My wife told me about the book meme she had posted on her blog last night, so I figured I would join in. I chose to wait until I was at my office to do it (I had a specific book in mind.)
Here's the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123
3. Find the first 5 sentences
4. Post the next 3 sentences
5. Tag 5 people
Unfortunately, the book I had in mind was not the closest one when I started typing this blog entry. So I'll stick with the honest response and pick up Ellen Grigsby's "Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science" 3rd ed.
For example, fascism is presented as an ideology that opposes pacifism. Pacifism rests on the notion that countries can and should coexist peacefully and resolve disputes by nonviolent means. Pacifism is peace seeking and peace building.
Interestingly enough, my Intro class just finished our unit on Fascism. I was observed by the VP of Academic Affairs on the day I gave a reading quiz on the Fascist chapter (the chapter was about fascism, not the chapter openly sought to control my political, economic and social life through brute force in the name of the state). I will meet with him next week to discuss his observations. He actually took the quiz; however, he only got 7 out of 10 right. He has a Ph.D in history and has recently taught college courses on WWI and WWII, but he didn't read the chapter ahead of time. Still, he did say that he took some issue with getting only 7 right. I'll let you know how things go.
Hopefully he won't bury me in the cold cold ground,
Brad
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lights, camera, action!
Well, I got to sleep in because none of my seminary students were coming today. The good side of that is 2 extra hours of sleep. The bad side is that I didn't have time to shave this morning before I had to leave. In addition to my 2+ days growth I haven't had a haircut in well over a month (and my last cut was just the "edge" around the ears and neck.) So I was looking a little shaggy and scruffy. I wouldn't normally mind that for a Wednesday - I only teach 1 smaller class and the only other people I see are faculty or staff for meetings. But today...
I knew I was going over to the TV Studio on campus for what I thought was just a "prep" for my televised presentation, "Madame Secretary of State: Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice," on Friday, March 14th. Of course not, that would be too easy. It ended up being a recording session for a 2-3 minute interview with Dean Richard Strada about my presentation for an "ad" spot on OCC's cable channel. I did really well. Despite being very nervous (I can speak in front of 35 kids at a time, three times a day, or 400 people in a lecture hall and do just fine - but three cameras scare me?) my interview came off smoothly and appeared very natural (I hadn't prepared anything - but I know the topic well enough to fake it.) It's probably better to look bad and sound smart....
The alternative is just scary,
Brad
I knew I was going over to the TV Studio on campus for what I thought was just a "prep" for my televised presentation, "Madame Secretary of State: Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice," on Friday, March 14th. Of course not, that would be too easy. It ended up being a recording session for a 2-3 minute interview with Dean Richard Strada about my presentation for an "ad" spot on OCC's cable channel. I did really well. Despite being very nervous (I can speak in front of 35 kids at a time, three times a day, or 400 people in a lecture hall and do just fine - but three cameras scare me?) my interview came off smoothly and appeared very natural (I hadn't prepared anything - but I know the topic well enough to fake it.) It's probably better to look bad and sound smart....
The alternative is just scary,
Brad
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Very, very, busy...
I've decided to start posting again (before I go more than a month between posts!)
Last week I biked to work twice (and home once - my dear wife and boys picked me up on a particularly late and windy day.) This week I should be able to bike to and from work four times. Today I had a nice tailwind biking in; however, the wind has picked up and is still blowing from the same direction. I guess I'll get to experience the "fascist headwinds" as one of my favorite bloggers calls them.
I've introduced our department's office managers to Google calender. It has been so helpful in scheduling my program coordinator responsibilities (no more going back and forth between offices with paper calenders.)
Well, I need to head out or I'll never get home in time for dinner and ward choir.
I should probably block off a regular time to blog on my Google calender,
Brad
Last week I biked to work twice (and home once - my dear wife and boys picked me up on a particularly late and windy day.) This week I should be able to bike to and from work four times. Today I had a nice tailwind biking in; however, the wind has picked up and is still blowing from the same direction. I guess I'll get to experience the "fascist headwinds" as one of my favorite bloggers calls them.
I've introduced our department's office managers to Google calender. It has been so helpful in scheduling my program coordinator responsibilities (no more going back and forth between offices with paper calenders.)
Well, I need to head out or I'll never get home in time for dinner and ward choir.
I should probably block off a regular time to blog on my Google calender,
Brad
Thursday, February 7, 2008
One down, one to go...
It's basically over on the Republican side now that Romney's gone. I am personally disappointed. I didn't like McCain in 2000, and that was before his name began regularly appearing on legislation next to almost every liberal democrat in the Senate. Oh well! At least we'll still have interesting debates as Huckleby kisses McCain's butt in an effort to secure the VP nomination and crazy uncle Paul keeps failing to take his meds.
The Democratic nomination is still up for grabs. Though Hillary is leading, Obama is favored by the gamblers (59-41). If Hillary pulls it off, I think McCain has a decent chance. Obama, however, will run circles around angry old-man McCain in the general election. McCain's been the media darling because he was the "liberal" Republican. When he's the conservative candidate, the media will turn on him at every opportunity (the idea of any Democrat as president triggers their most primal pleasure centers.)
Enough politics - maybe I'll get a late start on lent and give up political primaries.
Last Sunday was Fast Sunday, and my wife and I choose to fast from lunch Saturday to lunch Sunday. So after running some errands on Saturday afternoon, we decided to let the boys choose what they wanted for dinner. My older son said "hamburgers" and my younger son said "hot cereal." My wife and I offered to get White Castle burgers for them. My older son was overjoyed; however, my younger son still said he wanted hot cereal. OK, so on the way to White Castle my younger son was bothering his brother, so I said "if you don't stop hitting him I'll get you a burger and you won't get hot cereal!" That did the trick. He was well-behaved the rest of the drive and happily ate his hot cereal and fries (my younger son would never give up fries.)
