Stranger than Fiction

My son and I saw Stranger than Fiction this past Saturday. Will Ferrell was great in his role as Emma Thompson's main character, but the character I loved the most was Dustin Hoffman's English professor. Constantly drinking coffee (even while at the urinal), Hoffman got away with the use of stereotypical tics by somehow transcending them through a blend of subtle satire and feverish aplomb. One of his best lines, given as an excuse for why he can't help Ferrell, goes something like, "I'd really like to, but I'm teaching five classes this semester and working as a lifeguard at the pool on weekends." Another comes when Ferrell explains how everything went awry when he heard (from Thompson's narrator) a voice in his head saying, "Little did he know..." and an incredulous Hoffman responds by stopping him and saying "I've written papers on `Little did he know'."

The World Around Me

It is amazing how the prevailing atmosphere of a place can affect one's subjectivity and sense of self. When I was at Michigan State, to vote Republican was almost akin to declaring your devotion to ritual child sacrifice. Now that I am in Grand Rapids, to vote Democratic is to declare one's alliegance to Satan and his array of dark forces. This is not just sociology. It is a definite atmospheric affect on all psyches within the range of the influence. Related to this is the intense feeling of being a Christian that I had while at MSU which has entirely left me at Cornerstone, where being a Christian is taken for granted, with the result I don't really feel like one anymore.

Without friction there is no feeling, I guess.