Handling the Undead

So I recently finished Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist; author of Let the Right One In. If are not familiar with Lindqvist work he tends to take traditional horror subjects and places them into a personal setting. My reaction to this style has been one of personal interest into the characters and how they react to new developments.

Handling the Undead is no different, following several families after for unexplained reasons the dead reawaken in Stockholm. The main questioned asked is how does one handle death when there seems to be a cure? And as the story develops, these families learn that the 'reliving' are now a shell of their former selves.

Deeply personal, with very exciting moments. Lindqvist uses Zombies as a way to explore how we handle a death to someone close to us, and how it changes our lives. He also shows how different the reactions are from a death that is personal to one that is distant, as in something you hear on the news.

porn again

So, this is what I've been reading at work for the past hour or so, in between answering calls and filing. The Porn Again Christian: A Frank Discussion on Pornography and Masturbation.
Don't ask me how I found it (I do a LOT of random browsing on the Internet, and if something sounds even moderately interesting or funny or even a little distracting, I will probably read it, no matter what) but it's probably one of my favorite reads in recent memory, if for no other reason than because it's from a viewpoint wholly different from my own (read: that of the married, Christian male) and because my knowledge of Christianity and sexual acceptable sexual practices is pretty limited. It's basically a Christian guide to sex, masturbation, and pornography (or - more to the point - why pornography is evil). Chapter 5 includes a Q & A for acceptable masturbatory/sexual practices and Chapter 7 includes a general Q & A, if you want to skip to 'the good stuff.' I am completely fascinated by this book right now.

Richard Dawkins

The Onion AV Club has an excellent interview with Richard Dawkins up. Most famous for his book of The God Delusion, Dr. Dawkins has been at the fore front of the "New Atheist" movement.

You can read the interview here.

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius was the last of the "Five Good Emperors of Rome." A term coined by Niccolò Machiavelli to describe what is considered the height of the Roman Empire. More to the point, Aurelius was not only a great ruler and leader but also a Stoic Philosopher. During his campaigns in what is modern day Serbia he wrote his Meditations, a collection of works of self reflection to be used as a guide for self improvement. Although I am not a Cesar, or really a ruler of men in general, I found some great ideas within his writings.

"Let nothing be done rashly, and at random, but all things according to the most exact and perfect rules of art."

"Hast thou reason? I have. Why then makest thou not use of it? For if thy reason do her part, what more canst thou require?"

"To suffer change can be no hurt; as no benefit it is, by change to attain to being. The age and time of the world is as it were a flood and swift current, consisting of the things that are brought to pass in the world. For as soon as anything hath appeared, and is passed away, another succeeds, and that also will presently out of sight. "

Wisdom comes from reflection of actions and desires, and that the power to understand them only lies in understanding yourself. That reason and logic should dominate your inner thoughts and that you should not let your emotions control your actions. That you are the only person who can make your life better, and it is a vain fancy to think that another can help you in that regard. To consider the virtues of those around you, and how you can learn from them. And that as long as others speak logically and rationally of your errors that it is wise to consider them as truth. I have read this several times and every time I go through it again I like to believe that I have begun down a path of enlightenment similar to Marcus Aurelius. You can read the whole of his Meditations.