Bah!

That's all for today:
Bah!

Just Plain Thursday

I can just hear him now: "Don't you mean fifth day?"
The non-plain fellow is John the Evangelist, taken from a medieval illuminated manuscript (or something like that). The quote, however, is taken out of context: it was originally aimed at a young woman who bears a striking resemblance to Mai.

I realize that Plain-man doesn't look like Che Guevara, but I suspect that the reference will make a few people laugh (now that's some obscurely self-referential humor!)
On a completely different topic:
When reading, it's always good to use the principle of charity. However, sometimes it's more fun to take the author literally. Here's rewritten Darwin:
"Our 'imaginary ideas' arise from the monkeys of the soul..."
Speaking of monkeys of the soul, I think it's time for class.

Tuesday afternoon

Not much to say right now, but I thought you might like new cartoons.
Well, as NBC used to say: they're new to you.

The sun is shining: a good day to walk.

Everything frozen melts

And everyone gets wet.

Sometimes it's just like that.

Natural Law

Thus, the Wahhabis know only two mortal sins: having a god other than the Wahhabi god, and smoking (which they call "the infamous way of drinking").
"And what about murder and adultery?" asked the Englishman who found this out, amazed.
"God is gracious and merciful," replied the old chief.

-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (trans Kaufmann)



I doubt that Dr. Grabill would approve; but who knows?

Spiderman, spiderman...

Maybe it's just me, but I find it difficult to say grace before a meal when the theme from "Spiderman" is playing in the background.
Not the movie, either: the cartoon.
And it was played by a mariachi band.
Aye Carumba!

(I promise: cartoons tomorrow.)

Plain Man

It was recently pointed out to me that, despite promises, I haven't posted any Plain Man cartoons. Here's a start.


Any similarity to R. Scot Miller is coincidental: I'm just not that good of an artist.

The quotes are his, though.

And, on a related note, I'm looking forward to seeing more of Brother Blüz. Perhaps even on a tshirt!






I guess I should explain a few of the references: Antonio Negri is an Italian Marxist who has co-authored a book called Empire.

And 'emotivism' is a philosophical theory according to which moral judgments are expressions of our non-cognitive preferences, rather than being grounded in reason.

At least my obscure references aren't merely self-referential.
Not today.

Who sits on your shoulders?

Why does the popular depiction of a person wrestling with a decision place a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other? Close observation reveals that the decision is rarely one between the "right thing" and the "wrong thing." More often, Icarus tempts one to fly to the sun, while a moth notes that a candle will accomplish the same goal. Or an ostrich and a penguin argue about the true nature of wings.

Or, among many men today, Pinocchio and Peter Pan debate the pros and cons of maturity.

The sun is shining again; I like blue skies in winter. I didn't see much of that growing up.

I couldn't resist

"I do not like the plains and it seems I cannot sit still for long."

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (trans. Adrian Del Caro)

That friend speaks my mind!

On Poets

"Yet what did Zarathustra once say to you? That the poets lie too much? -But Zarathustra too is a poet.

Do you believe now that he speaks the truth here? Why do you believe that?"

Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (trans. Adrian Del Caro)

I realize that some of you Quakers out there might be thinking, "yes, we know you're reading Nietzsche--but what canst thou say?"

Here are a bunch of cartoons: that's what I say.

Mr. Miro too is a poet; do you believe now that he speaks the truth here?

Why do you believe that?

I seem to have left out a name in the final cartoon: shall we have a guessing game?

(Which is to say: do you think you have ESP?)

Speaking in a Parable

A Jesus Christ was possible only in a Jewish landscape--I mean one over which the gloomy and sublime thunder clouds of the wrathful Jehovah hovered continually. Here alone was the rare and sudden piercing of a single sunbeam through the gruesome general and perpetual day-night experienced as a miracle of 'love', as the ray of the most undeserved 'grace'. Only here could Christ dream of his rainbow and his heavenly ladder on which God descended to man; everywhere else good weather and sunshine were too much of a rule and everyday occurence.

-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (trans. Josefine Nauckoff)

Sunshine, perhaps; but I doubt that Nietzsche had an Indiana winter in mind when he wrote this.

Für Elise

"Frosty the Snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye
Saying don't you cry
I'll be back again some day"

Later this week in fact. But right now there's a little girl (Elise) who needs me elsewhere.

