Wednesday, December 31, 2008

This Should Get Interesting

What? No theme, no guidelines, no carefully laid out structure. What sort of mess have we gotten into?

By way of introduction, I confess, I am a friend of Sam's. We met during our M.A. programs and supported each other intellectually as we were forced into classes with non-thinking colleagues. My name is Katie and I fear I will be representing a centrist view here on the blog. Sometimes I'm rather liberal and on other issues I seem like an odd-ball conservative. I defy any socially-constructed labels of any sort.

I look forward to all topics including religion, politics, cultural critique, as well as other areas that we are supposed to avoid in polite conversation or on a first date. 

About me: I now work for the online division of a career college. I work for a corporation and a place of higher learning all at the same time. A very odd combination. I'm also Eastern Orthodox and Scandinavian. This means I am the only white person when I go to church. I eat my vegetables and believe in community supported agriculture. I've traveled quite a bit for my (relatively) youngish age; once in a while I get the travel bug, and move. 

Can't wait to start the discussions...  
  

The terrible mistake...

Greetings. My name is Adam, and I'm the newest and most exciting addition to RIMATARA.

While some of my politics and religious views might seem to be superficially similar to Ian's, they are also less burdened by hacky, awful jokes about in-flight service.

Though I appreciate intellect and intellectuals, and pepper my speech with words like "rebarbative" and quotes from people much smarter and deader than myself, I also have points of view and a style of speaking about them that may be a little unfamiliar to some of the more Baby-Jesus-loving contributors here. I hope that won't get in the way of our friendship. That, or my far too frequent use of ellipses.

Let's just get it out of the way, shall we?

I think the idea of a transcendent, supernatural being who created the universe in 7 days is fucking retarded...

What's going on here?

As you can see on the side bar, RIMATARA is slowly growing into a blog by committee. You might wonder what, exactly, you should expect to go on here. The answer is quite simple: I don't know.

I invited some of my brightest friends who already seem to be writing on their own (some of them have their own personal blogs) to join me here and do as they wish. By the way, there are still a few more on their way (friends that is).

The only suppressed expectation I seem to have, is that the quality and breadth (which I find very impressive) of their abilities will provide more than yet another simplistic regurgitation of the daily news or updates on what one had for supper. Those subjects, of course, will be left to me.

As far as a theme goes, this blog has none. I am sure that from time to time themes will emerge and polemics may arise, but none of it will be predetermined in any formal kind of way. For my tastes, this seems like a recipe for great success or horrible disaster. I am obviously hoping for the former.

Very soon, I would expect that we will stop the introductory mumblings and start writing "real stuff" for you, but, for now, I find the anticipatory, "non-real" fanfare quite fun on its own.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The godless heathen

*BONG*

Hi there! My name's Ian, and I'll be representing your friendly, neighborhood atheist/materialist point of view on tonight's flight. We'll be taking off in a few moments, but I thought I'd mention a few of the safety features of the RIMATARA blog that are available to you, our passengers, during whatever it is I wind up posting here.

To your immediate left and right, you'll find other points of view (probably including my own, if you look hard enough -- I suppose I'm a bit "out there." Ha! Ha!). These will come in handy if we should chance to encounter any tricky-subject-turbulence after takeoff. Below your seats, you'll find a "comments" section, which can be used as a life preserver in the unlikely event that I'm ever wrong.

There will be no meal service on tonight's flight (the economy has forced certain cutbacks in amenities), but our attendants will be around with a drink and snack service shortly after we reach our cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. Be aware that snacks may contain trace amounts of David Hume, Baruch Spinoza, and Richard Dawkins, and passengers with severe, insurmountable allergies to any of these thinkers are advised to avoid them. As for drinks, we have the choices of water and 12-year-old cask-aged bourbon.

Well, that's about it -- I hope you enjoy your flight, and remember our motto: "Beatings will continue until morale improves."

*BONG*

the girl speaks...

hi. i'm rachel. sam is a friend i appropriated from my little brother. sam is possibly one of my favorite appropriated friends, mostly because he loves the Baby Jesus, is smart, and puts up with my drivel.

i'll be posting from time to time about what i'm thinking about...from the Random to the Real. i like brussels sprouts, jaques lacan and jean boudrillard and paulo coehlo, ts eliot, chocolate, tex-mex food, the san antonio spurs, liberation theology, the art work of marc chagall, lyrically driven music, literate poetry, the tuna anthology of plays, chasing my three year old nephew across the state and backyard, cold mountain (the book and the movie), jack white's voice, heavy bass lines, going new places to see old friends, string theory, parallell universes, and living in south texas. oh, and i talk on the phone A LOT.

i'm working on my memoirs, which i've organized around odd bits of bathroom graffiti i've run across over the years. i know...totally bizarre. that's my real job. but momma have to make the bacon, so she can keep making mortgage payments on the barbie townhouse and the blue vw bug with the convertible top, so i'm a slave to the Baby Jesus, at an Episcopal church, where i am the lay pastoral care coordinator ( i do hospital visits, home communions, social service referrals, and "other duties as assigned".)...i am never bored, and only rarely suprised.

that's about it...for the moment.

mil besos,
rachel

Why RIMATARA?

Blog names are scarce these days, not to mention good ones. That being the case, I decided to consult the globe that sits in the corner of my desk and see what she suggested. After looking at a bunch of obscure names in the continental portions of the planet, I decided to head for the open seas. There I found all these neat little specks and knew they must have a blog title in them. So, I settled on Rimatara. The name is still growing on me, but, like all good things (except the exceptions to this shaky rule), it needs to age, I think.

What is RIMATARA?

Courtesy of Wikipedia's erudition:
Rimatara is the westernmost of the Austral Islands in French Polynesia. It has a total surface area of 8.6 km² (3.3 square miles) and a population of 815 inhabitants (as of 2002 census). It is located 550 km (341 miles) south of Tahiti and 150 km (93 miles) west of Rurutu. The commune of Rimatara includes the small and uninhabited Maria Islands.

Rimatara is a circular volcanic plateau surrounded by a reef with a height of 8 to 10 meters (26 to 32 feet). The highest point, at the peak of Mount Uhau, is 83 meters (272 feet). The main villages are Amaru (the capital), Anapoto and Mutuaura.

Rimatara was one of the last Polynesia islands to welcome European visitors. Captain Samuel Pinder Henry discovered the island in 1811. Two missionaries arrived in 1821 and established a Protestant mission. France established a protectorate in 1889 and annexed Rimatara in 1900.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Welcome!

For better or worse, I have decided to join the blogosphere.

So, here it is. My official blog: RIMATARA.

I will use some of my previous writing from my Facebook notes as filler for when I get busy or don't have anything new to write. But, for the most part, I plan to make this the place for my frequent musings. My writing usually includes social commentary, fiction, poetry, music, reviews, religion, philosophy, and more, so I don't really have a single focus or theme here.

Please pass the word around, if you please. Posting begins tomorrow!

UPDATE: "My" blog only lasted a day (if that). I decided that I am not nearly prolific or interesting enough to keep anyone's daily attention. So, I have recruited some help. Together, we will make this space whatever it turns out to be. I hope its good.