No time at all

Ugh, this week is so crammed full of stuff it's unbelieveable. Fortunately I was wise and decided to keep most of the weekend free, getting to spend a bit of time with Aelf and a bit of time just relaxing sounds heavenly. Especially since next week is probably going to be worse, and I can't even think too much about the week after as it's crazy busy. Don't get me wrong, it'll be fun, but there's just lots and lots to do.

In the meantime it's good to be back in class again and the number of times I heard "We're so glad you're back, Ellie!" last night was deeply gratifying. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my troupe, and how cool everyone in it is? If not I should have because I do and they are. We're starting to work now on a big Rakkasah production and we've gone back to swords which pleases me greatly. We each got a homework assignment, to come up with moves with the sword that we think would look good and could be fairly easily taught to the troupe. I like this creative process a lot, and love the fact that we have a troupe leader that encourages it.

(no subject)

Happy as I am about many of the results from yesterday's elections, particularly here in California, this just about breaks my heart:

Supporters of the new standards said they will promote academic freedom. "It gets rid of a lot of dogma that's being taught in the classroom today," said board member John Bacon.

The new standards say high school students must understand major evolutionary concepts. But they also declare that the basic Darwinian theory that all life had a common origin and that natural chemical processes created the building blocks of life have been challenged in recent years by fossil evidence and molecular biology.

In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

The new standards will be used to develop student tests measuring how well schools teach science. Decisions about what is taught in classrooms will remain with 300 local school boards, but some educators fear pressure will increase in some communities to teach less about evolution or more about creationism or intelligent design.

"What this does is open the door for teachers to bring creationist arguments into the classroom and point to the standards and say it's OK," said Jack Krebs, an Oskaloosa High School math teacher and vice president of Kansas Citizens for Science, which opposes the changes.

Gosh, imagine the power each and every one of us could control if we could just redefine whatever the hell we wanted to. It's almost enough to make one giddy, isn't it? If you could re-write the definition of any term to suit your particular ideology or needs, what would it be?