there is so much

"before i go on with this short history, let me make a general observation– the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. one should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. this philosophy fitted on to my early adult life, when i saw the improbable, the implausible, often the "impossible," come true. " /f. scott fitzgerald, the crack-up (1936)


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associated press reports that the obama administration plans to reverse bush's stance on gay rights at the UN:

According to negotiators, the Bush team had concerns that those parts could commit the federal government on matters that fall under state jurisdiction. In some states, landlords and private employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; on the federal level, gays are not allowed to serve openly in the military.
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yale university is offering several semesters of lectures streamed online for free. courses include intro psych (which i'm about halfway through), intro to ancient greek history, philosophy of death, intro to the old testament, and others.

the opencourseware consortium has dozens more links to universities around the globe that stream thousands of lectures for free. open educational resources is a similar service.
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the new york times examines music and memory:

This process, of memory formation by neuronal entrainment, helps explain why some of life’s offerings weasel in easily and then refuse to be spiked. Music, for example. “The brain has a strong propensity to organize information and perception in patterns, and music plays into that inclination,” said Michael Thaut, a professor of music and neuroscience at Colorado State University. “From an acoustical perspective, music is an overstructured language, which the brain invented and which the brain loves to hear.”
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reuters says passion for opera is love at first sight:

Then the learning begins, with fans taking a number of years to discover how to truly appreciate opera fully.

"Fans get hooked when they are still outsiders, before having an active apparatus to interpret the experience, or are thoroughly socialized in what constitutes the enjoyment and how they should decode it," Benzecry said in a statement.

"Learning through interaction happens not at the beginning, as expected, but as the logical continuation that helps to shape the initial attraction."
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i finished the great gatsby a few days ago, and read the curious case of benjamin button this morning.

closely related: midlake - roscoe

whenever i was a child, i wondered what if my name had changed into something more productive, like roscoe, and born in 1891 waiting with my aunt roselyn.

lots more f. scott fitzgerald e-texts here.
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