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!