Currently Listening Under the Iron Sea By Keane Crystal Ball see related

Comparatively, I'm not much of a thinker either...

I think that within fifty years, there will be no more good books. Not to imply that there are any significantly impressive books splattering bookshelves currently, but just to say that I believe that creative thinking and writing is, sadly, a passing art. I see creative writing and thinking in the same way that I see a blacksmith with a hammer and an anvil. At one point, there was a great demand for an individual who could use a hammer and anvil to create something with his hands from his imagination. With new and improved machining processes, the demand for an individual with a hammer and anvil greatly decreased. Generally speaking, the only people that still create with a hammer and anvil do so as a hobby, and the only value to the consumer to have something that was made by that individual is that it is “hand-made” and not like anything else. Other than that benefit, there is no additional reason to have something made by hand rather than by a machine that can do the same thing in one tenth the time at one fifth of the cost. At one point in time, other than a one-on-one conversation, writing was the most effective way to communicate ideas, beliefs, and instructions to other individuals. With the introduction of radio and television, writing fell to the back of the communication line because those other mediums more closely resembled one-on-one conversation. Sadly, on the receiving end, there is very little understanding that must take place to successfully listen to the radio or watch a movie. Because of this, our society has become a society that relies very little on our own imagination, but rather places our trust in the projected imagination of the director or producer of the radio or television show. We rarely let our imaginations out to play, so our society is suffering a progressive atrophy of imagination and creative thought. With our society’s children, we use the television as a tool to “inspire imagination” with a lot of creative shows that challenge a child’s thinking, but we never detach them from the televised feeding tube to allow them to imagine on their own. We often unknowingly force children to become addicted to a tool that was only supposed to get them on their own imaginative feet. I don’t foresee a decline in radio, television, or computer usage anytime soon, so I expect that within fifty years, the last of the truly creative and imaginative thinkers will be dead. Sad times. Go read a book that forces you to think or imagine.

i like good character. you don't generally see a whole lot of it now. if you read old books, or watch old movies, or listen to stories told by people that lived "back in the day," you get to find out what true character and integrity was. i started thinking about all this when i saw the movie cinderella man and then had a conversation with an elderly gentleman about character. we decided that in our current age, people aren't concerned with character nearly as much as they are concerned with the appearance of character. it's pretty much the same with every aspect of life now. people aren't as concerned with having money as long as it looks like they have money. people aren't necessarily concerned with being tough as long as they appear tough. that's why trash talkin makes me laugh. guys will bow up to each other and explain how tough they are and exactly how bad they are each going to hurt the other person... and then they walk away... without doing a thing. in far past times, if you hurled an insult, your insult was, generally, relatively quickly followed by a duel that often ended in the death of one of the combatants. in more recent times, if you threw an insult, you had to back it up with your fists or go home bloody. in those more recent times, there was little fear of death for insulting or taunting. in a worst-case scenario, you might go home with your teeth in your pocket and your reputation tarnished, but that was about it. now, because of the threat of jail time, fines, or a number of other possible repercussions, there is virtually no threat of physical harm for someone that insults, taunts, or verbally maims someone else. since there are no consequences for things said, there is no reason to attempt to control the tongue. in my conversation with the elderly gentleman, he mentioned that one of the primary things that determines character is the amount of control displayed by the person in question. i completely agree. every person that you think of as having "good character" has one thing in common: self control. the complete control of thoughts, words, and actions is imperative in establishing good character; yet a lack of control is often ignored, justified, and even condoned in our current culture. if we fail to take responsibility for our own actions, we will continue to be a culture that is quickly losing all of its understanding of what it means to have "good character."

Currently Reading Grand Miracle By C.S. Lewis see related

everyone has preconceptions. that's just the way things are. no matter how much i try not to, i still look at athletes and instantly assume they're dumb, i look at kids that are dressed punk or emo and assume that they're whiners, and i look at anyone over the age of forty-five as if they have no clue that things are different now than when they were growing up. only after one of the people from those groups consistantly displays something contrary to my preconception will i look at them differently than i look at the other people from that particular group. i'm just saying all of that to tell you that i really do understand that preconceptions are a hard thing to stay away from. in the past few weeks, i have been on the recieving end of several people's preconceptions.

a few weeks ago i cut my hair, but i didn't cut my hair in a typical fashion. i started with long hair all over my head at the begining of the haircut, and ended with long hair over my ears and in a topknot in the back and a shaved head everywhere else at the end of the haircut. i looked a lot like a clown. because of that haircut, i had several people assume things about me that were far from true. please don't think that i'm saying that i was misjudged and the people doing it had no right to look at me the way they did... on the contrary, i think that a haircut like mine completely justifies strange looks and unusual assumptions. if you walk around in soccer shorts with a pair of cleats and a soccer ball, don't be surprised if people assume that you're a soccer player. if you ride around on a horse with a cowboy hat and boots, don't be surprised if people assume that you're a cowboy. if you walk around with an intentionally dumb haircut, don't be surprised if people assume that you're a little goofy. i have absolutely no problem with someone assuming that i'm a little strange because of my haircut. i do, however have a problem with assumptions about character and value based on appearance.

i have a professor that is probably about fifty-five. he's an engineer and very conservative. i was in a couple of his classes this past semester when i got my stupid haircut. after the final in one of my classes with him, he called me into his office. he told me that he had recieved several complaints about my appearance from some of the guys in one of my classes. since i know all of the people in that class pretty well, that surprised me. i asked him who was upset about my haircut and he began to get defensive and told me that i don't take anything seriously. he then told me that, as a student, i represent letourneau and Jesus Christ. after that statement, he said, "right now, with your hair, you don't represent letourneau well, and you DEFINITELY do NOT represent Jesus Christ."

i can understand the preconception that he might have had based on his upbringing and other experiences in his life, but i think that an analysis of character and a statement of value based off of an assumption that was based off of a preconception is just silly. i was offended that he would say that for a few weeks, but then i realized that i do the exact same thing when i look at athletes, or emo kids, or people in their mid-late forties. looking at people with preconceptions is inevitable. what is controlable, however, is our response to those preconceptions. if we allow our preconcieved notions to dictate how we interact with others, then we may miss out on something God is trying to tell us through that person just because we already have it set in our minds that they have nothing worthwhile to tell us. be open. God doesn't only use people like you or me.

Currently Watching Davy Crockett -Two Movie Set By Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen, William Bakewell, Basil Ruysdael, Pat Hogan, Mike Mazurki, Hans Conried, Don Megowan, Helene Stanley, Kenneth Tobey, Campbell Brown, Jeff Thompson (III), Nick Cravat, Eugene Brindel, Ray Whitetree, Jim Maddux, Hal Youngblood (II), Henry Joyner, Robert Booth (II), Benjamin Hornbuckle see related

so the picture that is up for my profile is of the tat i got a while back. it says:

zachary adam saint

5

09.17.1983 - 02.03.2006

psalm 15

i think that five was his soccer number in high school, but i'm not positive. the reason that i actually have it is because the number five was the topic of a several of zack's and my conversations. yep... five is a good number. i miss the kid. anyway... someone had just asked to see the tat, so i figured i'd throw it up with a quick explanation. read psalm 15. it's good. zack demonstrated that chapter perfectly.