mamagotcha (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mamagotcha) wrote2009-01-27 04:08 pm
mamagotcha) wrote2009-01-27 04:08 pm
The Seven Sins meme
I'm home safely (jiggety-jig... Hi, Ennie!), and cabin-bound not because of a light drift of snow but rather on behalf of a pukey toddler. So while he recuperates with the help of Wii bowling, I'm messing around with memes.
I hadn't heard about this one before, so I swiped it from ChicagoWench. She also included a lovely little preamble, as follows:
"The Bible doesn’t mention 7 deadly sins, though in the New Testament there’s the Epistle to the Galatians that makes a handy list of virtues, as well as being one of Paul’s most significant writings. Instead, in the fourth century, a monk and ascetic named Evagrius the Solitary, who was quite the happenin' smartypants who hobnobbed with some of the biggest luminaries in the church, wrote them (because, until he took off for the wild barrens of Egypt, he was plagued by impure thoughts and impulses). In an effort to guide people to introspection and betterment, he distilled Everything Bad You Could Think Or Do into the following eight categories: lust, gluttony, acedia (which means apathy, if you care), vainglory, sadness, anger, greed, and pride. Apparently forseeing the 20th and 21st century explosion in pharmacological management of mood disorders, Pope Gregory the I, or Gregory the Great, saw fit to refine the list: turning apathy and sadness into a mash-up renamed sloth, renaming anger as wrath, wedging vainglory into pride, and adding envy. Otherwise everyone with a case of sadness or who was slightly pissed off would be a sinner extraordinaire, and boy howdy was there plenty to be sad and angry about in the Dark Ages. And so the eight ‘patterns of evil thought’ became the seven deadly sins of lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, and wrath. And y’all thought I rocked only the Jewish thing sometimes."
And so, my current seven sins list:
1. My current objet d' lust is probably the Android phone, which is totally not happening because my Sidekick is still brand new and does exactly what I need it to do. Still... just holding that thing was so deliciously sexy, and taking it for a spin... *swoon*.
2. I have too many books. I stash and store them all over the place, and it's cost us thousands of dollars, not only to acquire them but to move and keep them. I'm going to have to thin out the stash before my next move, but... I'll still have too many books. And I'll always want more.
3. I've started to get better about listening to my body and telling when it's full... but I shared an entire Dungeness crab with two friends during my California visit, and just could not stop nibbling on the remains. Crab or shrimp, with lemon and garlic and butter... I will keep at it until it is all gone.
4. It's improved since I got my CPAP machine, but lordy do I love to snuggle in my bed. Given a laptop or Sunday newspaper or new Pratchett book, a cup of tea or a mocha, and I'll happily drift between reading and naps until forcibly removed. I rarely indulge in this anymore, but once I'm started, the morning is shot.
5. I take more self-satisfaction than I should over several of my skills: cooking by the seat of my pants (I'd love to do some sort of Iron-Chef-style competition someday), braiding hair, interview journalism, and so on. But the thing I'm probably proudest of is my mothering. I think I really did the right research, made the commitment to making the best choices possible for my family, and, for the most part, have followed through on it. I know enough about kids to know that they bring their own agenda into their lives all by themselves, and that parents are more providers of suggestions than any real guide or mold... but so far I think I've managed not to screw up my kids too badly, and I take great pride in that.
6. I know we're really, really lucky compared to so many other people, and the fact that Bill's job is secure is an achor so many others don't have... but sometimes I just feel so adrift and sad about not having a home anymore, and I get really jealous of people who are so settled and comfortable in their houses. We'll have that again someday, I know. But I only had about two years in a home that I didn't think I was going to sell, and it was so nice to just paint and plant and do whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted to. I miss it, and when I see it, I get a pang that is hard to hide sometimes.
7. Drivers who count on others to follow rules so they themselves can benefit from flouting them really peeve me like nothing else. Those who dash ahead of others who have patiently merged; red-light runners; weaving in and out of traffic; motorcyclists who split lanes way over the limit; the erratic driver yakking on her cell... these all inspire True Wrath in me.
