Extreme Literary Snobbery!

Two quotes I saw recently used for popular purposes, taken completely out of context:

1. On a mug for sale in the Barnes & Noble cafe: 'I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.'

No: this is not a cute little quote about how much we love coffee. It's from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', the subject of which epitome of a useless, wasted, ineffectual, small, little life. Is that how you want to 'measure' yourself?

2. Positive Valentine's Day quote: 'You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.'

Yes, it's from the 'dreamy' Mr Darcy in proposing marriage to Elizabeth (we're talking Pride and Prejudice here). But it's his first proposal, when he is intolerably proud (albeit, she is completely prejudiced). Doesn't the quote conjure the whole scene for you and make it unacceptable as a V-Day sentiment?

Flame off ;-)

Can't stop the Linsanity!

It's crazy. All of a sudden, I'm practically a Knicks fan and know something about Tyson, Landry, Steve and Mike.

Even the entire Knicks entry splash page is Linsane!

A lot of these links are coming from my friend, DJ Chuang.





[video] 23-minute interview with Jeremy Lin on MSG

DJ has embedded all 4 parts on one page

I've got it so bad, I also watched the recommended press conference videos of Jeremy and Mike from the last two games!

Liking Jeremy on Facebook (which seems to be mostly just his Twitter feed. But you have this from about a month before he blew up:

Everytime i try to get into Madison Square Garden, the security guards ask me if im a trainer LOL

A couple articles:
+ Faith, sin and Jeremy Lin
+ Jeremy Lin’s bold humility
+ Jeremy Lin challenges stereotypes, as well as defenses

Jeremy Linsanity!

Wow, it's been fun watching Jeremy Lin this week! A few clips and links:





Tyson Chandler: Jeremy Lin's new best friend ;-)

'I'm riding him like freakin' Secretariat' -- Mike D'Antoni





Lin’s Appeal: Faith, Pride and Points

The Jeremy Lin Show at MSG

At 3:31 the Lakers need a timeout because of Jeremy Lin! :-)

Lin Keeps His Cool; Around Him, Heads Spin

Jeremy Lin Is No Fluke (note: Nate Silver, noted stats guru, wrote this one)

No kidding: I just added a Jeremy Lin section to my Google News :-)

Eric Metaxas Omnibus

Kurt Graves sent me Eric Metaxas' speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. It was a revelation.

Metaxas is actually not new to me. I first heard his name when my kids were still watching VeggieTales. Yep, he worked for them. I guess the name just stuck. Because when I heard it again later in relation to his Wilberforce biography, I perked up. Not sure what the order was on Socrates in the City or the Bonhoeffer biography, but I tracked them.

You're going to think I'm exaggerating, but I say this advisedly: I don't think I've ever watched a better speech. The combination of humor, challenging truth in the face of disagreement, and humility (Metaxas seemed genuinely honored to address Obama) is just stunning. I've watched it twice and I may watch it again.

Denny Burk nails it (quoted by Justin Taylor):

He had some serious and prophetic words about the humanity of the unborn. He even spoke about having a biblical view of sexuality. All of this with the President sitting just a few feet away. This was a courageous talk delivered with winsomeness and joy.

I sincerely hope that you can find the time to watch this speech. It begins below right where Eric's speech starts.

In the video, Eric tells a little of his conversion story and then points to more on his website. Here's the additional video:

Eric Metaxas Conversion Story

Some highlights from Eric's biography: son of European immigrants, went to Yale.

Interesting factoid: his popular children's book It’s Time to Sleep, My Love is the unacknowledged basis for the much-more-popular book Go the F*** to Sleep.

And does anyone else think he uncannily resembles Al Franken?