Checking in
1. I worked myself into a "If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it" situation that's had me pretty down. Also, with rather more empathy for those of you who routinely feel down. I'm going to borrow from fabu and say If I've done anything to offend you or if you feel I've crossed a line, please email me, as I would very much appreciate the opportunity to work through our differences. You would be doing me a huge favour. Many many thanks to all the people who've been there for me recently.
2. Last night I went to a lecture at the Fremantle Town Hall given by Peter Singer, the Australian ethicist now at Princeton University, and Lyn White, the communications director of Animals Australia (an umbrella animal welfare organisation). Singer spoke first and joked about just being the support act. I was sorry not to hear more from him, but was extremely impressed with the woman from Animals Australia, too. She was a police officer in the Adelaide Hills when she read a magazine article about the plight of bears farmed for their bile in China and Vietnam. After several years working to help bears in Asia, she became aware of intensive pig farming practises in Australia and decided she had no business criticising people in other parts of the world while such things were going on here. I'm always impressed by mid-life career changes and she was inspiring. If you don't know much about pork/bacon/ham production, you might want to have a look at the link. Most people are probably aware of battery hen and broiler chicken conditions, but there's less community awareness of the situation with pigs.
(Gratuitous link to my favourite of Peter Singer's essays - on poverty, not animal welfare.)
3. I thought I might enrol in an English unit for the coming semester to get over my fear of writing in paragraphs (!), but had trouble finding anything that especially appealed. cupidsbow and cricketk came up with the suggestion that I might be able to learn the same skills with texts I found more interesting in philosophy rather than English. Ooh, lots of interesting subjects on offer there. If anyone has any inside information on the philosophy departments of any of the local universities (especially UWA and Murdoch), could you let me know?
4. Tentative dates for tree planting, for any willing volunteers (I've just had an actual inquiry, thank you psycho_tabby): Sunday July 16 or Sunday July 23. With very little rain here so far, I think June's out. If you're interested and have a strong preference for one of those dates, please let me know.
2. Last night I went to a lecture at the Fremantle Town Hall given by Peter Singer, the Australian ethicist now at Princeton University, and Lyn White, the communications director of Animals Australia (an umbrella animal welfare organisation). Singer spoke first and joked about just being the support act. I was sorry not to hear more from him, but was extremely impressed with the woman from Animals Australia, too. She was a police officer in the Adelaide Hills when she read a magazine article about the plight of bears farmed for their bile in China and Vietnam. After several years working to help bears in Asia, she became aware of intensive pig farming practises in Australia and decided she had no business criticising people in other parts of the world while such things were going on here. I'm always impressed by mid-life career changes and she was inspiring. If you don't know much about pork/bacon/ham production, you might want to have a look at the link. Most people are probably aware of battery hen and broiler chicken conditions, but there's less community awareness of the situation with pigs.
(Gratuitous link to my favourite of Peter Singer's essays - on poverty, not animal welfare.)
3. I thought I might enrol in an English unit for the coming semester to get over my fear of writing in paragraphs (!), but had trouble finding anything that especially appealed. cupidsbow and cricketk came up with the suggestion that I might be able to learn the same skills with texts I found more interesting in philosophy rather than English. Ooh, lots of interesting subjects on offer there. If anyone has any inside information on the philosophy departments of any of the local universities (especially UWA and Murdoch), could you let me know?
4. Tentative dates for tree planting, for any willing volunteers (I've just had an actual inquiry, thank you psycho_tabby): Sunday July 16 or Sunday July 23. With very little rain here so far, I think June's out. If you're interested and have a strong preference for one of those dates, please let me know.