7.29.2011

Social Geometry and other stories

Google Plus! Add me to your circles, if you will. I might just talk to myself over there till everyone migrates in from Facebook and Twitter. The benefits:
  • it shares an account with your GMail address/Blogger blog/YouTube channel/anything else Google-based
  • the share function works kind of like retweeting, and for everything
  • you're not limited to 140 characters, although it's still better to keep it short
  • you can control what you share with which group of friends/family members/bosses and coworkers/etc.
  • (my favorite) theoretically, eventually you won't have to try and be clever on numerous social networks at once

The down side: Google might take over the world.

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Dear people who make hymnals for the Catholic Church, please reconsider the following lines: "One is the breath of the star and the rose", "When love explodes across the sky", "A gleaming cloth of white... the fabric of our lives", and "...who was rage against the night." And about half of the song that goes "We are harvest, we are hunger, we are question, we are creed..." I cannot sing these lyrics with a straight face. Thanks.

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Writers' link of the week: I really appreciated this piece by Mike Duran on 'The Myth of "Secular" Fiction'. Sample quote:
"A blanket condemnation of all myths -- especially myths that are so rich in spiritual allegory -- does not do justice to either myth or Christianity. Which is why on Mars Hill (Acts 17), rather than condemn the pagan poets, the apostle Paul quoted them, highlighting elements of their art which corroborated biblical truth."
Well said, good sir.

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Music of the week: The instrumentation to this is incredibly beautiful.


Gloria Video from Maralynn Rochat on Vimeo.

H/T Mr. Pond, who recommended them. Apparently some of them are his friends. :)

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Funny of the week: This year's Bulwer-Lytton awards. They're all brilliant, but I think the Dishonorable Mention is my favorite.

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Happy weekend, everyone!

6 comments:

  1. How did you luck out and get on Google + already? I tried but it says that they are full.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not sure, Sarah--I signed up to be notified when it came available, but didn't hear anything. Then a friend of mine invited me, and I accepted the invitation. At which point, I had no trouble getting in.

    Anyone who wants in, let me know your gmail address and I'll be happy to send you an invite... maybe it'll work for you, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing the Music of the Week. The instrumentation is very beautiful. Thoughts on the meaning of the video...?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, I'm not entirely sure about the meaning, Carrie-Ann, but I believe most or all of the band members are Christians, and therefore there's a quest for redemption going on in the video. That's how it read to me, anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting, Jenna, thank you. My initial take had been that the main guy was afraid to relate and participate because he thought there was something wrong with him, and then he finally accepted who he was and then felt free to sing/participate in the end. And the "ugly" mark transformed into an accepted and "beautiful" mark. Your interpretation sounds better, though.

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  6. I love the Bulwer-Lytton Awards! I wrote an entry one year, but didn't send it. I know someone who, like the winner, eye-crossingly mixes metaphors when writing.

    --Arabella

    ReplyDelete

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