Ten Things I Learned This Weekend (Part One of One)
The Unseen One, due to circumstances beyond his control, has declined to post his regular Monday litany of education. In spite of my own reluctance to blog at all, I am ever one to pick up the slack. It would be sad, indeed, if regular readers of his blog were denied ten true facts on a Monday, and so, I present to you, my own list of ten bits o' weekend learning.
1. Some people, despite the blessings and ravages of time, learn nothing and remain real ignorant a-holes. I rest in the knowledge that they will get theirs in the end.
2. I really don't care if the Steelers have a bad year. Last year was more than I could have asked for, and this year it's just fun to watch them play. I refuse to add a silly game to the list of things that stress me out. My heart and my blood pressure don't need anything extra. But I remain ever-faithful to Cowher.
3. Sweet box o' wine = Morning pain. On Sunday morning, I felt like evil dipped in a sugary coating of sin. I haven't felt like that since college. Thank you, SuperJeans.
4. Frank Lloyd Wright may have been a genius, but he occasionally produced the ugly. On a trip to Fallingwater, I learned that the canopy connecting the main house with the guest house was an engineering marvel. Cretin that I am, I could not see it. Our guide said that it was a remarkable feat of concrete and very few supports. Surprising that it was able to stand. I kept thinking, "Yeah, I could make a piece of poop stand on its head, but that wouldn't make it pretty." I wonder what that makes me. I was also not crazy about the combination of American Southwest and Japansese aesthetics. Nope, not crazy at all. I suppose I am just too low-brow. That said, I did think most of the house was brilliant.
5. Speaking of that, Dr. Peter Agre was on The Colbert Report, talking fancy talk about science, and how Americans are unable to distinguish the good science from the bad. He won a Nobel Prize for cell membrane stuff, so I guess that makes him smart. But he said something that I found troubling. He said that there was a trend toward anti-intellectualism in this country, and that fully half of Americans did not read even one book last year. The dumbest people I know, THE DUMBEST, all read a book last year. At least one. I kow a couple of irretrievably stupid people who read more than one. As for anti-intellectualism, well, maybe, but that depends entirely on how you define an intellectual, doesn't it? It seemed to me that he was equating liberalism with intellect. What a surprise. This may deserve its own post. I'll get to it someday. For the record, I read about 24 books last year, and countless articles. Though some were about Sarah Michelle Gellar's ever-changing hairstyles, some were also about Quantum Physics. The smartest man I ever knew was my college mentor and the chair of the Physics department, and he was a religious man, as well. Take that, Agre, you smarty smarty smart pants man. I smacked down a Nobel Laureate. Yay for me.
6. I'm not as good at this as The Unseen One. I can't seem to keep it concise. Brevity is the soul of wit, so I oughta shut up.
7. Steve Carrell is hilarious. Of course, I didn't learn that this weekend, but I extra-learned it. His voice performance in Over the Hedge is nothing short of genius. And the new line with which I will annoy my husband is "but I like a cookie."
8. Some people really need to take their eensy little bit of power and shove it up their you-know-whats. When dealing with anyone in charge of some microthing, I am constantly reminded of the line from Hamlet, "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself the king of infinite space." A good blogger would take the time to look that up to confirm its accuracy. But I shan't.
9. Sometimes, the most unexpected person, the most seeming pragmatist, the most practical individual, will surprise the hell out of you by admitting she is addicted to fantasy literature. You could have known her for years, and secretly, she's more fluent in Lord of the Rings than you are. Go figure.
10. Because readers depend on The Unseen One for these lifesaving tips, I shall provide one as well. When fencing with a pirate, an elegant and witty retort is as lethal as a physical blow to the heart. So read the thesaurus regularly and keep watching all things Joss Whedon.
Cheers!
1. Some people, despite the blessings and ravages of time, learn nothing and remain real ignorant a-holes. I rest in the knowledge that they will get theirs in the end.
2. I really don't care if the Steelers have a bad year. Last year was more than I could have asked for, and this year it's just fun to watch them play. I refuse to add a silly game to the list of things that stress me out. My heart and my blood pressure don't need anything extra. But I remain ever-faithful to Cowher.
3. Sweet box o' wine = Morning pain. On Sunday morning, I felt like evil dipped in a sugary coating of sin. I haven't felt like that since college. Thank you, SuperJeans.
4. Frank Lloyd Wright may have been a genius, but he occasionally produced the ugly. On a trip to Fallingwater, I learned that the canopy connecting the main house with the guest house was an engineering marvel. Cretin that I am, I could not see it. Our guide said that it was a remarkable feat of concrete and very few supports. Surprising that it was able to stand. I kept thinking, "Yeah, I could make a piece of poop stand on its head, but that wouldn't make it pretty." I wonder what that makes me. I was also not crazy about the combination of American Southwest and Japansese aesthetics. Nope, not crazy at all. I suppose I am just too low-brow. That said, I did think most of the house was brilliant.
