The last thing I'll ever see ...

During Sing Song and Lectureship, I actually schedule time each night not for sleep, but for sleep deprivation. So it would stand to reason that I am bound to get sick at some point during this slow destruction of my body and sleeping pattern. This year, however, things were cooking along just fine. Seemed like everyone else was getting sick and dropping, but even after an all-nighter, I maintained. Then Saturday hit.

When I arrived at the office around noon, triple cheeseburger in hand, things were normal. Then I saw the light. Quite literally in fact. I began seeing spots of light all over my line of sight. And not just off and on. All the time. Eyes open or closed. I turned out all the lights in my office and turned on the pink lava lamp on the corner of my desk. In the unnatural glow of that lava lamp I prepared for the worst, even thinking to myself, "This is it. The last thing I'm ever going to see with my eyes is the Optimist office." I don't care who you are or how much you love your job, that is a depressing thought.

After a couple of hours the light spots got better and I decided, as my body started feeling achy and weak, that maybe it was just the flu or what everyone else was coming down with. A two-hour trip to the walk-in clinic of Abilene revealed that I didn't have some rare retinal disease that would strike me blind. I didn't even have the flu just like everyone else. No, it turns out it was just time for my monthly sinus infection.

Melanie, you once said I had a tendency to get deathly ill. So maybe this wasn't deathly ill (certainly it was better than being stricken blind), but I believe you more and more each day. Next time you want to make a premonition like that, let's make it something like, "Jonathan has a tendency to win Pulitzers" or "Jonathan has a tendency to have great skills." I think that might be better.

"The First Amendment allows people to have attitudes"

Well, my friends, it finally happened. I have been called out by Ben F. See. Apparently, he didn't much like the premise of my most recent column about the First Amendment (just scroll to the bottom to see his response). He didn't go so far as to condemn me or tell me to leave ACU, but I'm obviously not allowing God's law to govern my life as the "student adviser" of the Optimist.

I'm not so sure Brother See would fair much better on the First Amendment survey than the high school students I talked about in my column. Especially with his novel idea that the First Amendment now controls what attitudes people can have. I don't know which is scarier: that high school students think the First Amendment goes too far or that Brother See believes the First Amendment includes provisions for freedom of thought (or nonfreedom of thought from his point of view).

If you've got some free time on your hands, scroll through Ben's 20 other online responses to Optimist articles. That's some classic reading. Oh the joys of a devoted, yet misguided, reader. The man even inspired many lines from the second half of that column, so at least he provides me with something to write about in the paper ... and an entire post on my blog.

I'm in a glass case of emotion

I like to have terms to describe certain times in my life. For example, I described this Christmas break with one word: trendy. I know, I know, three months ago trendy would have been the last word I used for any part of my life. But after three pairs of blue jeans, several long-sleeve shirts that actually fit and an iPod, I decided I had joined the trendy world.

I'm still lingering in the world of trendiness, but I think I've moved on to a new phase. I realized this coming back to school this semester and frequenting the grocery store a few times. I have become domesticated. On the same day each week I go to United. This last week at United I, for the first time, made use of the deli to buy some Swiss cheese. There's just something about using the deli instead of just buying prepackaged cheese that makes me feel like I've reached a new level of domestication. It became obvious to me a couple weeks ago when I was at Wal-Mart and I had this sudden urge to buy a mop. So I did. And I brought that mop home and opened it up with the same excitement as a kid at Christmas.

And now I'm sitting here in my apartment (with mopped floors, mind you) watching the Annenberg Learning Channel. It's some panel discussion with guys like Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, reverends, and professors of ethics and whatnot--kind of like something your professor would tape and show you in a class. Yep, domesticated is definitely the word of the times.

It's a liger ... bred for its skills in magic

In anticipation of the coming snowfall, if that's what you can call it, I just checked weather.com for an hour-by-hour forecast to see when this fine mist would turn into something more significant. So I clicked on the hour-by-hour forecast and the first thing I see is the forecast for 11 p.m. on Jan. 31. Now, if it were just after noon on Jan. 31 then I might be impressed, but it's Feb. 1. I fail to see the act of faith it took for predict the weather seven and a half hours ago.

It got me thinking though. If weather.com can get so many hits predicting yesterday's weather, maybe this is something I can look into for the Optimist. I'm always trying to think about what's going to get the most hits for the Optimist Online. If weather.com can attract viewers by doing it, I'm certainly not opposed to it. So look soon for a new section for the Optimist Online: Predicting yesterday's weather today.

As I'm sure everyone waits with bated breath to see what Abilene's weather will do this afternoon and evening, I'll try my best to keep it updated on here and make this my first double-post day of my blogging career.