Wednesday, March 24, 2004
learning
i like to read a lot. you could call me a bookworm. in 6th grade math i got in trouble for reading a book (about the holocaust) that had absolutely nothing to do with math, even though i had already finished my work. the teacher took the book away from me for a day and told me it had content that someone my age shouldn't be reading (it's called maus, and it's in comic book format. a good read). anyway, there's no real point to that other than to demonstrate that i read a lot.
one problem with reading is that you often come across words whose definition are beyond your current vocabulary. it happens to me a lot, but usually i can figure out the gist of it by the context in which the word is used. there are, however, some words that are just so intellectual, eloquent, or archaic (you pick) that i could never come up with a definition for them on my own. one of those words for me has been catharsis and its various forms. i must have read that word hundreds of times over the years without ever knowing what it meant, but too lazy to look it up. today i was reading an article on cnn.com about 'lad lit' (basically bridget jones chick self-pity material, but now in a brand new male point of view packaging!) and the word catharsis was used more than i'd ever seen in any single book or article (which isn't saying much, cuz it was only used two or three times), so i finally decided to go through all the extra effort of opening up a second browser window, going to merriam-webster.com and finding out what it means. in case this particular word has baffled you for years as well, allow me to share what i've learned.
catharsis
1: purgation (the act or result of purging)
2: purification or purgation of the emotions (as pity and fear) primarily through art b: purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension
3: elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression
so there you go. catharsis is basically finding away to release or cleanse your self from some emotion (that i assume is holding you back somehow). seems like a fairly simple definition....maybe i'm not as good as using context clues as i thought. no matter, cuz i'm smarter for having looked it up. and now i can refer to this here blog as my own cathartic form of therapy, which either makes me sound really smart or obnoxiously superior. they say using a word in a sentance is the best way to learn it. we'll see if this sticks. too bad i can't add it to my every day speech, as no one here speaks enough english to understand what i would be saying (aside from, maybe, my fellow team members).
i used to get a 'word of the day' emailed to me every morning, but i dont remember where it was from. maybe i'll start that up again.
symphonic melodies: los piojos - como alli
brain eats: various aim profiles
i like to read a lot. you could call me a bookworm. in 6th grade math i got in trouble for reading a book (about the holocaust) that had absolutely nothing to do with math, even though i had already finished my work. the teacher took the book away from me for a day and told me it had content that someone my age shouldn't be reading (it's called maus, and it's in comic book format. a good read). anyway, there's no real point to that other than to demonstrate that i read a lot.
one problem with reading is that you often come across words whose definition are beyond your current vocabulary. it happens to me a lot, but usually i can figure out the gist of it by the context in which the word is used. there are, however, some words that are just so intellectual, eloquent, or archaic (you pick) that i could never come up with a definition for them on my own. one of those words for me has been catharsis and its various forms. i must have read that word hundreds of times over the years without ever knowing what it meant, but too lazy to look it up. today i was reading an article on cnn.com about 'lad lit' (basically bridget jones chick self-pity material, but now in a brand new male point of view packaging!) and the word catharsis was used more than i'd ever seen in any single book or article (which isn't saying much, cuz it was only used two or three times), so i finally decided to go through all the extra effort of opening up a second browser window, going to merriam-webster.com and finding out what it means. in case this particular word has baffled you for years as well, allow me to share what i've learned.
catharsis
1: purgation (the act or result of purging)
2: purification or purgation of the emotions (as pity and fear) primarily through art b: purification or purgation that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension
3: elimination of a complex by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression
so there you go. catharsis is basically finding away to release or cleanse your self from some emotion (that i assume is holding you back somehow). seems like a fairly simple definition....maybe i'm not as good as using context clues as i thought. no matter, cuz i'm smarter for having looked it up. and now i can refer to this here blog as my own cathartic form of therapy, which either makes me sound really smart or obnoxiously superior. they say using a word in a sentance is the best way to learn it. we'll see if this sticks. too bad i can't add it to my every day speech, as no one here speaks enough english to understand what i would be saying (aside from, maybe, my fellow team members).
i used to get a 'word of the day' emailed to me every morning, but i dont remember where it was from. maybe i'll start that up again.
symphonic melodies: los piojos - como alli
brain eats: various aim profiles
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
games of state, and whatnot
so somebody shot taiwanese president chen shui-bian in an apparent assassination attempt while he was campaigning the day before elections and a controversial "pro-independence" referendum (saturday). i saw this friday, but didn't have time to post anything before leaving for the weekend. with all the craziness that's already going on in the world, i suppose i shouldn't have been surprised that something like this happened, but i was nonetheless. and now, with chen having won the election in bush-like fashion (courts invalidating ballots that would change the outcome and such), the opposition is insinuating that chen faked the whole thing in a last ditch effort to garner sympathy votes in a dead heat election. well damn, if he wants the job so badly that he's willing to have himself shot to win the election, i say let the man be president! i'd like to see that kind of desire and dedication among some of our own political elite in the u.s., instead of pandering to special interest groups with deep pockets (and that applies to BOTH sides of the political spectrum, ahem!).
