January 14, 2007
Yeah. We Missed Him.
The husband made such good time today that by the time we went out to the 18-mile checkpoint to cheer him on, he'd passed it by twenty minutes before. This is partly due to his wife's problems with time management, but more of it had to do with his habit of always making the conservative, "safe" judgement: the range he gave us of when he might pass by just didn't allow for the possibility of his getting across the start line early, and keeping up his best pace.
Attila the Hub finished the marathon in four hours and twenty minutes—an hour and forty minutes ahead of how he did last year in Hawaii.
At a certain point his sister urged me to give up the vigil. I agreed, and went to the Circle K for ice. Once I got back here, I checked with Mr. Internet, and found out that he'd finished—and made good time. So I went down to check the shuttle buses; he stepped off one of them just as I reached the lobby.
Running has done great thing for A the H. And I'm very proud of him.
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Posted by: k at January 15, 2007 01:34 AM (lCUKc)
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Brisk, dry air to help him along, no doubt.
Did I say brisk? Yi-iy! I near froze my patooie off this weekend!
Posted by: Desert Cat at January 15, 2007 08:05 PM (xdX36)
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My father finished the half-marathon in 2:16 minutes, 14 off his time last year. I wonder how well he'd do if he actually had time to train.
And no, I have no desire to walk/run in my father's footsteps. I don't want the runner's high when I can get something similar from a good bottle of merlot.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at January 15, 2007 11:20 PM (QJ5cf)
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Wow, impressive. I can cover 26 miles in the same time too here in LA (in a car).
Posted by: Dalsan at January 17, 2007 02:09 PM (lV2Hd)
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Glenn Reynolds
. . . on
healthcare in Europe vs. the United States:
Because I'm unhappy with our current state of medical progress, the most important single issue to me is which system encourages research and development. The answer, of course, is that neither does it nearly as well as I'd like, though the U.S. system is pretty clearly better than the European.
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January 13, 2007
Live from Phoenix!
I'm here in the
Valley of the Sun. I'm supposed to have lunch with
Desert Cat today, and then tomorrow I'll be cheering my husband on in the
Phoenix Marathon.
Blogging will be more-than-light for the next few days, as I'll be occupied fetching ice to soothe sore spousal muscles.
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Small world. My father is running the half-marathon. My mother is with him to cheer him on/pick him up after it's all over. They took my grandmother along for a much-deserved vacation and an excuse to do some AZ site seeing.
I'd say I'm jealous but it's not that warm there now, and the thousands of people there for the marathon would get in my way. I'm waiting for Spring Training in March.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at January 14, 2007 01:28 AM (QJ5cf)
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AND!!! DC has posted a certain Picture, taken, I think, around the time of said Lunch.
That's my blogdad and blogmom in the SAME PICTURE AT ONCE!!!
With a great restaurant sign AND pretty flowers too!
All right, all you bloggers out there. Now you tell me: How often does that happen? HUH? HUH?
I am the LUCKIEST blogchild to ever be virtually born.
Posted by: k at January 14, 2007 01:33 AM (lCUKc)
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Oooh, hoorah. I was going to send you that pic, and one like it that Daisy Cat took. I was hoping DC had posted it--was going to check on that after I answered my comments.
Daisy Cat is an extraordinary woman: bright. With-it. Thoughtful. You'd like her.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 14, 2007 06:22 AM (ha3lH)
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Sean, it's COLD here right now: maybe not by Wisconsin standards, but by Southwestern standards, it's intense.
And I left my jacket and coat in SoCal, so I'm muddling along with sweaters and sort of dancing around to keep warm when I have to go outside.
Usually when I come out here in the I pack clothes like the ones I take to the mountains. It's warm generally warm during the day (that sunshine thing), but at night the temperatures drop straight down like lead. It typically goes from 65 degrees in the daytime to 30-40 when it gets dark, here in the desert.
How cool that your dad is running the half: I'm going to run a half this coming fall. I'll remember to look for your family in the crowds . . . ! ("Do you like good cooking? Tanqueray gin? Baseball?")
