allow me to get a little philosophical.......

i saw a movie last night that i loved. once again, it was a groundcat pick. (you think i'm bossy? that boy has selected 95% of the movies we've watched since we started dating!) but i digress....

the film was "lonesome jim", directed by steve buscemi. i wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be a lovely little movie. it reminded me of "little miss sunshine" and "me and you and everyone we know", 2 recent films i've raved about in the past year or so. (go look them up on IMDB or wiki for yourself, i'm too fired up to put links!)

i am "fired up" because i loved "lonesome jim" and when i read the very brief description on wiki, i knew why i loved it so much.

"The film reflects an existentialist philosophy known as absurdism, and is based on Albert Camus's "The Myth of Sisyphus," which is summarized and interpreted by Jim towards the end of the film when he gives a failing girls' basketball team a pep-talk. From this point, Jim raises himself to a level of consciousness that allows him to live a fruitful life, regardless of whether he can win the "game" (succeed/make meaning in life)."

ok, i know that's a lot of big words and concepts. to sum it up, the film basically says that yes, life is gonna suck and you're going to lose most of those basketball games. but you can be aware of what you can control, be conscious and aware of your choices and find meaning in those things.

you can find meaning in life while losing!!!!

"absurdism" is the fancy term philosophers like camus and kierkegaard came up with to describe a very real and honest way of looking at life. i'll take the time to provide a link to this one. click here to see if you can wrap your mind around it. or see if my explanation makes sense.

my interpretation of absurdism: to search for meaning in life is futile. there is no great meaning. there is no god, no eternity, no karmic punishment for evil people, no great reward for the good and chaste. so if man's search for meaning is futile and meaningless, do i think we should give up? am i saying "life is pointless so kill yourself"?

not at all. i am saying it's pointless to try and find some "grand meaning" in life. instead, see that the struggle in yourself is more then enough. stop looking for the "big picture" and instead focus on your own picture. because if you can do that, you can decide what your own picture is. you give up following the rules of a certain religion, or society, and instead have the freedom to decide for yourself, exactly what is ok.

"everything is permitted" was always a favorite quote and now i know why. it doesn't mean go out and break laws for no reason. it just means, decide for yourself what is good and right, and in doing that you will find a passion about life (your own life.)

i read "the myth of sisyphus" by camus in college and thought i got it, but now it seems so clear... i'd be curious to know if anyone gets what i am trying to say.....

ok, the final vacation pics, i swear!

check out groundcat's sweet ride (and the boys messing with my jeep)

jennette's new car in front of the barn, and the trip out to see the new weird well...

watch out for thorns!

a supposed injury, and the chicken coop...

it's green shorts/ black shorts day! and everyone in the nook...

the nook is packed and the dogs are in bandanas!

red hatted troll met a mysterious fate, and a cool bookstore (loganberry)

dogs get belly rubs and griffin hits someone new in the crotch

griffin spazzes out with dan's slipper

where did it go????

final vacation pics from vacation (extra glittery!)

ok, i am back to work for the first time in over a week. spending my morning catching up on emails and uploading vacation pics on the sly. copax will be proud of me...

all in all, i shot about 400 photos during my 9 days off. i love my old digital camera! i bought it from my little sis years ago and it's now covered in duct tape (since cleo knocked me into the bushes and broke it.) when this camera dies i will be sad.

i hope everyone enjoyed our vacation pics! i am working on an entire photo album of nothing but pics of groundcat looking crabby. it will make a nice coffee table book someday.

go to my online photo album to see blurry pics of amish folks (i didn't want to be rude and use a flash!) i have pics from the weird and wonderful tv & radio museum (see groundcat's blog for a lovely little write up of that place.) i also uploaded photos of an old cemetary we found, a creepy junk store, a huge old hardware store, and a crazy sparkle store.

ok, time for lunch. i need to go watch this horrible "wire therapy" video dan & david have discovered. it looks horrible. and then i need to start planning our next vacation!

we found this store in a little town that had a swiss theme. i don't remember the name of the store. it was so full of pink and sparkley stuff, weird dolls, lights and jewels, that it was almost too much for me! i went into some kind of sparkle overload...

it wouldn't be a jen/dan vacation without finding an old cemetary and getting some photos. this one we spotted when taking a wrong turn. the stained glass windows on the masoleum (sp?) where beautiful.

here are pics i took in a weird little junk shop. i snapped away for about 20 minutes, and as i walked out, a father and son stopped me. the guys asked, "what are you doing taking all those pictures?" it was a little bit of a "deliverence" moment for sure. i tried to explain how i liked photographing interesting or unusual objects, and how i love "old stuff". they seemed confused, so i got the heck out.