the sias update

back to school

2006-01-09T14:41:00.000-05:00

Well, technically, my spring 2006 semester began today, though my actual classes don't start until tomorrow. I've still got some issues to work out in terms of registration, but here's how my semester's looking (each course title links you to the professor's CV):

PHIL 6700: Ethics
PHIL 6820: Philosophy of Law
PHIL 8950: Directed Reading: 20th Century Metaethics

I'll also be a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Steve Jacobson. All-in-all, the semester should be both interesting and relaxing, hopefully giving me both the inspiration and spare time I'll need to get started on my thesis. I'm pretty excited.

Molly continues to knock her bosses' socks off. They really love her there.

Clementine seems to have shaken off her second urinary tract infection. And, to our delight, she's started to walk into and lay down in her kennel by her own willing. I left her in the kennel this morning at about 9:15am. I've been home for about 45 minutes now and she couldn't be less interested in waking up and going potty. Finally, she's starting to act like an adult dog.

In closing, here's one of my favorite pictures of Molly as a child:

and so it goes . . .

2006-01-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

Well, I just dropped a pretty penny today on my LSAT study guides. I'll probably take the test this summer.

Gosh, I'm sick of takin' tests.

Everything's going fairly well in the Sias home. I'm beginning to recover from an illness I picked up from that lovely wife of mine. I've spent half of the day today in the bathroom wiping snot off my face. It's been great.

Molly and I were more productive last night for about three hours than we have been in a long time, getting done some of the chores that we've both been whining about for months. Yeah, all in time to watch the Bulldogs forfeit the Nokia Sugar Bowl (not cool).

I've got two more big chores to get done tomorrow: (1) get a new driver's license and (2) settle the hold that Georgia State has put on my account (their fault, by the way) so I can go ahead and register for classes.

Okay, my nose is running again. Gots to go.

big money! big money!

2006-01-02T14:16:00.000-05:00

Not to gloat or anything, but I just thought I'd tell you all that my wonderful wife Molly has just been given a raise! I'm very proud of her; there's really no one more deserving of it.

which is which?

2005-12-27T01:17:00.000-05:00

Below are two pictures - one of me and one of Sufjan Stevens, one of my favorite musicians these days. Can you tell which is which? Good luck.

We've got Christmas spirit, yes we do!

2005-12-20T11:14:00.000-05:00

We've got Christmas spirit, how 'bout you?

photos for you

2005-12-12T16:56:00.000-05:00

Here are some shots I took in Michigan. As usual, you can click on any of them for a larger view.

The road into my hometown.

Molly enjoying the snow.

The Star Theater in the center of town.

The center of town, Christmas tree and all.

Big Boy.

Water tower in my hometown of Brooklyn. (For those with an artist's eye: Notice all of the diagonals.)

Sunset over snowy farm. Thanks to Heather for snapping this shot in my stead (I was driving).

Tunnel from Concourse A to Concourse B in the Detroit Airport. I call it: "It gets me from A to B."

The trip was nice, considering. It's nice to get back, though, and celebrate the holidays at home with friends and family.

I finished (and handed in) my last paper of the semester today. All I've got left is (a) an exam on Thursday morning and (b) some TA duties here and there (recording grades and what-not).

Molly gets her Christmas bonus check Thursday. Yeah, buddy.

Clementine grew noticeably larger during the four days that we were away. Needless to say, she doesn't fit in one hand anymore.

Later, everyone.

more prayers needed

2005-12-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

For those of you who may not yet know, my grandfather, Thomas Auld, has just passed away. I'll spare you all the details (if you must know, call me - 678-357-7721), but suffice it to say, it's really bad. Please pray for our family - my mother, especially - as we try and make it through these next few weeks.

I was really close to my grandfather throughout my childhood. This is tough.

friends and family, i need your help!

2005-12-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

Dearest friends and family members,

I'm working on a paper right now (not for any class; I'll probably submit it for presentation at another conference), and I need all of you to answer two very simple questions. Please take a few minutes to read the following story (it's only 6 sentences) and answer the two questions that follow. I NEED AS MANY RESPONSES AS POSSIBLE. SO PLEASE, EVERYONE, RESPOND. But, of course, don't respond more than once.

Here's how to answer: Click on the "1 Comments" link at the very bottom of this post. A new window should open up. In the "Leave your comment" box, write your two answers (just a letter will do, but make sure I know which letter belongs to which question). Where it says "Choose an identity," click "Anonymous." Just below that, there should be a "Word verification" box. Just type in the funky letters that appear above the box. Then click "Publish Your Comment."

Your answers will not appear on the blog; they'll be sent directly to me. Thanks.

One more thing: Don't over-think your answers. I'm more interested in your gut/intuitive responses.

Okay, here's the story. Questions below.

The vice-president of a company went to the chairman of the board and said, “We are thinking of starting a new program. It will help us increase profits, but it will also harm the environment.”

