I am unofficially done with the hardest semester of my undergrad career. In 5 days I will be on a plane for my first overseas experience. When I get back, I move. Is it weird that none of this is hitting me yet? I guess it has only been a few hours and I still do have a couple little things to do for a couple classes.

But still,

I still feel the weight of classes.

It does not seem real that I will not be in America next week.

I’m in the best relationship of my life and feel held back to actually enjoy it.

My living situation now still depresses me, though I have only a few short nights left.

Maybe stress causes apathy.

What is the consistency of depression? Fear, anger, loss of hope, pessimism?

Is depression a feeling/emotion or a state of being?

Is joy a feeling/emotion or a state of being?

Is it luck that you can feel either, or do you have the power to change to either one or the other?

So pick then!

Which is it?

How is it that love can cause both joy and depression, or maybe can be present in both?

Does it have the power to change depression into joy?

Because the lack of it seems to have the power to go from joy to depression.

George Berkeley: “To be is to be perceived”

What then is it, to perceive is  it to feel? to know? to learn? maybe just to experience…..I am not sure.

Hope seems to be the glue to keep a person together, or the gas to get people moving towards something.

Lack of hope is paralyzing, it is the poison that causes people to end themselves.

What then, do we hope for?

Something better in the future?

When all of our futures end at the same place. Death.

This linear view gives no hope.

Being apart of the bigger picture and cycle of seasons means more than: Birth, Sin, Salvation, Death, Heaven.

Reincarnation. Being re-birthed into new, better ideas/reason for being.

Is this not what Christ and Paul talked about?

Giving up your life to live, being born again and not of a women, dying to “old” self?

Why not: Birth, Experience, Mistake, Knowledge, Birth, Experience, Mistake, Knowledge etc.

I wish it was not over until we all arrived at truth.

Maybe we get another chance, in another place.

Be still and know that I am God, you say.

I’m still and know I’m dying to live.

Gabrielle Piccari Exam #2 April 28th, 2008
Section II
2) How is the soul conceptualized in “Bart Sells His Soul?” Do you think this portrayal is philosophically sound?
       The debate about whether or not humans have “souls”, let alone other inhabitants of this earth, has been and currently is largely debated among philosophers. It is important to note, that no one has “proven” the existence of a soul, if that is even possible, and that all of the ideas and hypotheses thus far, are merely just that, suggestion. If by philosophically sound, you mean proven or logical, this question then defeats itself because there is no “universal truth” on souls. Among the philosophers and religions that believe in souls, opinions vary greatly on its corporeality, character and life-span of a soul. In the episode “Bart Sells his Soul?” the writers take ideas and beliefs from many different philosophers and religions and incorporates them into Bart’s experience. The experiences Bart has during the time he believes he has sold his soul are deeply rooted in theories about the soul that span thousands of years. Because of this, I believe that the portrayal of the soul, in this episode, is philosophically sound.
       Among the ancient Greek philosophers, the idea of a soul was widely accepted. Pythagoras thought that the soul was eternal and also that once you died; your soul could inhabit anything from a plant to a dog. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/#1) Pythagoras even claimed to hear his friend’s soul yelp from a puppy being beaten. His idea that the identity or characteristics of someone is attributed to the soul leads into Bart not being able to laugh at Itchy & Scratchy; something he would normally do. The eternal characteristic of the soul is widely accepted by philosophers (ie. Socrates, Plato) and in many religions. Thomas Aquinas believed that not only was the soul eternal, but the body will be resurrected someday as well. Aquinas said, “Further, the members should be conformed to the head. Now our Head lives and will live eternally in body and soul, since “Christ rising again from the dead dieth now no more” (Romans 6:8). Therefore men who are His members will live in body and soul; and consequently there must needs be a resurrection of the body.” (Summa Theologica) He cites a verse in Job 19: “26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” This idea is portrayed in Bart’s dream when everyone has died and in row boats sit their life-like bodies and souls, paddling together. The significance of the row boats and river could be related to the Ancient Greek idea that there is a river barring souls from entering Hades and that, once you have paid the fare, you could be rowed across to the afterlife. When Bart attempts to make condensation on the freezer window and nothing happens, the writers are referring to scripture in Genesis 2:7 (”And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) Interestingly, the Greek word for soul is pneuma, which means breathe, wind or air.
       Because the “soul” is undoubtedly a complex and abstract idea and/or substance, it is no wonder there are so many ideas and opinions pertaining to its essence. The holistic approach the writers use to explain the soul in this episode is philosophically sound.
Word Count: 575
Section III
1) How much of a feminist is Lisa? How does she exhibit feminist concerns? Are their limits to the extent that she will confront the masculine culture in which she lives?
             Lisa undoubtedly attempts to be a solid feminist in ideology and practice, but sometimes in real life, she is “gives in” to masculine culture. Often, when she gives into masculine culture, it is to prove that she is as capable as a boy.
             In the episode, “Lisa on Ice”, Lisa joins a rival ice hockey team to Bart’s team. She is the only girl and does an amazing job of being a strong and brave goalie for her team, which had their best winning season with her as goalie. Of course this seems like a feminist victory. But, it does not come without a cost. Lisa abhors violence and is a devote Buddhist (a belief system that renounces violence or harm to all creatures). During the season, she gradually becomes more and more aggressive. This violence undoubtedly helps her become a better goalie and leads her team to victory but, she realizes in the end that, this violence is not a positive thing and regains her peacefulness. Not only is being violent against her individual beliefs, but violence is a masculine trait that is thrown at boys in the form of GI Joe figures and aggressive war and fighting video games.
             In contrast, Lisa follows through completely in the episode, “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”. When she is confronted with a widely popular doll for girls that portrays grossly sexist ideals, she attempts to confront and defeat the mega-corporation that produces such a thing. When she realizes that she will get nowhere with the corporation, she attempts to contact the original creator of the doll. Lisa convinces Stacy Lovell, the creator, to create a new doll, with empowering feminist ideals. Even when the grand release of the doll is thwarted by a more trivial doll, she did not lose hope in her efforts.
           During Lisa’s stay at the military school in the episode “The Secret War of Lisa”, she is subjected to probably the most brutal amount of sexist abuse in her life. Not only was she the first female cadet, she also ended up passing the physical requirements that the boys had to do. Lisa also does not give into her parents obvious “babying” of her and offers to take her home. She is ostracized and even though she endured the same hazing as Bart, was never accepted. In the same way as in “Lisa on Ice”, Lisa gives into participating in violent activities just to keep up with the boys by participating in attempting to learn how to fire rifles. More importantly, she was ready to give up and give into the fact that everyone told her she could not do it, until, Bart decided to try and help her.
             Lisa attempts to help create a more equal society in many episodes. Occasionally, she comes off as pompous, though, like in the episode “Bart Star”. She attempts to be the first girl on the pee-wee football team, but when she finds out there already are girls, she expresses her disgust for the sport because of their use of pig’s skin for the ball. Sometimes she uses her vendettas to be overly self-righteous.
Word count: 523

Section IV
1) After stopping by Homer’s house on the way to his second job at the foundry, Frank Grimes tells Homer, “You’re what’s wrong with America.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

           The fact that Homer shows up to work almost every day (reinforced in every opening clip with him driving home at the end of the day) and in the situations where he loses his job, he makes an effort to get a new job with his limited skills means that he attempts to work within the system and support his family. The fact that his bosses are grossly negligent and allow his lazy, incompetent behavior to continue is of no consequence to Homer. It is also obvious that, in real life, Homer’s lifestyle would not be as accepted or even feasible. One of the writers commented on this by saying, “we wanted to show that in real life, being Homer Simpson could be really dangerous and life threatening, as Frank Grimes sadly learned” (John Weinstein Wikipedia.org).
             In the grand scheme of things, corrupt judges, politicians and cops, a failing education system and crime are among some of the most damaging things in America. The judge in the episode “The Boy Who Knew Too Much” publicly voiced that he was blatantly unlawful in his actions. Mayor Quimby, officer Wiggum, Lisa’s teacher Elizabeth Hoover and Bart’s teacher Mrs. Krabappel have a much more damaging effect on society than Homer. Jason Holt, from the book Philosophy and the Simpson, has this to say about Mayor Quimby, “Quimby’s hypocrisy, on the other hand, like that of many politicians, is not to serve his constituents, but to use his power for personal gain”. Thus, The Simpsons do a good job of pointing out the flaws of American society. Approval ratings for our politicians are at an all time low in America right now, and there has been scandal after scandal of politicians using large amounts of money on sex workers. At a time of economic instability, our politicians should be working harder than ever to help America, yet, there seems to be more important things on their mind.
           Tied in with politics is our failing education system. No Child Left Behind is a federal mandate, created by our current president and his colleagues to improve the system that was obviously failing for Lisa in 1997 and is now, six years later, proven to be failing also. In the episode, “The Secret War of Lisa”, it is made painfully clear that Lisa’s education is not pushing her to success but rather forcing her to watch outdated picture films with little intellectual value. Frequently, Mrs. Krabappel and Elizabeth Hoover are seen being bad role models, smoking in front of the students and showing them their apathy for their job. Educators play an important role in the lives of all of us growing up and the effects of bad teachers seem to stick with us into adulthood.
              All of these examples, and more, are accurate depictions of what is wrong with America. Frank Grimes was frustrated that he tried his hardest to conquer the “American Dream” and could not succeed as much as he wanted to. Perhaps, he was an over-achiever and he should have realized that having that job at the nuclear plant was reaching his goal. Instead he was overwhelmed by Homer Simpson’s bad habits. I believe the Rolling Stones said it best, “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need”. I do not, therefore, agree that Homer is what is wrong with America, rather the other characters through out the seasons that accurately depict the sad state of affairs parts of our society are in.

