My Test Tube Baby

I’m testing out YouTube, uploading homemade movies to see about putting them on my blog. This is the first video I’ve ever uploaded, and the quality isn’t fantastic. That, of course, is not YouTube’s fault, but simply the quality of video that comes out of our digital camera. A big downside to our digital camera is that, even though it can record video as well as take pictures, it does not record any sound. It’s the only digital camera I know of that can record video but cannot record sound. That’s what you get for shopping clearance, I s’pose.

Anyway, this video was taken on January 12, 2007. It’s Li’l Eddie’s first trip to the park. He didn’t get all that excited about anything. He’s still a bit young to care. But it was fun for us, and we got some cute photos out of it (and this one video). Now that I’ve got the YouTube thing down, there is a whole slew of possibilities opening up to my blog. I can take you on tours of my school, on tours of my apartment, on tours of my neighborhood … it’s too bad I’ll probably never get around to actually doing it! But enough about me, check out my first homemade vid of my first homemade kid! And just so you know, it may run kind of choppy the first time you watch it. Don’t worry, it’ll run smoothly for the hundreds of times you watch it thereafter…

Spring Semester Has Sprung

It’s the end of my first week of school in 2007. I’m feeling pretty good. I think the workload will be manageable, and I already find the classes rather interesting. Provided I don’t let myself slack and end up drowning in stress, I do believe this could be another richly rewarding semester. It helps that one of my classes got canceled—Wittgenstein. I had only intended to audit the class, so it’s no real loss to me. In fact, I had already wondered if I wouldn’t just end up shirking my Wittgenstein readings half the time anyway, because I’d know the class doesn’t really count for anything and I’d find myself busy with other homework and/or tempted by extracurricular activities (e.g. watching movies, writing blogs, actually hanging out with my family). I really consider it a blessing that the class is canceled, though it’s a sadly lost opportunity. The guy who was going to teach it is supposedly rather renowned as a Wittgenstein scholar. I would’ve been learning from the best. Oh well.

In addition to my regular classes, this semester I’ll be serving as a “Critical Thinking Tutor.” What this means is that I’m obligated weekly (not weakly obligated) to sit in on two sessions of Critical Thinking (Philosophy 1010) and hold three office hours during which students can come to me for help understanding the material. Eventually, I’ll have to lead mandatory review sessions for the students. It will be a bit daunting, as this is going to be my first exposure to anything remotely like being an actual instructor. But it’ll be a good experience, wetting my feet a bit before I take over my own classes in the fall. The only bummer is that I have to hold these office hours even though, as everyone has told me, it’ll be an incredibly rare instance that a student actually comes to me. So, because I don’t have an actual office, I just have to sit in the overcrowded philosophy department computer lab for three hours a week. I guess that’s an easy task, and provided no students show up, I can get a lot of reading (or blogging) done. But it means I have to get up a lot earlier once a week, and it also means I have to go the philosophy department, which is kind of removed from where all my classes are located this semester. Not big complaints, and I should be grateful since this is how I earn my tuition waiver. But those are my thoughts, so there you go.

Much more is always left to be said, and I hope I’ll get to some of it in the near future. For those who actually check in here from time to time, thanks for sticking with me. I always aspire to writing more often, and I always think I really will. I feel that way now, what with the upcoming office hours I just mentioned. Until then, for those of you lucky enough to have Monday off, like myself, enjoy it. I’ll be checking in here again soon…

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!

Pics From a Proud Papa

Usually it is Melanie who keeps up with posting photos of Edison, but I’m so in love with the kid, I have to share some too. In just the last couple of days, he’s started being able to sit up by himself. He’s even raised himself to a sitting position a couple of times. Needless to say, we’ve gone a little crazy with the camera over it. Most of the photos below demonstrate this, as you will see. Enjoy!


I tried to nonchalantly snap this photo over Melanie’s shoulder, but Eddie was a little too smart for such antics. He looked right at me.


Here he is, looking a little tired but studly in his button-up shirt. The whole “growing up too fast” phase is officially upon us.


This is Eddie in what I believe they call an “exersaucer.” We tried it out for the first time just yesterday, and he seems to like it pretty well as you can see. While the frequency of his smiling has gradually been on the rise for quite some time now, it seems to have increased in its increasing just this past week.

And here are a slew of photos taken just today, with Ed in his studly button-up again but taking it to the next level of coolness with the addition of a denim jacket. I find these so cute, I had to post a few. Darn camera had a hard time with the lighting and ended up blurring my very favorite photo, though—and slightly washing out Eddie’s face in a couple others. Such is life. They’re still adorable pics.









And in case I don’t get to say it later this week, HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

(We certainly know what I’m grateful for!)