The chairman of the board answered, “I don’t care at all about harming the environment. I just want to make as much profit as I can. Let’s start the new program.”

They started the program, and sure enough, the environment was harmed.

1. Which of the following is most accurate?

a. The chairman intentionally started the new program.
b. The chairman intentionally harmed the environment.
c. The chairman intentionally started the new program and the chairman intentionally harmed the environment.

2. Regardless of your answer to #1, should the chairman be blamed for harming the environment?

a. Yes
b. No

Thanks again, everyone! Once I feel like I've received all the responses I'm gonna get, I'll tell you all if I got the kinds of responses I want.

p.s. If, for any reason, you have problems submitting your answers, you can always email them to me: jsias1@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Thanks to the few who have responded already.

back into the swing of things

2005-11-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

Well, it's sad to say, but Thanksgiving break is no more. Molly and I had a blast down in Peachtree City hangin' out with her family. The for-real poker table was a nice touch . . . along with the three victories . . . ahem, ahem. And to top it all off, I got to watch the Georgia Bulldogs beat the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets (big in-state rivals, for those of you who may not be aware) with my wonderful mother out in Snellville. Molly wasn't quite as excited as I was, but she tried her best, and that's all that counts.

So remember how I told you all about that Philosophy of Mind paper that I was worried about? From the "updates and funny pictures for everyone post":

I handed in a huge paper yesterday, and to be perfectly honest, I'm afraid it might be one of the worst papers I've written in a while. And what's worse . . . it counts as 65% of my final grade in this class. So, as you continue to pray for Mom's recovery (see below), pray that this paper is actually a lot better than I feel like it is.

Well, I got it back today and, as it turns out, I actually did do a lot better than I expected I would. Technically, this was supposed to be a "polished early draft," to which Dr. Nahmias would suggest revisions. We hand in our final draft in a week or two. So on this draft, he didn't really give us a grade per se, but he did give us a general idea of what grade we would have gotten if that were our final draft. And, apparently, my paper is "already in the A-range."

So, I'll correct the few technical problems, insert another paragraph or two responding to an objection he raises, and that'll be that. That should secure me a solid A in that class . . . and hopefully, a strong letter of recommendation next year when I apply to schools.

Mom's doing well. We went to church with her yesterday and she went out of her way to discourage a few people from making meals for her. For those of you who have prayed (or continue to pray) for her, pray specifically that the wound itself heals quickly. My mother is the world's slowest healer. I swear, she's got bruises on her body from the 70's. So there's no telling how long a serious surgical wound will take to heal . . . and I'm sure after a while that'll just get really, really annoying for her.

One of Molly's co-workers cracked a joke today that implied that her Christmas bonus might even be down near $50. So pray that that chick is crazy. If in July, the company had over $100,000 put aside for Christmas bonuses, and there are only 40-or-so employees, and everyone, including the president of the company, has spent the last few months raving about Molly, but Molly only gets a $50 Christmas bonus, . . . well, no Christmas presents for Clementine, that's for sure.

Again, I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Here's looking forward to Christmastime.

p.s., Just 5(ish) more weeks until CMS Chris C. Stanifer's triumphant return.

new links

2005-11-25T11:04:00.000-05:00

Just so ya know, I changed a couple of the links in the "stuff to keep you busy" section of the sidebar.

Sean and I have just recently started our own philosophy blog . . . and not just because we're geeks. Believe it or not, but there's a pretty robust community of philosophers blogging these days (and not just students). Anything we can do to better connect ourselves with other philosophers is worth it. So you can check that out here.

And, just so you can get an idea of the current status of philosophy Ph.D. programs, I've added a link to the 2004-2006 overall rankings. And if you're bored, you can look at the rankings for my particular area of interest. Really, a Ph.D. from any school on that list would be amazing.

happy thanksgiving everybody!

2005-11-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

Molly and I hope you all have as many reasons to be thankful this year as we do.

where do sias babies come from?

2005-11-22T16:27:00.000-05:00

So I've spent the first afternoon of my Thanksgiving break doing some internet research into the history of the "Sias" name. Until recently, this is all I knew:

My name is James Monroe Sias III. My father's name is James Monroe Sias Jr. and he's kind of a loser. His father's name is/was James Monroe Sias Sr., and he, too, is/was a bit of a loser. Other than that, all I knew was that just a few generations back, my Sias family lived in West Virginia.

I began at this website, where I learned about Azariah Boody Sias. Not only was he a professor at Ohio University and first known compiler of the history of the Sias family in America, but his middle name is Boody.

An excerpt from the introduction of Azariah Boody Sias's The Sias Family in America:

"They came to America during the latter half of the seventeenth century to gain both political and religious freedom, They were determined, hard working, patriotic citizens. They did their daily work well and minded their own business. They were, as a rule, quiet and unassuming; more anxious to get the job done than to get the credit for doing it. But if anyone started to interfere with their liberty, they were ready to fight. You will find them doing their duty to their chosen country from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to World War II."

