A Bobo's LIfe

A few years back a good friend called me a bobo. I had no idea what he meant at the time, although when he explained the term to me it made sense and mostly fit my situation. Recently I've been reading the book Bobos in Paradise: The New Upperclass and How They Got There which defines the term. A bobo, you see, is a combination of the words bourgeois and bohemian. These words have historically stood in stark contract of each other. Bourgeois stands for "of, relating to, or characteristic of the townsmen of the social middle class" while bohmeian is defined as "a person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior." Up until the past four decades, it was impossible to be both rising middle class and nonconformist at the same time.

Yet that is not the case today. Today's bobos struggle with their affluence, increasing work demands, and societal concerns. They want to be depicted as carefree, yet often they are moderately wealthy and materialistic despite their despise for wealth and over-involvement. Coming after the age of baby boomers, when excessive work and busyness was valued, bobos want to generally have a good time despite their position in society.

This peculiar circumstance is one I am all too familiar with. As a Christian my despise for worldly (i.e. materialistic) concerns increases the struggle between my bourgeois and bohemian tendencies. I am deeply aware that it is "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a [wealthy] man to enter the kingdom of Heaven." Yet I enjoy my job and situation. How do I balance the ways of being a bobo and a Christian? What impact does living in perhaps the richest nation of all time have on my ability to know and love God? As society places labels and terms upon our generation, how does tha affect how I view Christianity, and moreover, God?

So there you go. Possibly a new term; perhaps some interesting questions to ponder. Think it over - I'm going to go enjoy a bobo's life.

Bronte Makes My Knees Go Weak

Now this is good writing:

"Arraigned at my own bar, Memory having given her evidence of the hopes, wishes, sentiments I had been cherishing since last night--of the general state of mind in which I had indulged for nearly a fortnight past; Reason having come forward and told, in her own quiet way a plain, unvarnished tale, showing how I had rejected the real, and rabidly devoured the ideal;--I pronounced judgment to this effect:-

That a greater fool than Jane Eyre had never breathed the breath of life; that a more fantastic idiot had never surfeited herself on sweet lies, and swallowed poison as if it were nectar."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Ch. 16)

Post-Bloggism or Exercising My Free Will

Peter's dad, in a spurious attempt to send Peter and I out of blogging retirement quipped, “Of course post-modernism eclipsed modernism, but I believe a new age has dawned – post-bloggism.” Yes, it was indeed said that eloquently because, well, he’s Peter’s dad. The boy came from somewhere you know. (My apologies to those of you who don’t know Peter – I’d give you his facebook ID but I’m opposed to such things and I imagine he is too. His blog however is: Http://peterrice.blogspot.com.)

However, it is my brother, not Peter’s dad who is forcing me out of retirement – at least for tonight. Apparently my lack of blogging has slowed down traffic on his site. So this is my meager attempt to generate more revenue for him

My topic tonight is the age ole question – free-will vs. determinism. Since I just had surgery and I am oddly obeying doctor’s orders and have the faculties of one arm, I’ll keep it short and say nothing of consequence on the subject at all.

Let me say this. It is a vitally important question. The reason is because by defining our viewpoint on the issue we identify our understanding of the nature we have with our creator. This comes across in how we speak of God, our prayers to Him, and even how we evangelize. So without giving you any insights – dwell on this issue for just a bit. It will do you good.

WC: 240
1A: 13 min, 18.5 WPM
2A: 3 min, 80 WPM

Some Effort Required

I recently signed off from the bizarre world of FaceBook. For those of you who don't know, Facebook is a service which allows you to broadcast to the world important things about yourself including: your favorite books, your political affiliation, and most importantly your relational status. Anyone can search for you, although you have to grant people "friend" status to view your entire profile.

For awhile I thought it was mildly amusing as I tried to acquire as many "friends" as possible. Naturally I couldn't keep up with the college crowd who boasted some two-to-three hundred friends. I was a decently popular guy in college, but even at the height of my quasi-popularity I was not filled with the delusion that I had that many friends.

Then it dawned on me. This tool, while attempting to make life easier and draw people closer, had added one more layer of superficiality to our high-tech world. It allowed people to know me without them ever talking to me. It allowed old friends to stay in touch by "writing on my wall" instead of making a phone call or writing an email (which is another subject altogether).

So I removed myself from this madness. People who know me and want to stay involved in my life will be in regular communication with me via phone, email, or physical interaction. Those who would like to get to know me should not think that finding out I like Star Wars from a website draws them closer to me. Instead they should go through normal channels of relational development to build a friendship. Even a blog should not be used as a substitute for true human interaction, although it often is!

Don't get me wrong - I see the value added in all technologies. I just like to make a strong case for the good ole days. Yes, that's right - the '80s.

Don't know? Don't shrug!

I threw my shoulder out of socket. Again. This time it was the shower. Last time I was sleeping soundly in bed, only to have the rudest awakening of my life. There never really is a good time to throw one's shoulder out although if you're going to do it, then it's best to be near an ER room with good anisthesia drugs.

The interesting thing about throwing out your shoulder is that, for a brief period of time at least, you find out what its like to miss a limb. Now granted, I currently have released myself from my sling to write this article, but for the better part of the weekend I have been living life with only one arm to function.

What's been more interesting though is that I've become more aware of my nonverbal communication skills. You see, apparently I shrug my shoulders a lot. This I never knew until I derived great pain from performing the act. Apparently I don't know a lot. But last night, during the midst of dreaming I even shrugged my shoulders, so I must be nonverbally communicating to my subconcious friends. Strange, I know.

Tis all. I'd write more but I am slowly becoming a democrat as I watch the West Wing. However, I was urged to write a post today and I'm making good on that request. Perhaps more inspiring thoughts to come, but for today a trivial expose on my shoulder. And please, if you see me in the next few days...side hugs only please!