So, the more I think about things in the last little while, the more I don't want to keep up this crazy existence of mine. I'm considering getting rid of the school part of it, since that's the most disposable. (Hard to get rid of Ben, harder still to think about life with no BeeBoo...who now says three word sentences, by the way...or at least one three word sentence)
The thing is that I don't know why. I'm really liking my program, and have learned a lot. The work load is good...not too much, not boring. I like teaching (though the caliber of students here is an entirely different animal from BYU...I don't know why I ever got nervous about teaching there) and have grown a lot in this environment.
In short, it's great!
I just want to quit, move to a house in the country, and have vegetable and flower gardens and chickens and rabbits. And maybe let Ben hunt deer. Probably not. But he'd feel cool.
Anyway. I'll probably not ever be gutsy enough to just pick up and do it...I'll just have to finish the PhD and then have fun...
Monday, November 5, 2007
Thursday, November 1, 2007
More Chaplin
Watched "The Kid" last night when I was supposed to be reviewing a play. :-)
I liked it. I noticed that the Chaplin films that he directed are much better than the ones that feature him but were directed by other people.
I was disturbed by several parts of the movie (like when they put the kid in the wagon and haul him away) but liked others (Chaplin's tramp figuring out fatherhood).
Good movies.
I liked it. I noticed that the Chaplin films that he directed are much better than the ones that feature him but were directed by other people.
I was disturbed by several parts of the movie (like when they put the kid in the wagon and haul him away) but liked others (Chaplin's tramp figuring out fatherhood).
Good movies.
Don't interfere *Caution, rant follows
I had done so well...weeks I think, with no ranting! Oh well, it was bound to happen.
Long story short, I've managed to make people mad at me again. As the result of a forward sent by one of my in-laws, a family pseudo-debate on Ben's side was happening through emails about a movie that's coming out. It's based on a series of books by a British author. I've never read the books and until the email forwarded to me about it, had never heard of the movie. So I don't have a specific opinion on either.
One family member belittled another for sending the forward when they had no personal experience with the books. He said something to the effect of "don't pass forwards on unless they're worthwile," which I think is a valid point, but he sent it to ALL the recipients of the original message. So I emailed him back (just him, not all the recipients of the forward) and defended the sender of the forward, saying that there's nothing wrong with making people aware of potential controversies.
I later sent on (to all the recipients) some comments from the author's website (do "find: religion) to try and smooth things over. The family member who I DEFENDED emailed me back and said "who cares? It's fiction!"
I just don't get it. My whole purpose was to try and say "look, it's literature and therefore powerful. Thanks for making us aware of the potential threat so that we can check it out before we expose our kids to it. Of course, there is the possibility that the threat is a fabrication by religious zealots (ie Harry Potter), and so we should keep the other side in mind."
Lesson learned: don't try to discuss ANYTHING. Just ignore the pink elephant in the living room. Even trying to fix things will just make things worse.
Long story short, I've managed to make people mad at me again. As the result of a forward sent by one of my in-laws, a family pseudo-debate on Ben's side was happening through emails about a movie that's coming out. It's based on a series of books by a British author. I've never read the books and until the email forwarded to me about it, had never heard of the movie. So I don't have a specific opinion on either.
One family member belittled another for sending the forward when they had no personal experience with the books. He said something to the effect of "don't pass forwards on unless they're worthwile," which I think is a valid point, but he sent it to ALL the recipients of the original message. So I emailed him back (just him, not all the recipients of the forward) and defended the sender of the forward, saying that there's nothing wrong with making people aware of potential controversies.
I later sent on (to all the recipients) some comments from the author's website (do "find: religion) to try and smooth things over. The family member who I DEFENDED emailed me back and said "who cares? It's fiction!"
I just don't get it. My whole purpose was to try and say "look, it's literature and therefore powerful. Thanks for making us aware of the potential threat so that we can check it out before we expose our kids to it. Of course, there is the possibility that the threat is a fabrication by religious zealots (ie Harry Potter), and so we should keep the other side in mind."
Lesson learned: don't try to discuss ANYTHING. Just ignore the pink elephant in the living room. Even trying to fix things will just make things worse.
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