Uncooperative Crickets

First Day of Calculus

Today is the first day of a semi-normally scheduled week. My second (and final) class starts today, and I have fewer (although a non-zero amount of) meetings that only occur at the beginning of the semester. So, actually, next week will be the first "normal" week...maybe.

Skye and I did a lot of work yesterday. I was working on the "pay yourself first" principle: instead of doing what needs to be done next, I did what was going to make my life easier later on. I ended up writing all my lesson plans for the rest of the semester, and this will make my life a lot easier. Up next: all worksheets.

I am rather excited because the third of my top three job choices just posted a position. I really can't believe my luck - this is exactly how you want things to go. Since they are all offering jobs this year, I will be completely satisfied if I take (what is now) my third choice, since I will know that my first two choices will have turned me down. Otherwise, I would be wondering if I should have been more patient and waited for the right opening.

Let's talk for a moment about Sally Field (I know that I am late on this one). She was censored for saying "If mothers ruled the world, there would be no god-damned wars in the first place" at the Emmys. First, let's point out that Fox doesn't, as a rule, censor the word god-damned. Second, Field is wrong. I refuse to believe that mothers love their sons and daughters any more than fathers do. President Bush is a father, and I have no doubt that he loves his kids. He still went to war. Margaret Thatcher wouldn't have had any problem going to war (she did it with the Falklands, although the situation was a bit different), and she was a mother. The problem is that the fathers/mothers making the decisions don't need to worry about their sons/daughters going to war. So let's not pretend that everything would be great if women ran the world. Fathers love their children as much as mothers do.

Skye's roommate and I talked about the death penalty yesterday, and she brought up something startling: the death penalty currently kills exactly who I wouldn't want to execute, and does NOT execute exactly who I think the best candidates would be. I am anti-death penalty, but if I were forced to live with it, I would want it to be used on people who could not be reformed. This is the opposite of what is happening. The people who get the death penalty are those who are found to have knowingly done something that was wrong; this means that there is a chance that they could be reformed, since they have an idea of good and evil. People who are not supposed to get the death penalty are the ones who do not know that they are doing something wrong, whether it be because of psychosis or extreme addiction. These are exactly the people who likely cannot be reformed, and would make the most sense to execute.

There are probably a million reasons why I am wrong about this, and I understand that it is cruel to execute someone who doesn't understand their actions. This is exactly why I am anti-death penalty.

posted by Dirk Awesome @ 8:38 AM