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 14, 2007 06:32 AM (ha3lH)
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AG
The last couple of mornings, the thermometer on my patio has been a rock steady 30 degrees. (Friday I ran outside to take pics of my house covered in a mixture of hail and SNOW!!)
Spousal unit traveled to Adelanto on Saturday to help set up a friend's new computer... neighbor kids were having fun spraying the bushes with water and watching icicles form.
Posted by: Darleen at January 14, 2007 01:01 PM (x/ea7)
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If my mother did the same thing as last year she hunkered down at an Einstein's Bagels with a book and waited for my dad to finish running.
Posted by: Sean Hackbarth at January 14, 2007 07:37 PM (QJ5cf)
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Actually, Darleen, I did get your mail, and I showed A the H the pix of your house covered in snow.
It reminds me of the time it snowed in Northridge in the early 90s. Wild.
Sean, there was ice on the sidewalks here. One runner slipped on it and fell. This is something like a 20-year record cold day for Fenix--VERY atypical. I'm sure your parents didn't even notice.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 14, 2007 09:53 PM (ha3lH)
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Oh, I do not LIKE being cold like that. Feels too much like Minnesota.
Unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of hunkering down somewhere warm this weekend to wait it out. I'm still thawing.
Posted by: Desert Cat at January 16, 2007 04:54 PM (B2X7i)
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Christophe
. . . has a new
blog. Oddly enough, it mentions the sex industry.
Christophe has always been an extraordinary prose stylist. And, yes: that has greatly enhanced Blowfish's descriptions of sex toys over the years. He is a writer's son, and a good writer hiimself. It shows.
He is part of the Malibu Mafia, too. In high school I used to imagine him, Sean Penn, Margaret Baumgartner, Sandra Tsing Loh, Karen Jerome, Joel Kopitz, and Audrey McNulty having wonderful, erudite conversations on board the yellow buses that took them from Samohi and our dirty little beach town up the coast to the Land of Dreams.
Though I'm sure it never happened quite like that in real life. What a shame.
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I wish. Really, I mostly remember being completely obsessed with who would sit next to me on the bus back from school. Ah, high school memories...
(And, fascinating, it won't let me use the URL of the new site because of an anti-spam filter. There's a blog posting in that!)
Posted by: Christophe at January 13, 2007 11:40 AM (td8Qe)
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It's the "p" word. Filters are sensitive about that. Of course, I'm part of a blogging collective, so whatever one person blacklists becomes verboten. Sometimes it's a really simple word like "the."
What's interesting to me is that in at least one government agency one URL for my site is blocked, and another isn't. That is, IIRC, littlemissattila.mu.nu is blocked, but attila.mu.nu is okay.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 13, 2007 07:13 PM (ha3lH)
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I don't take it all personal-like, although I am amused at the relevance of that to the new blog. I'm going to move it to a slightly different domain name (old one will still work), which might wiggle its way through the net.
Posted by: Chrisotphe at January 13, 2007 10:40 PM (td8Qe)
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How about hottightteenagedpussies.com?
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 14, 2007 06:19 AM (ha3lH)
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"teenaged"? Well, they do have that effect. They're taken anyway--with the "d" and without.
I took a gander at the merch when I was lurking. Sorts of makes me sorry that I don't have a hoo-hoo. At least a few days a month. No. Not those days; the good ones. Maybe it's a good thing I don't. It might destroy a fantasy that those things feel good, and get you 'there' in no time flat. And do I need more Pyrex? Other than my measuring cup and casserole dish, of course. And that baster. Don't get me started on the titanium! I know males have places for these things, too. But mine are one-way 'streets', assuming I stay conscious, obviously.
Posted by: Darrell at January 14, 2007 07:13 AM (kW/U8)
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January 12, 2007
Bob (The Good One, Not the Bad One) Points Us To This Bitchin' Video.
I think no matter where we stand on the political spectrum, or how we feel about the war, we can all agree that
zombies are cool.
"I'm not a monster,
Well—technically I am.
