Thursday, July 24, 2008
Sic transit gloria mundi
This morning I received an e-mail that one of my professors had died. An expert in the history of early modern mathematics and the origins of the modern software industry, he had a heart attack last week while swimming and never recovered. The department is in a state of shock. I ran into one of my professors earlier today and she commented on how sudden it was. He had apparently just submitted an article for publication and was making plans to spend the next week visiting family in Cape Cod. And then, this happened.
We received daily updates via e-mail from the department's secretary, and at first it seemed like things might be improving. He apparently opened his eyes and there was hoping of moving him out of intensive care, but it was not to be.
He was one of the most brilliant scholars I have ever met and his death is a severe loss for the department, not to mention his family and the many community organizations with which he was involved. He was one of the first graduates of Old Ivy's history of science program and had been teaching here for nearly 40 years. His lecture course on the Scientific Revolution and his seminar on material epistemology have profoundly affected how I approach the history of science and I will miss his rambling anecdotes, his surprising awareness of popular culture (every so often during our conversations, he'd whip out a reference to Men in Black or The Matrix), and even his occasionally confrontational questioning style.
He was my general field examiner in the history of technology, and he never let up on me during that process. His questions were always pointed and sharp and he tolerated no evasion. Even if you didn't know what he was looking for in an answer, he would pin you down and force you to lay out an argument.
The university has not posted anything official about his passing yet, and a memorial service is slated in the fall during what would have been his final academic year before retirement. On that occasion, there will likely be a lot of people who knew him better than I ever did giving speeches and reflecting on how he changed their lives.
If I were asked to speak, however, I would mention the following anecdote to demonstrate his humility and his good humor with regard to his chosen profession. During his Scientific Revolution course in the Spring of 2007, he was talking about the use of the word "revolution" to describe the changing approaches towards natural philosophy which occurred between the 15th and 17th centuries. To what extent was it seen as a revolution at the time? Was it really as abrupt a change as the term "revolution" implies? Questions of that sort. And somewhere along the line he mentions Thomas Kuhn, his advisor and the author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, arguably the most well-known history of science text published in the past fifty years. (You can thank him for coining the term "paradigm shift.")
As I recall, he started talking about Kuhn and paradigms and crisis points and so forth, but then he paused for a moment and looked out into the crowd of undergraduates and asked: "Before I go on any further, how many of you have heard of Thomas Kuhn?" The graduate students in the room, myself included, raised their hands, but aside from our little section in the front of the room, not a single hand was raised.
And my professor turns to all of us, the graduate students, and said: "You see that? That is what you have to look forward to in this profession!"
And he was totally right. Very few academics ever gain notoriety outside of their particular field of interest, and my professor knew it. But he still loved his subject and went on to become one of the leading experts in his field. I regret that I only had the opportunity to work with him for two years, but by the same token, I am also thankful that I had the chance to know him for that long. I will definitely miss his perspective on what this business of academia is really all about.
(0) comments
This morning I received an e-mail that one of my professors had died. An expert in the history of early modern mathematics and the origins of the modern software industry, he had a heart attack last week while swimming and never recovered. The department is in a state of shock. I ran into one of my professors earlier today and she commented on how sudden it was. He had apparently just submitted an article for publication and was making plans to spend the next week visiting family in Cape Cod. And then, this happened.
We received daily updates via e-mail from the department's secretary, and at first it seemed like things might be improving. He apparently opened his eyes and there was hoping of moving him out of intensive care, but it was not to be.
He was one of the most brilliant scholars I have ever met and his death is a severe loss for the department, not to mention his family and the many community organizations with which he was involved. He was one of the first graduates of Old Ivy's history of science program and had been teaching here for nearly 40 years. His lecture course on the Scientific Revolution and his seminar on material epistemology have profoundly affected how I approach the history of science and I will miss his rambling anecdotes, his surprising awareness of popular culture (every so often during our conversations, he'd whip out a reference to Men in Black or The Matrix), and even his occasionally confrontational questioning style.
He was my general field examiner in the history of technology, and he never let up on me during that process. His questions were always pointed and sharp and he tolerated no evasion. Even if you didn't know what he was looking for in an answer, he would pin you down and force you to lay out an argument.
The university has not posted anything official about his passing yet, and a memorial service is slated in the fall during what would have been his final academic year before retirement. On that occasion, there will likely be a lot of people who knew him better than I ever did giving speeches and reflecting on how he changed their lives.
