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Speaking of old appliances: while my gas stove has sensible electric ignition, the gas oven apparently has to be lit with a lighter. Not even conveniently, you have to lift a metal bottom to get at the gas. Unclear if the ignition broke beyond repair or if this is by design. I am way less enthused about trying to use it now. (No baked potatoes?) Also, the dial for the oven gas was broken, though will be replaced... I'm just glad it got stripped in a gas-off position.
In addition to the Odyssey, I finished reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It's still fun, apart from the Christ Sledgehammer at the end. I noticed that Lewis gives Eustace something he's good at, botany -- though I don't think that ever contributed to the plot or solving a problem.
I remember as a kid reading about prisoners being fed bread and water, the ultimate in minimalist diet. Bread for food, water for drink, eh? It occurs to me that there's a good chance they also needed the water to make the bread edible: traditional bread goes stale quickly and I doubt prisoners were getting the fresh stuff... hell, you'd be happy if it were just stale and not moldy or wormy. This thought brought to you by my soaking a solid baguette to make it edible again.
I also finally finished reading Unearthly Powers, by Alan Strathern, a book my friend Amy had turned me onto. I was really slow, she not only finished before me but could have finished re-reading it before I did. To be short, it's about the differences between transcendent (otherworldly) and immanent (this-worldly) religions, and how a given faith may shift between those over time.
Immanentism – a form of religiosity oriented towards the presence of
supernatural forces and agents in the world around us, which are
attributed with the power to help or thwart human aspirations.
Transcendentalism
– a form of religiosity oriented towards the transcendence of mundane
existence and the imperative of salvation or liberation from the human
condition.
All religions have immanentism; some newer ones have transcendentalism as well.
As Amy put it, the book is also trying to explain why "world religions" went through "folk religions" like a hot knife through butter. I don't feel like trying to give a fair summary, but in addition to my old idea that just being a missionary religion gives you an advantage -- you keep trying, they don't, eventually you succeed -- Strathern talks about other differences: immanentist religions tend to be open and empirical in a sense, they're not trying to resist missionary activity, in fact priests and sacred kings may adopt or co-opt the new religion for various religions; OTOH once emplaced, transcendentalist philosophy tends to close the door behind it -- now drought or famine or failure in war aren't a sign of weak gods but a punishment or a test or a reminder to focus on salvation.
In addition to the Odyssey, I finished reading Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It's still fun, apart from the Christ Sledgehammer at the end. I noticed that Lewis gives Eustace something he's good at, botany -- though I don't think that ever contributed to the plot or solving a problem.
I remember as a kid reading about prisoners being fed bread and water, the ultimate in minimalist diet. Bread for food, water for drink, eh? It occurs to me that there's a good chance they also needed the water to make the bread edible: traditional bread goes stale quickly and I doubt prisoners were getting the fresh stuff... hell, you'd be happy if it were just stale and not moldy or wormy. This thought brought to you by my soaking a solid baguette to make it edible again.
I also finally finished reading Unearthly Powers, by Alan Strathern, a book my friend Amy had turned me onto. I was really slow, she not only finished before me but could have finished re-reading it before I did. To be short, it's about the differences between transcendent (otherworldly) and immanent (this-worldly) religions, and how a given faith may shift between those over time.
Immanentism – a form of religiosity oriented towards the presence of
supernatural forces and agents in the world around us, which are
attributed with the power to help or thwart human aspirations.
Transcendentalism
– a form of religiosity oriented towards the transcendence of mundane
existence and the imperative of salvation or liberation from the human
condition.
All religions have immanentism; some newer ones have transcendentalism as well.
As Amy put it, the book is also trying to explain why "world religions" went through "folk religions" like a hot knife through butter. I don't feel like trying to give a fair summary, but in addition to my old idea that just being a missionary religion gives you an advantage -- you keep trying, they don't, eventually you succeed -- Strathern talks about other differences: immanentist religions tend to be open and empirical in a sense, they're not trying to resist missionary activity, in fact priests and sacred kings may adopt or co-opt the new religion for various religions; OTOH once emplaced, transcendentalist philosophy tends to close the door behind it -- now drought or famine or failure in war aren't a sign of weak gods but a punishment or a test or a reminder to focus on salvation.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-21 14:04 (UTC)From:I usually bake potatoes in a toaster oven.
(In general, if the thing I'm baking is small enough to go in a toaster oven, that's where I put it. Heating a smaller space = more efficiency.)
no subject
Date: 2022-07-21 17:40 (UTC)From: