From most recent to most distant, these are the diaries that I never wrote. My wife told me to get a hobby the other day. I explained to her that the problem with hobbies for me is this: I'm great at starting, but I suck at
Anyway, here's the idea. These are all the diaries and topics that are in my diary cue. I never finished most of them, and I usually only finish a diary if I just sit down and write it out in 45 minutes to an hour.
I thought it would be funny to put them all up at once. I left them in the original format.
I did remove one diary, because it would have been silly to use an interesting idea like this and get it sidetracked by old wounds.
Diary 1-
This was going to be a diary about the biological imperative of the teenager to see things in completely black and white terms. It was based on an idea that my brother shared with me when we were talking about stupid things my teenager does.
Thesis?
The teenage mind is preparing to leave the protection of the family. If the teenage mind were susceptible to the distractions of nuanced thought, it would hinder the teenager from being able to make the jump to a more independent life.
Is it true? I don't know. I thought it was an intriguing idea.
The Black and White Lies of the Teenage Mind
http://www.greenwich-post.com/...
http://www.jennifergrayphd.com/...
Diary 2-
Dear Christian Conservatives- I get it. I really do
I was just trying to write out a diary that took the rhetorical trick of conning christian conservatives into understanding why they don't want religion in government.
Thesis- Government will mess up religion more than religion will help government. Bad trade off.
Is it true? I think so.
In your mind, the US is a Christian nation. You want it to be that way so badly that you'll allow people to lie to you, and you'll appeal to a whole host of fallacious arguments in attempts to demonstrate this.
I get it.
If you are a devout Christian of the conservative type, then you see no possible moral power that is higher than the God that you share with your Muslim and Jewish friends.
A. Your God is the best evah.
If you are a conservative American who has snuggled down into the concept of the exceptional nature of the US, then you've also got the US listed as the greatest nation ever.
B. Your country is the best evah.
There is only one logical outcome for you here. It's a set up.
Logic dictates this conclusion:
If the US is the greatest nation in the history of the universe, and if it has some special place in the plan of God, then the only reasonable conclusion from your perspective is that the US is a Christian nation, because if it weren't, then one of your basic premises would be flawed. How could we be the greatest nation evah if we aren't chosen by God? How can God choose us if we don't have the core guiding moral principles of his word written into our law?
75% of the people in this country claim to believe in the Christian god. It is probably incredibly difficult for you to imagine a way that the nation itself wouldn't be a Christian nation.
You're also frequently told that most of the founding fathers were believers in Christianity. That's not entirely true. Even if it were true, it would be irrelevant.
Is it possible that the founders could have held their own personal beliefs in a God of some sort, but could also have seen that the nation they wanted would be one in which the institutions of the nation would be able to influence the institutions of God?
Think of it that way. Did the founders recognize that it is unwanted for the government to intrude on the business of the church?
If they recognized that this was a possibility, wouldn't it have been in the interest of their own personal Christian sensibilities to do what was necessary to prevent the federal government from intruding into the business of God?
The only reasonable way to avoid this trap is to recognize that the best thing for your Christian beliefs is to keep them away from the sullying influence of Democratic governance.
The founders, Christian or not, secularized our nation with the writing of the Constitution.
Why? Did they do it to demean Christianity? No.
You are now able to engage in a religious tradition of your choice that is free from the intrusion of the government. The reason that you have this freedom is because the founders prevented the federal government from influencing the private religious institutions of Americans.
By not dictating religion from the government roost, we have had along and diverse religious tradition in this country.
If God is omniscient, then God's word is eternal, and changing the word is not acceptable.
Democratic governance, on the other hand, has one main feature- change. It is changed frequently. Laws and rules are discarded for newer laws and rules. We outlawed slavery, most forms of discrimination... Those are things that are the result of the changing mood of Americans over time. Humans changed those rules.
Were the abolitionist movements and the civil rights movements driven partially by religious believers? Yes.
I think you have to ask yourself if those religious believers would have been able to work in opposition to a state religion. Did they change those situations because of the connection between church and state? Or did they change those situations because of the independence that is required by the federal constitution?
Do you want your guiding beacon of moral law to be susceptible to the ever changing whims of the electorate?
Think about this: If you combine religion with government, you weaken religion more than you strengthen government. You open your religion to prospect of broad changes as the mood of the citizenry changes in accordance with understandings of the world unrelated to the spiritual.
Diary 3-
The best political strategy
Thesis? I think I was trying to make some commentary about considering whether we want politicians to sound as aggressive in their rhetoric as AM radio hosts.
Is it true? I don't know. I'm just wonder what I mean when I sayd, "I have a har..."
I wonder how far into political strategizing people get when they are assessing what politicians should say or not say.
I have a har
Diary 4-
Adventures in Teaching- Informal Science
I think I wrote this with the intention of publishing it to the teachers' lounge group or something.
As you can see, it doesn't get finished.
A long time ago, when I was in high school, I had an idea. I figured I'd become a teacher. I know that a lot of kids decide that they are going to be a teacher when they are with teachers all day long. It just seems like a reasonable decision at the time.
I held on to that idea.
Life intervened.
As a classroom teacher, it is very difficult to be engaged in your child's daily routine with school. Depending on the grade you teach and the grade your child is in, you often have to arrive at school to teach far earlier than your child.
My wife and I were both teaching, and we were carting a one year old boy around to daycare. One day, I had a small accident in my Buick Century.
