School's In

Today is the first day of classes. It's a weird feeling, because usually I schedule my classes early in the day, so I can have afternoons and evenings free. However, this semester, none of my classes were available early, so I have been running errands all morning. My first class is not until 10:20. This semester will also be the first time I have had the same professor for two classes. I have the same prof for "Science, Technology, and Human Values" as I do for my survey of ancient philosophy. I have never had him before, but I understand that he is tough and fair. Good enough for me.

It is so freaking hot this morning I am about to die. By the time I walked from my car to where I am now (campus coffee shop), I was sweating like a racehorse. It did not help that I had to park a mile away. I may have to invest in a parking pass for the garage in the center of campus.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

Haven't posted in a while...sorry.

Last week, we went to see Bruce Hornsby in at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center. It was really neat to see a big name act in a venue that seats 350. Very intimate setting. Very funny guy. Great songwriting. Awesome show.

I have been trying to convince Michelle that I need an Xbox 360. I am not having much success.

Tonight, we have a meeting with our social worker. Michelle is really wound up tight, but I am sure it will go fine. I am home today, getting the house ready for the meeting. Just some final clean-up details and stuff.

Classes start next Monday, and I am ready to get back to the grind. My final semester as an undergrad. Graduation is only 16 weeks and 3 days away!! (Not that I am counting or anything.) We are gonna have an after-party here at the house, so that will be nice.

On Saturday, I will be giving my 2 weeks' notice at my job. I'm not gonna work much this semester. With Michelle working full-time, my measly salary doesn't matter much, and I would like to fully concentrate on my school work. I have set a goal to make the Dean's List this semester, so not working much will help me do that. I have a ton of football games this season, and those pay better than my job (and take less time). Plus, I might do some tutoring in logic or one of the philosophy intro classes. I inquired about it, but have not received a call back. So, I will see how that goes.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

Fun in the Kitchen

While cutting a watermelon last night, I accidentally made a pentagon. So I decided to do some other shapes. I tried to do a hecatommyriagon, but I ran out of watermelon.

Triangle.

Rectangle.

This morning, Michelle and I noted that our cereal collection rivals that of Jerry Seinfeld. Hmm...

It was great to see my family the past couple of days. Dinner Sunday night was great; conversation was lively. It was interesting in that the primary topic was the death of my parents' clothes washing machine, and their hunt for a new one. I understand they were to buy a new one yesterday.

After my meeting yesterday, I got to eat lunch with my sister, which was super. She looked great in her business clothes; lil sis is all grown up! She seems to be enjoying her job, and will definitely enjoy her first paycheck!

I have been working on my autobiography this morning, and still have some work to do on that. I promised Michelle I would get it done today, so I need to finish it up. I have a football meeting tonight, so I need to finish it before I leave for that.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

Summer school has finally ended! Finals were on Friday, and I am glad that they are over. I have two weeks to rest and take care of some adoption stuff before the fall semester starts.

Later today, I will be heading up to Clarksville. I will be staying there overnight as I make my way to my meeting in Gallatin tomorrow morning. My meeting will be a symposium on ministerial ethics. I normally deal with ethics on a macro-level, so it will be interesting to talk about it at a micro-level.

It will be great to see my family tonight; it appears we will be having a mini-reunion at Cracker Barrell...LOL. That will be fun.

Michelle will not be coming with me, since tomorrow is her first day of teaching. She is so excited! I know she will do great. I am sad that I won't be able to see her off on the first day.

Rutgers University is hosting a philosophy conference in January, and I am writing a paper that I will submit to it. Hopefully, it will be chosen and I will get to present it. The theme of the conference is "Philosophy in Religion".

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

For a guy who hates meetings, imagine my dismay at sitting in one for 3.5 hours tonight. Jeez.

I need to read some philosophy for tomorrow (damn those quizzes). Wouldn't hurt to do some Spanish, either. My finals in both classes are this Friday...YAY! Then, two weeks off until fall semester starts. The countdown to commencement has already commenced!

I am working on a new blog that will be published at my .Mac site, http://web.mac.com/cwinn1, unless I can figure out a way to keep it here. I know little about html and the like. One of my original ideas for my blog was to make some of my writings available, but I have never been able to figure out a way to do that effectively. I guess if I really wanted a great site, I could hire AT2K to do it for me. Hmm...

I hope everyone is doing well.

Peace...

Any football team that features its punter on a promo poster is in for a LONG season.

It is hard to read, but the sticker says "Mongo for senate". Blazing Saddles fans unite and get out the vote!

Dumbest Thing I Have Seen In A Long Time

I vividly remember living at Mach 2 with my hair on fire, but those days are long gone. Now I see the stupidity in such actions.

I had a most wonderful birthday yesterday. We enjoyed some great Mexican food, followed by chocolate birthday cake. Maybe not the most normal pairing, but it worked for me. At least until 4:30 AM this morning when I woke up to puke...LOL. Turns out that was a bad combination...LOL.

I would like to say thanks to all of you who emailed, called, and/or sent cards wishing me well on my birthday. Thanks so much!!

I have been kicking arse in my ethics class lately. I am learning a lot, having fun, and making good grades. Doesn't get much better than that. We have been reading "Dead Man Walking", along with several articles on capital punishment. Friday, we are having a Pardon Board hearing in class. We will be arguing whether to grant clemency to Robert Lee Willie, one of the main people in the book. Some people chose to represent one of several characters from the book, and some chose to be on the Pardon Board. I chose to be the books author (and Robert Lee's spiritual advisor) Sister Helen Prejean. Those who chose to be a character will write a paper and present it to the Pardon Board. After the Board hears all the arguments, it will vote on whether to grant Robert Lee clemency. Each of the Pardon Board members will write a paper over the weekend to explain why they voted the way they did. It should be a lot of fun. I wrote most of my paper today, and will finish it up tomorrow.

Yesterday, I bought Five For Fighting's new CD, and I love it. So awesome. Right now, I am downloading Tom Petty's new CD. He played a couple of its songs at the concert in Nashville last year, and I liked them. Also, the first single, Saving Grace, is really good. I gotta remember to ask my sister to burn me a copy of Jewel's new CD.

I have my first football scrimmage this Friday. I am looking forward to being out on the field again. Even if it is 600 degrees outside.

My birthday yesterday was also MTV's 25th birthday. VH1 Classic replayed MTV's first day. We watched for an hour or so, and it was funny. I have to wonder how it ever survived for more than one day, given that some of the videos were just hideous. Obviously, they got a lot better. Although, it seems now, that the music video is not nearly as important as it once was. Too much "reality TV" for my taste.

We have almost completed our current stage in the adoption process. We did a bunch of paperwork tonight, and need to only do a few more things before we move into the next phase. It seems time is flying.

I hope everyone is doing well. Peace...

If you are going to walk up to the bank window, why not just go inside?