I have an idea for a book. I think it might be cool to provide a thorough analysis of good and evil. What makes a person good, and what makes a person evil? What is good, and what is evil? Is evil simply good with misguided intentions, as C.S. Lewis claims? Do they have any kind of concrete nature in the world? Is it all a matter of perspective? Were we to see a duck get eaten by an alligator we could claim the alligator was evil for killing a duck, but from the alligator’s perspective – he was merely hungry. The duck was dinner. Who are we to declare one good and declare another evil. I’d just like to find out, and I currently do not have the answers.

So I thought about what might occur were an individual representing the ‘good’ in the world to meet with an individual representing the ‘bad’ in the world. Perhaps just in a local diner. There they would eat their meals, drink their coffee, and discuss the nature of good and evil. I would, as the author, do my best to remain neutral and let the reader decide for themself who is right and who is wrong….or who could be right and who could be wrong. In the end, there may be no definitive answers, but here at the beginning, I’d like to see what could happen were those two to begin to converse.

At the moment, the only plans I’ve made is to have them discuss the four cardinal virtues and the seven deadly sins. After those eleven subjects, I don’t know. Beyond those eleven, I’m writing this entry here to ask what else those two individuals could discuss. What would you like to see discussed? I’m really interested to find out what everyone else has to say…..

Covered at the moment:

1. Justice 2. Temperence 3. Prudence 4. Fortitude

1. Greed 2. Sloth 3. Lust 4. Envy 5. Pride 6. Gluttony 7. Wrath

EDIT: The book will be called ‘A Conversation Between Good and Evil’…hence the title of the post.

A picture of my newly restored laptop complete with every one of the XeeGee songs I thought may have been lost forever. !! Open Your Eyes up there second from the top is still one of my favorite songs ever. My little brothers too actually.

There was an Ohio State Staff/Faculty Pep Rally held in the southeast corner of Ohio Stadium(The shoe). So the band was playing songs like Carmen Ohio(you can see the guy with the cymbols) and look who decides to stand in front of me with his big ol head? Brutus Buckeye. I got stuck behind the freakin mascot! So I took a picture and gave it to the police to arrest him later. Okay, I only took a picture, but still. lol.

This is my family’s nearly four year old calico named Skittles. She’s an attention-grabber as you can tell by her world-famous roadkill impression she does in the middle of the floor. You either notice her and pet her, or step on her. I took this photo and settled for the petting option.

  This is my family’s other cat Rascal. He very much lives up to the name. He actually got out of the house a couple of weeks ago and didn’t come back for ten days. We figured he was either off chasing squirrels down the road somewhere or off chasing squirrels in Elysium. They(we) were glad he came back. Though my Mother was VERY close to getting a new kitten when we went to the Cat Shelter to see if someone had found Rascal and taken him there.

So that’s it for the first round of random photos. I don’t really know what kinds of pictures I’ll take, but the camera on the cell phone thing means just about anything will pop up. Oh yeah, Pirate Wars? Great book and that picture on the cover is the same picture that Mikey and the rest found in the attic in The Goonies. .

So I just finished watching Gladiator, and during the movie I got to thinking about what could define ‘living’. Take the quote from Braveheart, “Every man dies, not every man really lives”. I think about how William Wallace lived for a purpose, I think of how Clive Owen’s Arthur from King Arthur lived for a purpose, and take in the fictional character of Maximus from Gladiator, and wonder to myself about what it really means to be living. What kind of purpose really ‘qualifies’ as the sort that sets apart individuals like the ones I’ve named above from their not-so-great counterparts(Edward the Longshanks, Stellan Skarsgaard’s character’s son, Commodus).

Could it be as simple as the four virtues? Justice, Wisdom, Fortitude and Temperance? Commodus mentions these to his father, the Ceasar, early in Gladiator and clearly recognizes that he has none of them. Now does this necessarily make him a bad person? Does this automatically disqualify him from ‘living’ in the sense William Wallace meant it within Braveheart? I don’t think so.

The way I figure it, one truly feels ‘alive’ when their soul is in harmony with the actions of the mind and body. For some, this means hanging out with friends and just having a good time. For others, it may mean praying to a diety. For others, it may mean excelling in whatever their favorite sport. For others, it may even be seeing their favorite team excelling in their sport. I know I was excited about the Steeler win last night. Still others may find that sense of feeling ‘alive’ when in the midst of a successful career. How about feeling the embrace of a loved one. Seeing family at Thanksgiving? Seeing the joy on family members faces when they open meaningful gifts for Christmas?

I can’t argue for or against any of these. They all contribute in their own respective ways to feeling ‘alive’. What I feel inclined to assert is that what William Wallace meant, and what Maximus exemplified, by living is not necessarily a specific way of living, just the willingness to follow that life. I believe the individuals in those movies all had the strength of will to follow their convictions. The three individuals I named happened to be virtuous in their actions, showing that a mix of the four virtues played into their actions and decisions. It is their standard that brought me online tonight to type.

Now can I claim to be very good at following my own convictions? Can I say to you that I made the decision to ‘live’ and had the strength of will to see that decision through? Not by a longshot. But I’m working on it and I am beginning to see ways of having a positive impact even during my shakier days of life. If life is what it can be called when one sometimes feels as if they are living in a real-life version of the movie ‘Groundhog Day’.

Whatever is the case for you, whatever means you use to feel ‘alive’; to feel that you are not wasting you time and contributing in some way to this world, I would advise you not to fret when you feel a shaky day when it comes to following your team, your friends, or your faith. Having a bad-faith day is not the end of the world. Having a bad-purpose day is not the end of the world. Having a bad-conviction day isn’t going to kill you. Fortitude will see you through. Let the other virtues take care of themselves after that.

-Shadow

Gonna miss ya Steve.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060904/ap_on_en_tv/obit_irwin

I forgot I even had this picture. lol

I’m back online!!! Whooo!! I am actually typing this entry out on my fixed laptop! Yeah baby! I’ve still gotta go through the backup that The Laptop Guy people made of my old hard drive. Apparently windows got corrupted when the motherboard fried so they had to backup what they could(essentially what I chose). So my desktop and documents were saved.

As far as I can tell from early searches. ALL my old music files are still there. Literally 1000′s of songs! BUT!! Most importantly….and what really had me depressed last year….my old acid pro files are still there! The original files for Tropical Storm and Dream Traveller etc….still there baby! I am in a wicked good mood. It helps that I kicked ass in my first major presentation on Wednesday….and today(1st of the month) I got my first check under the new pay rate….BUT….I’m back online and happy.

I’m about 19% into my download of AIM…but in a little while I’ll be online if anyone wants to talk.

By the way….I’m back!

P.S. Yes that is the edition of Robin Hood I own. I love that movie and look forward to watching it late late(as in 2 A.M.) tonight in celebration.

P.S.S. Also in a good mood because Michael made varsity for Otterbein. Game tomorrow vs. Wittenberg. Sweet!