Let's get quizzical. Quizzical. I'd like to get quizzical. Let's get into quizzical.
| You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy) |
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I didn't expect them to say I should get a Ph.D in medical humanities, but nevertheless, this is right on.
Link via Frequent Citations.
Enough already. Between 1979 and 1992, no major hurricanes struck the southern Florida peninsula, where TP primarily grew up. Then, there was Andrew. Now, there is Wilma, one of 8 hurricanes to have struck Florida in the last 30 months.
There is no power, no water, and only intermittent phone service at best on Miami Beach, where Ma TP lives. She says the city is an absolute ghost town, and that, even with a flashlight, walking her beloved bulldog Petunia at 8 pm was quite a frightening experience -- debris and palm fronds and limbs everywhere, glass from blown in windows, pitch blackness, the streets deserted. Sounds kinda post-apocalyptic to me.
Phone service was down all day yesterday, though Ma TP did get some cell phone activity this morning, and was able to telephone TP and Dr. Brother TP, though talking was rushed because she wanted to conserve cell phone juice. TP users know as well as TP that cell phone batteries don't last very long under the best of circumstances, so TP is not sure how much longer he will be able to communicate with Ma TP, nor how long it will take phone service to return.
When Hurricane Andrew ripped through TP's home in 1992, it took about 4 weeks for power to be restored, and phone service was not restored until mid-November, if memory serves. It's hard to compare that experience to Wilma, however, because Andrew was a raging, compact monster, whose path of destruction was relatively narrow, in contrast to Wilma, whose eye touched 5 counties at one point. The damage from Andrew was more severe, but the damage from Wilda covers a much wider swath.
3.2 million people in SoFlo are without power. That's most of Palm Beach County, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Collier (Naples), Glades (mostly rural, home to some high school football powerhouses closer to Lake Okeechobee) and Monroe County (the Keys).
Though Ma TP and Younger Brother TP are both fine, living without power and water in a kind of ghost town has got to be seriously depressing.
Dr. Pa TP lives in Broward County, relatively close to the Dade County border, inland a bit, off of the Florida Turnpike. TP has not heard from him since Monday morning. Last either I or Dr. Brother TP heard, Dr. Pa TP was doing fine, and we are fairly certain his home suffered no structural damage. However, Dr. Pa TP is paraplegic, and does not have functional sweat glands, so lack of power and A/C can generally be a problem for someone who cannot regulate their body temperature through internal mechanisms.
Fortunately, the weather in SoFlo is beautiful right now, cool, bright, and breezy, so he's probably alright. Still, not knowing if everything is alright, knowing that Dr. Pa TP is, in some sense, vulnerable, and does not have a link to the outside world, including emergency services by telephone, is definitely chafing TP, and the Charmin isn't soothing the flare-up right now, either.
Grandfather Rabbi TP is in a hospital in Miami, admitted as a precautionary measure ahead of time. His aide has informed Ma TP that he is ok.
Damn hurricanes. There has been some talk that the last 30 months have simply been the beginning of what is termed a long cycle of increased hurricane activity, which often lasts several decades minimum. This has happened just this century, where hurricanes were prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s, but were fewer (relatively speaking --this is not meant to ignore the consequences of those who did experience major storms during these time periods) during the 1970s, 1980s, and even parts of the 1990s (excluding Andrew, of course).
If that's true, perhaps the TP clan should start to consider moving from SoFlo.
Finally, TP himself was headed down to South Beach for the weekend, and was even going to catch a Hurricanes' football game. Very likely, this trip will be scratched, which is unfortunate.
Frankly, this isn't very much fun.
UPDATE: Spoken with everyone. All family is fine. Ma TP received power Wed. evening. Most of South Beach is alive and well, with power, including the two most important places on the beach for TP: David's Cafe, the home to the finest coffee in the Western world (the Cuban coffee known as cortadito), and Epicure, the greatest delicatessen not in NYC.
TP's beloved Hurricanes -- the football team -- will also be playing tomorrow at noon eastern, and TP will be rooting his little head off. Dr. Pa TP still does not have power, and probably will not have power for at least several days. Still, I'm relieved, and feel fortunate that my trip did not have to be canceled.
