Wednesday, November 04, 2009


Again, I have not taken a daily picture. I did, however, find an old disposable camera from god-knows how long ago and sent it in to be developed and was surprised with the results. The above picture is one of them. The picture is of my dad, who passed away in 2004, and Mulan, who is obviously just a baby. And I must say, she's a very fashionable baby at that.

Oh those were the days when I could dress her any way I wanted. In any case, seeing this picture today gave me a few tears. My dad really connected with Mulan. This must have been in 2002. There were other pictures of Mulan too. I was on this show at the time called "Maybe It's Me." Fred Willard and I played parents to five teenagers. It was a fun show and Mulan was on the set the entire time. The rest of the roll was all of Mulan on the Warner Bros. backlot. Sigh. I miss L.A, I miss being on a show. That was really fun. What is Suzanne Martin (the creator of that show) up to now? (You can see how life can be drowned in a series of googling endeavors.)

Okay, I have to - slightly - amend my blog post of yesterday. I'm not sure that Plato is the true God of the Jesuits. I mean, Jesus surrounded himself with men who had either shunned their families or taken some kind of vow that caused them not to have families. Yes, ture. But the way Plato (and Socrates) describes this utopian society, ruled by a philosopher elite - well, the flavor of the description was completely Jesuitical to me. That's what struck me so deeply.

The description of the Apostles, for example, in the Bible - well, I never once thought of priests, let alone Jesuits.

In any case, I'm so hooked on the Greeks, man. I can't wait to learn more! I need to know so much more. Oh, why can't I just live at the library?

The thing that unhinged me was that as I listened I agreed with Pato's ideas! I have become more conservative, (or rather, more jaded perhaps) as I've gotten older and frankly listening to Will Durant paraphrase and then quote Plato, I was nodding my head the whole time! I think it does sound perfect - a group of people who are not bound by family and passionate obligation, who devote themselves to study and to governing. Yes, this idea is completely impractical given human behavior, but it is a great idea. And really, I liked the idea of the priesthood, and the convent too, when I was a Catholic. This romantic ideal is what made me want to be a nun. Frankly an organization like the Jesuits who models itself on Socrates and Plato sounds a lot better to me than an organization modeled on the Apostles as given to us in the Bible! (I know, it's not really a fair comparison.)

So, I'm still musing and thinking about this. Then as the day wore on, which was really busy and frenetic, I became obsessed with Will and Ariel Durant and would google them in between calls and errands. Wow, what a couple. Today my fantasy is to just take three years to read "The History Of Civilization." There's a DVD you can order from willdurant.com. It's a documentary I guess - it's an hour with Ariel and Will at home in the sixties. I want it. I really want it. But first I have to finish the book I'm currently listening to. Today it was all Aristotle. Oh... Aristotle. There's a whole OTHER topic. Wow, he really rejected so many, so so so many good and true ideas. And maybe because of this I like him all the more. He's so... human.

College - so wasted on youth. I wanna go back to school.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some pictures are worth a thousand words, some a billion. :)

Daydream Believer said...

Wow, what a beautiful surprise that disposable camera was. And you should go back to school! :-)

Bill Slankard said...

One of the best things I've ever done was attend the Basic Program for an Adult Education at the University of Chicago. About 20 years ago I went each Saturday morning to the Hyde Park campus, and I learned out to think. The course is reading and discussing the Great Books. The four-year program has three semesters a year, each about 13 weeks, consisting of a 3 hour class. Half of it is a tutorial, concentrating on one work, and the other half reads 4 or 5 somewhat related works during the semester.

One of the very first readings was a dialogue of Plato - the name escapes me right now, but it had to do with learning. I had never read Plato or any of the ancient Greeks, or almost any of the Great Books, and it was an eye opener. I've read his Apology (the death of Socrates) several times, and get more from it with each reading.

The course is still available, on Saturdays at the campus and during the week at the downtown location. I highly recommend it!

Sirbob@msn.com said...

Hello Julia,
First of all, let me say I'm very sorry for the loss of your brother and your father. After seeing your SHO "Letting Go of GOD" I respect your position. You have a beautiful daughter and I hope you allow her to develope her own choice of religion. I hope to become your friend and I wish to speak with you further about religion, God and Jesus.

ynvne1 said...

Saw your program (Letting Go of God)and you put into words what I ahve been trying to mill out in my mind for years. Buy you a cup of coffee if your ever in Salt Lake City. Thanks.
54 and still trying to figure it all out.

PaleRider said...

Just saw your show on SHO, then checked your blog. As someone else said in a post..."54 and still searching," well me too. Noticed you linked Plato and the Jesuits together, which I found interesting since I've just started reading F. Nietzsche and he makes that same connection but he is not very excited about Plato or the Jesuits. Maybe a dose of Nietzsche mixed with your other reading is a good prescription. I'm reading a little Nietzsche for Advent. Merry Christmas!! I went to the bookstore to read the French Catholic paleontologist Chardin and ended up with Nietzsche. Go figure. Enjoyed your show. My wife says I could have been more successful on the Comedy Network, or the next Bill Maher rather than my current gig as a pastor, and after seeing your show I think she may be right. I've missed my calling. Maybe I picked up the phone and misunderstood the message or was anyone on the other end of the line after all?

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