Running for....

This year I got ambitious.

I decided working on a dissertation wasn't enough.

I decided working on a dissertation while teaching two classes wasn't enough.

I decided that in addition to that, I was going to run the Bearathon at the end of March. For those of you who don't know, the Bearathon is a half-marathon (13.1 miles) that Baylor puts on each year that runs through Waco and Cameron Park. This has added a new element to my life to say the least. Before about a month ago, I had never run 5 miles at one time, let alone 13.1.

Today was a significant step on that journey. Today I ran 11 miles. I was only supposed to run 10, and Baylor has a trail that is 2.25 miles, so I had decided to do four laps and throw in a little extra loop on each lap, which came out to be 11 miles. I really should have mapped this out beforehand, I guess.

Regardless, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I mean, if I run at that speed in 5 weeks, they'll shut down the course before I finish, but still, I ran 11 freaking miles today. I'm not too worried about the race, as it's still 5 weeks away and I wasn't THAT far off pace and there'll be more frequent refreshment stops AND my dear brother Jared will be joining me for the race!

I've been keeping a running log on-line throughout this process and it's fun to see the miles add up. I'll keep you all (those are two separate words, not one) informed as I progress through this trek!

Teaching reflections

Today is the end of the semester for me. My logic students are taking their final as I write.

This semester has been one of the most rewarding semesters of my life. It was so rewarding largely due to the fact that I was teaching three classes; one logic class at Baylor, and two classes (Intro to Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion) at Mary Hardin-Baylor. The joy of teaching students, especially students who want to learn, is something I find incredibly fulfilling. Seeing the light bulb turn on as a student understands something after much struggle. Watching students realize for possibly the first time that some questions don't have as easy of answers as they thought they did. Having those same students really wrestle with the issues, determined to come out on the other side. Receiving complements from students, explaining that they appreciated both the material covered in class as well as the presenter. All these and so much more made this semester so wonderful.

I've also done a lot of reflection, thinking back on the professors who shaped me, both as a person, and now I realize, as a professor. I find quirks in the way I go about things in the classroom that remind me of Stump, Meister, Erdel, and Petrik, whether it is in the way I teach, how I explain something, how I respond to something, the interaction with the students outside of class. I've long known that these men have had a profound impact on me as a person, and I am much better because of it. Now I realize, they too have shaped me as a teacher. I've had students respond to my teaching in ways much like I responded to theirs. This has affirmed that I am going down the right path, and hopefully I can continue to grow to become like these men who have taught me so much, both in and out of the classroom.

Starbucks = Cheers

This post could be alternatively titled "How you know that you've spent too much time at one Starbucks "

Today, like most days, I'm at Starbucks to study and do lesson planning. I just went up to order, and ordered "the Normal", and the barista at the register rang up my order, I paid, and eventually my drink came, and all was good.

A couple minutes later, I look at my cup, in the area they write the order, and the barista at the register simply wrote "JOEL" and the barista making the drink knew exactly what to make.

Sometimes the manager just brings me my drink for free without me having to order or pay.

I think I need a new drink... or a new place to study.

Then again, "You wanna be where everybody knows your name".

Academic New Year's Day

Monday was the beginning of yet another school year. However, it was a new experience for me, for this semester marks the shift from being primarily taking classes to primarily teaching classes and working towards a dissertation. My time of being a student has nearly come to an end, and now I'm seeing the steps of transitioning toward being a professor.

This fall, in addition to working on my dissertation prospectus, I'm teaching an Intro to Logic class at Baylor and an Intro to Philosophy class and a Philosophy of Religion class at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, about 40 minutes away. The latter option came up in the last month, and is a great opportunity to teach in a small Christian liberal arts university and get some experience in that setting, as I hope to one day be a professor in that kind of institution.

I've done a little reflecting while doing the commutes about my life as a student. I've thought about all the great moments in my life and all the great people who have helped shape me into the man I am today. I've thought about the things that I think I'd probably do differently if I could. I've thought about the classes that I learned the most from, and thought about the times in life I learned the most. It makes me appreciate my past and motivates me to make sure I don't lose the connection to that past. It also makes me anticipate the future and the shaping that will occur and the ways I will be able to help shape the people and students I encounter. And, although it is incredibly cheesy, I also celebrate this present time as the intersection between the past and the future... and the fact that I'm really happy where I am right now.

On Behalf of the Cubs

Frankly, I'm a little tired of the media bashing the Cubs. I mean, it's a subtle bashing, but it's a bashing nonetheless. The Cubs are 31-21, the best record in the National League by half a game, and 1/2 a game from the best record in the majors. However, whenever you see a power poll, it is likely to mention that 12 of the Cubs games have come against the Pirates, as though the Pirates were a team that EVERYONE beats on. The Cubs went 9-3 in those games. The Pirates are presently 24-27 (a half a game worse than the Yankees, for the record). If you take away those 12 games from the Pirates' record, they are actually 21-18, which is a winning record. It seems hard to bash the Cubs for winning 75% of their games against a team that would have a winning record if they didn't have to play the Cubs.

The Cubs don't get the respect they deserve. Maybe one day soon, they'll shed their "lovable loser" image for a World Series title.

Coming Attractions

The semester is over... but the summer studying for comps has begun.

This summer I have roughly 4300 pages of primary source reading to do, covering philosophical history from Descartes to Plantinga (and other living philosophers). While I'm reading up for comps, I hope to have time to write a few posts that I've been inspired to write. Some potential ideas are:

• A review of Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright.
• "The Constipation of Philosophy" - a realization of the misuse of philosophy to serve our own ends rather than to pursue truth
• Thoughts on the movie adaptation of Prince Caspian
• A review of Mario Kart Wii
• Thoughts about using Facebook as a professor/instructor

There are other ideas, but those are a few of the "highlights" if you can call them that.

However, for the time being, it's back to Spinoza.

Random Thoughts

I'm in the home-stretch for the semester. Two more weeks of classes and then final papers are due. I'm nearly done with my paper for philosophy of science. I'm using Michael Polanyi to argue for the rejection of the traditional understanding of objectivity as well as a conception of 'sobjectivity'* to replace objectivity such that it can still be usable without having the difficulties of traditional objectivity. My paper for Hume is looking at the possibility of sympathy producing sentiments in us that will lead to actions similar to justice in situations where justice is not expected. This paper has a solid outline that needs to be filled in now. My final paper is for my independent study on Wittgenstein and Iris Murdoch. It'll be something great and interesting, I'm sure, probably involving religious belief or something along those lines.

In other exciting news, this semester is my final semester of coursework. This summer will be my second set of comprehensive exams, and in the fall I'll be teaching and working on my prospectus for my dissertation. Things aren't really slowing down, which is probably good.

Mario Kart for Wii comes out this Sunday. I'm not sure there is a worse time for it to come out, personally. This week will be a full week of studying in hopes of being able to justify getting it, but it is quite possible that the fun will have to wait a couple weeks till the papers are done.

I'm still reading the N.T. Wright book Surprised by Hope and hope to finish it here in my moments of relaxation the next couple weeks, after which I'll post some sort of review up here on it. I'm really enjoying it and would encourage people to take a serious look at it.

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*I learned from Chad Meister that anytime you want to reform a concept in such a way that it closely resembles the previous concept, simply add an 's' to the front of the word for the concept you're reformulating. I know this is an old philosophical move, but I never saw it used as much as I did by Chad in class.