Randomness in the last throes of January

I have started preliminary work on my storybook house and so far so good. Saturday is the big day though; it is when it will finally go up.

I have also been playing with legos. Here is a cathedral I made (Tuscan renaissance style).

Also, Laura has the first half of her Literature comps today. A little prayer would be appreciated.

And finally I decided to play a game my friend Matt came up with and Brian and Josh carried on. I put my Ipod on random and listed out the first lines of the first twenty-two* songs. You get to guess the songs (aren’t you feeling privileged to grow up in such a world where you get to play stupid internet games). Oh, no cheating by using search engines.


1. It's a muggy night in Houston And all the intersections are like full service stations
2. It's been one week since you looked at me, Cocked your head to the side and said "I'm angry"
3. A promise or a dare I would jump if I knew you’d catch me
4. The grass is screaming long, midnight cars roll past
5. There’s a place where I come from, It’s the place I belong
6. I wish you would step back From that ledge my friend

7. When I step into the light my arms open wide, When I step into the light my eyes searching wild
8. Said the plain clothes cop to the beauty queen “I’ve seen nothing but a spoke in a wheel”
9. Love was a promise made of smoke in a frozen copse of trees
10. Go away, Close the light, Shine tomorrow, Sister hold me
11. I think about the waves of time and how they roll across my shoulders. Thinkin' no clock is gonna get the best of me.
12. As I went down to the river to pray, Studyin’ about that good ol' way
13. God, there is gold hidden deep in the ground; God, there’s a hangman that wants to come around
14. She doesn't own a dress, Her hair is always a mess
15. Whoa-o...I’ve been banging my head against the wall, Whoa-o...for so long it seems I knocked it down, yeah it got knocked down
16. Shoot a dream in your arm and sleep away,I t's not the stuff that kills you that keeps your life at bay.
17. One dark day the trees began a trumpet sound,trumpet sound; We sat listening patiently, the sky was near, and I felt the trembling motion
18. Oh, I'm sailin' away my own true love, I'm sailin' away in the morning.
19. How I ever made it to you heaven only knows, With the doors and the windows to my inside closed
20. You say you heard every word, but I watched you turn away, Your eyes grew colder than winter
21. Long as I remember the rain been coming down. Clouds of mystery pouring confusion on the ground.
22. Mom & Dad, I'm fine. How are you? I have joined a small circus, that much is true. I'm a little malnourished, but try to relax. Could you find a better photo for the milk carton backs?

*It was twenty five but I couldn’t find the lyrics to three of my songs. One was a Latin chant by some Benedictine monks.

Sixteen Military Wives

So eventually I will get around to answering my art question (it is proving to be involved) but in the mean time enjoy a video from The Decemberists.



Sixteen Military Wives
The Decemberists

Sixteen military wives
Thirty-two softly focused brightly colored eyes
Staring at the natural tan
of thirty-two gently clenching wrinkled little hands
Seventeen company men
Out of which only twelve will make it back again
Sergeant sends a letter to five
Military wives, whose tears drip down through ten little eyes

Cheer them on to their rivals
Cause America can, and America can't say no
And America does, if America says it's so
It's so!

And the anchorperson on TV goes...
La de da de da

Fifteen celebrity minds
Leading their fifteen sordid wretched checkered lives
Will they find the solution in time
Using their fifteen pristine moderate liberal minds?
Eighteen academy chairs
Out of which only seven really even care
Doling out the garland to five
Celebrity minds, they're humbly taken by surprise

Cheer them on to their rivals
Cause America can, and America can't say no
And America does, if America says it's so
It's so!

And the anchorperson on TV goes...
La de da de da de-dadedade-da
La de da de da de-dadedade-da

Fourteen cannibal kings
Wondering blithely what the dinner bell will bring
Fifteen celebrity minds
Served on a leafy bed of sixteen military wives

Cheer them on to their rivals
Cause America can, and America can't say no
And America does, if America says it's so
It's so!

And the anchorperson on TV goes...
La de da de da de-dadedade-da
La de da de da de-dadedade-da
La de da de da de-dadedade-da-dedadeda-de de dadede-daaaaa

Sister in Spain

I’ll answer my art question sometime next week. In the meantime I am being jealous of my sister who is wandering around Seville right now. Here is her blog and here is an aerial of the area around her hotel:

What is art?

This past semester Laura took an aesthetics class through the art history department. The cumulating question of the class was “What is Art?”, which is a pretty hard to nail down. So I offer some questions for my readers, answer any of them that you want.


1.Do you have any interest in art; if so in what category, time frame, or place?

2.Do you ever go to art museums (why or why not)?

3.What disciplines do you feel should fall under then category of art? (visual, music, literature, crafts, movies, etc.)

4.Does art need to be beautiful, can art be functional?

5.Should art be a high priority for every person?

6.What do you think art is?

A New Calendar

I blame my continual decent into the mindset of an architect for this post (I never used to scrutinize a misalignment of an expansion joint and a window mullion). On this New Years day I was reflecting on our placement of the “new year” mark and was finding it to be disturbingly arbitrary. It didn’t make any sense outside of our traditional calendar saying this night is the new year. It is just close enough to the winter solstice to set off my architectural flags. This in turn set off a chain of thoughts cumulating in a complete redesign of the calendar. So here it is:

A couple of notes:

+Instead of random holidays that are not properly spaced there are four week long holidays. They roughly correspond to the major Jewish holidays and all end at an equinox or solstice (which provides a good measure of non arbitrariness). Christianity could then use them as celebration points throughout the year.

Spring Holiday= Celebration Holiday
Celebration of the Resurrection
(Passover/Easter)

Summer Holiday= Petition Holiday
Celebration of Grace
Jewish Shavot (Feasts of Weeks)

Fall Holiday= Gratitude Holiday
Celebration of Provision
Jewish Sukkot (Feast of Booths)

Winter Holiday= Repentance Holiday
Celebration of Justice
Jewish Yom Kippur

+With this calendar I am proposing a six day work week with shorter work hours on each of the days. (or you can just not have the week long holidays and make every 3rd month have an extra week)

7 hrs a day @ 6 days a week @ 48 weeks a year = 2016 work hours
compared with
8 hrs a day @ 5 days a week @ 52 weeks a year = 2080 work hours

+Each month has the same number of days, being 28. This means that every individual day of the month is always a certain day (ex: every 5th of every month is a Thursday). It also makes each month more in line with the lunar phases.

+Due to dividing the year into equal weeks, there is one day left to account for. I would put it right at the end of Spring holiday and call it something cool (celebration day will have to do for the moment). It would not be a day of the week. And to come full circle, it would be the start of the new year. The resurrection of Christ being the resurrection of the year.

+Just so you know I know: I don’t ever think a new calendar system will be implemented. This was just an exercise in the ideal. And think of all the people who have birthdays on days 29 to 31 who would be offended.