Category: Random Thoughts

Two Thoughts on Earth Day

I was going to write about my thoughts on Global Warming and environmentalists; however, I discovered the work has already been done for me.

First, let me state I believe in climate change.

However

I also believe that change could be part of Earth’s natural process and, therefore, that it is impossible to quantify man’s specific impact on any perceived climate change.

This article explains my position in much better – and much more scientific – terms than I could.

As for environmentalists, while many of them are most likely wonderful people with the best of intentions, the majority of them come across in a manner similar to this:

Pearls Before Swine Conference of the Self Righteous by Stephan Pastis

Inquiring Minds

I recently received some questions in my inbox; it’s high time I answer them.

Do you have a question you’d like me to answer? Let me know in the comments!

Inquiring minds want to know:

1. If you could invite one author and one their fictional characters to tea, who would you invite and what would you serve them?

Note: I started this post before said author’s death; I hope the following joke isn’t in bad taste. Personally, I think he’d find it amusing.

I would ask Sir Terry Pratchett to tea, although now I’d guess I’d need the Necrotelecomnicon to do so.

Now, you want me to pick just one of his fictional characters?

OK, then, I would invite the Librarian, because he understands both the value and true nature of the written word.

As for what I would serve, you said I was asking them to tea, so I’d serve tea and bread and cheese and some type of meat. And bananas, if the Librarian wanted them.

Discworld Librarian

2. What book do you wish the author would write the prequel for?

I don’t know; I generally dislike sequels written after the fact.

If forced to choose right now, I would go back in time and convince F. Scott Fitzgerald to write a sequel to Gatsby.

Gatsby Book Cover

3. Which two characters (not from the same book) do you think would make a good couple?

The Narrator from Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian

&

V from V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

4. If you ran into your favourite author on the subway and could only say one sentence to them, who is it and what would it be?

Dante Alighieri, to whom I would say “You gave me hope when there was none.”

IMG_2530

5. What book made you a reader and why?

I honestly do not know.

I’ve always enjoyed reading and cannot remember a time when I could not read.

6. Your bookshelf just caught fire! What is the one book you would save?

I would probably die trying to make up my mind.

7. Which dystopian world would you want to live in and why?

Who wants to live in a dystopia? Are they masochists?

Oh, you’re forcing me to choose, like we’re in Orwell’s 1984 or something.

In that case, The Community of Lois Lowry’s The Giver seems the most bearable.

The Giver book cover

8. What is your most epic read and why?

Dante’s Divine Comedy or Beowulf, because honestly, how much more epic can you get?!

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Intersection of Life and History

Every once in a while history and real life collide.

This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

RMS_Titanic_3Given the number of film and articles written and dispersed over that time, I don’t think I need to retell the story.

What does this have to do with me? My great-grandfather was supposed to be on Titanic as a ship’s printer; that’s right, my great-grandfather was employed by White Star Line. I never knew my great-grandfather, so I’ll never know exactly why he quit instead of jumping at the chance to serve on what was already the most famous ship of its day. But quit he did; he obtained new employment on the banana boats. I know this because of the matchsafe he left behind:

IMG_2355
I do know great-granddad lost friends and colleagues and acquaintances that cold April night; it is only by Divine Providence he did not perish as well.

And while I couldn’t find his immigration records (I forget his first name), here’s the immigration record for my grandpa:

grandpa's passenger record

Oh, and today marks the two-year anniversary of this blog. Happy Anniversary to Me!

anniversary with wordpress

Lazy Friday Afternoon

IMG_2599I went fishing today.

When I was younger I hated fishing: the monotony of nothing for hours on end punctuated only by the droning of dragonflies and the gently swaying cattails as black bass taunt me from the shallow water a few feet from shore.

This afternoon fishing was just what I needed: the monotony of nothing for hours on end punctuated only by the droning of dragonflies and the gently swaying pampas grass as I cast my line out from the kayak over bluish-grey waters of a North Carolina estuary.

I found that sweet spot where the wind and waves moved me back and forth along a fifty-foot stretch of water – no paddling necessary, except to correct course every now and then.

IMG_2555A heron bobbed twenty feet ahead of me. I wonder now if he knew something I didn’t; otherwise, he’d be diving down into the murky depths for a tasty morsel.

The tide was low, much lower than normal, exposing four feet of muddy riverbank and constantly threatening to beach my craft. I wish I had a camera I could take out on the water.

Eventually I hear a call from upriver – time to head in.

As we stow the gear and put up the canoe and kayak, Father in Law sees a large mouth bass laying up against the bank. “I’m going to catch him,” he says and promptly

casts his line into a tree,

rolls it out onto a stump and

from there down into the water

where the bass strikes immediately.

IMG_2558Some people have all the luck.*

I still had a good afternoon.

For the record, the bass was back in the water and swallowing real insects in a matter of moments.

Misunderstanding Misunderstanding

After several weeks of frivolity with photography, it’s time to post a more serious piece.

Over the past days weeks months years public speech in America has come under intense scrutiny, particularly on college campuses. From my perspective, it appears that certain people operate under the assumption that they have a right not to be offended; if they are offended, then something must be wrong.

The following opinion piece crossed my news feed; I felt compelled to write a rebuttal.

Letter: Mills ’15 and others misunderstand safe spaces

I am greatly disappointed that Walker Mills ’15’s opinion piece “Playing it Safe — Too Safe” falls into the same semantic trap that New York Times contributing opinion writer Judith Shulevitz and many other generational pundits have been making in recent editorial comments across news outlets. The current rally that generational pundits make against me and my peers in college today is that we have forsaken freedom of speech and multiple view points for “comfort.” What does this word “comfort” even mean? I’m afraid that it is a product of jargon that is too easily mistranslated by these opinion columnists hoping to pass a deadline.

