Mayhem

 Unbelievable! 

Nite

 

This has become one of my go-to albums, especially on Fridays. Nite Owls by JD McPherson. A rockin' and rollin' album of great vitality. No skips on this disc. I bought this on vinyl about a year ago. McPherson's masterpiece. I got tickets to his December concert in Dallas. Can't wait. 
 

Sleep Cats

 They take my spot when I leave. 

Cat

 Random Lola photo 

Airplane

From December 2008 when my son was not quite two-years old. Some things never change. 

Jeep Parking

 Jeep parked by Jeep parked by Jeep on a rainy day. 

Morning Tea

 Morning salvation 

Fall Believer

Always a good day when the latest edition of The Believer comes in the mail. 

Verses

I was a sophomore in high school when the controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses exploded in the media. I was a neophyte when it came to literature and I had never heard of Rushdie before. 

We, young students, obviously were against Khomeini's fatwa. Anything the Ayatollah did was bad, evil, against freedom and so on. Putting a death sentence because of a book? Utterly ridiculous.

But we were also being hit with voices on the right criticizing Rushdie saying "he knew what he was doing." The younger Rushdie did have a certain sinister look about him in those days: drooping eyelids, dark angular eyebrows, a faintly devilish appearance. So we didn't like him either. Plus, he had the name Satan in his book's title.

I grew up in the evangelical world in the late 80's and early 90's and it's hard to describe the fear and paranoia evangelicals had about the outside secular world in those days. Christianity was constantly under assault. We had to always be vigilant against the crafty wiles of The Devil lest he lure us into temptation and away from the faith. The Evangelical-Industrial Complex worked overtime to keep us scared. 

I remember seeing video productions in youth group meetings of teens making bad decisions and waking up at the gates of Hell. People played Zeppelin records backwards to listen for secret satanic messaging. My freshman year at a small Christian college I remember a guy knocking on our dorm room door saying they were going to burn a bunch of evil CDs and wondered if we had any discs to contribute and would we like to join in. My roommate and I politely declined. 

Frank Peretti's books about demons and the Left Behind series about the End Times left generations of young Christians traumatized. Fortunately my family never went to that extreme. I never read Peretti and my Dad completely rejected the false theology of the Left Behind books. My family was conservative but we still celebrated Halloween and went trick or treating. 

However, anything with the word Satan in it was be looked on with fear and suspicion. There was no way I would ever consider reading something called The Satanic Verses. 

By the way, evangelicals still continue to use fear tactics to keep their herd in line. They demonize the LGBTQ community. They excoriate immigrants. Islam and Sharia Law cause them great consternation. They've gone full Christian Nationalist. For decades they warned about the anti-Christ and when a real anti-Christ took over their movement not only did they not reject him, they embraced him enthusiastically. 

About twenty years ago I heard an NPR interview with Rushdie. I didn't find anything particularly satanic or sinister about him. He seemed kind, humble and brilliantly insightful. A few weeks after that I stumbled across his Midnight's Children at a used bookshop. I still hesitated to buy it remembering the great Fatwa controversy even though that was about a completely different book. But I bought it, began reading and was immediately captivated. It became clear to me that Salman Rushdie was a literary genius. I began to buy more and more of his books over the years and was always inspired by his poetic prowess. He was as gifted a writer I had ever come across. Yet still, I avoided reading the work that had made him infamous. I guess evangelical PTSD lingers deep in the recesses of one's mind. 

But this Evangelical-Industrial Complex had lost all credibility with me. They ostracized Rob Bell over his book Love Wins. Yet when I read it I found nothing that CS Lewis hadn't already discussed decades earlier. They told me the importance of family values yet idolize a proud philanderer and got him elected to the presidency. They talk about protecting children yet revere a man who's best friend was one of the most horrific traffickers in modern history. So, they have no purchase with me. 

A few years ago Rushdie was attacked by an extremist at an event celebrating the importance of free speech. Rushdie came close to death but eventually recovered. He wrote about his experience in a powerful memoir called Knife. Once again he found himself one of the leading lights speaking out for the freedom of speech and against religious extremism. 

All this to say, a few months ago I saw The Satanic Verses at another used book shop. By this time I had read nine of his books. This time I bought the Verses. I'm only a few chapters in and once again I find his prose astounding. I will keep you up to date if Satan actually emerges from this work.  

 

Cat TV

 Lola was really interested in The Sheep Detectives 

New Notebook

 

I received a new Moleskine in the mail yesterday. I’m not quite through with my current one but it’s always nice to have a new one ready in the queue. 

Stranger

The Stranger by Albert Camus. This was my third read of this short strange book. It is a compelling yet depressing read. I felt a great deal of empathy toward the doomed protagonist who simply can’t experience true meaning in the absurdity of existence. Camus is my favorite philosopher and I enjoyed this go around more than my two previous reads of this work. I will say I enjoy many of his other works a good deal more than this one. But I still find The Stranger a great read. 

Vice

Last week was the 42nd anniversary of the first season of Miami Vice. That show blew my 7th grade mind. It defined my aesthetic for a few years. The cars, the boats, the music. All of it cinematic. 

Contrapposto

Contrapposto is Dave Egger's latest novel and one of his best. I did not want it to end. When I finished the last page I wanted the book to keep going. Yet the ending nicely tied up a story that took place over seven decades. So I guess it had to end. Powerful and epic in scale despite not being centered in epic events. How to make two people's lives seem larger than worlds is a real trick. Eggers is one of the few who can pull it off. 

Trane 100

Today woulda been John Coltrane’s 100th birthday. Start your day right and dial up the song Blue Train on your preferred streaming service for your morning commute. End the day with a nice relaxing dose of Naima. You won't regret it. 

DQ

 Last we had to make a stop at DQ after a rough day. 

Art Manifesto

A manifesto on art criticism 

 

24

 I never knew Mexican Coca-Cola was available in 24 packs! 

Armadillo

 Saw this armadillo at 6 am at my in-laws house yesterday. 

Parking

I had this parking spot for six years until a teacher arrived three years ago and nabbed it. They get here obscenely early so it's not worth it for me to get up that early just for a parking spot. But today I had to drop my daughter off for a field trip and I got my spot back, for a day. A colleague walking in snapped this photo with this other teacher's front bumper over the line. Passive aggressive much? Ha! My pettiness knows no bounds.