Blogs and Happyness

I must tell my readers (however many of you there may be, anywhere from 3 to 30 but probably no more than that based on what I'd assume to be a completely artificial reader to commenter ratio of 1 out of every 10 people) about a few blogs that have been inspiring me lately. You'll find them all in my links to the right, but let me just sing their praises for a moment.

First of all, Matthew W's blog is always an interesting place for me to go explore the worlds of film, music, books and art that are beyond the usual fare but are potentially great discoveries of his that he has been kind enough to share. I have also been finding his blog at times thought-provoking, at times humourous, and at other times just curious. Always something there.

Secondly, I have to heartily recommend John Stackhouse. I've done this before, but I have come to highly respect this writer's thoughtful style and theological approach. His most recent post, which among other things defends his use of the word "wuss" in a challenge to the president of a Southern Baptist Seminary, is priceless.

Thirdly, my most recent discovery is that of Colin T (actually, he found me) , whose last few posts have raised my eyebrows not a few times. I hope he keeps it up, he's got some good writing skills, some great perspectives, and it would seem a lot of good stuff to say.

I should also mention the addition of Mike K's blog. It tends to be all over the place, which is one of the things I enjoy about (it besides its author). He is a long time friend and a real good guy, even though he is a Man U fan.

I am trying to keep my links down only to those (besides family blogs) that I visit regularly, so I recommend them all, but I did want to mention these in particular because they've been getting me thinking a lot lately.

On another topic, I also want to say how hard I found it to rate the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. On the one hand I found it inspiring to watch this character's persistence in the face of overwhelming odds. I also enjoy Will Smith and thought he did pretty good. I liked the tone of the film-making and the feeling it gave me of the struggle of the life it portrayed. On the other hand, however, it was frustratingly capitalistic in its ideals, and it climaxed happiness in a way I found incredibly disappointing.

Maybe I read it wrong, I mean, I suppose it portrayed capitalism well and showed what it takes to actually make it in this society. But it seemed to say this was an inherently good thing, and that all anyone had to do was pull themselves up by their boot straps and they'd be okay. I'm not sure that is true.

Truthfully I'm not exactly sure what this movie was saying, but it gave the impression it was trying to say something of substance, and in my opinion it failed to deliver. Worth watching all the same.