More Sherman

Alexie was really good tonight. I am writing this after the talk, but won't be able to post it until sometime tomorrow. But I thought I needed to get some of this down before I sleep. And I am exhausted. Two presentations in two days has taken more out of me than I expected.

Back to Alexie. A really interesting guy. I didn't realize he had a background in standup comedy, but his performance is really good--really honed and sharp. Unlike a straight stand-up, his was more hybrid of comedy routine and serious discussion on the issues of the day. If you have read his stuff, this will make more sense.

This talk was all about the Matthew Shepard murder--and the symposium associated with it is dedicated to social justice. Alexie did a great job of addressing that, but an even better job of challenging perceptions on everything from sexuality, to political bias, to fundamentalism. He challenged all of us in the audience to confront our own fundamentalism--be it vegan or conservative christian--and recognize that we become rigid out of fear.

I liked that. He made fun of white liberal anti-war types (and Streak was nudged by colleagues). He made fun of conservative christians who defend Mel Gibson's film, but really ignore that the real radicalism of Christ was the resurrection and forgiveness. He challenged all of us on race and sexism.

His conclusion was pretty cool. A lot of what he had to say was about the superficiality of what a lot of our obsessions are. We focus on the sexual act, but ignore the issues of the heart. He challenged us to think deeply about questions, and distrust conclusions and especially easy conclusions--be they from liberal professors or fundamentalists preachers who use Leviticus to base their "truths" on.

He ended with his ritual--his ceremony or daily prayer. Every morning he gets up and says two things to himself: both were self-examination. One was about his battle with alcoholism, that is successful, and the second was to remind himself that "everything he said that day was bullshit." As he noted, he has been better at not drinking that at not taking himself too seriously.

Everything I said today was bullshit.....