Not necessarily anything big about anything over the past few days, but certainly some random potshots at stuff.
Anna and I had dinner with some friends on Saturday evening. In the course of the post-meal, we wound up getting onto the topic of religion (as well as a bunch of other things that aren't relevant here). As we were talking, I finally came up with the definitive way to describe (and understand) my reactions to blatant religion and the holiday season etc. And the description has everything to do with the sub-heading above.
Someone who identifies themselves as Christian (for example), has a very strong probability of also believing in Christ. Likewise for most of the major religions. If someone identifies themselves as being a part of that religion, it generally indicates that they go along with the basic tenets of that faith. And then there's me. I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be other Jews out there with similar troubles, but wouldn't know (and am not quite sure how I'd even go about finding out for that matter).
By heritage, I certainly identify myself as "Jewish". I was Bar Mitzvahed and spent a lot of my earlier childhood going to temple. [And I believe I've talked about this in an earlier entry.] However, by current belief, I'm not even close. The part of me that currently "believes" (regardless of what I believe) doesn't actually care that much about other people and how they celebrate or what they celebrate. But, then, there's that heritage-based core that just gets downright cheesed-off at seeing all of those blatant Christian (and any other) symbols pushed into its face.
It's an interesting question - identification versus belief, and one I'm not going to go into any further right now.
Normally, I'm lazy. I'm perfectly prepared to admit it. If I had a choice between lying on the couch, reading, or taking a walk, you'd better make sure there's a comfortable pillow waiting for me. So I was a little surprised yesterday when, pretty much by common agreement, Anna and I decided we didn't want to stay at home (although she rarely does, even when she's being "lazy").
<tangent> Somehow, Anna's definition of lazy and mine are dramatically divergent. For her, "being lazy" means doing stuff like going to the mall and watering the plants and maybe going out for a walk. For me, lazy means lazy. That means I want to turn into a lump either on the couch or in bed or plopped down in front of the computer. I'm not sure we'll ever change each other on this one. </tangent>
So, since we hadn't been there, we decided to drive to Princeton (it's only about 15-20 miles away) and wander around for a little bit. Walking around a town / city is an acceptable way for both of us to spend time, evidently, although she usually takes it as an opportunity to look at clothes and purses. On the up side, though, we did pick up a nice room divider (think shoji screen).
The wierd part was that I'd sort of been thinking about taking a ride to Princeton also, but for a couple of very different reasons. For one, some of the jobs that I'd seen were down in Princeton and I was curious about how bad the drive would be (bad enough). For the other, though, I'll admit to starting to think, although just a little, about changing career paths and the new path I've been contemplating is teaching. So, I wanted to see what Princeton was like.
So, having had so much luck looking at what other technical jobs are available, I've started (very very mildly) thinking about teaching. Experience shows that I'm a decent teacher at least in one-on-one situations, which, of course, says nothing about a classroom. Not to mention that I don't even have a Masters, although I've got a lot of life experience.
I'm sure this is more a sign of rut-edness than necessarily a real desire for taking up teaching. After all, being honest with myself, it would result in a definite pay cut and I'm not selfless enough to think that's a good thing. And let's not forget about the professorial politics and the need to teach a fairly set curriculum. I suspect that it's a lot more boring than I can possibly imagine.
But, on the other hand, just think of the opportunities to shape other people's minds and really get them thinking. Ah, I'm sure this is just another "What if..." and I've certainly built up quite a few of those, haven't I?
Author: ben@tmk.com