Thursday, August 10, 2006

I was going to have someone edit by blog entries for things that I’m bad at like, run on sentences, grammar, and general do-you-really-want-to-say-that-ness. But I decided to just put a disclaimer on my blog and go forward and blather like I used to do. Then I considered doing a thing where you have only pre-approved people who can look at your blog so I could talk about, I guess – sex or something PRIVATE and not have nieces and nephews reading it. But then – well, first of all I can’t at the moment think of something I wouldn’t want them to read, (I’m not going to talk about sex – and frankly I don’t think anyone wants me to) and second the whole thing started to seem like so much work all I could think of was,.. forget it. So, here I am.

Early this morning I called Michael who is in Brussels and found out from him about the terrorist scares. And how you couldn’t get on a plane unless all your valuables and identity cards were in a clear plastic bag and all I could think of was how glad I am I am not about to fly with a six-year-old who needs to take fifteen stuffed animals with her wherever she goes and then also have a movie to watch on a computer screen or ELSE. Or else… you are involved in a non-stop interaction-conversation-hug-reprimand extravaganza with a six-year-old for fifteen hours. I feel so sorry for all those people I saw trying to fly somewhere. What is going to happen to us? Eventually one of these plots is going to work for them and then… oh. Oh dear.

I calm myself down by imagining myself moving to Spokane and never going anywhere, ever. I mean, if the atmosphere heats up ten degrees in the next decade or two, Spokane is not such a bad idea.

I know, I always say that. And then, what if the super-volcano under Yellowstone goes? Spokane won’t be such a great place to be then, eh? The thing is, it seems like we all need a big dose of illusion about our safety to just live a regular life which includes cars and busses and cancer and bullets and heart attacks that to focus on possible terrorist attacks doesn’t seem very rational. But, still. Scary.

I was wondering, now that there are so many more people who’ve been killed by terrorists in the last ten years, does that make the chances of getting married after age forty go up? I think Newsweek needs to redo that prediction.

I watched the news from the stair master at the gym. People were putting their toothpaste into garbage cans. Toothpaste? I wonder if dentists are happy about this or sad. Worse breath, but more business. Dentists: the newest profession to find itself a war-profiteer. What is considered a gel, anyway? That is a question that has probably had many opinions expressed today. I was wondering about mascara? What about super-wet mascara? What about those lipsticks that you squirt on, and who is going to get all this loot? I think of all the millions of little stork-shaped-manicure scissors that have been confiscated in the last five years, and now the gels! Oh you devious terrorists! NOT OUR GELS!!!

I actually think I am now in favor of profiling. I know that is very not pc of me. But it's so much more efficient. We need security clearance cards based on probabilities of a person blowing up a plane. It doesn't have to be based on ethnicity or skin color. But honestly, spending billions of dollars so little old grandmothers can get searched is ludicrous. Plus, they need their gels! More than anyone else!

Last night I saw “Riding Alone For Thousands Of Miles” – a Chinese film, made by Yimou Zhang http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437447/. I saw it at Sony, at the studios. I went with my friend Greg. I thought it was a little in-your-face melodramatic and had a horrible voice over that explained every emotion that the actors were perfectly capable of portraying on screen. But as of this morning, I think the film grew on me a little. Part of it was filmed in Li Jiang, a city I spent some time in, in China. It’s such a beautifully preserved old town near the Yangtzee. It all made me determined to take Mulan to China in the next couple of years. But how will we get on a plane when we are all quarantined from fear? The film was shot to avoid the expanse of ugly communist architecture that surrounds the “old town” of the Li Jiang. It is romantic to think of China looking like it did in this film. Unfortunately, I found little beautiful spots like that were always surrounded by stinky polluting manufacturing centers and diesel truck engines turned into open cars with as many people as you could cram in them.

Okay, this is what I’ve been thinking about in terms of religion lately. I think it’s all about culture transmission. So, it’s hard for me to get on the bandwagon and imagine a world without religion in it. Because religion provides too good a method for transmitting culture. It has rituals, music, codes of behavior. And culture matters, too. And I am thinking that those terrorists, while they may be hopped up on religious ferver, what they really care about is that their culture is not killed off. But big parts of their culture (and really, nearly all cultures) SUCK. Authoritarian, misogynistic, and – well, those are the first two words that come to mind. I may have written about this before. It’s just what I’ve been turning over in my head a lot recently. I haven’t worked out anything yet for myself, but that’s what I’m thinking about.