If I were asked to speak, however, I would mention the following anecdote to demonstrate his humility and his good humor with regard to his chosen profession. During his Scientific Revolution course in the Spring of 2007, he was talking about the use of the word "revolution" to describe the changing approaches towards natural philosophy which occurred between the 15th and 17th centuries. To what extent was it seen as a revolution at the time? Was it really as abrupt a change as the term "revolution" implies? Questions of that sort. And somewhere along the line he mentions Thomas Kuhn, his advisor and the author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, arguably the most well-known history of science text published in the past fifty years. (You can thank him for coining the term "paradigm shift.")
As I recall, he started talking about Kuhn and paradigms and crisis points and so forth, but then he paused for a moment and looked out into the crowd of undergraduates and asked: "Before I go on any further, how many of you have heard of Thomas Kuhn?" The graduate students in the room, myself included, raised their hands, but aside from our little section in the front of the room, not a single hand was raised.
And my professor turns to all of us, the graduate students, and said: "You see that? That is what you have to look forward to in this profession!"
And he was totally right. Very few academics ever gain notoriety outside of their particular field of interest, and my professor knew it. But he still loved his subject and went on to become one of the leading experts in his field. I regret that I only had the opportunity to work with him for two years, but by the same token, I am also thankful that I had the chance to know him for that long. I will definitely miss his perspective on what this business of academia is really all about.
Monday, July 21, 2008
I'm watching the Watchmen...
So like many other people, I went and saw The Dark Knight during its opening weekend. My girlfriend has not yet seen the film, so I'm going to avoid any spoiler-filled reviews except to say that I enjoyed the movie and think that both Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger gave particularly noteworthy performances. Also, they somehow got Commissioner Gordon to portray himself under the pseudonym of "Gary Oldman" (whoever that is).
But perhaps even more enjoyable than watching the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime square off with the fate of Gotham in the balance, at least from the perspective of my inner geek, was watching the trailer for the upcoming cinematic adaptation of Watchmen.
Now I have read Alan Moore's graphic novel at least a dozen times over the years and when rumors began flying that a movie was in the works, I was among the first to argue that this it was simply too complicated to capture in a 2 1/2 hour long movie.
But damn if this isn't a pretty trailer.
I'm still uncertain about a few things. The costume designs for Nite-Owl and Ozymandias, for example, make me a little nervous, and I know very little about most of the major actors involved. But there are so many little touches throughout the trailer that gave me hope that the people associated with the film truly respect the source material.
A few standout moments include:
I confess, I still have my doubts. Anyone who watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen knows that Alan Moore-inspired movies tend to fall significantly short of their source material. And let's not forget that trailers can make any movie, even The Phantom Menace, look exciting. Nonetheless, the more I read about the project, the more willing I am to set aside my doubts and wait for the final product. Zack Snyder seems to understand that some fans will want to see every part of the original story and has taken steps to address those parts that simply won't fit into a standard movie running time. (For example, by including the Black Freighter storyline as a separate full length animated feature.) If they can maintain the attention to detail present in this trailer without significantly making sacrifices to the storyline, there may be hope for this new Watchmen movie yet.
And when it comes out, you had better believe, I'll be watching.
(2) comments
So like many other people, I went and saw The Dark Knight during its opening weekend. My girlfriend has not yet seen the film, so I'm going to avoid any spoiler-filled reviews except to say that I enjoyed the movie and think that both Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger gave particularly noteworthy performances. Also, they somehow got Commissioner Gordon to portray himself under the pseudonym of "Gary Oldman" (whoever that is).
But perhaps even more enjoyable than watching the Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime square off with the fate of Gotham in the balance, at least from the perspective of my inner geek, was watching the trailer for the upcoming cinematic adaptation of Watchmen.
Now I have read Alan Moore's graphic novel at least a dozen times over the years and when rumors began flying that a movie was in the works, I was among the first to argue that this it was simply too complicated to capture in a 2 1/2 hour long movie.
But damn if this isn't a pretty trailer.
I'm still uncertain about a few things. The costume designs for Nite-Owl and Ozymandias, for example, make me a little nervous, and I know very little about most of the major actors involved. But there are so many little touches throughout the trailer that gave me hope that the people associated with the film truly respect the source material.
A few standout moments include:
- The Comedian's smiley-face button.
