Up and Running

So I finally got around to putting the weblog part of my (other) website functioning again, which means that this site can go back to its original purpose.

Is there ever a time when an ethical person will have to act against their morals? I think that there us, but only in a sense. Soren calls it the teleological suspension of the ethical, from the greek work telos, which means purpose, sort of. Really, its just Aristotealian ethics, in a different form, and spelled out a little bit better.

Well, I don't really have time to go into more depth about what I've been thinking about this, but you can leave comments, and I'll probably write more later.

Que lastima!

Let's take a minute and feel sorry for Chris who became a "real adult" today. That is, he started his real job today. I'd say pobrecito, except this does mean he's going to have a more-than-steady income, which is more than I can really say for the rest of us.

In other news, Knights of the Old Republic II rocks.

Note to self

Start going to bed earlier.

Tonight

I can't sleep, and I know I thought of something witty to put here sometime over the past two days at work, but I can't remember it. Tonight was an awesome night, being that it was the first time in I can't remember how long that the entire group got to hang out. And who knows how long it will be until the next time.

Our house looks weird because the carpets are getting cleaned tomorrow and that means all furniture must be on non-carpted surfaces. Its amazing how you don't notice something until you have something else to compare it to. Like you can't really notice how bad dirty carpets are until you have an unblemished part to compare it to. I guess that's kind of like life, where you don't realize how un-green your grass is until you see your neighbor's lush lawn and can compare the two. Or at least what you percieve as lush.

Using that train of thought as a spring board, lately I've been thinking a lot about distinction. A lot of philosopher talk about distinction, especially as pertains to universals and language. A lot of people will argue that you can't describe something except by pointing out what it isn't. Some people will actually say that is the only way you can percieve the world. By making distinctions through colors and shapes.

Anyways, thinking about distinctions lead me to think about universals as the pertain to humans. What exactly is in human nature, and what about nature is different between men and women, yound and old, and even just between individual people (stupid feminists, making me take some of what they say seriously!). Ockham says, "There is no distinction without a difference," which makes me think if there can ever be a difference without a distinction. I think distinction is the cause of social injustice (ie racism and sexism and other isms), but does that mean that any differences is necessarily going to cause injustice. I think of Harrison Buegeron (not sure about the spelling), and how they tried to solve social injustice by getting rid of all differences. But its not the differences, its the percieved difference that these differences make to other people. If differences didn't matter, in other words if differences didn't cause distinctions, there wouldn't be a problem.

Just so you know, yes stuff like this is what occupies my mind at 2 in the morning while I try to sleep. As I said to Amy earlier this evening, "My mind has a mind of its own when its left to its own devices, and its scary what it can come up with." And now I've shared some of that with you. Thus endeth the rant.

Way too much fun

So if there is such a thing as too much fun, I think I passed the threshold this past week. Not only did I spend four days at the beach, but afterwards, Heidi was still in town for two days, so Chris and I had to show her the town. Last night we went to play pool (I know, random), which was fun because there were six of us and we just goofed around. Patrick, who was on my team, had to continuously remind me that I was supposed to be trying to win, but then would proceed to mess me up by talking right when I'm hitting the ball.

So tonight, which is traditionally the night you go out and have fun, I decided to stay in because I reached my fun quota for the week. Also, almost everybody was busy and couldn't do stuff. Anyone that wants to should check out my other site, because I've been adding some stuff to it recently, most noticeably, on the quotes page. Most of the new ones are from Cambria, and they're pretty funny.

In other news, almost all the lifeguards at the pool like country music, so its usually on the radio. Now, today I was at work for four hours, and during that time, I heard four songs twice. You would think that there are enough songs so that the station doesn't have to repeat itself that often. I think that is the reason that I don't like country music. Every station repeats itself about that often, some more often. For the most part, non-country stations aren't like that.

And now that I'm done with my rant, I bid you adieu (is that how you spell it?).

PS Leave a comment! I've been commentless lately!

Good times

So I just got back from half a week at Cambria with friends. It was amazing. I really don't have to say more about the week than that, because amazing really sums up the week. I might say more later, we'll see.

First day

So the pool opens today, which is good because I'll start to get a little money, but bad because its only a little. I really should find a "real" job so that I can actually start to be able to have a savings account. That would be smart, but I probably won't do it. Go me.

Definately a nerd

I just spend about an hour playing on a philosophy website. I was taking quizes and polls and other stuff like that. I'm so proud of being a nerd. And I beat the computer when it came to philosophy know-how! Go me!

