orichalcum

3 out of the 10 Republican candidates last night, Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and Tom Tancredo, said that they did not believe in evolution. They weren't asked whether they'd allow it to be taught in schools, but still, I'm kinda uncomfortable with the thought of electing someone who denies reasonably well established science.

Thoughts? What's a deal-breaker for you on a candidate, Dem or Repub? I note that being anti-abortion isn't for me, although I'd certainly take a strong anti-choice platform into significant consideration. Active homophobia, racism, or sexism probably is, though.

Apparently, Mac decided to let me in on the thriving cross-fence trade. I was working in a chair next to his playzone when I feel him tapping on my arm, having pulled up to the top of the fence. I look over at him, and he happily hands me his neatly folded diaper. I smile, take the diaper, and then take him to get a new diaper and a refastened onesie.

So, everyone's fine, is the three-word version. Mac was grabbing for the phone on the coffee table this morning and managed to gash his forehead, right in the crease of his right eye, and it bled a bunch and didn't stop bleeding, so on the advice of my pediatrician I took him to the E.R. where there is indeed the giant fish in the aquarium mentioned by La Famille Ubiquitous, which we had a long time to look at cuz we had about a 2 hour wait, but then the triage nurse and the physician's assistant and the nurse and the doctor all saw him sequentially and decided he didn't need stitches or even SuperGlue, which is apparently how they deal with minor cuts these days, and sent us home with some bandaids and neosporin and a big swollen bruise.
Also, he weighs 22 lbs, 12 ounces.

msarden and mrmorse, we're still considering whether we should tell your mom?

I was going to have a nice productive morning finishing up the last of these darn encyclopedia articles, and then take the baby and the dog for a walk, as it's a lovely day, and then win Zelda. But it's 1:16 and I haven't even managed to shower yet...

My dependents have set up a racket. First, Mac leaned over his baby-fence and stealthily pulled over the box of gingersnaps that A. had left on the ottoman on the other side. He was playing with them for a few minutes before I realized what was going on, but luckily, he can't actually open the container. Then, Eowyn came over to the fence and started sticking her tongue through the fence and carefully depositing shiny bits of paper from the soda water bottles, for McLevy to enthusiastically grab and start playing with. I had carefully eliminated all shiny bits of paper from his play area several days ago after he started chewing on one, but apparently Eowyn wanted to share.

Pair of rogues, they are. What's the point of having a baby area if there's a black market operation going on?

I want to know how Mac suborned the puppy, that's what I want to know.

I'm giving the following anonymous survey to my students today. I'm curious as to the answers of people who read this LJ. Feel free to answer anonymously or use your name as you prefer.



1. Do you think men and women behave differently in society because of biological reasons, because of the roles imposed upon them by their culture and upbringing, or some combination?


2. Do you think that sexual orientation is biologically determined or a result of choice and upbringing? Is your answer different for men and women?


3. Do you believe that people can be bisexual, or that all people are either straight, gay, or lesbian?


4. Do you believe that men and women have fundamental personality differences? If so, how would you describe the general common personality traits of men? Of women?


5. Write down three words or phrases that you associate with ancient Greece.


6. Write down three words or phrases that you associate with ancient Rome.

So, it's really flattering that this many people want to take my Roman Civ class. But you know what, people who are _still_ emailing me on the first day of class, a month after registration, a month after the class sold out and I developed a 20 person waiting list, who all want personal responses and want me to understand just how important it is for _them_ to take this particular class? Give up! No, the 21st person will not make it into the class. There are 120 seats in the classroom, and 120 people signed up. If all the waiting list people come to class today, they will be standing in the aisles. I really, really wish that my department, like the other clueful departments, used the automated waiting list system...

Baby:
Bads: He does much better on a regular schedule, and when traveling and in strange places, tends to get much more upset and cranky. This meant that I didn't follow the original plan of leaving him with relatives and going up to Conncon by myself, because he clearly wasn't up to being left by both Mom and Dad. As it is, he's pretty upset about missing his Dad, who's away on business for the next two days. He started crying when his Grandad was playing with him because he would look at Granddaddy's face and his brow would furrow and he'd realize, "That isn't Dad, even though it looks like him. It's a Dad-imposter!"

Goods: He got to see his Grandad and Grandma and Aunt msarden and lots of awesome people at ConnCon. He's babbling like mad; at dinner he said "Blah-blah-blah-blah," and on Sunday he said "Growl." The word, not the sound. Also, he's very clever if disobedient; he knows he isn't supposed to go for the tv cable, so now he'll crawl over to it, grab it, and then immediately look back at me. When I say "No" to Eowyn rather than to him, he stops what he's doing and looks confused. On Friday, someone on the NJ Transit train we were on proposed instituting mandatory babies on all cars on the evening commute, because he managed to cheer up an entire line of people waiting to get off the train. I suspect this is significantly because he's perfected this slow, shy smile, which makes strangers think, "Wow, I've charmed this shy, quiet little baby and I've made him smile! I must be really special and cool!" They don't realize that he does that to everyone, poor saps. :)

Dog: All clean, and in her usual extremely well-behaved mode post Puppy Camp.

Work: I start teaching again today. I had anxiety dreams about the 120-person lecture class. Maybe, at some point in my career, I'll eventually stop having anxiety dreams. That would be nice. Still waiting for April 4th to hear any news job-wise.

It was a good weekend, but very tiring; I need a vacation where I actually get to really relax.