Here are some scanned images of the book's front and back cover (click on the pictures to see larger images):

And here are a couple shots of Azariah Boody Sias himself:

And, just because I think he looks awesome, here's a shot of Azariah's father, Daniel Boody Sias:

I've also found this information on a certain James Sias who was born in 1811 (or 1812) in Monroe County, West Virginia. Can someone say namesake?

Here's an image of the 1830 Federal Census Record from Monroe County, WV (click on it and look for my name):

updates and funny pictures for everyone!

2005-11-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

Well, as of 1:15pm yesterday, I'm on Thanksgiving break! I handed in a huge paper yesterday, and to be perfectly honest, I'm afraid it might be one of the worst papers I've written in a while. And what's worse . . . it counts as 65% of my final grade in this class. So, as you continue to pray for Mom's recovery (see below), pray that this paper is actually a lot better than I feel like it is.

Molly's doing well. Last week, one of her bosses (the crazy one) yelled at her, and everyone seems to be taking Molly's side. More importantly, the people who will divvy up the Christmas bonuses seem to be on Molly's side.

We're all really looking forward to spending some time with Molly's family this week, . . . although I don't really have too much time to spare. There's another big, important paper just around the bend.

Clementine's finally losing her teeth. In fact, she bled on our nice, new couch. But luckily, I'm like a magician when it comes to stain-removal, so the couch is as good as new. She's getting bigger and bigger. If you haven't seen her lately, you'd hardly believe it's the same dog.

Mom's doing very well. When we visited this past weekend (to watch the Georgia Bulldogs finally seal the SEC East), you could hardly tell that she'd just had surgery. In fact, she even came out to Taco Mac for lunch with us. So keep praying.

OK, it's time for some pictures. As usual, I'll put a caption below each shot.

Here's Molly struggling to make dinner . . .

. . . so Clementine volunteers to help out.

Yes. She's 23.

Clementine mesmerized by the camera.

It's as if I'm taking her picture with a T-bone steak.

more on mom

2005-11-16T08:25:00.000-05:00

Well, thanks to everyone who's been praying. Molly and I visited her last night. She was really alert and feeling fine. It only hurts when she coughs, but that's normal. She's even getting up and walking around (doctor's orders) from time to time.

Nobody's telling her when she can expect to leave, but I suspect it'll be Friday . . . which would be great, because I don't have any classes on Friday, so I can hang out with her.

Anyway, that's the latest.

Gall bladders . . . who needs 'em.

update on the surgery

2005-11-15T08:20:00.000-05:00

The bad news: Mom's gall bladder was in pretty rough condition. In fact, the surgeon described it as the worst he recalls ever seeing. So they weren't able to perform the surgery laparoscopically (easier; smaller incisions; no muscles cut; speedier recovery) and had to perform a full-on, normal surgery to remove it.

The good news: She made it safely to recovery at about 10pm last night. I hung around until about 12:30am last night hoping they'd bring her back up to the room (the surgeon told me she should be brought up there around 11 or 11:30), but I didn't get to see her. I'm assuming she's back in her room by now . . . where she'll be for probably 4 more days. Poor Mom.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the prayers. Here's hoping/praying for a speedy recovery.

prayer request

2005-11-14T09:48:00.000-05:00

Out of the clear blue, my mother has developed gall bladder problems serious enough to warrant a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (i.e., surgical removal of the gall bladder). She went to the hospital yesterday afternoon and she'll be taken into the operating room at some point this afternoon.

So if you please, say a prayer for a smooth, successful surgery and quick recovery. Thanks.

happy veterans' day

2005-11-11T08:12:00.000-05:00

there can only be one winner

2005-11-10T18:41:00.000-05:00

And it appears to be me.

First, I'd like to thank all the people in my life who've always believed in me. Who've stuck by me through thick and thin.

Next, I'd like to thank George Bush. This wouldn't have been possible if terrorists had dropped bombs on the Classroom South Building of Georgia State University at approximately 1:45pm this afternoon. Thanks George!

And finally, I'd like to thank God . . . from whom all blessings flow. Without him, I couldn't be the "Champion" that I am today.

yowza!

2005-11-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

Anyone wanna guess what this is?

If you guessed "urine," you'd be right! There I was, standing outside our apartment at 7am this morning following Clementine around with a little plastic bowl so I could get a sample of her urine.

Why? you ask. Well, just as her food allergy is beginning to subside and her poop is beginning to be solid again, it seems Clementine has developed a urinary tract infection. So I had to drive her and her urine out to the vet this morning so they could run some tests and give us some antibiotics.

