Anyone with a little girl or a child who loves to do arts and crafts knows the fight of the glitter fairy. If you have someone in your home that uses glitter, you KNOW to what I am referring. Even if you forbid glitter from being used in your home, should you have kids, the glitter fairy will still pay your home a visit. This is certain to happen around the holidays. Silver for Christmas, orange for Halloween, red for Valentines day. You get the picture. Once you find that you have come in contact with glitter, it is like a contagious disease. The chit gets EVERYWHERE. Not only that, it is often worse than sharpie markers. It sticks around and is impossible to wash away.
The last time I painted my fingernails, (not something I do often, but I find it relaxing. I should do it more. Maybe....) I used a clear top coat with glitter flecks in it. Every single time I use this stuff I fail to remember how difficult it is to get off. Its like it becomes imbedded into the nail or something because fingernail polish will not take it off. I have to scrape it off and damage the heck out of my nails. No amount of rubbing with a rag or cotton ball or tissue drenched in fingernail polish remover will get that chit off. I imagined once, using turpentine or kerosene to try to get that glitter junk off but I was too chicken to try. My nails may fall off! These are MY nails and they are real. Not something you see everyday. They are "salon length" too. (Just about the only part of myself I take pride in currently, but after yesterday, THAT will change. Yes, I digress.)
So here I sit. At work. Scrapping glitter that the glitter fairy has seen fit to adhere to my nails simply so I can paint my nails to match my shirt. Note: New fingernail polish has even tinier glitter pieces in it. The removal of THAT should be just as fun! I am certain I have done enough to my nails to ensure the next color I paint them will become a permanent part of them until it grows out. Thank gosh my nails grow fast.
This is where I get to the point. The glitter fairy has this secret superglue stuff that she lovingly coats each piece of glitter ever created. This is why it has that lovely permanence. Mind you, it is purposely done. Glitter Fairy Super Glue has this chemical in it that allows for it to time release (I mean let go) of any Elmer's glue, paste, or glue stick simply so that it can be found every single place your child's art work or craft has been. This is where you have to be careful. If your child grabbed the toilet paper roll and used some during arts and crafts, think twice before wiping your rear. Gosh forbid you go to a colonoscopy and your Doctor find glitter in your crack! Yipes! Haha. Remember that story of the lady who had a "woman's" appointment at the OB/GYN and her daughter had placed glitter in a wash cloth near the sink? How mortifying. Also, you don't want to go to an interview or a court date looking like you had been puked upon by the Glitter Unicorn of Shinydom either.
Point is, glitter is horrible stuff. While it may look good and is very shiny, it is DANGEROUS!
What do YOU think?
Reader suggested posts. Other blogs I write and prompts from my readers.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Monday, March 11, 2013
Does Utilitarianism require that your units of happiness are fulfilled?
Utilitarianism in its most basic form is the greatest amount of happines for the greater good. Defined in units of happiness, basically: the more the merrier. It is based solely on actions and their outcomes. What happens if there is no happiness and no matter the act, no utility becomes of it. What then?
Does that mean that, we are utility empty? I will admit I did take a few philosophy classes and while the concepts still seem abstract, I did catch the basics (or so I thought I did.) Ok. Lets take an example:
One of the problems I remember in the discussion of utility was the subject of capital punishment. While taking the life of someone as punishment is a bit harsh, it does take from the total utility of the world, does it not? Well, you are reducing the units of happiness from the person in the electric chair because the KNOW they are going to die a horrible death. No utility in his corner at all. You are also taking from the utility of the family of the convicted. They are heartbroken by losing their son, brother, cousin, uncle, parent, whatever. While this convict may not be the best person in the world (innocence project aside, lets say he did it, end of story) he was still someone's family member, no matter what. Lost utility for many years to come. Everytime a family member or close friend thinks back upon this person, lost utility units right there. Further, the people who have to do this deed are supposed to be good people, after all, we do not hire convicts and killers and psychopaths to run prisons and be baliffs, guards, etc. They have GOT to lose some of their utility in participating in the act of the capital punishment. Bottome line, lots of lost utility. No doubt.
Conversely.......
The streets are rid of a (possibly) career criminal, the jails are not supporting this convict and the families this person has affected in a bad way (good vs evil argument here?) are happy that he is getting his just desserts. So, where do the scales balance? Well, we have to sacrifice the one for the greater good of the group. Therefore, the sacrifice of the one makes the utility of the whole group better....so the argument goes.
Now, lets think about a totally different scenario but the same basic concept. You have a group of people on an island. In order for the most people to survive and be comfortable, one of them has to be pushed into the pirahna infested waters that surround the island. Due to the ritual involved, it has to be done in such a way that the person pushed into the waters shall perish lest the pirhana god come and devour them all. (Island religion, go figure.) They use the concept of utility to choose the member to be "discarded." While all of them are equal otherwise, how is that you would choose one when all are equal contributing members to the society? Should it be the weakest? The oldest? The youngest? What would you do in this situation?
