Atonement

Complete atonement is something that cannot completely be achieved. Past sins and mistakes will always exist and no matter what one does to try to correct these sins, they will never be fully forgotten. I sin like murder can never be atoned as the act of murder is irreversible. In contrast, a sin like stealing can be somewhat atoned for by simply returning whatever was stolen in the same condition in which it was taken. Even so, the crime can never be reversed and therefore it can never be atoned for.

In the novel, the quote “there is a way to be good again” suggests that some degree of atonement is attainable, but to be good does not necessarily mean that you are completely without sin. Just as to be bad does not mean to be completely without good. Furthermore, Ali can make himself good again by taking the proper steps toward atonement (apology, perhaps?) but he will never fully atone for his mistake.

The main sin that I believe Amir thinks about the most is his decision not to stick up for his friend and to allow him to be raped. Amir feels guilty for this choice and he seeks atonement for this sin. I don’t really think that he can get atonement. His friend was raped and nothing he does now can make up for the fact that he ran away like a coward while it was happening. I don’t know what he can possibly do to atone for his sin however I look forward to the rest of the novel and his vain efforts to make up for his mistakes in the past.

Mistakes

Off the top of my head I can not come up with any mistakes that I have made that I have regretted. Outside of just temporarily forgetting some information that may show up on tests, I do not make mistakes. It is quite nice to think back through my life and realize that I, flat out, don't make mistakes. I am, of course, not claiming to be perfect. Many would claim that I am quite close to perfection and I would not contest such a claim although I would not consider myself to be fully and completely perfect. Since I don't feel capable of sharing a mistake that I have made, I will describe to you what type of person I am and you will likely realize why I don't have regrets. I live vicariously through myself. My reputation is expanding faster than the universe. I once made a mistake, just to see how it would feel. I am the most interesting man in the world.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Preview to a Novel

The Front Cover
• Digital Fortress by: Dan Brown (#1 NY Times bestselling author)
• "The Ultimate Code"
• What do you think the book is about? The book is likely about some sort of code that is important to the safety of a group of people.
• Who's eyes are depicted on the cover? Are the numbers on the cover actually related to the code.

The Back Cover
• Contains praise for Digital Fortress
• The comments seem to be highly positive. The book seems as though it will be fast paced and exciting to read.
• It doesn't reveal any actual plot information but from the praise I can tell that this will be a thriller about code breaking.

Inside the Book
• Copyright-1998
• Is there a dedication? "For my parents... my mentors and my heroes."
• Table of Contents? No
• Other titles listed by the author? Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, Deception Point
• The author's writing style is very appealing to me. Much of the plot is advanced through dialog and action scenes. The rest of the bulk of the novel is factual asides that the author puts in for the authors interest purpose.

My overall impression is that I would really enjoy to read this book. I like thrillers and I read The Da Vinci Code and Deception Point and I loved them both. Unfortunately, this book is apparently not challenging enough or worthwhile reading for educational purposes and I will likely have to swap it out for a book that I will not enjoy and, due to me not enjoying, will not get anything worthwhile out of. This is the dilemma I often face: to read something mindless and entertaining, or try to read something intelligent and likely give up 30-40 pages in and end up not reading anything at all. While I believe the former to be more worthwhile, it is likely the latter that I will have to choose.

The Bad Beans

I'm running through the damp countryside, fully dressed in my soldier uniform with only one goal: to find a suitable place to relieve my bowels. You see, only hours before, I cooked up a can of beans that seemed quite delicious at the time. I was sitting with my squadron looking through the canned food laid out in front of us and the beans were just calling to me to be consumed. What I did not realize at the time was that the beans were as ferocious a soldier as I and had devilish plans to wage war on my colon.

The main problem is that we have set up camp on this riverbed and the only suitable place to relieve myself is about a five minute walk, or a two minute sprint at the pace I am currently running with. I'm about half way there and running faster than I ever have in my life when a devastating realization hits me: I have forgotten paper. Screeching to a halt, I reverse my direction and begin heading back to the camp to acquire the requisite materials for this latest mission. Making it to camp, I scramble through my bag, find the roll, and resume my sprint. About half way there again, my stomach begins to scream at me. My intestines are in turmoil and the battle is not going well. I fear I might not accomplish my mission. As I tense my muscles for the final push, something goes horribly wrong. My continence abandons me and the explosive force of my bowels nearly knocks me off of my feet. Shame mixed with relief overcome me as I realize that I have lost this battle. Crap! It sure does stink to lose.

The Triumph of Evil

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.

- Edmund Burke

I completely and whole-heartedly do not agree with this quote. In order for evil to triumph, I believe that bad people must do something, not that good people do nothing. If good people do something, evil could still triumph, but if bad people do nothing then evil would cease to exist. Clearly this Edmund Burke is not of equal intellect with me otherwise he surely would have made this observation himself and, thus, would not have said something so ignorant. I suppose he could have just overlooked this glaring fact, in which case I pardon him, but I'm not so sure I can pardon all of the people who like to quote Burke on this flawed conjecture.

Decisions, decisions...

My decisions are usually dictated by the conditions surrounding the decision. For example, when I was trying to decide whether or not to do this blog post today, I bunch of different factors weighed upon my decision. These factors included, but were not limited to; my energy level, feeling of responsibility, Mr. Yost's instructions, internet distractions, fatigue, the value of the assignment, my interest in the topic, and most importantly my level of focus. I say that my level of focus is most important because that is what eventually dictated how this blog post took shape. Unfortunately my focus level is quite low and I don't believe that I will be able to include anything else of value in this blog post. Please, however, enjoy a quote from Mark Twain that I heard recently that is quite interesting to me:

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.

This quote is quite enlightening and I plan to conduct the rest of my behavior based upon its lessons.

Afghanistan Recipe

Ingredients
32,738,376 people
1 Islamic Republic
1 Civil War
2 Major Invasions
A handful of ethnic groups
A pinch of Al Quaeda

Instructions
Begin with a dry, mountainous country in the Middle East. Add to that some gold, copper, iron and zinc and mix with a minor earthquake. Next, add a civil war, Soviet and American invasions. Let this sit with the multiple ethnic groups and add the final pinch of Al Quaeda. At this point, the dish should be close to boiling. Serve hot.

New and Good

This break was very relaxing for me as my parents went to Florida from Friday to Thursday and left me at the house alone. I was able to wake up whenever I wanted and, other than the massive cleanup effort Thursday morning before they came home, I did not have to keep the house clean at all. The first few days were fantastic, but as I settled into my new lifestyle, I realized that such a way of life was not sustainable. The pile of laundry in my room slowly became a mountain that threatened consume the entire room. By day four I became so sick of eating pizza that might taste buds have yet to fully recover. Despite these shortcomings, the freedom of being home alone for an extended period of time was quite enjoyable and an experience that I would like to repeat again soon.