Anyone care to guess how much it costs for a vet to "run some tests and give us some antibiotics"? Take a look (and if you can't see it, click on the picture to see a larger version):

Yowza!

a post about dogs

2005-11-06T21:47:00.000-05:00

There's not too much to talk about. School's under control . . . for now. I took two exams this past week and I think I did well on them. Maybe not high A's, but probably A's. I'd even take a high B. Molly's doing well, too. She's reading through a book of mine called Love Your God With All Your Mind. It was written by a Christian philosopher out at Talbot and it basically explains how anti-intellectualism is one of the biggest problems in the Church. It's really interesting; I highly recommend it.

Anyhow, just thought I'd take this opportunity to share some more dog pictures with you. Only this time, they won't all be of Clementine.

For instance, many of you have only heard me talk about my parents' dog, Deuce, but you've never seen what she looks like. Well, back when Brandon and I owned her during the few months we lived in North Carolina, she was a skinny, hyper little puppy. This was also the time when he and I renamed her "Deuce," after the Rob Schneider flick, "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigilo" (truly, a classic of American cinema). Well, she's middle-aged now, and she's plumped up a bit. But she's just as neurotic as she's ever been.

Here she is down at Gulf Shores.

And here she is livin' the good life, keepin' dad's recliner nice and warm until he gets back. Seriously, what a life dogs have.

Similarly, many of you never had the opportunity to meet Phoebe. When I was growing up, we had a dog named Lucky that was very much a "Lassie" to me, but without all the amazing rescues. In November of 1995, Lucky died. I was crushed. Seriously, did not handle it well.

So we got Phoebe about a month later. She was an 8-week-old black lab/chow mix, the perfect Christmas present . . . for the entire family. Phoebe and I grew really, really close, but in all honesty, she pulled our whole family closer together. There was just something about that dog that just made all of our lives better. I know this all sounds really cheesey, but seriously, ask anyone in our family. It's true. That dog had more personality than most people.

Well, in 2003, Phoebe started having seizures. As far as I know, we never really knew if it was epilepsy or somethin' else, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. And on Christmas morning 2003, she slipped into a seizure that she just couldn't get out of. Without a doubt: Worst. Christmas. Ever.

Anyway, here are a couple black and whites of Phoebe just a few weeks before she died.

If you look closely at this next shot, it looks like she's smiling.

And what would "a post about dogs" be without some more pictures of Clementine? Well, first, just for laughs, here's a shot of her trying to fit into my nephew's tiny little folding chair. She might be a growing labrador pushin' 40 lbs, but she sure doesn't seem to care.

And finally, some great news! I've always wanted a frisbee dog, and guess who's learning really, really quickly? That's right. Here are a couple shots I took tonight. She loves it.

What is up.

big news

2005-11-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

I get the impression that many of you wonder what philosophers really do. Well, three things: teach, publish, and present papers at conferences. At the moment, I haven't really done either of these. Not for long.

I submitted a paper for presentation at the upcoming annual meeting of the Georgia Philosophical Society (November 12, 2005, at Emory University). Of however many papers were submitted, only four were accepted . . . and mine was one of 'em. Here's the schedule as it was emailed to me:

9:00 - 9:30 Coffee and snacks

9:30 - 10:30 Len Olsen, "A Defense of Nelson Goodman's Theory of Notation"

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-11:45 Phillipa Lang, "The Ranking of the Goods at Philebus 66a-67b"

11:45-12:00 Business meeting -- Election of New Program Chair

12:00 - 1:30 Lunch in Emory Village

1:30 - 2:30 Jim Sias, "Supervenience, Moral Knowledge and Causal Efficacy"

2:30 - 3:30 Sean Aas, "Public Reason, Reciprocity and Reasonable Belief"

So only a week from Saturday, I'll be arguing with a (hopefully small) room of philosophers that moral supervenience fails. My paper is pretty short (only about 1700 words), so it'll probably only take me about 20-30 minutes to read . . . and that's assuming I stop at different junctures to further explain myself. When I'm done reading, the floor will be open for Q&A, which freaks me out. Pray that I don't wet myself in front of a room full of onlookers.

Anyway, one more thing to put on the ol' application to Ph.D. programs.

[p.s. For the record, Sean Aas (the guy reading his paper after me) is another grad student at Georgia State. The other two presenters are professors at Emory and Georgia Southern.]

back again

2005-10-27T18:22:00.000-05:00

Well hello there. Sorry I haven't posted lately. For some reason, Blogger was having problems letting me post pictures, so a couple posts went unfinished. Anyhow, it seems they've fixed the problem, so I'll add some of the latest pictures of the dog to this post.

