I can’t win when it comes to sleeping. Last night I got to bed at a decent hour but I woke up an hour and a half early. I hate being tired all day. I’ll probably nap at some point, without trying to. I’ll just fall asleep in the middle of something.
I have a mission today, check my voter registration. I went down to motor vehicles and entered my change of address but it has not shown up on the voter registration database. I checked last night. If it hasn’t gone through I can go back to City Island to vote but I’d rather vote where I’m supposed to even though I’m not as excited about my candidates. I did some research last night to see who my representatives are.
House of Representatives: Adriano Espaillat
State Senate: Jamaal Bailey
State Assembly: José Rivera
City Council: Andrew Cohen
I’ll be voting for Espaillat, Bailey, and Rivera in the election unless I discover something I don’t know. It’s disappointing that there are no women. In my old district I’d be voting for two.
You’ll notice that two of my reps are Hispanic, I believe they are both Dominican. In their honor I had longaniza and plantains. To be honest, it wasn’t in their honor. Plantains are a staple for me, I have them every week and I noticed the longaniza in the supermarket when I was there to buy something else; it’s a Dominican sausage. I try as many different sausages as I can.
I started making dinner at 10:30; that’s when my stomach felt up to it. I had a mild Crohn’s attack yesterday. I was not sure I was ready to eat when I did but I didn’t suffer any consequences. If my intestines were still obstructed, I’d have known.
My least favorite part of teaching is grading. Sure it’s tedious and you can drive yourself crazy deciding how much to take off but neither of those are the biggest problem. What causes me mental pain is trying to think like the students. I am so often immersed in chaos. I’m forced to see the world as a scary place filled with random traps and no rules. I’m forced to not understand what I understand without effort.
Social media is so often the same way. I go through my Facebook feed and say, “How can you think that?” “Don’t you see you’re being a hypocrite?” “You know nothing about this, why are you arguing with people that do?” I see people think that they don’t have to follow the rules they think others should. I see people confusing what they want to be true with the truth. I see people who are not only irrational but who don’t want to be rational. People who would rather make themselves angrier than change the thing that makes them angry.
Unlike grading I don’t have to read this. I have to learn to say, “this is just not worth reading;” even if it’s by a friend. I’m not going to rant against social media, the fault lies not in Facebook but in ourselves. I get plenty of pleasure from Facebook. I see people saying wonderous things. I see some people are willing to think. I just have to spend more time dealing with them.
Time spent changing your own behavior is generally more productive than trying to change others. Of course right now I’m trying to convince you do the same. I’m trying to change your behavior. Part of me is even hoping that you’ll read this and work at not being one of the people that cause me mental pain. I can hope but I won’t depend on it.
I’m getting frustrated. I’ve been sending music to the person, who has taken John Platt’s time slot at WFUV, the same way as I did with John. John sometimes embraced my suggestions and sometimes he didn’t. That’s how it should be. He’s introduced me to some of my favorite music, but has also championed “The Act” my musical nemesis. But he’s always acknowledged my suggestions. I have not heard a word from his replacement. If I were writing someone at iHeartMedia, formerly Clear Channel it’s what I’d expect. When it’s someone I’m on a first name basis with, at my local public radio station it’s different. It’s nice to be listened to. I’ll give her more time to settle into the new job and see if things change. I am spoiled.
Enough flailing. It’s time for breakfast.
Wise Madness 