Spring 2008 Registration

I registered for the spring 2008 semester. Well, not completely. I had to get special, written permission to take 18 credits. For some reason we're only allowed to take 17.5 credits during the spring semester and the only way I can graduate in the summer is if I take 18 credits this semester. So I got special permission, but in order to register for my last class I need to go up to the registrar with my note. Here is my spring 2008 schedule (including the class I haven't registered for yet).

Mon:
Moral Philosophy 9:45-11 am
Marx 11:10-12:25 pm
Foundations in Modern Philosophy 1:10-2:25
Major Figure In Early Medieval Philosophy (Not sure which philosopher yet...) 2:45-4 pm
Philosophy of Science 4:10-5:25 pm
Intro. To Symbolic Logic 5:25-6:50 pm

Wed:
Philosophy of Science 4:10-5:25
Intro. to Symbolic Logic 5:25-6:50

Thurs:
Moral Philosophy 9:45-11
Marx 11:10-12:25
Foundations in Modern Philosophy 1:10-2:25
Major Figure in Early Medieval Philosophy 2:45-4

So my Mondays are crazy (but I like getting things done in one shot and I only have class three days a week)... 5/6 of these classes are writing intensive (but I prefer writing papers to taking midterms and finals)... and I plan on getting a new job (but the one I'm most interested in has flexible hours). I'm really not worried though. I'm taking 5 classes (3 of which are writing intensive) and a lab this semester and I'm doing just fine. For summer I already know what I'm taking.

Multicultural American Lit (finishes up my minor and it satisfies my last core)
Independent Study in Philosophy (in place of a philosophy course that every major has to take that is only offered during the fall semester... which I didn't realize until last week).
and pretty much any other class I want to. All I need is a general elective so that I'll have 120 credits. I'll probably go with a low level psych course. Or maybe intro to film or media studies...

Oh, and today is the 2 year anniversary of mine and Corey's first date and the one year anniversary of our engagement.

Do What You Will, Just Know What This Means

Corey and I went to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. It's hard for me not to refer to Cleveland as "home" anymore. I lived there from the day I was born until a couple of months after my 21st birthday. Other than the 9 months that I lived in Israel after high school, I had never been away from my family for more than 3 days at a time. But Corey is my family now. "Home is any four walls with the right person inside of them."* Corey is my home now. Wherever he is, that's home. Regardless, I still can't wait until New York is no longer home. Only a year and a half left! To tell the truth, this semester (for those of you not in school anymore it would be these past few months) have actually gone fairly quickly. Hoping the next year and a half follows suit.



*Author unknown

Kept Thinking I Could Never Live Without You By My Side

I had an idea. I think I may know why men say "shelo asani isha" and women say "sh'asani kirtzono'. They (who they is, I don't really know) always say that someone who puts others down only does it to build themselves up. Men needed a little boost of confidence so it was instituted tht they say "shelo asani isha", whereas the women don't need that boost. So they just thank G-d for the way they were made. When I told this to my husband he giggled, lifted his hand and said in a Borat accent, "Feminism. High five."

Pour Yourself Some Tea

This is the kind of book that you can easily miss and if you do, it really doesn't matter. But once you've come in contact with it, if you get nothing out of it, you're actually worse off. This book is translated from French, but please don't hold that against it. This book is dry, but not boring. Philosophical, but not elitist. I give it a gold (but not the shiny gold, the kind of gold that's been handed down from generation to generation and is all tarnished... like your bubby's shabbas candle sticks) star.









*Today's title brought to you by Weezer. "My Name is Jonas". Download it. You won't regret it. Or maybe you will. I don't really know your musical tastes...

