Life of Pi

I just finished with The Life of Pi, a novel by Yann Martel. I highly recommend this novel to all UU's and others that take the time to read a blog about my spirituality. In fact, the first I heard of this novel was from Wednesday night vespers at UUCA.

The main character, Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi for short, was raised Hindu, decides to become a Christian and a Muslim. "I just want to love God," says the teenager who gathers joys from the various perspectives of spirituality. His family runs a Zoo in India, but decides to move to Canada. The boat sinks and he has to survive for 227 days on a rescue boat with a zebra, a 450-pound Bengali tiger by the name of Richard Parker, a hyena, orangutan, various insects and other pestilence. After a a few days, only Pi and Richard parker remain.

The allegories abound as Pi spends several hundred days at sea. Richard Parker represents the animal in all of us, and Pi must come to terms with this new relationship. The issue of reality and faith are also covered very well.

“I can well imagine an atheist’s last words: ‘White, white! L-L-Love! My God!’–and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas the agnostics, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays beholden to dry yeastless factuality, might try to explain the warm light bathing him by saying, ‘Possibly a f-f-failing oxygenation of the b-b-brain,’ and, to the very end, lack the imagination and miss the better story."

More events happen along those themes, but I'll try not to ruin the story, since it's such a fun read. Also math geeks might see the significance of Pi being at sea for 227 days. For everyone else, pi = 22/7.

Overall, it was a great story that I am sure any UU will enjoy. Read it before the movie comes out.

Announcing - The DRAGON CONspiracy

Disclosure: I am part of Digitribe Productions. This is a bit off topic, but will prove to be good fun. Click here for the original announcement.

Greetings Citizen!

I'm pleased to announce that DigiTribe Productions will be producing a Live-Action version of the popular Paranoia RPG at Dragon*Con 2007 in Atlanta, GA the weekend of August 31-September 3. Digitribe Productions has brought you many fun games in the past including Night's Children and R.E.L.I.C., and also brought you Geekin'.

The game will run continuously from Friday night until Sunday evening with primary plot hours occurring Friday 1900-2100, Saturday 1300-1800, and Sunday 1300-1800. The Primary storyline will advance during these three session windows, however players are encouraged to continue game play throughout the day and night if they so wish.

The LARP system being used has been specially developed for this type of convention game and has been streamlined for ease of play, speedy resolutions, and quick learning curves.

Registration for the game is $19.84 - and includes six lives (clones) of your assigned character. To pre-register please visit http://www.digitribe.net/paranoia. The game is written for a maximum of 200 players, so act now and get your name on The Computer's roll sheet.

The official game description is as follows:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ATTENTION SELECTED CITIZENS

As you may be aware, for the last <CLASSIFIED/indigo> years, certain citizens have been selected for a relaxation experiment. This year, you have been selected for this honor. The computer requests that you report to the CON sector. Attendance is mandatory. Failure to attend is treason.

You are ordered to take two days of holiday. You will be taken off of Visomorpain for the duration. You will be given an extra dose of Xanitrick. All citizens WILL enjoy themselves. Computer-approved jumpsuits are not mandatory for this period. Citizens are encouraged to dress in festive costumes based on Computer-approved video dramas. Citizens MUST avoid work during this relaxation period. Citizens MUST accomplish all mandated tasks as normal. Happiness is mandatory.

<CLASSIFIED/red>
This "holiday" is essential to long-term evaluation of infrared response to adjustments in medical dosages and work schedule. CON sector will be sealed until infrared citizens return to normal parameters, so their “colorful antics” do not disturb other citizens. It is essential that you help collect data on infrared behavior during this period without interfering in their behavior.

This experiment may result in increased treasonous activity. You are required to report to the CON sector main Computer terminal for troubleshooting assignments. Troubleshooters will receive work assignments to uncover seditious activity. Failure to report will be regarded as treason. Refusal to work will be regarded as treason. Clearance Red and above citizens are not exempt from the prohibition against working during the experiment.

Due to a treasonous, communist attack on a local plant, Multicorder devices will not be available for requisition on the festival weekend. Since Multicorder records are very helpful in establishing treason beyond a shadow of a doubt, all troubleshooters are encouraged to bring personal Multicorder devices for use in missions during the experiment. Fines for possession of a Multicorder of unauthorized clearance will be waived for the duration of the experiment. Troubleshooters bringing personal Multicorders will be Commended. It is treasonous to use a Multicorder of a level beyond your clearance.