I guess I am."
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January 11, 2007
"You Know," Hog Remarks,
"I hear people who were raised by permissive parents tend to be impulsive and demanding."
"Wow," I respond. "I'll bet your parents were really permissive."
There is a pause as he shovels cilantro sauce onto his tamale. "Do you know anyone else who fits that mold?" he asks me.
"No," I reply. "But should I meet anyone like that, I'll be sure to tell them you were looking for them." *
Later on I drop by my mother's house, which has been half-destroyed by her spirited pit bull puppy. I pet the dog and relate in a sing-song way what Hog has asserted.
"Do you know anyone who is impulsive and demanding?" I ask the dog. My mother laughs.
* The careful reader will note that I adapted this line from Harvey.
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Carlson-ing
We in the online community have got to stop coining new verbs. But surely we need just one more. What
do you call it when someone asserts that we need more of something and less of it
at the very same time . . .?
Via Insty, who has some interesting thoughts and links on the surge issue.
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LMA, I thought "Carlsoning" referred to getting the video
store employee fired for revealing your taste in movie rentals.
As far as the Carlson _you_ are referring to, do his rants
resemble this guy? (make sure you catch the first few
seconds of audio)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM
Enjoy! (Bet you can't get the tune out of your head.)
-Bob
Posted by: Bob at January 11, 2007 08:50 PM (2tBSJ)
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Sybil, comes to mind. Maybe she should initial each sentence so we know who is speaking.
Then there's the old standbys--left-wing hack, Democrat-stooge, flipper, Miss Information, journalism school graduate, proud member of the MSM, etc., etc.
Posted by: Darrell at January 11, 2007 09:01 PM (9jRPu)
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Gosh. I Hope Iran Stabilizes Soon.
It's, like, a
cauldron of sectarian violence. Had you
noticed?
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In and Out Surge
The Anchoress has a roundup of
reactions to Bush's speech, and the state of the war right now.
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Hog Takes a Bite from His Tamale.
"Val invited me to an anti-surge rally tomorrow," he remarks.
"All without knowing the specifics of the plan. You going?" I ask.
"Well, I was going to stay home because these political things bore me so much. But then he told me there might be girls there. I figured, 'hippie chicks, free love . . .' I might drop by."
"Right. Don't forget your sign," I tell him. "'Honk if you want to cut and run.'"
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I don't know--promoting the "cut and run" when trolling for free love is a scary thought:Too many literalists in the world. You never know when or where Lorena Bobbitt will pop up next. And unlike with weather forecasters, when she says there will be six inches on the ground by morning, you better start looking for the shovel. Tip your blogmistress, on the way out, please.
Posted by: Darrell at January 11, 2007 12:12 PM (pe8w0)
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If one were to wait for all details before acting, one could remain inactive for a very long time. "Analysis leads to paralysis."
BTW we need to discuss royalties for my casual, extremely humorous and insightful musings that are routinely used as fodder for this blog.
Posted by: Hog at January 17, 2007 06:48 PM (9b8Zg)
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"Writers are always selling somebody out."
--Joan Didion
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 17, 2007 08:35 PM (0CbUL)
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Well, if Joan says so then that excuses it for all.
BTW, if complete truth (some call it data) be told (what a concept) I referred to them as 'pacifist' hippie chicks. Consider me 'unspun'.
Posted by: Hog at January 18, 2007 07:56 AM (9b8Zg)
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I Love the Smell . . .
of
creeping fascism in the morning.
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Thanks for sending me there. Does make me feel guilty for not making better comments here, though. But I see you as the creator of "the free-range" school of intellectual expression. And with that you have to expect a certain amount of guano.
Posted by: Darrell at January 11, 2007 12:50 PM (pe8w0)
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Oh fascism probably isn't imminent. Of course, all bets are off if Islamofacists strike the USA directly again. What President Bush has done is set up the mechanisms of fascism. Most likely it will be a future president that implements them. Every American should be required to read “It Can't Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis.
