I have been neglecting my internet life. My Google Reader has over 1000 items in it. Most are blogs and webcomics that I used to follow religiously. I haven't been posting, or tweeting, or commenting, or anything on the internet of late; hell, I'm even behind on my pr0n. Serious slacking has been taking place, in all maters not directly related to school.
Today, however, I'm feeling like I have time for other things again. I feel like I have time to write - that I must write. It's good to emerge into the light again. I attribute this rejuvenation to two things. First, I went to see "The Men Who Stare at Goats" which I heartily recommend to anyone who can relax and enjoy the humor of it without getting all worked up over the tax dollars spent in the pursuit of psychic powers. Secondly, I came across a quotation the other day from Merton. That's Thomas, the Trappist monk, not Robert, the sociologist.
"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times."
I do that. Sociology is not a field for worriers, as we are steeped in the evidence of man's failure to live with himself in any numbers. The puzzle of how to adjust our ancient brains - designed to respond to the hazards of living in small groups on the savanna, armed with pointed sticks - to the paved and air conditioned world we have built to house our millions keeps some of us up at night. I'm one of those.
But Merton is right - it is a violence that I do to myself. I'm not likely to solve that puzzle by forcing myself into an intellectual fugue. I am much more likely to write something worthwhile, either on this blog or sociologically, when I am relaxed. Which leads me to our poll for this week - drugs! Please give your honest response (which is completely anonymous and untraceable) to the poll at right. If your favorite drug isn't listed, please feel free to mention it in the comments (which aren't anonymous at all...).
The Violence of Our Times
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7 comments:
So in the poll, I said caffeine - but I think it is more specific than that - it is tea. Tea calms me down, cheers me up, soothes my stomach, energizes me... really all the things a good drug does. And it is healthy.
But I should say that Nutella is a close second, and then an occasional glass of wine or cocktail...
But it is mainly tea.
While I have to vote caffeine, I have recently discovered the goodness that is rum and coke - with Cap't Morgan's Tattoo. Sorry Cerus, I'm drinking all your cooking rum.
There's no such thing as "cooking rum," honey - he made that up to keep you out of his stash... ;)
I am that boring person that put nothing . . . I occasionally have a drink, but haven't been drunk in ages. I sometimes have caffeine (usually in the form of cola, tea or chocolate) but can go days or weeks without it. My addictions right now tend more towards the TV and movie watching variety, not the mind altering. Maybe I am really boring, but I am also pretty happy, so . . .
I am joining Becca in the boring category. None of the poll choices hold my interest for very long, if at all. However, Haagen-Dazs, the chocolate peanut butter to be precise, is always good and is something I vary rarely turn down.
Chocolate goes in the caffeine group. It is the tastiest and yet weakest way to get it into your system...
I am a heavy caffiene addict these days.
(heavy being relative to me and my habitual history).
I love me some hot tea, in mass quanitities.
Lately i have found myself drinking 12 oz
of coffee 5 days a week as well which is
alot for me. Usually i'm not a coffee gal at all.
My system is now so akin to having a certain level of caffiene that when i deprive it of that level - i actually get withdrawal headaches. hehehe
BTW - I MISSED you LINUS! **big huggles**
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