Funness

Last night was awesome. First, I went out to dinner with some friends, which rocked. We had a blast. Then, we played some three-on-three frisbee, which equally rocked. My team won! Woohoo! Then a bunch of people went over to Chris' house to play Apples to Apples. I think we had nine people playing, which made for some interesting rounds. I've learned that I have to stop playing intelligent cards when I play, because if I have to explain my card, I usually don't win.

I've decided to try to start leaving shotrter posts, because then I think I'll post more often. So we'll see how that goes.

Educational Television

I just spent the night at Chris' house, and we ended up watching an educational tv show that was very entertaining. When we caught it, they were talking about properties, to which I replied, "Its Aristotle!" No sooner did I say this then their expert says, "In the 5th century BC Aristotle..." Then they talked about the different states of matter, which Chris throughly enjoyed, having taken way too many science classes. Somehow by the end of the program, they ended up talking about plasma and fusion power.

But the best part of the show was when they had little kids talk about gases, solids, and liquids and ways you distinguish them from one another. Chris almost had a fit because he wanted to answer for them. It was funny.

All in all, it was an entertaining night that made both of us feel smart and learned and everything.

Friday

So I've done nothing all week and have loved every minute of it. Or, I guess I should say nothing productive, because I've done plenty of stuff, like seeing Episode III for the second time, and playing softball (we rocked!). I also watched a bunch of Scrubs episodes with Rob and Chris, which was hilarious.

Last night I dreamed that there was a watermelon patch at the Beach Park, but when I was trying to take one home, my car broke down. It was interesting.

I've been playing SimCity lately, which is fun, but I think that last night I was dreaming about remaking Bakersfield to have higher land value and better zoning. Which wouldn't be a bad thing.

Softball

We had a softball game last night, which was fun. This is the fourth game this year, but the first we've actually been able to play due to lack of people. I got to play shortstop (which is where I usually play, even though I'm left-handed), and got to dive for a catch. It was fun. But the best part was when I was driving the other team's rover crazy by hitting it where he just was.

Like, since I'm left handed, most teams shift their outfield towards right field because they think I'm going to pull it. Unfortunately for them, I hit much better opposite field than I do pulling the ball. So I hit the ball where he had just moved from. For my second at bat, he figured out I could hit opposite field, so moved towards left. Then I hit it up the middle to where he had been standing. It was fun.

I'm headed to Yosemite on Thursday for a fun weekend of avioding my family. Its possible that the valley will be flooded because its been too warm there recently and all the snow is melting. I hope that doesn't happen, although it will be cool to see the Merced all full (its the river).

Oh, I saw Star Wars, but the votes still aren't tallied on how I think it was. OBviously it was the best of the new trilogy, but I haven't decided exactly what I think of it. I let you know once I watch it again, or once I read the novel.

Boy is my face red

Yeah, I got a little sunburned today. Mostly due to the fact that I spend the hours between 8 and 5 in a pool. Yay for re-certifying my lifeguard stuff. Actually boo, because I can't take the re-certification class, I have to take the beginner class.

Max is barking really loudly right now and I don't know why. Just thought I'd share.

Anyways, last week was fairly uneventful. I worked three days, which is a lot for me. And they were really easy days because I was at Actis, and two of the days I was the band teacher, which meant I subed for three periods and helped other teachers for three periods by grading papers. That's what I call my kind of day.

Hopefully I'll get to see Star Wars tomorrow night, because I'm terribly sad about the fact that I haven't gotten to see it yet. And yes, I'm going to dress up and have my lightsaber and get into fights while in line. So who wants to go with me? I'll even bring extra lightsabers so you don't die right away.

And apparently tonight I have to find some entertaining way to teach others about the different ways to treat burns. I'm thinking an epic poem might do, although a ballad is also on the list. Not like a rock ballad, but rather a Tolkien style ballad, like the Lay of Luthien. (Can you guess that I just re-watched and -read The Return of the King?

Officially Gradumacated

So its official. Not that having a diploma made it official that I'm grownup and graduated. No, sitting in an arena for three hours bored is what made it official.

