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Hey Humans,
Today was one of those Days of Unspeakable Excellence, which I will now speak about at length.
I was up bright and early this morning to take my AP Lit exam, which, and I know this is proof of just how much of a glutton for punishment I am, was in fact a lot of fun. We're not supposed to talk about the essays for two days, or the multiple choice ever (on pain of death. It's like entering the Cone of Silence, taking AP tests), but I'll just say a little, anyway.
Firstly, the last poem for the multiple choice was amazingly good, which added to my overall enjoyment of the test exponentially.
Secondly, the second essay question was absolute shite and detracted exponentially from my enjoyment of the test.
And most important, I think my response to the first essay was possibly the best thing I've ever written under fire. I actually used the phrase, "Some are born to darkness, others have darkness thrust upon them", which was literally the high point of my day, when I thought of that.
So. If I didn't get a 5 on that, I'll be pretty shocked.
Then there was home, and I sped through half of my copy of St. Augustine's Confessions, because they sell used paperback books at the school library for twenty five cents, and I saw it there, looking lonesome... Plus, it's a British edition, which means I get all the added joy of reading things like 'favour' and 'connexions'.
I'm not sure what I think of Augustine overall. On the one hand, he's a good speaker. On the other, he spends whole pages agonizing over the theft of a handful of pears and what that means in terms of the state of his immortal soul. And then he continually agonizes over the nature of good and evil. To wit:
"...I had to search for you in the light of this truth and make it the starting point of my inquiry into the origin of evil, that is, the origin of corruption, by which your substance cannot possibly be violated. For there is no means whatsoever by which corruption can injure our God, whether by an act of will, by necessity, or by chance. This is because he is AGod and what he wills is good and he is himself that same Good: whereas to be corrupted is not good. And you are never compelled, my God, to do or suffer anything against your will, because your will is not greater than your power. It would be greater only if you were greater than yourself, for the will and power of God are God himself. Neither can anything unforeseen happen to you, because you know all things and nothing, whatever its nature, exists except by reason of the very fact that you know it. Need I say more to prove that the substance which is God cannot be corruptible since, if it were, it would not be God?"
Apparently, the answer to that last question is 'yes', because he does. He pulls himself out of it eventually (as much as he ever does), but I read on in fear of hitting another pocket of "argh jesus shut up". Although I particularly liked the fact that he was going to set up a Communist experiment with friends, but was prevented by fear of what their wives would think. That, I would have liked to have read. Though my laughter would be entirely too cruel, then.
Eventually, I moved on to leaven all that with a quick kick to the head from Ayn Rand, which was the other intellectual high note of the day.
I've been meaning to get around to my copy of 'Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal' for weeks now, but between prepping for exams and prepping for other exams, it just wasn't happening. But I'm off for the rest of the week and the computer wasn't free, so I figured: What the hey. Now looks like the time for a little enlightenment.
I followed the instructions as per the introduction and read 'Man's Rights' first. And took notes. And then kicked myself repeatedly for not doing this sooner, because damn if this wouldn't have won me any debate we ever had in Goverment. Or at least, won me the same ones only better. Or something.
One line in particular that I wish I'd read before so that I could have used it is, "One cannot combine the pursuit of happiness with the moral status of a sacrificial animal." That just gets me right in the frontal lobes with the pure brilliance.
Yeah. It's definitely been a good day to be alive and reading.
Erin
Today was one of those Days of Unspeakable Excellence, which I will now speak about at length.
I was up bright and early this morning to take my AP Lit exam, which, and I know this is proof of just how much of a glutton for punishment I am, was in fact a lot of fun. We're not supposed to talk about the essays for two days, or the multiple choice ever (on pain of death. It's like entering the Cone of Silence, taking AP tests), but I'll just say a little, anyway.
Firstly, the last poem for the multiple choice was amazingly good, which added to my overall enjoyment of the test exponentially.
Secondly, the second essay question was absolute shite and detracted exponentially from my enjoyment of the test.
And most important, I think my response to the first essay was possibly the best thing I've ever written under fire. I actually used the phrase, "Some are born to darkness, others have darkness thrust upon them", which was literally the high point of my day, when I thought of that.
So. If I didn't get a 5 on that, I'll be pretty shocked.
Then there was home, and I sped through half of my copy of St. Augustine's Confessions, because they sell used paperback books at the school library for twenty five cents, and I saw it there, looking lonesome... Plus, it's a British edition, which means I get all the added joy of reading things like 'favour' and 'connexions'.
I'm not sure what I think of Augustine overall. On the one hand, he's a good speaker. On the other, he spends whole pages agonizing over the theft of a handful of pears and what that means in terms of the state of his immortal soul. And then he continually agonizes over the nature of good and evil. To wit:
"...I had to search for you in the light of this truth and make it the starting point of my inquiry into the origin of evil, that is, the origin of corruption, by which your substance cannot possibly be violated. For there is no means whatsoever by which corruption can injure our God, whether by an act of will, by necessity, or by chance. This is because he is AGod and what he wills is good and he is himself that same Good: whereas to be corrupted is not good. And you are never compelled, my God, to do or suffer anything against your will, because your will is not greater than your power. It would be greater only if you were greater than yourself, for the will and power of God are God himself. Neither can anything unforeseen happen to you, because you know all things and nothing, whatever its nature, exists except by reason of the very fact that you know it. Need I say more to prove that the substance which is God cannot be corruptible since, if it were, it would not be God?"
Apparently, the answer to that last question is 'yes', because he does. He pulls himself out of it eventually (as much as he ever does), but I read on in fear of hitting another pocket of "argh jesus shut up". Although I particularly liked the fact that he was going to set up a Communist experiment with friends, but was prevented by fear of what their wives would think. That, I would have liked to have read. Though my laughter would be entirely too cruel, then.
Eventually, I moved on to leaven all that with a quick kick to the head from Ayn Rand, which was the other intellectual high note of the day.
I've been meaning to get around to my copy of 'Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal' for weeks now, but between prepping for exams and prepping for other exams, it just wasn't happening. But I'm off for the rest of the week and the computer wasn't free, so I figured: What the hey. Now looks like the time for a little enlightenment.
I followed the instructions as per the introduction and read 'Man's Rights' first. And took notes. And then kicked myself repeatedly for not doing this sooner, because damn if this wouldn't have won me any debate we ever had in Goverment. Or at least, won me the same ones only better. Or something.
One line in particular that I wish I'd read before so that I could have used it is, "One cannot combine the pursuit of happiness with the moral status of a sacrificial animal." That just gets me right in the frontal lobes with the pure brilliance.
Yeah. It's definitely been a good day to be alive and reading.
Erin