UPDATE II: Not 30 seconds after I posted, Dr. Pa TP called to tell me the power just snapped on. Fabulous.
For the two greatest of TP's homiez to have had the plug pulled in my lifetime: Calvin & Hobbes. There's an interesting article from CNN on the intensely private creator, Mr. Bill Watterson, of the greatest comic strip ever.
I was fascinated to learn that the strip is modeled after Watterson's own life in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. I'd always had the strong sense that C&H was set somewhere in the Midwest, though I never knew exactly where. Maybe like Springfield, it's better not to know.
The article notes,
Watterson ended the strip on December 31, 1995, with a statement: "I believe I've done what I can do within the constraints of daily deadlines and small panels. I am eager to work at a more thoughtful pace, with fewer artistic compromises."
The last strip shows Calvin and Hobbes sledding off after a new fallen snow. "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy ... let's go exploring!" Calvin says in the final two panels.
Calvin & Hobbes, simply the best ever. We here at TP salute you, Mr. Watterson, and we salute you too, Spaceman Spiff, and above all, we salute you Mr. Hobbes, you whose misanthropy rivals that of your namesake.
To you we pay homage from the words of Pete Rock and CL Smooth: "Not an imitator but a crowd motivator/it's time to get wrecked with the Creator."
Alex Whitlock, for whom I have great respect, and I have gotten into a fascinating discussion on ethics over on his blog. Rather than pontificate endlessly in the comments, I'm going to preserve his bandwidth and continue the discussion over here.
The context of the discussion is a post on -- gulp! -- abortion, but lest dear user of TP get too excited, let me assure you that my post is going to quickly devolve into a tedious discussion of ethical theory. And right rapidly so, at that.
I'm most interested in responding to Alex's third comment, in which Alex is examining whether an individual who professors moral distate for abortion while simultaneously opines that it should remain legal is being ethically inconsistent. I asserted that there is no logical or moral inconsistency in such a position, a point to which Alex does not seem to quibble with, other than to contend that a position allows for "convenient moral flexibility."
I will say that I am not sure what Alex means by "moral flexibility." As someone who denies the objectivity and/or absoluteness of morality, I tend to see an inherent flexibility there. But, so long as Alex and I agree there's no inherent inconsistency in the position, I don't think we have much argument there aside from tone.
But I do think Alex and I have different views on the nature of morality, and that these differences lie at the heart of a very real disagreement we do have.
Alex proffers what he terms the 'reverse hypocrisy' thesis, formulated as follows:
"It also ties in to what I call reverse hypocrisy: the belief that something is wrong for me to do, but not necessarily wrong for others."
Now, bear in mind the moral schema Alex is operating from here is a belief in objective morality, that there is an objectively correct action or moral law that defines right action. Of course, to someone like TP, who more or less rejects moral objectivism, to someone sympathetic to some strands of ethical relativism, the notion that what is right for an agent in one set of circumstances may be morally wrong for a different agent in either the same or different circumstances (there are different notions of relativism that rely on a notion of morality relative to the subject [called subjectivism] and a notion of morality relative to the circumstances [called conventialism]) is not only hypocritical in no way, but is the very essence of ethics.
Sidebar: Let me pause here to make an important aside: I am in no way arguing either for/against moral objectivism or for/against moral subjectivism, nor will I do so. I have found no topic more ill-suited to blogospheric exposition, more likely to invoke Godwin's law and histrionic commenting and trackbacks (I am guilty of it as well), then the profession of support for a morally subjectivist or ethically relativist position. Thus, while I am more than happy to discuss moral issues in a meta-sense, as in this post, I am simply not going to engage in a full-scale discussion of the defensibility of moral objectivism or moral subjectivism in the blogosphere.
Really, what interests me here is not the validity of either my or Alex's position, but the nature of our disagreement, which turns whether on tends to accept a morally objectivist position or not.
To return to the substantive discussion, interestingly, Alex does not seem to endorse what I would term a strong moral objectivist position. That is, in his next formulation, Alex seems to allow for some 'moral flexibility' based on circumstance:
"If it's wrong for you, then unless there is a distinct difference in situation, it's wrong for someone else to."
