All the muss/fuss/cuss about books and books we should read and books we should keep our kids away from and speculative fiction, etc.: Part 3 of 8.

So I'm back to reading several books at once again. I was good for awhile. The Brothers Karamazov was a highly absorbing book and quite long besides, so I absolutely had to focus on that book alone. And I finished finally (this was about a month ago and it was started in early fall of last year). Then I read one of Elise's favorite stories, Their Eyes Were Watching God and had no trouble finishing that one without picking up something else because it was short and highly absorbing.

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I'll admit that I actually did pick up another book, but read only a little of it. That book was The Mystery of Things by A.C. Grayling. I saw it on the new books shelf at the library and on a whim checked it out. I came to enjoy it quite a lot. From there I got interested in quantum mechanics and got a book about it. I'd like to read some more (I've only just begun) but am distracted by other books, and plus I have misplaced it somewhere in our apartment. I have recently read a little T.C. Boyle short stories and also decided to read Catch-22 because it is supposedly one of finest works of 20th century English fiction. It is a difficult book to read.

I found a stack of the book The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood in the classroom where I'm substituting today. I've been wanting to read that book and even requested a hold on it at the library. So I decided to try reading a little of that instead of reading Catch-22, which I even brought with me.

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One last book that is in the process of being read is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which I read snippets of here and there during freetime substituting at elementary or middle schools. I'll admit that I like this one better than the first, which, after reading, I decided I would not read any of the rest. Now I can probably see myself doing just the opposite.

Still, I'm not sure what the big fuss about these books is.

But don't get me wrong... I've drastically reversed my once-held belief (espoused at least three and half years ago) that the Harry Potter books were pure evil and it was a shock that every pulpit in America was not denouncing them or some such utterly moronic ridiculousness. I have no problem with them whatsoever. They are fiction and fantasy and if a child cannot see the difference between the books and reality then I feel terribly sorry for their well-being. I might even read the books to my own child when he is ready for chapter books.

That said, I'm not exactly sold (yet) on their literary brilliance or something. There is perhaps much better writing to engross ourselves in, many such works of classic literature that should be read first. And I'm not worried about my child not reading (for those of you thinking that, well, at least they are reading). Still, I would not bar him from reading Harry Potter for any reason whatsoever.

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This page of inquiry of idiosyncracy started as a discussion-blurb about my compulsive desire to read many things at once. It ended with a small discussion-rant about Harry Potter. I don't know what that means, but if anyone can tell me, Great!

The mystery of being godless: an inquiry of idiosyncracies part 2 of 8.

Well, it turns out that my new little friend, Mr. A.C. Grayling is something of a secular humanist. I still like his writing, but boy-oh-boy is he critical of "the Church" which I take to mean the Roman Catholic Church, because much/most of what he says in regards to "the Church" is more or less true of that Western institution (sorry, now I sound slightly critical).

But now, let's see, I once read somewhere that the Christian faith, that is true Christian Orthodoxy, is the true materialism; and it would not be a stretch to say that it is the true humanism (after all, didn't Christ exalt humanity by His very embodiment of it?).

"The Mystery of Things" has made me think and there is much, much, much that is quite good about it. Still, I'm not about to become a secular humanist. There is too much stain and fallen-ness upon the human record to exalt it to an "ism". I prefer to aspire to be a little Christ. Christ is the true religion, and yet devotion of Him is ultimately the opposite of religion.

Yes, I've said enough.

All my... inadequacies... intricacies... idiocies... imbecilities... inconsistencies... Idiosyncracies! revealed. Part 1 of 8 (?)

Lately I've been reading various things. I somehow got drawn into the world of quantum theory/mechanics. I'm reading a book called Quantum, in fact. It is fascinating stuff. It simultaneously makes me question human existence and the "reality" of a spiritual world, while giving me a newfound awe of this world created by a Power greater than creation itself, indeed a Power that Himself becamse a part of creation and died a very mortal death. Do me a favor and look up A.C. Grayling's The Mystery of Things. Read the whole book. It is a lot to chew on, but for being highly philosophical, it is quite readable.

Elise made me my birthday present (at long last!). It is a brown corduroy bag, a satchel, or "man-purse" if you please. I love it to death. It gives me a more professorial air; much more, that is, than the high-school/tech-looking backpack I previously used. Do I sense more respect and recognition of my actual age coming from peers/co-workers?

I have many idiosyncracies. I like my hair and the fact that I am often considered much younger than I actually am. I like working at Starbucks for the mere stipend that I receive. I thoroughly enjoy black licorice, and even the so-called "salty licorice" (zoutedrop) from the Netherlands. I am currently learning German because I couldn't find tapes or CDs for learning Dutch (but I did get a book about spoken Dutch). There are many more things idiosyncratic about my life, including the utmost devotion I have for my family and how beautiful--how much more profoundly beautiful than all others--I think they are, and also how I often question my faith and motivations for being religious while realizing I'd be horribly empty and depraved without that element of my life. God has blessed and I like who I am. That much I can say.

We live as we must, in a big little world surrounded simultaneously by light and dark: "Let us take upon's the mystery of things..."

(Life on a Saturnian moon?)

Don't become jaded by this minimalism called industry co-mingled with post-modern pop music.

Downtown Wheaton. A freight train is passing through. I turned off the car except for the tape player, which was playing Peng! by that group Stereolab. The sunroof was back, because it is a sunny day and 45 (7) degrees. You can tell spring is approaching when a cold sunny day makes your car a comfortable oven. So the sunroof goes back. Stereolab is great driving music. It was a delicious accompaniment to the industrial art of the freight train passing.