Cigarettes & God

I ride the captial metro to campus daily and today one particular rider got under my skin. Public transportation gets it's share of the mentally unhinged and socially awkward (especially on the Dillos because they're free) and I've gotten pretty used to being patient or just completely ignoring problems. Most of the time people are just lonely or want to be heard, so it's no big deal to simply be polite and give them the fifteen minutes of attention. Today a man got on the bus in torn clothes and sandals that were duck-taped to keep them together, with a backpack. I'm not sure, but I can assume he is either poor or wants to give the appearance of being poor. He sits down and opens his backpack and pulls out roughly eight cartons of cigarettes he purchased right before getting on the bus. He then goes on and on very loudly, to no one in particular, about how the corner store had this great buy-one-get-one-free sale on his favourite brand of cigarettes. I think smoking is gross and I think it's grosser when he can't afford shoes but will spend money on cigarettes, but it's no big deal. I know what it's like to struggle with money, but I have no idea what it's like to be as poor as he appeared and if cigarettes help ease his stresses, then so be it. However, it's what he ran off his mouth with next that upset me. There was a guy sitting directly across from him dressed kind of stereotypically punker-style--all black clothes, tattoos, peircings, etc. I guess the Smoking Man assumed he was a heathen because he directed his loudness to him and started going on and on about how he should accept Jesus in his heart. Jesus loves you. If you don't accept Jesus than you are condemning yourself to death. If you don't accept Jesus then you don't love or appreciate life. It's at this point I got pissed. Nothing gets under my skin worse than being outright hypocritical and judgemental, and Smoking Man was achieving both. First, he assumed that the bus rider was a heathen because of his appearance. Secondly, he lectured him based on that assumption. And lastly, he accused him of not appreciating life after touting about how happy he was to get an abundance of cheap cancer sticks. I completely understand I'm speaking from a non-smoker's point of view here, but don't you dare lecture someone you know nothing about on appreciating "the life God gave you" when you knowingly pump poison into your body, you hypocrite. Grrr.

Augustine & VH1

St. Augustine and Little Miss Sunshine

I watched Little Miss Sunshine after reading about Augustine in our course packet and how perfect a marriage. In the movie, Dwayne takes a vow of silence until he reaches his goal of flight school, which will be years away. He has been silent for roughly six months in the plotline. In the readings, it said St. Augustine believed soul-to-soul communication to be the highest and purest form. Being that humans are imperfect, we have to use actual words and symbols to get our message across. Dwayne has effectively communicated his messages for six months without uttering a single word... man, wouldn't Augustine be proud! Dwayne looks to Neitzche for the strength and discipline to remain silent. I am not well-versed in Neitzche, but I do know he didn't think highly of Christianity and had an alternative view on morality. I think it's kind of funny that Dwayne's character is employing something Augustine says we should all esteem to (albeit, not in the exact manner Augustine is talking about) and yet he gets the strength to do so from a man who thought of organized religion as a form of self-slavery.

The Pickup Artist

This is the best use of rhetorical strategies made to fit a reality TV show. Contestents with no game in the dating field or coached by "The Pick Up Artist" on how to pick up women. After each lesson, the contestants are sent out into the field to employ what they learned and pick up women. I feel disgusted watching it but it's fascinating to me. This strange looking man with more make-up on than I wear is teaching boys conversational strategies so they can pick up women. And it works! He has rhetorical strategies worked to be able to persuade and manipulate people without them knowing they are being worked-over. It's like a lobbyist for dating. He can pick up on non-verbal cues that allow him to know what he needs to do verbally and nonverbally in order to turn power over to him and get what he wants. He talks about keeping "value" a lot, but what he means is power. He doesn't want his power lessened or he can't get the girl so he employs rhetortical tactics to keep his "value". And he does so in a completely disguised way to that he is perceived genuine. He even teaches the contestants how to appear more genuine and less "smooth" by purposely making certain mistakes, while still maintaining value. It's just fascinating. If you can learn to read people, like the "Pick Up Artist" can, and know are savvy with words, you can make yourself others percieve you as charismatic, appealing, intelligent, etc. And then you have the power to persuade and manipulate as well. After that you can pretty much get whatever you want.

Give me the beat boys...

...and free my soul, I want to get lost in your rock and roll and drift away

I believe listening to music is a spiritual experience. I live walking distance from Zilker Park and crowds of people are currently making their exodus to ACL, a musical Mecca of sorts. Live music is meant to be enjoyed by the masses. So automatically the experience is set up to connect people because they are all trekking to this place for a common love. Then the music starts, the energy of the crowd is accumulating and you are sucked into the experience. You kind of just forget everything that exists outside the venue and give yourself to the music and the crowd. Trust is built with entire strangers at concerts, which is evident when you crowdsurf. You are trusting these people not to drop you. People help each other out and make friends within this venue, even if they will never see each other outside of it. I was once pulled into a most pit and punched in the stomach, and several strangers came to my aid without having ever met me before. We all watched the concert together, chatted up and had a good time, then parted ways when the music stopped, never to see each other again. I don't know, there's just something about music that creates bonds. And something about a live concert that gives the venue this magic that lasts as long as the music is playing.

It's written on the human heart

In thinking about the religious autobiography we have to write, I started to try and place myself into a religious category. I haven’t been able to do so yet, but it got me thinking about my friend, Stecha, who is Baha’i. From what I understand, they believe that God revealed messages at different times, in different ways, to different people so that all religions are connected, and really one faith. It’s essentially all about unity. All religions are connected; all people are connected, and so on. And that made me think of C.S. Lewis, who if I remember correctly said that there are some things that are just written on the human heart, regardless of ethnicity, faith, etc. In addition, I am currently reading a book about how all religions have common traits and myths that string them all together. I haven’t finished the book yet to find out it’s ultimate conclusion, but it seems to be saying that if all these stories are similar, then they all stem from an event that actually happened and therefore all faiths are connected and more the same than they are different. Of course, to buy the idea that all religions are different manifestations of the same god, you have to believe in a god in the first place.

Förste vecka: älskar

I adore, no, I love, the idea of the word “love” being broken down into different kinds of intensity and meaning, as in eros, philia and agape. I’ve heard about the concept of love being more particular and specified in non-Western cultures and I am keen on the idea. It makes me wonder how much weight a word can have when it can be used in such a variety of ways. "I love macaroni and cheese!" "I love my girlfriend!" If my boyfriend loved me on the same level as his mac and cheese, I would be thinking it’s time for a serious reevaluation of our commitment to each other. If an alien from another planet were to land and try to learn our language, and heard how we threw the word “love” around, what would he deduce its meaning was? There is also the distinction between loving someone/something and being in love with something/someone. In an Interpersonal Communications class I took a while ago, I learned that being in love with someone is more akin to an infatuation, a fleeting feeling. Loving someone was more permanent and a deeper emotional bond. Ther e are obvious levels of intensity in fondness, yet the English language seems to stretch the word "love" to cover them all. It's an interesting linguistic situation and I'm nerd enough to be fascinated by it. :)