The Hazard Chronicles

So...Lately, Rachel and I have found ourselves participating in a lot of things surrounding what one might consider to be "pop culture." Things like sporting events, concerts, plays, comedy shows, movies, political discussions, religious gatherings, community events, and popular literature. Things that I think reflect in different ways the popular consensus of the masses when it comes to values, tastes, and concerns pertinent to our small corner of the world. Taken together, I think it is fair to say that all these things could be representative of our "culture," defined (thanks to Google) as "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively."

Which leads to an interesting question. Because if these things could be considered "culture," then what exactly does it mean to "be cultured?" I ask, because when I think of this somewhat pretentious label then I tend to think more in terms of classical art, literature, music, and drama which, in all honesty, seems to reflect a bygone and somewhat romanticized era much more than the one we actually live in. In fact, that is exactly what the Google definition of "cultured" seems to point at- "characterized by refined taste and manners and good education;  artistic, enlightened, well read, refined, polished,sophisticated..."


Refined taste and manners? Artistic? Polished? Sophiticated? I would like to see an objective definition for what any of these terms actually mean. Personally, I do not believe that there is one. These things are all matters of opinion, based either on individual taste or else on constantly changing cultural norms. And so that leaves us with "well educated," "enlightened," or "well-read." And indeed, that does seem to be what "being cultured" is meant to imply- that a person's personal sense of aesthetics are somehow loftier than those of a perceived underclass due to a privileged and highly educated position within society. In this way, the term starts to seem a little conceited.

And yet, it rarely comes across in this way. People from all walks of life tend to value "being cultured" as an admirable trait, perhaps somehow having an intuitive sense of a term that it turns out is actually very difficult to pin down. Sort of like the words "healthy," or "good," or "beautiful," or "just." These are all essentially contested ideas that are extremely useful to us- even indispensable- despite the fact that it may be impossible to get universal consensus on what they actually mean.

So by now, if you are still reading this then you are probably seriously wondering to yourself what's wrong with Logan's brain. Yeah- I wonder that sometimes too. Seriously, why do I go off on these random digressions? I find them enjoyable, I guess. And sometimes I come away with insights that I am glad to have come across, and that's valuable to me. Maybe it's weird- maybe it's just me. Maybe we're all weird and this is just my particular way of expressing my weirdness (there I go again...I'm such a nerd sometimes).

Okay. I'm done. I promise.

So...like I started saying in the beginning, Rachel and I have been pretty active lately. As mentioned, we went to our first backyard BBQ of the year this week and got to hang out with some friends. Last night we went to a comedy club, and that was fun. But most importantly, we dressed up last weekend and went to see the Broadway production of Camelot which was a LOT of fun. I have never seen this musical performed live, but I have always loved the old film with Richard Harris in it and I was excited to be able to go and see the real thing. We dressed up and had a nice dinner beforehand and basically just had a great night.

Besides that, we are just marching on. Things continue to go well for us. We are looking forward to a visit from my Dad in a few weeks. The weather is really nice. I have a good bucket list of peaks I want to climb this year. Rachel and I finalized plans for a super duper incredible vacation this summer...things are good.

Here are some other pictures of some of the stuff we have done as a family.

I LOVE this picture of Addy and Jack. First of all, it looks like it could have been taken in the 80s. The clothes. The grainyness of the photo. The poses. It's classic. Second, I think it's just an awesome picture of twins who are also best friends. Addy and Jackson have a special bond, and I think it shows here. It's sweet. Finally, check out Jackson's hair! What a cool kid, right? I wish I could pull that off and still maintain the respect of my patients. I love these guys.

 The next several pictures are from one of our many trip to the Science/Discovery museum.