Word Count: 589
Bibliography

Aquinas, Thomas. “Summa Theologica” found online at :
www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.html

Lorenz, Hendrik. plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/#1. Updated 2003. Date Retrived: April
2008.

Skoble, Aeon, “The Simpsons and Philosophy”. Carus Publishing Co. 2002.

www.Wikipedia.org. Updated: April 2008. Retrived April 2008.

This was not written by me, hence the link from another blog.

10 Reasons Men Should Not Be In Ministry:

10. A man’s place is in the army.
9. The pastoral duties of men who have children might distract them from the responsibility of being a parent.
8. The physique of men indicates that they are more suited to such tasks as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do ministerial tasks.
7. Man was created before woman, obviously as a prototype. Thus, they represent an experiment rather than the crowning achievement of creation.
6. Men are too emotional to be priests or pastors. Their conduct at football and basketball games demonstrates this.
5. Some men are handsome, and this will distract women worshipers.
4. Pastors need to nurture their congregations. But this is not a traditional male role. Throughout history, women have been recognized as not only more skilled than men at nurturing, but also more fervently attracted to it. This makes them the obvious choice for ordination.
3. Men are prone to violence. No really masculine man wants to settle disputes except by fighting about them. Thus they would be poor role models as well as dangerously unstable in positions of leadership.
2. The New Testament tells us that Jesus was betrayed by a man. His lack of faith and ensuing punishment remind us of the subordinated position that all men should take.
1. Men can still be involved in church activities, even without being ordained. They can sweep sidewalks, repair the church roof, and perhaps even lead the song service on Father’s Day. By confining themselves to such traditional male roles, they can still be vitally important in the life of the church.

Barack Obama is coming to my campus tomorrow.  I have previously signed up to help out with the campaign on my campus.  Because of this, I already had a ticket for the Hardball show that will be bringing him to campus. 

 I have to say, I am very, very excited.  This is history in the making and I get to be in the thick of things. 

We are allowed cameras so I will post any pictures I take, if I am close enough to get good ones that is. 

The semester is more than half way over.  This is a great thing to ponder on, I have less than 50 days until I leave for Italy! My first trip over seas!

Less than a week after that I will have to move and started a summer semester, but right now I’m just thinking about how close this crazy semester is to ending and how close I am to drinking wine in the streets of my ancestors!

Jimmy could not believe, last night, that my semester was more than half way over.  I, having obviously felt the brunt of the work and craziness, can believe that it is moving so quick.  I often feel like the day has just begun when it is time to fall asleep on my bed at night.  It is a bizarre and unsettling feeling, I have to say.  I feel like most of us know this feeling.  I’m not about to believe that this is how it should be and that it is indeed a good thing.  Quite the opposite actually, it’s not really living.  Jim and I have been talking and trying to figure out together, what it means and how it looks to have more time for family and friends. 

We are starting to change our lives so that living is what work is worked around, and not work is what life is worked around. 

We obviously have the luxury of doing this because we are not married with kids or have any extreme debt.  I understand, that in America, this is usually not possible.  That does not mean I won’t take advantage of it while it is possible for me.  I feel like, though, if I start living like this now, I can take it with me into marriage.  Who knows.  This economy is certainly not helping us out, but I can still dream.

A few of my friends have been interested in the course that I am taking on The Simpsons.  I have decided to post what I wrote for my Mid-Term, to give them an idea of what we are discussing, learning and laughing about.

 I was given a list of questions and asked to choose three to exhaust upon in detail, here it is:

1)      Discuss Bart’s persona as a rebel.  Do you think his self-understanding (and the way this understandings plays out on The Simpons) supports Nietzsche’s claim that our identities are attempts to construct some sense of a chaotic world?  Does Bart “create himself” through his rebellious actions?

