zmmiller

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Kindergarten Circus

Yesterday was Miranda's first big theatrical experience. The Bedford Road School Kindergarten classes (all three of them) performed a 30 minute production entitled Kindergarten Circus, that featured 8 scenes and 7 musical numbers.

Our little lady was an acrobat, appearing in scene 7 - and she was amazing! Next stop: Broadway.

Miranda-Raye

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Kangaroos and Other Conundrums

I was spending some "quality time" with a friend last night , talking about hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes, love and life, and... well... other things. After a while, she sat back, seemingly considering some matter of great weight and import - as if she was debating whether or not to burden me with her problem.
Finally, she broke her silence and asked: "What's the point of a kangaroo?"
I just stared at her with my mouth agape - some questions are like that.
"No really," she said, "what's the point? The babies crawl into the pouch, they hop out, you get more kangaroos - what's the point? - Why do we have kangaroos?"
As I absentmindedly pushed the last of my ravioli around the bottom of my bowl, I realized that the "simple" Darwinian explanation of how marsupials, and eventually kangaroos, wallabies and the like, evolved was not what she was seeking - the question was metaphysical - or, more precisely, it was ontological.
The principal questions of ontology are "What can be said to exist?", "Into what categories, if any, can we sort existing things?", "What are the meanings of being?", "What are the various modes of being of entities?" Various philosophers have provided different answers to these questions - though, to my knowledge, none concerning kangaroos.
Hers was the third type of ontological question - a question of meaning: "What does it mean that kangaroos exist?" Perhaps, I thought, the answer lies in the absurd.
In absurdist philosophy, the Absurd arises out of the fundamental disharmony between the individual's search for meaning and the apparent meaninglessness of the universe. As beings looking for meaning in a meaningless world, humans have three ways of resolving the dilemma. Kierkegaard and Camus described the solutions in their works, The Sickness Unto Death (1849) and The Myth of Sisyphus (1942). They are:
1) Suicide (or, "escaping existence") - a solution in which a person simply ends one's own life. Thankfully, both Kierkegaard and Camus dismissed the viability of this option.
2) Religious belief in a transcendent realm or being - a solution in which one believes in the existence of a reality that is beyond the Absurd, and, as such, has meaning. Kierkegaard stated that a belief in anything beyond the Absurd requires a non-rational but perhaps necessary religious acceptance in such an intangible and empirically unprovable thing (now commonly referred to as a "leap of faith"). However, Camus regarded this solution as "philosophical suicide".
3) Acceptance of the Absurd - a solution in which one accepts and even embraces the Absurd and continues to live in spite of it. Camus endorsed this solution, while Kierkegaard regarded this solution as "demoniac madness".
I gathered the dishes from the cardboard popcorn box that, for the time being, serves as our makeshift dinner table, and contemplated my companion's "kangaroo problem."
As I stood at the kitchen sink, I decided that committing suicide to escape the reality of kangaroos was a tad extreme, and, while taking these marsupials as proof of the Almighty might be up my alley, it may not be for everyone.
The answer then truly lies in the Absurd, and indeed few things are more absurd than kangaroos (except for maybe the platypus) - they ARE absurd, so we should embrace them. Hug a kangaroo! Save yourself! Plant a big wet kiss right on its furry eucalyptus-scented snout!
I dried the last of the dishes and turned off the kitchen light, rejoining my friend in the living room - grateful for having the opportunity to spend time with someone who consistently makes me think.
"Well?" she said, noticing my smirk, "What's so funny?"
"If you had ever kissed a kangaroo," I replied, "you would know."

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010

The Pleasantville Village Fair

On Saturday, we took the kids to the Pleasantville village fair, for some sun, fun, games and prizes. As you will no doubt notice, we had plenty of all of the above.

The fair was held in Memorial Plaza which is roughly the village center - next to the train station. The only real shocker to yours truly (being thoroughly acclimated to Brooklyn street fairs) was that there were no tickets to buy or skeevy carnival types hanging around - most refreshing.

Anyway, the kids had a great time, as you can see!

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Big Science

Here is a picture of Miranda's first science project for The Bedford
Road School - lovingly hand-crafted with Daddy. She was supposed to
pick her favorite bug, research it, build a model of it and write down
one interesting fact about it: butterflies prefer Coke over Pepsi -
who knew?

My Dancing Princess

A Trip To Sleepy Hollow

Today we took the kids on a hiking expedition to Sleepy Hollow, along the Hudson River and adjacent to the Phelps Memorial Medical Center. In the course of our exploration, we found the remains of a castle, lots of wild flowers, and many other amazing things to see. We stopped to pet some friendly dogs and enjoyed the fresh spring air. This is a place we would definitely love to visit again, even though we didn't see any headless equestrians.