Who are your five peers?

"Who are the people you respect most? And what if you did things with the intention of gaining their approval instead of Cousin Cletus’s?"

Good question for anyone, even those of us who don't have a Cletus in our lives (and aren't looking to gain one). I especially like the idea of loving one's family and friends, but choosing one's peer group.

Making changes that last.

Normally I am not a big fan of Parade articles--largely fluff but for Marilyn Vos Savant's column--but this is worthwhile reading. I came across it through FlyLady. I especially appreciate the Elephant and Rider analogy:

"Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be in charge. But because he is small, he’ll lose to the Elephant whenever they conflict. You experience this whenever you act against your better judgment and hit your alarm clock’s snooze button, have one drink too many, or procrastinate."

Oy vey. I'm not even Jewish.

Dogs, chimpanzees, and 18th-century novels.

Interesting stuff about canine learning and perception in this article, but one sentence struck me as almost out of a novel of manners:

"Our...cousins are simply too distracted by their aggression and competitiveness to fathom gestures easily."

It got me to thinking about the relationship between increased social status and increased surveillance. One of the characteristics of someone living within a higher social strata is a concomitant sensitivity to gesture, tone, and inflection. Those living within lower social strata are portrayed as coarse, uncomprehending, and oblivious.

Having said all that, I am obligated to note that the ellipsis in the above quote replaces the word ape. I would argue that in the 18th century novel of manners, the parallel is intentional. This quote, however, comes from December 2009. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Obama's Nobel Prize speech.

A striking quote:

"...a few small men with outsized rage..."

Indeed, Obama.

A doggy Christmas surprise.

A doggy Christmas surprise - Karácsonyi kutyás meglepetés

Amazing rugby kick.

Rugby Kick Hits The Jackpot £250,000

A question to live by.

I ask myself, “What would the person I want to be do?”

from here. Tip o' the hat to Kate Dreadhawk and her Facebook news feed.

Der Spiegel interview with Umberto Eco.

Excellent interview. An excerpt:

"I have a hallway for literature that's 70 meters long. I walk through it several times a day, and I feel good when I do. Culture isn't knowing when Napoleon died. Culture means knowing how I can find out in two minutes."

Character.

This may be the best definition of character that I've ever read:

Modern life is rubbish | SMLXL - Engagement Marketing and Communication principles from Alan Moore

For Sennett, “character” is defined as the capacity to construct and keep commitments – not just in marriage, but also in friendships, communities, and workplaces – and the ability to provide continuous, coherent narratives of personal experience.

So what we have when character breaks down is (1) a lack of capacity to construct and keep commitments, and (2) an inability to provide a continuous, coherent narrative of ourselves. In other words, we lose our capacity for autobiography.

I find this fascinating. Much more to think about on this.

herbs on the deck

Overheard at Nats Park

"A baseball pitch is 300 feet by 300 feet , which is like 1000 square feet."

Dogwood in my yard.

Another insane asylum to be explored.

Forest Haven, Maryland. Wow. These Flickr photos from Kasia Swierczek are amazing. I've got to check this place out.

Obama in Turkey: One statement of interest.

Got this from @Thandelike:

Obama tells Turkish uni students that friends give each other honest opinions and that's a benefit of friendship between states

While I totally agree with Obama on this, I don't know how it'll be received. When a country or a group places honor above all, the rule of law disintegrates and the rule of subjectivity replaces it (or in the case of a group, the willingness to abide by external rules). Subjectivity intrudes upon perception and prohibits humility. It permits self-deceit.

If it sounds like I'm saying that states and groups abiding by honor also abide by self-deceit, then you get your choice of stuffed animals from the middle shelf. It was necessary for Obama to say that to Turkey; we'll be lucky if they are only made uncomfortable by it.

Indeed they do go to the basement.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

New drink to try.

Balia

1 oz Pimms No. 1 Cup (a gin-based spirit)

3/4 ounce citrus vodka

1 ounce pomegranate juice

1/2 ounce orange bitters (optional)

Orange twist

Shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Friday quickie: One from Twitter.

My powers, like my underpants, are Ancient and Terrible.

via @warrenellis, and if you're not following him, it's worth it to join Twitter just to do so. Check him out at www.warrenellis.com and his work at www.freakangels.com.

When chihuahuas attack.

Okay, so it's not the Death Star. It is, however, a video of the most tolerant cat alive.I can't tell if that's a chihuahua puppy. I mean, who can? Like how big are they? A teaspoon or something?

One problem with literary criticism.

Literary criticism today works the same way that medical research would if every researcher arrived with an entirely different approach to medicine. Like one guy's homeopathy, another one is faith healing, another one is ancient Vedic, etc. And they're all talking and using the same tool set, but their ways of evaluating what they see are so different that there's effectively no dialogue. No one can assign legitimacy to anything because any pretension to decision making has been given up.

Keep in mind that I once did lit crit. I guess I didn't come out of the right school, because I couldn't see any point to it. That didn't stop me from picking up multiple degrees in it.

Quote of the day.

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“Our doubts are traitors & make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.” ~Shakespeare