Blogdex Blitz

For reasons I totally don't understand, I wound up on Blogdex. I'm not complaining, mind you, and I hope that those of you who've arrived via Blogdex find something to interest you. I'm just a bit baffled.

The Blind Leading the Lame

Maybe this is what his Dad had in mind when he talked about "that vision thing."

[via Joho the Blog]

Lest we forget

Religion inspires terrible and wonderful deeds. I've just read a review on Salon of Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, and the book sounds fascinating.

The "Fearless Scholar" of "Out of the Flames" is the 16th-century Spanish physician, philosopher and mystical theologian Michael Servetus (1511-1553), the guiding spirit, though not an actual founder, of the Unitarian Church. The "Fatal Heresy" is Servetus' denial of the doctrines of the trinity and original sin. And the very rare book, thought at the time of Servetus' death to be the last copy in existence, is his "Christianismi Restitutio" ("The Restoration of Christianity"), which was strapped to his side when he was burned alive in Geneva in 1553, more or less at the connivance of his sworn enemy and Protestant rival, John Calvin....

"Servetus was so smart, the Goldstones assert, "that it never seemed to occur to him that his arguments would be more effective if he didn't imply that anyone holding an opposing view was an idiot."

Of course he got burned at the stake.

Some beautiful words

Sometimes I read something online that just knocks me out. Today, it was an entry at this imploding heart.

Line my eyes with coffee grounds and mush me into the disposal. Send an icecube down after to keep the blades clean and the air fresh.

Frost my shoulders with home made pink icing and set me on a platter so I can gleam sweetly when you carry me into the room where the whole world is singing.

Go read the rest of I Can't Understand You Hating Music to Hold Hands To.

Playing

There's some interesting writing going on around the topic of women bloggers and play, sparked by a posting by Elaine of Kalilily on Blogsisters.

My thesis is that, as a generalization, our society discourages women from being goofy and funny. When have you ever heard of the "class clown" being a girl? The proportion of female to male comedians has grown, but they are also still very much in the minority.

Note: I make a LOT more faces than most women. :D

[via Blogsisters]

BLoD: Catastrophe!

Especially if you pronounce it "cat-ass-trophy." Proceed only if you do not suffer from coulrophobia.

You've got to wonder what the kitty thinks of the whole thing, especially when she licks herself...

[via runs with scissors]