recconciliation process, although certainly not sufficient for recconciliation. The labelling of tokenism might be an instance of the necessary/sufficient confusion.

I think understanding this distinction allows us to consider things that it might apply to as more complex, and help us to think in a less polarized way.

Peabody Bodypea.

Right now I'm commiting a fashion faux-pas personal favourite: jeans with sneakers. But I was blackberry picking in the bush (jeans are the only fabric resistant to thorns) and the only people to see me are my parents, who are such fashionistas. So it's probably okay; if a style-guru* falls in the forrest and no one hears her, does she make a sound?

Blackberry picking is the tension between greed and briars tug, tugging on your clothing until they pull little threads out. At this time of year you can get half a bucket in a pick. Some of them are dusted in dust, though. I reccomend you wash before eating. The berries, that is. But you can wash your body if you want to. And then take some ginko. That would be reeeally relaxing. Ahhh. Sit, staring out of the window, eating fresh blackberries and listening to whatever your favourite music is at the moment.

Some drugs can be good, kids. Like Ginko. It is relaxes you a lot, and sometimes to such a state of apathy that you can't do things like shoo the sheep out of the garden. But good for subduing irrational panic.

Please don't demystify eagles for me. They fly out from their eries in mountain crags, and soar so high so that you can only guess the species.

T'was good to be back at church last night. So good to see everyone and Mikey preached a great sermon urging us to keep following Jesus.

Had fruit smoothies on the beach with Angus today and then we walked back to his house and watched more Arrested Development. I think I forgot how much fun it is to hang out with Angus. If Angus ever wants to hang out with you, don't turn him down. You'll have fun.

*I'm not a style guru; only one on paper for literary purposes.

Where its at.

Have you ever been to Rectango (Friday 6-7:30pm, that outdoor square behind Salamanca Arts Centre)? It captures Tasmania, really. Hippies and old men with big beards. Lots of bare feet, small children and The Dancing Man® style jiving. Last night was my first time and the music was good. I think I'll make a regular event of it, like Gwyd and Em do.

(Em and Gwyd have this theory that the hippies drive their Combie Vans up from Cygnet and sleep in them overnight so that they can waft around Salamanca Market Saturday morning. They probably park them all in the Boat Park and pitch tee-pees for their numerous homeschooled rat-tailed offspring.)

Also, something I love about Salamanca is all the familiar faces of people whose names you don't know. Like the Chunky Red-head who cackles outside Lazenby's and the Mature Age Perpetual Student Guy (everyone you know has had him in at least one of their classes). Actually, I do know his name, it's Michael. And Maude and her posse. And the two Mafia guys who work at Grape. And Marcello, of course.

Sick Cats

I've got a new blog; Sick Cats. I'll be adding new cats every day, until I run out of ailments. If you're not easily offended, check it out.

Jason

The Three Jasons, in order of hotness:

Bateman

Schwartzman

Alexander

Grandma

There's a certain home vibe, that defies expression. It vibes strong here. Something about sunny pollenated air, clean sheets, timber and fresh berries (and memories of all these things, which fill in for the things absent). And the expectation of seeing familiar beloved faces.

Talking of beloved faces, there is one I won't see again, untransformed. When I said good bye to my Granma in her room in Snug Village Hostel before leaving for the US and A, that was the final farewell. I said good bye again, but she didn't hear it, as the coffin was lowered into the ground. I overheard Dad say that she gets the best view in the cemetry, on the sunny hillside overlooking the great blue bay and then he added "but she gets the best view of all."

I cried more than I thought I would at the funeral (which is structured like a wedding, but different emotions are required of you), but some of the tears were the ones you get in response to something profoundly beautifuly true; like the kindness of strangers when you feel in the pit of dispair. I cried because my grandmother's death had saved her from the immense pain she suffered in her life and brought her into the eternal life she longed for. And she knew and proclaimed that that eternal life is something you can only know when you are in the pit of dispair of your own depravity and rebellion against God. And the profoundly beautifuly true things is this: when we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is sad to see Betty go, but she knew Christ and she was faithful to the end, egearly awaiting His mercy beyond the grave. This gives me tears of joy.