Eclectic Living
Which statement most closely describes how you feel: 1. I care about all people (even if they're from another country), the environment, and the future of our planet. 2. I care about people (especially people from my country and people like me), the environment (especially my environment), and my kids. 3. I care about middle class Americans... Continue Reading →
I had a dream last night that I was keeping dodo birds the way one might keep chickens. They had been resurrected, phoenix-style, through DNA lab work. I was excited to tell my stepmom - this would be a great bird to add to her life list. In the category of birds that have run afoul of man's... Continue Reading →
Is there such a thing as an honest-to-God, real-life asshole? This was the debate my brother Zach and I had after hiking the mountain passes in Colorado. I was on the pro-asshole side, while Zach argued that nobody is truly an asshole. Our debate was a rather sucky one as debates go, and quickly ended at an impasse.... Continue Reading →
Back in the heady summer of 2002, I spent many late nights and early mornings chasing World Cup soccer games around Boulder County - the Cup was in South Korea and Japan that year. I found games at beerless bars and at various friends' houses. I joined a gaggle of bleary-eyed soccer fans at a bar in south Boulder... Continue Reading →
In Part I of this edition of Poppa's Notes, I briefly discussed and then summarized Seneca's "Letters from a Stoic" (aka "Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium"). Seneca wrote these letters to his friend Lucilius. Here's Part II: 78 - Sorry to hear you've been sick, Lucilius. Now buck up, li'l soldier - you can overcome it with your mind. An... Continue Reading →
Are you sick of me talking about dead Mediterranean dudes? Well, I have one more I'd like to hype, because he fits in so well with our discussion, then I'll give it a rest for a while. Seneca was an eclectic and a Stoic. By most accounts, he was an imperfect man who didn't necessarily follow... Continue Reading →
In a word, Eudaimonia. According to Aristotle, that's what it's all about. This is the highest good, what we should all be striving for. So what is it? According to my translator, Martin Ostwald, it is Happiness. But that's not quite right (as I'm sure Ostwald would admit). Eudaimonia encompasses more than our notion of... Continue Reading →
Poppa's Cottage 