Culbert Report

Nation, let's talk Palin . I certainly don't know much about politics.  I have opinions, just like the next Joe six pack, but nowhere near the level of knowledge to defend my ideas thoroughly, even adequately.  I do have observations and questions sufficient to supplement my lack of data.  I'd like to attempt to articulate some of these observations - particularly on the Palin -fanaticism rampant in areas across America.   The McCain campaign chose Palin , among a myriad of reasons, to attempt to leverage the women's vote. How effective this decision has been remains to be seen. Newsweek recently put forth the statement: "Most women are saying thanks but no thanks to John McCain's running mate" ( Are Voters Feeling Alienated by Palin , from the magazine issue dated Sep 29, 2008.) However, from what I have observed in the primarily conservative evangelical environment in which I now find myself, the response to Palin remains extraordinarily enthusi...

The Shack ... the buzz... the controversy... the middle aged black woman... the revolution... the lack thereof...   For months now, murmurs of The Shack  have rumbled around me - reviews, recommendations, discommendations , swirling around me like the aromas from Sarayu's fractalesque garden until I finally had no choice but to give in and read.  My dear friend, Ashley, first gave me the book months and months ago to read; but I, however, evaded her under the pretense that I am incapable of reading more than one book at once; moreover, I am a slow reader and must make careful choices of the books I read for woe to me for wasted time on empty pages.  And, hearing what I had heard about the Shack, I feared for the worst...  There is nothing like popular Christian fiction, or popular Christian music, or popular Christian anything to induce me to question its quality. But, alas, it is finished.  And I find myself very much where I was when I began the book.  The Shack failed to redee...

"There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilised and free countries, than the necessity of listenting to sermons."  Anthony Trollope " Barchester Towers vol. I, chapter 6. Truly there is nothing like a good sermon to draw a crowd to the chapel, and nothing like a mediocre, even bad sermon to drive us back to the ideals from whence we came. And here, for sheer comedic value, the quote in its entirety: There is, perhaps, no greater hardship at present inflicted on mankind in civilised and free countries than the necessity of listening to sermons. No one but a preaching clergyman has, in these realms, the power of compelling audiences to sit silent, and be tormented. No one but a preaching clergyman can revel in platitudes, truisms, and untruisms, (sic) and yet receive, as his undisputed privilege, the same respectful demeanour as though words of impassioned eloquence, or persuasive logic, fell from his lips. Let a professor of law or phy...

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a boggart?" Hermione put up her hand. "It's a shape shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most." (Rowling, The Prisoner of Azkaban , p. 133) The boggart - "fear itself," as we behold it in Harry Potter, evolves from the British belief in a house spirit. The boggart exists to muddle intermittently in the conveniences of its house's inhabitants, (ie spoiling the milk, spooking the horses, chilling the beds.) As legend explains, a simple horseshoe on the door can keep boggarts away - but beware of claiming or naming a boggart - it'll become yours for life! This passage, as only children's literature can do, explores the mysteries of the boggart, touching on the immense and abstractions of fear itself in a particularly adult way of thinking and reasoning. What is the relationship between humans and fear? The trick to dispelling fear...

We realized what kind of people we are, sitting on our two folding chairs in the middle of a parking lot in Yellowstone, making our daily peanut butter sandwiches on a makeshift table (two cardboard boxes,) with utensils salvaged from a McDonald's run, marveling at the various makes and models of the RVs and campers surrounding us. Almost all of our earthly belongings crammed into our 4 door Elantra bounced (we have no shocks) across the country with us, a bike tied to the bumper, a box of vittles precariously laid over a crate of camping gear, and the two of us, two days into sleeping in the great outdoors, camping and driving through the upper 90's with no AC. A sight to behold! A sight to elicit responses such as, "now aren't you glad we have a camper?" or "y'all need any help?" or, resonant of my dad's personal favorite from growing up, "stay in school, kids, stay in school." Somehow we have become those people. And somehow we...

In light of my experience observing the human condition, it's natural to assume than when people are given the opportunity to treat others badly, they will... If people might be permitted to stand a head above the crowd, even by battering others down to get there, they will. On one hand, I see this macrocosm created daily in my store; on the other, is this blog topic not just another reproduction of this same tension, only the roles reversed? Anyway, not to be swayed into self-deprication... My friend/co-worker and I one day observed that ironically of the business executives that enter the store daily, those whom have succeeded are those who treat us with courtesy, diginity, and respect. While those whom take every opportunity to complain, condescend, speak down, belittle, or blame, are typically the ones being swallowed alive in the office. Any attempt to shed a small percentage of the verbal beating they receive each day is well worth the cost. My friend/co-worker's r...

At what age do you specifically reach the "you're an old man, so you can do and say whatever you like?" The other day we had an older gentleman (well, gentleman is generous) in line in our lobby who asked the woman in front of him, "Are you an Indian?" She graciously responded, "yep, what part of India do you think I'm from?" He replied,"the part with the elephants?" No, sir, the part with the highly successful optomologists who own and operate two eye clinics in the area and vacation bi-annually in the tropics. We all laughed at his off-hand remark, "oh that crazy old man," as he continued to offer lewd suggestions to the "blonde, red-head, and brunette" working behind the counter. What a character, huh?! Why, in some cases, do we settle for, "crazy old man" - and in others, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law? -rkc