Rain Party

Tis past Thursday Staci, Chris, Andy, and I had a picnic on the Centenial Hall roof. It was great fun even though it rained. You can check out more pictures here.

Leaving Your Mark

So we usually discuss such lofty ideas as international economics or The Rocky Horror Show but I want to talk about something a bit more baudy. (Baudy is the new trashy). Why do hickies carry such stigma? And why are they the things of middle school love affairs? Do normal, sexually healthy adults get hickies but they are now smart enough to put them in places other than the neck? When I see someone with a hicky, I think "Way to go!" but if I were to have one, I'd feel like Hester or whatever her name was with the big old A. (She should have been more embarrassed because she was named Hester, really). So, what's your take? Fun love welts? Or trashy immature suckerfish scars?

Blog to Encourage a Blog

I am writing to encourage other blogs. We have not heard from Staci or Chris in some time. But more significantly I would like everyone to encorage a new blogger–Todd2 to blog. I recently invited and he accepted a chance to blog with us, Todd S. Todd always has lots to say in the department and will offer interesting conversation for us all. So please comment and tell Todd to blog.

Quotes from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs gave the commencement address at Stanford recently. He revealed some interesting things. Namely that when he was diagnosed last year with a rare but very truthfully form of cancer the Dr.'s thought it was the more common deadly form and told him he had 3-6 months to live. Now that will ruin your day. But imagine the day he got the news they were wrong. Anyhow he also had some things to say that while not unique I thought were interesting enough to share. "...you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.. "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary..." "It was their farewell message as they signed off...And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." I particularly like the first quote.

Class, Income, & Wealth

The New York Times has been running a series of articles on Class recently. I have found them incredibly interesting. The micro subjects range from what it is like to marry outside one's class, how easy it is to change classes, how education plays into income and class status, and this weekend how the super rich are eclipsing the simply rich. I encourage everyone to read articles from the series, here. As for the blog and comments. I am interested on how you all view class and your place in it. Do you ever feel excluded from a certain class? Do you think America is more or less class oriented than in the past? How important is class or wealth? How difficult do you think it is to move up in class status? Are their components to class beyond pure wealth or income? And most importantly or interesting to me... should there be a cap on wealth or income. In other words should there be a point where one has too much and we as a society retake that wealth and redistribute it?