Baby Squirrels

Despite the cheer in that title, this post is actually a little dark. This kinda freaked me out.

This morning a woke up very tired. Andrew's show is on Wednesdays, and I usually meet up with him and a few of our freinds afterwards. So, I stayed up late last night, but bravely stumbled to my 8:30 French class this morning. I did, after all, have a vocabulary quiz. I have to walk a small distance from the bus to my class, and on the way I notice three objects moving on the ground. As I get closer, I realize they were baby squirrel who must have fallen out of the above tree and received some kind of head wound. Their lower bodies and legs were squirming, but their upper bodies and legs wouldn't move. I didn't know what to do! It's 8:30 in the morning and I have a quiz. I keep walking, but I've been uniquely disturbed for the rest of the day. My French classmates were concerned about me. I had another class this afternoon, but I decided to go home and sleep. I feel horrible!

Significant Stuff from the Last Two Weeks

Good Lord Almighty, it's been a while since I've posted... So much to say!

OIL -

Wow, what a fantastic experience. It was very strange for me because I came in as a freshman, but came very attatched to Andrew Heaton. Andrew was elected Lt. Governor and is very well known throughout the entire organization. (I'm almost convinced it's throughout the world, but that hypothesis has yet to be tested.) Most freshman hang out with other freshman. Because of Andrew, though, I ended up spending a lot of time with the leadership. The leadership is composed of some of the most admirable college students of my acquaintance. Not only were they extremely intelligent and very capable of leading such an organization, but they were friendly and enjoyable to be around. I was particularly stunned with their capacity to relax about leadership issues when they hung out. At the end of session, the leadership resigning from the organization gave retirement speeches, which were moving. The friendships in OIL run deep and are without a doubt the sort of relationships I hope to leave college with.

Party at Jesi's Apartment Every (!) Night -

I've noticed that my apartment has become the social meeting place of the vast majority of my friends. People now just leave their Hookah's and alcohol at my apartment because they know they'll be back soon. I enjoy it, but good heavens I spend so much time just cleaning my apartment from the night before. Who has time to write a blog when you need to mop the floor?

Who took that? -

One thing about having people over is a lot of people ask me about the photography on the walls. I happily inform them that it is my work, but Saturday night I actually had two people ask for copies of the photo hanging behind the couch. Cool. I've taken some more stuff lately, but I have yet to go through and make some substantial additions to my collection on the walls. Other than the picture behind my couch, most of the stuff on my walls is several years old. I've improved a great deal since then, so I'm hoping to receive more acclaim for my work when I update.

Oh, Eastern Orthodoxy... Really, that's interesting -

Well, I think it would be strange to date someone and not to attend the same church--especially since he is a Religious Studies major, so clearly his religious tendencies are significant in his life. However, I never expected God to bring me someone who was Eastern Orthodox. Ever seen video of robed guys in Turkey with the incense thing on a chain? Yup, that's them. I've been twice now and have been slowly picking up some of the practices at home (such as crossing myself before I pray). Josh Jennings (Andrew's friend who is also Eastern Orthodox) told me that he was surprised at how well I was responding to the liturgy practices. I thought about it for a moment and realized that I come from a rather non-traditional religious background anyway. I've seen people fall backwards being "slain in the spirit" and people yelling out jibberish (speaking in tongues) and it all seems quite normal to me. Different people worship in very different ways. My feelings is that as long as we are worshipping Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was born of the Virgin, died and rose from the dead and believing in Him is the only way to receive forgiveness for your sins, I'm cool with it. Still, though, this change of religious tendencies is a little strange for me and I'm hoping to speak with the priest of the church I've been attending about it.

So much more to say, so little time.

Problems with Objectivism

I have been adament about my support for objectivism, but perhaps I should make clear one of my objections to this philosophy as this mysterious John Galt begins leaving messages on my blog. The first is that Ayn Rand sets up a world where people tell the truth as they see it and harshly criticizes anyone who accepts lies instead. I have found this to deeply challenge me personally, but I've also found it deeply divisive to actually express this on someone else. I think people need to think for themselves and that means I need to not demand that people follow my ideology because I tell them so. My Christianity teaches me to be as Bold as Lions, but at the same time as Gentle as Doves; one must speak the truth in love. So, Mr. Galt, whoever you are, if you wish to speak the truth, fine, but do so in love. James is a dear friend of mine and I know him to be an excellent human being. Ayn Rand, for all her insight, died a very lonely death because she did not know how to address people with verying opinions. I have many friends who are not objectivists and some who are violently opposed to that philosophy, but they are all dear to me, including James. I understand the heart of his comment, and that is what's important. The only thing you achieved in your comment to him was pissing me off.