Of Mice and Men, and Moments When Time Stands Still

I’m on a plane to Chicago, and I just finished reading John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. I think this is the second or third time I’ve read it. I love the plain, direct language Steinbeck uses to tell the story; there’s nothing fancy in the words, but it’s magical the way they’re put together.

Funny – I knew what was coming, but I plowed through to the end as though it was the first time. I feel admiration for George because he keeps his promise to look after Lennie; keeping him out of trouble and indulging his fantasies about livin’ off the fat a the lan’, and rabbits and alfalfa. Like Candy, I feel disgust for Curley’s wife – “you ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.”

There are several artfully-turned phrases, but the one I like best comes just after Lennie has made his final mistake:

“As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.

Then gradually time awakened again and moved slowly on. “

There are some moments in my life that felt just like that. I remember last June that terrible moment when I realized that my father would not recover from the surgery he had to remove cancer that had returned with a vengeance. Time slowed to a crawl as my mother and siblings and I together had to acknowledge the truth, and move forward with decisions we wished we never had to make.

In the days and weeks that followed, time did awaken and move slowly on. But it was different now; and could not be changed back. It was this way for George, when he came to the horrible realization that he had to do what couldn’t be changed back.

I wonder how I might have handled George’s dilemma at the end; how could he have done anything else? Lennie was destined to die at Curly’s hand, so George gave him a better way out. Still, to take another man’s life to spare him a worse fate -I’m not sure I’d have the courage to pull the trigger.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Workout Report (5/29)

13, 210 m rowed

Elapsed time 1:15:00

Bigfoot Captured on Video Near Spokane, Washington?

A Spokane woman out for a day hike thinks she captured Bigfoot in a video:

Samantha, who did not give her last name, and her friends were hiking at Downriver Park over the weekend when they captured Bigfoot by using their iPhone camera.

Samantha posted a YouTube video of the creature a few days later.

In her post, Samantha said she didn’t notice Bigfoot until she looked at her video when she got home.

So, far more than 3,000 people have viewed the video online.

“Someone asked me in the comments section if I believed in Bigfoot before the video,” wrote Samantha in an e-mail to KXLY.

“I have never given it much thought, but now I’m not so sure. Seem real enough to me,” she said.

Here’s the video; you decide.

(via KOMO News)

http://cf.komonews.com/jwplayer56viral/player.swf

Barack Obama, Turncoat.

Bill Whittle explains how Barack Obama (*DfOaLG) has been busy since his immaculation destroying trust with our allies and trying to gain concessions with our enemies. His comments are based in part on the material in Victor Davis Hanson’s short book How The Obama Administration Threatens Our National Security (it’s only 48 pages, and available for Kindle Reader). He has an interesting look at the term “turncoat,” and how it’s different from “traitor.”

*Descended from Olympus and Lightworker Genius, on the order of Wile E. Coyote

Zero-Tolerance Idiocy: California School Expels Students for Wearing White T-Shirts

This can’t really be a true ZTI post, because I don’t think the school had a policy against wearing white t-shirts. I think this one was made up on the fly by school principal Ken Lawrence-Emanue, which is -in its own way- even more idiotic.

You see, whenever a bunch of white kids get together and wear a white t-shirt for their group class picture, well, that means…wait for it…they’re white supremecists.

It couldn’t possibly be that the aforementioned group wanted to be able to find themselves in the picture later, so they wore the same color t-shirt. Nope, those kids, in a menacing, calculated, and clandestine way, wanted to send a message to other students: “White Power!” Yeah. This theory, postulated by the dumbass school principal had at least one major flaw:

“I feel disrespected,” says Soquel High Senior David Mine.

Mine also wore a white t-shirt and was also suspended. He’s missing out on finals and that could jeopardize his graduation.

“I’m Asian,” says Mine. “I don’t see how I can be a white supremacist. I’m against it completely.”

See the initial report at Central Coast News. Read more about it at SaberPoint