The Cove, living with passion, teaching, Butler/OSU...

The Cove

Every year it seems I am playing catch-up with the best movies of the past year right around the time the Oscars occur. Seeing as the last movie I saw was Up In the Air sometime around Christmastime, I have a lot of ground to make up. The Cove caught my attention right after the whole SeaWorld incident where a killer whale killed one of its handlers. I saw many people reference this movie as one that should convince you to support the cessation of all animals-for-entertainment industry. Also I happened to catch the documentary's director on Talk of Nation a few weeks ago. From that segment the story sounded so tragic (I should mention that this is about the illegal killing of dolphins in a particular city in Japan) but at the same time had an element of spying or Ocean's Eleven type planning.

I wouldn't characterize myself as much of an "animal-rights" person. I generally take the naive position that people should be and are treating animals with respect. This movie though really powerfully showed the exploitation of dolphins and a lot of the sociopolitical elements behind Japan's cover-up of the whole situation. There is a scene in the movie that shows the slaughther of the dolphins in "the cove" and how the water just turned crimson afterward. I don't think I can get that image un-seared from my mind. I will say this. After seeing this documentary...I definitely support ending the captivation all animals used solely for entertainment (places like SeaWorld, etc.)

Powerful stuff.


Teaching and living with passion

This sort of period of self-discovery over the past several years has taught me a lot about myself and in all sorts of aspects of life. I have blogged about these issues on many occasion over the past few years. I was reminded though again this week after returning to the classroom for the first time in over a year of something that I think sets me apart from many people. (It nice to be able to say that about yourself..."you've got this going for you")

That thing is passion.

Most everything I choose to do in life. I do with a passion. I dive deep and put everything I have into whatever is at hand. I noticed this about my teaching style. I CARE. I feel this personal obligation to make sure everyone is able to get something out of each time they set foot in the classroom. Chemistry is fun and cool, exciting. I have this need to imbrue my teaching with this sense. I know if a teacher or professor talks with passion about a subject I am more apt to pay attention. The idea being if he/she cares so much about a particular topic...then perhaps I should too.

I perform my research with a passion too. And maybe that is why I so feel the ups and downs that go along with it. (As I write this, I know I have talked about this in some form either here in the blog or to someone in conversation.) Look at the way I approach sports. For all my favorite teams I am all in. I superstitiously wear the jerseys and the hats. I throw things when a play isn't made. I change my profile picture on Facebook or set my status update to reflect my routing interest. I have wrapped sports up into my emotional fiber. (That may be why I even bother to write out the next section of this post about basketball).

And these are just a few that I generally outwardly manifest. I passionately cherish those who touched my life in some way. Even on my meager graduate student stipend, I have felt obligated to give back to the schools that gotten me here today. I have donated to Wright State on several occasions to support the faculty, staff, and students and all that they are trying to accomplish. I will never speak ill of any aspect of Beavercreek schools and alway trumpet the excellent education I received during my 13 years there.

Then are my friends and colleagues...it is sometimes the most difficult to mask how much I care about them. Especially without seeming strange. For many of them I would do almost anything to help them out of jam, or provide a kind ear for them to share their problems. As I have discussed recently in this place though I am rarely confided-in in that. Often times it seems I am bother by others problems more so that my own.

And I think this is a great way to live life. Though you experience lower lows than most, I can't imagine what it is like going through life with a general sense of ambivalence. What is the point?


Butler and OSU are once again the bane of my existence...

So this week basically marked the end of basketball for the year for me, as I watched both the Raiders and Wolverines fulfill their dreams of making it into the NCAA tournament. Ironically (or not) it was their arch rivals that did them both in the two most devastating ways possible (at least for a fan). Butler shot close to a million percent from the field on to crush us for the third time this year. It really seemed as though they played their best basketball against all year long. Doing a little math on the side, I came up with the fact that cumulatively the Bulldogs shot 56% against WSU this year. That is simply an amazingly high percentage. Hard to blame the Raiders defense as it was either first or second in the HL as far as points per game...seems to me we had the bad luck of Butler playing out of their minds. I always new it was going to be a long shot to beat them on their home floor, but to get embarrassed the way we did on national television just adds a painful exclamation point to what has generally been a very disappointing sports year. (Though I should add that this was the fourth straight year for WSU to win 20 games...so things could be a lot worse!)

Here I thought that would be the most shocking loss that would occur this week to a team I care about, but boy was I wrong. Obviously the Michigan loss to Ohio State at the buzzer in basically a tournament elimination game smarts even more. Luckily I was spared the indignity of watching it live (though my brother so kindly texted me shortly after it happened), or else I might have just burst out into tears. In my handful of games I attended live this year I saw similarly ridiculous feats. Wisconsin basically nailed that same shot Evan Turner made right before halftime when they visited earlier this year. I also had the pleasure of seeing the failed attempt at a last second victory against Michigan State where we were on the losing end again.

I hate to be a spiteful fan and wish the same pain I have felt on others, but I will definitely be rooting against Butler and OSU most vociferously during the Tournament.

Oh...and luckily baseball is right around the corner!