`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought —
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’
He chortled in his joy.
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
You could have McCain read this (“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll), and it’d be about as an effective criticism of Obama as his newest ad. I can’t believe, in this election, with Iraq, Social Security, infrastructure crises and the problems with the financial system (Bear Stearns, anyone?), McCain would focus on bullshit like this. Jesus, I can’t stand Republicans.
M.D.R.
I’ve been thinking lately about the capacity for choice. I was talking to one of my friends, an economics major, and we were discussing the fact that economics is fundamentally a study of why people choose things the way that they do. Much like purchases, life decisions are choices between one alternative and the other. You choose to go into law, or the arts, or teaching, etc.
What I found interesting, though, is that choice is virtually the only thing guiding our lives. Sure, circumstance can intervene, but when you see someone like Lance Armstrong overcome cancer to win seven consecutive Tour de France competitions, it’s evident that circumstance isn’t that severe an obstacle.
With these two observations, I took away a pretty interesting hypothesis: given enough latent potential, anything you do is attributable to choice. That goes for both good and bad: you choose to be rich or poor or humorous or mundane. Again, all this depends on potential ability-someone with a 80 IQ can’t really choose to be a Supreme Court justice.
Essentially, it’s a really liberating philosophy: by being the sole agent of your future, anything is possible. It cuts away extraneous excuses that you might use to rationalize mediocre behavior (ie I’m too social to focus on school work, too busy to go to the gym) and allows you to focus on the best way to achieve your goals. If you can acknowledge that you’re choosing to do poorly in school in favor of playing more Halo, you’ll at least be more comfortable with the consequences because you’re aware of your behavior.
I sound like a Dr. Phil tape right now, but the point remains: any interference between where you are and where you’d like to be is largely an illusion that can be overcome by choice.
Dear Juicy Couture,
I’m writing to register my complaints. You were pushing it with “Juicy Couture” as it stood. With a Midwestern accent and a teenaged mind, a brand that sounds like “Juicy Cooter” is pretty funny as it stands. But I’m mature. I could deal. No mas.
I just saw a girl wearing a “Smells Like Couture” shirt. Are you kidding me?! Juicy Couture, this is too far. The girl was 16, tops, and I’m certain her parents didn’t know what that meant. Hell, I hope she didn’t know what her shirt implied. Even if she did, why would she wear it? It’s beyond me.
In any case, Juicy Couture, you’ve crossed yet another line.
Regards.