Who knew that a burger was such a powerful threat?
Brad
The Democratic nomination is still up for grabs. Though Hillary is leading, Obama is favored by the gamblers (59-41). If Hillary pulls it off, I think McCain has a decent chance. Obama, however, will run circles around angry old-man McCain in the general election. McCain's been the media darling because he was the "liberal" Republican. When he's the conservative candidate, the media will turn on him at every opportunity (the idea of any Democrat as president triggers their most primal pleasure centers.)
Enough politics - maybe I'll get a late start on lent and give up political primaries.
Last Sunday was Fast Sunday, and my wife and I choose to fast from lunch Saturday to lunch Sunday. So after running some errands on Saturday afternoon, we decided to let the boys choose what they wanted for dinner. My older son said "hamburgers" and my younger son said "hot cereal." My wife and I offered to get White Castle burgers for them. My older son was overjoyed; however, my younger son still said he wanted hot cereal. OK, so on the way to White Castle my younger son was bothering his brother, so I said "if you don't stop hitting him I'll get you a burger and you won't get hot cereal!" That did the trick. He was well-behaved the rest of the drive and happily ate his hot cereal and fries (my younger son would never give up fries.)
Who knew that a burger was such a powerful threat?
Brad
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Back on the bike...
Well, Aldetha came back from the shop in great shape. The most noticeable change was the larger and thicker rear tire - hopefully it will prevent flats on these terrible Jersey roads. The downside to the larger tire is a loss of speed. My average speed yesterday was 15.6 mph! With the old tire I could average at least 16 mps - even with a headwind. The upside of a slower ride is that I am working out longer - hopefully I can be more slim and trim for my visit to Utah.
Here's a fun clip from YouTube:
I love it because this is the only song I learned on the piano that I can still play.
Plus I have a fantasy about playing this as I enter a department meeting,
Brad
Here's a fun clip from YouTube:
I love it because this is the only song I learned on the piano that I can still play.
Plus I have a fantasy about playing this as I enter a department meeting,
Brad
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Out of action...
After Tuesday's ride, Aldetha needed to go into the shop. She's had 4 flat tires in the last 2 months which includes almost no riding during the last month. Hopefully she'll be ready this afternoon and so I can start up again next week (I'll be house hunting with our realtor tomorrow - so no biking.)
I hope you've noticed the "My Recent Workouts" section on the left side of my blog. That's where you can see what I've been up to as far as running and biking. If you want to know the details you can click on the activity and get all the details.
Following the example of my wife I took the Trekkie Test. Here's my results:
I loved the questions! If you have any interest in Star Trek, take the test.
It's like blowing up a balloon and something bad happens,
Brad
I hope you've noticed the "My Recent Workouts" section on the left side of my blog. That's where you can see what I've been up to as far as running and biking. If you want to know the details you can click on the activity and get all the details.
Following the example of my wife I took the Trekkie Test. Here's my results:
I loved the questions! If you have any interest in Star Trek, take the test.
It's like blowing up a balloon and something bad happens,
Brad
Friday, January 18, 2008
Goodbye 2007...
12/11/2007: 14.43-mile biking, 52:27, 16.5 mph
12/12/2007: 14.10-mile biking, 50:13, 16.8 mph
12/13/2007: 14.96-mile biking, 54:51, 16.4 mph
12/18/2007: 7.01-mile biking, 25:35, 16.4 mph
12/20/2007: 14.11-mile biking, 49:08, 17.2 mph
12/21/2007: 14.12-mile biking, 50:09, 16.9 mph
12/24/2007: 2.5-mile run, 21:49, 8:43 pace
12/27/2007: 7.2-mile biking, 26:46, 16.1 mph
12/28/2007: 3.0-mile run, 29:12, 9:44 pace
That's all for the year 2007! For the calender year I ran a total of 383.1 miles and biked 872.02 miles.
In addition to all that running and biking, I have grown so much as an individual. My family is closer than it has ever been - possibly due to Daddy being so much more happy with his job situation at OCC than he was with his graduate/Ph.D situation at UCI. I have come to understand myself in so many ways and I really like this person that I am.
I plan to make some changes to the blog for 2008, but I need to end for now and work on my Spring semester preparation.
Hello 2008,
Brad
12/12/2007: 14.10-mile biking, 50:13, 16.8 mph
12/13/2007: 14.96-mile biking, 54:51, 16.4 mph
12/18/2007: 7.01-mile biking, 25:35, 16.4 mph
12/20/2007: 14.11-mile biking, 49:08, 17.2 mph
12/21/2007: 14.12-mile biking, 50:09, 16.9 mph
12/24/2007: 2.5-mile run, 21:49, 8:43 pace
12/27/2007: 7.2-mile biking, 26:46, 16.1 mph
12/28/2007: 3.0-mile run, 29:12, 9:44 pace
That's all for the year 2007! For the calender year I ran a total of 383.1 miles and biked 872.02 miles.
In addition to all that running and biking, I have grown so much as an individual. My family is closer than it has ever been - possibly due to Daddy being so much more happy with his job situation at OCC than he was with his graduate/Ph.D situation at UCI. I have come to understand myself in so many ways and I really like this person that I am.
I plan to make some changes to the blog for 2008, but I need to end for now and work on my Spring semester preparation.
Hello 2008,
Brad
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