Note the logical qualifier here: "unless there is a distinct difference in situation." Now, of course, such a position is entirely consistent with a morally objectivist viewpoint. One can still endorse objectivism -- such as principalism -- while allowing for differences based on context. One can find a morally objective basis for a moral law or rule, for example, while acknowledging that the application of the objective rule may dictate different, even seemingly inconsistent results in different circumstances. My only point here is that such an allowance seems to derail the notion of strong moral objectivism. A strong moral objectivist may well deny any flexibility based on context: what is right is right in all circumstances.
Alex concludes with an example of what he sees as reverse hypocrisy:
"if Joe doesn't drink for moral reasons (say he's a Mormon or Pentacostal), but then says that it's morally okay for Jack to drink because he is an atheist, then Joe is being the opposite of whatever hypocrisy is."
Respectfully, I'm not sure this follows unless one already accepts some version of moral objectivism. If one begins by rejecting the notion that morality necessarily transcends subjects or circumstances, then there is no reason why Joe's belief that it would be immoral for him to drink but not for Jack (based on his knowledge that he and Jack do not have the same basis for their moral beliefs) is either hypocritical or "reversely hypocritical." Rather, to the moral subjectivist or ethical relativist, it is entirely trivial.
And this brings up another important point: the all-too-common conflation of cultural relativism with ethical relativism. The former is also entirely trivial: it simply acknowledges that persons of different cultures have different moral beliefs -- that the fact of what people do belive in terms of morality (not what they ought to believe, but simply what their beliefs on morality actually are, as an empirical matter) differ across cultures. This is a descriptive thesis. It does not posit what people should believe; it simply points out that people of different cultures often have different, and even profoundly different moral systems.
Ethical relativism is normative; it is the belief that determining right action ought to be relative to the subject, or the culture, or another referent, not simply that morality is culturally relative.
To return to Alex's example, the fact that Joe and Jack have different moral compasses should be entirely uncontroversial given their differences on the nature and source of their own moral beliefs. Joe probably understands full well that Jack does not share his ethical beliefs. Given that, why does it follow that it is 'reversely hypocritical' for Joe to conclude that he must act in a certain way, but that Jack is not bound to act in that way? Why can Joe not say, with no 'reverse hypocrisy,' that only those who already agree with his moral beliefs must act according to their dictates? Why can he not acknowledge that those who reject his beliefs, like Jack, are under no obligation to act according to them?
Fascinating questions, surely. I will conclude by noting that Alex's thesis is essentially the universalizability requirement, a notion that we can thank Herr Kant for. I'd also add that the vast majority of work in ethics being done today either expressly or tacitly adopts the universalization criterion, and that those, like myself, who are dubious as to its validity, are, I daresay, in the minority.
Thoughts?
Though TP was fasting, he had a busy day planned, regardless (TP doesn't much care for services in general -- for as long as he can remember, the primary feeling he can recall experiencing in temple is boredom). 10:30 am featured a meeting with TP's clinical ethics professor, discussing all manner of topics, including potential paper topics. We finally settled on an examination of the ethical considerations that attend DNR orders with newborns and older children (TP's clinical ethics practicum has involved rounding with one of the pediatric teams). Very interesting, definitely.
We made arrangements for (1) general background readings on DNR orders; (2) then a literature review of DNR orders that specifically pertain to newborns and older children which the prof will review and approve; (3) followed by specific analysis of a case study (prof has several drawers full of case studies) for the actual paper itself. We also planned to have me sit down with the prof's pediatric consult files, which contain the records and information regarding Prof's pediatric ethics consultations. I'm thinking about trying to create an index for them for Prof so Prof can find what Prof needs in there more easily.
Man, I just feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to think about and work on such matters. It really is a tremendous privilege to be doing what I am doing.
At 11 am, Prof and I ran off to MD (multidisciplinary) SICU (surgical ICU) rounds. Clinical SICU rounds are separate from the MD rounds. The former obviously involves the primary clinical team, while the latter is usually attended by nurses, OT/PTs, the critical care fellow, social workers, and care management specialists. It was incredibly interesting.
