Incredible...

I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I once participated in a community cleanup project where a group of us went to a park armed with trash bags, shovels, rakes, brooms and gloves.  We spent hours raking, sweeping, picking up trash, and pulling weeds.

We came across shopping carts, scattered piles of dirty / ripped up clothes, cardboard, and other strange odds and ends.  We found it a little odd to find so many personal items in one place, but shrugged it off.

It wasn't until we came across an aged sleeping bag, that we realized we were throwing away someone's only home.

I must go to a WRC tournament one of these days.  Who wants in?

---

the road not taken
robert frost

two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and sorry i could not travel both.
and be one traveler, long i stood,
and looked down one as far as i could, to where it bent in the undergrowth.

then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear
though as for that, the passing there, had worn them really about the same
and both that morning equally lay
in leaves no step had trodden black.

oh, i kept the first for another day
yet knowing how way leads on to way
i doubted if i shall ever come back.

i shall be telling this with a sigh,
somewhere ages and ages hence.
two roads diverged in a wood
and i, i took the road less traveled by
and that has made all the difference.

---

Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken" expresses my exact sentiments about attending school here.

I once memorized this poem for a speech in high school and, even though I didn't quite understand it back then, I've always thought that it contained a dual meaning.

Back then, I believed that this poem encourages people to take the "road not taken," and promises that choosing this road will lead to wonderful outcomes. 

Now, I truly understand and appreciate its air of uncertainty.

"though as for that, the passing there, had worn them really about the same
and both that morning equally lay
in leaves no step had trodden black"
When Frost first looked down the two roads, he thought that one path was less taken than the other.  But as he took steps down that path, he realized that both paths were about the same.

"oh, i kept the first for another day,
yet knowing how way leads on to way,
i doubted if i shall ever come back"
Frost starts to express a bit of regret here.  He knows that his path is not necessarily "less taken," so he want to take the first path too.   Unfortunately, he's kind of stuck on his second path..  and he knows that he can't go back.

"i shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence.
two roads diverged in a wood, and i, i took the road less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference"
What kind of sigh is this? A sigh of accomplishment and happiness? Or a sigh of regret and longing?
What kind of "difference"? A good difference? Or a bad one?
He doesn't know - he can't see that far into the future, he can't see past the bend in the road.  All he only knows that his choice is significant - that he will be sighing and thinking about it somewhere down the road of life. He doesn't know whether it will be a sigh of accomplishment, or a sigh of regret. He doesn't know whether it will be a good difference or a bad one.

And neither do I.

---

Do you know this poem? What do you think it means?

At some point, I may end up setting this entry to "private".. but for now.... let me tell you about my first impressions. 

I started "summer camp for new students" last week, and one of the first activities that they had us do was plant identification.  My first thought was:  "Oh. No."

I haven't had to identify plants since Biology AP in High School.  And even then, I disliked it.  Back then, I had the patience and capacity to memorize a hundred names of plants.  Today, I can barely identify them by family - ok, ok, I probably know a few genera - but I definitely can't name them by species.

Ugh. I am so out of my element.

Why can't we do something more useful with our time and energy?  I mean, you have a class of 170 bright, hard-working, and willing students.  Why can't we do a clean-up project that will have a meaningful impact on the neighboring community?  Why can't we put together a meeting for city officials?  Place compost bins in every kitchen within our own school?  Set up an electronics waste disposal event?

There's so much more we can do.  Don't waste my time.

That said, I had fun meeting my fellow classmates.

 I am definitely going to cry when I sell my babies.

My LOVE:

My other LOVE:

(((

Will be using Zip Car, Shuttles, and Trains. ((((

---

Ninja 250 sold...
Miata...

Yale also has wonderful open courses for everyone to enjoy in their spare time.

YALE ECON 252 - Financial Markets
(Taught by Robert Shiller. Enough said. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series.)
author:Robert J. Shiller, Department of Economics, Yale University

Financial institutions are a pillar of civilized society, supporting people in their productive ventures and managing the economic risks they take on. The workings of these institutions are important to comprehend if we are to predict their actions today and their evolution in the coming information age. The course strives to offer understanding of the theory of finance and its relation to the history, strengths and imperfections of such institutions as banking, insurance, securities, futures, and other derivatives markets, and the future of these institutions over the next century.

YALE PHIL 176 - Death
(Very, very intriguing lectures. Highly recommended.)
author:Shelly Kagan, Department of Philosophy, Yale University

There is one thing I can be sure of: I am going to die. But what am I to make of that fact? This course will examine a number of issues that arise once we begin to reflect on our mortality. The possibility that death may not actually be the end is considered. Are we, in some sense, immortal? Would immortality be desirable? Also a clearer notion of what it is to die is examined. What does it mean to say that a person has died? What kind of fact is that? And, finally, different attitudes to death are evaluated. Is death an evil? How? Why? Is suicide morally permissible? Is it rational? How should the knowledge that I am going to die affect the way I live my life?

YALE PLSC 114 - Introduction to Political Philosophy
(A little dry... but interesting nonetheless)

author:Steven B. Smith, Department of Political Science, Yale University

This course is intended as an introduction to political philosophy as seen through an examination of some of the major texts and thinkers of the Western political tradition. Three broad themes that are central to understanding political life are focused upon: the polis experience (Plato, Aristotle), the sovereign state (Machiavelli, Hobbes), constitutional government (Locke), and democracy (Rousseau, Tocqueville). The way in which different political philosophies have given expression to various forms of political institutions and our ways of life are examined throughout the course.

Game Theory
Benjamin Polak, Yale
(Watch this series for all the "games" that they play in class. )

This course is an introduction to game theory and strategic thinking. Ideas such as dominance, backward induction, Nash equilibrium, evolutionary stability, commitment, credibility, asymmetric information, adverse selection, and signaling are discussed and applied to games played in class and to examples drawn from economics, politics, the movies, and elsewhere.

Have you seen the "Justice" series by Michael Sandel, the Harvard professor? One of his lectures, about justice and Rawlsian principles, is especially enlightening:

PART ONE: WHATS A FAIR START?
Is it just to tax the rich to help the poor? John Rawls says we should answer this question by asking what principles you would choose to govern the distribution of income and wealth if you did not know who you were, whether you grew up in privilege or in poverty. Would you want an equal distribution of wealth, or one that maximally benefits whomever happens to be the least advantaged? After all, that might be you. Rawls argues that even meritocracy—a distributive system that rewards effort—doesn't go far enough in leveling the playing field because those who are naturally gifted will always get ahead. Furthermore, says Rawls, the naturally gifted cant claim much credit because their success often depends on factors as arbitrary as birth order. Sandel makes Rawls's point when he asks the students who were first born in their family to raise their hands.

PART TWO: WHAT DO WE DESERVE?

Professor Sandel recaps how income, wealth, and opportunities in life should be distributed, according to the three different theories raised so far in class. He summarizes libertarianism, the meritocratic system, and John Rawls's egalitarian theory. Sandel then launches a discussion of the fairness of pay differentials in modern society. He compares the salary of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor ($200,000) with the salary of televisions Judge Judy ($25 million). Sandel asks, is this fair? According to John Rawls, it is not. Rawls argues that an individuals personal success is often a function of morally arbitrary facts—luck, genes, and family circumstances—for which he or she can claim no credit. Those at the bottom are no less worthy simply because they weren't born with the talents a particular society rewards, Rawls argues, and the only just way to deal with society's inequalities is for the naturally advantaged to share their wealth with those less fortunate.

Vernal Falls

Yosemite Falls

Coming up next... Maui!!!

Then... 3 years of grad school.