I guess it's always a good reminder for someone who works in public education, that you can teach people to read, write, etc., but you can't teach them to think. Thanks to Aubrey for this article.

A few of my recent cultural meanderings (listed with no reference to dates or importance):


Book: Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community by Wendell Berry
I truly believe that reading this book has made me a more thoughtful person. Both the content and the writing style are graceful in every sense of the word. The book is not exclusively Christian in nature, but its message is entirely biblical. In essence, the point was this: If we are truly to be children of God the Creator, and if we take Jesus' teachings seriously, we must extend those beliefs to the aspects of our daily lives that we would rather leave religion out of. It means evaluating whether the work we do and the money we spend are the things that make for peace and stewardship of the earth. How tragic that most Christians don't see these things as integral to a life of faith.


And on a completely unrelated note (or is it?) (Yes, it is.)
We recently treated ourselves to a night of thoughtless entertainment, i.e. Blades of Glory.
I imagine Will Ferrell could be reading stock quotes from the New York Times on film and still somehow be hilarious. Several reasons why I thoroughly enjoyed Blades of Glory (more so than Talledega Nights): 1. The movie doesn't try to be anything beyond ridiculous (no hidden meaning, no sentimental moments of truth); 2. Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are fantastic; 3. This was the first movie I could watch John Heder in without thinking of Napoleon Dynamite; 4. I'm a sucker for sequins. I was also impressed by the number of professional ice skaters who appeared in a movie that is unabashedly centered around making fun of ice skating.


One more film: For Your Consideration
Watched mostly out of loyalty to Christopher Guest, whose previous movies I have thoroughly enjoyed, but this one we found pretty boring. And now that I think of it, I realize that I tend to rate Guest's movies in the order I've watched them over the years (my favorite being Best In Show, followed by This is Spinal Tap, then Waiting for Guffman, and the rest). I wonder if others have had the same experience with these movies. You love the first few for the quirkiness of the plot and disfunctions of the characters, but after the first few the unpredictable becomes, well, predictable.

"Quicken! Premiere! Dad, I hope you kept the receipt.
--You want to return that?
--What? No, I want to deduct it!"



As if tax season doesn't provide excitement enough, I had some pretty rad birthday surprises. Thursday morning (my birthday) began with a card and bag of skittles waiting for me in my car from Doug. Followed by a beautiful vase of flowers delivered to me at work from Mom Blocksma. I came home to dinner with Dylan and Ann followed by (gasp) Ice Cream Cake! (Funny how my reaction to ice cream cake is exactly the same now as it was when I was 8).

Friday, I got a surprise visit from Aubrey and Monte who came to visit for the weekend. More food, more ice cream cake, LOTS of Dutch Blitz. Saturday, Doug surprised me (with help from co-conspirator Aubrey) with an afternoon at a spa, followed by a nice dinner at Nico's Catacombs. And, just about the time I thought birthday surprises were over, we found ourselves inside the lobby of the Armstrong Hotel in downtown Fort Collins. It was quite a weekend. And after all that, I didn't have to go back to work for another 8 days (three cheers for spring break--more on that later).