At noon, we ran off to attend a lecture given by Dr. X, the author of a book of poetry regarding the medical profession. He spoke of the propensity of our medical schools to take incredibly broad-based, brilliant, cultivated, talented people, and turn them into relatively cold, distant healers, and of the need to humanize the practice of medicine. Obviously, such a sentiment would go over well in my program.
Another Prof of mine, however, did raise several fascinating concerns that attend the publication of patient narratives. First, there are concerns, especially in the age of HIPAA, regarding confidentiality of a patient's medical records. Note, I'm not just discussing the legal requirement of confidentiality, as important as that is, but there is obviously also an ethical dimension to confidentiality, that overlaps but is not constituted by the legal standard.
Dr. X responded that he obtained consent whenever he could, but admitted that many of the narratives in the book were decades old, such that consent was impossible to obtain. He stated that he fictionalized the accounts where possible (change gender, age, characteristics, etc.), and that compromise on "both sides" was necessary for the sake of art.
This is completely unacceptable. First off, one must be EXTREMELY careful about compromising patient confidentiality in any way, shape or form, even accidentally, let alone intentionally, regardless of the intended end. Second, one of the keystones of modern medical ethics is the Kantian conception of human dignity -- that people are not to be used merely as means to an end. In fact, being relatively well acquainted with the rise of medical ethics as a discipline in this country, I can say that he animating force behind the development was largely the revelation that much biomedical research in this nation had most assuredly violated that Kantian ethical requirement (most notably, the Tuskegee experiment, but there are many others -- too many).
Compromising confidentiality for the sake of art, as noble an end as that is (and few adore poetry more than TP), also seems to run afoul of the requirement. Finally, if one fictionalizes the narratives, in what sense are they even the patient's narratives anymore? The importance of the fact that a patient plays the violin, rather than the fictionalized flute, may seem trivial, but may be of crucial important to the narrative. What's more, the narrative has been arrogated to the writer. The narrative is no longer owned by the patient when it is fictionalized. It has become subsumed by the writer.
Needless to say, some in the audience had significant issues with Dr. X's lecture.
After the lecture, a bit dizzy for want of food and water, it was off to a three-hour seminar on Kant's ethics. I have probably spent about 2 years, total, studying the work of Immanuel Kant (both his ethics and his epistemology), and the more I read his work, the more I admire and appreciate the man's brilliance. Also, the more I read Kant, the less dogmatic and absolutist I find the man to be. The man's contributions to moral theory simply cannot be overstated. The modern study of ethics simply cannot avoid Kant. In fact, I think there is ample justification for asserting that modern medical ethics owes an enormous debt to Kant -- many of its core principles draw heavily on Kant, whether the participants in the praxis realize it or not.
Though I am sympathetic to relativism (don't even bother asking about it -- not a subject I discuss on this blog), there has never been a more elegant, articulate expression of objective morality than that from Kant.
After a spirited class, it's off to teach legal research and writing to law students, which went fairly well considering my hungered state. After class, I stood in the parking lot drinking water and eating reduced-fat Oreos (highly recommended), looking up at the cool night sky and the iridescent moon, and thought, what was I doing last year at this time? Sitting at a desk all day, writing useless bits of memoranda and paragraphs of argument, just wasting away intellectually and emotionally.
And now -- look at the richness of my intellectual life. DNR orders, multidisciplinary SICU rounds, lectures on poems and the humanization of medical practice, ethics of confidentiality, deep analysis of Kant, teaching legal research & writing. This is better. This is much, much better.
Yes, I'm in a blog rut. And actually, it has nothing to do with lacking appropriate blog fodder. I've got tons of stuff to write about. I suppose I could chalk it up to adjusting to the student life, where one always has work one could be doing, but lots of students seem to have no trouble blogging.
Yesterday was a great day. It was Yom Kippur, so TP was fasting like a mutha!@#$er. Gots to purify myself you know, so I can obtain the license to ill for the remainder of the year.
What? Is that not the idea?