School's going well. I think that my teachers are generally impressed with me. Our Epistemology professor seems to acknowledge that Sean and I are a bit "further along" than the rest of the class (which includes other grad students, by the way). I've met with and emailed back and forth with my Philosophy of Mind professor and he's been (or pretended to be) impressed with some of my questions. He helped me out with another paper of mine that I just submitted to a conference, and I think he was impressed by it. In Hume, it's not quite as clear. For some reason, I have the hardest time raising my hand and commenting in that class . . . even though participation is a significant part of our final grade. In the other two classes, saying something stupid isn't that big of a deal. They have more of a laid back atmosphere. In Hume, if you raise your hand and ask even a slightly stupid question, you'd be better off just farting and apologizing later. The whole class gets silent as Dr. Merritt just sort of stares at you, puzzled. It's terrifying.

Other than that, like I said, things are going well. November, however, is going to feel like one, long kick in the face. Three huge papers and three more exams. Not cool. So definitely pray for me.

Molly's doing well. Everyday, there's another sign that her boss is really impressed with her. Christmas bonus, here we come.

And last but certainly not least, Clem's doing just fine. Tomorrow, she gets her last puppy shots, which will include rabies and distemper. Hopefully, she won't vomit everywhere. Also, in the next week or so, I'll be making an appointment to get her spayed. Our baby's gettin' all grown up.

Speaking of, here are some pictures I took recently.

updates

2005-10-17T19:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm just polishing up my first graduate school paper. It's a restatement of Thomas Reid's direct perceptual realism, just so we're all on the same page here. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it and it's given me some really neat ideas for my thesis, so that's good.

I've had two exams so far. On my Epistemology exam, I made (what is the equivalent of) a 96. And on my Hume exam (which was really, really difficult), I made a 96.3 (ironically, the exact same score as Sean). So school's going well . . . so far. November is going to be crazy, though. So we'll see if I can keep it up.

Yesterday, Molly and I took Clem for a walk through Inman Park (the actual park, not the neighborhood). Well, at one point, I ran with Clem down this really big hill. She seemed to like it. So, on our way back, I decided to run her down another hill. This time, the hill was shorter, but steeper. When we got to the bottom of the hill, Clem lost her footing and stumbled. It didn't look too bad at first; after all, I've seen her take much harder spills just jumping off the couch. But then she sat up, looked up at me with with a really scared look on her face, and started whimpering and crying. Her front left leg was sort of hanging off to the side really awkwardly. I told Molly later, I immediately thought it looked broken. It was just hanging at such a weird angle.

So I quickly picked her up and started marching her back to the apartment, which at the time was about a quarter of a mile away, uphill. While I was holding her, she stopped crying, which made me kinda think that it wasn't really broken after all. And then a couple minutes later, she started squirming like she wanted down. So I gently set her back down and she limped the whole way home. Twenty minutes later, she was as good as new.

But there was a minute or so there that I really thought something really bad had just happened. We probably would've had to dip pretty substantially into our savings to fix her leg. So needless to say, I won't be running with her down those hills until her muscles, bones, tendons, and joints are fully grown.

And finally, just in case anyone missed it all, this past weekend was perhaps one of the most exciting college football weekends for as long as I've been alive. Michigan beats Penn State with a (literally) last-second pass into the endzone. USC was just 3 seconds away from finally getting beat. Florida State finally lost. And, of course, Georgia beat Vanderbilt, pushing them up into the top-4. Un. Be. Lievable.

Ok, back to working on my paper.

hitting the brakes

2005-10-12T09:48:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, blogging is going to have to slow down for a while. I've got lots n' lots to be working on for school.

Maybe this means Molly will have to finally learn how to post something and take over for a while. We'll see.

deep breaths, everyone. deep breaths.

2005-10-07T15:54:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Georgia's biggest game so far this year - and it's a doozie. Everyone had better be doing some serious praying tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Just kidding . . . but not really. Anyway, read this story to get an idea of the "magnitude" (as Mark Richt put it) of this game.

Go Dawgs.

our trip to the city

2005-10-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

This is gonna be a long one, guys, so you may have to read it in installments.

WEDNESDAY

We dropped Clementine off at my mom's house in Loganville, at some pizza, and headed back home to pack and get some rest.

THURSDAY

We woke up bright and early - as in 4:30am - packed the last of the odds and ends (e.g., toiletries, batteries for the digital camera, etc.), and left the apartment. Since MARTA doesn't allow you to park in their lot for 24 hours, we parked the car on a residential side street just a block away from the MARTA station, grabbed all of our luggage, and started walking. Taking MARTA to the airport is really, really convenient if you can pull it off.

Checking in at the airport was easier than it's ever been. We were at our gate and on the plane in no time.

Angie (sister of mine) picked us up at the Newark airport and took us to the train station in Hoboken, NJ (which, by the way, is a really cool town . . . if you can afford it). We left our bags with her and rode the train into Manhattan, getting off at the 34th Street/Herald Square station (across the street from the famous Manhattan Macy's). With time to waste, we decided to walk up to 5th Avenue (just a block away) and follow 5th all the way up to the Rockefeller Center area (roughly 16 blocks), making a detour at 42nd Street to see Times Square.