- Rorschach's mask, subtly shifting patterns with his speech
- Ozymandias' wall of televisions
- The use of Veidt brand aerosol cans in a makeshift flamethrower
- Dr. Manhattan winning the Vietnam War
I confess, I still have my doubts. Anyone who watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen knows that Alan Moore-inspired movies tend to fall significantly short of their source material. And let's not forget that trailers can make any movie, even The Phantom Menace, look exciting. Nonetheless, the more I read about the project, the more willing I am to set aside my doubts and wait for the final product. Zack Snyder seems to understand that some fans will want to see every part of the original story and has taken steps to address those parts that simply won't fit into a standard movie running time. (For example, by including the Black Freighter storyline as a separate full length animated feature.) If they can maintain the attention to detail present in this trailer without significantly making sacrifices to the storyline, there may be hope for this new Watchmen movie yet.
And when it comes out, you had better believe, I'll be watching.
Monday, July 14, 2008
My Friend's Wedding and My Penultimate Cube
So this weekend, one of my oldest friends got married. This event was not unexpected. I had, after all, received a special "save-the-date" magnet several months in advance. Nor can I claim that it was unprecedented, except in the sense that this specific friend had never been married before. (So far as we know.) But due to a conference-related scheduling conflict last November, I was unable to attend the first such wedding of a high school friend in West Virginia, so this was the first time I had actually been present for the ceremony.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. The bride's family lives outside of Philadelphia, so the event was within reasonable driving distance at a local arboretum. Fortunately, the unbearable humidity which characterized most of this month's weather finally broke, and the ceremony took place under sunny skies and generally non-sticky conditions. Consequently, the groom (occasionally referred to on this blog as "Sevensor") and his brother/best man ("Ramblin' Dave") were able to bear the burden of being tuxedoed in an outdoor venue with a minimum of discomfort. The ceremony was relatively small, with an audience of approximately 150, and everything went off without a hitch...except perhaps for a flower girl who was still unclear on her exact responsibilities.
Sitting with my girlfriend alongside other friends from junior high school, including the Sleeper (who came all the way from England with his girlfriend) and Mathman (who came all the way from Boston), I watched the happy couple take their vows. A strange mixture of thoughts percolated in the back of my brain throughout the process. First and foremost was a feeling of joy: the bride and groom seemed thoroughly happy with one another, almost unable to contain their beaming smiles during the ceremony. Then a sense of hope: hope that their happiness will last, hope that I will be continue to keep in touch with old friends, hope that my girlfriend would be able to tolerate stories about our junior high school escapades without falling asleep...hope for the future.
And then there was the nostalgia factor, mixed with a touch of pathos. Because let's face it, even in this age of Facebook and blogging, most people fail to keep in touch with their friends from high school. The world interferes. People go off to college across the country, reuniting briefly during academic breaks only to hurtle back to their own separate worlds soon after. Once graduation hits and people join "the real world", opportunities to reunite become rarer...most jobs don't have academic breaks and even those with regular vacations generally fail to overlap with those of one's friends. As visits with old friends become less routine, one develops a new social network---coworkers, perhaps, or locals who share extracurricular interests. Until eventually, the close-knit group of friends you once knew has been shattered into many smaller, disparate groups scattered geographically across the country, only coming together for major events like, well, a wedding.
Don't get me wrong it was great to see the old gang back together again. But I realized, as I watched my friend walk down the aisle with his new bride that such occasions were likely to only likely to get more rare. Maybe this concern was exacerbated by the unspoken fact that only two days later, I would be celebrating a birthday...I'm not certain. I tried to put such things out of my mind during the wedding, the best man's toast (complete with reference to socially optimal mapping), the happy couple's first dance (to the Beatles "When I'm 64"), or the traditional storming of the buffet line in search of cake.
But in the end, you can't ignore the changes in life. And while they can be a little sad, it is possible to enjoy them as they are occurring and realize that while you can't necessarily go home again, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my friends again this weekend, even if only for a little while. Beyond all the in-jokes and high school references, this wedding gave me faith that even in the years to come, my friends and I will be able to keep in touch, something that I had doubted in the past. Maybe we'll only meet up at major events, but I'm willing to bet that something bigger could be organized. Plans are already in the works for next summer, regardless of anyone's engagement status...
Regular readers of this blog know that normally, I post something to commemorate my birthday here. I had hoped that I would be able to celebrate the occasion with my friends who were in town for the wedding, but such was not to be. Mathman took the train back to Boston yesterday, with Ramblin' Dave and his father driving north soon after. The Sleeper was in town, but since he's back in the States so rarely, he decided to go spend some time with family. And Sevensor and his wife are on their way to an exciting Croatian honeymoon. (I hear Dubrovnik is lovely this time of year.) So really, it's just me this time around. I'm 27 this year. Since I doubt that I'll last until 125, this is likely to be my penultimate cubic year.
