This picture is one of several sculptures by Michelangelo known as "The Slaves."  There is every reason to believe that these particular statues are unfinished works of a master, left half-done at his death.  They were meant to be whole sculptures of slaves, for the tomb of a pope. 

  I find them both interesting and beautiful, however, in how fitting the name is to their current condition.  They stand half-encased in raw marble, unable to be free, yet seemingly in constant struggle to shake off their earthly origin to join their rightful place beside their perfect brethren.  I find this fitting, and poetic.  I realize that good art is always a conduit for the viewer's own interpretation of the world to be realized, but the universal themes captured in what some might call incomplete work are astounding.  In this simple, undone sculpture I see the spirit's struggle with the flesh, the heavens with the earth, the imagination with the body.  We in the human race are free creatures who are imprisoned, citizens who are slaves, bound, yet emerging.  A similar sculpture in theme exists in Washington D.C., known as "The Awakening."  (It's below.)

  The struggle for freedom, for change, for something other, is constant and imbedded within us.  I don't know what we'll do when we reach that place where struggle is no longer necessary…we all search for something so long, what do we do when we've found it?  Do we search out new struggles, both larger and smaller?  And what when those are satisfied?  Can a creature whose identity is formed in conflict and searching ever be satisfied in satisfaction?

Currently Listening Cold Roses By Ryan Adams & the Cardinals Come Pick Me Up see related

I swore to myself that I would never do this again.

I swore that nothing was worth the assault, the degradation, the stress of a 28 year old man fighting with both older and younger women over toys.

I swore that nothing in heaven or hell could drag me back into the abyss of Black Friday.

I was wrong.

Wal-mart has made my life miserable two years in a row now with their incredible deals on black friday morn.  Last year was my first outing, in a vain quest for a digital camera.  With my brother-in-law by my side, I underestimated what I was up against.  By the time I fought my way to electronics, I could understand the incredulous looks I got from the cashier as he explained that the cameras had been gone within 5 minutes of the start of the sale.  I eventually got a more expensive camera at Target. 

This year, it was the potent combination of Power Wheels and Dora.  My daughter looks at those power wheel cars everytime we are in a store with a mixture of desire and awe, and I've always told her they are way too expensive.  But this year we happened to see the Dora VW bug for less than half the normal cost of a power wheels.  Thus, I was awake at 3:30 a.m., and my wife and I were at Walmart by 4:20, waiting to claim our prize.

This year, I was successful.  The car sits in the garage, under some blankets, until I put it together Christmas eve.  The experience was a lot more peaceful this time through a combination of better planning, earlier arrival at the store, and choosing a more remote Wal-mart that is in a more undeveloped area.  All the same, fights were breaking out in the aisles over HDTVs, and I had to guard my place in line from antsy parents waiting to get at that car.

I'd like to say that this was the last year, but my daughter is at that age now, and I'm pretty sure this is now an annual excursion.

The Dream

From Lilith, by George MacDonald:

In moments of doubt I cry, "Could God Himself create such lovely things as I dreamed?"

"Whence then came thy dream?" answers Hope.

"Out of my dark self, into the light of my consciousness."

"But whence first into thy dark self?" rejoins Hope.

"My brain was its mother, and the fever in my blood its father."

"Say rather," suggests Hope, "thy brain was the violin whence it issued, and the fever in thy blood the bow that drew it forth.--But who made the violin? and who guided the bow across its strings? Say rather, again--who set the song birds each on its bough in the tree of life, and startled each in its order from its perch? Whence came the fantasia? and whence the life that danced thereto? Didst thou say, in the dark of thy own unconscious self, `Let beauty be; let truth seem!' and straightway beauty was, and truth but seemed?"

Man dreams and desires; God broods and wills and quickens.

When a man dreams his own dream, he is the sport of his dream; when Another gives it him, that Other is able to fulfil it.

Currently Listening Corinne Bailey Rae By Corinne Bailey Rae Trouble Sleeping see related

Yesterday was one of the longest days of my life.  We woke up at 5 a.m. in Nebraska, threw our things into our van, and Joy drove while I tried to sleep on the way home to Denver.  We got home about 9:30 in the morning, where I quickly jumped in the shower, drove to another Panera for needed supplies, and then got to work about 11 a.m.  I proceeded to complete needed paperwork for our all employee meeting that night and the corporate auditor who is in town this week, all while dealing with being short two employees all day.  In the meantime, I recieved a call from Joy that she was feeling lightheaded and having flutters in her chest.  She was starting to sound panicked (sp?), so I told her that we have insurance for a reason, and to go to the emergency room.  She was there, with our daughter, for at least 4 or 5 hours, as they discovered that her blood pressure was through the roof, and they tested her for diabetes and a possible blood clot in her lungs.  Needless to say I was not incredibly focused on my work.  Thankfully everything turned out all right, relatively speaking, and Joy's very good friend Kathy drove out to help take Ryley off of Joy's hands while they were finishing up the tests.  Then, after I got home at 10:30 at night, after being up since 5, I got my girls tucked in and then proceeded to Myspace until 1:30 in the morning, like an idiot.  That's over 20 hours, people.  I never said I was the smartest cookie in the jar.  All I can say is thank God we live in Denver, in the proximity of good friends who are willing to put their lives on hold at the drop of a hat to take care of friends.  Thank you, Kathy.

Alright, I am officially sick of politics this election cycle. 

Thank God the elections are tomorrow.

Commercials are officially running 24 hours a day, and since I've been home the last 6 weeks recovering from surgery, I have had the glorious benefit of every last commercial.  Musgrave is the best person ever...Musgrave is the most corrupt politician in history.  Paccione will defend our seniors and our borders...no, wait-Paccione will in fact personally escort illegals through the desert while handing them someone's pension check.  The best thing about all this is that as I look over all the candidates and ballot initiatives on my sample ballot, I discovered that I don't even get to vote for Paccione or Musgrave.  So, for the record, I state here that if I had the chance, I would probably pick the Green Party candidate, whomever that might be.  Some people might call that a wasted vote...I call that a visible act of protest.  If I'm fed up with the current political process, I think it is better to cast a vote for neither candidate than the lesser of two evils.  I don't want to not vote, because then I'm just lumped in with the average lazy, ungrateful citizen.  I hold precious my right to vote, and I have voted in every election for which I've been eligible.  So I'm left usually with the green party, or maybe a libertartian, although their stance on issues is pretty out there.  I am a registered republican, and usually I side with my party, with a few notable exceptions.  I think our president and his administration have mangled the war, and their lack of recognition of this fact have led to unnecessary American deaths.  I'm fed up with the mismanagement of our economy and growing national debt.  The problem of course is that democrats rarely have better ideas, and I always have a huge difference of opinion with them on the matter of abortion.

This brings me to another point.  I understand why people's political affiliation matters to the office of congressperson, or governor, but some of these races don't make any sense.  For instance, I have a very clear choice of either a republican or democrat for my county coroner.  Can someone explain to me whether or not one party shows substantial differences of opinion with the other on how to examine a dead body?