Logical Fallacy: Strawman

What does “comfort” mean, you ask? Well, according to the American Heritage College Dictionary:

com·fort (kŭm•fərt)

tr.v. com·fort·ed, com·fort·ing, com·forts

1. To soothe in time of affliction or distress.
2. To ease physically; relieve: comforted the feverish patient with a cool cloth.

n.

1.

a. A condition or feeling of pleasurable physical ease or relief from pain or stress: finally sat in comfort on the soft pillows.
b. A condition of well-being, contentment, and security: an income that allowed them to live in comfort.

2.

a. Solace or consolation in time of sorrow or distress: soothing words of comfort.
b. Help; assistance: gave comfort to the enemy.

3.

a. Something providing ease, convenience, or security: the comforts of modern living.
b. A person or thing that brings consolation or mental ease: a friend who was a comfort to me in my grief.
4. Chiefly Southern & Lower Northern US A quilted bedcover; a comforter.

Therefore, when you say you want to be comfortable, I take it you want to be at ease, strengthened in your own beliefs, and soothed in spirit.

Fair warning: none of these should be demanded – let alone accepted or expected – in debate. It is the nature of debate to challenge our innermost beliefs and heartfelt desires. Otherwise, what is the purpose? This argument reminds me of this utterly absurd cartoon, claiming that using dictionary definitions in debate is akin to arguing from a position of privilege and power.

If they delved with any honest intent into the vast discourse of social justice, they would see how far from the mark they really are.

Logical Fallacy: Fallacy Fallacy; smacks of Ad Hominem

What is this “vast discourse” other than a reiteration of the 1970s “Stick it to the man”? There is no understanding of the past; the past is invalid because anyone older than your own generation “doesn’t understand society today.”

To begin, when students claim a lecture or event is “uncomfortable,” it’s not because the chair cushion is sagging. Nor is it because we simply don’t like the ideas being touted before us. It is because the speakers promoting these ideas do not display an effort to be inclusive in their thoughts.

Logical Fallacy: Genetic

Remember: Don’t kill the messenger!

A speaker’s language may not recognize the differences in gender identity or expression, and thus speak in ways that exclude and marginalize certain groups. Their arguments may not acknowledge the position of power they inherently have when making certain claims. The solutions they offer to whatever discussion at hand many not consider the long history of injustice performed against people of color.

Logical Fallacy: Burden of Proof, Personal Incredulity

One cannot claim the moral high ground while also advocating moral equivalency.

Or, to put it another way, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

Take note: not every word, thought, and action is an attempt to keep and save power.

These examples may seem vague, but I am trying to generalize a range of possible situations that have caused dismay across college campuses. To outside observers, make no mistake, these problems are not analogous to me sitting on an uncomfortable lumpy mattress.

Logical Fallacy: Anecdotal

Based on your own argument, you imply that everyone who doesn’t think like you think they should think is an ignorant, bigoted megalomaniac. How is that inclusive?

When I say your argument makes me uncomfortable, it is because I am greatly concerned that you have not done the requisite thought and research into generating an inclusive thesis that considers as many nuances as necessary to deliver a sound debate.

Logical Fallacy: Fallacy Fallacy; hints of Burden of Proof

Perhaps one considers those nuances and rejects them. What then?

Why should a thesis be inclusive? It is the very nature of hypotheses and theses to be divisive!

If you do not believe that skin color, age, religious identity, sexuality, class or (dis)ability have an effect in cultural, political or economic problems that we debate at universities, then it is you who is trying to remain comfortable despite such frightening realities. In this sense, being uncomfortable is the strongest form of rhetoric that our millennial generation wields in the struggle against all forms of oppression.

Joseph DiZoglio ’15

Logical Fallacy: Appeal to Emotion, Ad Hominem

I can “believe that skin color, age, religious identity, sexuality, class or (dis)ability have an effect in cultural, political or economic problems that we debate at universities” and still disagree with you or make you feel uncomfortable!

Again, that is the very nature of debate.

Ultimately, this piece is built on the logical fallacies of Ad Hominem, Tu Quoque, and Personal Incredulity.

I would direct the author to read Beatty’s Speech from Fahrenheit 451.

What do you think? Am I off the mark? Is there something I’m missing?

Let me know in the comments!

A Sticky Wicket

Spring is in the air, which means that so too are pollen and bees and other nasty allergens.

I’m doing battle with the bees today, given that they’ve begun to dig into our porch railings. The pollen, well, there’s not much I can personally do about that, is there? Seriously, I just washed the car two days ago, and yesterday it was already yellow instead of white; thankfully, we had a good downpour today, which really helped me out this time.

Traditionally, spring has been a time for cleaning; cleaning house, cleaning the attic, cleaning the yard, just cleaning in general. And so, in addition to sorting through several decades of National Geographic bestowed upon me (I should have known something was up when he said there was no place to store them) I’m also trying to spruce up the blog.

We love our blogs; we’re often our number one fans. But that can get in the way of meaningful progress.

Therefore, I need your help.

Take a look around and tell me what could me moved, improved, or removed all together.

I promise not to take it too personally.

I’ve already modified the background; while I liked the word cloud, I felt it distracted my actual content.

Let me know your suggestions in the comments!

I just know there was a Far Side cartoon about a sticky wicket in a wicket factory.

Google, you have failed me!

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