Classics Considered

Well...I promise I'm not trying to milk this for all it's worth.  But I realized that after "finishing" the review of 12 Rules for Life , I'd failed to answer my starting questions from Part 1 : What is about [Jordan Peterson] or his message that generates commonality between such disparate groups? What kind of person, with such a prestigious CV, is so willing to go out on a limb [against political correctness]? Is he really courageous, or is there some other reason? I think the answer to #1 is pretty simple.  Peterson's appeal lies in his embrace of core values, like honesty, hard work, integrity, and self-respect.  Any belief systems that value the individual and accountability are going to gravitate towards his message, which puts a big emphasis on you, the individual, taking action - making your life better and making the world better.  So that is what seems to make his following so diverse. To the second question - my takeaway from reading 12 Rul

A couple of months ago I mentioned I was looking forward to two Disney remakes this year, Aladdin and The Lion King . Well, my siblings and I just got back from Aladdin , and I was not disappointed!   It's funny, beautiful, moving, and action-packed.  Dare I say it??  I like it better than the cartoon original. It is also my favorite Disney remake so far, even more than Beauty and Beast , my previous favorite.   Aladdin stays true to its origin - a story of adventure, humor, and romance - and doesn't try to be more than a good, old-fashioned kid's movie.  (Yes, Jasmine has her own song and subplot, but it fits her character arc and doesn't seem incongruous.) So if you have any reservations, I say give it try, you may be pleasantly surprised!

I've decided to share these quotes in the order they appear in the book, plus occasional commentary. All quotes are from the 2018 hardcover edition. Key: plaintext - Worthy quotes bold - Favorite quotes italics - Quotes I disliked 12 Rules for Life: Best and Worst Quotes The dominance hierarchy is not capitalism.  It's not communism, either, for that matter . . . We (the sovereign we , the we that has been around since the beginning of life) have lived in a dominance hierarchy for a long, long time. (p. 14) - Agreed, seems pretty self-evident. . . . the familiar Western images of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and the Pietà both express the female/male dual unity, as does the traditional insistence on the androgyny of Christ.   (p. 42) - "traditional insistence on the androgyny," what is he talking about? You should take care of, help and be good to yourself the same way you would take care of, help and be good to someone you loved and valued.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn by Evstafiev [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons "No one could stand up for communism after The Gulag Archipelago - not even the communists themselves." ( 12 Rules for Life , p. 310) I would like to think that's true.  Unfortunately, admiration for Joseph Stalin is, by all appearances, far from dead .  The mass murderer has been rebranded as a WWII hero first and dictator second. While not all Russians subscribe to that narrative , there are some who are nostalgic for the USSR. I once briefly dated someone who felt that way.  It wasn't apparent on first impressions, but, as we got to know each other better, I learned he was an ardent Stalinist, fully heroizing Stalin and believing all the bad to be exaggerations, lies, or American propaganda, or (barring all that) nothing any worse than what U.S. presidents had done.  Though born in a former Soviet republic, he was not really old enough to remember life in the Soviet Union, yet t

So... I have this get it back to the library ASAP (fines are accruing), but I can't seem to write a short review.  I tried, I really did, but it's hopeless.  Here is Part 1, and I hope to have Part 2 up tomorrow. First, some background... Jordan Peterson Gage Skidmore [ CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons As I mentioned in a previous post, my purpose in reading this book was to see what the fuss was about.  Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto (and formerly at Harvard and McGill), has become a controversial figure in recent years, for voicing his views on forms of political correctness which he sees as threatening to freedom of speech.  It's a long story which you can read about on Wikipedia , and I only mention it to give some context.  Peterson, whose YouTube lectures attract millions of followers, went on two years after the publicity to publish his 2018 book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos .  This book became a huge bestseller. Wh

Note: Contains Game of Thrones Season 8 spoilers (Note 2: I never thought I would be doing a post on Game of Thrones , but here I am.  Never say never.) When I first heard about this book/TV franchise, it was years ago, still in the early days of the TV series.  At first I was interested, because a lot of people were comparing it to The Lord of the Rings , and aesthetically there is some similarity.  I read some Amazon reviews of the books (as I usually do) and was a bit disturbed to hear the series is full of heinous, macabre scenes, including frequent sexual violence.  I always pass on that kind of content and decided not to read it.  Frankly, I also expected the hype would fizzle out sooner rather than later. Well, hindsight being 20/20, I was completely wrong, and enthusiasm for the series catapulted into eight TV seasons.  I've been observing the franchise's progress from afar and, thanks to the media, wasn't allowed to not know the fact that it finally reach