I did have a good time in Spokane. It was good to see friends that I hadn't seen for a couple months again, possibly for the last time. But now I'm back and I really don't feel different. Everybody I talked to said I'd feel a sense of closure more if I went to the ceremony, but not really. And sadly, the program didn't say I was cum laude (which I am!), so I didn't even get a little cord thing to play with. I did get two tassels, which was fun, and they ran out of econ tassels, so I got one that was red and black (our school colors), so really it looked like I had three majors. Mwaha! Oh wait, that made me look dedicated or something. Maybe it wasn't good.

Anyways, now summer has almost officially started, although that won't happen until the school year ends here and I'm not subing anymore. Then I have to find another job. Yay. Well, that's it from here.

Harry Potter Strikes Back!

Last night we watched the second Harry Potter movie because it had been on ABC with Goblet of Fire stuff during some of the commercial breaks. It was fun, but more fun was the commentary that Chris, Rachel, Paul, and I put in. I'll try to remember some snipets of conversation.

Paul: How old is Dumbledore? Because he looks the same in the flashback.
Becca: He's a Master (Jedi).
Chris: He's Yoda.

Other conversations were about how many people in the movie wanted to tell Harry they love him (Hagrid especially), and how many times Harry was going to touch Herminoie's (I'm too lazy to look up the spelling) hand (like 5 because as we all know, she and Harry are going to get together). And Dumbledore's inclination to look into souls.

Chris made me realize last night that if I'm going to get my Master's, I need to start thinking of a Jedi name now. I can't just be Master Becca. But that's not just something you can pick spur of the moment. A lot of thought must go into a decision like that.

Good fences make good neighbors

So this week is testing in the Panama district, so I haven't been working. Instead, I've been doing all sorts of stuff that magically appeared when I have nothing to do, like build a fence. I was reminded of the poem, by I believe Robert Frost, although he could have written Mending Wall instead. Anyways, I don't really know our neighbors, on either side. That's what you get when your parents move when you're away at college. Actually, I don't think anybody in my family knows our neighbors. But, I've decided that good fence makers make good neighbors because this guy put up a section of the fence in like 15 minutes. That takes talent.

Two nights ago I went over to Rachel's to "write". For some reason she hasn't figured out that most of the time we spend writing together, I'm trying to distract her from actually getting any work done. Now she has everything she's written so far all printed out, so how distracting do you think that was for me? It was a fun evening, full of quotable moments, most of which I've forgotten. Hopefully Rachel wrote them down.

I go up to Spokane to officially end undergraduate work next week, which should be fun, but I really don't look forward to sitting around listening to people talk for three hours. How boring. Luckily I'll be sitting by fellow philosophers (I hope) so I can talk to them. That should be interesting and entertaining.

Ouch

So, I was playing Warcraft all evening, and now my forearm really hurts. Its fine if I don't move it, but if I rotate it in any ways, it starts hurting. Is that bad? I think that means I've been playing too many video games, so tomorrow I'm not going to play any. Except for maybe Gemstone, because that's not really a video game, since there is no video.

I dreamed a dream

More dreams from last night:

First, I was some sort of a strike settler who was sent, along with somebody else, to England to try to end the railway strike. Our two guides actually worked undercover for the owners, but we still managed to get a good agreement in favor of the workers.

Then I was in the Star Wars universe doing something Star Warsy. I don't think this one got fully developed, or I just can't remember it.

Then I was playing basketball with Micheal Jordan, and the refs were horrible. They kept trying to make us lose the game, but we didn't. Actually, the game didn't get finished, but we were winning.

And there was another one, but I can't remember it now. Maybe I'll remember it later.

I'm trying to get my other website up and running. I think right now some pages are linked up, but the colors are all weird, and many of them aren't done. So check it out at your own peril.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

Well, not really, but if you can tell me what movie that quote is from, you rock. Anyways, I've been having the strangest dreams lately, so I thought I'd share them as I remember. Last night, I was apparently in the army and shipped off to somewhere like Vietnam, but it wasn't, because it was currently going on, and I wasn't back then. Anyways I was there for like 3 hours before the war ended and I was sent home. Once I got home, I was somehow up in the mountains and had to use my newfound knowledge from the war to lead a group of bad guys on a wild goose chase while the rest of the camp (I think it was a camp) got away. I had tons of experience from my three hours of war time.

The next dream involved little flower things growning out of the back of my leg. I don't really understand that one. That's all I can remember, but be on the look out for more later.

Coming soon: an interesting conversation I had with Rob about superheros. (Sorry if you've read it already, but its mostly for those people who don't know Rob.)

Steps towards recovery

Well at least I'm surrounded by people who will and do encourage my addiction.