General

On Perfection

I don’t know if this is a Marriott thing in general, or just TownePlace Suites, but the staff there have taken to the habit of asking me upon checkout, “Did you have a perfect stay”?

I never know how to respond to this question. Perfection is a platonic ideal, never to be achieved in real life–it is a goal only to be sought. To ask someone whether or not they have achieved it is to put one on the spot. I can lie, and say yes (which no doubt many do, just to get out and on their way). Or I can tell the truth, and say no, or in an attempt to avoid the quandary, to inform them that perfection isn’t possible. This doesn’t get me off the hook–the inevitable response to either of the latter is “…well, if it wasn’t perfect, what could we have done to make it perfect?”

I don’t know.

Make it so the teevee can be viewed while working on the computer? Have wine glasses? A slightly firmer bed? Protein with the overcarbed muffins in the breakfast room? A quieter room, away from the street? Move the entire hotel to the beach? Move the entire hotel to Cabo? Open bar happy hour? Hot and cold running nymphomaniacs?

It’s an unreasonable question, and whatever marketing genius came up with it should rethink it, because it’s gotten to the point of making me not want to stay there. I think the next time they ask, I’ll say, “My stay would be perfect if you wouldn’t ask me if my stay was perfect.” Ask if it was good, if it was great, if there were any problems, but please don’t place the burden of your failure to achieve the unachievable on me.

Education

Radicalized By College

Here’s an interesting interview by a student who became a conservative as a backlash against the pervasive miasma of leftist dogma at Brown University:

I was a junior by the time I finally decided to criticize particular segments of the campus. Again, I was a football player, and that took up a lot of my time. So rather than immediately join some leftist student-group, I was forced to be a spectator of campus activism at first. There was always a lot of controversy on Brown’s campus, and I spent a lot of time observing the behavior of my classmates. I had an immediate repulsion to them for a lot of reasons. It wasn’t that I was pro-life, and they were pro-choice. Or that I was against affirmative action, and they were in favor of it. Those weren’t even opinions that I had formed or cared about. My objection to liberal activism was more about my classmates’ zealotry, and the fact that I knew I was forbidden to disagree or disapprove of them. In other words, I had a negative reaction to the ethic and demeanor of liberals before I even disagreed with liberal thought. I found Brown’s leading liberal forces to be deviant, oppressive, and improper before I reached any other conclusions. Ironically, they were viciously labeling everyone but themselves as mean, dumb, and racist. But I saw it in reverse. In fact, Out of Ivy documents the campus left’s hypocrisy, and their readiness to lie, smear, stereotype, and discriminate–all accompanied by their assertion that they were the fluffy-hearted champions of tolerance and understanding.

Political Commentary

Schism

One more post before I get on the plane. This post over at Hit’n’Run, in which Jesse Walker hits Instapundit, looks more like a Kos post in the comments section than what I used to expect from a magazine called “Reason” (to which we continue to subscribe).

Much has been made of how the war has split the Dems, and the war has split the Republicans, but it’s really splintered the libertarians. I used to consider myself one (and in most ways that I consider important, still do). I suspect that Glenn does as well. But as Ronald Reagan once said about the Democrats, “I didn’t leave the party–the party left me.”

[Update, from LA]

Well, that set off a lively debate, though not as much as yesterday’s post.

[Update on Thursday morning]

In response to it looking Kossian, Jesse Walker emails:

That’s because it got linked by Atrios and a bunch of his readers came over. The comment thread is basically a bunch of visitors from InstaPundit arguing with a bunch of visitors from Eschaton — and complaining that the commenters at Hit & Run are nuts.

Hey, some of the Hit & Run regulars are nuts. But they aren’t that crazy. Most of them sat out that particular debate.

Fair enough. But many of the comments here are about deeper concerns with the direction of the magazine, to which it might behoove both Mssrs. Walker and Gillespie give at least some consideration. The post seems to have struck a chord, both in comments, and in some emails that I’ve gotten.

Administrative

Off To CA

I’m waiting for a flight at Fort Lauderdale. The airport now has free wireless in the terminal. I’ll be flying into LA today, then driving to Phoenix tomorrow for the conference. Probably not much posting today, but I’ll check in tonight. Hope to see some of y’all in sunny Arizona.

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!