Something on my dad's keyboard is touchy, and I keep deleting things as I'm trying to update my journal. That's twice in two days. *pissy*
Anyway. I wrote this in a reply to a post by
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jameslentz. I had edited and added to it a great deal, and I think I can remember most of what I did. So, here goes, try 2:
I grabbed an issue of
Bitch: feminist response to pop culture from
jenhowell at the Christmas-card-making party. After reading it, I realized it was the first time I'd read something that actually challenged my mind and made me think, in ages and ages. I was disturbed at how little analytical thinking I do on a daily basis.
I bought a book by
Tom Regan called
A Case for Animal Rights. It's mostly philosophy, something I've never studied. So far I've gotten through the first chapter. It forces me, constantly, to think harder than I have in a long time. It's hard going but I'm enjoying it. And now I know more about Descartes, and Cartesian philosophy, and narrowing down a useful definition of consciousness, in order to actually be able to debate whether or not non-human animals have it.
I'm looking forward to reading later chapters--there's a chapter that's critical of
Peter Singer and his Utilitarian philosophy (not to be confused with Unitarians, although I'm sure there are a few Utilitarian Unitarians, and I dare you to say that three times fast). Peter Singer wrote
Animal Liberation, which was the first book I read that discussed the philosophical underpinnings of being vegan for ethical reasons. It's one thing to say, "I think modern factory farming is mean, so I won't participate," it's another to be able to discuss
why I think animals should have the right to lead lives free of pain caused by humans.
I've been tempted to try and make myself summarize chunks of it, just to make sure I really understood it. I find myself constantly having to reread bits of it, sometimes mouthing it to myself to make sure I'm really reading it, because I have a bad habit of starting to skim when I hit something I didn't get.
I keep thinking I should be a medical transcriptionist because I'd be good at it, and I could make my own hours, and have the ability to do lots of my hobbies and possibly have a business for Renn Faires and SCA/Pirate events. But I keep fearing my brain will rot....and then I think about becoming a nurse, and then I freak out at the amount of school I'd be looking at, especially since I know I wouldn't want to stop at being an RN. That and I fear getting into a career that leaves me too mentally/emotionally exhausted to do anything else.
I may just take a chemistry class this fall (assuming I've paid off PCC by then), and figure that even if I don't end up going to nursing school, it'll keep my brain from rotting to learn something new. I haven't studied chemistry since high school, and I took the "dumbed-down" version of it then. Of all the hard physical sciences, chemistry is the one I find the most fascinating, so it would be a good place to start.
In other news: got a load of laundry started. I keep just doing a load of dark clothes, because then I have plenty of clothes to wear, and then getting lazy about doing the rest. Tomorrow I'll do the lights, and my towels and sheets. I swear. Really.
My mp3 player is having issues. It's either the battery, or the connection to how you charge the battery. If it's just the battery, I'll be relieved, because I won't have to re-upload any music, and even if it's not under warranty, the battery is replaceable and I don't mind paying for it. If it's the connection, I'm going to have to put my music onto it again either way, and either I'll get a new one or I have to buy another one, boooo!!
My dad said he still has the receipt somewhere. Now I just have to poke through the Black Hole that is my room to find the damn box with the instructions, etc., including the warranty.
Here's hoping it's the battery itself, eh?
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