Automaton

Lately I've been thinking about automaton's. They are really quite beautiful. Intricate pieces of machinery woven together; and when in working order, create a being nearly completely self-sufficient. Di Vinci, in 1495, sketched his plans for an automaton that, when built, moved its arms, turned its head, and could sit up all on its own. In 1739 Jacques de Vaucanson built a duck that could eat a grain of wheat, and then defecate. Voltaire is quoted as saying without the duck, there would be nothing to remind you of the glory of France. Automatons have only become more complex and developed. There are robots to sweep and mop your floors; disarm bombs; build cars. It's amazing how much time, energy and expense we are willing to put into these machines.

But are we devoting too much time to these pursuits? Are we becoming a society that is so desirous of the perfect being, that we are willing to loose the relational aspect that makes us human?

I think it can be seen in the things that we have, the stuff that we use. Our iPods, our computers, even our phones. We can check the weather, a baseball score, or who has been kicked off American idol, all with out leaving the comfort of our homes, or our heads for that matter. Perhaps we are inadvertently creating a generation of human automatons through our technological advances; by providing ourselves with technology that allows us to function with little to no assistance from others.

At times I feel a bit like a machine. I'm constantly being fed a stack of information, expected to process and file, and start again; all this with little to no human interaction, just me and my old think pad. But is this how it should be? I don't think God created us in the image of the Defecating Duck. As a matter of fact, I know he didn't. He created us to be in his image; a piece of him.

I'm currently reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. I just finished the chapter entitled Naked. In it, Miller talks about the beginning. About how God created Adam, and had him name all the animals. And the whole time Adam kept looking for a helpmate, but he couldn't find one. And he was lonely. So after he was finished naming the animals, God put him to sleep, and created Eve. Moses sums up this information in two chapters, but Miller speculates that it probably took nearly a hundred years. Adam and Even were over 100 when they had children. This would mean, that for nearly 100 years, Adam searched the planet looking for someone else. Looking for his helpmate. Now, Adam was the first man. The first perfect man. Created in God's image. His DNA and soul, at this point, hadn't been mucked up by sin. So the man that we see wondering the garden with God, and searching for another, is in fact the most concentrated version of God that a human has ever been, (well aside from Jesus). He was what we were to be. And he had a desire, a need for someone else. If Adam was lonely, and needed someone to help him, to help complete him, then why should we expect to be different?

It is a shame that we are striving to live in a self-automated society. We should throw technology to the side, even if only for an hour, and embrace the need for others. I'd much rather be an image of God, then of a defecating duck.

Kathy's Song

I'm at work. I suppose that means I should be working. Unfortunately my mind is drifting. Ironically I'm listening to Simon & Garfunkel's song Kathy's Song. They just sang,
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day
Although my mind isn't lying with anyone, or kissing them when they start their day. It is many miles away. Millions of miles away from Silver Spring, Maryland. It's traipsing up and down the internet, searching every nook and cranny for something. I'm not sure what it's searching for, but I have discovered a few interesting things.

First, Augusten Burroughs has a new book out. A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir. It takes place before Running With Scissors, and documents his relationship with his father. I've been feeling it out on Goodreads. It's in a different light then any of his other works. Much darker, pushing you to the brink time and time again. One reviewer even said "Gone are the sharp one-liners, the exaggerated portraits and the wacky antics. In their place is a chilling and terrifying depiction of a soulless sociopath who can barely contain a murderous rage toward his youngest son and mentally unstable wife. It’s more Stephen King than David Sedaris." It's received mixed reviews; I might ditch work early to go buy a copy.

Second. David Sedaris also has a new book out. This isn't exactly new information. I discovered that a few weeks ago when I wondered into Borders at 9:00 at night after locking my self out of my apartment. It's called When you are Engulfed in Flames. This makes me so excited that I just might poo in my pants. I very nearly bought it on said trip to Borders; but I found Diana Wynne Jones new book House of Many Ways. Of course I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that on the shelf. Nestled safely between the Dalemark Quartet and Howl's Moving Castle. (As expected, it was not the greatest book ever written, but made for a delightful Saturday none the less). So as I was saying, my mind has been wondering down the veins of the internet and stumbled across a When you are Engulfed in Flames give away. So of course I entered. Thus far 100 people have entered for a chance to win 1 of 5 copies. And bonus, if I win, I'd also get a copy of...well I can't remember, but Two for the price of none! Can't beat that!.

The third thing I discovered is the following piece of information. I found it on a Xanga, and they apparently nabbed it from a book. So I'm going to share it here.


If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.


There would be:
57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both North and South America
8 Africans

52 would be female
48 would be male

70 would be nonwhite
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States
80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death
1 would be near birth (ready to deliver)
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer

"When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for both acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent."Philip M Harter, MD, FACEP Stanford University, School of Medicine

My mind has grasped the significance of these statistics, but my heart is still coping with the ramification and the need. Actually, I hope it doesn't cope. Because that would mean that it has accepted these injustices, and I don't ever want to accept that. I'd rather my heart got off it's fat ass, moved out of the richest County in the nation, and did something meaningful.

