A grouse and a gladness

One problem about having the radio alarm set to NPR is that sometimes the first thing you hear in the morning just depresses or angers the crap out of you. Such was the case this morning when I heard about the latest update on BBC reporter Alan Johnston. The latest video shows him with an explosives belt strapped around his waist.

What the crap? If Palestinian separatists and dissidents want help and respect from the outside world, maybe the should drop the shit like threatening people who are there to tell their stories or killing wheelchair-bound cruise-goers or even blasting their own damn selves up in shopping centers! They've been pursuing terrorist and illegitimate means for over 20 years (in my lifetime anyway) to right what many people in this world agree is a political wrong. And what has it gotten them? Some of the worst unemployment in the world and a big fat wall. Here's a thought: try some Ghandi-style peaceful resistance. It took 20 something years in India, but it looks like you guys have all the time in the world on your hands, just no patience or even any realistic or reasonable goals. Here's another thought: I can't speak to the opinion of local Israelis, but I know that my Jewish friends here would prefer an Israel where Palestinians and Israelis live peaceably with dignity and opportunity. Your adversary may be actually be your ally if you stop and listen. But violence does not breed a credible partner.

There is some good news in my life. I don't want to post only on irritating subjects.

For one, Babydog has decided to sleep in this morning. This is good for me, because this means we'll probably have breakfast together, instead of her at 5AM and me at 8:30.

More excitingly, though, last night, I sent in my completed thesis to my thesis committee for their review and revisions. If I understand the process correctly, once they have sent it back to me, I make the changes, they and my advising professor sign off on it, I send it to the library and we're done! Since there's essentially nothing I can do with the content this week, I'll use this week to go to Staples and buy the correct weight paper that it's supposed to be printed on. And I'll run it by the library again to be reviewed for formatting. I have to admit that I'm rather nervous. Having worked on this for the last 10 months, I know the vein of my advising professor's comments, but not the general opinions of the committee members'. So I don't know what to expect when it gets kicked back!

TEN MONTHS! As Honey was saying last night, this thesis is past due. We need to induce! And how! I'm so ready for this to be over. And when it's done and we can stick a fork in it and it's published and I can truly chant, "no more pencils, no more books," then I'm looking forward to sleeping for two months and having a big ol par-tay!