Drinking Liberally

Being a single dad, I can't really dedicate a weeknight to drinking, but maybe I'll call up the parents to babysit every now and then. Regardless, I definitely wanted to share.

What is Drinking Liberally?

An informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher. Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics. You don't need to be a policy expert and this isn't a book club - just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, vent frustration and hang out in an environment where it's not taboo to talk politics.

Bars are democratic spaces - you talk to strangers, you share booths, you feel the bond of common ground. Bring democratic discourse to your local democratic space - build democracy one drink at a time.

While drinking liberally, always remember to drink responsibly, and make liberal use of designated drivers. Drinking and driving is reckless and irresponsible, like a neocon war or corporatist tax cut. Liberals, don't do it.

Atlanta, Georgia

• Every Thursday, 8:00 pm onward
• Thinking Man's Tavern, 537 W Howard Ave, Decatur (map)
• Hosted by atlanta (at) drinkingliberally.org
• Join the Atlanta mailing list
• Discuss in the Atlanta forum

Open Letter to Dr. Laura

Snopes could not confirm the authenticity or the origin of the letter, but it's still great fun. It's interesting how religions pick and choose from their holy books to decide which ones to adhere to strictly and which are now archaic.

---

On her radio show recently, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet.

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law.

I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. ... End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Law and how to follow them.

1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15:19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,

unknown

UUCA is hiring

UUCA is seeking an individual to fill the Office Administrator position. Hours for this position are Monday from Friday 9:00 am. – 5:00 pm and the salary is $25,500 per year with benefits. (The job description for this position is below.)

To apply for the position email: swiseman@uuca.org or mail to: UUCA, 1911 Cliff Valley Way NE, Atlanta, GA 30329.

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

About UUCA: UUCA is a 53-year-old progressive faith community with 800+ members and pledging friends, a large religious education program and an active calendar of children/youth/adult activities, including community forums and spiritual growth groups and classes. (Go to uuca.org for more information.)

Mission: To ensure UUCA's front office projects a welcoming environment and operates efficiently and in accordance with established policies and procedures.

Position Description: Under the supervision of the Business Manager, the Office Administrator performs assigned duties in the areas of office management, clerical support, and volunteer support.

Responsibilities:

Office Management:

• Open and close the office, set up equipment, make coffee
• Manage outer office calls and traffic
• Create atmosphere of hospitality and service
• Sort incoming mail
• Direct incoming requests to appropriate recipient, perform triage
• Order office supplies
• Manage service on office equipment
• Assist patrons of art gallery with purchases
• Enter and update information into the database.
• Enters building use requests

Clerical Support

• Assist the Business Manager and performs assigned tasks
• Compile, print and collate the weekly Order of Service and weekly inserts
• Create forms, layouts for brochures, booklets
• Generate labels, creates reports, handle copying/printing
• Maintain accounts payable, investigate and clear discrepancies and process checks
• Manage mailing operations
• Post schedules in foyer and at all meeting rooms

Volunteer/Staff Support

• Assist other ministry teams with clerical support as assigned by the Business Manager
• Keep lists, take reservations, convey messages, make invitations, generate mailings, create reports, disseminate information, and perform other similar office functions

Life goes on...

The roller coaster is over. Yup, seems like someone else got on the ride before I could get my head straight. Man, what a crazy week. I did manage to learn a few things. You can have everything that you want in a mate. There is no need to settle. The walls to my heart seem strong, but are not. Exposing all of my skeletons early-on probably saved me heartache later. There are smart girls out there that are also very pretty. There are girls out there that are my equivalent, someone who can stand beside me, not in front or behind me (wait.... did I just slip into country music?)

Sigh. I must not get too sappy. I've been toughening myself up for the last few days because of the inevitable. I am still happy I met this girl. Maybe I can win the lottery twice.

Until then I'll switch this blog back to spiritual matters. (I know... love and the pursuit of such can be very spiritual, but I need to focus on something else for a while.)

Cindy Sheehan comes to UUCA

From Atlanta WAND:

There will be a reception in the lobby of 7 Stages Theatre from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm. Cindy will also make a short presentation before the introduction of the play "Marx in Soho." Note: Those wishing to meet and hear Cindy Sheehan, should purchase a ticket to "Marx in Soho," which will also support the fundraising effort for the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition. If purchasing your tickets online and by phone, please make sure to mention "georgia peace," so the proceeds get credited to the coalition. 7 Stages is located in Little Five Points on Euclid Ave www.7stages.org or 404-523-7647.

