John Milton's Quatercentenary (400th Birthday), December 9th

John Milton's Quatercentenary

Where have the years gone? It seems like just yesterday I was assigned a section of Paradise Lost in that Early British Lit survey class that I took in the attempt to try to understand and be able to speak intelligently about any and all literature written ever, or at least any and all that made it into my Norton Anthology. I remember almost nothing about what I read in that class ( we covered Beowulf to Samuel Johnson I mean come on, it was only about 1,000 years of literature covered in 4 months!) But, about Milton, I remember my professor reading a part of Paradise Lost and thinking that someday, when I had the time, I needed to read the whole thing.
I haven't read it Paradise Lost. This April I will have been graduated with my English degree for ten years. Yep. Should have read it by now. Maybe after Christmas and can start that.

Anyway, since it is Milton's birthday, I should be focusing on him. It looks like the majority of Miltonian celebrations are taking place across the pond, and have happened already, so getting to a live celebration might be tricky. However, there is this really cool website with lots of information about Paradise Lost. I've just played with it a little bit, and I plan to come back later.

Of course, Paradise Lost is not Milton's only work. If you like your Restoration poetry set to Baroque music then you should check out Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, which is based on L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, two of Milton's poems.

If you don't want to do any of that, you could just give a random gift to someone today and say "Happy Milton's Birthday!" If you plan on doing the random gift thing, here are some gifts that I do not recommend for Milton's Birthday, or for the entire gift-giving season.

• The Yodeling Green Pickle (Now, why does this exist?)
• The Houseplant Twitter Kit (Yes! Now for only $99 your plant can Twitter you when it needs to be watered! Or, you could look at it every once in a while.)
• The Pet's Eye View Camera (Do you ever wonder what your dog does all day? Now you can have pictures taken every 15 seconds while you are gone! Personnally, I don't even want 15 second updates from my nearest and dearest friends and family! Sorry, love ya all, but there is a reason why I don't Twitter!)
• Owl Pellets (Now, I am all for educational gifts but... there are just no words for my thoughts. So, here's the blurb from the website:

"See what this owl ate for dinner. Just unwrap the foil from the pellet and
carefully us the probes provided to dissect the pellet and extract the owl's
dinner. Then use the bone guide to identify what the owl ate."

• Heartshaped Mouse (I always recommend against heartshaped anything, but especially against heartshaped things that should be ergonomic. Happy Milton's Birthday! I hope you don't get carpel tunnel! )

Anyway, have a Happy Miltonian Quartercentenary everyone!

Election Day! Vote! Vote! Vote! November 4th

Although I am emotionally exhausted by all the political rhetoric over the last 20 months, I am thrilled that the candidates of this election have inspired so many people to become engaged in the political process. (Also, I am as excited as Neel Mehta is to see what will happen to the business-as-usual political process) and if this election will scare baby boomers out of their comfort zone in any way. Really, the combination of engaged young voters, and disengaged senior voters... suddenly, baby boomers don't have as much political power as they have held for years and anything could happen. Anything. I mean anything! Even to the point that I could even give ol' George W. some credit for Obama's success! (Credit via Don King. Thanks! Soccer Dad for the info!)

For the record, I will be voting for Obama. (Happy Birthday Mister Fob) and I would encourage everyone to do the same. Most because my birthday was last week, and it would be a wonderful gift to have someone I vote for win an election! (Especially since my vote is a throwaway vote.) I have not had a single person that I have voted for in the last three years win. I work in the most conservative City, and live in the most conservative county, which is in the most conservative state of these United States. I have absolutely no voice!

Regardless of who you vote for, after you vote, you deserve a treat; especially after dealing with 20 months of rhetoric (Edgy, it's almost done!) without letting it beat you down into an abyss of depression and catatonia. So, while wearing you "I Voted" sticker, treat yourself to:

• A free 12-ounce cup of brewed coffee at Starbucks;
• A free scoop of ice cream between 5 and 8 p.m. at participating Ben & Jerry's; or
• A free star-shaped donut with red, white and blue sprinkles at Krispy Kreme
  

So, go forth, and have a Happy Election Day!

Constitution Day, September 17th

Constitution Day

What? You haven't heard of Constitution Day? You probably missed the USA Today article; it's a little small. If you want an article with a little more substance, check out The Washington Post, which is mostly an interview with Chief Justice John Roberts. (Or, here is also this article, which isn't so neutral about the state of the nation in relation to the Constitution.)

Personally, I think it's interesting that this holiday is not celebrated much in the press, because this holiday came into being at the request of William Randolph Hearst. The press should be all over this holiday! All in all, since we don't get a day off, Constitution Day has probably become just an elementary school holiday, an opportunity to teach about the Constitution. But, I think that there should be more.

Constitution Day is also known as Citizenship Day, which was Hearst's original intention when he promoted the day. I know that I take my citizenship for granted sometimes, and I think that I don't understand totally what citizenship means. In school we were evaluated with every report card about our citizenship. But, I wonder how good of a citizen I am without the reminder every six weeks? Does being a good citizen require that I drive the speed limit, as it once required that I not run in the hallways? Does it require that I recycle, constantly, always, even when it's not convenient, as it once required that I keep my desk clean? Does it require that I be kind and respectful, to everyone I encounter, even if I might be the Utah State Senate Majority Leader and I am dealing with a pizza delivery girl, as it once required that I be kind and respectful to my teachers and fellow students? I wonder, in our society do we demand more of our children as citizens than we do of our adults?

I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about this today. Maybe because yesterday I heard this story on NPR about "silent raves," where large groups of people get together to dance to their own music on their i-pods. It seems like a excellent example of American freedom... you don't even have to listen to the same music as the person next to you at a dance, yet it seems so isolated, so detached, and I am afraid that we are losing our concept of "we the people..."