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 ...
December 16, 2004 - 11:48 p.m.
First another in the seemingly endless reasons I�m an idiot. I stayed up late last night grading tests because I wanted to be able to hand them back today. I finished them in time to enter the grades in my computer. Then I left them by the computer and didn�t bring them to school. I told my classes that I�d be in my office tomorrow and that they could pick them up then.
Here�s a switch the calculus class did pretty well on their test and the fundamentals class bombed. I felt somewhat responsible for that so I curved the test.
Last night before I finished grading I went to the Knick game. They were playing the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons. They almost won, they lost at the buzzer. Pistons were only playing .500 before they played the Knicks so playing them close at home wasn�t really that much of an accomplishment. They still have beaten only one team with a record over .500 all season.
I was happy to see that almost all my students showed up for today�s review sessions and seemed to have very good attitudes. Everyone did the old finals I assigned and for the most part asked good questions. Of course there were some clinkers, especially, �Is the final going to be multiple choice?� I have no idea where that came from.
Now I�m home and should be writing my finals. I have three concerts to go to this weekend. I should be writing but I�m not.
I�d just like to say that Megan, Renita, and Emilie are making it very hard for me to feel unappreciated. I hope they know how much I appreciate them.
I�ve been having discussions with several friends recently about the difficulty of dealing with people. Not that other people are difficult as much as seeming to have more trouble than most people in dealing with society. This is of course something that I can totally relate to. I often wonder if most people actually feel that way. Perhaps we all have our problems and other people just hide it better. The better I get to know someone the more likely I am to hear about their difficulties. Even people that seem totally self-assured can be filled with doubts.
While talking about this with someone I thought about Dale Carnegie�s How to Win Friends and Influence People. I was given it as a gift and I was thinking of giving it to someone else. Of course the problem is that I am afraid it will be taken as a criticism.
When I read the book I had mixed feelings about it. In some ways it seemed so trite and facile. On the other hand even when it states the obvious it does it in a way that makes you think. The best thing about the book is not in helping you deal with other people but in making you feel good about the way you deal with and more importantly perceive others. One point he makes is the obvious one that everyone likes to be complimented. The tough part though is to not make them empty compliments. What he points out is that the trick is to find something in everyone that you sincerely admire and to tell the person. When you look for the good in people the world seems like a better place.
I actually did something today straight out of the book. I gave my holiday CD mix to the Ana, the department admin asst, and to Mary the woman that gives me my pay check. I don�t know if they�ll like them but I figured that it couldn�t hurt to let them know they are appreciated. When I gave it to Ana I found out that she�s a music lover, especially jazz. She even knew Madeleine Peyroux! We had an actual bonding experience.
I can�t find a good place to put this so I�ll just dump it here. Joy wrote the other day that she didn�t know how to take it when somebody called her adorable. I can see why, when you look up �adorable� in the dictionary they show a picture of Joy. So it is just stating the obvious.
Right now I�m feeling really good. The Festivus spirit is alive and well in me.
Oh yes, one more thing. Happy Beethoven�s birthday!
I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.
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Horvendile December 16, 2004
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