5. Speaking of that, Dr. Peter Agre was on The Colbert Report, talking fancy talk about science, and how Americans are unable to distinguish the good science from the bad. He won a Nobel Prize for cell membrane stuff, so I guess that makes him smart. But he said something that I found troubling. He said that there was a trend toward anti-intellectualism in this country, and that fully half of Americans did not read even one book last year. The dumbest people I know, THE DUMBEST, all read a book last year. At least one. I kow a couple of irretrievably stupid people who read more than one. As for anti-intellectualism, well, maybe, but that depends entirely on how you define an intellectual, doesn't it? It seemed to me that he was equating liberalism with intellect. What a surprise. This may deserve its own post. I'll get to it someday. For the record, I read about 24 books last year, and countless articles. Though some were about Sarah Michelle Gellar's ever-changing hairstyles, some were also about Quantum Physics. The smartest man I ever knew was my college mentor and the chair of the Physics department, and he was a religious man, as well. Take that, Agre, you smarty smarty smart pants man. I smacked down a Nobel Laureate. Yay for me.
6. I'm not as good at this as The Unseen One. I can't seem to keep it concise. Brevity is the soul of wit, so I oughta shut up.
7. Steve Carrell is hilarious. Of course, I didn't learn that this weekend, but I extra-learned it. His voice performance in Over the Hedge is nothing short of genius. And the new line with which I will annoy my husband is "but I like a cookie."
8. Some people really need to take their eensy little bit of power and shove it up their you-know-whats. When dealing with anyone in charge of some microthing, I am constantly reminded of the line from Hamlet, "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself the king of infinite space." A good blogger would take the time to look that up to confirm its accuracy. But I shan't.
9. Sometimes, the most unexpected person, the most seeming pragmatist, the most practical individual, will surprise the hell out of you by admitting she is addicted to fantasy literature. You could have known her for years, and secretly, she's more fluent in Lord of the Rings than you are. Go figure.
10. Because readers depend on The Unseen One for these lifesaving tips, I shall provide one as well. When fencing with a pirate, an elegant and witty retort is as lethal as a physical blow to the heart. So read the thesaurus regularly and keep watching all things Joss Whedon.
Cheers!
posted by Kristine at 3:27 PM
6 Comments:
Okay, study break from my midterm stuff for tonight.
First off, *golf clap*. Excellent job picking up the slack for my slacker self there, Kristine!
Now, on to the comments:
1) AMEN!
2) But I thought Baseball season was over! *ducks*
4) Another hearty Amen on that one!
5) The only thing on par with anti-intellectualism is the phony-wanna-be-intellectualism that liberalism spawns.
6) I disagree. You did a great job!
8) Indeed. It seems the correlation is the smaller the mind, the less power it takes to fill that very fininte space.
9) You must tell me who this peson is!!!
10) *takes notes* Thanks. I guess my retort of "Oh YEAH???" should be revised.
In my humble opinion, Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture is the epitome of despair. His homes are like scabs that won’t fall off. I would rather live in a home built of hay bales and cat turds.
Unseen, No problem. Happy to do it. But get on the ball next week. Hear me?
Slaghammer, I have heard that cat turds add 40% to the r-value of any insulation. But the information is suspect because it is my cat who told me, clearly in an attempt to get a more lenient litterbox policy. At any rate, I am relieved that I am not alone in thinking "what's so great?" about FLW, especially from a fellow potter and cacher.
1. 'Nuff said.
2. To me, it's just a fun game to watch. This past Sunday's game was great to watch!
3. I know the feeling.
4. As an engineer, I find myself liking alot of "ugly" stuff but appreciating its design or difficulty of construction. I plan to see Falling Water at some point.
5. Just because one knows something doesn't mean that they're a better person or has the right to berate others.
6. You're doing fine.
7. I find him funny *MOST* of the time. Sometimes I just don't "get" The Office. He was great in Little Miss Sunshine!
8. Heh. I don't give those kind of people the satisfaction from exerting "their power".
9. I often find that true of other people.
10. This also comes in handy when you've recently been brought back to life by a resurrection pill.
*golf clap*
Well done on the "Ten Things I Learned This Weekend" posting!
Trash Blanc, please, do see Fallingwater at some point. I admit it, I just don't get it. I suppose one MUST remember that the thing was built in 1937, and I suppose it's remarkable for the time, but still. I'm just saying.
As for The Office, you probably DO get it. There's not much to get. It's just painful and perfect and a little too real.
Anyway, thanks for stopping by to visit my sham of a REAL Ten Things list.
Is liberalism the sign of the anti-christ? I feel a little bitch-slapped (not that I don't secretly enjoy it) as I'm way left of liberal.
I lurve every other word you write, even though you do it so seldom. I guess it's like icewine....and that was meant as a compliment.
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