Kreme of Consciousness

The Fourth Floor of Poe

I just finished the fourth week of the semester, which means I'm now one fourth the way through this one. I suspect that this post will be mostly an annoyed tirade, so I wanted to warn you if you aren't into that sort of thing. It does get more upbeat after the break.

Things have been relatively light, despite all the reading that I've complained about in the past. Western Literature is enjoyable, although I dislike the Sexy Scot's habit of always making the class get into small groups to discuss the daily readings. I much prefer discussing the readings within the larger class group. I'm not sure why, but I just find the smaller groups tedious and unnecessary.

And while I'm in the mood to complain about little things, my Philosophy of Science course is really bugging the hell out of me, too. I should be loving this course. Philosophy, science, and religion are some of my favorite topics. We are, of course, talking about the controversy surrounding creation science, or intelligent design. Actually, it would be more to the point to say that the professor is the one talking about the controversy. We are just supposed to keep up with readings, listen to him lecture, and respond to quizzes and tests online. One problem is that the course is a 200-person auditorium class, which greatly interferes with the potential for the students to get into classroom debates. Personally, I don't think any philosophy course should ever be more than 40 students to a class. But, with all the financial cutbacks the university system has endured the last decade, what could we expect.



Overall, however, I've really been enjoying my American history course. It is taught in the same lecture hall as my philosophy course, but the professor, another attractive woman in her early 40s, is quite a bit more dynamic in her presentations. On Monday, she presented us with an incredibly powerful discussion on the history of lynchings in America, complete with a slideshow of photographs of lynchings through the decades. It was interesting, and tragic, to note that, for a while, lynchings of African-Americans were so commonplace that people would actually take their children to see them. Tickets were sold by the major train companies for people to go see lynchings, and newspapers announced them in advance as though they were some grand opening night of a play. Even more gruesome was the explanation that some even bought souvenirs of the events in the form of plucked teeth or severed fingers. I felt sick to my stomach after that lecture, and I wished that we could have recorded it for every Conservative to watch whenever they wonder why us Liberals choose not to see America as some great gift from God to the rest of the world. And, what makes it worse is the knowledge that Tea Partiers want to literally whitewash American history by having slavery removed from history textbooks in Tennessee and elsewhere. For my money, they are as despicable as the men and women who engaged in the lynchings.

On a lighter note, also while in history class, I heard a few people talking about the Krispy Kreme Challege, an annual race from NC State's Belltower to the local Krispy Kreme and back, where runners must also eat a dozen glazed doughnuts in the middle of the run. Everyone that I have heard talk about the challenge (at least the ones who planned to run in the thing) were complaining about having to eat the dozen doughnuts! Even my friend Johnnie, who actually ran the race this morning, complained about the doughnuts. I've eaten nine Krispy Kreme doughnuts in one sitting on several occasions. The only reason I didn't eat the whole dozen at once was because I felt guilty about being a total fat-ass who can eat a dozen doughnuts in one sitting! But, in a competition that involves a five-mile race and eating a dozen doughnuts, EVERYONE should be complaining about the FIVE-MILE RUN, not the doughnuts!

For this reason, I want to propose the start of The Dunkin' Donuts Challenge. The challenge will be an annual leisurely walk from the NCSU Belltower to the Dunkin' Donuts across the street from campus, where participants will have to eat a dozen donuts, drink a cup of coffee, then walk casually back to the Belltower where they will receive a t-shirt with the Dunkin' Donuts Challenge slogan emblazoned on it: Fuck Running! Just Give Me Some Doughnuts! Naturally, all proceeds from the event will go to fight hunger in North Carolina.

Of course, I don't have the actual planning abilities to see this idea through to its conclusion, so the Dunkin' Donuts Challenge will probably only consist of me being a lonely old man, eating doughnuts, drinking coffee, and giving a small donation to the Food Bank of NC.

Oh well... A man can dream.


Have fun and keep living life... Or Some Approximation Thereof.