Speaking of Yom Kippur, let me just for a moment say how reprehensible I think it is that synagogues charge upwards of $200 for a ticket for Kol Nidre services (the holiest night of the Jewish year) for non-members.
Yes, I know all the arguments. It is expensive to put on Kol Nidre services -- aside from arranging facilities and parking, choirs and special cantors are often brought in, the flowers must be exquisite, etc. And yes, I understand that I have my own karma for the situation, because membership has its privileges. If I don't want to be part of the synagoguge community by joining the congregation, what right do I have to complain at being denied the rights of members?
All true. However, none of the above changes the single, irreducible notion, that, IMO, when a Jew seeks to worship with a community on the holiest night of the year, it is completely antithetical to the spirit and spiritual heart of Judaism to require a substantial fee for entry. I think that is reprehensible, and I say that with full acceptance of my own karma for the situation. If they asked for a donation, and left the amount up to me, no problem at all. I'd probably give them near what they charge, anyway. It's not the money. It's the heart. With Judaism, it's always about the heart.
Dear Dr. TP,
It is our great pleasure to formally offer you this position. We hadn't dreamed of offering this job to someone so young and with such little experience, relatively speaking, but you are simply right for the job, and otherwise perfect in every way.
The starting salary for this position is normally X, but because of your incredible qualifications, sterling resume, and overall level of complete and utter bad@ssery, we are going to start you off with a salary of 240(X). And the perquisites, my god, the perquisites!
At present, myself and the rest of the Board of Directors are currently holding a candlelight vigil, chanting and praying that you accept the position. We have hired shamans of several different religious traditions, a rabbi, a priest, several Buddhist monks, and Miss Cleo. Should ritual sacrifice become necessary, we also have a cow, a pig, and a goat.
Let us know of your decision whenever it is convenient for you to do so.
Sincerely,
CEO Guy/Gal
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In all seriousness, this is the exact kind of position TP will be interested in once his studies are completed. While my strong sense is that I would, upon graduating, lack the necessary experience, if not the qualifications, to be a serious candidate for the position, an analogous position, perhaps at a smaller hospital corporation, is really what TP is after (at least, that's the current thinking, subject to drastic change, obviously).
Man, it's been slow around here. Sorry about that; what with Hurricane Rita, that little tease, and my settling into the rhythms of my new career, new home, and new lifestyle, time for blogging has been sparse. It's sparse in a good way though, as I simply feel better about where I am and what I am doing, and the same wrt to Dr. Ms. TP.
I should have a post about food and wine and fathers at some point in the hopefully near future. We thank you for your support. As always, squeeze the Charmin.
Pictures, courtesy of Dr. Ms. TP, preparing for that dirty little slut, Rita. Wind speed is about 30 MPH right now.
"What's going on, mommy?"
Sky at 5 pm, Houston time.
"Don't care about storm. Busy sleeping. Call back later."
It's coming.
This morning, Houston time. Compare and contrast. This picture faces to the west-NW.
"Who's Rita?"
"Will Miss Rita play with me?"
Headline seen on CNNSI.com this morning by TP:
"Nothing says football like Nick and Jessica."
I don't know about that. I think the Care Bears, or perhaps Summer's Eve Female Hygiene "says" football a bit more.
Good lord. Don't they have editors over there? Who decided that headline was fit for human consumption?
This is nice.
After rushing into the settlements, Palestinians set fire to empty synagogues in the Morag, Kfar Darom and Netzarim settlements, as well as a Jewish seminary in Neve Dekalim. Later, a Palestinian bulldozer began knocking down the walls of the Netzarim synagogue.
In Netzarim, two young Palestinians waving flags stomped on the smoldering debris outside the synagogue, and others took turns hitting the building with a large hammer.
Bear in mind I have no problem with the PA appropriately demolishing synagogues that the Israeli government left intact after the Gaza pullout. Gaza is PA-controlled land now, so there needn't be synagogues on that land. However, the nature of the demolition is what I find upsetting here. Not a calm, planned, officially controlled demolition of the buildings, but, essentially, a mob rushed in, set fire to the synagogues, and stomped on Israeli flags.
