I am incredibly happy right now!
--{this rambling was moved to the extended entry and is denoted with an asterik(*)}--
Anyway, to get to the point of the story...
I got the disc! It's in the system now and should reach me in under two weeks, which is great! All I needed to do was register my Game Cube and two of four "promotional" games -- both of which I happened to have received for Christmas this year.
*I was reading through some websites about the PSX that came out several months ago, and decided to check in at nintendo.com to see if they had a new system in the works. They didn't, but what they did have was an offer for the Zelda Promotional Disc that I have been wanting since I heard about it. I've even tried to buy it (it's supposed to be free with the purchase of a new Game Cube) on Ebay, but my $20 maximum bid was always outbid by a wealthier or more zealous gamer than I am.
Today I went to the Spring 2004 Career Showcase with Joy. This is the first time I actually went to take it seriously. I was dressed up in the suit and tie and actually handed out my resumé to people, which was pretty nervewracking at first, but after the first person/company it was pretty much a breeze.
Hopefully, people will call me up in a few weeks asking for an interview. It's cool if they don't though, because I may want to do this seminary thing after all is said and done anyway.
Today I went to the infirmary with Jenn, because my knee has been bothering me a bit. I really wanted to get in to a physical therapist to strengthen up both my knees so I could go out and play soccer and may go paintballing some too.
I didn't get what I wanted though. Instead, I found out that I had a capsulated tear of a my patellar tendon. Whatever that means. There was another thing wrong too, but that was even harder to understand and remember.
All I know is that I have to wear an immobilizer on my knee for ten days. That means I will be missing four soccer games, which as you probably know, is quite possibly the worst news I could have gotten today.
Woe is me. :) --jk!
Anyway, pray for my knee troubles if you can.
For most of my life I've been inundated with information about (and almost entirely against) racism. I lived in an area of Florida that was at one time during my life the most segregated city in the US, but I still knew people from many different races and backgrounds through school and sports.
Knowing people from almost every background, traveling the world, and still receiving a litany of anti-racism information (from schools, media, church, and individuals) would always get me to thinking and worrying about racism and prejudice.
I've thought about racism for many, many years and I am now at the point where I am wondering some things. I wonder if racism is really the issue. I wonder if "whites" are really "the most racist people."
Where I am today, I feel like racism is a secondary to culturism. (I know culturism/culturist aren't really accepted English words, but I don't know the better word if there is one, and I feel like there should be a word set that means what these obviously would mean.)
I feel that all people-groups have shown that they are at times xenophobic -- even when dealing with a foreigner of the same race. I have also seen people-groups come to accept members of another race based on their ability to assimilate the culture and cultural norms of the now accepting people-group.
These two generalized observations, among others, are what brought me to the thought that perhaps the tensions aren't really about race to begin with, but only as a second to xenophobia or culturism.
Examples include people-groups of one race that are hostile or prejudiced against a people-group of the same race.
EX#1: North Eastern US whites prejudiced against South Eastern US whites.
EX#2: Middle class whites prejudiced agaisnt rural, lower class whites. aka -- "poor white trash."
EX#3: Urban and Suburban African Americans angry with African Americans who have assimilated into the primarily white, middle and upper class cultural norms.
EX#4: General white population (among others) prejudiced against white polygamists (a decidedly religious and cultural issue.)
The alternate set of examples include people who are of different races, but the same culture, who accept each other with ease.
EX#1: The "non-white" who is fully accepted by middle/upper class whites after successfully and almost entirely assimilating into their culture.
EX#2: The many concquered peoples who had assimilated into Roman culture after a few generations of Roman occupation.
There easily many more examples of both of these major observations throughout the world and through time.
Unfortunately, racism does step in after culturism and greases the wheels of prejudice, mainly due to the ease and quickness of determining that there might be a difference in cultures in someone of another race. Still, I think that it is culturism that is the root cause of these things.
One of my other questions was whether whites were the only "racist" people-groups in the world. After observing and interacting with peoples from all over the world I feel like it is pretty easy to say that the answer is no. In fact, I also feel fairly comfortable saying that it seems like many cultures are, to some extent, xenophobic, and perhaps concurrently racist to an extent.
This observation, whether correct or not, causes me to wonder if there might be some innate characteristic of people to be somewhat 'culture-centric.'
I suppose I should weigh out what that would mean to people in terms of different personal philosophies, because contradicting personal philosophies usually bring about some measure of ire, but I am really tired and I have my busiest day of the week ahead of me.
Anyway, I feel good about these thoughts for the most part. I think that they are probably part of the truth about what is going on with people when they are feeling anything along the spectrum from hate to discomfort to immediate comfort and attaraction when meeting someone and sizing them up. It also fits in nicely with my philosophy of realizing that people are all people (and thus inherently very similar) and may act in ways that make me delighted/happy/uncomfortable/upset because of many factors... some of which may be cultural and none of which are ever racial.
My roommate, Mike, is now getting the Wall Street Journal delivered to our place every day for one of his classes. He doesn't really read it much, but I do, and I like it.
Today is a break, so I got to read back issues(?) of it from the past week, which is when it started. I'm done reading for now, but it was fun to read nearly dozen excellent articles.
I went paintballing today. It was awesome! We managed to get seven people to come out and paintball with us -- Jenn, Lana, Larry, Jesse, Jason, Nate and I went and we had a blast. It was my first time, so I'll want to tell some stories, and post my pictures, but it is getting late so I'll update this later and add all that good stuff in the extended entry.
UPDATE 1/19/2003:
Only one of the pictures from my camera came out well. I guess that is what I should expect when I let a ten or eleven-year-old take the pictures for us.
Here it is though. TOP ROW: Larry, David. 2ND ROW: Lana, Jenn, Nate, Jessie. 3RD ROW: Jason.
