June, December, whatever...

Yeah, so, six months have gone by without a blog entry. Mea culpa and all. Much has happened since then, a thrilling tale of Vikings, ninjas, manuscripts, and Michael Bay-esque explosions and other various and sundry special effects.

Academia

First, the book chapters were submitted, and I've been in contact with the editor ever since. That manuscript is in a form with which we're both happy, but we'll see what Open Court Press has to say. The other is lost in an editorial black hole. I expect to hear back from him sometime before the Mayan Calendar finishes and Carrot Top finally kills us all and/or the Zombie Apocalypse occurs. Either way, you'll need a shotgun and a blunt object. A third book chapter is due next month, so naturally I'm writing a blog entry instead. In all fairness, I've been reading about the legal history of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in the First Amendment and the wranglings about how to properly define "religion" in that context, and it is just as thrilling as it sounds. So I'll be sure to extend my research onto Facebook and see if Mafia Wars has a solution to the issue.



Second, the semester is over, and grading was, as always, a little less fun than involuntary eye surgery, but it is over and done with. The new semester doesn't start for another month, so I'm back in Pittsburgh relaxing as much as is possible during a working vacation. This semester involved teaching an overload, thanks to Todd Furman's laziness, which he chooses to define as a sabbatical to write a book, elevate his house to prevent future flooding damage, and take care of his family. Whatever. I've seen the Xbox in his office, and I know the sound of tapping on the controller for Guitar Hero. Where he got Guitar Hero: Barry Manilow, I have no idea.



Third, I started training in Tae Kwon Do again, which was on hold since my senior year of college. I have my Black Belt exam in February, for which I have to break a two-inch thick concrete block. With my hand. Which is not normally designed for such activities, and threatens to put a serious damper on my social life. Plus there's the whole "relearning everything from white through brown belt" - it sounds worse than it is, but it will still be challenging.



Fourth, the social life is interesting, as always. There was a near miss that is still unresolved with a local in Lake Charles, a second possibility in the wings, histrionic calls from a quasi-ex back in Pittsburgh, and I ran into an ex today while on my way to the Apple store. It seemed to be uncomfortable all around, which was probably to be expected. But there are some people that are just poison to us - like heroin, it feels good when you are using, but you know it is bad for you, and you are better off without it. It's hard not to pick up, but gets easier with time, especially with the knowledge that it's way too easy to fall back into the same bad habits.

Fifth, some friends and I have started a photography business: Aegis Imagery. We'll see what happens.

Last, it looks like the Chatham teaching may have run its course. The classes I normally teach are mainstays of a program that is going the way of the dodo, so it's unclear whether I'll have any graduate courses, which will be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I'll be losing a source of income that was a nice supplement to the McNeese check. On the other hand, I'll be teaching a normal courseload and will have more free time. I'll be checking with the folks at Point Park to see if they're interested in having me teach online courses for them, just in case.

So fun all around. With any luck, I'll be able to have some semblance of normalcy in posting here in the coming weeks.

Alles Gute.

Time flies...

...when you're not traveling at the speed of light.

It's been over a month since I last wrote, and in that time, hurricane season has begun, "heat index" has taken on a new meaning for me, and summer classes have begun for good and for ill.

I do not anticipate massive amounts of water falling from the heavens before I drive back to Pittsburgh next week, so I'm not in crisis mode. That will come at the end of the month, which will bring with it two manuscript deadlines. With any luck, they'll be done beforehand, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my two undergraduate medical ethics classes and graduate research methodology course will be occupying my time (in addition to several volumes on Abrahamic monotheism). The fun never stops in the twisting and turning life of a professional philosopher.

Recently granted tenure

In other news, the Louisiana pilot light was relit, so the furnace is back on. It's been in the mid-90's all week, and they had to come up with new numbers to describe the humidity. I spent yesterday at the pool, and am rather lobsterish at the moment as a result, but the swim felt nice. And then I got in the pool.

The classes are winding up and down. My graduate students will be submitting their final papers soon, which will result in a flurry of paperwork. My undergraduates have been submitting bibliographies, and having a hard time recognizing that one-page letters and book reviews probably aren't going to be offering extended arguments they can use to develop their own positions, which will produce a flurry of panicky e-mails that will be answered by information in their syllabi.

Anyway, all will be well once I'm back North, in the Land of Reasonable Summers.

Alles Gute.

Aargh...

A quick surfacing from the grading Abyss to note a new source of torment...

One of the list-servs to which I've subscribed just posted two jobs - both chairs in philosophy at the University of Vienna (one in applied ethics). The only language commitment necessary is the willingness to learn German within three years (which I already have covered). If I weren't the low man on the totem pole as a newly minted Asst. Professor, I'd throw my hat in the ring for consideration.

Alles Gute.

Well that was fast...

Two new updates of interest.

Pictured: Sex Machine
Not Picture: Actual Sex

First, the car is now street legal, thanks to the maneuverings and kindly assistance of a fellow Pennsylvania transplant who happens to work down here at the DMV. And for those of you still registering and having cars inspected in Pennsylvania, my new plate is valid for two years, and the *entire* vehicle inspection consisted of:

1. Do the headlights work?
2. Does the horn work?
3. Do the turn signals work?
4. Do the high-beams work?
5. Do the reverse lights work?

And it cost me $10. I wish I were kidding. I'm golden until next May.

