. . . . . entries for 17.12.09 . . . . .
I can has JP advisor. I hope that goes well. o.O
It is possible that I will start a student group of modest size and immodest ambition. I have emailed some Important People about it; hopefully they will help me work out the (plentiful) kinks in my idea.
Princeton, your commitment to the discipline is admirable, but the world of real-life problem solving is not just flirting with interdisciplinary thought: it has launched an all-out, mad, passionate, frustrated affair with it, fuming and full of misunderstandings and inexperience on all sides. We need to talk. We need to set things straight so we can maybe get where we meant to go to begin with.
. . . . . entries for 16.12.09 . . . . .
President Obama and staff,
Climate is a real problem. I don't mean to tell you that the science is there - I assume you know - but rather that it's a conceptual problem, a moral problem, that most people don't seem to know how to deal with. Somehow, culpability for human suffering originates in apparently innocent acts, traveling through power lines and gas lines and the air itself to the people whose lives it destroys. The connections are invisible but they exist. We are morally responsible for the harms we cause to the global environment, for the droughts and floods, for the heat waves and extinctions. We. You. Now.
The President is in Copenhagen today, and so are thousands of protesters who see these invisible threads, who feel the weight of this moral responsibility, who are afraid for the future of the planet's children, whether they hold United States citizenship (where will Manhattan and San Francisco and New Orleans go? will the Southwest ever stop burning?) or Chinese citizenship (how big will the Gobi get?) or Pakistani citizenship (where will the water come from?) or Kenyan citizenship (how will people eat?). Those protesters made mistakes early in the conference - they have lashed out in anger and violence - but this morning, Wednesday, they were peaceful, and still faced pepper spray, tear gas, clubs, and water cannon.
You appear to be that unwilling to accept your responsibility - so unwilling that you beat back those who would tell you of it. Though you are not wielding the club yourselves, you may as well be.
I know what happened with Kyoto; I know it was embarrassing to be unable to ratify a signed treaty. But we can't pretend we are that unprepared now; we can't pretend that any more than we can pretend that our comfortable lifestyles do not rest on the sweating backs of suffering billions. There are two live, viable bills in the Senate. The House has passed legislation. It is time to hold domestic government's feet to the global - and moral - fire. In the words of Angela Merkel - how long ago now? - it is not five before midnight; it is five after midnight. It is long past time to move.
Please don't tell me that nothing will come of all this hope you have given us. To learn that "hope" and "change" are meaningless words will damage my generation more than Katrina, more than the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, more than 9/11. It will kill us where we stand.
Please, Mr. President. Please.
. . . . . entries for 12.12.09 . . . . .
Oi-freakin'-vey. I am contemplating changing the layout for the Prog blog, but I do not know if our fearless leaders would want that, nor can I find a particularly appropriate blogskin. I imagine I may fiddle with the colors and image(s) on this one to arrive at something workable.
. . . . . entries for 8.12.09 . . . . .
It is either a quite surprising or long overdue thing that I appear to be getting sick. Either way: seriously humbug. Seriously.
Long day has been long: didn't sleep well precept displaced to 10 AM, class straight through until 3 (including a quiz during which I felt exceptionally nauseous), and now an hour's respite before my meeting with my last JP advisor. I am drinking a peppermint mocha and hoping I do not start hiccuping ridiculously again, or feeling nauseous again, or, you know, whatever.
I guess this is what I get for having a pleasant weekend. :P
. . . . . entries for 5.12.09 . . . . .
I am really enjoying having a weekend during which I don't feel the need to FREAK THE HELL OUT about some paper due the following week. Like, really, a lot.
. . . . . entries for 4.12.09 . . . . .
Today, I got my braces off and acquired my retainer. My teeth look nice - that is good. But the retainer is a royal pain. It hurts a little, but mostly I do not like it because it makes it an effort of will to keep my mouth respectably closed. Humbug.
Also, it has brought back my lispy thing. Grr.
. . . . . entries for 1.12.09 . . . . .
What I would really, seriously like for Christmas is significant donations to good charities. The one currently on my mind is Partners in Health, but there assuredly plenty of others that have proven themselves. If you can somehow divine which community sustainable development nonprofits do the best work, give to them for me. That would be the best present ever.
come home?
.:people:.
{ting}
she looks like the real thing
{mari}
out and about
[kelsey]
THIS IS AMERICA
{yianni}
stop being depressed
{alisa}
other
[shannon]
close and far
{frank}
islands where no islands should go
[cassie]
eating knowledge
{colin}
my dm
[emily]
shoulder to the wheel
[brian]
nostalgic for fantasy
[nicole]
industry insider
{elle}
angry enviro
[matt]
never heard of miyazaki
[pirate dan]
are you reading this?
[olga]
distracted
[messiah dan]
messiah/believer
{max}
approach focus
[natalie]
wait a minute
[susan]
solitude
{greg}
manbeargreg
.:past:.
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.:skin:.
turtles! turtles! by araglas
(heavily modified by yours truly)