Monday, May 26, 2008

Obsessed

OBSESSED, pp. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was once more common than it is now. Arasthus tells of a peasant who was occupied by a different devil for every day in the week, and on Sundays by two. They were frequently seen, always walking in his shadow, when he had one, but were finally driven away by the village notary, a holy man; but they took the peasant with them, for he vanished utterly. A devil thrown out of a woman by the Archbishop of Rheims ran through the trees, pursued by a hundred persons, until the open country was reached, where by a leap higher than a church spire he escaped into a bird. A chaplain in Cromwell's army exorcised a soldier's obsessing devil by throwing the soldier into the water, when the devil came to the surface. The soldier, unfortunately, did not.

2008 Update: Morally and dentally flawed. Obsessed people find themselves unable to maintain the perfect indifference and good hair cultivated by their healthier counterparts.

A good Memorial Day to all.  Mock Gandhi by sunset.

18 comments:

Jim said...

Obsessed: I wouldn't have thought that my good hair cultivated by my healthy self would cause anyone to be unable to maintain their perfect indifference! Goodness.

Obsessed: I see unhealthy obsessions with computer games and blogging.

Obsessed: Some people may be obsessed about first on Doug's comment page, someone has to be first, only one can be first, so what the hey?

Anonymous said...

I am obsessed with many things. Right now my obsession is to see the sun again. I think it's still around. Though I have no proof of this rumour.

TLP said...

Dentally flawed? So, like, haunted teeth? Would being stalked by a set of false teeth count?

Ariel the Thief said...

Obsessed, forgot his father's face.

mireille said...

Obsessions roll like waves with me ... rising then receding as they hit reality. Surf's up! xoxo

Anonymous said...

could become obsessed with the mock gandhi....pondered memorial day....then realized the common thread,,,today as a nation we honor those who,Signed On the Dotted Line ,and kept their word,inspite of their brain-dead civil leaders and yes men military leaders---they be held to their beliefs---as gandhi held fast to his ....May the power of Love always out weight the power of money .....Peace

Ariel the Thief said...

Yeah, the British Empire with its horses and guns against a thin little man with glasses.

Doug The Una said...

Ah, Jim, only one person per day can be first. Anyone can be second.

Jenn, I heard it's in New York.

Almost definitely, TLP.

Or remembered it, Gunslinger.

Mireille, an obsession that reaches shore is almost healthy.

Bear, the power of love starts all the wars and keeps them.

Ariel, do you think if Gandhi were my age he would have started Google instead?

javajazz said...

Mock Ghandi by sunset, indeed.

what you say to Bear
is so aptly expressed...
but how did being passionate
about what we love
turn into killing fellow humans
with our own hands?
who knows,
maybe the barbeque
is symbolic after all...

Anonymous said...

OBSESSED more . . . better . . . faster . . . mine. Mine. MINE!

tsduff said...

I had enormous trouble coming up with a definition for today's word. Sorry - I don't like to admit to anything. Today I became obsessed with nothing but relaxing... a victim of inertia - horror of horrors we watched a marathon of "That 70's Show" like the paralyzed couch potatoes we had become. It was shameful, but inescapable. Sorry. See you manana.

Anonymous said...

wellllllll,off point---power of Love,,,,there is the power of love,...,yes i love my huggies and chevy ,i love the mail man , some-days mail woman,because they deliver "news".....for it is in this confusion that love fosters wars.......But should one look at the whole ,then love will be known.......

Ariel the Thief said...

LOL Doug! No, he was not a daydreamer, he knew his enemy well.

I don't agree with you on love. When you admire a lily, that's love, when you pick it up to take it home and call it yours, that's possession. That's where wars start. But you can take a picture of it, and feel like God when he created us. :-P

Minka said...

obsession, n. knowing what belongs rightly to you and giving the object
of your affection time to see the errors of their way

Doug The Una said...

JJ, I think it was the whole tree of life fandango.

Quilly, that sounds so familiar, somehow. I won't rest until I know why. I have to know.

Terry, I think TV is the unobsession. I can quote books I read twenty and thirty years ago extensively and can't recall what was on tv last when I went to sleep. See you tonight.

What's for dinner, bear?

Ariel, what if you eat the leaves?

Well, hi there, Jess. Great to hear from you. I think Googling people is good manners. Stalkers probably use Yahoo.

Minka, aren't you afraid the pie will cool meanwhile?

Ariel the Thief said...

A toro that loves flowers?

Anonymous said...

humm, I thought "dentally flawed" was abcessed?

;)

Anonymous said...

Totally Devoted!!!!