Quick Hitters

I. Spinoza
"I have thus shown I. That it is impossible to deprive men of the liberty of saying what they think. II. That such liberty can be conceded to every man without injury to the rights and authority of sovereign power, and that every man may retain it without injury to such rights, provided that he does not presume upon it to the extent of introducing any new rights into the state, or acting in any way contrary to the existing laws. III. That every man may enjoy this liberty without detriment to the public peace, and that no inconveniences arise therefrom which cannot easily be checked. IV. That every man may enjoy it without injury to his allegiance. V. That laws dealing with speculative problems are entirely useless. VI. Lastly, that not only may such liberty be granted without prejudice to the public peace, to loyalty, and to the rights of rulers, but that it is even necessary for their preservation."--Tractatus Theologico-politicus

I can't remember encountering a writer in recent memory who is so ORDERLY in his thinking, not to mention extraordinarily ahead of his time, for better and for worse. Next up the Tractatus-politicus, as I'm working through a "political node" of my reading project for the year.

II. Burr Grinder
We lost the burr grinder today. I waited for the longest time to buy an automatic burr grinder. (Which, for those of you who don't drink coffee, MARTHA, is a mill that grinds coffee to a uniform grit and can be adjusted from fine to coarse.) Eventually a friend gave me a used mill that was lacking a working grind chamber. The incomplete mill moved with us to Brighton, and then to Irondequoit, and then I finally persuaded J to spend the money on the necessary part by means of the following argument: "Would you say it would be worth $20 to never have any coffee ground mess on the kitchen counter ever again." Later that day, after the part had been ordered, we discussed the future of the old grinder. I wanted to save it in case of emergencies, and I was called a pack-rat. I did save it, until last month when I was cleaning out the basement. I decided that since my burr grinder was a high-quality Cuisinart appliance, it would be highly unlikely that I would ever have need of the cheap grinder again. I bewailed my decision to throw it out to J, who pointed out that we could use her Magic Bullet to get us through the gap. (The new mill arrives on the 16th.) That was a close one.

III. Babysitter?
Does anyone want to come over to our house and watch the boys on Tuesday the 23rd? I want to take J out to Geva that night and am planning a special blogging event (which involves food) for whichever sibling(s) would be willing to come to our house and attempt to brush the boys teeth and put them to bed.

IV. Mommy's Boy
James is having some issues with me. After repeatedly declaring that Mommy is his Valentine and that he loves Mommy the best, he is now insisting that J read him all bedtime/naptime stories and be the only parent that puts him to bed. Is it anger? Is it resentment? Is it a reaction against perceived neglect? Is it some weird Freudian thing? I would worry that that he's upset at a disproportionate number of blog posts featuring Owen, but I'm pretty sure he can't read yet. I'm not too worried yet, though. I think that the swing in parental preference could still be quickly cured by some bribery in the form of desserts.