Unlike previous years, when I've talked mostly about the past, today I look forward to the future. This year, I will have to start work on my dissertation and will be moving to a new apartment. It is entirely possible that this combination of factors will tend to isolate me further from my friends, both old and new. My hope, however, based on this past weekend, is that I will be able to make time to balance out my work with the family and friends that make that work worthwhile. Normally, at weddings, the guests are the ones presenting the gifts. But in this case, I think that seeing my friends this past weekend was an unintentional birthday gift of sorts...one that reminded me how lucky we all are to find people who appreciate us and how important it is to stay in touch.
And with that we wrap up this year's Bastille Day birthday post. Be sure to tune in next year, when I try to come up with something witty to say about the number 28.
(3) comments
So this weekend, one of my oldest friends got married. This event was not unexpected. I had, after all, received a special "save-the-date" magnet several months in advance. Nor can I claim that it was unprecedented, except in the sense that this specific friend had never been married before. (So far as we know.) But due to a conference-related scheduling conflict last November, I was unable to attend the first such wedding of a high school friend in West Virginia, so this was the first time I had actually been present for the ceremony.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. The bride's family lives outside of Philadelphia, so the event was within reasonable driving distance at a local arboretum. Fortunately, the unbearable humidity which characterized most of this month's weather finally broke, and the ceremony took place under sunny skies and generally non-sticky conditions. Consequently, the groom (occasionally referred to on this blog as "Sevensor") and his brother/best man ("Ramblin' Dave") were able to bear the burden of being tuxedoed in an outdoor venue with a minimum of discomfort. The ceremony was relatively small, with an audience of approximately 150, and everything went off without a hitch...except perhaps for a flower girl who was still unclear on her exact responsibilities.
Sitting with my girlfriend alongside other friends from junior high school, including the Sleeper (who came all the way from England with his girlfriend) and Mathman (who came all the way from Boston), I watched the happy couple take their vows. A strange mixture of thoughts percolated in the back of my brain throughout the process. First and foremost was a feeling of joy: the bride and groom seemed thoroughly happy with one another, almost unable to contain their beaming smiles during the ceremony. Then a sense of hope: hope that their happiness will last, hope that I will be continue to keep in touch with old friends, hope that my girlfriend would be able to tolerate stories about our junior high school escapades without falling asleep...hope for the future.
And then there was the nostalgia factor, mixed with a touch of pathos. Because let's face it, even in this age of Facebook and blogging, most people fail to keep in touch with their friends from high school. The world interferes. People go off to college across the country, reuniting briefly during academic breaks only to hurtle back to their own separate worlds soon after. Once graduation hits and people join "the real world", opportunities to reunite become rarer...most jobs don't have academic breaks and even those with regular vacations generally fail to overlap with those of one's friends. As visits with old friends become less routine, one develops a new social network---coworkers, perhaps, or locals who share extracurricular interests. Until eventually, the close-knit group of friends you once knew has been shattered into many smaller, disparate groups scattered geographically across the country, only coming together for major events like, well, a wedding.
Don't get me wrong it was great to see the old gang back together again. But I realized, as I watched my friend walk down the aisle with his new bride that such occasions were likely to only likely to get more rare. Maybe this concern was exacerbated by the unspoken fact that only two days later, I would be celebrating a birthday...I'm not certain. I tried to put such things out of my mind during the wedding, the best man's toast (complete with reference to socially optimal mapping), the happy couple's first dance (to the Beatles "When I'm 64"), or the traditional storming of the buffet line in search of cake.
But in the end, you can't ignore the changes in life. And while they can be a little sad, it is possible to enjoy them as they are occurring and realize that while you can't necessarily go home again, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my friends again this weekend, even if only for a little while. Beyond all the in-jokes and high school references, this wedding gave me faith that even in the years to come, my friends and I will be able to keep in touch, something that I had doubted in the past. Maybe we'll only meet up at major events, but I'm willing to bet that something bigger could be organized. Plans are already in the works for next summer, regardless of anyone's engagement status...
