I was just accepted to the McCombs Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas. I have nothing useful to say about this right now. I’m speechless.
I recently read this book (written by Sam Harris) and for a moment I was ripped out of the complacency of a secular and liberal life and placed smack dab in the middle of some of the most horrific stories (both historical and modern) that I have ever read. Given that the sum total of my understanding of the Spanish Inquisition probably came from a Monty Python movie, I clearly had a lot to learn about religion and its bloody history.
Not only am I not qualified to provide a synopsis of such a great book, I doubt I could even provide a terribly useful review of it. Please read the reviews of both Harris’ site and Amazon’s. What I wil say is that this book has ended the passivity that defined my personal feelings about religion, particular its intrusion into the public sphere of life. The End of Faith could easily birth a sequel called The End of Reason, given how current trends both at home and abroad are moving.
Sam Harris has studied both Eastern and Western religious traditions for over 20 years. Regardless of your personal, religious convictions, this book provides a superbly researched and meticulously annotated primer of the history, traditions, and texts of Judeo-Christianity and Islam. I could not recommend a book more highly.
Best comment?
bootsybooks says:
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:21 am
To stick with the best resmblance to the “essence” of Margo, I have to go with Margaret. She has the correct combinaion of hot, with a subtle sheet of batshit crazy in her eyes.
Some buddies of Matt Siller set up a tribute website in honor of his exodus to Sudan during the past year.
Matt was so moved by this gesture, he decided to go completely insane:
Here are some videos I’ve uploaded:
Mike beats a Brit in a chugging contest
Quote courtesy of the incomperable Rachel Lubin. She’s right, by the way. Ok, more pictures!
And that’s it! Some choices stories coming soon, once I get my life back together.
So much for the frequent updates on my trip. I’m back in the States, having gotten in just yesterday afternoon. I am now in the process of uploading all the pictures from the trip, so bear with me. Once I have some free time, I’ll share some of the amazing stories from the trip. Suffice it to say, I had a fantastic time:
More to come…
I arrived in Amsterdam today at 7 o’clock in the morning, after having left DC the previous day at 5:45pm. I rolled down to the baggage claim area to meet up with my buddy Jimmy and his brother Rick. Jim and Rick also flew out of DC, practically at the same time I did, but on a different flight. After tracking them down, we killed a couple of hours waiting for their friend Mike to get in from Chicago. He actually flew out of DC, but connected to Amsterdam via Chicago. Why, you ask? Frequent flier miles, baby.
We hopped on the train to Amsterdam Central and checked-in to the sweet corporate apartment (Marriot) that Rick and Jim had booked. Two floors, two bedrooms, pretty great launching point for all the insanity we’re going to get into over the next few days.
We spent the better part of the day walking around, getting some food, and getting banged-up. We spent some time chatting up a group of British students, one of whom Mike challenged to a couple of chugging contents (one he won, one he lost). Never did get that rubber match.
With some evening napping out of the way, we’re about to head out into the dark, sweet embrace of the Amsterdam nightlife. I’m really enjoying myself so far. The guys are a trip, the weather is amazing, and english is pretty much the second language here, so getting around is a breeze. Pictures coming soon!
Update:
