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Finding Lasting Meaning and Purpose

Popeye was always saying I yam what I yam and Olive Oyl liked him just fine. Bluto was another matter. Even Jehovah said "I am who am." I have Popeye and Jehovah on my side. I can't be so bad.

Hypothetical question: If I agree to all you say, and surrender to you, and convert myself to be exactly as you are, then will you like me better? Will you become my best friend? What exactly is it that will make you happy? What would you have me say or do? I am very curious.


I know what I am and I freely admit it. I know that there are only a few people who like to read me, and a few people who despise me, and a vast majority who feel total indifference.


Perhaps I feel that I have choice in being other than I am simply because I see little advantage in being as you are. You must convince me otherwise. How would you describe yourself? Obviously, you do not consider yourself pedantic. Please help me. Enlighten me. Save me from the error of my ways and the terrible fate which awaits me.


Correction of spelling and grammar is also appreciated.
 
Changing other people is not in my brief. I just throw spitballs.

You kinda remind me of the late great bobbyburns, but all dressed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. :)
 
Sitaram said:
Popeye was always saying I yam what I yam and Olive Oil liked him just fine.

Correction of spelling and grammar is also appreciated.
Click to expand...

Okay! Think it's 'Olive Oyl.' I'll gladly pay you on Tuesday for a hamburger today.
 
Sitarm, or others
The St. Johns college program has been mentioned here more than once. I was wondering whether anyone with knowledge of that Great Books education would care to comment more upon it. What the student body and the curriculem are like. What the students come looking for. What they end up looking for. And what endeavors they pursue later in life.
That question is not exactly on topic, nor does it seem to be exactly off topic either. So I ask.
Peder
 
novella said:
Changing other people is not in my brief. I just throw spitballs.

You kinda remind me of the late great bobbyburns, but all dressed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. :)
Click to expand...

Sitaram reminded me of Colonel Bill.

He should jump in on this thread... That should keep them both occupied for several hours.

:)
 
Peder said:
Sitarm, or others
The St. Johns college program has been mentioned here more than once. I was wondering whether anyone with knowledge of that Great Books education would care to comment more upon it. What the student body and the curriculem are like. What the students come looking for. What they end up looking for. And what endeavors they pursue later in life.
That question is not exactly on topic, nor does it seem to be exactly off topic either. So I ask.
Peder
Click to expand...


Well, as to what a St. John's alum winds up looking for, I can say anecdotally that my brother will only date women who read Latin and Greek, are expert at a martial art, and have very fluffy hair. So far he's found three that fit the bill, which is pretty remarkable. He also likes them to be engaged to other guys, which lets him off the hook for commitments.

His two best friends who are also alums are entrepreneurial and creative and they love philosophical inquiry. Though this may have been a pre-existing condition, i.e., chicken-egg problem.
 
Peder: I know the life stories of many SJC graduates from the sixties. I shall give a summary account of their diversity, changing names to protect the guilty (the innocent need no protection).

I shall return...

... again and again...

One cannot generalize and assume, for example, that all Yale graduates will resemble, Bush, or Wm. F. Buckley Jr.

No generalization is worth a damn, including this one.

One of the lessons we learn from history is that we cannot always depend upon the lessons of history.

One of my best friends through the 4 years became a physician (M.D.) We correspond and telephone occasionally. I just met a graduate from 20 years ago who is an archetect and a ghost writer for arcetects.

Another classmate went on to earn a PhD in Metalurgy, and has worked in that field ever since.

Another fellow, who was truly inspired in school, when on to become a cab driver. HIS best friend became an attorney who worked for Disney for some years, and has spoken to me of his concern that his best friend and roomate never went on to develop his gifts and abilities.

As I think of more things... I shall return and post more...

St. Johns states in its catalog (or at least in the catalog of the 1960s) that it is perfectly ok to pursue a liberal education and then be a carpenter or plumber).
 
novella said:
I have a big question, Sitaram: why do you position yourself as a pedagogue? Is it in your nature or is it something you picked up at St. John's? My little brother went to St. John's and read the big books and discussed the little questions with the big answers and he suffers from a similar ailment.
Click to expand...

I think the word you're looking for is "pedant". I myself have little patience for excessively wordy expoundings, but that's just me.
 
Sitaram,
If nothing stands out in your mind as a general observation, the I guess one would have to say that it is a genuine diversity. I had thought graduates might have tended toward academia and humanistic or literary studies, for example. Rather than, say, toward scientific or engineering disciplines.
Peder
 
Peder said:
Sitaram,
If nothing stands out in your mind as a general observation, the I guess one would have to say that it is a genuine diversity. I had thought graduates might have tended toward academia and humanistic or literary studies, for example. Rather than, say, toward scientific or engineering disciplines.
Peder
Click to expand...


If I may offer, I know one SJC grad who's a banker in the Midwest, one who is the lead singer in a band in LA, and one who's a day trader in NYC.
 
Miss Shelf said:
I think the word you're looking for is "pedant". I myself have little patience for excessively wordy expoundings, but that's just me.
Click to expand...


No, I definitely meant pedagogue. It's that old oxymoron, the one-way dialogue, that underlies my impression.
 
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