Richard Maurer Random Blog 5: Virgin Mary Toast

So a piece of bread with Virgin Mary image went for about twenty-eight grand. Impressive… although personally I would never get into any such hype around a pseudo-religious object, it goes to show just how powerful religion is. A simple object that barely resembles a religious figure was not only bought with a fortune but has the hopes of somehow bringing further happiness to the buyer, as well as bringing them closer to the enlightenment they desire. The item also reveals the commercialism of religion as numerous spin offs (t-shirts, plates, etc) seem to have sprouted from this initial encounter with holy bread.

Richard Maurer Random Blog 4: Alcohol

Yes, it has it negatives but what other substance has brought so many young people together? I believe in the past two years I have met a good deal of my friends over wonderful inebriants. Inhibitions are lost and most people (after consuming reasonable amounts) feel comfortable and secure. The true self is revealed and generally easily accepted. It advances one’s ability to not only be more of their self (in a slightly exaggerated fashion) but to enjoy others at their worst … and yet their best! Truly, this is a substance that when in reasonable and controlled environments should be praised! In fact as I write this now, twenty people are expressing their love to one another over a big margarita.

Richard Maurer Random Blog 3: Adopted Sister

How can someone, who is not an infant, from the other side of the planet, from a completely different and unknown gene pool, integrate into a family as if she has always been a part of it? The key is what it means to be a part of that particular family.

In my case, my Vietnamese sister arrived from an orphanage with my mother at 3 and a half having spent her childhood up to that point in a primitive communal orphanage setting in the bowels of a third world country. Being one of us and holding a family position was something she could not possibly have learned or had any insight into - yet she became one of us, a part of our family and it happened almost immediately. Being a part of us means that she found her place alongside all of us and feeling that each of us was hers and knowing she was ours. It wasn't our house that did it, although the TV and SpongeBob helped a lot! It was something else. Something that transcends the physical and that was her knowing or sensing that we wanted her, to love her and to have her - and for the first time in her life, she was special and not just one of a crowded group of screaming small children who played with the dirt and used a bucket instead of a toilet. She immediately sensed that being a part of this new group meant she was strongly attached to each one and each one of us had a special job: one was being a brother, a sister, a mom and a dad. Most importantly, for the first time, she also had a special job: being a loved child who was little sister and part of a unit. All of this transpired with a language barrier and therefore proving that what it takes to become family is beyond physical, linguistic, racial, cultural or genetic barriers. Family - is man's transcendent experiment.

Richard Maurer Random Blog 2: SpongeBob Squarepants

SpongeBob has become a global phenomenon exciting and entertaining many children and even many adults. SpongeBob with its simplistic humor masking rather intelligent innuendos allows for many people to transcend their mundane lives after school or after work (because let me tell you, it is on nearly twenty four hours a day), and enter into what could be construed as being almost a religion of laughter. People are able to rise above their daily difficulties and just enjoy the antics of an innocent happy-go-lucky yellow sponge. Having to baby sit the adopted sister every so often, I have come to enjoy this program, as not only a way to keep her settled but also so that I won’t be forced to watch anything similar to Barney. I am also able to better relate with her… or at least I am sure I could if she spoke English.

Richard Maurer Random Blog 1: Disney World

This past Winter break I was dragged by a couple of friends on a road trip to Disney World. I have never been a big fan of theme parks… two hour lines for a two minute ride, overpriced food, and rude foreigners never quite came off as a fun experience. After arriving there, my expectations were more than confirmed! The lines were not as bad as this was the off season, but half the rides were down for maintenance. The food was just as expensive as ever, and the foreigners (mainly Brazilians) seemed quite eager to run over this gringo’s feet with their strollers (of course if you try to confront them they all of sudden forget how to speak English). Nevertheless, while I was suffering my friends enjoyed every minute reliving their childhood. To have not known better and experienced such a place as a child seems to be the only way one can truly “appreciate” theme parks. After that adventure, I now know how my parents must have felt when I dragged them through Busch Gardens as a child. Still, I did get a hug from Princess Jasmine, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.

Reading Blog 5: Martin the Warrior

I read this book when I was much younger. It deals with a stubborn mouse that is captured and enslaved by a stoat tyrant and his legion of sea rats. Most of the book I recall deals more with the various bands of characters coming across many adventures and eating… lots and lots of eating. However, Martin breaks free from the tyrant and eventually gains his revenge over his forced servitude and breaking the nearby land of the despot’s grasp. However, in the final battle his love is slain by the tyrant … the land, although free and now in harmony is tainted by the memories of his lost love. He can never know peace and must seek out new adventures in order not only help others who are “lost” or in peril but to refind himself.

Reading Blog 4: The Binding Chair

I am leaving for China shortly and wanted to read a tale that was placed in Shanghai in the late 1800. The Binding Chair by Katheryn Harrison was a book that fits this need. It centers on a young girl caught in the traditions of old China who endures foot binding to find a position in the society. Her adventures and emotional experiences reflect a kind of self loathing and tragic generational pathos peculiar to the females of her country. Just as I am about to pitch the book as a 'chick read' and find something else, the book discloses a character who is male and almost as tragic. Together, they form an unusual couple and endure further tragedies. My favorite was the scene in London where the main character, May, gets herself into a small riot because she needs a sedan chair carried by servants mistaken as 'slaves' by the outraged people of London. She is so crippled, she cannot walk otherwise. In the end it seems she actually embraces her imposed deformity and takes pride in it, but never her sad life. She is more macho than her husband and you wonder if it is the culture of women who could survive ancient China and it's regulations on them, or if May and her husband are simply by products of life under any rules anywhere. I think the book could have been better - but it did make old Shanghai a little more real for me.