Self Indulgent Musing ...

Fair warning on the self-indulgence ...

Today was the 38th anniversary of my first kiss ... on a beach at Bar Harbor, Maine.

Exercise and eating reasonably is good for you ... and I hate it. Also, too much CNN will destroy your brain. As will, I'm afraid, too much time devoted to blogreading. Unless you stick to the ones on my blogroll. I love the idea of cream cheese, butter and sugar involved in some dish. Any dish. I'm at that stage where I'm having erotic reverie about high fat foods.

Bucky and I had a good walk today ... some construction worker yelled out, "Nice looking dog!" (Hey! What about me? *jealous* Although I wouldn't want to be called a nice looking dog.) And another worker said, "He prances like a horse!" He does, a high-stepper. He is the only dog I've ever had that looks behind him as he walks -- like he's doing 360-degree surveillance, must keep track of everything going on around him. It must be very frustrating for him when he runs out of pee and has to air-mark his territory. Which is All Things, Everywhere. I do love him. Our love is a wary love, however. We still don't fully understand each other. Jim and Bucky, on the other hand, understand each other perfectly. Must be a male thing.

Trying to do a post on Mary Magdalene but having a hard time with focus. Everybody must be tired of my quasi-feminist jottings, but she is a fascinating character. I know nothing about Gnosticism -- which includes what are thought to be "lost" testaments of the Bible, including one devoted to Magdalene. Da Vinci Code, if nothing else, brought her rehabilitation to the public's consciousness.

I like it when it appears religion isn't frozen in time. I believe biblical characters are of most value to us as symbols, not as literal beings -- and that all sacred writings are allegorical, meant to teach in the abstract, to guide our behavior within the context of the present, not provide step by step, time-constrained, concrete instruction.

I do have a weakness for apocryphal and apocalyptic writings, if only because I like to spell the words. Heh. And I love mystery. There's so much we are incapable of knowing. But arrogance is a human hallmark, isn't it?

Also, I feel very sorry for the Israeli soldiers who must carry out eviction of the Gaza settlements. You can see many hate what they're doing. In a country where military service has been such a point of pride, I wonder if they will end up resenting their government for what they were forced to carry out. Note: I make no judgement for or against the evacuation, other than gratitude for anything that may ease tension in the mideast. I would think Israelis would deeply resent those safe and comfortable in their U.S. homes having anything to say about what they endure.

Re the Israeli soldiers: it's similar to the divisiveness we have in the U.S., when our soldiers have been compelled to act on behalf of policies they are against. Vietnam. Iraq. The "they volunteered" doesn't work for me: I don't believe that many of our volunteer soldiers truly understood -- or were given the facts about -- why they really were going or what they would be engaged in, when they agreed to serve.

I am not a joiner, but I will light a candle for Cindy Sheehan tonight. Because she lost her son. And because so many other mothers -- American, Iraqi, Israeli, Palestinian -- have lost their children.