2001-10-16
housework, running, vegetarianism, posted at 7:31 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Today is the day of the PSAT test, and thus my day will be fairly easy. I'm a break person for a few teachers who are moderating the test, and that's it. All classes are shortened to 40 minutes and don't start until noon.I'm going to try an unusual thing today, and pass out the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine" and then play it. It was on the radio the other day, and I was struck by its transcendentalist philosophies ("Imagine there's no heaven / it's easy if you try / no hell below us / above us only sky / imagine all the people / living for today...") and well as its contradictions to transcendentalist thoughts. The line "A brotherhood of man / Imagine all the people / sharing the world", for example, definitely seems at odds with the individual over society characteristic of transcendentalist thought. Since we're ending our study of transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau this week, I think it could work really well. Plus, for obvious reasons concerning what is occurring in the world today, the song is particularly moving. Bringing songs into the classroom is something I really enjoy to do, but I need to be a better teacher to do it more often. My classroom management skills still need some honing.
Yesterday, I shared an interesting tidbit with my students that I later regretted. Thoreau has this line in "Civil Disobedience" that goes like this: "It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have others concerns to engage; but it is his, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support." The kids were sort of getting it in one of my hours - a girl gave the example of her friends smoking weed and her not eradicating their behavior (re: calling the police), but her not joining in with it, thus not supporting it. A few other kids gave examples that led me to believe they understood the line. In the other class, however, they were zoned out (the piece is pretty boring, or at least I haven't figured out an interesting way to teach it... yesterday I was doing whatever I could think of-rephrasing things with light profane words and rushing around the classroom yelling like a madman). Thus, I gave the personal example of my vegetarianism. While I rarely (anymore) try to get others to become a vegetarian, I do believe in not supporting the concept of eating meat. Biology tells us that eating meat is a very inefficient means of gaining nutrients, and that we could feed the world six times over if we were to all become vegetarians. I told them that this was part of the reason I did it, because its rests in this Thoreau-ian philosophy that a person can be confident in the knowledge that if everyone did what they did, this problem would be eradicated. I don't actively get others to try to change, as Thoreau says you do not have to do, but I do see it as my duty to "wash my hands of it." Anyhow, I carefully worded it to say I was only sharing the information with them to make a point. However, it still turned into a much class discussion that was much bigger than I wanted. I quelled it down soon enough, but I still regretted what I shared when it was all over.
It's interesting that whenever I talk about vegetarianism with others, I re-examine the reasons I do it. I no longer think it defines me like I once did - it's really not a big deal. Unless everyone wants to eat at McDonald's or Applebee's, restaurants generally have vegetarian entrees, and most people are still surprised when I tell them I haven't eaten meat in six years. While I started it for ethical reasons (precipitated by the fact that I worked at a butcher shop throughout high school and beyond), it is now more of a health thing. While genetics have limited me somewhat in what sort of health I will be able to maintain throughout my life, I feel like vegetarianism is something I can control and is something to put me on equal footing with other people in terms of health and living a long life. (Note: I now also see the fact that I have to work hard on general health and fitness as another advantage, because so many people are naturally good-looking or keep their weight under control and don't have to do any sort of activity to maintain it, and because I've ingrained the habit into myself at a relatively young age, I see myself as having something of an advantage when I'm 50 and not having to change my lifestyle, only to maintain it.) I still think the meat industry is basically wrong and I think it's basically unethical to support an industry that supports so much suffering, but it's not something I often share or ever act upon. And those beliefs are wavering somewhat, as for the last year or so, I've been considering adding fish to my diet (I know fish and livestock are not the same thing, but the concept is still similar). I also recognize the inconsistency of consuming eggs and milk and wearing leather (which I try to stay away from, but still occurs sometimes) while not consuming meat; I try to justify it by saying that the animals were not killed for milk, eggs, or leather, but I know that they still suffer. With that decision, I simply recognize the impossibility and expense of living without those entities; after all, most breads, cakes, ice cream, cheese, etc, would be eliminated by a lack of milk or eggs.
In conclusion, the main reason I am a vegetarian right now, and will continue to remain so, is for health. Ethical reasons are now secondary and usually latent.
Change of subject: I bought an orange and black sweater at Old Navy the other day because I had nothing that existed in our school colors. I didn't try it on first, and brought it to school to change into after my morning workout. I'm wearing it now, and it feels all weird. I wish I hadn't bought it. The sleeves are too long, the torso is too short, and I probably look fat in it. If there were a mirror around, it'd probably confirm that last suspicion. Oh well.
Last night, I got so much housework done. I moved my bookcases and my stereo downstairs to my bedroom, in preparation for my sister's loveseat and couch arriving on Friday night. I hung some pictures. I cleaned the closet with a toilet in it in the basement, so now maybe I can pee from inside it rather than from outside the door.
I worked on cleaning from the time I got home at 5pm until 9pm, and then I went for a glorious run with Holden. I sincerely enjoy the runs I've been taking. I took an unusual path last night, and circled around 7-11 and into some beautiful suburban areas near my house. No one was around - it was completely peaceful. Jason had said he was going to go with me last night, but decided at the last minute not to because he was tired. I gave him a hard time about it, but in reality I'm not even sure if I want him to come. It's just so nice to be alone with my thoughts and not have to worry about anyone else. I feel completely free; I love the feel of the cold night air on my sweat-soaked bare skin, the feel of the pavement churning below me, the silence of the desolate streets. It's very calming. Any stress that I have simply folds away.
There were a couple of negatives: Last night, I stepped on the dog while running. He didn't much care for that, but it was his fault. Also, this morning my ankle, which I twisted last week, was pretty sore. It didn't feel bad at all last night while running, but today it was enough to lay me up from basketball. Also, my chest has been getting these weird pains when I begin my jog. I think because it's been colder or something, but it's enough to concern me. My family has a history of heart trouble, but no more than other families (my grandpa on my dad's side had triple-bypass surgery in his seventies but died of a stroke at the age of 77, and none of the other three grandparents have heart troubles); still, one of my greatest fears of dying of a heart attack at 50. That's one reason I've changed my lifestyle so drastically and lost 65 pounds in the last 14 months. Thus, the chest pain concerns me a little bit. If it continues, maybe I'll have to find a doctor. Right now, I'm assuming it's just occurring because it's been colder and I've been running deeper into the night the last two times I've been out. The fact that it goes away within five minutes leads me to believe it's a "warming up" problem. It's something I'll monitor, that's for sure.
When I returned, I lifted weights for a bit. As I was beginning, Jason came downstairs to join me, and showed me a few tricks that really gave me a good workout. It's called manual resistance, and hopefully it's something that we'll be doing more often together. It felt really good. I don't know why I haven't utilized his sports and training expertise more as our friendship has deepened, because he has literally years and years of it after wrestling in both high school and college. He now has other wrestling goals (they're private, so I won't air them out here - it's not WWF, so don't think he's become a freak or something), and has begun training. Hopefully we'll start to work out together, because I think he'd do wonders for my workout.
Tonight I'm going with my roommates to see Jill Sobule (singer of "I Kissed a Girl" and "Supermodel", a damn good songwriter) perform at Towson University, provided I can figure out enough details about the show to discover where exactly at Towson it is and how much it will cost. I know nothing about the college, just that it's very nearby. I joined the Jill Sobule discussion list today just to figure out the info; hopefully it'll work. I've been wanting to see her live for a few years now, and never have; I've tried booking her a few times at my old college, but never was successful.