Happy Independence Day!

To celebrate Independence Day, I highly recommend Michael Hurd's latest column at Capitalism Magazine, in which he considers the practicality of being oneself in terms of how it can affect one's professional life, particularly for non-leftists who live in heavily leftist areas.

The only people who hate me are people who would hate me anyway, once they got to know me as a therapist or life coach. These are the people who are not merely liberal Democrats, but really subscribe to core viewpoints that are the opposite of my own: The primacy of emotions; the victim mentality; and the alleged importance of giving up one's self for the sake of others. People who subscribe to these views don't like me, and they tend to run for their lives after a conversation or two with me whether they have read my viewpoints at DrHurd.com or not.

As I often say, read the whole thing. This is advice that many people of integrity who find themselves in such a situation need to hear, but it is, as always with Hurd's advice, much more broadly applicable: You need only at some point in your life to have not held a view that is in fashion among most others around you to appreciate what he says.

With that, I bid adieu, possibly until next week, due to travel, of all things. But, no, I won't be at OCON (although I might check on the Internet broadcasts of some of its sessions, if I have that much spare time): I'll be headed to Northern California, of all places.

-- CAV

--- In Other News ---

Proud father note: I saw that the baby looked interested in a couple of things I was moving, so I decided to see whether she was trying to follow objects. She was, and we amused ourselves with that for ten or fifteen minutes. I'm going to miss things like this over the next few days. Also, I'm grateful that my mother-in-law will be helping Mrs. Van Horn take care of the baby while I'm away.

Apparently, some people celebrate something called "Tau Day" on June 28. While I found "Pi Is Wrong" (PDF) interesting, and think that mathematical pedagogy would benefit by a discussion of some of the issues that piece raises, I have a hard time getting as excited as some seem to about this issue.

I think that the time is finally right to get a smart phone, and I probably would have bought one already had I not been so preoccupied -- and getting used to the baby -- this week. As I've mentioned in the past, I'm leaning heavily towards an Android phone, and will start shopping with advice I linked in two earlier posts here, as well as that in Lifehacker posts like this one. As I did the last time I bought a new phone, I'll solicit reader advice on my future purchase: Have you any recommendations, warnings, or other advice for me? Thank you in advance, and be aware that I may or may not be timely about comment moderation or email for a few days.