BrockLi Soup

Way back in December, I was reading Dinesh D’Souza’s What’s So Great About Christianity? and trying to keep an open mind about it. Which was tough, because it was pretty awful.

Around Christmas, I finished writing up my notes and rebuttals, but never really got around to polishing it up and citing better references and what have you. After four months, I’ve decided that I probably never will, so I’m just posting what I wrote then:

(Another old, unpublished post from April 4, 2005. Didn’t change anything.)

One of the books I’ve been in the middle of for weeks is Fear and Loathing in America, vol 2, by Hunter S. Thompson. It’s a collection of letters he wrote between 1968 and 1976 to “a virtual who’s who of the era.”

No one writes letters these days. No one uses typewriters. The immediacy of desktop publishing and e-mail has taken something away from the meaning of the written word. Will our generation leave behind letters to be found in the attic by our grandchildren in 40 or 50 years? Unlikely.

Check out this hilarious site for No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July. The images resize to fill the window, so make your browser window narrow or the bottom gets cut off.

(via Justinsomnia)

I want to write a book.

Some years ago, I started the List of Things To Do Before I Die, but I only got as far as “write a book” and “skydive.” And since I can’t afford to go skydiving any time soon, I figure that writing the book is the only thing on my list that I can do (aside from #3: “finish list”).

Problem is, I don’t know what to write. I’ve got a couple of ideas, but one will require more money than I’ve got, and the other will keep me from holding down a steady job (these aren’t “sit down and write” book ideas, they’re “spend a year doin’ shit and THEN write” ideas).

Of course, when I’ve actually got time to write, I wind up reading, thinking that I need to read a lot of good stuff before I can write any good stuff - a reasonable conclusion, I think. But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have anything to write when I’m not reading. My life hasn’t been interesting enough for any kind of memoir, and I don’t know enough about any particular subject to write much about it, except maybe Getting By On Six Bucks A Day After Spending Your Paycheck The Friday You Get It, but the only people interested in that wouldn’t be able to afford it.

So, if you’ve got ideas, let me know. I figure a best seller is more likely than landing the lottery, and I could use some cash.

If you want to survive the next zombie outbreak, you should consider grabbing a copy of this book. I picked it up because I thought it would be funny, but it turned out to be pretty interesting. It’s written with a “this is going to happen, prepare yourself” kind of attitude, and really gets into the best ways to handle, you know, a zombie uprising. I especially liked the Recorded Attacks section, detailing zombie outbreaks all the way up to 2002.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pick up some canned goods and a machete.

So, here’s a tip for you readers: before buying a book, take a gander at the cover. Even if it does have pictures of donkeys and elephants and that chick from Wonkette, check to see if it says “a novel” on the front if you’re expecting a political commentary or stories from the Hill.

That being said, Dog Days was pretty good, even if it wasn’t what I was expecting and was the literary equivalent of a chick flick.

Just know what you’re getting into.

I started this book two weeks ago at Ryan’s suggestion. He mentioned it several times in conversation and kept telling me I would love it, so I couldn’t pass it up when I found it on the Media Play bargain racks for less than $8. It’s a collection of stories about people who have been asking themselves (appropriately) what they should do with their lives. Some of them are success stories, while others are still looking for their path in life. It came to me at a good time; with graduation looming, I’ve been trying to figure out what the hell I should be doing in a year. I’ll post a review when I finish it.