Long Time, No Blog
After a month-and-a-half hiatus, I've finally revisited my weblog to submit a new entry. Let's see what's happened in the interim.
Well, in mid-April, I finalized my decision to enroll in the Ph.D. in Philosophy program at the University of South Florida in Tampa. I should be there for four to five years, and don't think that I'd be coming back to St. Louis for too many of those summers. I will be offered a contract as a Teaching Assistant in a Critical Thinking course for the next two semesters, which should be renewed barring any extraordinary blunders on my part. Right now, I'm looking on-line for an apartment in the vicinity of the campus, one that will take pets, so that I can bring Katie down with me. I've really enjoyed having her with me over the past nine months, and know that she'll continue to be a good stress-reliever (I'm sure I'll need one!) in the coming months; my only concern will be how well she will adjust to a new home, especially a smaller one without other people or cats.
About the same time, I also settled upon a choice of job for this last summer before grad school. I wavered for some weeks between positions offered me at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico (refer to the immediately previous blog) at here at home, at Camp Famous Eagle at S-F Scout Ranch, with the Greater St. Louis Area Council. Ultimately, I found the mathematics to be the most compelling argument; GSLAC offered me nearly twice the money (including scholarship funds) for a job that takes three-and-a-half weeks less than at Philmont. Needless to say, I can use all the money I can get, for while I do indeed have a TAship awaiting me at USF, it will not cover all of my expenses by a long shot. I will also need the extra time in August to pack up my belongings and drive cross-country to the Sunshine State, and weekends at home will enable me to catch up on correspondence related to grad school.
I've also been subbing pretty consistently for most of the last month, and the income has allowed me to completely repay Mom for the money she loaned me last fall and winter, as well as to significantly reduce my credit card bill.
Lastly, I've been doing a lot of reading lately, as the realization has dawned upon me that camp is only some two-and-a-half weeks away, and my leisure time (as well as the peace and quiet I enjoy at home) will be drastically diminished. I've read John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, Apuleius's The Golden Ass, Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, Francis Bacon's Essays, and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Currently, I'm halfway into Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, which I'm enjoying as much as I did War and Peace; the man writes such brilliant depictions of social interaction, of the what and why of each character's behavior which rings utterly true to their natures as reflections of humanity.
Now, for some of the editorializing which Ben and Tempe seem to engage in so often in their blogs. I get so irritated and discouraged by the greed and superficiality which I witness each day. Whether it's the desire of the kids I substitute teach to each look alike in their Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts, the ongoing redevelopment of my suburb and subdivision in which modest one-level ranch-style homes are knocked down to make way for two-and-half story cookie-cutter houses customized for yuppie couples, or the ceaseless commercials for tooth-whitening gum and toothpaste, I cannot but help feeling out of the social mainstream. I know that I value my material possessions more than most people, and that I can barely live in my bedroom at home for all the "stuff" in there, but other than books and the occasional junk food purchase, I don't allow myself too many luxuries. However, I hate being made to feel that I am alienated from my society, especially my peers, for not wearing the right name brands, having rock-hard abs, and a photogenic smile. Moreover, I don't like sports, don't care for gambling or partying (or even casual social drinking), and don't hold or look forward to holding a corporate job, so I rarely feel that I have any subject with which to converse in a group of my cohorts. Ah, well. I suppose that it all boils down to a lack of self-esteem and confidence in who I am and what I do, what values I hold or where I see myself in the future.
You philosophers are all alike - too busy pondering the secrets of the universe to worry about your blog.