My computer crapped out...

blogging will be sporadic at best. (Not that that's anything new.)



UPDATE: I got a laptop from Union South Info Labs but with the amount of homework/exams/papers that I have due soon, blogging will be like the gunfire in downtown Racine on a good day: Light and sporadic.

If the Liberals here practiced what they preached...

We'd see signs hanging around campus that looked like this:

Gay? Fine by me.

I saw a lot of t-shirts that bore this saying today. This should be expected however seeing as today is the day of silence supporting LGBT students.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with what the shirts say. But wearing them to UW-Madison is about the equivalent of wearing a shirt that says, "Catholic? Fine by me." to the Vatican.

Everyone, please slow down

I was walking to church at approximately 8:50 (yes, I was late as usual) when I saw the flashing lights of what appeared to be a police car. Actually it was the flashing lights of about 5 police cars and ambulance and a firetruck.

Apparently a biker was struck by a car at the end of the bike path at Mills St. It seems to be very serious as the scene was being taped off when I arrived and the police had not left when I returned from church. In fact, there seemed to be more. And now there are evidence markers on the ground.

My prayers go out to the individual and their family.

Down with seg fees

I think we need to drastically reduce or abolish the segregated fee system. Personally, I don't agree with about 95% of the way MY money is being spent.

I haven't been on the SSFC nor have a looked over budgets for these groups. Nor do I feel the need to. If a cause is worthy enough, then let it compete in the market place of ideas and the free economy where it will find individuals willing to support it. Don't take my money and give it to some group that will squander it on a fish costume and pizza for its members, half of whom are only there for the pizza (and two because they want to wear the fish costume).

I think you should be able to form whatever group you want. Want to save the rainforests? Fine. Want to start a group for people who look, dress, think, and act like you? Fine. Want to start the National Association for the Advancement of Cracker People? Go ahead! But I don't want to pay for it.

Charge your members dues, have a bake sale, or go sell Avon.
If you can't support your group financially, your group doesn't deserve to exist.

The news I've been waiting for

This is good news.

The federal DA will be launching an investigation into the Jude beating. Hopefully this time every single individual who had so much as knowledge of the brutal beating will go to prison.


Something tells me this time it will be different. There are a lot of people eligible for perjury and obstruction charges.

A little more fuel to the metaphorical fire

Suzan Lori-Parks wrote Topdog/Underdog, another piece of literature in the curriculum of my English class.

The play received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002.

Guess how long it took her to write it.

Hmmm. It won the Pulitzer so it must have been a literary gem. Meticulous planning, endless pondering and writing draft after draft must have taken months or years or decades!

Nope.


3 days.


Here is an excerpt from an interview with Lori-Parks.(emphasis added)

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And then you wrote it very quickly, I understand.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: I did.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: I read that you said some plays are torture, but this one came really quickly.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: Yes, this one was an easy birth. Some plays take... I've written plays that have taken six, seven, eight years, you know, eight, nine, ten, twelve drafts. And this one was... took three days.

ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Can you explain why.

SUZAN-LORI PARKS: Why? I don't know. God was smiling upon me during those three days, that's why. It was sort of like it was just poured right into my head. I was very fortunate.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.

Fluff majors and why I make fun of you.

So, I was all set to write a post on an email I received from my English professor which contained a question and answer session between students and the author of a book we were forced to read. After closer inspection, I noticed a disclaimer specifically forbidding republication of material contained within the email. So while I can't give specific examples of what I wanted to show you, I'll tell you the gist of it. We'll come back to the email a little later.


And this is why I can't take English (and other "fluff" majors) seriously.

What we do in the class is over-analyze everything in an attempt to guess what the author is trying to say. I'm talking about the prof stretching it to extreme. No where in a book will he allow that the author just happened to pick the language that they did, and that every single minute detail means something deep and cryptic.

In this question and answer email, my view, that English is nothing but BS-ing, was vindicated.


The question went something like this:

The book is very profound, with many details hidden deep within, did you fully understand the relationship of the characters when you wrote it? Do you now?

Author's response:

When I started, I really didn't know much about the characters. Slowly, they revealed themselves to me. After talking with many readers, I now know more about them, but I don't know if I fully understand them yet.


So, in review, the acclaimed author had characters reveal themselves to her. She didn't create them, they revealed themselves. (Sounds a little schizo to me.) She only got to really understand the very characters she wrote after the book was published and she talked to readers.
Does anyone else find this odd at all?? She didn't invent all of these "genius" characters on purpose, the way others interpreted the book made it so. The person who wrote this book was learning about it from other people who took no part in its creation.


And of course, we are supposed to be analyzing the text to discern what the author is trying to hint at with subtle details. It's always been clear to me, that analyzing texts to figure out what the author meant, is nothing more than pulling something out of your butt, and English not a real discipline.

Notice that when reading this post I used the word "analyzing" a few times. Notice also that "analyzing starts with "anal" and my conclusion was that English is nothing more than pulling stuff out of your "butt." The author clearly meant for us to see this link. Wait, actually, no. It's just coincidental.

This essay may have changed my life

Bill Whittle over at eject! eject! eject! is amazing. I've read one of his essays, it and may have been the most profound,thought provoking, dead-on accurate, illuminating piece of literature that I have read since The Pokey Little Puppy at age 5.

Bill talks about 9/11, Katrina, Republicans, Democrats, celebrities, criminals, soldiers, and the rest.


Go make yourself a cup of coffee, and get your hemorrhoid cushion (it'll be a while), and read it.

NOW!

Isn't there a pill for that?

UW-Madison has been diagnosed with a severe case of electile dysfunction.



I'm not sure if ASM can please the student body anymore.


It's time to get rid of ASM and get a better system.

Viva la Revolucion!

Desecrating the Sacred

I have no problem with the ubiquitous chalkings and flyer posting on every slab of cement, marquis, and street pole. That is fine.

But for goodness sake, don't write on the pedestrian bridges that span over Park Street and University. These bridges are things of beauty with the proud inscription "UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON"

This is not a place for your asinine chalkings!! You shouldn't deface these proud symbols of our school with your statements, no matter how worthy you find them.

"you smell like poo." -Anonymous

I've noticed on Jenna's blog and on Freedom Fighter that generally, all comments left anonymously, are not worth reading.

If you are gonna leave a comment, at least get a psuedonym so we can keep track of your arguments and decide if you are worth listening to.