Gubernatorial

"John McCain has been running this campaign based on 'we're at war, it's a dangerous world out there, the Democrats don't get that it's a dangerous world...I, John McCain, am the only one standing between the bloodthirsty Al-Quedas and you. But if I die, this stewardess can handle it." - Bill Maher

Current Music: "Working Class Hero", John Lennon


I had an odd dream last night. I was at my childhood church for some unfathomable reason. The last time I was there, the preacher kept screaming about the dangers of secularism and humanism and that sort of thing. Hearing him mentioning humanism was a reminder of the tyranny that my parents live under; they're so possessed with fear that I am going to Hell that they have to divulge their great shame to their pastor: their son, named after a martyr and an well-behaved youth all throughout high school, is now as much of a sinner as one can get: he's a skeptic. He thinks he's better than going to church. This news has somehow drifted to the extended family so that whenever we met for a someone's birthday, I am informed that I have merely subscribed to the fad of not going to church. This manages to be both annoying and amusing.

The last time I visited my childhood church -- Mother's Day -- the preacher screamed (Pentecostalism is a branch of Christianity thoroughly wrapped up in emotionalism so that nothing, not even sermons on the most hum-drum of topics, can be delivered without excessive screaming. ) about humanism and secularism and godless colleges, and that sort of thing. He kept going on and on and on and I got bored, so I started provoking him by winking at him whenever he'd look at me. I also started giving him visual feedback -- like when he said "YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO SHEEP WHO FOLLOW THEIR SHEPHERD?" I made a "knife across the throat" gesture and made a little sound to indicate that good sheep who follow their shepherd turn into...well, shepherd's pie. Mutton. Tasty lambchops. Best case scenario, they get fleeced for a few years until their fleece-producing abilities start to wear out, at which point they're turned into tasty tasty lampchops.

Looking back now, I can see that I was being an ass, but I don't really regret it. I eventually grew bored. I mention all of this because of the dream. In the dream I was at church with a book -- Foundation's Edge, probably -- and the pastor was screaming along the same lines as in that sermon. This time, though, I wasn't paying any attention. I was listening placidly and occasionally stealing a glance at my book to read it. Then he started screaming about humanism, sensualism, and somethingelse-a-ism. There were three of us sitting there on my pew -- myself, the pastor's daughter, and a young woman who is married to the assistant pastor. I was guilty of humanism, his daughter was guilty of sensualism (?), and the ymwimttap was guilty of the something else-a-ism. While they were sitting there feeling ashamed of themselves for their apparant sins, I was simply sitting and watching with confused amusement. Then he scowled at me, wrote out a formal request that I get the hell out of his church, and handed it to me. IN my dream-world this constituted a "Get Out Or I Will Call the Cops" measure, so I left, protesting that I hadn't done anything and that this entire thing was irrational.

And then I woke up. My Fridays are completely bereft of responsibilities, so after I went to breakfast, I decided to go to the library and read a little. I read from from various papers by Karl Marx and understood little. In The German Ideology I think he was saying that human beings have to have a dogma or a set of unquestionable ideas to live under, or else our entire intellectual world will fall in upon itself. He called out freethinkers in particular. I don't agree. After that I read a little about Zeno, the father of Stoicism. I wasn't in the library long, and after I left I realized that today was a gorgeous day; the wind was blowing, the temperature wasn't unbearable, and the sky was pretty. Realising that I couldn't just spend the day indoors, I spent from then until lunch sitting under a tree reading Foundation and Empire.

It was a lovely morning. The tree I like to sit under is perfect for either sitting against or laying back against, and whenever I tired of reading I'd lean back and look up into the tree at the passing clouds above. Someone asked me if I thought I was Woodsworth. It was all quite perfect, and I was relucant to leave. When the sun's position made reading uncomfortable, I went to the library again and read from American Heritage, then got online in the library until the lunch-time crowd thinned out. After that I went to the Records Office to check on my job application.


English History:
- This week had repeat lectures for me on Feudalism and Peasant Life in the Medieval Era. I heard this in Medieval History.

Human Geography:
- We learned about classes and were informed about the "Social Register". Most of the class was offended by the idea that there was a book of rich prats that listed where their yachts were mored and that admittance to this book of people was chosen by a snobbish few. We spent Wednesday talking about the upper class and their institutions -- boarding schools, private colleges, social clubs, etc. My professor said that 50% of all admittances into places like Harvard are reserved for people whose ancestors went there.

European History:
- We learned about Italian and German reunification. I'm more interested in Weimar Germany and Germany post-Reunification. The Imperial Germany that was ruled by the Prussian aristocracy has quickly lost its appeal.

German 201:
- Our teacher returned and I'm suddenly enthusiastic about German again. We've had fun both class sessions so far. Yesterday we interviewed four German exchange students, one of whom sits in front of me in English class. I'm forever trying to see if she takes her notes in German or English. I'm betting English and could ask her, but I like trying to find out even though I'm not liable to.

Sex and Gender:
- We moved on to horticultural societies, or those that engage in simplistic farming. Very interesting stuff.