construction

Our little house under construction...This photo made on Satuday...foundations being laid...that's Glory and Jim's house...their deck has been taken down.

Nietzsche and Shopping

I have just finished reading two books on the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche who I always thought was a weird guy, and from his pictures he looks scary, but now I have a different (mental) picture of him and his thought. He has influenced the 20th century as much as anything, perhaps along with Darwin, Marx and Freud. My earlier feelings about Nietzsche was from my Evangelical days when we were taught that he was an insane, immoral atheist who announced the Death of God. Well, he did declare God dead, but what he meant is open to much interpretation. He mostly meant that all unhealthy, negative, guilt-inducing concepts of God has to go. His legacy includes an existential approach to understanding life; the ideal of a strong, self-assertive individualism; a kind of relativism based on the fact that nobody knows everything; a new appreciation of our bodily, earthly existence; and an understanding of the arts (especially music) as a source of spirituality. I think a correct understanding of Nietzsche includes his affirmation of Life with all of its messiness and pain. He continually said YES to life, in spite of the fact that he suffered from health problems constantly. And yes, he did have syphilis which later led to mental problems and paralysis. Nietzsche has helped us look at the world with sharper insight about motives, hidden forces, and biases. Despite some saying so, he wasn't anti-Semitic, he didn't lead directly to the Nazi philosophy, he wasn't an immoral person; quite the opposite: he was polite, courteous, sympathetic, and merciful. Now I've moved on to an interest in coupons. There are many websites now where coupons can be printed, or even downloaded to your iPhone. I've read a fascinating book: How to Shop for Free (by Kathy Spencer). She is an amazingly assertive shopper (Nietzsche would be proud); and she shows how to keep a lot of groceries and other items for free. It's a matter of learning about where to get coupons, how to combine them in a timely fashion, and how to take advantage of occasional deals. She does buy a lot in bulk and stores items, which I can't do because we live in a small space. Nevertheless, there is much more to her methods. She literally goes into a grocery store and buys over $300 worth of stuff and ends up paying about $4.00. (and sometimes she pays nothing, or gets money back!). So, I am now studying the science of couponing. I don't have her chutzpah though; I'm kind of shy when it comes to asserting my shopping muscles. But I can learn and become more courageous as time goes on. Now, I need your help (if anyone actually reads this): I'm going to end this blog (Amazing Grays) and establish a new one soon. I've come up with some possible names. Perhaps you could tell me which one you like best....

Deep South Wonderings

Mr. Wayne’s Journal

At Home in Homewood

Alabama Ramblings

Shallow Thoughts in the Deep South

Fried Green Pensees

Fried Green Tomorrows

Fried Green Potatoes

Thru My Spectacles

Alabama Liberal

(Through My Window... and  Wayne's Journal are already taken)

Birmingham Bastard

Observations from Oxmoor Road

Fragments and Quotidiana

Igniting Cognition

Cogito Ergo I Stick

I await your wisdom.

My email: glorysdad@gmail.com

Rabbi Meir

When Rabbi Isaac Meir was still a boy, his mother took him with her to Kozienice. There someone turned to him and said, "Isaac Meir, I'll give you a guilder if you tell me where God is." Isaac answered, "I'll give you two if you tell me where He is not."


[from the Notebooks of poet, Anna Kamienska]

##

$$100

I was at a discount book store recently.

I pulled about seven books off the shelves

and found myself a real soft chair to sit down in

and peruse my selections

to see if any were worth buying.

I chose a couple to actually buy.

When I got home I noticed that something

was missing from my front left pocket.

My money was gone!

About $100 in a big green clip was missing!

After a few minutes of anxious thought,

I called the book store and asked if anyone

had turned in some cash in a green clip.

Yes, they said, someone had.

I'll be right there, I said.

Would you believe that some honest person

had found $100 in cash

and had turned it in?

And would you believe that the store clerks

had not taken any out of the total

and were totally honest with me?

I got my $100 back.

Yes, there is evil in this world.

But there is also goodness.