apotheosis

\uh-pah-thee-OH-sis\

noun

1: elevation to divine status : deification

2: the perfect example : quintessence

I started writing this blog as a list of APOTHEOSES of the day but, the day is young (it's still before noon as a type) and I started to realize the list I had composed was actually a list of things I think are pretty awesome, as opposed to things I would necessarily elevate to a god-like status.

I didn't grow up with god. It's also pretty fair to say I didn't grow up with parents (at least, in the sense of traditional dominant figures of authority). I never had some all-domineering figure to which I was supposed to look up at with admiration or awe or reverence. I'm pretty sure these circumstances make it difficult for me to deify anyone or anything to that level of divinity.

The closest I have come to APOTHEOSIZING someone would probably be Brian, to elegantly beat a dead horse, whose death was the first event in my life that seemed to offer my existence some meaning. But even Brian stands on a wobbly pedestal in my mind—I'm wary of giving him too much power of influence. I think my ambivalence toward APOTHEOSIZING stems from the implication of an absence of questioning. In order for a god to be considered a god, at least in my understanding, one must relinquish any doubt. And doubt is as instinctual to me as the act of flicking an ant off my arm.

God-like also implies some level of flawlessness, which I don't believe exists. I love LOVE the word quintessence, but anything considered quintessential can and will inspire an argument in favor of its opposite. APOTHEOSIZING just seems like a disappointment waiting to happen. The higher you elevate something, the quicker it is bound to fall from its grace. I feel way more comfortable defining things as "pretty awesome."

So, here is my original list of things that are "pretty awesome" this morning:

1) Blend Coffee Shop for not being constantly full of hipsters and providing a basement seating area that is as comfortable as a blanket fort on a snow day.

2) Ryan North for creating the dinosaur comics that always ALWAYS make me laugh out loud.

3) My mom for forwarding me emails such as: FW: Striped ice This is AWESOME, complete with photos of striped icebergs in Antarctic and closing messages like, Having the Internet means that we get to see something that we never imagined! Pass it on for others to enjoy!

4) The Beatles for writing songs like "Oh! Darling." FUCK that's an awesome song.