Waiting for a Movie

Plush seat.
cup holder.
Lights turned on.
When will it be dark?
Restlessness grows.
Mind meanders.
Practice prayer.
Impatient.

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Found Message: I Discovered a Personal Confession Left Inside of a Book at "McKeown's Books" in New Orleans

I found a card in a book with a personal message. Of course, I read it.

At this bookstore on Tchoupitoulas Street, I found a card in a book that said, "I never will know if my dad is alive or why he left us."

I never had a close relationship with my father. Reading someone else's confession is a commiseration, a recognition that I am not alone in my feelings. 

So, thank you, stranger, to the one who left a message in a book.

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Obama and the Peace Prize, And Other Rifts on Violence

   I wonder how our President can accept the peace prize and then cite an argument for just war?! I personally feel his decision to increase troops was morally bankrupt. A more peaceful approach would have been to refuse the prize.

President Obama accepts the Nobel Peace Prize. Image Credit: The White House (2009)

   Now, our prez did close Guantanamo, and he has laid down a progressive plan for peace, but I think the two wars he has inherited make it a prickly predicament.
   Is Obama a warmonger? Does he feel a little aggressive push is necessary to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? Is violence ever necessary?
   His decision to enact violence is not necessarily unethical. Even Gandhi and King understood violence is necessary to enact change. Violence, in some order, can bring about peace - even the non-violent violence that encouraged civil rights and brought down the monarchy in India was, in my opinion, ethical. The violence of WWII took the lives of millions of more civilians than any other war in this past century. Democracy does not deplore that war.
   If our president wants to make a change in our world through violence, he needs to enact violence in other sectors to secure peace:
   Reasons for "just war" in other regions besides the Middle East:

Obligatory Bathroom Selfie: "Refresh My Face"

Greig posts an obligatory bathroom selfie.

Hey boys and girls! I was in the bathroom at the Bulldog on Magazine Street in New Orleans and decided to not only post this picture but to let you know what we're talking about at my table: Always remember to floss after you eat. Remember, it's imperative to eat garlic with every meal. Also, when withdrawing money from the ATM, turn off your car to reduce carbon emissions.  

- Posted from my f*&%!ing smart JobsPhone

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On Being Accepted To The New School for Social Research

I was accepted into the MA Philosophy program at the New School for Social Research in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.

I was accepted for the Spring 2010 term but I have not yet received word from the Admissions Department on scholarship funding. Depending on the funding I receive will determine if I move now or defer admission to the Fall semester. * Here's me crossing my fingers *

Reasons why the New School is a great choice for me:

1. New York City!
2. A closet for an apartment!
   
3. Strong emphasis in Continental Philosophy!
4. Concentration in Psychoanalysis
5. Continental Philosophy and Neuroscience (that's a course)
6. Simon Critchely is the head of the department 
7. Anna Stoler teaches at the New School as well.
8. Lots of Philosophy
9. Lots of close reads of philosophical texts
10. Poor and educated

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Photographs of Friends: Ruby On Fridays (Not Ruby Tuesday, and Some of the Pictures Are Not Ruby)

I took pictures of friends recently when we all hung out.

Ruby, a former colleague but still a friend — not as in Ruby Tuesday — frequents the city of crescents.

The flare of red: "Aphrodite on a half-shell."

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