november 1, 2001. I think I'm going to have to stop reading James Lileks & John Scalzi for the next little while, much as I enjoyed their columns during the summer. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that 2 smart men have, along with so many others, decided that war is inevitable, logical and moral with no further reflection. My own personal feelings about the Taliban aside (which are short & vicious), I don't want to accept war & move on, I want to think about why we're in this place to begin with. Bringing up Hitler does not solve the argument, people. The points you score when you bring up appeasement are cheap points. Preacher called me up last night, looking for teacher's college info. He's had some really positive experience with his religious studies classes, and he's thinking of expanding his qualifications. The idea of Preacher in front of an elementary school class (religious or otherwise) makes me tremendously excited...he's grown so much since I first met him; become so much more gentle & caring as well as retaining the sharp intelligence that he always had that I can't help but think that any class would be lucky to have him. Of course, all of this is tremendously hypothetical right now and depends on several factors, not the least of which is Preacher feeling sure that he wants to go down this road. But the possibility is damn exciting nevertheless. He said, "I wasn't sure I should mention it to you, because I thought you might be upset that my motives weren't..." He trailed off & I giggled. "Trust me, when you're in teacher's college you see a lot of people with impure motives. And I think your reasons are some of the best I've ever heard. Some of these people...I have no idea why they're here at all. I mean, you have to want it, because the pay isn't high enough to compensate for all the crap you can endure. But there's a lot of room there for motives." this time 4 years ago: the best part was that nobody thought i was wearing a costume; they just thought i was wearing a tiara