the end of ordinary time

At my new Presbyterian church, of which I am an officialized member, they call the whole Epiphany season "Ordinary Time," which I always thought was just for the summer. Of course, it does kind of make the seasons of Lent and Advent more special that everything else is just "ordinary."

I'm going to shave off my beard for Lent. Tom had a great post about beards. I think the most effective Lenten discipline is to do something which inconveniences you everyday. I hate shaving. So, I'm going to shave everyday.

This morning, I was imagining a conversation among George W.'s fellow frat brothers.

BROTHER #1: Dude, what if W. ran for president? Like, his dad is a bigtime politician. Wouldn't that be messed up?
BROTHER #2: Yeah, he'd probably appoint all of us to be his cabinet ministers or something.
BROTHER #1: Yeah, he'd make Rummy Secretary of the Navy or something like that.
BROTHER #2: Or, he'd appoint Larry's cousin Brownie to be in charge of disasters and shit.
BROTHER #1: That administration would totally kick ass. I bet you they'd party so hard.
BROTHER #2: Yeah, like somebody'd get shot or killed at one of their parties, and they'd be like, "Yeah, what's it to you."
BROTHER #1: Totally. They wouldn't give a rat turd what anyone thought of what they did.
BROTHER #2: Yeah, they'd probably end up invading some random country.
BROTHER #1: Ohmigod, they'd totally start some random war with, like, nobody.
BROTHER #2: And they'd be like, "What's it to you, bitches! Bring 'em on."
BROTHER #1: Dude, it'd be totally epic.
BROTHER #2: Maybe we could be the secretaries of partying down. This is going to rock!

Of course, I wasn't really there. But, to have been a fly on that wall.

I'm going to be writing my Cicero paper on metus ("fear"). I think I'll call it "De metu Ciceronis" just to be boring. I care about this because of George W. I think that everyone who reads a text reads it differently, and that a reader can only interpret a text in her own context. This means that every person who reads a work of literature finds a different meaning in that work. I'm curious about your opinions. I know that there are some Ph.ds and aspiring Ph.ds who read this blog. So, let's pile some of that higher and deeper in my direction.