Mai la dreapta

Future czar of the Neo-Byzantine Space Empire. #FreeConstantinople

[mailadreapta]

Three years ago tomorrow.

[mailadreapta]

Lord of the Rings and my son Sebastian.

This shall suffice as an epilogue to my blog. I don't intend to start Tumblring again, but please do read and share the following, and say a prayer for me and Sebastian.

[artist-friedrich]

Easter Morning, Caspar David Friedrich

https://www.wikiart.org/en/caspar-david-friedrich/easter-morning

[artist-nikolaige]

What is Truth. Christ and Pilate, Nikolai Ge

Medium: oil,canvas

https://www.wikiart.org/en/nikolai-ge/what-is-truth-christ-and-pilate

[artist-daumier]

We want Barabbas (Ecce Homo), Honore Daumier

https://www.wikiart.org/en/honore-daumier/we-want-barabbas-ecce-homo-1852

[lambdaphagy]

Seven Stanzas at Easter

Make no mistake: if he rose at all It was as His body; If the cell’s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit, The amino acids rekindle, The Church will fall.

It was not as the flowers, Each soft spring recurrent; It was not as His Spirit in the mouths and fuddled eyes of the Eleven apostles; It was as His flesh; ours.

The same hinged thumbs and toes The same valved heart That—pierced—died, withered, paused, and then regathered Out of enduring Might New strength to enclose.

Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence, Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded Credulity of earlier ages: Let us walk through the door.

The stone is rolled back, not papier-mache, Not a stone in a story, But the vast rock of materiality that in the slow grinding of Time will eclipse for each of us The wide light of day.

And if we have an angel at the tomb, Make it a real angel, Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in The dawn light, robed in real linen Spun on a definite loom.

Let us not seek to make it less monstrous, For our own convenience, our own sense of beauty, Lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are embarrassed By the miracle, And crushed by remonstrance.

John Updike

[mailadreapta]

Lent Incoming

So tomorrow is Meatfare Sunday, the Sunday before the first Sunday of Lent. It's called "Meatfare" because customarily we give up meat (but continue eating dairy) in the week before Lent proper, in order to ease ourselves into the rigors of Lent.

I have observed Lent by doing a social media fast for the past several years, and I intend to do so this year, as well. Furthermore, since I'm traveling this coming week and won't be online anyway, I've decided to start the media fast a week early, which means that today will be my last day online for a while.

Finally, there's a chance that I won't come back. I've considered dropping Tumblr entirely several times over the past several months, and this fast is going to be a test drive to see whether I actually can do without it. So if I don't see you again, so long and thanks for all the discourse.

[izzyzangwill]

Every year on the waco or ruby ridge anniversaries they do this and I’m always a little surprised they have the nerve to talk like this

[gunsandgunsaccessories]

[eltigrechico]

When men hire themselves out to shoot other men to order, asking nothing about the justice of their cause, I don’t care if they are shot themselves.

-Herbert Spencer, Patriotism (1902)

[tendie-defender]

The comments on that Facebook post were fucking golden.

[hilarioushumorfromouterspace]

[matt-ruins-your-shit]

Lisa is right for the first time ever

[rabbittiddy]

But she’s wrong, it’s Cowboy Goth.

[stabmeagainchucky]

Which era of country music are we talking tho….classic country (Johnny, Waylon, willie, Roy etc) or 90s (Toby, Tim, Alan, randy etc) cause 90s WOULD be farm emo

[rabbittiddy]

Nah it was Tractor Alternative.

[wanderingberserker]

So when did it become agri-punk?

[rabbittiddy]

Nico Case and such.

[theaudientvoid]

I mean, Johnny Cash was openly Cowboy Goth.

[drethelin]

[mailadreapta]

Y'all remember when Johnny Cash took that song which was the anthem for the depression-and-black-eyeliner demographic of the 90's and covered it so hard that even Trent Reznor said that it didn't belong to him any more?

[indigo-night-wisp]

college gothic

someone in your class mentions communism. they speak about it at length. you are in biology class.

you text your mother. she does not respond for 3 days. you text her again and then realize that it has only been 2 hours since your first text.

freshmen travel in packs. what are they afraid of.

your class is in room 153. the numbers start at 201. you cannot find the first floor.

someone is talking about communism. it is not the same person as last time. this is an english class.

your transcript says you have an A in philosophy 3310. you do not remember taking this class. what did you learn? what did you do?

you meet your elevator buddy. you do not speak. you never do. you ride in silence. one day, they are not there. you miss them.

your advisor refers you to the registrar. the registrar refers you to admissions. admissions refers you to both the registrar and your advisor. you have spoken to two people who do not exist and one who has been dead for ten years.

the boy who sits next to you wears the same clothes everyday. you think this is strange but when you mention it, he tells you that this is the first time he has worn this outfit. you realize that you have lived this day before.

you pass someone sleeping in the quad. he has always been there. stop looking at him.

someone answers, “communism.” it is not someone who has been previously mentioned. the question was, “what is an example of the art of ancient greece?”

you have a doppelganger on campus. you have never met them. they know all of your friends.

the seniors speak only to professors. their eyes are dead. they have given up the safety of the pack long ago.

the professor is talking about STD’s. your math class is very strange.

the powerpoint is in comic sans. you suspect that your economics professor is an extraterrestrial being after all.

