Free, At Last!

I've officially submitted grades for the spring semester, and now have a summer of total freedom stretching ahead of me.

Well, okay, I am teaching an online class for another university. And my wife has that long list of projects to be done. And I have my own list of projects. And I have four classes to prepare for in the fall. Where am I going to find the time?

Seriously, this should be a fun summer. My daughter will be one year old on June 6th, and she'll be toddling around before too long. She loves to be outdoors, so I think we'll spend plenty of time outside this summer. I need to buy a new tent so we can try camping (our current tent is a three person tent, which means it's barely big enough for two adults) in the backyard.

On the subject of freedom, I recently came across the Topfree Equal Rights Association. When the subject of women being topless comes up (which isn't all that often, so I must not live an exciting enough life), most women I talk to are still surprised that it's legal for them to do so. This is despite the public demonstrations that have been held in our own city on the subject.

I find it fascinating what a hold cultural conditioning has on us, that we may hear about something and immediately dismiss it as irrelevant. There are so many fascinating ideas out in the world that are hard to understand or accept because of cultural conditioning. It'd be nice if grade schools taught open mindedness and critical thinking as part of the core curriculum.

But I guess if we taught kids how to overcome cultural conditioning, they'd have nothing to rebel against later in life.

On a side note, if you were a student of mine this year at Muskingum, and will be in Columbus on May 20th, I'm holding a bonfire get together and you're invited. Send me email to get the details.