moleskines and other writing implements

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

For Christmas, Laura's folks gave me a large plain Moleskine notebook. Although I quickly took to writing in it sporadically, it is only during this last week that I've been writing many times a day in it. The notebook is, of course, not the only instrument for recording my thoughts. It has, however, become a guiding one as I sort through the jumble of thoughts that buzz around in my brain. Forcing myself to write my thoughts in a linear narrative often helps make sense of the nonlinear, illogical scramble of notions, emotions, questions, and conjectures.

Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

As Laura and I come close to two years' of sweet married life, I am grateful for this opportunity to say how much I love my dearest Laura.

Congratulations to Chris Ashley who was recently quoted in the East Bay Express in Botero's Politics of Mediocrity. You can read Chris' original post on his weblog.

In the same issue of the Express is an inspiring story about John Reed (Don't Tread on Me), a man who singlehandedly fought back against expensive lawyers.

On Sunday, I was trying to decide between buying a specialized notebook case or a messenger bag.  I opted for the latter because it has a lot more space to store papers, books, other knick knacks that are useful for the work I do.  The faux leather or real leather on some notebook cases were tempting....

I'm grateful to Andy Crouch, for pointing out in last Sunday's sermon, the three operative verbs
in the description of the 12-year old Jesus at the temple. See Luke 2:46 (NRSV):
"After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the
teachers, listening to them and asking them questions." At the
university, do I sit, listen, and ask questions?

See two of Andy's online projects:

• Culture Makers | making something of the world

• The Christian Vision Project

As I was looking for how to link to Luke 2:46, I found a number of
useful links to help me find Bible passages, especially for the the
NRSV:

• Bible tools and links

• oremus Bible Browser

As I was writing the first chapters of my mashup book, I was drawn to
reading a tribute in the NYRB by Robert Darnton to Clifford Geertz (The New York Review of Books: On Clifford Geertz: Field Notes from the Classroom). Is using "thick description" the right way to write my book?

For example, in expounding the esoteric notion of the hermeneutic
circle--the conception of interpretive understanding favored by the
philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer--Cliff did not begin with an exposition
of Gadamer's general principles and a theoretical account of
descriptive as opposed to causal explanations in the human sciences.
Instead, he asked the students to imagine themselves explaining
baseball to a visitor from Outer Mongolia whom they had taken to a
game. You would point out the three bases, he said, and the need to hit
the ball in such a way as to run around the bases and reach home plate
before being tagged out by the defense. But in doing so, you might note
the different shape of the first baseman's glove or the tendency of the
infield to realign itself in the hope of making a double play. You
would tack back and forth between general rules--three strikes, you're
out--and fine details--the nature of a hanging curve. The mutual
reinforcement of generalizations and details would build up an
increasingly rich account of the game being played under the observers'
eyes. Your description could circle around the subject indefinitely,
getting thicker with each telling. Thick descriptions would vary; some
would be more effective than others; and some might be wrong: to have a
runner advance from third base to second would be a clear mistake. But
the descriptions, if sufficiently artful and accurate, would
cumulatively convey an interpretation of the thing itself, baseball.

The Complete Novels of Jane Austen

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Though I've not actually read any of Jane Austen's novels, I almost gave into a strong and irrational impulse to borrow the 1200 page compilation of the complete novels of Austen. Kinda odd if I consider that if just one of her novels had been on the shelf, I would have passed over it without notice. My best understanding is that I fall easily for the easy prospect of completeness -- that holding all the novels in my hands was more important than actually reading any one novel.

I'm fortunate that I'm not such a dilettante in all areas of life, though it's a continuing challenge not to distract myself too much with indulging in the world's potentialities.

I hope that "Young, Restless, Reformed" in the current (September 2006) issue of Christianity Today will be available online so that you all can read it too. (Keep an eye out at Christianity Today Magazine - September 2006)
Collin Hansen writes about the resurgence of Calvinism among American
20 and 30 somethings. The article has stuck in my mind because I
couldn't quite sympathize with the heavy-duty emotional resonance that
new Calvinism was supposed to be generating among young folks -- even
though I have been a long-time Presbyterian (whose heritage is
Calvinism) and serious student of theology. When I read the
accompanying explanation of the TULIP acronymn that is often used to
summarize the essentials of Calvinism, I found myself questioning
whether the TULIP is what I actually believe. Is that what I'm supposed
to believe as an elder in the PCUSA?

This morning, I started down the road of investigating figuring out the precise relationship among Calvinism, TULIP, (aka The Five Points of Calvinism) , Arminianism, debates about TULIP (e.g., An Examination of Tulip), what the PCUSA has to say about sin and salvation, predestination, etc., etc. Of course, lot of this stuff is very complicated, as William Bouwsma wrote in Calvinism (Encyclopædia Britannica):

It is important to note
that the later history of Calvinism has often been obscured by a
failure to distinguish between Calvinism as the beliefs of Calvin
himself; the beliefs of his followers, who, though striving to be
faithful to Calvin, modified his teachings to meet their own needs;
and, more loosely, the beliefs of the Reformed tradition of Protestant
Christianity, in which Calvinism proper was only one, if historically
the most prominent, strand.

Does all this matter? I think some of this matters, even though I'm not clear on what matters and what doesn't.

Niagara Falls from Table Rock Point

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Although there are at least several detailed lovely pictures of the drop off point of Niagara Falls (such as this one and others like it, I am rather partial to my modest camera phone picture of the same spot. The roar of the water, the heavy humidity of the air, the mist which was scaring me off from pulling out my nice camera, are all brought back in my memory by this shot. I realize, of course, that the photo won't have the same suggestive power to those who weren't there -- to whom I must say, "you had to be there."

When I saw Men Not Working, and Not Wanting Just Any Job - New York Times,
I wondered whether I'm part of a bigger trend by reducing my time to
write a book. The important difference between my situation and that
portrayed in the article is that the reduction in time is temporary and
that I'm working hard on projects during my time at home. Still, I was
unnerved to think that maybe I was a slow slide to indolence!