Today was an example of an excellent day. I was able to sleep in without guilt—no class on Thursday mornings. I woke up at 11:00 and took a shower in which a lot of my tangles came out (as well as a lot of hair). Then I met Jan Marie for coffee; I had to avoid the meeting place we had originally agreed on, since I learned just before noon that we had a Help Desk meeting at noon. So clearly, meeting at Pi would not work. We met at Olin instead.
She walked, I biked alongside, down to Klekolo; I got the usual Buffalo Soldier; we sat at the tables on the sidewalk and talked for over an hour. It was pretty sweet. She mentioned that she’s read my blog, so, well: hi, Jan Marie!
I got back with a little less than an hour before class, so I worked on reading some more. And then class: American Revolution. Though I initially had my doubts about Ruddiman (he’s not Swinehart, after all), he’s really grown on me. He does a really good job of integrating the readings into his lectures, and at the same time, pointing out new viewpoints that the authors overlook; he’s also good at picking through (and helping us pick through) the primary sources, which are many. His lectures are also interesting, incredibly detailed, and also funny.
It’s hard to find a professor who’s funny!
Class was engaging; we discussed the role of Africans and African-Americans in the Revolutionary War. And thanks to the Raphael reading, I now have a totally different view of the fighting. WTF was up down South? There were some crazy bastards in the woods. In fact, in some places, everyone was in the woods.
One thesis topic on the radar: Loyalists and their fate after the Revolution. Expulsion to Canada, emigration to England, adoption of a new ideology? What happened there? There hasn’t been much historical attention paid to those who remained loyal to the king.
Anyway, after class I attended a lecture by Paul Bloom, from Yale, called “Bodies and Souls”. It was great; his main theme was that we are all predisposed to common-sense dualist thought. His remarks about Singer’s “moral circle” really intrigued me, as well; how some people’s moral circles can be small—just tied to family and friends—while others have moral circles wide enough to incorporate all humans, animals, plants, even extraordinarily intelligent computers. It reawakened a bit of my faith in psychology. Psychologists do some interesting experiments, to be sure.
After that, we went to dinner, and then I went off to Help Desk. Isaac and I played Frisbee and tonight’s trainee, Paul, joined in when he came on shift. Isaac seems pretty confident that he’ll be Head Manager next year. Hmm… I came home, watched the Red Sox win their second game of the series against Colorado (2-1), and now I’ve got lots of Latin to do.
Minus the Latin, today had everything that is good: ample sleep, a good shower, a very enjoyable date, an engaging class, a really interesting lecture, and just the right amount of work. ::Sigh:: Happy!
3 Comments
Man, that Bodies and Souls lecture sounds really interesting
I wish I’d gone to it!
yaaay on excellent days! hope your weekend is just as awesome!
Yours, too. In Vienna!
How strange! I don’t think I should read this any further. It’s one thing to come across a blog and come across my name and smile thinking, “Oh wow, that’s my name! I was a part of someone’s day!” It’s quite another for the blogger to be aware of my presence as a reader and write about me, because it’s no longer clear whether or not I would be addressed despite the fact that I read their blog. Therefore, I will no longer be a reader, it’s too strange! But it’s nothing personal. And I did have a lovely time on Thursday. Seriously, next time, I pay. :]