February 2007 Archives
I had it in the back of my mind to go along with Lent this year just for the exercise in self-discipline. Ironically, I was not disciplined enough to pay attention to when Lent begins--today. So, if I'm to go 40 days without something, it has to be something I haven't done today. I just polished off a sizeable bowl of ice cream, so that's out. There's no chance I'm giving up coffee, either. I didn't eat beef today, so that's a possibility, though not an inviting one. I know what you're thinking, and no, that's not on the table. Perhaps there's a good reason I wasn't diligent in planning for Lent. I don't have anything I'm willing to give up that would be a true sacrifice. I still want to try some kind of self-denial, be it fasting or something else. And, because I'm not Catholic there's no requirement to tie it to Easter. It's just a convenient reminder. I'll let you know if I come up with something.
By the way, there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. Sundays don't count, evidently.
What would you be willing to give up? What wouldn't you be willing to go without?
I knew what I was doing when I signed up to teach History and Systems in Psychology, a required course for GMU Psychology majors. I'm the only tenure-line faculty member to teach a section of History and Systems this semester. Most faculty avoid it. I find the history of psychology interesting, mostly because of the development of the study of mind/brain into a science. However, one of the perks for me is living out my fantasy of being a Philosophy professor, if only for a few weeks. The history of Psychology begins with ancient philosophical explorations of epistemology, the mind-body problem, and early hints of naturalism. The Roman Period and Middle Ages were largely void of significant contributions to philosophy, but things quickly picked up with the Renaissance (pronounced re-NAE-sense by one of my undergrad professors, much to the chagrin of my roommate of the time). I'll be covering the Rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, etc.) and the Empiricists (Locke, Hume, Berkeley, etc.) in the coming week.
After some light snow yesterday and heavy sleet and freezing rain overnight, GMU is closed for the day (along with pretty much all area school districts). I should be able to catch up on some blog posts in addition to work today. Stay tuned...
We're moving. Yes, you read correctly, we're leaving our home of nearly 9 years, though we're not leaving the Washington DC metropolitan area. And, I'm certainly not leaving my job at GMU.
One clear outcome of Cynthia's health struggles last year was that we really need to have a house with the master bedroom on the first floor. Cynthia couldn't get up the stairs to take a shower when she was convalescing after her surgery, which was terribly frustrating for her. Sponge baths just don't cut it after a while. In most of Northern Virginia, it turns out, that criterion is met only by older, single-story homes or new homes. Frankly, neither of us was terribly interested in the first option so we began looking for new home developments. We first considered a popular area of growth in Loudoun County called (C)Ashburn that isn't terribly far from where we now live. However, my commute would have become about 10-15 minutes longer than it is now (30-45 minutes), which is already at my comfort level. Cynthia searched and searched until she found a development way down in Woodbridge, VA, which is off I-95 south of the Beltway. It's another bedroom community like Herndon, with commuters traveling to and from Washington and other Northern Virginia locations.
The development is called Port Potomac, and it meets many of our needs and desires, including relative affordability, same or shorter commute for me, near the Potomac River/Bay, close to medical services, and close to various amenities. It's in Prince William County rather than Fairfax County, so that's a drawback (mostly for schools). I-95 commuting is also generally a nightmare, but I don't have to travel on it much, if at all. We have some friends that live down there, so that helps. And, we have friends down in the Richmond area so we're that much closer (about an hour), so visiting should be more frequent. (On the map to the left, Herndon isn't far from Reston Town Center.)
We found a builder in the development (Engle Homes) that had a model that we loved, and that we could afford (note: only due to equity in our current home). Incentives are very high right now because the market is so slow. We signed a contract last weekend and we really feel like we got a great deal (essentially finishing the basement for free). Our new house won't be finished until the fall, but that gives us plenty of time to sell our current home.
Speaking of which, we have been working hard over the past few weeks getting the house ready to go on the market in mid-February. Cynthia really deserves more credit than I do because she's been working hard during the week while I'm at work. We feel much better about things after yesterday, but we still have plenty of work to do. I'll keep you posted.
I saw a student wearing a t-shirt with the "Barack and Roll!" slogan and I thought it was clever. I didn't really try to attend the rally until the very end because of the crowds. Actually, the crowd didn't bother me, but taking a couple hours from my day did so I just snuck in at the very end. Here's a picture from the Washington Post.
