I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
October 16, 2009 - 7:33 p.m.
It's late for me to update. I couldn't do it at school today because my prize student came by for help. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to yesterday.
Last thing I wrote here I was going to make French toast. That wasn't quite what I made. I made cinnamon French toast. Is there more to it than sprinkling cinnamon on French toast? That's all I did. Call it what you will it was delicious. That was pretty much the high point of my day. The weather was cold and wet and I never got dressed and I didn't leave the building. The furthest a field I went was the laundry room. Something happened there that I'm not sure how to interpret. I'd like to hear your opinion.
When I got to the laundry room there was a woman there putting her clothes in a washing machine. I almost always talk to the people I run into in my building. It usually just consists of saying hi, but we acknowledge each other's existence. What I usually do is just smile at the person any words are up to them. This woman just looked up, saw me smile at her, and went back to her laundry. That was enough to keep me from saying anything.
She did something odd and inconsiderate. Instead of putting her clothes on the table near the machine she was using she spread them over the other table, everyplace but next to her. That meant that if I wanted table space I'd have to use the spot right next to her where we'd crowd each other. Instead I just moved my clothes directly from my bag into the machines.
Now here comes the part I want to hear your opinion on; When I went back in my room I worried that she'd hog all the dryers. There was no reason to. There are three driers and each is big enough to handle three full washing machines. She was using just one and she knew my laundry would be ready almost exactly the same time hers was. I was on the phone when my watch beeped telling me to put the laundry in the drier so I didn't get down there as fast as I wanted to. So what happened? The woman was just finishing putting her clothes in the drier. The last drier. Yes, she used all three machines when one would have been more than enough.
So here's what I question. Was this a self-fulfilling prophecy? If I had said "hi" would she still have hogged all the machines even though she knew I needed one?
As it was I put my clothes in one of the carts and came back in after her clothes were dry and put mine in then. She was just taking clothes out when I got there. She saw me take my clothes from the cart so she knew that I had to have waited for her. I didn't expect an apology and I didn't get one. The whole thing is so unusual. Most people here are friendly.
The calendar might say that today is Friday but I know it was really a Monday. My commute is usually one of the best parts of my day. That's especially true on Fridays when I have the Times delivered and can read it on the train. I pretty much always get a seat, I read, I listen to my mp3 player, and it's a wonderful way to start the day.
Today the crowd on the platform was two or three times as large as usual. I knew I'd have trouble getting a seat. There were none on the train when it arrived. It soon became packed. So much for reading and so much for being comfortable. It got hot. Then it just stopped between stations. They made an announcement. "Trains heading to downtown to Brooklyn were delayed due to a water condition at West 4th street." We ended up standing still for half an hour over several stops. I usually get to school about half an hour early so I wasn't terribly late. It did mean that I couldn't go to my usual cart for breakfast. I went to a new one that I never saw before in Columbus Circle. The problem was it was halel so it was a beef sausage and it cost 50 cents more than my usual guy.
I had given a quiz on Wednesday and graded them yesterday. My plan was to enter the grades when I got in. I didn't have time to do that because I was late. As soon as I got in I went to the room and told them I'd be right back as I had to get my briefcase. I got back in and a student told me I had something on my face. It was some egg from my breakfast. I went to the bathroom and washed it off and tried to start the lesson again. This time I realized I didn't have my ruler so I had to go back to my office, it's right down the hall, again. The rest of the class went OK except that I didn't have an attendance sheet. I would have printed one up if I had gotten there on time.
If that's not a way to start a Monday then I don't know what is.
I was good after school. Instead of coming home I wrote the test I am giving on Monday. Not only that but I inserted the questions and graph paper into the blue test booklets. I'm now all set for Monday.
If today wasn't running like a Monday I'd be going out tonight. I have not one, but two friends performing tonight. Actually it's three friends but two of them, Christine and Aiden are married and perform together as Friction Farm. Andrew Vladeck is performing, has a new CD, and I haven't seen him in ages. I feel bad missing both shows but I'm staying home in my nice warm, dry, snug room.
One good thing happened. I got an email saying two of my copies of Xenophon arrived at the library. Why two? Because when I ordered one it never came. The Librarian said it was probably lost and not in the system. So I ordered four more translations. I'm not sure that the two that arrived are actually the same book. Let me look now. They are. How come I wasn't sure? One is titled The March Up Country: Xenophon's Anabasis and the other The Expedition of Cyrus. I knew the Greek title was Anabasis. I'll see which translation I prefer and return the other. I cancelled my reservations on all the other editions I ordered.
I've wanted to read the Anabasis since my Greek history teacher told us about it when I was a freshman in college. This is what he said to get me hooked. Xenophon was a historian, philosopher, and soldier. Like Plato he was a student of Socrates. He led an army of 10, 000 Greek mercenaries deep into Scythia, modern Russia. Once there they were abandoned by the king that hired them and they had to make their way across 1500 miles of hostile territory back to Greece. It is one of the great true life adventure stories told in the first person by a great writers. It is right up my alley.
How do I do this? I really wanted to write an entry about ideas but on a day where I did nothing I still filled up more than two pages with what I did. That's it. Tomorrow I write about ideas or die in the attempt.
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile October 16, 2009
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