The following morning, Sunday, July 15th, Cindy and her caravan members will be at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation (1911 Cliff Valley Way NE) services at 10am, mingle during the coffee and bagel session afterwards and then participate in the peace vigil at 11:30 at N. Duid Hills and Clairmont Ave.

Now someone's just messing with me

I decided to go check out my blog stats. I look over at my google searches and found a good one:

unitarian universalist love machine and pornsite filmmaker. . . ;-)

Anyone want to fess up to this one? Is it a good or bad thing that I am already the #1 hit for this google search?

Near Death Experience

I work from home and have a turned my sun room into an office. So I am surrounded by windows. One window has a large, beautiful spiderweb covering it. A bumblebee just flew into it. I watched as she tried to pull herself free. Then she started to roll around, which I thought would make it worse. But her size and weight allowed to break free and live another day.

It was only 3 seconds long, but that's a bumblebee with a new lease on life.

The Roller Coaster of Dating

In one short week I went from being content with being single, to finding the woman of my dreams, to entering into emotional limbo. I feel like posting as a way to process my feelings. I already wrote on post earlier on my personal Live Journal, but have already deleted that one. I still feel like writing.

Have you ever had something that was too good to be true? 2006 was like that for me. I won custody of my daughter, found a good girlfriend, got a good job, got a good car, moved into a good neighborhood, and found UUCA. This was in contrast to 2005, where I was living in an unknown city with no friends, only saw Audrey 2 out of every 6 weeks, had no dating life, and was unemployed for 6 months.

So all during 2006, I kept saying that things were too good to be true. I was waiting for the anvil to drop at any time. I only had temporary custody of Audrey. I had huge divorce debt that would swallow me alive if I lost my job. Things was good, but I know it could all disappear at a moment's notice.

Now it's 2007 and I still have my job (with a few raises), won permanent custody of Audrey, finalized my divorce, going to be a lay minister for UUCA, and have reduced my debt immensely. I decided to part ways with the girlfriend a few months ago. Things were going so well, that I was content with being a single father. I also recently found a great social life through the 20s/30s group from UUCA. I still pursued an occasional date, but had no intentions of getting serious with anyone.

Isn't that when it always happens?

The timing was unreal. I decided to redo my online personals profile. She had just created her profile. She was the first email I sent that morning. My email was the first one she received. We chatted all day via email. Then we chatted for 5 hours on the phone that night. Then we had out first date the following night -- a 10.5 date that neither of us wanted to end. We've seen each other every day this week, usually sacrificing sleep to do so. And it was all too much.

Too much for her, and too much for me. She was the first to admit it. But we both felt it. So she stepped back to take a breather, and that's a good thing. Maybe it will save things, maybe we already broke it. You would hope that something as powerful as we had for the last few days can survive a reboot. Now I am in a place that I am sure many of you have been, emotional limbo. It's a odd place -- little bit of pain, little bit of guilt. And a lot of uncertainty laced with hope. Sigh -- So goes the dating life.

Well, this post served it's purpose. I feel much better now. Doesn't change the reality of things, but it's good therapy.

I went looking for a look for a good Emerson quote to go out with a bang and help support my story. Instead I found one that contradicts it and reminds me that my happiness is not the most important thing in the world.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Best Blog post today - punchline included!

I found this gem by Barbara Merritt on UU World. It's an excerpt from Amethyst Beach: Meditations, copyright 2007 by Barbara Merritt (Skinner House Books). Read down to the last line.

...

The thing I found most remarkable about the vehicle in front of us was that we owned it. My husband and younger son were driving our Jeep up to Maine, and we followed. After staring at our car for some miles, and noticing the attention it was attracting from drivers-by, I decided that this was an auspicious moment to have a discussion with my older child about “nonmaterialism.” I explained, trying to keep a straight face, that his father and I were dedicated to an ethic of simplicity, diminishing consumption, and intentional reduction in material accumulation.

My son greeted this pronouncement with hysterical laughter. Even I had to chuckle. But I was persistent, and after his raucous laughter subsided, I explained how, throughout our married life we had, both of us, consistently chosen jobs that paid less, even when we were offered positions that paid more; how we had invested our modest resources into education and travel rather than in real estate and furniture; and how we tried constantly to decrease our dependence and reliance on material wealth. Notwithstanding the visual evidence to the contrary, we were working to simplify our lifestyle.

Robert listened to everything I said, and then he replied, “I understand Mom. You and Dad are nonmaterialistic. You just aren’t very good at it.”

Classic.