I have a rehearsal today during which I will be teaching music to about 80 to 100 kids, and then it is inventory time at Macy's until 1:00 a.m. Plus business to take care of in the morning.

What if god is an extraterrestrial being?

Seriously, let me posit the idea that there is some species on some planet “out there”. They have solved all of the problems that they will ever face.

Ecology? I tend to think that we are going to get a hold on the matter in a century or two, if we survive that long.

Sociology? We are already pretty tightly packed as a species. That and we have the internet. We all know each other and we all deal with people around the planet daily. If we survive, we will figure shit out some how.

So the ET/god drops by earth to tell us what the deal is...

So the OT basically says that if you are a good jew, nobody will get hurt.

The NT says (apart from the crap that was added in the middle ages) that you should be nice to people.

Wow! No shit!

If god had not happened to drop by, we would not have figured this much out on our own?

...and what do you know? My sister took her 7 year old kid to church. Way to go, did. Make a liar out of me.

Of course, the kid had to come in and wake me up so I will be ready to help him build the Lego Star when they get back.

Spent the morning attending an orientation session with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR,) which is designed to help people with disabilities find gainful employment. I really am not sure what disability I can claim to have, but my family seems to think I have one. I am sure that this process will prove to be as useful as any other I am currently engaged in, so I guess time will tell what benefit I will derive from it. At the very least, it will get my sister off my back.

Sam Harris' book, The Moral Landscape. I found parts of it interesting, certainly, and his general thesis is refreshing. However, I am not sure I quite understood all of it, so I think I will have to read it more closely at a later date.

I worked, picked up the last couple weeks worth of pay, had dinner with a nephew, and came back here. I also called my uncle this morning. All in all, not a bad day.

I spent two and a half hours teaching a song to 100 students this afternoon. It was difficult. I tell no lie. Difficult both for me and for the 100, but we got through it - halfway. A bit rough for a first rehearsal. I must give credit to the kids for lasting the whole time without a break.

One of my sisters had gone to visit my uncle in the hospital, only to find out he was released yesterday. Actually, the people at the hospital had no record of his staying there at all. My sister called me and asked me to call my aunt to find out where he was. She didn't want to worry my aunt by telling her she had been to the hospital. My aunt wanted to put my uncle on the phone with me, but I was due to start the rehearsal. I will call them in the morning.

I smoked half a pack of cigarettes, but that is less than I usually smoke, so I guess I could count that as a victory of sorts. I used to smoke between one and two packs a day.

to get some blood drawn. I am supposed to get it checked every three weeks, but it's been over a month, so I'm glad I was finally able to get to it. At any rate, I stopped at a local mall afterward to wait for a ride home. While at the mall, I picked up a book called (something like) 'An Atheists Guide to Christmas.' I don't know if it will be any good or not, but there was a mention of 42 authors, and Richard Dawkins was one of them, so I expect it will be enjoyable, if a month or so too late.

I also failed to stop myself from buying a pack of cigarettes. No big surprise there. I will keep trying to stop the cigarettes, but NO TELLING THE FAMILY. I don't want to hear it from them.

make a comment on facebook without it getting back to people who are not fb friends of mine. ~sighs~ I think it is time to start pearing down my friends list.

I cannot begin to say how happy I am to leave 2010 behind. While it is true that I survived two major medical events against all (known) odds, and am therefore grateful (to medicine) for said survival, in all other respects the year has been one I would happily forget.

Let us hope that 2011 will be better.

For a start, I have decided to at least attempt to stop smoking. I gave myself until 31 December to smoke, and yes I did actually have two cigarettes on the 1st, but I think I have at least a decent chance of stopping. I figure a few slip-ups here and there will happen. I'm not going to abuse myself over that - even if I completely fail to stop. I am also not telling my family about this decision. Their support would be the death of me.

The other challenges left from the last year is my need to find regular and substantial employment, and a place to live. A car would be nice, but I am perfectly happy to leave that struggle for the future. There is enough public transportation in the area to make do. I don't remember whether or not I've actually put any blog entries in here before. It has been a while since I've even visited the RRS site - mostly due to my lack of a computer - but that is something I would like to change in this new year as well.

I have a lot to do, so I will be off for now.

Happy New Year to all of you here at the Rational Response Squad.