Picture for included for educational purposes only. Do not fantasize about owning such a beautiful driving machine. You will only get hurt.
The accident was very small, but it still backed up traffic in the tunnel, and my wife happened to be in that traffic. She called me on her lunch break and suggested that I stay home.
I did.
After a couple months of trekking the urban wild with my newly walking waddler, I craved some -money- intellectual stimulation. So what did I do? I decided to work at a video store.
Eventually, I would find separate part time work in the field of informal science teaching.
Diary 5-
So I Started Watching a Lot of Lockup
Thesis? I don't know. Something about something something and unfairness and show jails that are like show cities in old Communist E. Europe. Maybe.
Is it true? Who really knows?
I like stories that are glimpses into the lives of people I wouldn't otherwise know.
I started watching Lockup on MSNBC one night out of boredom and lack of access to a proper sized bag of Cheetos.
I
Diary 6-
Hi, My Name is John Boehner
Thesis? John Boehner gits crunk? I'd say crazy crunk, but that's redundant.
I know that this is a Democrat place, because I "surf the webs" all the time. I jusht want to shtop;; by and d give you all shom intershting news about the reshent eventsh in ALazhona politics.
But fursht, are you from a plce with rainy an gry weather? IF so, you cant go wrong with shparay tan in a bottle. Its relly jusht like teh real shunsine.
Stop layin' around in those icky beds.
The proof ish rihgt in front of you.
Now, i hear that you all have problemsh with teh Arizb ama law that 55$ of Arzhonins support. Wul, I'm hear to tell you that 65% of Arizona shuports that law, and the federal govermnet shoul just leave them alone! Leave ARizona ALon!!!!
Okay!
Well, it's time to hit the clubs.
If you think this isn't 3 paragraphs, then you cant math. 79% of Arizhohnians support my right to claim that 1000 words is the same as a picture.
Diary 7-
Short Diary about Funny Pictures
Thesis? Eh.
Is it true? I guess. It's hard to argue with.
With the advent of photography came funny pictures.
Diary 8-
Omaha gunman kills 9, self
Thesis? News story. Suicide. I was prompted by the suicide note in the story to write about a sibling who was adopted out.
Is it true? Yes/.
I don't know exactly how long ago this happened, but in the AM, President Bush was giving a speech about Iran. He was saying how Iran needs to come clean and tell us everything they are doing with regards to nuclear power.
Unfortunately, there was other news in Omaha later in the day.
http://today.reuters.com/...
A gunman opened fire from a balcony in a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska, on Wednesday, killing nine people and wounding five, police said.
It's a tremendously sad event. These things always are. I don't know anything about the shooter, but the radio report I just heard indicated that he had left a suicide note.
I have intimate experience with suicide notes, having been given the note left by my Mother. The note sat unread for some 12 years. It was given to me following my 18th birthday, with the specific directions to "not read it unless fully prepared." It sat for another 5 or 6 years, until I wasn't prepared, but I was at least prepared to ask for help.
The life path my Mother took, viewed in the rearview mirror, is one that takes place at the junction of strict Catholic upbringing and 1969. She had 3 children by 3 different Fathers. The stress of being the oldest child in a dysfunctional, abusive family can lead to negative outcomes.
Until 4 days ago, I thought that she'd only given birth to two children by two different fathers. However, inside of a box of highschool papers, I uncovered a document that indicated she had been sent out of the Iowa, all the way to California- in order for my 17 year old Mother to give birth to a child who would then be given up for adoption. Nobody alive in the family had any knowledge of this. Not even her younger brother by 3 years.
Were there things that could have prevented the tragedy?
Diary 8-
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Thesis? I think I was testing upside down text.
Is it true? There is only one user who can tell us, and he lives at the end of a long brick road.
˙ǝʇǝlǝp ǝsɐǝld 'pǝıɹɐıp ʎpɐǝɹlɐ
lkjd;alkjdf;lakjdf;lakjdf;lakjdsf;lkjads;flkja;sldfkja;sldkfj;alksdfj;lakjdfs;lakjdf;lakjsdf;lkajdf;lkajdf;l
Diary 9-
California Charter Schools Guy Indicted
Thesis? I don't know. I can't find the original story. This is from, like, 2008. I usually have this idea that it would be great to see national stories about bad stuff that happens in charter schools and with vouchers. We always have to hear about bad stuff in public schools, why not charter schools?
http://www.edweek.org/...
Diary 10-
When is an Error Just a Mistake?
Thesis? Sunk Cost Fallacy. George W. Bush couldn't pull out of Iraq, because he'd already wasted too many lives and too much money there to leave now.
It's like that old piece of crap car. You keep putting money into it, and you justify it by saying you've already put money into it.
Is it true? Sure. Why not. I invested enough time in writing the piece 5 years ago that I'm actually publishing it now.
It is not unlikely that George W. Bush will go down as the worst President in the history of the US. Double negatives and passive voice don't usually make me happy, but I wanted to leave some possibility that a man of such soft mental makeup would eventually be swayed in a positive direction by the end of his term. His Deciderness may eventually be able to rewrite his story with the help of his brother's educational software company. Who knows? "George W. Bush" might just be the answer to a variety of questions put to our children via the NCLB act.
In the recent issue of Scientific American, publisher of Skeptic Magazine, tries to explain exactly where Bush is coming from, and what another president did in a horrible situation.
Why should I care if Bush ends up almost worst or worst?