i know this is really serious, world changing stuff, but i have to take a somewhat light-hearted approach to the matter if i'm to retain my sanity for any length of time. on top of the whole election fiasco, mainland china is blatantly planning to undermine chen's authority while expanding its own influence on the island. what bugs me about the situation is that if it were the u.s. in china's place (as it has been in past western hemisphere elections) the worldwide community would be up in arms about us sticking our nose where it doesn't belong and how it's so wrong to tamper with a democratically elected institution. but i guess since it's china and not the u.s., it's ok, cuz nobody is making a stink about it worth smelling.
while we're on the whole china/taiwan subject, i want to let the u.s. state department know that they definitely left their collective balls at home when they came up with our supposed "stance" on china-taiwan relations. i really wish someone would grow a pair and tell mainland china to back off. yes, i know they consider taiwan a renegade province, but that's what great britain said about the 13 colonies in 1776, and we all know how that worked out for them, dont we?
i'll admit i'm wholly oppposed to beijing's persecution of the christian church, repression of the general population, and poor human rights record (but that can be said about pretty much any country in the world). but more than that, if we're going to claim ourselves defenders of the free world and democracy, why don't we support taiwan? 2 million people chose not to be part of the communist revolution that swept the mainland after wwII, and set up a democratically elected government that has been functioning for over 50 years now. in the meantime, we've fought a war in korea, another in vietnam, and two in iraq (at least 17 years of open hostilities), all in the name of freedom and democracy, but we wont even recognize taiwan as a legitimate government?
the worst thing about it is i know that money is at the bottom of our foreign-policy in the taiwan strait. china has the potential to become one of, if not the biggest economy in the world, and all the money grubbing politicians are afraid to piss them off because we want access to that development and for our businesses to be able to set up shop over there. problem is they're not cooperating very much in that sense (at least not enough for me), even after a string of 'most favored trading nation' rubber stamps over the past few years. basically, i feel like we're doing the whole free market thing with them, but they're not reciprocating to an equal degree. we're so committed to the free market economy, why can't we do the same for democracy? because the all-mighty dollar has become our new god. and that, ladies and gentlemen, explains the mess we see in this world.
symphonic melodies: green day - haushinka
brain eats: the lord of the rings part III: the return of the king by j.r.r. tolkien
so somebody shot taiwanese president chen shui-bian in an apparent assassination attempt while he was campaigning the day before elections and a controversial "pro-independence" referendum (saturday). i saw this friday, but didn't have time to post anything before leaving for the weekend. with all the craziness that's already going on in the world, i suppose i shouldn't have been surprised that something like this happened, but i was nonetheless. and now, with chen having won the election in bush-like fashion (courts invalidating ballots that would change the outcome and such), the opposition is insinuating that chen faked the whole thing in a last ditch effort to garner sympathy votes in a dead heat election. well damn, if he wants the job so badly that he's willing to have himself shot to win the election, i say let the man be president! i'd like to see that kind of desire and dedication among some of our own political elite in the u.s., instead of pandering to special interest groups with deep pockets (and that applies to BOTH sides of the political spectrum, ahem!).
i know this is really serious, world changing stuff, but i have to take a somewhat light-hearted approach to the matter if i'm to retain my sanity for any length of time. on top of the whole election fiasco, mainland china is blatantly planning to undermine chen's authority while expanding its own influence on the island. what bugs me about the situation is that if it were the u.s. in china's place (as it has been in past western hemisphere elections) the worldwide community would be up in arms about us sticking our nose where it doesn't belong and how it's so wrong to tamper with a democratically elected institution. but i guess since it's china and not the u.s., it's ok, cuz nobody is making a stink about it worth smelling.
while we're on the whole china/taiwan subject, i want to let the u.s. state department know that they definitely left their collective balls at home when they came up with our supposed "stance" on china-taiwan relations. i really wish someone would grow a pair and tell mainland china to back off. yes, i know they consider taiwan a renegade province, but that's what great britain said about the 13 colonies in 1776, and we all know how that worked out for them, dont we?
i'll admit i'm wholly oppposed to beijing's persecution of the christian church, repression of the general population, and poor human rights record (but that can be said about pretty much any country in the world). but more than that, if we're going to claim ourselves defenders of the free world and democracy, why don't we support taiwan? 2 million people chose not to be part of the communist revolution that swept the mainland after wwII, and set up a democratically elected government that has been functioning for over 50 years now. in the meantime, we've fought a war in korea, another in vietnam, and two in iraq (at least 17 years of open hostilities), all in the name of freedom and democracy, but we wont even recognize taiwan as a legitimate government?
the worst thing about it is i know that money is at the bottom of our foreign-policy in the taiwan strait. china has the potential to become one of, if not the biggest economy in the world, and all the money grubbing politicians are afraid to piss them off because we want access to that development and for our businesses to be able to set up shop over there. problem is they're not cooperating very much in that sense (at least not enough for me), even after a string of 'most favored trading nation' rubber stamps over the past few years. basically, i feel like we're doing the whole free market thing with them, but they're not reciprocating to an equal degree. we're so committed to the free market economy, why can't we do the same for democracy? because the all-mighty dollar has become our new god. and that, ladies and gentlemen, explains the mess we see in this world.
symphonic melodies: green day - haushinka
brain eats: the lord of the rings part III: the return of the king by j.r.r. tolkien
