My Place in the World

I think it's important to always be self-aware. During any given point in the day it's safe to say that any human being is on autopilot and may not consciously think about what we're doing. I know I'm guilty of it. Being in a routine is easy and at times we don't want to think. Go to class, take notes, try to stay awake, etc. We often find ourselves in stressful times, especially with the advent of finals. Guilty. We create worlds for ourselves. Guilty. For instance try and do the exact opposite of your daily routine. It completely mind fucks with you and the day seems special and ordinary. Well why is it that we don't appreciate each day? I feel that it is because we create the rules for the world in which we live. We set ourselves at the center and while we may not want to believe it, firmly believe the world revolves around us. Right now it is 7:26am in Italy at the Trevi Fountain. I wonder how many people are there right now? The famed fountain takes in 3,000 euros a day from travelers throwing coins into the water in hopes of returning to the eternal city. What are the stories of the people throwing that pocket change? Are they not in their own world? They've most likely traveled great distances to get to that fountain. Life hasn't always been easy for them. I just think it is important that we all step outside ourselves and look at the bigger picture. It isn't easy for me but is something that I need to work on. Children of soliders are lying awake wondering if their parents are safe. A single mother is working three jobs to make jobs meet. Somebody just found out they have only months to live. Write your stupid paper and get over it.

Bri is a stalker

Bri LeRose is a stalker. Firm fact.

Love,
Joe

Why do they do that?

One of the things I enjoy most about going home for any type of break is the fact that you get to go doctors' appointments. Why is it that the only open time they have is 8:30 in the morning? People go in at 8, 9, 9:30 but for whatever reason 8:30 is the ugly cousin nobody wants. I rather enjoy the fact that while they're cleaning your teeth the hygienist decides to ask the most complicated questions. How do you like school? It's good. What is your major? History. Was the United States, in your educated opinion, justified in dropping the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Well that is a question that requires a tremendous amount of thought and one must... They never fail.

Spring time is a good time. Being back home, even if for just a moment, re-energized the batteries and have me looking forward to the Summer. Good things abound. This much is certain. And it all begins on May 11th from the comforts of a porch on Central where my mind will face a noble and worthy adversary. As our minds are stimulated and fed we will fed the people. Get hungry. Get hungry for blueberry pancakes. Get hungry for Summer. Get hungry for laughter. Get hungry for unplanned evenings. Get fed.

TTT

At the start of my sophomore year of high school I was assigned to read a book for biology entitled, Thinking Things Through. It served as a basic study skills book to teach students how to approach complex problems. I barely picked it up.
In my reading of Robert F. Kennedy's Thirteen Days, in which he gives an accurate report of the events leading to and eventually the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis I found that my thinking mirrors his. Of course I have had the luxury to study the Cuban Missile Crisis and so I already knew how it would end and why the decisions made by the Ex Comm and eventually the President were the correct ones for the situation. However, I find that many of the questions posed by the Kennedy Brothers is similar to the questions I ask myself in any confrontation or issue that arises. Of course, I've never had the fate of the world on my conscience so the decisions I have made come to me easier and their repercussions far less grave. After all, the only decisions I've made have ever only affect my life and those around me. Yet, I never take for granted that what I do affects those around me. I only mean to say that I've never had world changing decisions to make.
For whatever reason I was struck by the arguments made by RFK in the closing chapters of the work that ask us to look at problems from the other side. I feel that all too often we hold strong to our opinions and never consider what the opposition might see.

Au Revoir

I can honestly say that I've set sail on the open ocean. All the ropes and lines keeping me at the dock have been severed and this is great news.