safe as houses, death by chocolate Jesus and taxes
In no particular order:
I am attempting to redeem my income tax street-cred by attending weekly VITA (volunteer income tax assistance) sessions at the lawschool. (on using turbo tax with M, when I asked him a question: "You're the tax lawyer!") Still, telling people they owe the state money is never fun. I much prefer telling people they will get a nice refund check (or direct deposit.)
We're stepping up our house hunting. We have to become more aggressive, as houses that are really desireable only stay on the market a few days before coming under contract. However, the flip side is the houses that are selling now wouldn't wait for a may/june closing date anyway.
I was feeling ill (too much pesach? ennui? senioritis?) on friday, so I stayed home and slept. I feel better, but M. continues to mock me for my hibernatory habits. Had amazingly bizarre and entertaining dreams. I should have written them down, but I suspect they would lose something in translation. I'm not a talented enough writer to both transcribe the disordered "events" and capture their essense of weirdness.
Have been pondering the historical significance of this time of year (Pesach, Easter, Equinox). From the Full sized naked chocolate Jesus, the controversy over said chocolate Jesus, to the fact that you shouldn't keep your chocolate Jesus on the dashboard of your car (it might melt.)
M. brought home
Christ Killers: The Jews and the Passion from the Bible to the Big Screen by Jeremy Cohen from the library. He brings home books on religion and I read them before he does. It was disturbing and fascinating account (esp. to a Jewish llama) of the "christ-killer" theme in western civilization and its effects on inciting human depravity. While the author examined Mel Gibson's gorefest The Passion of the Christ , he did not analyze South Park's The Passion of the Jew. I hear from the Josh-llama its highly entertaining. Have not seen the Gibson film, but would like to see Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ which has more sex, but less violence.
On my visits to Catholic homes/churches, the innate violence and human suffering of the crucifix has deeply bothered me. ("Nu, you put that where the kids can see it?") Prof. Cohen's book also described the medieval mystical tradition of contemplating/meditating the agony of Jesus' wounds, which may have influenced Gibson's film. I guess meditation on suffering is the realm of much religious devotion (samsara, et al ) .
It is fascinating how the death-of-Jesus metaphor and myth (in the cultural imagination sense) has so deeply embedded in our society. In the 20th century, even Jewish artists like Marc Chagall borrow the crucifixion imagery as a metaphor for Jewish suffering.
Still, I much prefer my understanding of Easter to involve clucking bunnies that lay creme-filled (vs. cream filled) chocolate eggs.
I am attempting to redeem my income tax street-cred by attending weekly VITA (volunteer income tax assistance) sessions at the lawschool. (on using turbo tax with M, when I asked him a question: "You're the tax lawyer!") Still, telling people they owe the state money is never fun. I much prefer telling people they will get a nice refund check (or direct deposit.)
We're stepping up our house hunting. We have to become more aggressive, as houses that are really desireable only stay on the market a few days before coming under contract. However, the flip side is the houses that are selling now wouldn't wait for a may/june closing date anyway.
I was feeling ill (too much pesach? ennui? senioritis?) on friday, so I stayed home and slept. I feel better, but M. continues to mock me for my hibernatory habits. Had amazingly bizarre and entertaining dreams. I should have written them down, but I suspect they would lose something in translation. I'm not a talented enough writer to both transcribe the disordered "events" and capture their essense of weirdness.
Have been pondering the historical significance of this time of year (Pesach, Easter, Equinox). From the Full sized naked chocolate Jesus, the controversy over said chocolate Jesus, to the fact that you shouldn't keep your chocolate Jesus on the dashboard of your car (it might melt.)
M. brought home
Christ Killers: The Jews and the Passion from the Bible to the Big Screen by Jeremy Cohen from the library. He brings home books on religion and I read them before he does. It was disturbing and fascinating account (esp. to a Jewish llama) of the "christ-killer" theme in western civilization and its effects on inciting human depravity. While the author examined Mel Gibson's gorefest The Passion of the Christ , he did not analyze South Park's The Passion of the Jew. I hear from the Josh-llama its highly entertaining. Have not seen the Gibson film, but would like to see Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ which has more sex, but less violence.
On my visits to Catholic homes/churches, the innate violence and human suffering of the crucifix has deeply bothered me. ("Nu, you put that where the kids can see it?") Prof. Cohen's book also described the medieval mystical tradition of contemplating/meditating the agony of Jesus' wounds, which may have influenced Gibson's film. I guess meditation on suffering is the realm of much religious devotion (samsara, et al ) .
It is fascinating how the death-of-Jesus metaphor and myth (in the cultural imagination sense) has so deeply embedded in our society. In the 20th century, even Jewish artists like Marc Chagall borrow the crucifixion imagery as a metaphor for Jewish suffering.
Still, I much prefer my understanding of Easter to involve clucking bunnies that lay creme-filled (vs. cream filled) chocolate eggs.