blakerson.com

[inspired by Phil's very cool, but very obvious post on religion]

Religion and science have often come into conflict. Too often in the United States, where people are stupid and bad logic convinces them that things are mutually exclusive. At least in the Middle East, most people can at least reinterpret their Divine Word, where as people in the Far East get it right: Buddhism, for example, doesn't go against quantum physics or evolution.

So here's my theory: religion was the first science. The Ancient Greeks or Egyptians or Chinese started to wonder why things happen, such as why the wind blows or why it rains. Simple natural phenomena. They couldn't explain things such as the chemical structure of water (thus the water cycle), so they had to invent a supernatural explanation for rain: there's a god that controls it and he has a reason for dropping rain upon us. In essence, the guys who invented religion (and it was invented, and I'll delete any comments that deny that point) were finding explanations for phenomena which they couldn't understand - they were the first scientists.

Over time, we began to understand things - that boiling water resembles the clouds in the sky and eventually that steam turns back into water elsewhere - so we got to reduce all the stuff we didn't understand into one god. So now there was just one god to explain what's beyond the sky and what's underneath the earth, and why the moon and the stars moved like they did through the night. Eventually that came into question and we got the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and for the first time science was truly based entirely on natural forms and not upon any essential acts of God.

So really, somewhere around 200 years ago, religion should have been outdated and cancelled out, but somewhere along the line someone caught a hold of this "science" and warped it to fit their agenda. And no, I'm not talking about the Bush administration, but more accurately the guys who started the Judeo-Christian tradition. Christianity and politics have been interwoven for the life of the religion - hence the Catholic church and why its history has to be studied, rather than known intuitively - and it was the initial corruption of the good work of the first scientists. So honestly, "intelligent design" and the "debate over life" aren't really that big of a deal - they're just the latest flavor of a misinterpretation that's lasted 2,006 years.

It's March 1st (well, the night of, at least), and what better opportunity than that to roll out the new s.o design? This very green masterpiece was a birthday present from Emily, who gets a very cute credit at the bottom. You can read all about her work at her site, where she's designed several very nice sites for very nice people.

As for me, well, that weekend of rest and sushi went well. I actually snuck home to Arlington and did the following 3 things, without exception:

-Sleep
-Study
-Eat with mom

and that was it. It did me a lot of good, seeing how I'm still conscious this week, but I'm still wondering when I'm going to get to stop to breathe. At the very least, weather in Austin is very spring-like so I'm enjoying that experience while I'm walking all over campus getting like 20 million things accomplished. The last couple weeks have become an expression of how logical and regimented I can be. Everything is on a schedule, even my social stuff. So, Austin people, I might have time to have some fun this weekend or even throw a party, but I'll have to pencil you all in first.

Next weekend: New York and Boston!

So tonight, I decided it was time for something new for my social life. So I exhaustedly trudged across campus to the meeting for the Japanese Association, a big group at UT full of every imaginable kind of person. I really doubted I'd fit in, based on the experiences of my fellow Japanese students with JA, but it seemed like JA came up as the answer to the question, "Where all the Japanese people at?" So off I went, and in I dove.

When I showed up at the meeting, things had yet to get going, so I walked up to the circle of interesting-looking people at the front. Big surprise, they're officers. I did the circle introduction thing, and this guy sitting at an iBook stopped and said, "Wait - Blake Ellison?"

"Yeah." I gave him a look of complete confusion as to how a guy I'd *just* met knew my last name.

"I've heard a hell of a lot about you." For the 20th time today, I was at a loss for words. For the first, it wasn't out of a lack of sleep.

As it turned out, JA is up to a lot this semester. Tons of festivals and stuff are going down, plus they invented this "family" structure which breaks up the thing into smaller groups of 10-ish people. So, after an hour of being in a room full of vaguely-familiar people who I've had a smattering of classes with, I now belonged to a club and had a family all my own. Why my family is called the 'Takoyaki Ballas' is a very complex joke on Japanese food mixed with hip-hop culture and is probably outside the comprehension of most of my dear readers.

After the end of the meeting, I had some 10 new friends and most of the big group migrated to the Korean Culture Night that was going on just underneath the tower. There was comedy, good music, good poetry, and overall some of the best entertainment I've seen in a while. I feel a bit more culturally enlightened for it, too. The only reason I left is it got too damn cold to sit outside to hear the quality stuff I was hearing.

So here I am, nice and cozy indoors, and psyched for what lies ahead for the rest of the semester. A few new amigos, new parties to attend, and even a camping trip.

As for this weekend, none of that. Just straight-up sleep and work. And sushi.

After a month's worth of hassle, negotiations and utter nonsense, I got myself an apartment for next year. It's a 1-bedroom, so I'll have my own place for the first time evar. I'm pretty psyched about that whole idea, but right now I'm trying to calm down from all the frustration of the Austin real estate world. Bunch of pricks.

Me, I'm fine. Well OK, I was heartbroken for a while because I just found out that my uber-cute Japanese TA is engaged. The degree to which I was actually down about that took me by surprise. I was even all ready to psyche myself up on the last day of class and straight-up ask her out. Not like she would have said yes, but I would have felt a certain accomplishment in having tried - and it would have made a great story 10 years on. But the good part of all that is it's really strengthened my resolve to go live in Japan. By now I really can't wait to go. I think it won't be long before I feel like the rest of college is a formality, the epilogue in this little story in the mini-series that is me. I guess the whole 'senior year' thing is coming back.

In the meantime, I'll just be here cranking up the Lost in Translation soundtrack and studying my kanji.