Only to forget them. That is right, I can remember that I had about 3 good ideas for blogging at work today, but I now, I suck again.

I think some people in the world are just stupid. They don't understand anything.

Specifically me. Not that I am stupid which is what it may seem like. I mean people don't understand me. They don't realize that I am pure joy, until I am gone.

Sorry short rant. Everyone loves me, they are just afraid to admit it.

So do it NOW!!!

Well, I'm sure it won't have any speeches half exciting as Dwight's on the Office last week, but I'm apparently going to a conference in July! I've been recruited to learn our university's new campus-wide scheduling software, which sounds incredibly complicated based on what I've learned about it so far.

I don't think I can really complain much about this. I get paid for being out of the office, and get airfare, hotel, food, and such all covered. My job doesn't usually deal with classroom scheduling much, except for when I create the classes that our students register for, but apparently they think I'm smart enough to be the backup person in the office with this knowledge, in case something ever happens to our university classroom scheduler. Plus, I think they want me to start working on this program a bit more in the future.

It's all good to me. It's just a shame this conference isn't a few months later, since Erika's going to move out there in October when she gets married.

I'm going to be an Aunt! Again! One can never have too many nephews and nieces... although I've only got nephews so far. Five of them! But Angie--Ric's brother's wife--is expecting her second (number 6 for me), and s/he (we won't know till s/he is here!) is due in November. We're excited about it; they had their official doctor's appointment the day before we headed out there and told us when we got there.

Speaking of which, we decided to try night-driving instead of wasting our time behind trucks passing other trucks by day, so we left for AZ at 11pm and got to Ric's brother's house by around sunrise. Of course, they forgot to tell us which way to turn when we exited the freeway, so we took our 50/50 chance and went ..the wrong way, and found ourselves driving through some national recreation area near Mesa. Great. At any rate, we still shaved off an hour of driving by going at night. No traffic in CA, and no getting stuck behind passing trucks on the two-lane freeway. It was awesome. Plus we slept a little and then had a full day to spend with the family!

We hung around a lot for the two full days we were there. Angie is a wonderful hostess and took great care of us. We had a lot of great food. We watched Bad Taste on Friday after Harrison went to bed, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the next night. We went shopping at some mall, ate at Chipotle (not my thing), and pretty much just spent time enjoying each other and the mass amounts of rain that fell (almost 2 inches in one day). I swear, if I have to visit AZ, I want to do it when it's raining. Things are cool, wet, and green, and much more enjoyable than the dry, hot, dry, brown hell that it is normally. Why do they have to paint everything a shade of brown out there?

Since it was still close to my birthday, we got to celebrate that together as well, and the family was very generous. I got more cool dvds and some money to spend at Ann Taylor, which is pretty much the only place I really need to shop (more precisely, Ann Taylor Loft).

We headed back on Sunday, with a bit of trouble. The main road to the freeway was washed out, so we had to search for about 45 minutes to find a road that led to an actual working ramp to the freeway. That sucked. But we got out of there in good time, and even had time to stop by and do breakfast with Becky, whom we hadn't seen in a really long time. We only stopped quickly, and headed out to the monotony that is the stretch between AZ and CA. It all looks the same for several hours, so we needed candy, loud music, and a couple of breaks to stay awake. We hit traffic on the way home in the 909 area, but it wasn't as bad as some experiences we've had in the past.

All in all, we're grateful for the time we got to have with our family, and grateful that we traveled safely. We even got back in time to veg the evening away and rest up for the work week. I think we'll be tired tonight!

V for Vendetta is to be released in theaters this week, and already I have read many reviews that either attack or praise the writers' and filmmakers' political ideologies. Some attempt to paint the story as a leftist attack on conservative politics. Others accuse it of glorifying terrorist violence. Even the work's defenders claim that V for Vendetta is a daring story that features a terrorist in the role of the hero or "good guy." While I have not yet seen the Wachowskis' film, I can say with great confidence that such narrowly defined, black-and-white morality does not exist in Alan Moore's book.

V for Vendetta is about one man working to overthrow an oppressive government. It is about the power an individual has against authoritative rule. It is about anarchy vs. fascism. It is not about liberal or conservative politics. Such terms do not apply to V's world. Fascism refers to a government's attempts to control the public and private lives of its citizens, an act that can be, and often has been, performed by liberal and conservative politicians alike (under the American understanding of those terms). If a criticism of an imaginary fascist British state is taken as an attack on American political conservatism, I'd suggest that is more a reflection on the direction American conservatism has taken than on any specific message intended by Alan Moore.

Even when understood as the conflict between anarchy and fascism, V for Vendetta still lacks the clear black-and-white morality many people attribute to it. I have never thought of V as being a true hero, in the traditional good vs. evil sense. His character is morally ambiguous at best, and I believe Moore goes to great lengths to keep him so. Throughout the graphic novel V hides his face behind a ceramic mask. He reveals no thoughts and no emotions, but rather carries out his attacks with cold, determined purpose. As readers, we are uninformed about his identity and background. We have no way to connect with the character; at times he seems barely human.

As a literary character, V is a black canvas onto which we paint our own biases and prejudices. Like the cliche that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, the morality of V's actions is completely in the eye of the beholder. While Alan Moore has stated in interviews his own preference for anarchy as an ideology, I doubt that even he would advocate the meastures V takes in his cause. He rebels against a cruel and murderous regime, but in the process he engages in his own share of cruelty and murder, and not just against those who may deserve it. In a pivotal scene V tortures (and, depending on your biases, brainwashes) an innocent person. From a neutral perspective, one could make the case that V is every bit the fascist that the government is, albeit on a smaller scale.

It's important to keep these things in mind when considering the story of V for Vendetta. I believe it is a fascinating piece of work that raises important questions about fascism and rebellion. The moral ambiguity of it provides a great opportunity for discussion. I only hope that the Wachowskis' film preserves this ambiguity in such a way that intelligent viewers will recognize it and appreciate the story for what it is.

"I have wonderful news. I am in San Antonio with Colin. His burns are healing so quickly. An obvious answer to prayer. His cheeks look like they were badly sun burnt. His nose and lips are completely blistered. Even the inside of his nose was burnt. He still has the same shape of his nose. The doctors peeled off some of the dead tissue. The knuckles on his left hand have burns as well. He is doing all of his own wound care so after a Monday appointment at the burn center, he will be discharged to convalescent leave and will return home with me. Yea.

"Colin is feeling much better after they allowed him to leave the ‘prison’ of the burn ward to visit his marines in ICU. Roman and Contreras were moved from ICU to the burn ward. Contreras said, 'Your husband is a hero. Seriously, a true hero at heart. Under pressure he took care of business and got the job done. Everybody else, nothing. But Doc was taking care of everyone. If he weren’t already married, I’d marry him myself.'

"The danger is over, healing is well on it's way. We are enjoying the down time together.

"Thank you for all your love. I'll update you in a few days."