I just got through with a fun evening of grading! Now I just feel like writing as a way of relaxing. Yes, in a very weird way, writing is relaxing for me. The only way I can explain it is that when I get my thoughts on paper, they aren't in my head quite as much.

I kinda wanted to write something thought-provoking again, but I think I'm not mentally capable of that at the moment. So, this blog is going to take a "Random Thoughts" format:

I don't think anyone makes me laugh as much as Jacob. Except maybe for Clint. But it's in two very different ways. Comparing Jacob and Clint is like comparing apples and anything not remotely like apples.

Clint loves Skittles. You should buy him some.

I don't see Amanda J enough anymore since she moved out of the house.

I need a new journal.

People whose recent (though only temporary) departure from Lafayette makes it not quite as enjoyable here as it could be: Stacey, Kelly, Molly, and Alyce.

Civilian losses in Lebanon are very sad, but I can't say that I blame Israel. If it's indeed true that Hezbollah is firing missiles from Lebanese villages, then it's pretty much Hezbollah's fault.

It greatly boosts my self-esteem when Ciji laughs at every little attempt I make to be funny.

What?

The complex narrative elements of a good wrestling match is something few people understand.

Pandora.com is pretty much the most awesome music-related technology since the iPod.

Okay, that's enough for now I guess. It feels good to get those thoughts out of my head and into my blog. Oh, and be on the lookout for more Friends installments. I have so many more I want to do. I like spacing them out though, rather than doing them back to back. And per the request of Molly, I'll try some more thought-provoking posts this week, too. Peace.

Thinking About Arguments

First of all, I would just like to thank Molly for providing a thoughtful and substantial response to the question I posed in my previous post. As for the rest of you: what are you waiting for? Get on the ball!

I have a new observation to make today, which is also about arguments, but not gender this time. Something I've noticed and been thinking about lately is that in my classes and just in general, people seem to be scared to voice their opinions about things, especially important world issues. My professor asked us in class recently why that is, and I couldn't think of an answer at the time. However, now that I've given it more thought, I've come up with a theory.

First of all, I think the question is actually misleading. To say that people are scared to voice their opinion would assume that people even have an opinion in the first place, and I don't think that's a safe assumption to make. It seems like a lot of people are apathetic or confused or ambivalent about many of the issues, and they don't formulate an opinion one way or another. So the question then becomes, instead of why are they scared to voice their opinion, why do they not have an opinion?

I think it's partly due to the failure of our education system, but moreso than that, I think the media gets a big chunk of the blame for this one, mainly in the way argument is presented on talk shows, news shows, etc. If you flip through the channels every now and then, you're bound to see people yelling at each other and really "fighting" with their words. They get emotional and upset, and often even resort to name-calling and insults. Let me ask this: have you ever met someone who talks a lot, and very loudly and assertively, and you rarely say anything to them because you simply don't feel like raising your voice to talk over them. I think this is what a lot of my generation is like. Everyone we see on TV has their snotty, stinky, loud opinion, and they're yelling it at us, and we just don't feel like thinking over the noise, so we turn our backs instead. It's not that we truly don't care what's going on in the world, it's just that the forum in which people express their opinions about those things is like nails on a chalkboard to our ears.

I don't know, what do you think? I'm mainly thinking about this for myself, trying to figure out why I've been so apathetic about politics and global issues for the majority of my life. And I'm not trying to fix all the blame onto something else. I blame myself, too. But I'm thinking that maybe the reason why I struggle to form opinions about such things is partly that I've rarely had a good way to do it modeled to me. Maybe.

~Ken, Born of Fire

An Observation

It starts at a fairly young age: we start noticing differences between ourselves and members of the opposite sex. It continues throughout the rest of our lives. Here's one I've noticed recently.

There's a big difference between the way men and women have discussions/arguments/debates. Men appear to be much more aggressive or assertive or blunt or something like that. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I've simply noticed that when I'm arguing something with another man, women often misinterpret the spirit of it. They think we are angry or upset or that something is wrong, when that's usually not the case.

I can explain it in terms of wrestling. Guys wrestle not to hurt each other or because they're mad, but for the sport of it. When we're wrestling, we're not "fighting." In the same way, when we're debating, we're not "arguing," per se, though it may appear that way on the surface. In the end, we're not mad, nor are our feelings hurt.

I'm not exactly sure what women do when they disagree about something, but I know it's fairly different from what guys do. I think this is a major cause of the "gender gap." When a man and a woman disagree with each other, it's harder to come to terms on the content of the disagreement because even the form of the disagreement is so different. In fact, I believe that it is frequently the case that the form is in reality the only disagreement, and prevents the two parties from seeing that they don't actually disagree. Of course, there is often real disagreement, but perhaps not as much as we think. That's just my theory.

Anywho, just some insight for the ladies. When you see us men disagree, just know that we're not "arguing," (in the negative sense of that term), and just let men be men.

What do you think?

Friends, Part 5 (For Real This Time)

Welcome to the long-delayed return of the Friends series. The person you see in that picture with me is my good friend Kevin Guillory. Yep, Kevin's my token black friend. ; ) Just kidding. I'm looking in the memory vault, and . . . ah yes, here's a good one: a file labeled "Late Night Rants."

Even though Kevin and I were roomates for a year back in 2004-2005, I never got to know him as well as have during this most recent school year. We both went through our fair share of drama, and whenever we needed to just talk to each other about any of it, I would often get a phone call that usually went something like this:

Kevin: "Hey, whatcha doin'?"
Me: "Not much, just readin'."
Kevin: "You about to go to bed?"
Me: "Yeah, but you can come up if you want."
Kevin: "Alright, I'll be there in a minute."

We'd end up talking fairly late, but I never regretted it. He definitely helped me out by lending his ear, and I was always glad to be an ear for him when he needed one.

Kevin graduated this past May and is getting ready to do a Chi Alpha internship at Sam Houston University! If there's one thing I'll miss about Kevin more than anything else, it's definitely "Late Night Rants." I do have a cell phone now though, so I guess we can still have the occassional Rant.

Friends, Part 5

I'm bringing back the Friends series either later today or tomorrow, but first I want to tell y'all a funny story. I went to CC's last night at about 9:30 or something like that, and since it was fairly late, I didn't want any caffeine. But I wanted an iced latte, so I figured I'd just get decaf. When I ordered, I forgot to say decaf and didn't even realize what I had done till the drink was halfway gone. Needless to say, I woke up this morning feeling like I had been working on a really tough math problem in my sleep all night. Don't worry though. Another couple of shots of espresso this morning and I'm doing fine for now. Though I'm expecting that after lunch, I'm pretty much gonna collapse like a Jenga game. What? I said I'm pretty much gonna crash like a meteorite. What? I said I'm pretty much gonna fall like Reggie Miller taking a foul. Later.

~Ken, Born of Fire

Checkin' In

I know I haven't posted anything in a while. The thing is, I've been writing a sermon, and usually, after I've been working on it for a while, I'm not really in the mood to write much more. Anywho, I finished the sermon yesterday, and I'll be presenting it Thursday, so after this week, you should see me start to post more again. I'm planning to do a few more installments of the Friends series, so be on the lookout for that.

~Ken, Born of Fire