A couple things before work...

First of all, a lovely piece of news to read first thing in the morning:
By the power of Zeus, ancient gods are back

Worship of the 12 gods of Mount Olympus associated with ancient Greece could, thanks to a decision by a first-instance court in Athens, become part of the country’s contemporary culture.

In a ruling made public yesterday, the court allowed the formation of an association whose members claim to worship Zeus and the other 11 gods.

“I support everybody’s right to practice their faith, whichever it may be, without hindrance,” said Apostolos Vrachiolidis, a journalist and one of the founding members of the association. Members of the group deny that they engage in idolatry. “We simply want to worship the gods of our ancestors freely,” a member who preferred to remain anonymous told Kathimerini.

The Church of Greece takes a dim view of this type of worship, linking it to New Age practices.

Meme from gerbilsage:

1) Of the various cultures, ethnicities or nationalities you belong to, which most strongly do you consider yourself?
-German or Russian by a long shot. Also, quite a bit, Welsh.

2) Is there a culture you cannot claim heritage from but which you feel quite close to?
-Well, given that I'm a Hellenist and my focus is classical archaeo of ancient Greece, I think I might have to go with Greece.

3) What's one language you wish you knew fluently?
-There are a lot, actually. German, Russian, classic Greek, and Latin are only among them.

4) If you could move anywhere in the world and be guaranteed a job, etc., where would you go?
-Greece.

5) If you had a time machine, and could witness any one event without altering or disturbing it, what would you want to see?
-A City Dionysia, given that's what I want my thesis to revolve around.

One more...

From the main page of the New York Times site. I am completely disgusted:

Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math

There is little more disgusting to me than hearing students required to have a full day of classes consisting only of math, english/reading and one period of gym. Schools narrowing their curriculums so drastically are going to eventually collapse upon themselves. Students' parents living in areas that allow it are going to be transferring them to schools where the policies aren't so tight, the schools getting the students of irate parents are going to suffer from overflow, and the narrowed schools are going to suffer lack of funding because they can never keep up with the raising expectations of that damned No Child Left Behind act.

No history, no music, no science, no languages, no art, no psychology, no million other wonderful subjects in this world. This is too depressing for words. No wonder the current young generations are behaving the ways they are. When videogames are much of the only art they're exposed to, when popular holidays and church give them the only history lessons they're afforded, when television and newspaper newsmedia is their only lesson in government and world politics/economics how can we question what's going on in the minds of our youth? How can we possibly question what has gone wrong with our children today?

I am indescribably sad.

(no subject)

Tonight is Lindsay's "songs nobody knows I like" night, apparently, but I'm about to turn iTunes and LimeWire off and put Labyrinth in.

I just downloanded "A Pirate Looks at 40" which is actually a very nice Jimmy Buffett song. Yes there are actually a couple. It's rather bittersweet, and a few lines make me think of madbillyblack...hehehe (seriously, Will, give it a listen. It's actually not terrible).

Mainly I was listening to my OKC "playlist"--random songs that Cristina, Brian and I downloaded onto my computer one night while we were all hanging out in Cristina's and my room. Among them: Three Dog Night, "Never Been To Spain" (which I've discovered I LOVE), a couple Jimmy Buffett songs (you can't be at an opening and not talk about it)--"Come Monday" (Cristina's favorite), "Lone Palm" (Brian's favorite) and "Knees of My Heart" (a song a little girl at my first table opening night of Kzoo's restaurant requested I play on the jukebox because it was her favorite), plus a few others introduced to me by other people there, or something similar.

I'm silly.