I'll Be Gone In a Minute Or Two

I moved to New York last year (September 2006). I lived in a basement apartment in Flatbush for a month. I hated it. My roommate was sweet as anything, but the tenants were a-holes masquerading as frum/respectable Jews. After a month I couldn't take it anymore and moved out. Only problem was, I had no back-up apartment. So I asked all my friends in New York if I could stay with them. Only one person was actually able to take me. So for a few weeks I lived in Boro Park with one of my friends and her parents. It was awesome. Her mother made me smoothies every morning. It was around sukkos time, so they invited my husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) over for a meal. We were all sitting in the sukkah and it felt really nice. It almost felt like I was introducing him to another set of parents. Corey got along especially well with my friends father, but that's another story that I may or may not tell. Anyway, the reason I brought this up is because of all the people who leave blogging. They say that they just don't need to anymore or it takes up too much time, etc etc. Well, when we were in the sukkah in Boro Park with my friend and her parents her father happened to mention something about keeping a journal. He said that he wishes he had kept one when he was younger because these are the best times. I said that I've tried keeping journals, but I always give up on them. It becomes like a chore. He said that that's what happens to most people. You don't need to write something amazing with every entry. Even if you just write "today was a good day", its good. Just so you can remember what it was all like at the time it was happening... before you get too old and forget. I just wanted to share that. Take from it what you will.

Do or Die, You'll Never Make Me

I finally did it. I read "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. If you haven't yet, do so now. It was... wow.
















*I'm looking for a new 'J' book. Know of any?

You Could Be the Question Killing Me, Or the Answer That Will Set Me Free

I'm taking a course on classic Greek philosophers. We started off with Plato's 'Gorgias'. Not bad... Then went on to Aristotle's 'Nicomachean Ethics' where I fell in love with learning Aristotle. No, I did not just say that I agree with everything Aristotle says, but I love trying to figure out what he said. Now we're onto a text-book-like book called "Hellenistic Philosophy". We're reading the stuff in there that Epicurus wrote. All I have to say is BORING. Maybe I'm missing something, but there's nothing here. What he wrote down is exactly what he meant. There's no looking deeper. He says straight out what he's talking about and I don't like it. I'm a philosophy major because I like to look beneath the surface, not just have things thrown directly in front of my face.

Just Mine All Mine

This is Corey. He is my husband. He is the most handsome man to ever exist. No, I am not biased. Just look at the picture. I'm so lucky...

Tell Me Now and I Won't Ask Again

There is nothing quite like motown, the music, that is. Though, if you look at my favorite music, with the exception of The Supremes, it would seem I think otherwise. Looking at my favorite bands you wouldn't know that I was a fan of disco also. Yeah, bell-bottoms, Saturday Night Fever, Cocaine-sniffing disco. There is some motown and some disco that is absolute shite, but as a whole, they frikkin rock. Okay, rock is the wrong word here, but you know what I mean.

Ooooh I love the nightlife, I like to boogie, on the disco 'round! Yeah! (The motown 'round too... if that exists.)

I've Got The Mic and You've Got The Mosh Pit

In high school I used to write down the alphabet in my notebook. Each letter on the line below the letter that preceded it. Then I would write down the name of a band next to their corresponding letters (e.g. Queen next to Q, Brand New next to B, etc). I would do this when I was bored and couldn't space out anymore. I did this the other day during political philosophy. When I was finished, I wrote down the letters again and tried to fill it in with philosophers. Unfortunately, though I am a philosophy major, my knowledge of philosophers is limited and I was unable to fill it in completely. Still, I was bored. I wrote down the letters again, this time putting down authors. From that sparked the idea I shall refer to as project alphabet books. I decided to read a book from each author. 26 letters in the alphabet, 26 authors.

A few hours ago I finished reading the A-book. "The Verificationist" by Donald Antrim. I feel like I must be missing something. I really like the way the guy writes. It made me feel like the character was a real person. His thoughts were random and I liked that. But, still, I must be missing something. There had to be something beneath the surface, but I can't figure out what it was. What was he trying to tell us? There are only a select few people I would recommend this book for. But if anyone wants to read it, I have a copy.

However It May Roll

Sometimes I wonder if people think I don't like them. I don't dislike you. I'm just spacing out in your general direction. I can't control what my face looks like when I'm spacing out. Sorry.

You Bleed For Me, I'll Bleed For You

I killed a cockroach today. I'm not a murderer. Or am I? Why is it okay to kill a bug? Yeah, we don't eat bugs, but its still one of G-d's creatures. I don't eat pig, but that doesn't mean that if I saw a pig on the street I'd swat it over the head with a fly (er... pig) swatter to kill it. And I wouldn't step on it and squish it to death. So why is it okay to do these things to bugs?

My head hurts...