Winding down the weekend

From such unpromising beginnings, the weekend ended rather well. I did some research, and even proved a lemma that will be very useful, so long as I remember it. (It proves that I can't do something that I had tried earlier to do, so there's no point in trying it again later.) I prepared notes for class Monday, read part of a book about teaching mathematics, and took Alik biking along a park trail. I even managed to take a nap, receive a haircut, and bake a banana pudding, all of them today.

Now things are calm and quiet, and my eyelids grow heavy. Through the open windows, I hear the noise of crickets and other creatures of the night. It's rather calming, actually. It sure beats the racket of car alarms, booming stereos, and cell phones that one hears during the day. Lately I've been thinking that car alarms and cell phones are proof positive that some technologies cause more harm than good. Television would win the runner-up position in this category, although videocassette and DVD players mitigate the damage somewhat.

Tomorrow I'll be riding the bicycle back to school, I hope. A strap that holds the saddlebags in place has broken, so I'll have to perform a quick fix, or else find another way to keep my things secure on the rack.

For a while today, I felt the strong temptation to wallow in self-pity. I'm not sure why; a lot of things came together in the wrong way. It's not as if they're that important, either; I just like to have my way a little more often than I should demand. It's so easy to forget the good things that happen, when you want to make your and your minor details more important!

I tried to hide any self-pity from my family. I don't know whether that was a good idea, but I was pretty certain that if I discussed the details, I would have made someone else unhappy. Besides, self-pity is not one of those character traits I would like to see Alik emulate one day.

What was it Dorothy Day said? No one has the right to feel sorry for themselves; there's too much work to do.

Now that I have a family, the opportunity for some temptations has diminished, while the opportunity for others has grown. Through all of them rages the desire to make myself and my concerns more important than we are.

Blessed be God...