Today my sports ethics teachers suggested a field trip to the Special Olympics. It would be on a Saturday, and it wouldn’t be required, but if you went, you could then write a paper about the experience and earn extra credit. So I asked if there would be an opportunity for students who couldn’t go to earn extra credit as well. The teachers said “um…we can probably work that out.” Why yes, you can! Because that’s the fair and right thing to do. Now, it happens that the reason I cannot go is because I am attending a party where I will be seeing someone for the first time in 10 years, someone who was a dear friend but whom I lost touch with. I am not missing that! It also happens that I’ve gotten A’s and A+’s on all the work in this class so far, so I probably don’t need the extra credit, but I am going to hound them and make sure they make the opportunity available.

Also, I got my grade back on a video essay for my Deaf Culture class. Gee, I got 95 out of 100 points. See, I knew I didn’t do C+ work like that teacher suggested my first semester.

Last night we watched Richard Attenborough’s epic biography Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley. I had never seen it before, so I was very excited to rent it from Netflix. We actually watched it on the big screen downstairs with my in-laws. I found it very educational - I hadn’t actually known the extent of Gandhi’s work. To be honest, I’m horrified I hadn’t seen it sooner - that’s how wonderful and informative the movie is.

Although there is plenty of misinformation out there about Gandhi, there is also a substantial amount of correct, positive information. The website mkgandhi.org is amazing because of the amount of information it has, including over 200 pictures of the man himself. Wikipedia has information about related topics, such as the Dalit (untouchable) class, the Amritsar Massacre - which has a different spin in the movie than the one shown on Wikipedia - and several other topics.

Although the direct quotes from the Mahatma are painfully obvious in the movie, they still have resonance even when pronounced by Ben Kingsley. The thoughts Gandhi conveyed, the philosophies, they are so inspiring. Even Martin Luther King’s non-violent approach was inspired by Gandhi. I am simply in awe of the little man with a big voice. What an amazing human being.

My website, my Twitter profile, and my LiveJournal are all Pink for October. The other website I maintain semi-regularly, PinkBlog, was already pink, of course, but I’m going to do something special over there too. Won’t you join in? For LiveJournal users, go to the Customize section and view the warm colors. For Wordpress users, try this Google search.