See What I See!

I have been following the Republican primary race with sad eyes. The tears began to flow when Senator McCain gained a lead over the other contenders. To add insult to injury, Governor Mitt Romney suspended his campaign to unify the party. Unify it for what, liberalism? To get a taste of what to expect from McCain if he becomes the Republican nominee, feel free to check out this latest article by Ann Coulter entitled "From Goldwater Girl to Hillary Girl" at http://www.anncoulter.com

With these thoughts in mind, I was reminded of a quote in the play Hamlet, in which Ophelia laments the deranged talk and actions of Hamlet:

"Now see that noble and most sovereign reason
Like sweet bells jangled out of tune and harsh,
That unmatched form and feature of blown youth
Blasted with ecstasy. Oh, woe is me,
T'have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"

Oh, Republican party, why have ye gone mad?

In the Eye of the Beholder...

I suppose people think of strange things at night, mulling over the day's events and wondering what they could have (or should have) done differently. Needless to say, I often find myself in such reveries.

Earlier, I had been working on a report, when my boyfriend asked if I would be able to visit with him that day. After deciding that this would be possible, we agreed that I would call him after I finished my report. Wishing me luck, he then told me (in another language) to "study well/beautifully." I paused at this short phrase.

Which would be more appropriate, to study well or to study beautifully? Someone can study well and ace the test. However, can the person apply what they learned to their own life? I don't believe this is always the case. The Merriam Webster Dictionary Online defines beauty as "the quality or aggregate of qualities in a person or thing that gives pleasure to the senses or pleasurably exalts the mind or spirit." I'd like to know how many college students think that studying would fall under that which gives them pleasure! But then there is a liberal arts education, in which students are taught to learn for the sake of learning itself. Maybe it is time that students begin viewing the art of studying in a different light. Maybe, just maybe, we should begin to study beautifully...

Strange Mood

The last few days have left me feeling strangely complex. As I am a woman, I suppose that should not surprise me. Regardless, I felt drawn to a poem I read while I was in my senior year of high school. I still find its message timeless, and somehow appropriate:

Death Be Not Proud
By John Donne

DEATH, be not proud, though some have callèd thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.
From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be,	5
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
And soonest our best men with thee do go—
Rest of their bones and souls' delivery!
Thou'rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;	10
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!

(Poem accessed from Bartleby.com in the Oxford Book of English Verse)

America in a Tight Spot?

Forwarded by a close relative, I found this e-mail to be both entertaining and true. Find out for yourself:

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?' The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

By now the pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushing us toward communism/socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income,tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine,drugs, etc. While we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a time.

One should always remember 'There is no such thing as a free lunch!' [And we're always paying...special thanks to the IRS.]

Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a problem confronting the future of democracy in America, you might want to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God help us when the gate slams shut!