I'm pleased to see that the New York Review of Books decided to provide free access to a number of articles in the February 9, 2006 issue that I wanted to point out to friends:

• Jimmy Carter & the Culture of Death is Gary Wills' review of Jimmy Carter's new book, Our Endangered Values : America's Moral Crisis.

• The Passion of C.S. Lewis, which I found entertaining because unlike many of my friends, I have never liked the Narnia books or film(s). I've read only one of the seven books (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and then only as a disenchanted adult. Alison Lurie offers plenty of insight into Narnia as children's literature. Unfortunately, she overreaches in the concluding paragraphs with:

  It is no surprise that
  conservative Christians admire these books. They teach us to accept
  authority; to love and follow our leaders instinctively, as the
  children in the Narnia books love and follow Aslan. By implication,
  they suggest that we should and will admire and fear and obey whatever
  impressive-looking and powerful male authority figures we come in
  contact with. They also suggest that without the help of Aslan (that
  is, of such powerful figures, or their representatives on earth) we are
  bound to fail. Alone, we are weak and ignorant and helpless. Individual
  initiative is limited—almost everything has already been planned out
  for us in advance, and we cannot know anything or achieve anything
  without the help of God.

  This is, of course, the kind of mindset that evangelical churches
  prefer and cultivate: the kind that makes people vote against their own
  economic and social interests, that makes successful, attractive, and
  apparently intelligent young men and women want to become the
  apprentices of Donald Trump, or of much worse rich and powerful
  figures. This mindset could even be called deluded, since in this world
  a giant lion does not usually appear to see that the right side wins
  and all the good people are happy. In Narnia faith in Aslan, who comes
  among his followers and speaks to them, may make sense: but here on
  earth, as the classic folk tales have told us for generations, it is
  better to depend on your own courage and wit and skill, and the good
  advice of less than omnipotent beings.

  Nice rhetorical flourishes here -- but associating The Apprentice
  with Narnia and conservative Christians?? Is Lurie saying that
  anyone who believes in a God who will ultimately set things right is "deluded"?
  Figuring out what authority is and what authority to follow are not easy
  tasks. Some of us do believe in ultimate authority that looks like neither
  Donald Trump or the "giant lion" that Lurie delights in poking fun at.

• Genocide in Slow Motion is a review of two books on the genocide in Darfur. I miss reading Nicholas Kristof's columns in The New York Times (but not enough to pay for TimesSelect.
  It was through Kristof's writings that I first learned about Darfur.
  I'm grateful for writers such as Kristof who help to keep the Darfur conflict
  in front of people like me, who are so prone to forget. I've been
  meaning to write a letter to the editor about Darfur but have not been
  able to do so. A good starting place as I look to act is A Million Voices for Darfur.

Laura and I both read and discussed with great interest, "Prairie
Fire," an article by Eric Konigsberg in the Jan 16?? issue of the New Yorker.
(The article is not available online.) It is a terribly sad article
about Brandenn Bremmer, the super high IQ boy from Nebraska who
committed suicide at the age of 14. Have any one of my readers also
read the article? I'm thankful for the Web that allows one to read what
others have to say about magazine articles that we read:

• emdashes: Eustace Google: The strange, sad case of Brandenn Bremmer

• Gifted Exchange: The Life and Death of a Prodigy

The article was also the second mention for me of "indigo children." The first came from the New York Times:

Are They Here to Save the World? - New York Times:
If you have not been in an alternative bookstore lately, it is possible
that you have missed the news about indigo children. They represent
"perhaps the most exciting, albeit odd, change in basic human nature
that has ever been observed and documented," Lee Carroll and Jan Tober
write in "The Indigo Children: The New Kids Have Arrived" (Hay House).
The book has sold 250,000 copies since 1999 and has spawned a cottage
industry of books about indigo children.

sky and clouds over Berkeley

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I like to take walks in the afternoon to get away from my desk and to clear my head. Sometimes I feel down when I leave the building. I was reminded yesterday by these beautiful clouds and the winter light that there's a lot more going on in the world than my own preoccupations. I sigh at the recognition, delight in the view, and then head back to my office, re-energized.

cross in the sidewalk

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

This pattern on the sidewalk outside of Tolman Hall caught my eye.

Bollywood Fashions

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I didn't even know there were "Bollywood fashions".

I've installed Skype, considered Vonage, but I might try Compare 10-10 phone rates and save on long distance service!
for long distance calls. I'm not happy with the calling cards I've
used, with their terrible voice quality and nasty
sorta-hidden-use-or-lose-salting-away charges. Calling From Abroad at Reasonable Rates - New York Times is a helpful article in this area.

"Putting Your Passion Into Print"

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I've put an inter-library loan in for Putting Your Passion Into Print : Get Your Book Published Successfully! I've been daydreaming about a number of books I'd like to write. Will I move beyond daydreaming at this point?

spiral to the sky

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

Not only was the sheer number of books overwhelming at Doe Library, but also the beauty of the books going up in a DNA-like helix.

I've started reading Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, partially in preparation for "Keeping Religion in its place?" conference
to be held at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley on Friday, January
27 and Saturday, January 28. I don't know whether I want to spend most
of a Saturday at the conference, but I'm sure the Friday lecture will
be worth hearing.

I have mixed feelings as I start the book. I can sympathize with many
of the things Pearcey has to say: the fundamental way in which
worldviews consciously or unconsciously shape everyone's ideas, the
marginalization of Christian thought from much of high academic
intellectual discourse, the call for Christians to live out their
convictions in every sphere of their lives. But I wonder, why does she
seem (at my early stage of reading) to accept so heartily and
uncritically intelligent design and compassionate conservatism. I'll
have to see for myself once I read further along.

"Organize!" and "Well-behaved women rarely make history"

Originally uploaded by Raymond Yee.

I like reading witty bumper stickers but have not gotten into placing bumper stickers on our own car. I could even take the next step beyond passive consumption and create my own bumper stickers, say, by using Cafepress.