It's been a while since I've last blogged. You see, due to my unequivocal commitment to putting out a quality product, I refuse to blog unless I have something profound and moving to say out of respect for my readers (both of you - even though I know I just lost Robin by posting a sports-related blog).
Well, I'm still very much alive in my March madness pool. I'm feeling confident because we're headed into the Sweet 16 and my Final Four are are still intact. I thought I'd give a quick run down before one of them is eliminated tomorrow.
North Carolina (not surprisingly). I'm feeling pretty good about this pick since I don't think anyone's been within 20 points of them in the second half so far ... the road's about to get a lot tougher in the days ahead. Looking forward to a potential Tennessee-UNC matchup in the next round.
I have a well-documented Big 10 bias. That's the only way I can justify picking Wisconsin to upset Kansas next round. On the plus side, I think I'm the only one on the pool to pick them to make it as far as the Sweet 16, so every win from here on out is gravy. Seriously folks; WI has had one of the elite NCAA programs in the last five years. Where's the love?
Go, Cardinal! My other blackhorse Final Four pick, Stanford, is dependent on their inside game, anchored by the Lopez twins. Who both, incidentally, have girls names (Brook and Robin). Nothing spells tournament success like a duo of androgynous centers banging the boards. In other news, I'm probably going to lose...
Yes - I picked a Final Four matchup between Stanford and UCLA. And I have UCLA beating them for a fourth time this season. In other news, I'm a sadistic jerk. UCLA over UNC in the final - 76-72.
I've been reading quite a bit lately, which has caused me to contemplate the transformative power of the written word even more than I usually do. Which has made me think about which particular books have been most influential in the development of my worldview. Which made me decide to post a blog on the subject. Here they are in no particular order:
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Simply the best novel I've ever read. Profound and moving on many levels.
An American Requiem by James Carroll. James and I aren't all that different. Except that I didn't become a young and idealistic Catholic priest active in the peace movement in the 60's. And I'm not Irish. And I don't write columns for the Boston Globe. On second thought, strike that: James and I aren't very similar.
Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky. Noam Chomsky is smart. More people should listen to him.
1491 by Charles Mann. An apt subtitle might be, "Chances are, anything anyone ever told you about early American history is wrong." That can be a little disorienting for a history major.
Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut. My first introduction to the humanistic, Jesus-loving agnosticism of Vonnegut - a force that continues to be a bit persuasive to me still.
A General Theory of Love, by Lewis, Amini, and Lannon. 3 Psychiatrists get together to write a book about the physiology of emotion. Sounds like the setup of a really lame joke or a really boring book. But it's not the case at all. I didn't think that anything could make me interested in neuropsychology. I was wrong.
Engaging the Powers by Walter Wink. Walter Wink's another guy that people should listen to. I doubt he's as smart as Noam Chomsky, though.
God and Empire by John Dominic Crossan. Engaging and powerful. Highly recommended. Unless you're a closed-minded fundamentalist. You're not a closed-minded fundamentalist, are you?
The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. This, along with the previous two have done a lot to shape my faith into its present form.
Love's Executioner by Irvin Yalom. This made me start wondering if I, too, could do that psychology thing. Let's hope that I can.
Honorable mentions go to Night by Elie Wiesel and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
North Carolina (not surprisingly). I'm feeling pretty good about this pick since I don't think anyone's been within 20 points of them in the second half so far ... the road's about to get a lot tougher in the days ahead. Looking forward to a potential Tennessee-UNC matchup in the next round.
I have a well-documented Big 10 bias. That's the only way I can justify picking Wisconsin to upset Kansas next round. On the plus side, I think I'm the only one on the pool to pick them to make it as far as the Sweet 16, so every win from here on out is gravy. Seriously folks; WI has had one of the elite NCAA programs in the last five years. Where's the love?
Go, Cardinal! My other blackhorse Final Four pick, Stanford, is dependent on their inside game, anchored by the Lopez twins. Who both, incidentally, have girls names (Brook and Robin). Nothing spells tournament success like a duo of androgynous centers banging the boards. In other news, I'm probably going to lose...
