Daily Life of the Aztecs: On the Eve of the Spanish Conquest

Thus neither nature nor man are to be sent to an everlasting death. Resurrecting forces are at work: the sun comes up again each morning after passing the night 'under the holy plain' teotlalli iitic, that is to say, in Hades; Venus dies and is reborn; the maize dies and is reborn; the whole world of plants, struck dead in the dry season, arises more beautiful and younger each season of the rains, just as the moon dwindles in the sky and returns according to the rhythm of its phases.

-- Jacques Soustelle

Could be the Beginnings of a Term Paper

On the side, thanks Ken for reminding me to get back on track. Today I drove over to Dennis R. Falk's Dentist Office and got myself a crown. I listened to Mariah Carey on the way.

Fear, Love and Anonymous Comments (A Final Note)

This is a public blog. Its readers come from a variety regions, both culturally and geographically and there are few limits to their access. Comments are provided as a space for readers to respond to the written thoughts of the author. They are solicited by the author. A link at the bottom of each post is provided for comments.

By providing a space for comments, the author is inviting her or his readers to enter into a public, mini forum where readers are permitted to view past comments and to post new ones. It has been long suspect that comments help to attract readers as they are often interested in discussion.

The mini forum provided by comments is, like all forms of human communication, a place for dialog. This dialog can range from a pleasant conversation to a heated debate. However, regardless of the tone or mood of a particular dialog, it is always and essentially a place where comments are made, either agreeing or disagreeing, in response to previous comments.

Often, a person posting a comment will desire to remain anonymous. This happens for a variety of reasons. It can be agitating to the author of the blog and other commenters when an anonymous person comments contrary or controversial opinions because we all have a deep desire to defend ourselves. This desire can be and is often motivated by our fears.

I have a personal belief, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, that it is best for me to behave lovingly toward everyone. I do not claim a right to defend myself at the expense of others. I do not demand anyone's name. This is not a level playing field. If my readers are the scum of the earth, then I am joyful as they are those to whom I have been called to speak.

My aim is only the truth, and I will pursue it with the means by which I have been afforded. I am not afraid to hear the truth spoken harshly to me, though I do not recommend such a delivery. I am not afraid of losing my social status. I am not afraid of losing my job. I have already lost my life.

A Quickie

Folks, why is it so hard to behave appropriately when someone posts anonymously on your blog?

In a debate, the identity of another person is not only beside the points, it should not at all be factored into a response to...said points. Don't you see that to respond with knowledge of the other person hinders you? It opens the door for unjust condemnation, blinding you from the truth or lack of truth in their arguments.

If a person signs anonymous, it is not because they are weak or ashamed, it is because they want you to deal with their points... not your ill conceived notions of their character.

A Few Things

1. www.mybad.com is a porn website.

2. I have never been to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

3. "Who are you?" Indigo Montoya tone.

Do you want to know?

Three times now I have recieved the following email:

To initiate the process for resetting the password for your
Google Account, visit the link below

http://www.google.com/accounts/

Thank you for using Google.

For questions or concerns regarding your account, please visit the
Google Accounts FAQ at
http://www.google.com/help/faq_accounts.html.

This is a post-only mailing. Replies to this message are not monitored
or answered.

This means, someone is trying to gain access to my email without my permission.
Don't worry, I'm not offended. Whoever you are, just email me at Jlyons@Gmail.com and I'll send you the password. It's no big deal.

Expression

Think about the word: Primal.

Rudimentary, basic or primitive. Early, first, old, original, prehistoric, primary, primordial. Pejorative?

How about, primal - simply not available for export.

Backin' it up with Berger! (Ways of Seeing)

"The mirror was often used as a symbol of the vanity of woman. The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical. You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you had depicted for your own pleasure. The real function of the mirror was otherwise. It was to make the woman connive in treating herself as, first and foremost, a sight."

"One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision: a sight."

Gender Enabled

When the first allegedly nonsexist Bible published in Britain was launched, a press release said that "the revisers have systematically changed expressions such as any man to anyone, but have kept the masculine, especially for God, on the grounds that this is faithful to the original." This comment draws attention to the way in which our mental imagery associated with God is, by cultural convention, masculine, at least within the Judeo-Christian world view.

The belief that the universe is created by a male God has an impact on how we see the creativity of men and women. No wonder there are few female pronouns in religious discourse. After all, we say God made man in HIS own image! Or was it men who created God in a masculine image?