Stephen Grellet said
I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore that I can do or any kindness i can show to any fellow human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."

But how, what and where?

My computer database for work has decided to run incredibly slow. I've decided to blog.

I've discovered some new artists in a variety of different medium. I think I'll talk about my most recent reads to begin with.

First, Paul Auster. He's an author who's been around for years, but I've just discovered him. I'm nearly finished with one of his more recent novels, Oracle Night. It's a story, about a guy (Sidney Orr), telling the story of when he was younger and wrote a story about a man who wrote a story. Did you follow that? Probably not. It's a little muddled in the book, but in a delightful sort of way. Full of characters questioning the existence of fate, strength of relationships, and human nature. But then again, I haven't finished it yet, so I could be wrong. This is an author whose novels I've ogled every time I've been to Daedalus. It took inner prodding, but I finally convinced myself to pick up a copy (not a tough sell believe me, I'm such a push over!). I've had the novel sitting on my book shelf for well over a month, and finally started to read it on Sunday. I was instantly hooked by his writing style, and on Monday I stopped by Daedalus again and picked up The Brooklyn Follies. Another of his novels. Actually the one that first caught my eye, but I just hadn't bought!

Daedalus is my new addiction. Obsession might be a bit closer to the feeling. I've had to convince myself I can only go there on a bi-weekly basis, and that I'm only allowed to buy a maximum of 2 books per visit. This is mainly because each time I walk in there I find oodles of books that I want, I buy them, and then they sit on my shelf for months as I slowly work my way through the dozens of unread books I already own. I once told myself that I wasn't allowed to purchase another book until I had read all of the books I currently own. I counted the books, estimated how long it would take to read each book, and when I would be finished with my task. I discovered that I wouldn't be able to buy a new book for eight months. I was so depressed that I went to straight to Daedalus and bought four more to cheer myself up. I'm hopeless.

Neil Gaiman is another author I have fallen hopelessly in love with. It's strange, I wouldn't peg myself to be the type that would fall into all that fantasy mumbo-jumbo. Hence the reason I didn't read a single Harry Potter book until I was trapped in uni-bomber hut for eight months. But what do you know! I'm a die hard fantasy fan. Well maybe not die hard, but it is most assuredly killing me softly.

As I was saying, I am hopelessly in love with Neil Gaiman. Thus far I've read Smoke and Mirrors, a collection of some of his short stories. All spooky, all fabulous. The kind of read that makes you look around and say "Hmm, what if...". I also read Neverwhere. An interesting story about the London Underworld. A realm of subways, sewer systems, and magic. Through a series of unforeseen events, mainly helping a homeless women who is bleeding in the street, the main character is excommunicated from his the life as he knows it, and is forced to seek refuge in the "Underworld". Its a very interesting satirical piece on the acceptance of the homeless in London. Not to mention the fact that it is just plain fun to investigate the underbelly of London from the comfort of Columbia, Maryland!

His children's book Coraline, is also set to make it's movie debut sometime this summer. It looks to be a rather exciting time for Gaiman fans. That is of course assuming the plot isn't butchered like that of Stardust: an awful movie, a lovely book.

I should get back to work now. I've been devoting more of my energy on this post, than on my work. Perhaps a continuation is in the future; perhaps not.

Whose heart is about to explode?
Mine is!
And why?...let me tell you.
For two very exciting reasons.

reason #1.
I got a library card today, and checked out two books. High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby. I love Nick Hornby and the movie was wonderful so I expect great things of the novel. And the second was Possible Side Effects, by Augusten Burroughs. I didn't realize that he had a new book out, so imagine my glee when I saw it sitting on the shelf in the Eaton Public Library.

Now you may be thinking..."Augusten Burroughs, that sounds familiar". Well that's because he is the author of such books as Dry, Magical Thinking, Sellovision, and Running With Scissors. That's right ladies and gentlemen, Running With Scissors. Which brings me to

reason #2.
They are making Running With Scissors into a movie. The movie is based on the book by Burroughs, which is a memoir of his life. His parents divorce when he is a boy and he is raised by his mother's psychiatrist who is, well off his rocker. The unbelievable heart wrenching and sometimes gut wrenching details in the book make it a must read. IMdb has some still shots of the movie up, which has only increased my excitement. They make me think The Royal Tennenbaums meets A series of Unfortunate Events (an R rated version of course). Oh man, I'm excited. My expectations are high, although I'm not sure how they will be able to show all of the scenes in the movie, and they will not be able to express them in the same manor that Burroughs did. Nonetheless. I'M EXCITED. The film comes out later this month. Now I just need to find someone to watch this movie with me. I have a feeling that it needs to be someone with low moral standards but incredibly high movie standards. This is no slapstick comedy here folks. AHHHH! I can't wait!

I'm also in dire anticipation of Stranger than Fiction, and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. Again two movies that I fear will require a certain type of moviegoer. Too bad I'm not around that kind of person anymore. Perhaps I will just have to get used seeing movies by myself. It makes my heart sad and a little lonely, but that is another story.