Rockefeller Center. They were building the famous ice skating rink while we were there.

Around 3:45 or 4pm, we found our way to the line for Conan O'Brien and waited for about an hour and a half. I think we were probably 20th or so in line, but we still got seats on the front row, right over the right shoulders of the band.

The whole experience was awesome. First the bad comes out and plays a couple songs. Then this comedian who works for the show (maybe a writer) comes out and does some stand-up for a few minutes, just to warm everyone up. Finally, Conan himself comes out and hangs out with the audience for a few minutes, cracking jokes and what-not. The guests that night were alright: I'm no fan of either Jessica Alba, the guy from Curb Your Enthusiasm, or Sheryl Crow. But it was still really neat to watch. I was surprised by how tiny the studio is. It looks way bigger on TV than it really is.

We unfortunately couldn't meet up with Heather (another sister of mine) that evening, so we ended up taking the train back to Hoboken and eating dinner with Angie there, before we crashed at her place for the night.

Molly and I standing on the shore of Hoboken Thursday after dinner with the big city behind us.

FRIDAY

Angie took us to this restaurant that serves one of the best breakfasts I've ever had. I had the strawberry infused pancakes with sausage links, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. Mmm.

Molly had the whole wheat waffle. Boring.

Then she drove us into the city near our apartment, we hopped out (traffic was just too ridiculous; it ended up being faster to walk), and walked to the hotel. After leaving our luggage at the hotel, we walked over to Grand Central Station and took the subway to the southernmost station on the island. From the shore, I snapped some pictures of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The interior of Grand Central Station. Molly's standing next to that kiosk in the middle of the room.

Molly and I standing on the shore of Battery Park with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island behind us.

The rest of the day was spent walking up Broadway through, basically, the whole southern half of the city. Some of the other sites we saw during this walk: Wall Street, the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange, Ground Zero, and City Hall.

Ground Zero.

Then we went to Chinatown. Holy smokes. It felt a lot like some of the markets we went to in Africa. Sneaky Chinese men and women would walk up to you on street corners and whisper, "Gucci, Prada, Kate Spade." So we walked into this one little shop and Molly looked at their imitation purses. Every once in a while, however, people would appear as if from nowhere from this secret "back room." So eventually, Molly worked up the nerve to ask if they had any "real stuff" . . . and we were escorted back to this mysterious room. The room was about the size of a small, walk-in closest with a rickety, oscillating fan keeping things somewhat cool. Lining the walls were name brand purses - "Gucci, Prada, Kate Spade" - all obviously stolen from department stores. So, needless to say, Molly treated herself to a nice, new Gucci handbag. It was all quite shady.

After Chinatown, we walked over to Little Italy and made a reservation at this restaurant that was rated by Zagat's the best italian restaurant in Little Italy, 2004.

Then, we took the subway back to the station at 34th Street, bought some clothes at this store called H&M that Molly's been raving about for years (it actually was a great store with really good prices), and eventually took everything we'd bought back to the hotel. We had just enough time to change clothes and take the subway back down to Little Italy for our dinner reservation.

Apparently, New Yorkers are late eaters. We got there at 7:30pm and there was only one other couple. The crowds didn't start showing up until 8:30, when we were leaving. The food was fantastic, but it bothered me that the waiters were standing around, basically hanging over our shoulders. It reminded me of some old SNL sketches, except not that funny this time.

Molly standing in front of the restaurant.

After dinner, I got some authentic New York cheesecake at this place called Eileen's, we took the subway back to the hotel, and crashed for the night.

SATURDAY

We woke up to a beautiful New York morning and enjoyed the continental breakfast provided by our hotel. Then we walked over to Broadway and followed it all the way up to the southern end of Central Park, stopping at a few theaters on the way so Molly could gawk (next time, Molly . . . next time).

After rounding the southeastern corner of the park, we decided to head due east into the Upper East Side in search of Ben Affleck's favorite pizza joint. Unfortunately, our interest faded when we realized that we'd have to walk all the way to the eastern shore of the island and back (since we wanted to spend the rest of the day near the park). So we stopped in Famous Ray's Pizza for lunch.

On our way back to the park, we saw a movie crew shutting down two whole blocks of the city. Apparently, they were shooting The Devil Wears Prada. That was pretty cool.

Back in the park, we walked alongside the Central Park Zoo, up toward the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Some older couple handed us their passes as they were leaving the museum, so Molly and I got in for free - awesome. After watching several people taking pictures of the artwork, I realized that only flash photography is prohibited. So I took a few pictures of Molly and I standing in front of really famous paintings.

Molly in front of a Van Gogh.

