Synaxis TV

• Visit to Goodwill
  • I wanted to get a black button up thick cotton shirt to wear as another layer in the cold. I ended up getting a red and black lumberjackish shirt. I also got a plate and a bowl. The cashier was very nice.
• Stone again
  • I was able to stretch it out to six hours this time, after which point the first batch of surveys were complete. It did help that I was able to install Trillian on one of the machines though and brought some food with me.
  • Spent the evening talking to Kristen again…

• Work in Stone
  • In the afternoon I went over to Stone and starting working on a new project, data entry. I was only able to handle about four hours of it before I had to go home. I was going to go back but I spent a lot of time talking to Kristen.
• Groceries
  • After working I went and got some much needed groceries. I had intended to get just a few things since I’d be leaving soon, but it ended up being about $50.

• Boiler Market
  • Blue Nile was closed so Cathryn and I went to Boiler Market instead. I thought it would be weird hanging out with her because of our age difference, but it seemed to work out ok. Later she said it is because I am immature. Maybe I am? She told me about her upcoming trip to South Africa.
• Spanglish
  • This movie was terribly good. I am always touched by family related themes, so this film did a job on me. It wasn’t a comedy as expected but focused instead on the theme of assimilation. It made me think about my parents and miss my grandma.

• Saw Sex is Comedy in Indy
  • It was a little slow going but the payoff was good. I really want to see Fat Girl and I need to keep an eye out for Anatomy of Hell.
• Went to the club Talbott Street
  • This was a really nice club and they played some good music. I like repetitive beats. It creates the sensation of being trapped in a single moment. Like staring at a picture to try and become one with it…
  • Beth’s friends Heather and Sarah were pretty cool. We hung out a bit before going to the club and I saw part of The Princess Bride for the first time. I don’t think I’m ever going to be as into it as other people are.
  • I only talked to this one guy and it was only for a few seconds, but I suppose I met my goal. I need to learn how to strike up random conversations, both for my personal and professional life. Surprisingly there were quite a few races represented in the club. Much different from Boystown in Chicago. They were all dressed up as Normals though, for the most part…

• Worked on paper
  • I woke up and worked on my paper…
• Get together in Stone
  • …then I went to Stone to participate in the holidaze gathering. Clara said that she is going to apply a life -> death structure to the class she is teaching next semester.
  • I eventually found a perspective and finished my paper. It wasn’t that long but there wasn’t much to say.
• Watched Battle Royale
  • Dear me. I think this is my favorite movie now. Extremely violent but given a different dimension on account of its integration with the kids’ lives. I also thought it was very interesting that the kids resorted to suicide so easily. What are the rules of this game? They can change so easily and then you must adapt…

• Studied a bit more
  • I covered everything for the most part. Didn’t get the kanji down as much as I wanted but it ended up not mattering.
• Japanese final
  • The kanji on the quiz were all ones that I knew, which was good. There was actually one that I had a small error on, two legs instead of one, but I ran across it on the test and fixed it. The test overall wasn’t bad. The only parts that gave me trouble was the listening section.
• Good news!
  • The good news that Evy had hinted at came true. I’m TAing next semester! This means I’ll be making more money and I GET A TUITION WAIVER! It’s so nice to have that big chunk of debt off my back… And to think, it was actually one of the main reasons I had considered cutting this foray short and taking a new path.
• Nap
• Looked at the stuff for my final theory paper

Nietzsche has these two archetypes he used: the Apollonian and the Dionysian. The Apollonian is rather staid while the Dionysian is wild and crazy, and Nietzsche values the latter over the former. Unfortunately, I had come to the realization that there is very little about me that is Dionysian, especially since I’ve still never been drunk, have no desire to be, and, quite honestly, am a little afraid of it.

Last night, however, I had a realization. When I finished doing the robot down the hallway on the way to the kitchen to do my dishes I laughed at my propensity for silliness, and it hit me. That is my Dionysian side, there in my love of the absurd and surreal. Part of the reason I’ve never done any drugs is because I don’t need them. I guess I just forgot… Damn those beer cultists!

• Studied Japanese
  • I did a pretty good job of studying Japanese all day. I took a break in the evening to take a book back to the library and got a Crunch bar and some root beer on the way home.

• Went to campus
  • I went to campus to submit my hours for work but I got there too late. I had tried to do this the afternoon before but I missed everyone. Oh well.
• Studied in the Union
  • I watched TV for a bit to brace myself for studying but it was just the Hebrew Hammer and I could only take a little bit of it. I went down to where the food places were and decided to get a smoothie. I’d wanted one all semester but they’re a bit expensive. I got a strawberry/banana one with a booster shot of vitamins. When I started studying I got a little overwhelmed with the material I would need to cover. I didn’t study long before I came back home.
• Wasted the night
  • I’d planned on eating at home then studying but I just ended up chatting online all night.

• Final touches on paper
  • The paper didn’t seem as bad as I felt it was, though I wish I had included at least one more theory. Too bad I didn’t include the aquatic ape theory.
• Checked out some books
  • With break free time I decided to do some pleasure reading, started with some postmodernism and some critical theory. I also found this excellent article on Marx and Foucault. The postmoderrnism book I got is by Frederic Jameson
• Read a book in Beth’s office
  • I took a peek at the Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory in Beth’s office (they received a copy of it to send out for review, it’s quite new), and it was so terribly good! It presented things in such a clear manner.
  • For instance, it talked about what makes critical theory critical, the first being that it is a philosophy that seeks to change the world, a la Marx’s quote from the Theses on Feuerbach: “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.”
  • It also talked about critical theory’s relationship to Kant, which was a great help in understanding his importance to this game. It said that Kant introduced the notion of criticizing reason with reason, thus introducing reflexivity. Good stuff.
• Talked to Evy
  • She said it’d be best to try and spend the whole summer in Japan, so I guess that is what I’m going to try and do. She also hinted at good news but I don’t want to get my hopes up.
• Went to the atheist Meetup in Indy
  • I left town a little late but only got to the Meetup about 30 minutes after it had started. There were 3 older guys, 2 younger, 2 older women, and 1 younger. They were talking about morality when I got there, particularly relativism. Some were arguing that there is an objective morality.
  • There was some talk of proof for the existence of Jesus. We talked about relics a bit too and how there were lots of foreskins of Jesus floating around in the early church because that was the only thing left behind supposedly when he ascended into heaven in bodily form.
  • There was also some talk of figuring out what to do with the group. One of the ideas that was floated around was doing something public to let other atheists know that we are out here.
  • One guy said he had always leaned more towards science so the religious beliefs never quite took hold for him. He hasn’t told his family but they know that he and his wife “aren’t religious.” He said that the Penn and Teller Bullshit shows pumped him up a bit and were somehow connected to him seeking out other atheists.
  • The organizer for the meeting talked about going to meet his son for lunch at Taco Bell. He said he thought his son only wanted him there so he could pay but his son said that wasn’t the case at all. His son said, “No, my friends like you because you hate God.” Haha! He told his son that he didn’t hate God and that he wished he wouldn’t phrase his beliefs that way.
• Day well done
  • Overall, with the stuff I read and the atheist meeting, I had a really good day. I love my people. Wherever I find them, there is home.

0822310902

0521016894