Posted by: SR at January 12, 2007 01:25 AM (jfNy5)
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Quote for the Day:
"I am content now that I'm taller than James Bond. It took me years to accomplish that."
—Darrell
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January 10, 2007
More on the "Captain Hussein" Mess
. . . over at
Malkin's digs.
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Here's a Restriction on Free Speech
. . . that I think we can
all support.
Does someone have a phone number for Senator McCain? I'm sure he'd be happy to help muzzle the lower house.
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Well, If Even Arnold Gets Squishy Around the Middle
. . . then it must be
okay.
On the other hand, he's a good deal older than people think, and has at this point a few responsibilities beyond those of the average actor—which have to cut into the time he has available for doing crunches.
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...somewhere, there's the same comparison for Ted Kennedy.
At the young end, Arnold could have made two Teds.
At the older end, Ted could make three Arnolds.
Posted by: leelu at January 10, 2007 01:54 PM (KFuCy)
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 10, 2007 02:28 PM (0CbUL)
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Arnold is just getting ready to donate some excess body fat for stem cell production. A public servant to the end.
Posted by: Darrell at January 10, 2007 08:38 PM (KReVz)
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I wonder whether part of that effect we see in photo #2 comes from his bodybuilding background: when the muscles were built up to that degree, the skin stretched out quite a lot. Now, with closer to normal mass for a man of his age, his skin looks weird.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 11, 2007 06:31 AM (0CbUL)
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By time people finish laughing, Arnold will be in shape again. After the leg heals, of course. All that bodybuilding does have long-term benefits. They'll hate him even more.
Posted by: Darrell at January 11, 2007 08:43 PM (AyROc)
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It's Important to Talk to People Where They're At.
Jules Crittenden
knows it. I know it, too.
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January 09, 2007
Love on an Escalator
The Democratic Party: we're here to
help. Sort of.
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Pretty darn funny. The acting really made it work.
Posted by: JP at January 09, 2007 08:23 AM (0CbUL)
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2007 02:22 PM (0CbUL)
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So, Which Is More Destructive?
Fear, or envy?
I'm talking about on the individual level, here: which emotion tends to be more corrosive to someone's personal development? Discuss.
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Envy is more corrosive. But you rarely see envy
without some sort of (sometimes hidden) fear/anger
strings attached.
As an aside, I read somewhere (can't recall or I'd attribute) that the tool
Satan used to persuade Eve to eat the Fruit of Knowledge
of Good and Evil was envy. He evoked it by say she would
"be like God", implying she was somehow deficient and
therefore needed to do something about it.
-Bob
Posted by: Bob at January 09, 2007 10:46 AM (CP6tB)
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Anything to excess can destroy. And even intrinsically bad things can have value to our lives.
Fear can keep you from trying new things. But if those things turn out to be harmful, then that is a good thing. Envy can make you decide to get 'some of that' for yourself. As as long as you're not taking it away from someone else, that might be a good thing. Both fear and envy can be destructive, personally and to others.
As with most things in life, there are no easy answers--especially when no specifics are given. Did this help anyone? I am envious! And more than a little afraid. . .
Posted by: Darrell at January 09, 2007 12:55 PM (/zLRh)
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"I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the Eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker.
And in short, I was afraid."
T.S. Eliot was a stud.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2007 02:25 PM (0CbUL)
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I'm sticking with the choice of envy as the most corrosive.
It's listed as one of the seven deadly sins, fear is not.
(Although unrighteous anger is, and anger is often a cover
for fear.)
Envy is the sidelong glance through which we behold
those we _feel_ are better or better off than ourselves.
Envy is not satisfied until harm befalls its object. It is
the reputed motive behind Cain murdering his brother.
It is one of the fruits of the depraved mind listed in
the first chapter of Romans.
Self-help authors note that envy prevents you from
attaining or enjoying a better life for yourself.
That's my choice, and I'm stinking with it.
-B
Posted by: Bob at January 09, 2007 06:27 PM (2tBSJ)
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Well, before Socialism, people thought that God bestowed all that we have. Or don't have. So envy also combined elements of jealousy---sibling rivalry, so to speak "God loves LMA more than me! Wahhhh!!"
