Insanity 2

Well, we finished the mowing job today. I actually think I may get into landscaping or yard maintenance. It is a good way to make the neigborhood look good and get money also.

Insanity?

This afternoon, a neighbor offerd $30 dollars for someone to mow her lawn because her lawnmower is broken. However, there were some major caveats. The grass was to high for our riding reel-mower. Our normal riding lawnmower got sabotaged by Josiah, the oil pain is full of sawdust or something similar. So we had to do it by pushmower. As I said, the grass was very high and the yard was decently large. Oh yeah, it wasn't exactly cool outside either. So, we set out to work. Luckily, our neighbor upped the price to $40 when she saw that we were pushmowing. After three hours of toil, we got the parts in the shade and around most of the edges done. But there is still a large amount of very tall grass left, much too tall for the mower. As it was we mainly inched along by lifting up the blade and slowly easing it down onto a small area of grass, then repeating times 1,000. So, we have ended up with 40 dollars, sore backs, and an unfinished job. I plan to clean out the riding-lawnmower tomorrow if at all possible. So, today was insanely interesting.

Stories and Myths Extended Edition

Now that I have thought about it, I have changed my mind about Stories and Myths. I think my views can be best represented as a graph. Note that many of these genres will overlap more or less.
Less Specific: Oral Myth
                Written Myth
                Vague story
                Specific story
                Illustrated Story
More Specific:  Movie

A myth that is orally told is usually less specific. There is plenty room for imagination. However, a story with a picture is much more specific. You are given a visual image of the story by the interpretation of the author or illustrator. And then, there are movies. In a movie you are restricted to just the director's interpretation. All types have their uses, but some may be more interesting than others.

Happy Earth Day!

If you forgot to, there is still time to go out and hug a tree! Oh yeah, make sure the squirrels throw some nuts at you so you can prove that you are truly connected to nature.

How Starbucks was Named

We all know that Starbucks was named after a coffee-guzzling character in "Moby Dick." However, before the name was settled on, one owner recommended the name of the ship, "The Pequod." It was quickly decided against when someone informed him that no one would want to drink a cup of Pequod.

Stories and Myths

I have some thoughts on stories and myths. However, my definitions are not conventional. The first, about stories, means any tale that has easily found details. So something that was recounted in yesterdays newspaper, or something like The Lord of the Rings, is a story. In either of those cases, you can find out much about the surrounding details. A myth, on the other hand, is something that is very obscure. You can figure out the basic plot, but the dates etc. cannot be known for sure. In a myth, you may know that someone drew a sword, but you probably won't know much about that sword. I must admit that myth is not the most desirable word for this idea, but it is the only one that gets close.

So, to begin with stories. Stories are easy to come across, you have probably read several today. They are practical, and don't leave too much room for the imagination. You can read stories about a scientific expedition, or a crime, or an imaginary happening. But they usually have many details filled in. That is one of the strengths of good stories. With something like LOTR, you could read about different details for your entire life and still find something new. The same goes for history. Although time is finite, there seems to be an infinite amount of details that can be discovered. This is all good, God designed it that way anyways. However, there is a downside. Stories portray detailed truth, not leaving much room for the imagination. The greatest strength of stories is also the greatest weakness.

Myths, they are different altogether. You can hear a myth and imagine all kinds of details. Maybe the hero's sword had a gold cross-bar. Maybe it was black iron so it wouldn't attract attention. The house may have been made of red bricks, or brown bricks, or papier-mache. Myths let the hearer figure out the details in his brain. Of course, this greatest strength is also a greatest weakness. For the same reason that you can imagine details, you cannot know too much for sure.

Both stories and myths have their uses, which one do you prefer?

Caleb has come down with Scarlet Fever. However, a dose of antibiotics and some Motrin have cheered him up. Hopefully no one else will get it, though the odds are against us.

Happy Day Light Savings day!

I have started reading Greenmantle. An interesting thing about it is that everything is put in relation to history. "He never missed a chance at looting the Egyptians." etc. It makes for quite interesting reading. The adventures are quite interesting also. The characters sneak across trench lines and do other insane acts.

In other breaking news, our Spring Break is next week. That will give me more time to prepare for the Seattle tournament.