Regular readers of this blog know that normally, I post something to commemorate my birthday here. I had hoped that I would be able to celebrate the occasion with my friends who were in town for the wedding, but such was not to be. Mathman took the train back to Boston yesterday, with Ramblin' Dave and his father driving north soon after. The Sleeper was in town, but since he's back in the States so rarely, he decided to go spend some time with family. And Sevensor and his wife are on their way to an exciting Croatian honeymoon. (I hear Dubrovnik is lovely this time of year.) So really, it's just me this time around. I'm 27 this year. Since I doubt that I'll last until 125, this is likely to be my penultimate cubic year.
Unlike previous years, when I've talked mostly about the past, today I look forward to the future. This year, I will have to start work on my dissertation and will be moving to a new apartment. It is entirely possible that this combination of factors will tend to isolate me further from my friends, both old and new. My hope, however, based on this past weekend, is that I will be able to make time to balance out my work with the family and friends that make that work worthwhile. Normally, at weddings, the guests are the ones presenting the gifts. But in this case, I think that seeing my friends this past weekend was an unintentional birthday gift of sorts...one that reminded me how lucky we all are to find people who appreciate us and how important it is to stay in touch.
And with that we wrap up this year's Bastille Day birthday post. Be sure to tune in next year, when I try to come up with something witty to say about the number 28.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
One of My Favorite 150 Year Old Books
Olivia Judson writes an interesting piece in today's New York Times about the surprisingly small number of biologists who have read Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, regarded by many as the single most important book in the history of science. (Other obvious contenders: Newton's Principia Mathematica, Maxwell's Treatise on Electromagnetism, Galileo's Two New Sciences, Copernicus' On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres) Judson is correct in noting that to a modern reader, Darwin's approach towards questions of heredity and genetics seems clunky and outdated. And she equally correct that one can efficiently glean the main points of his arguments from modern textbooks without subjecting oneself to lengthy passages on local pigeon breeders.
Nevertheless, as an aspiring historian of science who has actually read the Origin from cover to cover, I can also agree with Judson when she notes that there are moments when Darwin's "prose is clear, lyrical and glorious: as good as anything ever written by anyone." She refers to the discussion of the "humble-bees" and the famous ending passage describing how the brutality of the natural world can be seen as possessing a positive aspect by inspiring the evolution of better evolved species. Personally, I find Darwin most compelling when he is writing in two different areas. First, are those with which he has a strong first-hand familiarity. Darwin's frequent references to pigeon breeding mentioned above, for example, showcase how much time he devoted to understanding artificial selection, controlled by human actors, before attempting to devise a comparable mechanism for the natural world. Even more impressive, I would contend, is his ability to defend his position against all major criticisms at the time. He explains how gaps in the fossil record, the lack of transitional varieties, the claims of intelligent design advocates, the existence of vestigial organs or socially beneficial instincts, etc. can all be fit within a broader evolutionary framework, and does so in a straightforward and well-thought out manner.
Next year marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the Origin's publication. Needless to say, it's going to be a big year for historians of science in general and historians of biology in particular. I hope, however, in all the hubbub, that a few actual non-historians, and maybe even a few non-scientists, will try to give Darwin's work a try. It may not be as riveting as a novel by his contemporary, Charles Dickens, but it certainly is the most accessible scientific text ever written, and I would argue, essential reading for anyone who wishes to engage in arguments about science's role in the public sphere.
(0) comments
Olivia Judson writes an interesting piece in today's New York Times about the surprisingly small number of biologists who have read Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, regarded by many as the single most important book in the history of science. (Other obvious contenders: Newton's Principia Mathematica, Maxwell's Treatise on Electromagnetism, Galileo's Two New Sciences, Copernicus' On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres) Judson is correct in noting that to a modern reader, Darwin's approach towards questions of heredity and genetics seems clunky and outdated. And she equally correct that one can efficiently glean the main points of his arguments from modern textbooks without subjecting oneself to lengthy passages on local pigeon breeders.
Nevertheless, as an aspiring historian of science who has actually read the Origin from cover to cover, I can also agree with Judson when she notes that there are moments when Darwin's "prose is clear, lyrical and glorious: as good as anything ever written by anyone." She refers to the discussion of the "humble-bees" and the famous ending passage describing how the brutality of the natural world can be seen as possessing a positive aspect by inspiring the evolution of better evolved species. Personally, I find Darwin most compelling when he is writing in two different areas. First, are those with which he has a strong first-hand familiarity. Darwin's frequent references to pigeon breeding mentioned above, for example, showcase how much time he devoted to understanding artificial selection, controlled by human actors, before attempting to devise a comparable mechanism for the natural world. Even more impressive, I would contend, is his ability to defend his position against all major criticisms at the time. He explains how gaps in the fossil record, the lack of transitional varieties, the claims of intelligent design advocates, the existence of vestigial organs or socially beneficial instincts, etc. can all be fit within a broader evolutionary framework, and does so in a straightforward and well-thought out manner.