Hopefully it will have warmed up by the time I return. I might be a snowman, but even I don't like having frost inside my house.

The Pen Scribbles

My pen, it scribbles: this is hell!
Have I been damned to have to scribble?-
I dip it boldly in the well
and write broad streams of inky drivel.
See how it flows, so full, so pure!
See how each thing I try succeeds!
The text's not lucid, to be sure-
So what? What I write no one reads.

-Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (trans Adrian Del Caro)



Have I mentioned that I really like Nietzsche?

Fan Art: Happy Birthday!

I think the band is the Stylites; I'm surprised there isn't a drummer in there, but who can resist a band consisting in a trumpet, saxophone, and bass?
Singing, I realize, is somewhat more problematic; but as you can see, I play saxophone as well.



("I saw it on the web, so it must be true!")

God's honesty

A god who is all-knowing and all-powerful and who does not even make sure that his creatures understand his intention--could that be a god of goodness? Who allows countless doubts and dubieties to persist, for thousands of years, as though the salvation of mankind were unaffected by them, and who on the other hand holds out the prospect of frightful consequences if any mistake is made as to the nature of the truth? Would he not be a cruel god if he possessed the truth and could behold mankind miserably tormenting itself over the truth?
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Daybreak (trans R.J. Hollingdale)

Am I ready for a new semester at seminary or what?

On the bright side, someone seems to have forgotten to log off of pandora: so when I went to listen to my funky jazz, I was instead treated with some soothing acoustic music. I give David Grisman and Tony Rice a thumbs up!

New seas

Would someone—preferably someone who identifies as evangelical—explain why evangelicals try to defend Jerry Falwell?

In contrast: Daniel C. Dennett is one of my people, but I still find him embarrassing on occasion.

Painting with James

Back in Virginia, I painted with a fellow named James; I didn’t like painting houses, but I liked working with him. I think he enjoyed working with me, too, but I know that he often found me amusing.

I think he sees me as an idiot savant, capable of talking at length and depth with authority about various issues in philosophy, politics, psychology, but then plant my foot into a bucket of paint, or some such foolishness.

One time we were painting a house out on Maiden Lane, owned by this old woman who drank heavily; it wasn’t the most fun job we’d ever worked on.
On the final day, we left by the back door rather than the front, and walked through the gate at the side of the house towards his truck after making a last sweep of the inside; we weren’t carrying any equipment, and we weren’t in any hurry. I was wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled fairly low; and I suppose I should mention that James is about a head taller than me, so he saw the two-inch pipes coming out of the side of the house not quite six feet above the ground. I didn’t: I walked right into the lowest pipe without even slowing down. My knees buckled, and I fell to the ground.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
It took me a minute to answer, but I guess I was.
I was mad at the pipes, but it was really my own fault: there it was, plain as day, any fool could have seen it coming but I didn’t. Why do I do things like that?

It seems that today's doodles were unconsciously taken from this.
My mistake: I've lost track of the time. Yesterday's doodles.

Cookie time!

A friend and I were heading to lunch this past weekend, and he asked me what I'd like to eat.
"I'd really like some good Chinese food," I replied.
"Um.... well, we could go to the best Chinese restaurant in town. But it's still not good."
So we went to Applebee's and drank root beer all afternoon.


I guess that story is beside the point: I'm just surprised that I have so many fortunes from fortune cookies, since I never eat Chinese food in this town.



I guess that's all I have today.

Straw men

There are times when one might wish to paraphrase someone else's argument, and perhaps state the underlying sentiment a bit more strongly than the author originally had. There are two potential pitfalls with this:
first, you may misrepresent the views of the author.
Second, other people may take you to be stating your own views, rather than restating the author's views.
All of this is to say, I worry that someone around here thinks I called him an idiot, which wasn't my intention at all.
The humorous upshot of this, however, was that he basically said that he didn't think I was a Christian. Hm, maybe not.

Hebrew Scripture Kinda Day

I don't know why it's a Hebrew Scripture kinda day, it just is.



More insomnia, lots of strange dreams when I did finally sleep, and dreams within dreams, a first for me (that is, I had a dream, and then in the next dream I said to one of the characters, "Oh, I had dream about that last night"--and then more things I had just dreamed about started happening in that dream).