“communism,” the man serving you lunch insists. wearily you nod. that’s what everyone says.

[mailadreapta]

The real truth about The Good Place is that we're all just watching it for Janet, and D'Arcy Carden is incredibly cute.

[anosognosic]

y’know, until the end of season 3 i still held out some hope that the good place was not going to espouse basic bitch shitlib ethics, but it still managed to be even worse than i expected

[mailadreapta]

I haven’t watched all the way to the end of season 3 yet, but the show really wants to have its cake and eat it too. The things that get presented as “good” are all literally just Blue tribal markers: eating organic blueberries and buying fair trade almonds and not being racist, and the bad things can be succinctly summarized as “white trash”. They try, on the one hand to treat it all as a joke, ha ha, we understanding that rooting for the Jacksonville Jaguars isn’t really something that sends you to hell, but at the same time whenever they try to get serious they wind up just doubling down on the same ethical framework they earlier passed off as a joke.

And that’s where it gets sort of depressing, because the writers have made a screamingly funny show that wants to simultaneously explore the nature of good and evil, but in the end they don’t really have any idea what “goodness” is beyond being a basic conformist urban liberal.

[oligopsalter-deactivated2020060]

to channel my model of @bambamramfan (who can correct my inaccuracies), i feel like this is actually an appropriate choice insofar as it channels “the judgment of the Big Other” for the implied audience. so of course it incorporates defensible harm/fairness-style foundations alongside straight up aesthetic class markers; it’s an accurate description of what could make a more neurotic version of the viewer fear she would lose caste. and doubly of course this code is literally impossible to live up to and everyone is damned.

the actual endorsed morality of the show is an (extremely vague) virtue ethic of solidarity and mutual dependence that is certainly compatible with a lot of baseline contemporary professional class moral intuitions, but also that isn’t as specific to it as (the particular elements of) the in-universe kafkaesque points system is.

[mailadreapta]

This is a rather optimistic read, which I'm willing to accept because I actually like the show.

What would really help was if the show presented some vision of goodness which wasn't just high-caste identity markers. Neither Chidi nor Tahani can do this, they're already in the assumed viewer's aspirational class, and Eleanor's arc has been mostly one of transforming into a nice cultured white person out of terrible white trash.

Which leaves Jason, the character who has changed the least since we first met him, but the one who has to become the hero if he's to redeem the underlying ethics of the show.

[ipromisetostaywild]

[anosognosic]

y’know, until the end of season 3 i still held out some hope that the good place was not going to espouse basic bitch shitlib ethics, but it still managed to be even worse than i expected

[mailadreapta]

I haven't watched all the way to the end of season 3 yet, but the show really wants to have its cake and eat it too. The things that get presented as "good" are all literally just Blue tribal markers: eating organic blueberries and buying fair trade almonds and not being racist, and the bad things can be succinctly summarized as "white trash". They try, on the one hand to treat it all as a joke, ha ha, we understanding that rooting for the Jacksonville Jaguars isn't really something that sends you to hell, but at the same time whenever they try to get serious they wind up just doubling down on the same ethical framework they earlier passed off as a joke.

And that's where it gets sort of depressing, because the writers have made a screamingly funny show that wants to simultaneously explore the nature of good and evil, but in the end they don't really have any idea what "goodness" is beyond being a basic conformist urban liberal.

[simplyorthodox]

Ten tips for Great Lent

1. Regardless of how you fast, fast every single day. This type of fasting helps wear down the passions and build spiritual endurance.

2. Know exactly what the fasting regulations are and try to approximate them as best you can. Each Lent, try to be more strict yet humble.

3. Particular concerns about fasting? Age, health issues, never fasted before, mixed-marriages? Speak with your priest.

4. Be sure to recite the Lenten prayer of Saint Ephraim. If you cannot make prostrations just make bows or cross yourself.. 

5. On weekends, we do not make prostrations and our fasting is slightly relaxed since Saturday and Sunday are holy days.

6. The Lenten services and tones are offered only during the week –strive to participate as much as possible in these services and the spirit of lent will rub off on you.

7. Sports and outdoor activities are not contrary to the Lenten spirit.

8.  Strive to avoid going to movies, parties, vacations, and other entertainments. This we do so we can have more time to devote to spiritual things.

9. Confession and Holy Communion are central to securing the benefits of Lent. Without fail, we should receive the Sacraments during the period of Great Lent.

10. Be mindful of what we look at and how much time we spend on TV and computer. Some give up TV for all of Lent. Others strictly limit their time and watch only educational and news programs. Surfing on the web? Hit the theological sites.

(From the blog of Fr. Peter Preble)

[mailadreapta]

Worth mentioning that I'll be off Tumblr for Lent.

[math-memes]

[kaumnyakte]

I messaged @razyrs “sneigwheti” and he was like “it’s snowing??” from the next room because apparently he speaks Proto-Indo-European now

[rendakuenthusiast]

seriously tho let’s revive the glorious tongue of our ancient illustrious ancestors

[mailadreapta]

If the EU abandons English as its interlingua and takes up a modernized Proto-Indo-European, I will abandon my euroskepticism in a heartbeat.