I can understand why this would be emotional for many Palestinians in the area, but this reminds me too much of 11/9/1938 to be comfortable.
Or perhaps I'm being hypersensitive?
UPDATE: Eric Muller expresses similar sentiments.
How's school, you ask?
Early returns are great. I think my professors are nothing short of amazing, both in terms of their pedagogical abilities, and how approachable and personable they are. The classes are terrifically interesting. I'm taking classes in religion, medicine and culture, and on ethics, as well as a practicum in clinical ethics.
As I am pursuing both an interdisciplinary doctorate and an interdisciplinary career, I thought some of y'all (anyone? anyone?) might be interested in seeing the kinds of readings I've been doing thus far in the program (all of several weeks into it). Here's a sample:
Caring and Curing: Health and Medicine in the Western Religious Traditions
Plato: The Collected Dialogues (thus far, we've read the Apology, the Crito, and parts of the Republic).
Ethics Consultation: Is it Enough to Mean Well?
Cultural Engagement in Clinical Ethics: A Model for Ethics Consultation
Ethical Theory: Classical and Contemporary Readings
Everything else continues to move well. I am really enjoying working for my friends as a part-time attorney. The arrangement seems to suit everyone. They cannot take on a long-term fixed cost, as they are too small to add another attorney and be responsible for attorney development. I have no long-term wish to work as an attorney, but am happy to help them out in the short-term with research, brain-storming, drafting, etc.
Plus, the office is small -- only five lawyers and two-three support staff -- and my bosses I count among my closer friends in the world, in addition to being mentors -- more in terms of the way they handle themselves in their profession and in their life-wisdom, than in career terms, seeing as how I don't wish to practice law in the formal sense -- and teachers for me.
Living inside Houston is simply so superior to living in Cypress, I don't even know where to begin.
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Speaking of living conditions, please don't think me utterly selfish if I don't talk much about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. I am happy to see Houston opening its considerable resources to those in need, and I am more than horrified at what happened/is happening in New Orleans, but I simply don't have much to say about in this medium.
My thoughts and prayers extend to those who have suffered.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled self-absorbed blog post.
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Anyway, things feel relatively good for TP right now. Not too scared of jinxing it, seeing as how my beloved Hurricanes lost tonight. Balance, TP. Balance.
Quick thoughts on the game: difficult to come into Trailerhassee, even when Free Shoes U is down, make as many mistakes as Miami did, and come out with a win.
Both teams have a long, long way to go if they want to make some BCS noise.
Love Kyle Wright, however. He looks like he'll be a fabulous player.
the quiet, still city
softly luminescent
in the fabric of the wee hour.
will of the wisps,
cooing to me,
twenty-six stories high,
sounding in the deep.
the fastness bears no shadow,
night's wave lapping gently at my door;
the city, a fitful babe,
soft and
warm and
dark,
a quilt of stillness in the wee hour.
Whew! Been awhile, eh?
It got crazy hectic there for a bit; what with moving, unpacking and setting up the new place, which is just so awesome, and then heading off to Japan for 12 days.
Life updates: the move went really well. I highly, highly recommend those of you who can consider employing Japanese movers (the company, Yamato Transport, is one of the biggest in Japan, and has many offices in the US). Where else can you find movers who take off their shoes before entering your place??!?! Courteous, highly efficient, outstanding with fragile and irreplaceable items (partly because Japanese families typically have more than a few of such items, like ceramics and lacquer stuff).
Dr. Ms. TP and I worked really hard getting the place set up in about five days; art up and everything. I have some pictures of the place I'll try to get around to posting in a little bit. The new place is just so amazing; like Wayne and Garth, I feel decidedly unworthy, but I'll try to live up to it.
Japan was as it always is, nothing short of magical. TP's Japanese family are some of the greatest people he has ever been privileged to know, and it was fantastic to spend some time with them. Ma-TP-in-Law is basically a Japanese Martha Stewart, so let your imaginations run wild regarding the gourmet meals she prepared on a daily basis.
