. . .

"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."

- Invictus by William Henley (1849-1902)

. . .

“A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.”

– Stanley Kubrick

. . .

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

- Hebrews 13:2

Crazy Summer Plans

So I have finally finalized all my summer plans, and I am going to be buuuiiiiiiiiizzzzzzyyyyy!

My plans are:

May 8- 24 - Internship with Cannes International Film Festival (Cannes, France)

May 25-June 16 - Internship with Roserock Productions (Los Angeles, CA)

June 17-August 4 - Job as Operations Coordinator with Teach for America (Philadelphia, PA)

Yay!

There aren't any days in between (literally) to slow down and take a break, and I hope I wont regret that. I mean, I know I wont regret the decision to squeeze in an LA internship between Frances and Philadelphia. That'll be an incredible experience.

But when things get crazy busy, I can definitely see myself wondering why on earth I didn't choose to spend my summer lounging by the pool. Right now, that sounds like heaven.

Three Philosophy Papers in Four Days

So, as the title suggests, I need to write three philosophy papers in four days. They are of varying lengths, and I need to pick from the list of topics available to me.

There are tons of prompts to choose from, and many of them are really interesting. I really shouldn't be having any issues finding something to talk about, because all the paper topics are fascinating.

A few of my prompts:

1) How much difference should it make if the person who undergoes some kind of direct harm is a consenting adult? Can we draw a line between harm done to consenting adults that is the business of no one other than the participants, and harm done to consenting adults that should be morally censured and perhaps legally forbidden?

2) Does the government have the right to ban incendiary speech when there is clear and present danger?

3) If life and death are two equal parts of the same endless changing progress of nature, as Chuang Tzu claims, do we have any reason to take care of our lives so that we can stay alive as long as possible?

The problem, therefore, lies not in what to write about, but how to write it all. I am going to admit here that I have not done any of the readings for this semester. I repeat-- any. I have been diligent about going to class, and I take copious amounts of notes, but the reading has just slipped by.

I actually regret not doing the reading too. The books are fascinating. We read The Analects of Confucius and Mill's On Liberty, among other interesting things. I would have loved to have the time to read and learn from some of the eastern world's most influential minds.

But when push comes to shove, reading a chapter from the Dhamapada (Buddhism) is going to be more of a hinder than a help. I could spend that time reading a chapter in my accounting or microeconomics books, for example.

So now I'm left with the almost-impossible task (at least it feels that way) of writing three papers on fascinating topics without knowing the material well enough to argue anything intelligently.

.-'-.-'-.-'-.-'-.

Side Note: I made the mistake of going to my T.A. for help on my papers last week. In my defense, I came to the meeting prepared. I had written out numerous outlines for various prompts, and I wanted him to let me know if I was on the right track with my ideas.

But I had forgotten that Thursday was the attractive T.A.'s office hours. So I go in and as luck would have it, none of my outlines are on the right track at all. He tries to be helpful and steer me the right direction by discussing the ideas in the prompts with me.

But of course, I can't think philosophically (or logically) the entire time because every time I look at the kid, I lose my train of thought. Seriously, it was terrible. Normally I would consider myself a fairly clear-headed individual, but I've never failed so miserably in my life to sound articulate and intelligent. Oh well. With my luck, he's probably married anyway.

. . .

When you arise in the morning, think of

what a precious privilege it is

to be alive, to breathe,

to think, to enjoy,

to love.

[marcus aurelius]

Humans vs. Zombies

There's a giant campus wide game of tag going on right now called Humans vs. Zombies, which I found out about through Facebook. Apparently someone started an event on FB for the game, and it caught on (there are over 500 RSVPs). Basically, all you have to do to play is register your name online and own a bandana.

The game is humans against zombies, and it culminates in a giant dance party at the end of next week-- themed according to who won (so either 1980s humans or zombie costumes).

Anyway, the rules of the game are pretty simple. Everyone who is a human must wear a bandana around their arm or leg to signify that they are playing the game and still alive. Zombies wear bandanas around their neck or head. There is one original zombie who, on Friday (the 26th), started the game by tagging people.

Humans who have been tagged have one hour to turn over into a zombie (by switching the location of their bandana). Zombies run around tagging humans to bring them over to the "dead" side. A human can stun a zombie for fifteen minutes (in order to escape) by hitting said zombie with a sock (hopefully clean). Also, if a zombie doesn't tag a human in 48 hours, it dies.

The humans win when the last zombie "starves" to death. And the zombies win if they kill all the humans.

It's all very elaborate. And kinda entertaining. Apparently this game is being played at numerous universities nation-wide (there was an article about it in the USA Today). I read the rules, but declined playing because (among other considerations, like not being into zombies) I didn't want to have to wear a bandana around my neck for an entire week (since I'm sure I'd get tagged quickly).

To be honest, I didn't really expect that the game would take on. I read the FB invite and declined, figuring that was that. But I guess there are a ton of people registered to play. And even if there aren't a lot of them in number, they sure were making themselves visible on campus.

All day yesterday, as I walked prospective students around campus to their various appointments, kids in bandanas were everywhere. In fact, at one point, I was explaining the game to a student when, as if to illustrate my point, a "human" sprinted past us down the South Oval with a "zombie" close on its heels, complete with face paint and zombie noises. You definitely can't say life in college is boring.

Happy Earth Day!

. . .

"What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

- Bob Dylan

The Giving Tree Band

Tomorrow, in honor of Earth Day, The Giving Tree Band is selling two of their CDs-- Great Possessions and Untitled Folk Theory-- for an extremely reduced price of $7 (total). And then they are giving 50% of their proceeds to Global Green USA.

Soooooo.... Here's what you do:

Step 1: Click on ---> www.thegivingtreeband.com

Step 2: Listen to their music and read all about them.

Step 3: Buy their CDs and support one of the coolest small bands ever.