Open mouth, insert foot...

And believe it or not, that's an awkward position to dance in! So yesterday night was dance class night and for only the second time this entire semester, there were more girls then guys. This was partially remedied by the instructor dancing with someone. That's all cool and cozy. We rotate a few times and it rolls around to my turn to dance with the instructor. Still cool and cozy. Someone asks a question about how the gentleman leads (namely, with which hand) so he goes to demonstrate this with my hand on his arm. Now, being a polite sort of person that's lived her entire life in a supposedly civilized country I don't usually go about laying onto people's upper arms with death grips (maybe I should start, might be fun). So he says something like "Go ahead, hold my arm, you won't break it!" and "Gee, I didn't think I looked THAT wimpy!" Haha, so I get a decent hold of his arm and he proceeds to tell the class that the lady's thumb should be in the fissure between the deltoid and biceps brachii muscles, and then adds, looking at me, "It's easier to find on some guys then others." Finally, given something to actually look for, I feel around with my thumb, and sure enough, thar she is boys! I then say, out loud, to the small, compact class, "OH! There it is! I was looking in the wrong place before!"
Children, the moral to this story is to keep your mouth shut whenever possible!!! And when you can't, learn to laugh at yourself.

So I was reading...

...the paper today, and came upon an article that talked about a man that worked for a charity (something cardiovascular related) that was embezzling money. Nothing new there, but he was embezzling it to pay his dominatrix! Supposedly she charges $250 an hour! Now tell me, why am I spending all this time in school, racking up thousands of dollars of student loan debt, when I could be making a killing by hitting and verbally abusing people? As far as I can see the only down side is that you'd be making your living hitting and verbally abusing people! I wonder what you'd tell your great aunt when she asked what job you had now days. And I suppose you'd get mighty sweaty under those latex clothes (all together now, one, two, three, eeeeeewwwww!). I wonder if it's powdered latex...you know, like gloves. If it's not, then how the heck do they get them on? Anyway, getting back to the story, the feller is now going to serve jail time, is being divorced by his wife, has to sell his house in order to pay back some of his dept, and will most likely be deported back to India when all is said and done.

And so I guess the moral of the story is, children if you are visiting a dominatrix, don't embezzle from a charity to pay her, and if you do, certainly don't get caught!

Can morality be based...

...on how much you know? Or in the case of my conclusion to the Ethics exam essay, what you don't know? In Kant's writings he speaks of a moral law that we should all uphold, and within that there are moral absolutes that we are all confined to. He says that you should never treat a human as a means, always as an end unto themselves. Therefore, stealing is wrong because you are using the owner of the item(s) as a means to get what you want. The question however, is whether or not these absolutes will stand up under any circumstances (if they're truly absolutes, then yes, they should). What about if you were one of the people that hid Jews in your house during the war? If a Nazi came knocking on your door and asked "Hey pal, do you have Jews in your house?", what would you do? If you are a firm believer in Kant then you could not lie. You could try doing a bunch of other stuff (distraction maybe), but certainly not lie. But how could you possibly stand there and convince yourself that you've done your moral duty by not lying and now it's in God's hands as to whether or not the innocent people in your attic die a horrible death? Korsgaard formulated a respose to this problem, and it works pretty well...except for a couple little holes. I'm not going to go into that here, because there's not enough space, but if you're looking for an interesting read sometime, might I suggest Korsgaard's response to the Rigorism Objection. That is where the opening line to this entry comes from. If you whole heartedly buy Korsgaard's solution then you raise the question of whether the morality of lying depends on the fact that you're lying, or the fact that the other person is unaware that you are a liar.
And children, the moral of the story is to never, ever take a philosophy class unless you are willing to dig deep into you very heart for answers, that may not come easily or at all, to questions that have stumped great thinkers for hundreds of years. And also keep in mind that once you take one, you might be hooked. ;)

What an expensive obsession...

