2.25.2007
best of the web
Howdy all -- I'm hanging in there and getting a lot of thesis-writing done these days. Since I don't have much to write here, now, here are a few links for enjoyable things I read last week.
Reflections on Valentine's Day (thanks for the link to Marni):
Her writing reminded me of Matthew Baldwin's excellent thought on marriage:
Other good stuff:
Reflections on Valentine's Day (thanks for the link to Marni):
I think the world would fare a little better if from time to time we looked at a couple swooning with love and instead of drawing pink hearts and singing "all you need is love" at them said "This is all very nice, but you are both going to be needing an education and life insurance."
For some "marriage" is a religious arrangement, where two people are joined together by God; to others it refers to the purely secular tradition of pledging fidelity to one another in the hopes that your friends and relatives will give you DVD players and ice cream makers. Until the two sides in the gay marriage debate agree on a common definition -- something unlikely to happen anytime soon -- we're going to just go around and around in circles on this issues for decades to come.(I cut a lot of good stuff out of there, so go read the whole thing.)
The gov needs to get out of the marriage business altogether, ya'ask me. ... I think the United States should adopt the Buddy System.
Here's how it would work. When a citizen reaches Buddying age, he or she will receive a charming, hand-written note in the mail from the government. This is what it will say:Hi there! Welcome to adulthood. You've had it relatively easy so far, all things considered: what with the parents, and the no job, and the not paying taxes, and the ability to eat an entire Italian sausage and black olive pizza without feeling like crap the following morning. ...
Unfortunately things get a little trickier from here on out. You might have to work a job you don't particularly like, or find yourself with all kinds of obligations you'd just as soon avoid. Maybe you'll feel your idealism leech away, and your patience for the status quo dwindle. Perhaps the people who signed your yearbook "2good + 2b = 4gotten!" will move away and 4get you...
Yeah, adulthood is a drag sometimes. And that's where the Buddy System comes in. At some point, you may find it useful to Buddy up with another person, someone you will watch over and who will, in turn, watch over you. Like the earlier version of this system you may have used at school or at camp, your Buddy's job will be to make sure you don't get lost. But less a literal "don't get lost in the forest during a dayhike" and more a figurative "don't get so lost working at a crummy job that you forget how much you like gardening." Or, you know, whatever.
So, at some point, feel free to take a Buddy. Or don't: whatever works for you. But it's a scary world out there, and sometimes a Buddy is just the thing you need to make it seem a bit more manageable.
Other good stuff:
- For fans of guitar hero (I'm looking at you, baz and Elephant Larry), there's accordian hero (thanks jcreed)
- For fans of pretty letters (stefan! spoons! hphil!) here are many pretty letters (jcreed again)
- And here is a list of dicks. Jordi is funny. Not safe for work? Maybe?
