Platypus of Truth

Sadu -Hem lives in the back of my fridge. It's something like this: *Unidentified pieces of contorted meat tumbling out of the fridge.* Sharon: what is it? Me: *holds a hand spread wide over a suspect piece* Impossible to say. Wait! Nooo !!!!! meat: I was once a great creature.... For untold ages have I slumbered.... but now I arise to wreck terror on the living as I did in days long ago!!! Sharon: What should we do?!? Me: Burn it! Burn it!!!! *After 30 minutes kitchen prep, mushrooms, orange, rice, soy sauce, plus 40 minutes cooking time...* Me: Mmmmmm . Tasty evil.....

Happy Tet everyone! We've just come back from ringing in the new year Vietnamese style. Boy, am I stuffed....

In those days, Utnapishtim went forth into the world and sought to make disciples; and to pass on to men the wisdom of the time before the flood. But the people refused to listen, and caught up in their own cares they said: "Who made Utnapishtim, the old gray-beard, lord over us? What use can his wisdom be? His sermons are too long! Lo, the flower passes from bud to fruit! Lo, the butterfly is in the meadow! These things call to us. We will pick the fruit while it is ripe. We will chase the butterfly in the meadow." Then Utnapishtim was angry. He looked down at the Unnim which was in his right hand; the world-destroying power. He looked down at the Annim in his left hand; the soul destroying power. But neither of these things could proclaim wisdom. So Untapishtim was silent, and the heart within him was angry. Then came Og, King of Bashan, and laughed at him, saying, "Old gray-beard, why do you think that the people will listen to you out of respect for your

Finals are over, and with them the first half of the year. I've had to pick up an extra class along with the other upper school teachers since we haven't been able to fill the slot left by a teacher we lost earlier in the year. It's a pass/fail course for eighth-graders called "High-School Prep." The video series we're using is excellent, so it's definitely worth the kids time. In other news, I've finished Machiavelli and plowed through Voltaire's "Candide. Both worth the read as two of the giants of emergent secularism. I'll be incorporating a survey them into my lectures. Right now I'm toying with a trip through Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" or "The Diary of Samuel Pepys." Then again, maybe those can wait... The added stress of an extra class has kept me from posting any deeper musings. Once I adjust, we'll hopefully get some. The Platypus' musings are always deep.