I've got time for trivialities
Sun Nov 29, 2009 23:51 EST (UTC -5)I went home this weekend. As with many things, it got me thinking.
At the risk of being really cheesy, let me mention that Wiktionary defines "home" as:
One's own dwelling place; the house or structure in which one lives; especially the house in which one lives with his family; the habitual abode of one’s family; also, one's birthplace.
That's the first definition of ten just for the noun. It's not helpful.
I believe it was Maniac Magee who said, "Home is where you sleep." Now that's more like it.
Why all this philosophizing, you may ask? I've noticed that some of my friends consider their homes to be their apartments here in College Town, USA, rather than the houses where they grew up, where their parents live, and where they go for holidays. I also caught an article in Unofficial College Newspaper last week that warned of the "Garden State moment" when you realize that "the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore."
Oh, Jordan, you say, isn't Garden State a great movie? I loveeeeeeeeeee it, just like I love drawing out silent letters! Less than three hundred thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three. Yeah, well, I haven't seen more than, like, five minutes of it. I know, what a horrible person I am for never going out to the video store and renting your favorite movie, or for never consciously trying to find it on TV and taking a break from everything else in my life for two hours to watch it. Sue me.
Um, anyway, I hadn't been home for three months (my trip to Europe wasn't even that long), and I found myself stumbling around a bit, trying to remember how each door opened, where some things were, and the like. I'd still call the house my home—I did feel at home there, and I highly doubt I'll be living in this apartment after I graduate—but I couldn't help but wonder when the Garden State moment would come. Hopefully, it won't be until after I graduate. By that time, I hope to have a full-time job, a non-student apartment, a live-in girlfriend, and other things that can be described by hyphenated adjectives.
Need some dummy text for some sort of design? Check out the Dummy Text Generator. I've featured a similar site previously (December 23, 2003), but this one has more texts to choose from (including the opening of The Metamorphosis) and uses JavaScript magic so there's no waiting for new pages to load.
How to Bind a Paper Without Staples. I've already used this technique successfully, but only with scissors (instead of ripping the paper).
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3 comments
#1 by Mrs. B: Mon Nov 30, 2009 10:03 EST (UTC -5)
Hey - great to see you over the weekend. I just read your editorial on the great pin debacle and wanted to share. I think you touch on an important point...of folks missing the point. While I tend to agree that The Home Depot has the right to enforce rules that an employee has agreed to, I think that there are many instances of sheer manipulation by "Christians". In particular is the idea that there was a movement to remove a cross from someplace in the west (I can't remember exactly where); that the evil "Buddhists" were attempting to ban the cross. The reality is that a local Buddhist community often had walking meditations in this area and requested a small Buddhist symbol to be allowed so they could have a visual on their walk. When they were denied this right the ACLU put forth a suit. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander...if you get my point. So this argument ended up all about the poor "Christians" being persecuted when it had everything to do with the denial of the rights of another faith system.
Same with this whole issue...I don't think it's about the God pin...I think that whatever the pin said is a mute point. If an employer says no pins it should hold whether the pin says One Nation Under God or Hail Rolling Stones. I think that the religious right really knows how to get in the paper and spin the tale to their point of view.
I think we need more people who speak out and find out the stories behind these media moments, who “reply all” to the emails with dire warnings that our nation is going to hell in a hand basket because of something we write or don't write.
As you well know I am very active in my church...however, what turns me on about the teachings of my faith are the ones about acceptance, love, forgiveness, peace and justice. I don't recall reading anywhere in the teachings of Jesus that there is a secret key to eternal grace...oh except maybe to be nice and to share...so perhaps capitalism feels threatened by this message.
Anyway - thanks for your questioning mind, it's young people like you who give me hope for what seems to sometimes look like a future of public policy based on religious fanaticism. In my humble opinion…I feel the quickest way to eternal damnation is religious fanaticism.
#2 by kristen: Mon Nov 30, 2009 16:02 EST (UTC -5)
i'm probably not even eligible to give out points, but +5 for quoting maniac magee.
#3 by Kirsten: Tue Dec 01, 2009 01:12 EST (UTC -5)
I've been living in Las Vegas for over 6 years now, yet I still refer to the MA/NH region of the country as home. My mom no longer lives in the house I lived in when I was in high school (or even the same town), and it's still home. Vegas is home too, in that this is where my life is - job, husband, friends, etc. No matter which end of a trip to MA I'm on, I still say that I'm on my way home.
Home is a funny thing.