Japanese eating is, in many ways, superior to Western-style eating. Portions are smaller, food is generally healthier, but remains incredibly flavorful. One day, In-Laws took TP and Dr. Ms. TP to an upscale tempura restaurant in Tokyo. OH. MY. GOD. I'm ruined for your normal, garden-variet tempura, now, definitely. At one point, chef put down some unago, or freshwater conger eel, and I spooned a sprinkling of curry powder on the hot, battered eel, and, my word -- one of the best flavors I have ever put in my mouth. Not nearly as oily or greasy as it sounds either, believe it or not.
Dr. Ms. TP and I made it to Kyoto for a day and a night, and had a gourmet tofu dinner (not a contradiction in terms, for you tofu-haters out there). Admittedly, gourmet meals in Kyoto are relatively easy to come by, if you're willing to throw down the necessary bones. We also made it back to a little cafe named Rakushyo, which makes the best warabi mochii (green tea rice cakes, so good) in the world, in my and, more importantly, in Dr. Ms. TP's opinion.
In Kyoto, we took in the famous temple of Kiyomizu-dera (dera means 'temple' in Japanese, and 'kiyomizu' means 'clear water'), upon which site a temple has existed since 778 (current version dates from the 1600s). It is located on a cliff on the southeastern side of Kyoto, and has this incredible view. Here is a picture of it amidst the amazing autumn foliage (TP is currently planning a fall '06 trip to Japan to catch the colors).
For those of you not knowing. Kyoto was the capital of Japan for almost 1000 years (from about the end of the 8th century until 1600, when the famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu [the subject of the book Shogun] defeated his rivals at the Battle of Sekigahara, took control, and moved the capital to Edo (modern Tokyo). Thus, Kyoto is the cultural seat of Japan, with a truly staggering lineup of temples, shrines, food, festivals, and other goodies. Even today, it is the easiest place to catch a glimpse of a geisha or maiko. (No, didn't see any).
Speaking of Ieyasu, we also saw the palace he built in Kyoto after he kicked ass and took names. While he did move the capital to Edo, he also wanted to leave no doubt in Kyoto, where the Imperial Palace was still located, about who exactly was the godfather there, so he forced all the daimyo (lords) to sponsor and pay for the construction of his palace, which was designed to be ornate and extravagant in the extreme, so as to leave no doubt about who was in charge. The result, called Nijo-jo (jo means 'castle'), is a World Heritage Site (properly so), and is one of the finest examples of Momoyama architecture in all of Japan. The place still has working nightingale floors, so named because anyone who treads on them causes the floors to squeak and chirp like a nightingale (so as to prevent assassination attempts).
Cool, obviously.
After Kyoto, we high-tailed it to a little resort town called Atami, where we obtained access to this little vacation cottage high on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, built in the traditional Japanese style (tatami mats, ofuta mattresses, sliding doors, shoji screens, wooden frame, etc.), and complete with a little garden out back growing tea, oranges, scallions, and the lovely Japanese citrus known as yuzu. Because we were in Japan during one of the biggest festivals of the year, known as Bon, we also dressed up in traditional Japanese garb (we wore yukata, not kimono), and took in the local matsuri, or festival. Fun was had by all.
Finally, back in Tokyo, I had the opportunity to help Ma-TP-in-Law prepare the charcoal for the upcoming year's tea ceremonies. I learned that all of the ashes are kept from the tea ceremonies, and recycled in the production of the next year's charcoal. The ashes we were working with, for example, are almost 30 years old. It's a cool idea -- all of the karma and good stuff built up during the tea ceremonies are preserved and used for the next tea ceremonies.
It's a neat process, and I was informed that I was probably doing something few gai-jin have had the opportunity to do in Japan's history.
Yes, TP users, I am just that freaking important.
Here I sit, in our new place, still pretty jet-lagged, but much happier, and in a better place, literally and figuratively, then I was one year ago.
Orientation for school starts tomorrow, and classes and part-time job starts next week.
And football is right around the corner.
Feels good to be alive right now.
Hope all is well in y'alls worlds as well.
David Cordingly: Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life among the Pirates
Charles Homer Haskins: The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century
R. A. Fletcher: Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England
Bruce Feldman: 'Cane Mutiny: How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned the Football Establishment