Hush! Envy can drive people to take what they believe should be theirs (hence the birth of Socialism). Those aspects of sin (against the Will of God and against man) are the impetus for envy making the Seven Deadly list. I don't believe that this is what we are talking about here.
The only sensible thing to do is to conduct an objective assessment of fear and envy in your life. And to make a list of the positive and negative consequences of each occurrence. Did it motivate you toward good? Or bad? Were you happy with the result? The flaw is that one can never really know the outcome of the road not taken. The quote should be "The saddest words of tongue or pen describe the life that might have been."
And when I'm handed my coat, I just reach for the cigarettes in my pocket. And the lighter of course.
Posted by: Darrell at January 09, 2007 09:19 PM (qMfx0)
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But coveting is directly tied to envy, and it's proscribed in the Ten Commandments. So there's that.
The "Big Book" of Alcoholics Anonymous suggests that "sometimes we think fear should be classed with stealing; it causes almost as many problems." (Or something like that--I might be paraphrasing a bit.)
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 09, 2007 10:50 PM (0CbUL)
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Here's the distinction between envy and jealousy:
I would be envious of Atllia the Hub's (AtH) relationship with LMA if I desired a chick as cool that deeply involved in my life, and resented AtH's good fortune.
I would be jealous of AtH if I desired LMA to be that cool chick involved in my life, and resented AtH's good fortune.
Envy, and to a lesser extent jealousy, of and by themselves are kind of neutral. When mixed in with a touch of resentment, then it becomes destructive. Add in other of the deadly sins, and it takes on a life of its own, sort of a personal fire storm that burns out-of-control until it uses up all available fuel. And if it causes one to act out, then you can cause grave harm to others.
Fear pretty much is limited in scope to the person doing the fearing. Unless it causes them to act out.
The most obvious example of that are people of faith - doesn't matter which, some atheists come immediately to mind - who are not strong in their faith, and are not completely comfortable with it yet. They're uncertain of their beliefs, and have not learned enough yet to argue on the merits should someone challenge them, so they lash out.
But so long as they're not picking up a lead pipe and aiming for the back of your head, they're only harming themselves.
Posted by: I R A Darth Aggie at January 10, 2007 09:21 AM (1hM1d)
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Ah, yes--but there is harm to society when talented people sit around envying the abilities of others, rather than acting on their own true strengths.
"Admiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy, contented least.
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising . . ."
Shakespeare knew about that.
Or people can sit on their talents out of fear: fear of failure, fear of success. Fear, as an ex-boyfriend of mine once put it, of "succeeding too moderately."
Society loses when people stew in their own self-destructive juices.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 10, 2007 12:25 PM (0CbUL)
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Ever notice that certain of the Commandments can be grouped into "Don't do it!" and "Don't think about doing it!"? You shall not commit adultery. And, You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not steal. And, Neither shall you desire your neighborÂ’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Not much wiggle room there.
Shame on anyone who was aroused by that reference to juices! Or to stew. No matter how tasty.
Fear can be overcome by just doing it(H/T to Nike). What are you waiting for?
Posted by: Darrell at January 10, 2007 01:16 PM (gs5BB)
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Of course, as Freud pointed out in Civilization and Its Discontents, we can hardly help having these impulses/fleeting desires (e.g., lust, desire for material possessions, etc.).
What's destructive is indulging them--obsessing about how nice it would be if one had, say, Brad Pitt's money or Oprah Winfrey's connections or Thomas Sowell's brains. THAT is coveting.
Posted by: Attila Girl at January 10, 2007 02:33 PM (0CbUL)
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Shouldn't that be Oprah's money and Pitt's connections? Or should that be "connections"?
Me? I am content now that I'm taller than James Bond. It took me years to accomplish that. Excluding that Peter Sellers/Woody Allen farce, of course.
Posted by: Darrell at January 10, 2007 08:50 PM (KReVz)
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