1. I have stopped photographing for Xanga because my camera is not really good enough quality for such an intricate experiment. But I do hope to continue handwriting at some point.
2. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers. Universal realities strike me poignantly in fresh particularities; human brokenness/fallenness, for instance, strikes in one particular instance and reminds me of Christian truth. It wasn't anything particularly (in itself) poignant, but I have been recently and poignantly reminded that most of us human beings are broken in some way or another - broken, screwed up, screwed over, insecure, selfish, however you want to put it. I'm simply speaking of what exists, of what I have observed in myself and most of those around me - this is definitely not a universal, catch-all statement, though I have suspicion that there is something vaguely universal to it. This knowledge does not (hopefully) diminish the capacity to love, because the expressed brokenness is simply something of human lack - the brokenness behind a bully's taunts. However, this knowledge sometimes encounters me in a poignant way as it strikes out at another person, shakes me up a bit, and saddens me.
It seems each of us is generally a mixture of what-will/should-be-a-saint and the fallen creature in what is to the human mind largely indistinguishable elements; here's a simple example: in many social settings, I observe genuine and beautiful acquaintance/friendship with healthy conversation, with true charity and goodwill shared. At the same time, in any given group setting, with little element of transition between any 'good' or 'ill', there is something of an incessant posturing, something of deep hunger for affirmation expressed in odd ways, something of steam-rolling, sometimes pent-up rage or jealousy, sometimes gossip, etc. The two 'sides' - the saint, the sinner - go hand-in-hand, as the person is a platform of all these liturgical works happening at the same time. Often, that is to say, behind an empty posture or destructive word is an anointed person who may even be trying to love in some way or another.
In acknowledging this, I am reminded of the broken persons that Jesus Christ our Lord encountered. By and large, from what I can tell, everyone that our Lord encountered was broken, screwed up, insecure, selfish, and so forth. Yet it was those who had nothing to hold but their brokenness - no complacent cushions of social stability or social status or wealth - who were most willing and able to be forgiven and to forgive. These fools and children are the realists of the human race. Blessed are the meek, blessed are the poor in spirit - they are blessed. And blessed are the merciful.
3. Roman Ibis and Mrs. von Bora: My silly drama was obscure. Edward Morgan Blake - the 'Comedian' - is a brutal and sadistic 'hero' from the graphic novel (and now upcoming movie) Watchmen. Jon Osterman is the casual modernist; Rorschach is a rough-edged hero similar to the Comedian. Blake intrigues me insofar as he took himself so lightly (or perhaps too seriously, in a masturbatory way) that he really was a moral-minded person attempting to make a parody of the nihilistic violence of American culture. He took on the persona of violence as a sort of attempt at a parable - though there is more to his complex character than this summation. Similar comparisons could be made to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whom various Christian sects cite as an example of acceptable Christian violence; according to what I've read and have heard from persons who know much about Bonhoeffer, the truth of the matter is that Bonhoeffer knew exactly what he was doing, and his hope was exactly the opposite of what everyone (now) wants to make out of it. He knew he would pay a price for his choice of violence, and he didn't glorify his choice. The Comedian seemed to know he would pay a price for his vigilantism.
The point being this: Sometimes things are not what they seem; sometimes persons who make a 'serious' point are not communicating on the surface of the action. I 'hit' your obscure conversation from an odd angle, but I think there is room for dialogue between the two. Then again, this is all still very obscure.
-r