...this little dance hobby of mine could become! Yesterday I spent a goodly portion of time looking at dance shoes on the web. Wowee, wowee, some of those things are mucho pesos! I'm going to ask our dance instructor if she has any great advice on style/location/price of a decent pair of shoes before I spend any money. I figure that what I need is something basic that I can use for ballroom practice, but also for slightly more advanced swing. I intend to join the Purdue swing club next semester as well as continuing ballroom. I don't want to break the bank book, but I want something that will be comfortable and sturdy. If I'm still this radical about it after the fall semester, and they've worn out, then I'll ask for a better pair for Christmas. Haha, I love a good backup plan! Guess I'd better start kissing up to Santa! ;)
So I found a little video tutorial on the net yesterday and gleaned (if we can pull them off) three more east coast swing moves from it. Really there's just one basic step, and then two variations on that, but they looked kinda cool, and variety is what we want!

Well, I have an upcoming Ethics exam so I'm going to hit the books, but the moral to this story children, is that...Kant rocks!!!

So I've been thinking...

And I know that you're saying sardonically, "Wow, that's impressive!", but hear me out. I'm beginning to realize that I'm getting increasingly bummed about not having dance class in the summer. I figure that there are three Good Reasons for this:

Good Reason 1) I might forget the steps I've learned (if ya don't use it, ya lose it!)
Good Reason 2) The human body can get outa shape mighty fast! Sure I could do some other exercise, but I enjoy dance so much!
Good Reason 3) Social interaction, I have managed to gain at least a couple friends in that class.

Now, my aunt volunteered to call up a bunch of the studios near home and scope out what they offer and what they cost (maybe this should be listed first). That would help take care of two Good Reasons at any rate. I dunno, we'll see I guess.

I suppose the moral of the story children, is to never take up a sport/class/hobby/habit unless you are prepared to become addicted to it!

Today's life lesson is...

never, never, EVER leave your dorm/apartment/house/or overpass with out your little boyscout bag with all you need to survive alone in the wilderness in it! "So" you ask, edging closer, "What incident could have occurred to make you discover such a life lesson Renee?" Well I'll tell ya. Last night the PU Ballroom Dance Clubs had a little gettogether, nothing wild, some music and friends and a lot of ballroom dancing. So after almost an entire semester of lessons, I feel prepared to go to this (and make no mistake, I had a blast!) but, being of what I feel is a slightly logical bent (and not liking to carry purses) I figure that there is nothing in my purse that I would need at this shindig, and therefore leave it in my room. I finally leave the place at about 11:50 PM (way after my normal bedtime) and am walking back when I vaguely recall my roommate telling me that they locked the doors to our hall at midnight and you have to have your ID to unlock it (thinking back, it might actually be 2:00). Seeing as I have no cell phone, no nothing on me actually, I run the rest of the way and got in at about 5 til. Now in retrospect I realize that eventually somebody else would have come in or out and would have let me in, but that didn't occur to me! So children, the moral of the story is, if you are going to go get wild at some ballroom dance social bring along the purse/backpack/fannypack/survival kit. Cause you never know when you might need a pencil or a stick of gum or your ID even!

stuff

It's almost the weekend!!!
Tomorrow night: Improv practice! Yeeeehaaaaa!
Tonight is dance class. It ought to be interesting. Last class we learned a new West-coast Swing step and my buddy Kaushik wasn't there, so I have something to teach him tonight.
I registered for fall classes today. If all goes as planned I will be taking:
Mutivarient calculus
Intro to Existentialism
Aeromechanics
Manufacturing graphics
(possibly, if I have to) English Comp
(if I don't have to take comp I might sign up for astronomy)
It will be...interesting...

The night before last I had the strangest dream. I don't often have nightmares. In fact, almost never. But I think this one, though not terrifying like some dreams, was so horribly unsettling that it qualifies. In the dream one of my younger brothers (17 years old) had terminal cancer, and at least one of his legs had been amputated. He didn't want to talk to me, he was completely shut down. He had fashioned a stick with which he could "walk", but he was so completely defeated...my roommate claims that that kind of dream means the person will have a long and healthy life...if you believe that kind of thing. I'm just glad that I've never had a dream come true! What a horrible thing that would be to live through! For the patient obviously, but also for their family and friends.

Well anyway, on a brighter note, I'm off to make a stab at chem homework.