parresia

quickies

Abreast

My slight sickness (stuffy nose, soar throat, etc) was aggravated by the nearly three-hour exhausting anxiety, and my own deafening exclamations of joy and dejection watching the World Champion Lakers dig deep and finding the heart of a champion! Ultimately the Lakers beat Bibby, earning the West-coast Conference Championship.

I was more than proud of Kobe and the boys; they played with heart, determination, zeal, and most of all intelligence. I really appreciated their humility after the game as well.

Next up: Jason and the Nets. Go Lakers!

On a much different note. I recently finished Victor Hugo's masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre Dame via book-on-tape. I cannot praise the work enough. Hugo's mastery of simile and metaphor make for a truly adorned and vivid story for the mind to experience. This is one you should not miss reading, even if you've seen the Disney movie-- You may be shocked to learn that Disney's version of the Hunchback is related Hugo's story by little more than a hair or two: one such "relation" being that, yes, there is a hunchback in the story...and, oh yeah, the cathedral of Notre Dame is mentioned too. You'll find Hugo's real story to be much darker, and more tragic, but all the more honest, intriguing, witty... and just plain satisfying.

Amazon has some paperbacks starting at 32 cents.

In today's L.A. Times' Health section there are a series of very interesting articles related to kids and sex. I would have linked to them, but one must be a registered member to have access. Registering if FREE, so if you're so inclinded I recommend the reading-- that is, if you can stomach it.

Mentioned in the L.A. Times article: Judith Levine has a new book out in which she advocates "kids seeking out [sexual] pleasure with consenting peers." Of course this includes peers of the same sex, and even adults. I seem to remember a time when all parents had to worry about was the Man Boy Love Association supporting such insidious notions, now such ideas are threatening to intrude the mainstream--published by the University of Minnesota Press--...God have mercy on our nation.