Unitarian Boy's House of Wonderfulness

On Dentist Appointments

unitarianboy — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:14:08 +0000

Feeling a little nervous today maybe it’s because I have a dentist appointment tomorrow. I think no matter how old you get you never quite get over your dread of going to the dentist. There just seems something unnatural about sitting in a chair wearing a bib and allowing someone to probe your mouth with metal picks and other whirring gadgets. Hopefully the first area of life that futuristic Star Trek type science will effect is dentistry. I would hate to see this scene in Star Trek wouldn’t you.

Picard feels a toothache and he goes to Dr. Crusher who refers him to the ships dentist. Oh come on they had to have had one! The day of his appointment arrives ,and he goes in and we see that the art of dentistry has not progessed at all. That’s what at least seems like to me. I realize that dentists are probably much more hygenic than they used and they do numb you from the pain ,but I’m looking forward to the day when the dentist will shine a special ray in your mouth and the thing will be done. Oh well

Poetry Slam

unitarianboy — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:17:23 +0000

Went to a poetry slam last night and had a very enjoyable time. My friend and I were asked if we wanted to contribute I was’nt feeling up to it. My friend asked if he could have a few moments to put something together and I must say he did quite well. Everyone who got up to recite a poem did well in fact. The only sour note was the fact that several Radiohead songs were played on the stereo. I can’t listen to more than a few minutes of Radiohead without getting depressed which I’m sure is precisely the mood they were going for. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics or the despairing quality in the singer’s voice. Which is funny because I am also fond of Jeff Buckley who can also be quite depressing. Oh well into every life a few contradictions must fall

Does the bad guy have more fun?

unitarianboy — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:18:10 +0000

In talking with a friend last night I asked the question “Why is it that the villain always seems to be having more fun than the hero?” Is this just how it appears to us? If so then does that mean that we all have some secret desire to slip out of the restraints of society, get our hands on some superweapons and hold the city to ransome. Do we root for the hero because we feel like that is what we’re supposed to do while secretly inside we think how much fun it would be to go on a crazy supervillain crime spree. Sorry folks Unitarian Boy is in an odd mood today. Just as a disclaimer, this is no way an admission that I am about to embark on some crazy supervillain crime spree.

On Humor in Fantasy

unitarianboy — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:14:31 +0000

I just started reading Clive Barker’s “Great and Secret Show” and though I do mean to stick with it I’m finding it heavy going. Perhaps reading Jim Butcher has spoiled me ,but I find lately that I prefer my fantasy to have some element of humor in it. Barker writes to much in an Anne Rice mode of breathless anticipation. Oh well I’m only sixty pages maybe I’m judging the book too harshly to early. I tend to go through periods where I read books straight through followed by periods of not being able to stick with a book till the end.

Happy Commercialized Expression of Love Day

unitarianboy — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:21:21 +0000

Yes I know that was cynical of me wasn’t it. A single person has three choices on a day like today. They can take on a Scrooge like cynicism toward the day and spend it shouting “humbug” everytime somone wishes them a Happy V-Day or they can just simply treat it like any other day. Or they can try to do something to make themselves happy ,and as trite as that may sound it’s something we often forget to do. Do something nice for yourself today. That’s my holiday message.

Elevator Speechs, Nicknames and Pride

unitarianboy — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:54:56 +0000

This is what UUA President Sinkford says is what we should be prepared to give if and when anyone asks us about our faith. He asks us to pretend that we are in an elevator and all the time we have is the time it takes to get from one floor to the next to explain what UUism means hence the term elevator speech. While I agree that we should never be afraid or ashamed to speak of our faith when asked after all any belief worth having is also worth talking about. The words “elevator speech” sound to much like a blurb or a sound bite. This is isn’t the only quibble I have with Sinkford ,but that’s for another post.

Why I am talking about this exactly? Why do I talk about anything I choose to talk about? In this case it has to do with my user name ,Unitarian Boy, and why I chose it. I could say that the name was just hung on me and it was, but I claimed as my own and wear it proudly. At first I thought it sounded like the name of really cheesy superhero ,but then I got to thinking what if there really were a superhero who based his persona around UU values. I guess what I’m saying is I suppose if I did have an elevator speech my nickname would be it. Trite I know but hopefully it would serve as an intro to a more in depth conversation which is what most good elevator speeches should be right? I’ll get more into what UU values mean to me later. Hope this made sense it was just on my mind.

Listening to Jean Shepherd

unitarianboy — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:00:54 +0000

Jean Shepherd seems to be one of those little things that makes a day a little lighter and easier to take. Don’t try to read anything to deep into this.

Language Hang-Up

unitarianboy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:34:04 +0000

Another one of my hobby horses is language. When you say something like this the grammar police start coming out of the wood work and try find every instance of a misplaced semi-colon in everything you’ve ever written. What I mean when say I have a language hang up is that I tend to pay attention to someone’s choice of words. For instance a friend of mine recently told me that he now has acolytes. I don’t know how seriously I was meant to take this but one thing he said did get my attention.

He said that he was sitting somewhere one day just talking and all of a sudden two people came up and just sat at his feet . “What’s the big deal?” you may be asking yourself. I have always taken this to be a figurative expression, and all it meant was someone has decided to learn something from someone that he acknowledges knows more than he does. I’m not sure why ,but I find the image of someone literally sitting at the feet of another person both amusing and disturbing. I’ve found that amusing and disturbing are blurry distinctions.

Nostalgic Beverages

unitarianboy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:14:36 +0000

Maybe it’s due to the fact that the weekend is approaching or perhaps it’s the fact that I’m still feeling a bit wobbly ,but I can’t seem to get in the swing of things today.

Last night my friend brought me bottle of ginger beer , and not only did it seem to sooth my cough but it was good too. He informed that there were better brands out ,but having never had it before I was no position to judge. I believe I may buy some this weekend. He also told me that he run across something he referred to as Victorian Lemonade. This made me a bit nervous because it put in mind of this. But he assured me that this lemonade was in fact sweetened with lemons. I hope this stuff doesn’t seem to dull. This is the stuff that I obsess over.

Laughing Record

unitarianboy — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:19:22 +0000

I was poking around the web yesterday and ran across this. It’s a nice little piece of YouTube silliness. I remember hearing this music in a Tex Avery cartoon, and I know that Jean Shephard used it on his show from time to time. It makes me wonder under what circumstances this was recorded. Did it start off as a legitimate attempt to record a coronet solo ,and someone found that they just couldn’t keep a straight face? Does something like this really have to have a point? In any case here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRSoabZ79qM