Newbold and Plato? Yes, please.

Today was an awful day. Tonight, however, has been fantastic and exactly what I needed for emotional balance.

Zach, Sierra and I went to Crescent Moon an hour before they closed. I looked over classes offered at Newbold and grew excited (not that I'm actually going, but there is a small chance now thanks to Scott--yay for his knowledge and mad computer skills).

I'm interested in (with stars for what really gets me stoked):

• Literary Topics: Gender and Society in Victorian England
• Literary Topics: Women's Novels and Feminist Literary Theory*
• Religion and Violence in Sixteenth-Century Europe
• Topics in History: The Bolshevik Revolution from Lenin to Stalin
• Principles of Environmental Science
• Cultural Anthropology
• Marriage and Family OR Marriage Dynamics
• Social Psychology
• Theories of Personality*
• Sociology of Altruism and Compassion**
• Gender Roles in Contemporary Society*
• Social Thought and Theory
• Religion and Ethics in Modern Society
• Philosophy and Religious Thought

While sitting in Crescent Moon's back patio, I had film idea I'm incredibly excited about. Who ever thought a red brick wall could incite such passion? YAY! If I (& co.) ever actually make it, I may post it. I'd love to have it done for squerraldance, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

Once Crescent Moon closed, we wandered over to the 'lark. The crowd for open mic night had thinned since our earlier stop and this time we were actually able to find a seat. On the couch, no less. The Artist was there, along with the Stoner and the Crochet Queen. I hope I didn't insult the Artist by switching seats away from him. I needed the nearby table to rest my mug of Coconut Chai tea.

I brought along Pysch worksheets to fill out, but ended up reading my new Plato book instead. When it was compiled, it was the only English translation of all Plato's collected dialogues and letters. I found it at Avol's Books in Madison, Wisc. Total stokefest.

I could have felt bad about neglecting my pile of worksheets, but as Huntington Cairns said in the introduction: "To understand Plato is to be educated; it is to see the nature of the world in which we live." So maybe it won't boost my grade in any classes, but I'll take this form of education :-) Sure, this might not be the absolute best version of dialogue forwards and of Plato's work to choose from--but it's the only one I can choose from. I'm content.

Although the grand adventures with Zach and Sierra had to end because of lameass curfew, I'm not ready to end my happy evening. I have Bach spinning on my record player, light from a tall lamp with paints splatters on it's black base, and Socrates' Defense (Apology) to dig into.

Honesty is huge for me. Near the beginning of my book, Socrates says "it becomes obvious that I have not the slightest skill as a speaker—unless, of course, by a skillful speaker they mean one who speaks the truth. If that is what they mean, I would agree that I am an orator, though not after their pattern."

In that case, I wish everyone was an orator. Then, maybe, emotional balance for everyone wouldn't be often so difficult to find.
(no drama, no you don't want no drama.)