A lot of good ideas die from lack of initial interest, inadequate early adoption, poor support, and swift, united criticism.
Friday night I went with Joy and Jessica to Gator Nights and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl again.
I really enjoyed the movie this time too, which is why I am blogging. Normally, I like watching movies once or maybe twice, but this is one of the few movies that I liked enough to watch it over and over. I'd buy this DVD, which is saying a lot, because the only other movies I have are The Princess Bride, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix, The Lion King, and Lain (an Anime series my brother bought me.) I hope to add Aladdin and Fight Club to the list at some point too though.
This movie is worth buying a copy because of the great language, the music, the acting, and the generally high level of quality put into the whole production.
32°F
Fair
Feels Like 32°F
UV Index: 0 Minimal
Dew Point: 30°F
Humidity: 92%
Visibility: Unlimited
Pressure: 30.43 inches and steady
Wind: 100% calm
I hate this weather. Sure, it's gorgeous, but it is sooo freaking cold!
I can't go outside. My body feels cold all the time. When I do go outside I feel like my life force is being stolen from me. I feel like my body might just stop moving if I don't get heat soon enough. I get worn out quickly too. I like the 80s and the 90s much better. My body doesn't need to struggle to keep itself warm.
I won't die if I stay outside in my shorts for several hours!
This cold is creepy. It is like death all around me trying to pull me in with it. Bring back the sun and its warmth and life. Please.
I guess I'll just need to be patient.
Well, the first week of the new semester is over, so I finally have time to write again. So, I guess I'll start this up again by writing about what I've been so busy doing that I haven't been writing.
This semester I am taking 15 credits, which is a full load. I haven't had a schedule this full in over a year. I am continuing the second half of Arabic (ARA1121) and I'm taking PHI2010: Introduction to Philosophy, ANT2301: Human Sexuality, and EEL5666C: Intelligent Machines Design Laboratory.
The biggest challenge for me this semester is going to be be getting to bed consistantly at or before midnight and waking up consistantly at 8:10AM so I can catch the bus and make it to all my classes. My other big challenges will be doing well in Arabic and learning how to build this robot that I'll need by the end of the semester.
If I can wake up on time, get to the bus on time, and make it to all my classes every day, then I will do really well. All my classes are attendence-plus classes.
Here's a look at my schedule to illustrate what I mean --
ARA1121: Attendence, Homework, Tri-weekly exams, and an Oral Final Exam
ANT2301: Attendence, Skits, Four Exams (Extra Credit for the winning skit)
PHI2010: Attendence, Friday in-class quizes, Four monthly papers.
EEL5666C: Attendence, Bi-weekly reports, Oral presentations, Robot.
Attendence classes have, in the past, been really bad for me, but I think that the way my schedule is laid out, plus the fact that every single class is important will help me out, because I'll be on campus for one class and then just go to the next and then the next in a row. So, I am less likely to skip.
The next thing that I am interested in is an editorial position at the Alligator. Not really sure if I will get to be a part of that, but I definately thought that it would be worth a try, so I drove over to their office to visit during the open house. I talked to three different staffers and enjoyed myself. I put down my personal information on two lists and handed in three different writing samples (all from this blog... finally, it has a use.)
All of this stuff should keep me quite busy this semester. I also plan to do some of the reading that I will likely do in seminary if I end up going there. It never hurts to get a jump start, y'know? Besides, I read nearly all of my Human Sexuality textbook at night over the break, so I have extra time to do reading in a way. My new habit of reading myself to sleep really works out well. I get in up to an hour of reading in any given night, and I actually go to sleep.
Well, Crow is still here. I guess when you feed and treat a girl well she sticks around. Joy and I each made a bed for her and they are now connected so she has an extra big sleeping area. Joy set up a folded towel for her to lay on with her two food dishes nearby, then I added a box with a folder towel inside and a soft nylon satin bag for her to rub against and enjoy.
We needed to put the garage down to comply with the neighborhood rules, so we decided to put it down almost all of the way, which made Crow scared so she ran away. When the garage stopped at her exact height she came back and smelled it then walked under it leisurely... like a happy cat. She did that a few times back and forth to inspect it and show off. Then she came back and loved on us a bunch again. Finally, we made her a snack of some skim millk with half-n-half, and turned off the garage light.
I suspect she'll be there in the morning.
I found a cat today. It’s a girl. She’s jet black. I found her hanging out around Joy’s car when I was going to my car to get my laptop and flash drive.
She was pretty skittish at first, but she came around quickly and let my neighbor and me pet her. Joy came out really quickly when she thought she heard me say kitty. So, Joy kept her company while I went inside to get her some grub.
At first we started out by feeding her some old tuna that my brother had from before the break. I micro waved to make it warm. Then I started mixing in some wheat, corn and rice Chex in with the Tuna. She liked that well enough, so I added more the fourth time we got her food. (She was really hungry!) Finally, I just got her a big bowl, filled it with the rest of the tuna, tons of Chex, and some white shredded cheese on top. That did the trick. She ate it all and seemed to finally be full.
She was really grateful. She let us pet her and she laid in our laps. She even let Joy pick her up. She was definitely less than a year old. I think she was probably born late last winter or early spring so she was still young and cute, but very bony.
I decided to name her Crow, because of her color, because I still miss Dove, and because there were a bunch of crows crowing in the background the whole time when we found her.
I took some pictures of her too, which isn’t something I’m really big into, but hey… why not?
UPDATE 1/19/2003: I finally added one of the pictures of Eme, and I am announcing that the name Crow never really worked for Joy, so we have since decided on a name that we both could live with, so now our kitty's name is EME! (Pronounced "ih-mi")