sweet zombie buddha! (and other class issues)

okay, i kid you not, the first hour and 45 minutes of class were spent talking about AN ANALOGY of buddhist ideas as seen in a zombie movie. probably not the best parallel but that's not the point. the point is, why the %^*($&)*# did we spend that much time on a fucking analogy?!?!

and why do we keep coming back to the same damn subject: thing=nothing. who cares that our minds don't quite get it? it's only because we are using very loaded words to discuss complicated, metaphysical and spiritual concepts. we may struggle with using the terms interchangably but that's due to our culture. our upbringing.

i really wish we would just use the "original" pali terms (or even sanskrt) so we wouldn't waste HOURS on word bullshit!!!!!!

tell me all your thoughts on god....

while walking through the downtown area yesterday i had one of those moments that, for whatever reason, embeds itself in your brain. a punk-ass little preteen was goofing around with his friends when he got hurt (i guess) and exclaimed "jesus christ that hurt!" not too abnormal. besides being taken aback due to how young he was--and then remembering my old bus commute where kids even younger swore so much it made *MY* ears hurt--i began to wonder...


does the power of the words lose power if the symbolic meanings attached to them aren't there??? the area (and culture) i live in is not known for its judeo-christian background or for housing a plethora of religious institutions of the judeo-christian variety. do phrases like "jesus christ", "god damn" or even "go to hell" cease to hold as much symbolic power if the person uttering them is an atheist? a buddhist? a hindu? a pagan?

are there atheist/buddhist/hindu/pagan equivalents to judeo-christian blasphemy? do people use these terms because they learned them from television? does it mean anything to them *personally* beyond being seen as "swear words lite"?

crit. hit? or crit. miss? (debuting my critical analysis)

alright, it seems i have figured out how to make this "hidden text" thing work! the ONLY snafu is: if you go to my individual entry- it won't be hidden. if you are on my main page, you have the option to expand and read.

that being said-- i am posting the critical analysis i wrote for my basic-overview class below. it has to do with textbook controversy in the asia-pacific and is in response to 4 lengthy articles we had to read. the "goal" of the paper was to show we understood the main points/insights and then to process them, looking at them critically and analyzing what we read (surprising right? who knew that's what a critical analysis was?!?!)  don't be concerned if you don't understand the particulars--if you choose to read it.

ALSO: THE BELOW PAPER IS MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. please please please do not plagiarize it. i will cry tears of molten lava and that will hurt....

10 words i think are pretty

(for my dear friend and her epic battle with spideroids of DOOM)

1. juxtaposition

2. cacophonous

3. melancholy

4. betwixt

5. archaeopteryx

6. grace

7. melodious

8. odoriferous

9. dystopian

10. tanoshikatta (it was enjoyable/ i enjoyed it)