In the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, I believe that the holistic persona of Bart as a rebel is revealed.  Throughout the seasons, Bart has been the character that breaks rules, challenges authority and unnerves Lisa.  It would seem that Bart does this to be his own unique person, aside from society and laws.  This is not the case, however, because as we see in the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, when everyone else decides to leave rules and reason behind, Bart beings to think he has lost himself.  All that Bart’s identity was based on was doing the opposite of what others would do-or think they had to do, and finding security in being unique in living out that process.

Instead of paralleling with Nietzsche’s claim that our identities are attempts to construct sense for this world, Bart creates a self image that is shallow and easily lost.  Nietzsche hounds on the idea that:

“One thing is needful.- To “give style” to one’s character- a great and rare art! It is practiced by those who survey all the strengths and weaknesses of their nature and then fit them into an artistic plan until every one of them appears as art” (Gay Science p. 232)

In view of Bart’s persona, I see it defined as only an opposition to rules and authority and nothing more.  When his identity is lost, he does not “survey all the strength and weaknesses” of his inner self, he turns to Lisa for help.  For example, at the end of the episode “Bart’s Inner Child”, he seeks refuge in Lisa, who tells him that “this is your chance to develop a new and better identity.” his response being “…Just tell me what to do”. (Bart’s Inner Child)

            In conclusion, I do not believe that Bart “creates himself” through his rebellious actions.  He clearly follows a pattern of opposition and when that pattern is altered he is lost and upset. 

Word Count: 324

3) Is Mr. Burns a virtuous person?

If you analyze Mr. Burns by likeable, friendlier virtues, he would surely fall short of being virtuous.  However, if you view Burns from his role on The Simpsons as a business person and leader, you would see that he indeed has a virtuous nature.

According to Aristotle, there are conditions for right action and that is, “First [the agent] must know that he is doing virtuous actions; second, he must decide on them, and decide on them for themselves; and third, he must also do them from a firm and unchanging character”. (Ethics 1105a30 – 1105b) In the episode, “The old man and Lisa”, Burns looses all of his fortunes, then builds himself back up from scratch.  While most would want to give up when a situation gets so dire that you lose everything, Mr. Burns steps up to the plate and is ready to start anew.  According to Aristotle’s condition, Mr. Burns was aware that in order to gain back his business he needed to be looking for opportunities to do so, be hard working with his idea and also be able to motivate his employees.  Once he decided to follow through on this, he did not once waiver from his firm character and ultimately obtained his goal; he bought back the power plant.

This “rags to riches” experience proves that Mr. Burns is indeed hard working, opportunistic and proves that he has a strong will power. Aristotle’s golden mean would apply to his characteristics.  For example, the extreme’s of hardworking would be an excess of working and laziness and Mr. Burns’s point of greatest virtue, in this case, would be closer to the extremes of excess of working due the severity of the situation.

Mr. Burns is not a husband or a father and seems to have no friends except for maybe his assistant, Smithers, who seems to fear him more than love him.  This lack of relationships leaves Mr. Burns without the virtues of sensitivity or empathy for the people and things around him.  This flaw is what makes Lisa hesitate when deciding to help Mr. Burns and ultimately destroys their partnership in the recycling plant. I do not believe that you should hold the lack of these virtues against Mr. Burns because the innate flaws in every character of The Simpsons is what perpetuates the story from week to week.  If Homer lost his character flaw of ignorance, his role would change and therefore most of the predicaments of each episode would simply not exist. If Barney practiced temperance, he would no longer serve his role as a comedic drunk and so on and so forth. Mr. Burns has a role, a job and a life style that are conducive to his virtuous traits.

Word Count: 457

1)      Does Maggie have any heuristic value on The Simpsons?

At first glance, it does not seem that Maggie plays a significant role in The Simpson family, let alone having any heuristic value.  With a closer look, you can see that she indeed serves a function and has heuristic value.  In the book The Simpsons and Philosophy, one of the authors, Eric Bronson, argues that just because Maggie is unable to speak, does not mean she has nothing meaningful going on in her head or cannot interact with her world by having an important effect.  This misconception in common in Western thought; that values expression through words. This value in spoken words has been apparent since Socrates, who emphasized discussing and arguing ideas to obtain truth, and even as recent as the twentieth-century philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who believed that a person’s life is understood by his/hers interactions and most of those interactions are done with words. 

