Live on Location

The end of the semester came and went, my hurriedness finally reaching a zenith when I stayed up and worked on my final of final papers for a good 24 hours straight. That was in addition to the several hours I had already put into it. I ended up getting an A- in the class for which I wrote this paper, while I managed an A in my remaining classes. I blame this lone discrepency on the fact that no human can possibly compose a decent 20-page paper within a 48-hour timeframe, going on approximately 7 hours of sleep and having to do all the proofreading and edits immediately upon conclusion of the paper (when one is as sleep deprived and sick of writing as one can possibly be). All things considered, I should be quite happy, but I admit I was a tad disappointed. Oh well.

Melanie and I returned to the Salt Lake City area to spend the holidays with our beloved families. Living the student life, we have the good fortune of being able to spend a full three weeks here. We're halfway through it, and it's passing quickly. In fact, it doesn't even feel like we've been visiting with people all that much. We are staying with Melanie's parents (and two brothers who still live at home), but on a daily basis, we still spend a decent amount of time tending to Edison and not feeling like we're being all that social. People do their own things a good deal of the time. We visit my family, but it always feels over all too quickly. It's amazing how much we feel we haven't visited, considering we're here. But I don't want to give the wrong impression. We're having a good time, and it's been a great joy to be around those people we love. I also realize how much I miss being in a city I know like the back of my hand. Assuming I leave Atlanta when I'm done with my master's degree (which is the plan), I'd be 58 before I could even possibly have lived in another city as long as I've lived in SLC. And that's if I move somewhere in 2008 and don't end up leaving it for 28 years. Not likely. I guess my point is that comfortability means a lot. And I miss it.

I thought I'd write a few times while I'm here in SLC, and I thought I'd write within a day or two of getting here. Obviously that hasn't happened, and I'm not sure it'll happen again before I head "home" to Atlanta. That'll be on January 4th, so this will likely be my final post until a few days after that. Although my in-laws acquired high-speed Internet whilst we were away, blogging isn't my current priority. In fact, this week is quickly becoming loaded with plans. There are several friends Melanie and I have yet to visit, and we're realizing time is running out. We have to have plans almost everyday now in order to see everyone.

I guess this is a fairly boring post. I'm not taking the time to be creative. Again, that's something that'll have to wait until the new year. I believe there'll be plenty to say, so stay tuned. Oh, and a belated Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it. Li'l Eddie scored a decent amount of stuff, which leaves Melanie and me to figure out how we'll ever get it home. It's questionable that we will. But that's something I'll have to tell you about after the fact. For now, I'm on the verge of falling asleep. I did take the time to update my sidebar, if that's of interest to you. And I may update In the Key of Orange in a moment. Check it and see. Until then...

Busy, Happy, Alive

One week of classes left to go. One final exam still to be taken, thirty pages of essays still to be written. I’m alive and well, all things considered. It will be a difficult week, but I could certainly be feeling worse about it all. As I recently mentioned, this has been a fantastic and rewarding semester. One benefit of loving what you do is that you … well, you love it. I’ve got a lot on my plate, but it’s all stuff I’m interested in. The time constraints are the only things making it even slightly negative. But I feel pretty confident. More often than I should admit, I’ve had to rush the writing of my papers, and yet they’ve always turned out being rather good. I’ve been quite flattered by the comments I’ve been receiving from my instructors. It’s nice to feel that I’m waxing strong as a graduate student, honing my skills and becoming more and more of a professional. It’s exciting.

In further great news, the philosophy department at GSU recently revamped the requirements for a master’s degree, which means I have more flexibility in the classes I choose to take. This opened up new possibilities for me regarding next semester. Of course, being such an indecisive bloke, this initially sent my head spinning, unsure of what classes I most wanted to take. But I think I’ve finally made a permanent decision. If all goes according to my current plan, the classes I’ll be taking in the spring are as follows: Philosophy of Mind (which deals with issues like, is there a difference between the brain and the mind?); Hegel (a 19th-century German philosopher whom I’ve never studied); Wittgenstein (a 20th-century Austrian philosopher whom I’ve never studied); and a Seminar in Religious Studies. As a bonus, I will not have any classes on Fridays, which will be absolutely lovely. I’ll have to be disciplined and spend the day on homework, but it’ll be nice for those occasions (such as Spring Break or my sister’s upcoming wedding) when I may want to leave town or otherwise extend my weekend.

That’s life at the moment. Thanksgiving was great and I should probably say more about it, but I probably never will, knowing me. If you’re looking for some good entertainment, I’ve run into a handful of it lately. For a good read, try A Clockwork Orange. For a good flick, go rent Lucky Number Slevin. If you’re more into TV, The Amazing Race and Top Chef both have at least two more episodes in their current seasons. As for music recommendations, I’ve been quite taken with a double-disc anthology of The Doors titled Legacy: The Absolute Best. ‘Tis not to be missed.

Fare thee well for now, faithful readers!