()
jottingjohn's blog
An online nexus for personal development-where insights, observations, & wisdom are exchanged and discussed.
John Lewy is still waiting for you to join Twitter…
Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.
Accept invitation
John Lewy is still waiting for you to join Twitter…
Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.
Accept invitation
John Lewy is still waiting for you to join Twitter…
Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.
Accept invitation
John Lewy has invited you to join Twitter!
Twitter helps you stay connected with what’s happening right now and with the people and organizations you care about.
Accept invitation
…choosing the off-beat (fashion, entertainment, etc) SIMPLY to reject/protest mainstream ideology.
…an effort to raise one’s social status among peers obsessed with being first to imitate and follow someone else.
…an attempt to appear enlightened & culturally aware. Everyone at the dinner party isn’t enthralled with pseudo-research unworthy of the laziest wiki-updater.
…the random whims of the lost folk in society desperately searching for a savior to give their lives meaning.
What is eclecticism? Those who are sincere in their use of it would do better using an everyday $5 word (think: weird, bohemian, eccentric).
I believe eclecticism is the school of thought among true free-thinkers who aren’t motivated or educated by anyone’s school of thought.
#whpfromwhereIstand
This Weekend’s Hashtag Project: #WHPlookingup
Weekend Hashtag Project is a series featuring designated themes & hashtags chosen by Instagram’s Community Team. For a chance to be featured on the Instagram blog, follow @instagram and look for a photo announcing the weekend’s project every Friday
The goal this weekend is to capture photographs of what you see when you’re looking up. The best tip to help get you started is to be aware of your surroundings: notice things in front of you like lampposts or buildings and pay attention to the sounds overhead like birds or airplanes—then look up and snap a photo!
PROJECT RULES: Please only add the hashtag #WHPlookingup to photos taken over this weekend and only submit your own photographs to the project. Any image taken then tagged over the weekend is eligible to be featured right here Monday morning!
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great story but Highsmith’s true brilliance shines in her creation of the most fearsome kind of monster in existence. The sociopath-turned-psycho is treacherous no doubt. Tom’s ability to illicit empathy from his victims AND readers (me at least) is beyond appalling. Part of Highsmith’s genius is her ability to somehow remain coolly detached from Tom. She never coddles his character and in fact throws enough his way to hinder his murderous progress. The story remains grounded in reality while the human chameleon and villain manages to narrowly escape a succession of traps. And I’m still surprised by my reaction as the suspense is ramped up and poor Tom seems destined for capture. It would be more logical to cheer for a great white closing in on human prey. But it’s obviously clear where the fault lies: Highsmith & Ripley are matchless up against any foe, regardless of how righteous their opposition might be.
Ultimately, the story revealed more to me about my own mind than the abyss substituting Ripley’s soul. And I’m a better person for reading that tale because I’m forced to ponder my own willingness to justify the indefensible. Simply put: I’m prepared for the real Ripleys of the world and will never forget that story or character.
View all my reviews
