I have made some commitments that I have forgotten since I made them. Keep in mind, that I made most of those commitments during the whirldwind clusterfucktastic period that was last semester, a period of time in which I was more focused on not failing myself rather than keeping my word with others. Anyway, I guess I’m going racing this summer. My dad wants to go to all the IOA races plus one in Michigan and another in Ontario. For those who do not know, our boats travel in a 2,000 pound trailer that is pulled by a monster-sized Suburban. Plus, the boats themselves take at least 5 gallons of fuel at every race. This will not be cheap.
I really do want to go to these races. I have friends who I only get to see there. Plus, the racing itself is okay. I’m just worried that it will cost too much this year.
I am in school. There is nothing you can do about it!
I have spent the last 2 days working on a new version of the IOA site as I will be taking over by early May. The current site has served us well, but it could probably use a refresh. I am finally ready for the half-baked version of the new site to be viewed.
Thanks to Tom, who got me started on Monday.
Before I begin, I would like to state that the below content is not mine, but is instead from Free Inquiry and was written by Paul Kurtz. I got this at Darwin Day earlier today at IUPUI’s Campus Center. It was put on by Center for Inquiry.
- We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
- We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for our salvation.
- We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
- We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
- We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
- We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
- We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
- We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
- We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
- We want to protect and enhance the Earth, so as to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
- We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
- We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
- We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise their reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
- We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.
- We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
- We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
- We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
- We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
- We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.
- We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.
- We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.
Thanks for reading. I hope this got some gears turning in your head.
When I found this article from the New York Times, I had to write a post about it.
Here is the link.
Apparently, Iraqi kids are feeling a little disenchanted and betrayed by radical Muslim clerics. The clerics are primarily responsible for igniting and maintaining a bloody religious civil war within Iraq. This war has killed thousands of American personnel and many times that among the Iraqis themselves. I can’t say I disagree with them. If you saw people tearing your country apart and killing thousands over minor ideological differences, wouldn’t you want to distance yourself from the mindset that created that situation in the first place?
I feel pretty good today. I am not sure what it is. Even though it is raining outside, the temperature is well above freezing. That is a welcome change. I can go outside with a light jacket on and without gloves without worrying about loosing digits. Spring break is less than a week away and I can pretty much coast through this week. Granted, I have some reading for Ethics and an online midterm exam for INFO-I101. I101 is really easy, so that will not be a problem. It’s getting warmer and I am looking forward to the summer. I prefer the skull-baking heat to the bitter cold because at least, in the heat, I can still have a thought. The cold always interrupts my thoughts. “Hey you know, I really should- FUCK IT’S COLD!!!!” Sorry for the Lewis Black bit, but it’s true.
I feel old. When I got out of bed at 11am today, I felt old. I felt old as I was surfing the internet. When I looked at my parents who are 55 and 58, I felt old. When I ate my Ramen noodles and took in The Flaming Lips tonight, I felt old. As I type this entry on my WP blog, I feel old. I was born on July 31, 1987. This summer, I will turn 21 years old. Why do I feel old?
I do not mean that feel old in reference to how I felt at age 10. I mean “old” in the classical sense. I am always a little drowsy. MY joints ache, especially in my back. When I see kids who are still in high school, just a few years younger than me, I refer to them as “kids,” “younguns,” or “you damn kids!” In the midst of the presidential race, I have found myself complaining about medical care. I am a person who feels old, yet still has mastered “the Google.” I feel aged and I understand Net Neutrality and that the Internets are not a series of tubes.
Why do I feel old at the relatively youthful age of twenty? Perhaps it is because I am physically out of shape and usually sleep deprived. (By the way, that will be the last time I will consciously use the word “perhaps.” I hate that word.) I might feel a little more my age if I started taking care of myself, exercising more, eating a healthier diet, and getting on something approaching a normal sleep schedule. But there is the rub: all of those things require a conscious, concerted effort over a protracted period of time, probably the next sixty to seventy years. Ugghhh. I am not sure of my ability to do that. Well, not my ability so much as my will. My will in the past has not been what it should have been. I realize now that I have strayed from the topic into the realm of self-control.
My problem is that if I am not immediately motivated to do something, I will avoid it, procrastinate, or just flat out not do it. “Self-control” implies that I have difficulty restricting my actions, when in fact, I simply do not take action.
So, let’s review:
I need to make myself more motivated so that I can stick with an exercise and diet program so that I can not feel so worn-out and old as I have been the last few months. Yep, I think that pretty much sums it up. However, we shall see if I can radically change my personality in short order. Maybe it will all be a matter of motivation. I am certain that when the weather warms up again, I will become more active outdoors.
I just had this weird dream where I was in a Honda dealership parking lot near my house. It was sunny and I was with a friend. Then someone came out from behind a car behind us, firing a gun. I pushed my friend out of the bullets’ path and proceeded towards the attacker. I took a bullet in the side and another in the shoulder, but they didn’t slow me down. I took the gun from him, shot him once in both thighs then pistol-whipped his sternum.
That’s how I roll.
Patrick Proctor was here 