The original version of the meme called for tags, but I don't wanna do that. Just meme-a-meme-a-ling-lang this puppy if it appeals to you, okay?
I hadn't heard about this one before, so I swiped it from ChicagoWench. She also included a lovely little preamble, as follows:
"The Bible doesn’t mention 7 deadly sins, though in the New Testament there’s the Epistle to the Galatians that makes a handy list of virtues, as well as being one of Paul’s most significant writings. Instead, in the fourth century, a monk and ascetic named Evagrius the Solitary, who was quite the happenin' smartypants who hobnobbed with some of the biggest luminaries in the church, wrote them (because, until he took off for the wild barrens of Egypt, he was plagued by impure thoughts and impulses). In an effort to guide people to introspection and betterment, he distilled Everything Bad You Could Think Or Do into the following eight categories: lust, gluttony, acedia (which means apathy, if you care), vainglory, sadness, anger, greed, and pride. Apparently forseeing the 20th and 21st century explosion in pharmacological management of mood disorders, Pope Gregory the I, or Gregory the Great, saw fit to refine the list: turning apathy and sadness into a mash-up renamed sloth, renaming anger as wrath, wedging vainglory into pride, and adding envy. Otherwise everyone with a case of sadness or who was slightly pissed off would be a sinner extraordinaire, and boy howdy was there plenty to be sad and angry about in the Dark Ages. And so the eight ‘patterns of evil thought’ became the seven deadly sins of lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, and wrath. And y’all thought I rocked only the Jewish thing sometimes."
And so, my current seven sins list:
1. My current objet d' lust is probably the Android phone, which is totally not happening because my Sidekick is still brand new and does exactly what I need it to do. Still... just holding that thing was so deliciously sexy, and taking it for a spin... *swoon*.
2. I have too many books. I stash and store them all over the place, and it's cost us thousands of dollars, not only to acquire them but to move and keep them. I'm going to have to thin out the stash before my next move, but... I'll still have too many books. And I'll always want more.
3. I've started to get better about listening to my body and telling when it's full... but I shared an entire Dungeness crab with two friends during my California visit, and just could not stop nibbling on the remains. Crab or shrimp, with lemon and garlic and butter... I will keep at it until it is all gone.
4. It's improved since I got my CPAP machine, but lordy do I love to snuggle in my bed. Given a laptop or Sunday newspaper or new Pratchett book, a cup of tea or a mocha, and I'll happily drift between reading and naps until forcibly removed. I rarely indulge in this anymore, but once I'm started, the morning is shot.
5. I take more self-satisfaction than I should over several of my skills: cooking by the seat of my pants (I'd love to do some sort of Iron-Chef-style competition someday), braiding hair, interview journalism, and so on. But the thing I'm probably proudest of is my mothering. I think I really did the right research, made the commitment to making the best choices possible for my family, and, for the most part, have followed through on it. I know enough about kids to know that they bring their own agenda into their lives all by themselves, and that parents are more providers of suggestions than any real guide or mold... but so far I think I've managed not to screw up my kids too badly, and I take great pride in that.
6. I know we're really, really lucky compared to so many other people, and the fact that Bill's job is secure is an achor so many others don't have... but sometimes I just feel so adrift and sad about not having a home anymore, and I get really jealous of people who are so settled and comfortable in their houses. We'll have that again someday, I know. But I only had about two years in a home that I didn't think I was going to sell, and it was so nice to just paint and plant and do whatever I wanted, wherever I wanted to. I miss it, and when I see it, I get a pang that is hard to hide sometimes.
7. Drivers who count on others to follow rules so they themselves can benefit from flouting them really peeve me like nothing else. Those who dash ahead of others who have patiently merged; red-light runners; weaving in and out of traffic; motorcyclists who split lanes way over the limit; the erratic driver yakking on her cell... these all inspire True Wrath in me.
The original version of the meme called for tags, but I don't wanna do that. Just meme-a-meme-a-ling-lang this puppy if it appeals to you, okay?
no subject
Also: next time we'll get together.
no subject
Can't wait to see what your sins are!