Antiquitopia

St. Augustine has an interesting reflection on his "wicked" acts in his youth: I had no motive for my wickedness except for wickedness itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved the self-destruction, I loved my fall, not the objecto for which I had fallen but my fall itself. My depraved soul leaped down from your firmament to ruin. I was seeking not to gain anything by shameful means, but shame for its own sake. (Augustine, Confessions 2.4(9); trans. Henry Chadwick). What was Augustine's great depravity in his soul? What great sin had he committed for the sake of wickedness and shame itself? A fall that he enjoyed not for the end, but for the fall itself? He stole a pear. Can you think of a more wicked and evil act? (An extra note: sadly, the translator of these lines, Henry Chadwick, died last year. He will be sorely missed.)

"They can dress me up as they please," said Sancho. "Whatever clothes they put me in I'll still be Sancho Panza." (Cervantes, Don Quixote II, XLII; trans. John Rutherford) I like Sancho. He says some ridiculous things, mixes his proverbs up, and, at times, comes out as extraordinarily profound without realizing it. He reminds me of another sidekick character of Samwise or Sam in the Lord of the Rings : loyal, naive, folksy, and occasionally profound. Sancho, here, says that not matter how he is dressed up, as a peasant or as a governor, he will still be himself. The dress, in fact, reflects such stations or classes in life. One's station is like clothing: it can come and go and change, but the self endures and remains. It is almost Platonic, but clothed in everyday situations.

Picture a space at the heart of the world, between the earth, the sea and teh sky, on the frontiers of all three parts of the universe. Here there are eyes for whatever goes on, no matter how distant; and here there are ears whose hollows no voice can fail to penetrate. This is the kingdom of Rumour, who chose to live on a mountain, with numberless entrances into her house and a thousand additional holes, though none of her thresholds are barred with a gate or a door. Open by night and by day, constructed entirely of sounding brass, the whole place hums and echoes, repeating whatever it hears. Not one of the rooms is silent or quiet, but none is disturbed by shouting. The noise is merely a murmuring babble, low like the waves of the sea which you hear from afar, or the last faint rumble of thunder, when storm-black clouds have clashed in the sky. The hall is filled by a crowd which is constantly coming and going, a flimsy throng of a thousand rumours, true and fictitious, wandering f...

Huh? Penguins? In China? From Weird News at About.com: Who says China isn't a bastion for Civil Liberties? At least their gay penguins can marry. Two besotted male birds at China's Polarland wildlife park have just waddled down the isle to icy nuptial bliss. And, of course, both partners wore tuxedoes. But like any marriage, behind the live music, revelry and sumptuous servings of herring, there lurked adversity. I'm not just talking about cold feet. Both grooms are, after all, South Pole natives. As Britain's Sun reported, zookeepers once tried to isolate the gay lovebirds because they were stealing heterosexual couples' eggs for their own nest. Finally, officials let them to care for eggs rejected by other mothers. The gays are now considered the zoo's best penguin parents. As a newlywed myself, I say to them, "L'Chaim!" I call on gay zoo animals of the world to take the plunge. You don't need an opposable thumb to tie this kind of knot! .....

If you are a vegetarian or kosher, this is not for you. This is about bacon, and more bacon, lots and lots of bacon...and some sausage. I am speaking of a recipe posted on a blog that is getting so many hits on the web, that the NYTimes took notice . It is the Bacon Explosion . Please take a look, write down the recipe, and then, if I am coming over, try the recipe out. ;) All I can say is it looks absolutely beautiful, and it is making me hungry. Mmmmmmmm.....baaaaacooooon.

I have to say, I have never even thought of that question before Rebecca Lesses brought attention to this political ad by the Israeli Green Leaf Party whose primary platform is the legalization of marijuana. They are trying to garner support for this platform through Holocaust survivors: Weird!

I just stumbled onto a University of Texas site, Dante's World . It is very cool. You can enter either the Inferno, Purgatorio, or Paradiso. Every few cantos have options to view famous artistic renderings of those scenes, such as those by Blake. It also gives key images, explains some lines, gives an audio line or two in Italian, and offers study questions. All in all, a worthwhile site, even for the artistic renderings alone!