O jeez. I have to work. I’m goofing off. More, another time.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Julia,

I think it's just perfect to hear your unedited comments. I think most people will understand that it's a means of you expressing yourself, and not a term paper to be graded :-)

I do agree with you that religion does have some benefits in society. The problem for me has always been how to separate the worthwhile from so much pure evil. I mean, we just got an e-mail from a *lawn supply* service about contacting the FCC to crack down on the "homosexual agenda" the "liberal media" is promoting on primetime TV. They want to put the "In God We Trust" back into our country, and return to our Christian roots by any means. (We'll postpone the argument about the fact that our founding fathers weren't building a Christian country.)

It's so hard. So hard. We want our son to be open-minded, but we also want him to be able to stand up for himself when he's picked on for not believing in a god.

If you do decide to head up to Spokane, be sure to stop through Portland on the way so my family can see you sometime!

All the best, Julia. Thank you again for being around :-)

Anonymous said...

By the way, we would *love* to put some quotes from *you* on our site along side ones from Asimov, Jefferson, Ingersoll, and so many others. If you have any favorites, please let us know!

Anonymous said...

Love da blog so far, Julia.

I've been thinking about blogging for years, but have resisted - thinking, "who wants to read my piffle or praddle, or spew....but it's a free country, for just a while longer...

I'm hard-core Non-Theistic, born and raised, but seriously - compare me or my godless friends to the "Faithful" shits who support our Commander in Chief to kill innocent babies in the middle east.

Ooops, they'll say, God's Plan. Can't be helped. Follow the Leader.

We are uber moral in comparison. Although we pay for the bombs, just like the rest of them...

I thought about my never-had faith yesterday when i read about the last 4 surviving Shakers, living in Maine. They need converts to continue their sect.

It seems cool - peaceful and quiet and you make furniture, always wanted to do that. No sex - not having any nowadays anyway. They seem better than the Amish, because they use electricity, have a radio and even drive a car. But they pray, etc., and seem to really believe that load of crap. I'm a nice person, but I'd eventually get really contrary and they'd kick me out.

Well, this spew only took five minutes, and i feel much, much better...I'm well on my way to blog-hood. Thanks for being out there...hope to see one of your New York shows in Oct..

Ben

scott beddome said...
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niecey said...

No, profiling is wrong. It is easy to say it might work if you won't be the one being profiled.

And super volcanos! I thought I was the only one who dwelled on that. Too funny. Gotta love the Discovery channel!

scott beddome said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I don't think anyone (well, anyone intelligent) is recommending *racial* profiling. Racial profiling is wrong, because it's wasteful and ineffective.

*Demographic* profiling is good, because statistically certain people are just way, waaaaay more likely to be carrying bombs under their jackets than others. Not just Wahabi-ists, but single white male loners, etc., and there ARE effective profiles that can be drawn of people who are "more likely" to be terrorists. And no one is saying these people shouldn't be allowed on the plane, just that, if you're going to search people, search people it makes sense to search.

This isn't done entirely on appearances, either; it's based on demographics. Do you live in an urban or rural area? Do you work at a corporation or a fast-food restaurant? Do you live alone? Have you moved frequently in the last five years? Etc. I don't know everything that goes into a profile but I seriously, seriously doubt if it would be on the basis of ethnic origin only.

I don't like profiling, but from everything I've heard and read, it's the most effective, efficient way to go. In other words, it's a method of security that might -- golly -- actually make us more secure.

Anonymous said...

Hi Julia,

First off....Happy Birthday!

...and it has been interesting following your blog...

Having flown a LOT, I tend to agree with your 'profiling' thoughts...and that it's so much more than a racial thing...but preferable to the incessant 'security' precautions which are all based on what has BEEN, not what could be. I have flown enough that there is no fear in flying, just irritation and aggravation...and no sense that we are really any more secure than we were....we just have an (additional) massive government payroll in TSA.

I've increased my personal radius of 'drive instead of fly' to over 1000 miles instead of the 200 miles it used to be. It takes very little more time, point to point, and for the most part, is far more comfortable!

Enough of that....I'm in Renton, WA, only 6 hours from Spokane, where I go, not too often, but regularly. I'd love to have a 'cuppa coffee' moment to meet you, but I'm not holding my breath!

Thanks for all your expressions...it's a bit of fresh air in this world!

Anonymous said...

Hi Julia!

So glad I found you...don't worry about the spelling! Who cares?? We know you can spell :) you're just in a hurry...
I agree with everything you say...you are so down to earth and I have always loved that about you!
I'm also thrilled that you made a full recovery from your illness a few years back :) and that you are working shows.
Keep blogging because I'm sure you have a lot of admirers out here!

OX