Tebowing

The first time I heard of Tebowing was with this article. When you do not follow sports, you have to expect to be out of the loop on some things. I guess Tebowing is not as big as 'planking' for LJ and the ONTD crowds and all the Bieber people. It is good to see that Christianity is not just about narrow mindedness and homophobia and sheer quackery. It can be a good idealistic philosophy, even if it can still be easily associated with the worst of Western imperialism and intolerance.

_ _ _

When the Detroit Lions’ Stephen Tulloch sacked Tim Tebow in the first quarter of their week eight matchup, the linebacker immediately kneeled next to the prone Denver quarterback, in a mockery of Tebow’s habit of praying on-field, most recently seen after his miraculous fourth-quarter comeback against the Dolphins the week before.

The insult coincided with and reinforced the explosion of “Tebowing” as an Internet meme, complete with a Twitter account and web-site. There you can see an act of communion with one’s creator rendered as a bit of pop-cultural ephemera, and you can scroll through pictures of folks striking the pose everywhere from Oxford to Istanbul, with that muddle of irony and enthusiasm that has become my generation’s trademark.

( Read more... )

Tebowing

The first time I heard of Tebowing was with this article. When you do not follow sports, you have to expect to be out of the loop on some things. I guess Tebowing is not as big as 'planking' for LJ and the ONTD crowds and all the Bieber people. It is good to see that Christianity is not just about narrow mindedness and homophobia and sheer quackery. It can be a good idealistic philosophy, even if it can still be easily associated with the worst of Western imperialism and intolerance.

_ _ _

When the Detroit Lions’ Stephen Tulloch sacked Tim Tebow in the first quarter of their week eight matchup, the linebacker immediately kneeled next to the prone Denver quarterback, in a mockery of Tebow’s habit of praying on-field, most recently seen after his miraculous fourth-quarter comeback against the Dolphins the week before.

The insult coincided with and reinforced the explosion of “Tebowing” as an Internet meme, complete with a Twitter account and web-site. There you can see an act of communion with one’s creator rendered as a bit of pop-cultural ephemera, and you can scroll through pictures of folks striking the pose everywhere from Oxford to Istanbul, with that muddle of irony and enthusiasm that has become my generation’s trademark.

( Read more... )

A Virgin, Clean and Sound and Young

Thanks to usakeh, I will be able to share “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath” with my three or four readers, as I think I will book-blog it. The book is a great gift, giving us a look into the aspirations and struggles of a writer and poet. Thanks, Susanna!

The journals begin in the summer of 1950 before she leaves for Smith College. Sylvia was born in October of 1932, so she is seventeen and getting ready for college life and adulthood.

_ _ _

1.
July 1950 - I may never be happy, but tonight I am content. Nothing more than an empty house, the warm hazy weariness from a day spent setting strawberry runners in the sun, a glass of cool sweet milk, and a shallow dish of blueberries bathed in cream.

…

3.
- A sudden slant of bluish light across the floor of a vacant room. And I knew it was not the streetlight, but the moon. What is more wonderful than to be a virgin, clean and sound and young, on such a night?... (being raped.)

-- Sylvia Plath Journals 1950-1953

_ _ _

Hmm, some rape fantasies of her own? Some ellipses are more fascinating than others. Maybe rape fantasies are sometimes symptomatic of a repressed but passionate spirit. I suppose it does not sound as bad when we are talking about a gal rather than a guy. In a man, it can come off as a bit depraved.

A Virgin, Clean and Sound and Young

Thanks to usakeh, I will be able to share “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath” with my three or four readers, as I think I will book-blog it. The book is a great gift, giving us a look into the aspirations and struggles of a writer and poet. Thanks, Susanna!

The journals begin in the summer of 1950 before she leaves for Smith College. Sylvia was born in October of 1932, so she is seventeen and getting ready for college life and adulthood.

_ _ _

1.
July 1950 - I may never be happy, but tonight I am content. Nothing more than an empty house, the warm hazy weariness from a day spent setting strawberry runners in the sun, a glass of cool sweet milk, and a shallow dish of blueberries bathed in cream.

…

3.
- A sudden slant of bluish light across the floor of a vacant room. And I knew it was not the streetlight, but the moon. What is more wonderful than to be a virgin, clean and sound and young, on such a night?... (being raped.)

-- Sylvia Plath Journals 1950-1953

_ _ _

Hmm, some rape fantasies of her own? Some ellipses are more fascinating than others. Maybe rape fantasies are sometimes symptomatic of a repressed but passionate spirit. I suppose it does not sound as bad when we are talking about a gal rather than a guy. In a man, it can come off as a bit depraved.