The One True God

The second piece of information is that my abstract on Pastafarianism was accepted. Like, immediately. I sent it off late last night and received the acceptance today, which was also the deadline for the abstracts. So I get to immerse myself in the philosophy and psychology of religion in defense of agnostic theism - i.e., the idea that if there is something transcending human experience, we have no way of knowing what it is, and the FSM is just as valid as any of the other, more traditional deities like Yahweh, Allah, Thor, Chuck Norris, etc.

So, yeah. It will make for a busy summer, as I have to write an chapter on Buddhism for the Dark Tower and Philosophy book first. Never a dull moment.

Alles Gute.

End of the Semester

Busy today, so the information/humor ratio will be rather high.

At long last, the semester is drawing to a close - there are three days of class left and then the tests begin. Consequently, the next two weeks will be a flurry of grading and panicked undergraduates. Yee-hah.

In other news, the biodiversity talk went well. About sixty people attended (both students and faculty); people were sitting on the floor and standing in the hallway to listen. It can't help but do the ego good. ;-)

I'll be submitting an abstract for a book on new religions; I have an idea for an article on the epistemological challenge posed by parody religions like Pastafarianism - the religion of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. There has been a recurring problem in both the philosophy and psychology of religion - there really isn't a clearly defined concept of what constitutes a valid religion. A number of ideas have been thrown around over the years, with some theorists becoming pretty influential, but there haven't been any criteria that don't apply equally to the genuinely held beliefs of some of the religiously fixated patients with whom I used to work. Religions propose what amount to coherent frameworks - rules are created that are internally consistent (at least in principle), but there is no means by which one can step outside that framework to establish whether it is objectively true or false. So, consequently, any belief set that proposes a similar internally coherent framework has just as much claim to truth as any other. This ends up having some pretty interesting consequences - the set of all beliefs that constitute potentially valid religions balloons. The book explores aspects of beliefs of some of the newer religions (e.g., Scientology, the Church of Latter Day Saints, the Raelians, etc.), and the editors expressed interest in seeing something on parody religions. We'll see what happens.

Aside from this, the day will be spent grading, hitting the gym, and doing laundry. I hosted poker last night, so I'm all about having a low-key day today. I'm working my way through the massive amounts of shish-kebab and rice I made for last night.

Time for lunch and the Pens game. Alles Gute.

Tax Day. Glorious Tax Day.

Aside from the chuckleheads holding tea parties protesting government spending (which, of course, is a new phenomenon and certainly not indicative of the previous eight years of apparent fiscal conservatism *cough*recordbudgetdeficitfarworsethanReagan's*cough*), it is a beautiful sunny day, and I'm happy to say that I'm now sunburned. On April 15th. From laying by the pool. And not at the University, because we're on Spring Break.

In fairness, after the Pens game and the gym, I'll be spending the rest of the evening reading about natural products and their derivatives in the constant struggle to discover new antibiotics, antivirals, and anti-fungals, in addition to how natural products and their derivatives can be used in the development of anti-cancer medications. Envy the weather, not the workload. ;-)

Alles Gute.

Bureaucracy Inaction

I'm just a ray of ******* sunshine.

In psychology, Freud no longer has as much influence as he did back in the heyday of psychoanalysis. Most undergraduates and high schoolers have heard of his ideas about the id, ego, and superego, and he is justifiably part of the history of contemporary psychology and psychiatry. One thing that he has given us (and which has developed over the years) is the idea of defense mechanisms. These are designed as ways of coping with unpleasantness, either within oneself or in one's environment. Denial and projection tend to be familiar to most people - the former, well, if you know pop culture you'll understand the reference.

"No, it isn't!"

And projection is, well, when you take your own faults and suggest that they are really the problems of other people.

Regardless, one of the most fun of the defense mechanisms, in my ever so humble opinion, is reaction formation. In reaction formation, one's words and actions are the polar opposite of one's true feelings and desires. It is frequently a cause of some of the more strident forms of homophobia - the closeted figure is the most vocal in his (it tends to be his) objections and threats.

I offer this as an explanation for what follows. As you are probably aware, I moved down to Louisiana. Well, Louisiana is not terribly keen on maintaining the licensure and registration of vehicles belonging to imported folks such as myself, and so, I spent Friday at the Department of Motor Vehicles, in a vain effort to secure a Louisiana license and registration, as my car needs to be inspected by the end of the month, and the mechanics won't touch the damn thing until it has all the right stickers and plates. Fair enough. And this leads me to the reason for this post.

I love the DMV. ^_^ SQUEEE!!!

I love the DMV. It is a model of efficiency. It also does not embody backwards bureaucracy. It makes sense that they would be willing to accept a check for registration costs, but not for a driver's license. It makes sense that the nearest ATM would be at a corner store a block from the office. It also makes sense that the fee would be $21.50, which is an amount most ATMs will allow you to withdraw. It definitely makes sense that this would also necessitate another two hour wait. There most certainly were not people missing more teeth than a shark produces in its lifetime. There most definitely were not myriad and competing odors of uncertain origin. Everyone at the DMV realized that sounds carry beyond their cell phones, and therefore did not carry on conversations that were far better whispered in an empty bar, rather than broadcast to everyone waiting. It most definitely made sense to have a numbering system that gives you no inclination where you are in the queue. I was number 324, so it makes sense that a random selection of individuals who were selected before me were 123, 051, 052, 143, 651, 652, 423, etc.

I enjoy the fact that I have to contact the Pennsylvania Dept. of Motor Vehicles this week to secure a copy of my title, so that I can repeat all of the above *before* getting my car inspected prior to the month's end. I repeat: I love the DMV.

Alles Gute.