Thu 21 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under mind, quote of the day, rebirth, truth
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Random quote of the day:
“There are places where the mind dies so that a truth which is its very denial may be born.â€
—Albert Camus, “Wind at Djemilaâ€
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Wed 20 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under books, folklore, liminality, paranormal, review, tricksters
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This book is a comprehensive overview of parapsychology and the paranormal. Scholarly and dense—definitely not light reading—it is nonetheless well thought out and approachable. Hansen’s exhaustive research of the field shows clear but strange patterns. The paranormal, or psi, is more than the “hoax or delusion” argument with which skeptics often dismiss it, but not quite as true believers portray it, either. Like light particles in the world of quantum physics, the paranormal seems to change its nature based on who is doing the observing. It is most comfortable working in the world of the outsider, the marginalized and liminal, artists, mischief makers, magicians, the social pariahs and anti-establishment types—and in this, shares many of the characteristics of trickster deities throughout the world.
Because tricksters are so often comfortable in the culture of the shunned, it is almost a given that academia will run from psi as a priest from that which is unclean. Serious and impartial study becomes difficult because to engage in it, academics must overcome rigid social taboos and embrace unconventional thought paradigms. Academia is no more immune from societal pressures and conventional thinking than any other human institution. As Hansen himself states, “The widespread, subtly negative attitude toward fantasy, imagery, and the imagination indirectly acknowledges its power and the need to keep it constrained.” There is also the very real danger of becoming so drawn into the subject one loses one’s ability to tell fantasy from reality. Loss of objectivity comes in many forms.
I don’t think any summary I achieve here could do justice to the amount of researcher Mr. Hansen has laid out in this book, encompassing a multiplicity of disciplines from physics to anthropology, psychology to deconstructionism, lab parapsychology to professional magic. For a meticulous and original view of the field—its history, current trends, and deeper philosophical meaning—The Trickster and the Paranormal cannot be beat.
Wed 20 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under lazing, quote of the day
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Random quote of the day:
“Laziness: the habit of resting before fatigue sets in.â€
—Jules Renard, The Journal of Jules Renard, tr. Louise Bogan and Elizabeth Roget
 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Tue 19 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under obscurity, quote of the day, vegetables
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Random quote of the day:
“I’m afraid of losing my obscurity. Genuineness only thrives in the dark. Like celery.â€
—Aldous Huxley, Those Barren Leaves
 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Mon 18 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under knowledge, liminality, quote of the day, science
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Random quote of the day:
“Each generation see[s]…sparks which we ignore just because they don’t fit into our picture of science or knowledge.â€
—Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Paris Review, Fall 1968, No. 44
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Fri 15 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under belief, process, quote of the day
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Random quote of the day:
“‘What I believe’ is a process rather than a finality. Finalities are for gods and governments, not for the human intellect.â€
—Emma Goldman, “What I Believe,†New York World, July 19, 1908
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Thu 14 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under bearing witness, hearts, quote of the day, sorrow, what the living do
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Random quote of the day:
“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.â€
—Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Wed 13 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under quote of the day, risk, writing
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Random quote of the day:
“Get it all down. Take chances. It may be bad, but that’s the only was you can do anything really good.â€
—William Faulkner, quoted in Malcolm Cowley, The Faulkner-Cowley File
 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Tue 12 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under forgetting, quote of the day, the past
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Random quote of the day:
“If you forget your past, you die.â€
—Carlos Fuentes, interview, The Paris Review, Winter 1981, No. 82
 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Siegfried and Roy, Leonard Maltin, or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Thu 7 Apr 2016
Posted by PJ under birthdays, mom
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Happy 95th birthday, Donna Rae!
April 7, 1921 – January 22, 2015
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