I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

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.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

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 ...
-James Branch Cabell

May 03, 2010 - 1:22 p.m.

Beardless Youth

I didn't leave my apartment yesterday so I'll have to think about what to write about. This should actually be an opportunity, I can write about my thoughts. Ideally Wise Madness is a record of my thoughts not my actions.

So where am I going to start? Not with my thoughts, not with my actions, but my appearance; I shaved off my beard. Most of you have seen it but for the rest here is a photo.


I look better with the beard, more distinguished and more professorial and thinner. I look younger clean shaven. So why did I shave then? It has nothing to do with looks it has more to do with how it feels. First off the weather is getting warmer and it is cooler without the beard. Secondly I no long derive tactile pleasure from stroking the beard. In fact when I had an itch the other day I didn't like the feel at all. I'm not getting pleasure from feeling the smooth skin. Lastly I thought I'd make my students' heads explode. That did not prove true. Not one person at school has commented on the change. I don't know if they even noticed. There is actually a double change. I didn't wear glasses today. I've been thinking of doing that for a while. My vision has improved the last few years and I can see 20-30 out of my left eye, almost perfect. My right eye handles reading perfectly. It does mean that I don't have binocular vision and it is a bit difficult looking at the computer screen which is an intermediate distance. On Saturday when it was so hot the AC remote control's batteries were dead so I had to turn it on by hand. In order to see the controls better I took off my glasses and put them down by the AC. When I went to go out I couldn't find them. I didn't wear them when I went out Saturday night and did fine. I couldn't find them all day yesterday. Last night when I went to bed I went to turn off the TV and was distracted and pointed it at the AC and saw my glasses. I decided to experiment without glasses today. It was a bit uncomfortable in the street where there was a fuzzy aura caused by my right eye around each clear image created by the left eye. In the old days before I wore glasses I just shut my right eye down. The first time I wore them I couldn't combine the two images and had double vision. I had a bit of trouble reading in class so I think I'll go back to wearing them. My decision processes in beard, glasses, and pony tail are similar. It comes down to making my life easier. Wearing a beard means I don't have to shave that's a big plus and it takes some discomfort to get over that hurdle. Wearing glasses means keeping them clean and some physical discomfort. I need a good reason to do so. I think on balance I am more comfortable outdoors with them on so I'll go back to wearing them. The pony tail makes it far easier to take care of my hair and lets me avoid haircuts.

I can give a lecture on entropy based on my hair. Without the ponytail the hairs will move out of place as I watch. The lowest energy configuration is not the hairs lining up together. On a bad hair day they are actively repelling each other through electrostatic forces. In addition if moved at random they will not look as good as when they are freshly combed and brushed. The ponytail uses the stored energy of the elastic to keep them under control. Even their hairs will accidentally slip out of the elastic but never accidentally move into it so I have to keep putting my hair through the elastic.

I finished grading my calculus exam last night and the results were not pretty. What gets me is how that they are supposed to know from pre-calculus is foreign to them. Sometimes it isn't a matter of right or wrong but of expressing things naturally. When you see 5x/5y you should automatically cancel the fives. Many, perhaps most of them, don't. These are not actual numbers with meaning to them, they are marks on a page. They are like non-native speakers of English who can speak the language but aren't fluent. They've been learning these things for 12 years, they should be fluent by now. Their earlier teachers might not have demanded it but I do.

I talked to Steve last night and firmed up our SMAF plans. The festival is so disorganized we always threaten to not go but then we always do. They sort of how a schedule up now. I know who is playing each day and what time the session starts but not the times of the individual artists.

There is no camping but if you live within driving distance or don't mind springing for a motel you should go. The festival is always fun. The highlight artists for me are; Beaucoup Blue, Phil Henry, My Sweet Patootie [former members of Tanglefoot], SONiA, Spirit Wing, and Friction Farm. I often discover new talent there and I'll let you know who it is when I get back.

Yesterday I made pancakes and made the entire batter and refrigerated the leftovers instead of the raw batter. That made breakfast today a breeze, I just popped it in the microwave. I think this is what I'll do in the future. They tasted great and the consistency was fine and it had the added advantage that I put on the butter and syrup before I put it in the microwave so the whole thing was hot and the butter melted. All I had to clean up was my plate and the coffee. Saving on cleanup is always a big plus.

I've meandered all over the place today so I'm going to call this quits and prepare for my next class.



I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile May 03, 2010
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