Dan Lipka Web Log

East of Eden : Not since the World According to Garp have I been as depressed after reading a book. Perhaps that is the point and the pleasure for some people, as the idea of finding happiness through your own suffering is a major theme in the story. From a literary standpoint it is a very well written book, although too long at times. The descriptions of early California are eloquent and beautiful, but the characters are hyperbole and shallow. The book prepares the reader to learn something, but fails to deliver anything positive. Of course, the book has a point, but the point is misery. Overall, I give East of Eden a C-. There is more I could write, but I’d rather never think of this book again. I’ve read several serious books in a row (Khrushchev biography, Portable Nietzsche, and East of Eden) and I think I need something light-hearted. Usually, I would grab the nearest Kurt Vonnegut book that I haven’t read, but I might have read them all. Any recommendations? Note to w

Is success something to fear? More specifically, why should one be afraid of reaching their full potential? Is there something safe in the status quo that we all feel from doing something that we know we can do. Do we each feel a need for progress or is that just greed and a risk to what you have? I believe that it is all part of a very special kind of fundamental choice. And it is one of those things that only humans encounter. The wolf had neither the desire for nor the ability to become more than it already is. The wind is in different weather it becomes a breeze or a hurricane. But people are different. believe that all people have this choice and it is bound to haunt our souls if left untamed. Perhaps to avoid this is one reason that people flock towards and are dedicated to religion, party, community, or country. Institutions remove the choice that I speak of and replace it with a regulated system. No longer does a person have to worry about success for they are part

I am a Zionist in the sense that I believe that the state of Israel should exist for the Jewish people. I have many reasons for this, personally, philosophically, and historically, but I wanted to write that I support Israel’s decision to leave Gaza. Israel claimed Gaza, in war, to protect themselves (by creating a buffer zone) against foreign invasion (which was a real threat since they had been attacked by many nations in the 60s and 70s. However, times have changed. Israel’s military advancements in the last 20 years have made it almost unfathomable that a neighboring country would attack. The new dangers are from terrorists who attack Israelis on a daily basic. Every single day bombers are caught with explosives trying to get in Israeli cities. Gaza has become a breeding group for poverty and therefore terrorism. Although, the people in Gaza are Arabs, neighboring Arab counties (some very, very wealthy countries) have made no effort to invest in these people, instead using

I really stopped listening to music a few years back. There wasn't anything new that I liked and I grew out of the music I listened to when I was younger. Today, Lindy and Molly were dancing to the IMF (the international music channel) and they left it on when they went to take a bath. Anyway, it's really good. I like almost all the songs (about half of them are in English), so maybe I'll start to listen to music again. Regaurdless, I am not getting an iPod.

Molly is sleeping through the night about every third day. This marks good progress. She continues to grow and do new things. This morning she had completely turned herself around in her crib (I think so that she could be closer to her mobile). Molly is almost three months old and I think she is the best baby in the history of the universe. All is well in this, the marathon, of being a parent. I started reading East of Eden, which reminds me to write a book review on “The Portable Nietzsche ”. Even more, it reminds me that I have to last novel published and must finish my next one (which I haven’t touched in over a year). Writing like everything else is about habit. Back in the day, I would write at least two or three pages a day and knocked out my first novel in less than a year. I need to find my rhythm again.

The other day Molly laughed for the first time. She was sleeping and than there is was; 20 solid seconds of out loud, happy happy, joy joy laughing. I wonder what she was dreaming of? My guess is that it was a political pun relating to international economic reform she heard on the Daily Show. Speaking of the greatest show ever, on the Daily Show Joe Biden said that he would happily run with John McCain for President and that he had asked McCain to run with John Kerry. I think Biden might have some better luck, running as VP on the McCain ticket. The problem would be winning the nomination (Biden-McCain could win for the Dems, but McCain-Biden would lose for the Republicans.) I suggest the McCain and Biden make a public deal with America. McCain will run as a Democrat under the assumption that Biden will be his VP choice. If they win the nomination and than the presidency, after the first term is over, Biden will run as President with McCain as the VP. John McCain is currentl