Next year marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the Origin's publication. Needless to say, it's going to be a big year for historians of science in general and historians of biology in particular. I hope, however, in all the hubbub, that a few actual non-historians, and maybe even a few non-scientists, will try to give Darwin's work a try. It may not be as riveting as a novel by his contemporary, Charles Dickens, but it certainly is the most accessible scientific text ever written, and I would argue, essential reading for anyone who wishes to engage in arguments about science's role in the public sphere.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Hey You Kids...Get Offa My Blog!
What...you're still here? After a month long hiatus, I decide to shamble back to my blog and what do I find? Lollygagging readers loitering around waiting to see into which exciting adventures I've stumbled of late. (Not to mention how I will next mangle the Queen's English in an attempt to avoid using a preposition to end a sentence...with.) Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, oh impossibly faithful readers, but the main reason that so little has been posted on this blog during the past few weeks is relatively straightforward.
Nothing much has happened.
Sure, my girlfriend and I went to Florida.
And sure, I've been working diligently on my prospectus, figuring out exactly what the heck should serve as the topic of my dissertation. (I publicly face the critiques of my fellow graduate students tomorrow. Things could get ugly.)
And yes, I have also been playing softball for the history department team, earning a reputation as a reasonably good, if occasionally inconsistent, pitcher. (Though how good do you have to be in slow pitch softball?)
And I'm moving out of the Invisible Commune in August.
And I'm moving with my girlfriend into a wonderful new apartment whose only major flaw is being located 35 minutes away from campus when gas prices are starting to go through the roof.
Oh, and one of my good friends from high school is getting married this weekend, so I'll get to see a lot of my friends for the first time in what feels like (and probably is) years!
But other than that nothing happened.
So quit looking for exciting stuff. There are no ten word movie reviews of films like Hancock (e.g. The first third really works. The rest not so much.) or Mongol (e.g. Surprisingly little pillaging for a new film about Genghis Khan) here. Nor will you see any discussion of the weather (humid and miserable) or the upcoming presidential election (John McCain is older than the six-pack.).
Nope, nothing to see here. Nothing of pressing interest, anyway.
So get off of my blog, you gosh-darned, good-for-nothin' readers!
Don't make me shake my fist ineffectually while I start pondering new ideas for blog posts.
Because you know I will!
(3) comments
What...you're still here? After a month long hiatus, I decide to shamble back to my blog and what do I find? Lollygagging readers loitering around waiting to see into which exciting adventures I've stumbled of late. (Not to mention how I will next mangle the Queen's English in an attempt to avoid using a preposition to end a sentence...with.) Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, oh impossibly faithful readers, but the main reason that so little has been posted on this blog during the past few weeks is relatively straightforward.
Nothing much has happened.
Sure, my girlfriend and I went to Florida.
And sure, I've been working diligently on my prospectus, figuring out exactly what the heck should serve as the topic of my dissertation. (I publicly face the critiques of my fellow graduate students tomorrow. Things could get ugly.)
And yes, I have also been playing softball for the history department team, earning a reputation as a reasonably good, if occasionally inconsistent, pitcher. (Though how good do you have to be in slow pitch softball?)
And I'm moving out of the Invisible Commune in August.
And I'm moving with my girlfriend into a wonderful new apartment whose only major flaw is being located 35 minutes away from campus when gas prices are starting to go through the roof.
Oh, and one of my good friends from high school is getting married this weekend, so I'll get to see a lot of my friends for the first time in what feels like (and probably is) years!
But other than that nothing happened.
So quit looking for exciting stuff. There are no ten word movie reviews of films like Hancock (e.g. The first third really works. The rest not so much.) or Mongol (e.g. Surprisingly little pillaging for a new film about Genghis Khan) here. Nor will you see any discussion of the weather (humid and miserable) or the upcoming presidential election (John McCain is older than the six-pack.).
Nope, nothing to see here. Nothing of pressing interest, anyway.
So get off of my blog, you gosh-darned, good-for-nothin' readers!
Don't make me shake my fist ineffectually while I start pondering new ideas for blog posts.
Because you know I will!
