no news

I like being a librarian. I like opening the library, putting the newspapers on sticks, turning on the computers and xerox machines, wiping down the counters, and making the place orderly and presentable for everyone. I have registered for my fall classes, the last classes I will be taking. Between 4 classes, studying for my oral exams, work, and a toddler, I'm going to be bald in patches and suffering nervous twitches by the time my birthday rolls around, but it will be worth it.

My mother swore she saw three ninjas dart by the back window this morning, but I assured her that ninjas were too stealthy to be seen in broad daylight. She ran outside with my camera and caught them in the act: the neighbor boys, actually dressed as ninjas. She printed out the pictures for them, and they were happy about how cool they looked. We scored points with the neighbors, I think.

Meanwhile, I had been suspecting that Gavin was a bit too happy to drop me off at work and say goodbye. Today I woke him with a kiss as I climbed out of the car and he mumbled sleepily not the word "bye", but the word "pie". Turns out his grandmother has been taking him across the street for cheesecake at the cafe every time she drops me off. Hows that for a little Pavlovian training?

One of my co-workers is an undergrad in a philosophy course. His professor gave them a self-diagnostic quiz to determine their philosophical standpoints. He didn't tell me what my answers meant about myself, but it was fun considering them:

You have to choose between the lives of a baby or a convict - who do you kill?
The convict, of course. I think a better question would be, "You have to choose between the lives of a 70-year old scientific genius and a baby, who do you kill?" (in which case, I say the baby.)

You're on a sinking ship full of men, women, and children, without enough live boats, who do you throw in the water?
The single men first, then the other men. If preserving life is the ultimate goal, it would make no sense to throw the wombs overboard. But if the swimmers were going to be rescued imminently, then I'd throw the women in, because women have been shown to have higher endurance against hypothermia. Of course, much depends on age, physical condition, etc, either way.

Death penalty? What about the innocent that get executed?
Yes. If the courts are sending anyone to death row for anything other than DNA-linked murders and ones with credible witnesses, then that's a problem with the courts.

Euthanasia?
Yes.

If you were a mother, and your village was invaded and you had to hide, and your baby started crying, would you smother your baby to save lives of the villagers?
I decided this wasn't a fair question, because it wouldn't be a conscious decision. You would either be so terrified that you pressed the baby harder and harder into your bosom until it died, or you wouldn't, and you'd be discovered and killed. Besides, this actually happened during the holocaust. The babies died. Not a happy thing.

I don't know, these questions sounded more moral than ethical. Ethical questions are much harder to answer, because they can be so subtle.
 

I obviously have no news today. I ate pita chips and hummus and strawberries. I took cold medicine. My nose is runny. I have a term paper due in a week. I'm still not in the mood. I have imaginary arguments with my neighbors. I'm brainstorming. I'm doodling. I'm just poking along as usual.

:)