Then we walked up to the Guggenheim Museum . . . basically just so I could take a picture of it. (Keep in mind that, by this time, we've walked 45 blocks north and several blocks to the east and back. We're getting kind of winded.)

So I decide that since the last few things I wanted to see are on the northwest side of the park, why not cut through the park, right? Well, Molly and I had been walking for what seemed like hours on this path that I could've sworn was taking us to the west side of the park. Actually, the path had turned south, and we were only heading back to where we'd started. Molly was not a happy camper.

Me in the park, just before I got us really, really lost.

So the sun is starting to set and we're kind of rushing to the subway station (once we realized where the heck we were) in order to get up to the Columbia University area. Well, by mistake, I grabbed Molly and we hopped onto the express subway heading north . . . the express subway doesn't stop at local stops, like, for instance, where we wanted to get off. So we kind of ended up on the border of Harlem. Yikes.

We quickly got on the southbound local train, but soonafter decided that we were no longer interested in seeing the Columbia area. So we took the subway all the way back to our hotel.

Our hotel - Hotel 41 - literally right next to the Rent theater.

Finally, for dinner that night, we found a local steakhouse that sounded pretty good in this little New York Tour Guide magazine Molly had found. Well, it wasn't until we were well into our first drink that they finally brought our menus to us. Yeah . . . my steak was $38. It was that kind of steakhouse. So dinner was way more expensive than we were expecting . . . but really, really good. (Besides, it was the night before our anniversary.)

After that, we went back to the hotel and fell asleep watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

SUNDAY

Making up for not being able to see her on Thursday, we met Heather in Washington Square Park for brunch and chit-chatted for a little while. It was really nice to see her. She was really well-dressed, I thought. I guess you can be when you're ridiculously wealthy.

Afterward, we rode the train out to Hoboken where Angie picked us up and took us back to the airport . . . and the rest is history.

It was a really amazing trip. I'll never be able to look at the city of Atlanta the same again.

The End.

oh, and just in case you haven't seen . . .

2005-10-02T21:58:00.000-05:00

. . . click here and see who's worked their way to number 4.

home sweet home

2005-10-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

We're back! As amazing as this trip was, it was really nice to get home and see Clementine. When we first walked into my mom's house, she was frightened. But after a couple seconds, she recognized us and immediately started jumping all over us and kissing us. It was great.

Unfortunately, I've got a big Hume take-home exam due on Tuesday, so I've got to work on that. So whenever I can, I'll tell everyone all about NYC. Until then, here's a picture of me "grabbing the bull by the . . . ," well, you know.

[This is the back-side of a big bull statue in the financial district of Manhattan. Believe it or not, I was the 3rd guy in line waiting to get this exact picture taken of him . . . and it was my wonderful wife's idea.]

off to the big apple!

2005-09-28T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you who haven't been watching your calendars, Molly and I are just days away from marking the end of our first year of marriage. Pretty wild, huh? Looking back, honestly, it's been not only the best year of my life, but surprisingly free of stress. Sure, there've been little things here and there - keeping the apartment clean, rising gas bills, and a puppy whose bowel movements seem to have no end. But seriously, Molly and I were prepared for a "Katrina" of a year, and ended up having the time of our lives. (Probably because we went through "Katrina" after "Katrina" while dating, but who remembers any of that?!)

So we're off to the Big Apple to celebrate. It's Molly's most-talked-about place in the world . . . and I've never been. As usual, I promise to take lots o' pictures and I'm sure I'll have at least a story or two to tell when we get back. If you're in the mood, watch Late Night with Conan O'Brien tomorrow night and look for Molly and I in the crowd.

Until we return, here are the latest pictures of Clementine. (Seriously, . . . I missed my calling. Apparently, I was supposed to be a professional pet-photographer. Not to toot my own horn or anything.) And remember, you should be able to click on each picture to see it in its full, glorious size.

"the morning routine" and the latest news

2005-09-26T17:36:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd share with you all yet another another aspect of our daily lives. Every morning at 7am, we let Clementine out of her kennel take her outside to pee (and poop, if the impulse strikes her), and feed her breakfast. While she eats, Molly hops in the shower and I lay down on the couch and turn on Fox News. After a few minutes, I'll hear the jingling of her name tag against the side of the food bowl stop, and she'll trot into the living room and jump onto the couch. For the next 45 minutes or so, while Molly gets ready for work, this is the scene:

And if I'm not already on the couch, Clementine will stand near the couch, waiting for me to lay down, so she can jump up and lay on top of me.

We've come to affectionately refer to this as "the morning routine."

And now, some stuff to be praying for . . .

Tomorrow, I'll take my first epistemology exam, I'll get the take-home portion of my first Hume exam, and I'll get a stack of about 50 undergraduate exams to start grading.

Thursday morning, Molly and I leave for New York City for our 1-year anniversary trip. Rest assured, I'll be taking lots of pictures.

So this week's gonna be pretty crazy.

