Green Oasis

Today, I’m feeling grateful that…

1. I’m not a sex slave. I wonder how much porn features sex slaves.
2. I get to take a class this semester on linear systems theory.
3. I have a loving family.
4. I like the people that I work with.
5. I have so much art so readily available to me.

1. Clean, hot-and-cold, running water
2. A functional, closed sewer system
3. Easy access to educational activities such as the local planetarium
4. Someone to take care of me when I’m sick
5. The chance to see another snowfall in my native desert valley like the one that fell when I was four.

[This is a continuation of my experiment in gratitude.]

1. I am grateful for my parents and the things that they taught me. My own experiences as a parent have taught me that parents can only do their best and hope that their children can improve on their upbringing. Though at first appearance I have rejected their most cherished teachings, the truth is that I follow pretty closely in my parents’ footsteps, and I’m happy with where I’m going.
2. I have not always made the most of my opportunities for education, but I am grateful nonetheless for the investment that my community has made in me. I love learning. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. It is gratifying to contemplate how different my life could have been.
3. I am thankful for cloudy days. Unremitting sunshine can be oppressive. Clouds turn me inward in a brooding, nostalgic meditation. In moderation, it’s good for my soul.
4. I am grateful for the view out of my window. I work in a cubicle, but if I ever feel disconnected from the world around me, I can turn my head 90° to the left and daydream out 12 foot windows with a view on greenery and campus wildlife.
5. I am thankful to be human. My greatest pleasures would be impossible if I weren’t human. I am sure that I would have other desires if I weren’t human, but I wouldn’t be me either. I enjoy my place in the universe.

Shhh. Don’t tell them: we got our firstborn and a child in the developing world XO laptops for Christmas. The current economic situation made us think long and hard, but we decided that its a good investment in the children of the world. You get a laptop for yourself and give one laptop to another child. (Or you can just give a laptop if you don’t want one for yourself.) The laptops are specially designed for children to allow them to learn, create, and collaborate.

The one feature among many that set its hooks in this code geek father’s heart is that the child can view and modify the source code for the programs they use with a simple keypress. Be still my heart!

A community of enthusiasts stands ready to support others in using the laptop.

Zimi says thank you.

As a newly minted atheist father, I worried about how to teach my children. Parenting Beyond Belief convinced me that teaching my children to be freethinkers was not only acceptable but preferable, even beautiful.