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Yeah, but I have to provide my own antithesis, don’t I?
In stunning contrast to the assertion that gave my blog this name — Superman is a saint — there’s an entire website dedicated to proving the exact opposite. It’s called Superdickery, and has as it’s thesis “Superman is a dick.”
It is copiously documented. Here are some of the choicer examples.
It was published in the New Yorker in 2003, and it is probably my favorite short story of all time. Maybe because it’s about everything I’m interested in — memory, culture, familial obligation, and the sanctity of the world.
It’s “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherwood Alexie.
So Rose of Sharon, Junior, and I walked into the pawnshop and greeted the old white man working behind the counter.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
“That’s my grandmother’s powwow regalia in your window,” I said. “Somebody stole it from her fifty years ago, and my family has been searching for it ever since.”
The pawnbroker looked at me like I was a liar. I understood. Pawnshops are filled with liars.
“I’m not lying,” I said. “Ask my friends here. They’ll tell you.”
“He’s the most honest Indian I know,” Rose of Sharon said.
“All right, honest Indian,” the pawnbroker said. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Can you prove it’s your grandmother’s regalia?”
Because they don’t want to be perfect, because only God is perfect, Indian people sew flaws into their powwow regalia. My family always sewed one yellow bead somewhere on our regalia. But we always hid it so that you had to search really hard to find it.
“If it really is my grandmother’s,” I said, “there will be one yellow bead hidden somewhere on it.”
“All right, then,” the pawnbroker said. “Let’s take a look.”
He pulled the regalia out of the window, laid it down on the glass counter, and we searched for that yellow bead and found it hidden beneath the armpit.
“There it is,” the pawnbroker said. He didn’t sound surprised. “You were right. This is your grandmother’s regalia.”
“It’s been missing for fifty years,” Junior said.
“Hey, Junior,” I said. “It’s my family’s story. Let me tell it.”
“All right,” he said. “I apologize. You go ahead.”
“It’s been missing for fifty years,” I said
Nick Milne has tagged me. Alas; it is the ultimate betrayal!
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged
1. I like to fall asleep to the TV. Especially when I have insomnia, because it distracts me from whatever worries are keeping me up, and being up at five AM ain’t helping anybody.
2. I am a strict enforcer of shotgun rules.
3. I have a collection of Soviet memorbilia. I think it’s an amazing thing that the trappings of the USSR are now for sale on the global garage sale that is eBay.com, but apart from that, I can’t deny that they had a compelling symbology that deserves recognition and preservation.
4. I am the fourth Michael in my family, and have every intention of passing the name to my first son.
5. I purchase books but it can take years before I actually read them. I’ve had Herodotus’ Histories for three years now, and I haven’t touched it. I’ve also been slooowly ekeing my way through a history of Weimar Germany now since 2006.
6. I have absolutely no issue with having pizza for every meal.
Now, who to tag?
I need to get fifteen registrations today or I lose my job.
UPDATE: Lost the job. God’s will in this remains to be seen, but oh, sometimes that will is hard.
Also, I had no idea Fr. Z reads my blog. That’s wicked awesome.