Were it your family, what choice would that be? Difficult? Yes. For me, I would not want that burden. However, a choice has to be made or everyone will be reduced to zero units of happiness due to the peril of the whole group. While I am very thankful that choices like that are not made in my little corner of the universe, there have been societies that have had to make life or death choices for survival and if you look at the very core of what those choices were, I am certain you can find utility played a part in them.
Off my soapbox now, what are your opinions on utility and what do you attribute to the greatest happiness for the greatest good?
(Sorry folks, random tags so I can generate some discussion here.)
Does that mean that, we are utility empty? I will admit I did take a few philosophy classes and while the concepts still seem abstract, I did catch the basics (or so I thought I did.) Ok. Lets take an example:
One of the problems I remember in the discussion of utility was the subject of capital punishment. While taking the life of someone as punishment is a bit harsh, it does take from the total utility of the world, does it not? Well, you are reducing the units of happiness from the person in the electric chair because the KNOW they are going to die a horrible death. No utility in his corner at all. You are also taking from the utility of the family of the convicted. They are heartbroken by losing their son, brother, cousin, uncle, parent, whatever. While this convict may not be the best person in the world (innocence project aside, lets say he did it, end of story) he was still someone's family member, no matter what. Lost utility for many years to come. Everytime a family member or close friend thinks back upon this person, lost utility units right there. Further, the people who have to do this deed are supposed to be good people, after all, we do not hire convicts and killers and psychopaths to run prisons and be baliffs, guards, etc. They have GOT to lose some of their utility in participating in the act of the capital punishment. Bottome line, lots of lost utility. No doubt.
Conversely.......
The streets are rid of a (possibly) career criminal, the jails are not supporting this convict and the families this person has affected in a bad way (good vs evil argument here?) are happy that he is getting his just desserts. So, where do the scales balance? Well, we have to sacrifice the one for the greater good of the group. Therefore, the sacrifice of the one makes the utility of the whole group better....so the argument goes.
Now, lets think about a totally different scenario but the same basic concept. You have a group of people on an island. In order for the most people to survive and be comfortable, one of them has to be pushed into the pirahna infested waters that surround the island. Due to the ritual involved, it has to be done in such a way that the person pushed into the waters shall perish lest the pirhana god come and devour them all. (Island religion, go figure.) They use the concept of utility to choose the member to be "discarded." While all of them are equal otherwise, how is that you would choose one when all are equal contributing members to the society? Should it be the weakest? The oldest? The youngest? What would you do in this situation?
Were it your family, what choice would that be? Difficult? Yes. For me, I would not want that burden. However, a choice has to be made or everyone will be reduced to zero units of happiness due to the peril of the whole group. While I am very thankful that choices like that are not made in my little corner of the universe, there have been societies that have had to make life or death choices for survival and if you look at the very core of what those choices were, I am certain you can find utility played a part in them.
Off my soapbox now, what are your opinions on utility and what do you attribute to the greatest happiness for the greatest good?
(Sorry folks, random tags so I can generate some discussion here.)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Please suggest topics for me to rant about here.
I have tried to do some daily nonsense here or there and my failed attempt at word of the day has led me to try something different.
While I still anticipate continuing the word of the day, I want to add something more. I like to compose. While I prefer putting pen to paper, it is much faster to put finger to key.
This one is short and sweet and I want suggestions on topics from all of you. Please comment below and suggest things for me to post a rant about and that I will do. If I do not get many rant suggestions, I will have to come up with some rants of my own. However, I prefer to be creative and involve the faithful fellow facebookers in my quest to "publish" something in a public quorum.
Cheers! **Holds up long stem crystal with self draining ice and the finest soda in the nation....COFFEE!" (Did you expect any less?)
While I still anticipate continuing the word of the day, I want to add something more. I like to compose. While I prefer putting pen to paper, it is much faster to put finger to key.
This one is short and sweet and I want suggestions on topics from all of you. Please comment below and suggest things for me to post a rant about and that I will do. If I do not get many rant suggestions, I will have to come up with some rants of my own. However, I prefer to be creative and involve the faithful fellow facebookers in my quest to "publish" something in a public quorum.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Factor Tree--BzzAgent
As a member of an exciting community called BZZAGENT, I have been privileged enough to try products before they become available to the general public. One such product is FactorTree. Since joining factor tree, I have been able to help my children with their math homework and enable them to excel to higher grades than before. My middle school daughter even thinks that logging on to factor tree is fun!
I encourage each of you to try this site if you have a child in school. No matter if they are a math whiz or not, it will help them gain a thorough understanding of what is going on in thier studies.
I encourage each of you to try this site if you have a child in school. No matter if they are a math whiz or not, it will help them gain a thorough understanding of what is going on in thier studies.
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