Hit Me With Your Requests

It took me a long time to discharge the requests that came in last month.  I hope to be more timely in attending to any new ones that come in.  Is there something you'd like me to write about?  Just ask, and I'll tackle it with as much honesty as I can muster.  You can leave a comment, or send me an email, and I'll respond with a post. 

Comments

[PG]

Whose problems are your problems, and in whose problems should you interfere? (apropos some family stuff)

Also, what's the best way to explain to a new housemate what your expectations for the household are? (apropos a subletter)

And does gender really make a difference? (apropos life and my law journal)

[Weeble]

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on The End of Faith by Sam Harris. How does his view resonate or clash with your own perspective?

[Dan]

I'm curious about what your take on George W. Bush and the warrantless wiretaps is. Also, what do you think of John Roberts and his recent dissent on the Oregon assisted suicide case?

[will]

Are you familiar with the concept of mindfulness? Have you ever read/thought about Buddisim?

[turboglacier]

I would like to know where, in your opinion, it's all going, and when, if ever, it's going to get there.

Also, I'd like your take on the best location for a five-day vacation.

[pjm]

Is the football coach I've been seeing news stories about the same one who told you about "Show Up, Shut Up, Get Up"?

[L]

From your "whiplash" post of a few weeks ago--can you say more about wedding conventions and how "tastes, attachment to, and rejection of particular conventions take [you] by surprise?"

[Milbarge]

Recently, you declared yourself undateable (wrongly, in my opinion, and I'm glad you're re-thinking it). Do you think you're marry-able? Do you go on dates thinking about marriage? I don't mean to ask if you only accept a date request from someone you see yourself married to, or only go on dates expecting a proposal with dessert. But more generally -- is marriage the ends of dating for you? How does marriage figure into your dating life? Would you date a guy who was against getting married?

Also, I recently turned 30. It didn't seem like a big deal to me, but everyone acted like it was a milestone. What are your thoughts on turning 30 (milestone or no?), and what's the biggest difference between one's thirties and one's twenties?

Thanks, Sherry!

[Michael J.]

Related to your post on Buddisim, do you have any thoughts on acceptance? Should acceptance be an ideal? Can one accept too much – are there reasonable limits to acceptance, or should we strive for complete and total acceptance? If there are limits, how might we define or delineate them in everyday life? How is acceptance related to unconditional love? Can there be limits to acceptance within the context of unconditional love?

(You're one of the most interesting voices I've read lately. Thanks to the hillady for pointing me here.)

[Michael J.]

Addendum on the acceptance question: What about when acceptance gets you into "trouble?" Do you accept that too? Perhaps it is not really trouble after all. What about when a pattern of acceptance intersects with another's pattern, such as "taking advantage" or "passivity" or whatever? This seems like the edge case for acceptance.

[l.]

Why would it be worthwhile to do something you're not good at? I tend to be a taoist, so generally I go with my strengths and let things flow. But right now I'm stuck in something that I'm terrible at, but feel compelled to finish. Partly this is because my strengths are incredibly shallow and it's time to grow up some. And partly because, I don't know, I just don't want to quit.

[l.]

Oh, I just realized I missed this when you posted it two days ago. Feel free to ignore it until your next request day.