I haven't written in a week and a half. That's a record for me now. It's ok though, cuz' I'll get in the groove again. I have four term papers to write in the next three weeks (one which will be submitted to a cognitive science journal) so I know I'll be looking for tons of ways to procrastinate at my computer. And here is one of them!

So there's been lots going on lately, both in my life and in the world. I woke up this morning feeling absolutely amazing (after a piece of toast, a One-A-Day, and a raspberry Emergen-C). I attribute that to almost-good health and to over twelve hours of sleep last night. Yup, I went to bed before most eight-year-olds do. It was a good day though, so it was a good wear-me-out feeling. Corey and I gave our major presentation in front of an education class in NWCA. The auditorium seats around 250-300, but it's eighth week, so I'd say we spoke in front of a good 100-150 people. Not bad eh? When I'm a professor I know I can fondly look back to yesterday as my first lecture-sized teaching experience. I had been on campus all day either in work or in meetings or attempting to put together my term papers, and then I helped out with Bruin up Books for a bit. I started filling out my paperwork for my REAL JOB, so that was exciting. Anyway... so what else is going on... well there's Ryan, so you'll have to meet him if you haven't already. Weekends in Santa Barbara have been nice, almost like a vacation at the end of the week (not that I've really been doing all that much work otherwise... and I know that pisses you off...) He took me out to this dinner at Lawry's on Valentine's Day, and it was quite the adventure. #1, we didn't have reservations, #2 it took him over three hours to drive down to LA because of Friday afternoon/long weekend traffic. Anyway, as we're tredging along Olympic Blvd. towards La Cienega, we astutely notice these helicoptors (ok, I thought they were planes flying directly towards us) and wisen up and start listening to the news. It turns out the Wash Mutual over in the Flint Publications building on Wilshire and La Cienega had been robbed. They gunned one robber down and were frantically searching for the other one. So they police blockaded portions of the streets off around the intersection of Wilshire and La Cienega. And where is Lawry's located? Good ol' Wilshire and La Cienega. :) It sucked that it took so long to drive there with all this police traffic, but we got smart and parked in a residential area and walked over to the restaurant. We walked right in and were seated within minutes... lots of people completely missed their reservations because of all the traffic, which was prime for us. :) I had the English cut, a side of spinach, and a glass of 2001 Pinot Noir. It was all very romantic (police sirens and all).

So how about that war, eh? I've been trying to have intellectual conversations with people about this war business. Basically this is what I have concluded. Is there a threat? Sure. Is this threat worth killing thousands of innocent civilians along the way? I'm not so sure. Shouldn't we not be doing stuff without the support of other countries? Generally yes, unless their only reason for not supporting us is to keep lines of trade open. What do I think of the millions of people who marched through the streets all over the world in protest of the war or in support of the war? Arun put it best (leave it to the Canadians): "those who know the least shout the loudest." Does all this focus on the middle east take away too much from important domestic issues? Hell yeah. So should we go to war? I can honestly say I do not support nor oppose it. Why can't I form an opinion? Because I believe there is so much going on behind the scenes that we as common Americans are oblivious to. The media filters what it wants to tell us, and what it does tell us it skews in every which way possible. Thus I find it extremely difficult to form decisive opinions on such matters. And it doesn't help that I think everyone in power (Democrats and Republicans alike) are rich old white men who will hurt anyone in order to keep things peachy keen for themselves and their families.

AND (this is unrelated to the war) people need to realize that "diversity" is such a fucking buzz word that they don't even know what they're talking about when they use it. Yes diversity is important when it comes to institutions of higher education. But this is a diversity of experiences, beliefs, and perspectives that we're talking about. If this diversity is related to or a result of racial differences, then great, we have racial diversity. But on it's own I think the focusing the importance on strictly racial diversity is a load of crap. Master status or not, it's not race that defines us; it's how our environment around us deals with our race and how we choose to embody the element of race into our lives. Take Mell and I for example. On paper, when talking about race, socioeconomic status, level of education, and educational opportunites, we're exactly the same. But if you talk to us, you'll very quickly realize that we have very different experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. So stop focusing solely on race. Why don't you take the time to hear what people actually have to say about their lives?