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a page-to-screen freebie.  I've talked before about my favorite costume dramas , so I thought I'd go with Jana's take on this topic and share some books that really need to be adapted! Also, some of these have been made into films already, so if it's on the list, it means I haven't yet seen the "perfect" one (subject to my picky opinion, of course). 10.  The Heir of Redclyffe by Charlotte Yonge Yonge's novel may have faded out of popularity (or even recognition), but there are plenty of cinematic moments in this one: feuding family members, a shipwreck, and a haunting graveyard scene. Actually, forget the movie - I have plans to turn this into the next blockbuster musical.  Only half-joking... 9.  The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle I can hear critics' howls of protest..."not ANOTHER Sherlock Holmes movie!"  But hear me out: Jeremy Brett (sadly enough) was not able to

Just last month, Parekh & Singh finally released their second album.  I say "finally," because I've been waiting for more music ever since I finished listening to Ocean (2016). I must have given up hope, because the new music sneaked up on me, and I kinda freaked out when I stumbled upon it a day or two after its release.  Would Science City live up to all my hopes?! Parekh & Singh, Indian Indie Duo So, who are Nischay Parekh and Jivraj Singh?  I hadn't heard of them or their genre - "dream pop" - until May 2017, when they released their music video for "Ghost."  The retro vibe, bright colors, and Parekh's introspective vocals immediately grabbed my attention.  I felt strangely nostalgic for something I didn't even know existed. "Ghost"... still my favorite Parekh & Singh song! Being already a huge fan of electronica artist Owl City, I love dreamy, poetic lyrics with a healthy dose of synthesizers, so t

Well, friends...this month's edition of "What I'm Reading" is going to be a bit of a ramble.  You might want to grab something to snack on or drink.  I usually try to abridge, but this time I just feel the need to stream-of-conscious it.... Personal For starters, a personal update. Though work and everything are going fine, I've been feeling very directionless lately and in need of a change.  The thing is, there's so many things I would like to do - from buying a house to changing jobs - but no one thing that especially stands out as "yeah, that makes sense." It feels like a big decision chart with lines going all over the place.   I've been through all the conventional wisdom - focus on others, not yourself; try to find what you're passionate about; make small goals; etc.  But after all of that, I'm still in a maze, with too many ideas and hopes and doubts pulling me in different directions.  And in spite of everything being fine

Chesterton's England, ca. 100 years ago, is home to a de facto group of patriots, a Robin Hood renaissance.  There's the lawyer, Mr. Robert Owen Hood, whose name itself harkens back to the leader of the Merry Men.  His friend Colonel Crane is a quiet soul with a fiery past, plus a penchant for studying indigenous tribes and their religions.  Among the other five members, the aviator Hilary Pierce stands out as a brash aviator, someone full of antics which he carries out with great seriousness. Their goal?  To achieve impossible things, and to save England from despots.  So Mr. Hood sets the Thames on fire, Colonel Crane eats his hat, and Hilary Pierce makes pigs fly, all in the name of rescuing the common man from the evils of either greedy aristocrats or corrupt bureaucrats.  Sly politicians, doctors, and scientists stand in their way, but the League of the Long Bow prevails with one promise: it always does what it says it will do. When I think of weird classics, I thi

Every so often, I get an urge to do something crafty.  "Crafty" here means having to do with crafts, not cunning plans (though it may amount to the same thing).  Today was one of those days, so I stopped by ye olde curiosity shoppe Dollar Tree and picked up some frames, because I'm cheap that way. Remember this quote from Heretics ?  I couldn't find a great graphic of it online, so I decided to make one.  Here's the printout (click for full size): ( The flourish is from Pixabay - I know they don't require attribution, but I always feel like I should...habit!) I picked up this little blue frame because it goes with my color scheme, but I wasn't sure what picture to put in it.  I finally settled on the plans for the Nautilus (Disney version), along with Nemo's motto, Mobilis in Mobili ("moving amidst mobility").  Completely nerdy, but I love it.  :) Last bit of craftiness: I love triptychs, so thought I'd try creati