In the episode “Tree House of Horrors VI”, Maggie saves her siblings from Willie by using her pacifier to seal up his spider suit vent, causing him to explode. Maggie defies Western tradition by not using words, but her through her silence; she acts to get reveal that she loves her siblings and wants to save their lives. Bronson’s view on Eastern thought is: “Words serve only to destroy inner peace. We become too attached to our words and easily talk away the grandeur and mystery behind our lives.” (Simpons and Philosophy pg. 42) Eastern enlightenment values silence and warns against foolish words.  Perhaps Homer should take heed to his daughter’s ways.  In my opinion, Maggie serves as an example of wisdom according to Eastern tradition.

In the episode “Itchy and Scratchy and Marge”, Maggie serves as the “canary in the mine” for the potential dangers of violent television.  After watching an episode of Itchy and Scratchy, Maggie sneaks up on Homer and hits him with a mallet. Because Maggie is so young and innocent, she often mimics the world around her without inhibitions.  This lack of inhibitions brings to light the subtle dangers that would go otherwise unnoticed.  Maggie is an understated focal point to which her family learns from.

Word count: 357

Well, a much, much, much needed break.

•  Lets recap the last two weeks before spring break in four words: Flu, Period, Lice, Mid-Terms.  

I’m going to say, that maybe that was not the best two weeks of my life. 

Now that I am indeed, over all of those things, I feel great and I am enjoying all things again.  I also have already gotten my grades back from mid-terms, and they were successful! Whohoo!

I heading into one of those times again, were your focus on lift shifts just a bit.  I am going to try to do what I want in more feasible parts of the day and care less/stress less about controlling or trying to be perfect, in some aspects of my life.  I feel like most of my unhappiness comes from feeling boxed up and controlled by bigger forces (ie. debt, school, parents) and therefore I lost focus nearly completely of what I want in life.  Well, I’m a big girl now, and I’m ready to make things happen.  Life’s too short!  -things are only as bad as you let them be-  Compromises are dangerous!

 This is not to say I’m going to quit my job and live as a vagabond, far from it!  But I am going to try to take control of the things I can, and let go of my worries about the things I can not control.  I’m going to try.

Oh here’s my new guitar that a gracious friend let me buy off him, and the a picture of Jim and I playing the new music we are writing together!  How exciting!

I struggle a lot with whether or not I should blog at all.  I don’t have an issue with what I write being available for the whole world to see, I have an issue with technology. 

I had the flu this week, which is actually a big blessing.  I laid around, and rested, while reading, drawing and listening to music.  These different form of the arts have been sacrificed in my busy life of trying to obtain a degree. 

Specifically, I made a zine this week. My first one in fact, as well as reading a book on the history and production of zines.  There was a part in the book where the author talks about how blogs have hurt the zine community.  I have to admit I got a little defensive when I read that. 

There is something to be said, for taking the time to creatively draw and write about life, in tiny books, that cost nearly nothing, then passing those out to friends.  This would be instead of signing onto a computer and typing out things and pressing a mouse button to publish.  How much more fun would it be to read a handwritten/drawn booklet I wrote about events than using your scroll button on the computer?

Can/should I do both?  I’m not sure.  What I do know is that I felt a lot more proud over what I produced with my hands, a pen, pencil and a piece of computer paper, over typing on a computer screen and all the convinences that brings.

I miss the satisfaction that doing things yourself brings.  Hand making things, washing things and creating things are really fulfilling stuff.  Being fulfilled is a very important thing, a feeling I can forget, at times, even exists.  I’m so busy!

These thoughts have been pressing the last couple weeks.  The fight in my head and heart over doing what I want and what I have to/should do, despite the consequence.

Jim and I are going on two months together.

This is the first time I have attempted a serious relationship in my life and this is also Jim’s first time as well.  I am going to use the “L” word, but please understand, Jim and I had a beautiful friendship for over a year before this relationship started and we only started a relationship on the idea that we both could see each other marrying.  Not a teenage fling, or a casual adult whim.  As I said before, this is for real for real.

I will process what we go through on here.

First observations:

Love is not always fun.

It is not always an emotion and is sometimes painful.

Love is a daily choice.

I need to wake up daily and remind myself where I put my time and energy and how I know this relationship is worth it.

 This relationship has made me look at God in a different way.

Perhaps my love for God and God’s love for me is not always an emotion or feeling.  Maybe that’s what I’ve mistaking for God’s existence and therefore, when it ceased being there in my life, I thought God was gone.

I want to make the choice to follow God, but something is holding me back.

Maybe the previous thought hasn’t rung completely true in my heart and mind.  I’m stuck on it for now.  I do know that I want to follow how Jesus lived and perhaps God and I will reunite in the process.

Oh and this my favorite picture of us: