Wise Words from 50 Cent

It's raining today, but not heavily. I actually really enjoy the rain, and have never understood why people are so against it all the time. That old nursery rhyme about rain going away and coming again another day doesn't make sense to me; rain is both good for playing and good for listening to while inside. The other day it was raining pretty heavily here and I sat in my room with the window open, some quiet music on, a cup of hot chocolate, and just sat on my couch and read a really good book (a Douglas Adams, actually). But I guess my enjoyment of the rain would be much diminished if it came more often. I'll quote one of my favorite philosophers on this one: "Joy wouldn't feel so good if it wasn't for pain" - 50 cent. Which is actually quite deep, when you think about it; it's almost Freudian. The greatest pleasures in life come from the release from pain and tension, and if we were in a continual state of pleasure, we would be both exhausted and continually jaded. We can only make distinctions about quality in their contrast to other qualities, so it makes sense to say that if we only felt joy (or it always rained), we would not be conscious of the pleasure we would be feeling.

Well other than that philosophical digression, my life has been rather predictable lately. I've been doing a lot of research for my Paideia paper, reading and writing for my Philosophy class, and studying for Bible and Politics. I declared my major last night as Philosophy, and am feeling pretty content about that, although I'm fairly sure that my feelings on that regard will fluctuate pretty regularly within the next few years. Especially when the prospect of getting a job rears its ugly head and I have to think about the 'real world.' I think after college I'm just going to buy a motorcycle and drive to South America. That should be pretty philosophical; I could really utilize my major. How happy my mother would be.

So my room is basically the hang-out room for all of my roommate and my friends. It's been that way since the beginning of the year because we have a couch, a tv, and the all-important N64. That was pretty fun for a while, but lately it's just been rather tiring. I get home from studying in the library, practicing tuba, whatever, and there are always a bunch of guys in there. And inevitably, it will smell like a bunch of guys, which is certainly not pleasant, and it will be hot and stuffy. And sometimes they'll be watching a movie so I can't really just relax. There's no place to sit and all I want is to have a clean room with space to sit and relax. Tip to incoming freshman, wherever you may be: consider carefully whether or not you want people in your room all the time. It can be just as fun to walk down the hall to hang out, and come back to your own room when you want privacy.

Only a few weeks till spring break- it will be a tough few weeks, though. Wish me luck.

Take it easy,

Danny