Ok, I've gotta get to studying. Love y'all.

to the university of michigan wolverines:

2005-09-24T22:53:00.000-05:00

You are dead to me.

blunders a-plenty

2005-09-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

This past Thursday afternoon, Sean and I got to the airport at about 3:45pm for our 5:30pm flight. After printing out our boarding passes at one of those electronic kiask things, we tried to check our bags. Unfortunately, since we were flying with buddy passes, the woman wouldn't take our bags until (1) I changed out of my shorts and into some pants and (2) we both took off our flip-flops and put on some shoes. Now, I knew there was a dress code for buddy passes, but Sean was just sure that they weren't enforcing it anymore. Apparently not. So while I was in the bathroom changing, Sean was waiting outside for his brother to drop off a pair of shoes for him to wear.

Eventually, we made it to the gate. There were 4 passengers flying Standby - Sean, myself, and two businessmen. Unfortunately, there were only 3 seats available, and guess who got the first two? Yup. So after walking all the way back to the ticket counters (roughly 11 miles), we had our flight changed.

So we're back at a different gate, . . . waiting . . . hoping. All in vain. This time, there were about 22 available seats and 24 passengers flying Standby. Care to guess who the last two passengers were? That's right.

So we found a booth and called Delta Direct. The could put us on a connecting flight through Cincinatti, but it would cost us each a dollar. We figured, sure, it's only a dollar. Unfortunately, we missed that flight too.

Finally, they put us on a flight to Chicago at 7:10am the next morning, assuring us, however, that our bags had made it safely to South Bend, Indiana. So we had Sean's younger brother pick us up and take us to ACC, where we spent the night. If you're keeping track, by this time, we'd missed 3 flights and were each out a dollar.

The next morning, there were roughly 60 seats available on the flight to Chicago, so Sean and I made it on. Finally! We were going somewhere!

In Chicago, we decided to spend the afternoon walking around the campus of the University of Chicago, where Jay would pick us up later that afternoon when he got off work. So we got off the plane and asked the Information guy how to get to the University. His advice: "Take the train into the city and get off at Washington. Walk three blocks east to Michigan Ave. and catch the 4 bus. That'll take you down to the campus." Sounds easy enough, right? Well, we took the train to Washington, walked over to Michigan, and hung out for a while in Millenium Park (where I took the pictures posted earlier). After a while, we found the 4 bus and hopped on. So far, so good.

White people have no business on the 4 bus. I'm not kidding. That was by far the most frightening 40 minutes of my life. At one point, we walked up to the bus driver to ask, "Is this our stop?" No joke: He laughed and told us to sit back down. Who the heck knows what would've happened to us if we'd gotten off there. Once we finally reached the campus, Sean and I were really shaken.

So Jay finally picked us up (after picking our bags up for us in South Bend) and we drove around trying to find an on-ramp to the interstate that runs North through the city. Unfortunately, Jay is a bit more of an impulsive driver than I am, so we ended up driving through many of the same neighborhoods Sean and I saw from the bus. We just kept saying to each other, "Oh God, don't make eye-contact" (with the locals, that is).

We made it into Madison late that night (Friday) and attended the conference all day Saturday. Madison, by the way, is one of the most amazing towns ever. I really, really hope Molly and I end up there (if I don't end up in Ann Arbor, of course).

Saturday evening, we drove back to South Bend. All-in-all, it was a good drive. Except, however, for the part where we almost ran out of gas in Gary, Indiana. Just in case you're unfamiliar with the area, Gary is a really dangerous city. We finally found a safe gas station and Jay put 14.25 gallons of fuel into a 14.5 gallon tank. That's right: there was only a quarter of a gallon of gasoline left in the tank.

The next day, we went to mass at the basilica on the Notre Dame campus, and Jay showed us the school where he works. We hung out at Jay and Jenny's house that evening and woke up early the next morning to get to the airport. Our flight to Atlanta was at 6:10am so we got there at about 5am (little too early for an airport that small, by the way).

There were 3 Standby passengers this time, but again, only 2 seats. So after that other guy got on, Sean and I were screwed. So we switched to the 10:37am flight . . . and there weren't any seats available. In fact, this time, they actually had to take to regular passengers off the plane. So we switched to the 11:57am flight, a connector through Cincinatti . . . and there was only one seat available. This time, Sean told me to go ahead and take it, understanding that I had a wife to get home to. So I hopped on and landed in Cincinatti about 40 minutes later. After a quick lunch (the Cincinatti airport has more restaurants than most cities, I swear), I was unable to be seated on both the 3:10pm and 4:10pm flight. Meanwhile, Sean actually got a seat on the 3:07pm flight out of South Bend and met me in Cincinatti. Finally, we both made it out of Cincinatti on the 5:55pm flight (which, by the way, had about 90 available seats).

Finally in Atlanta, I had to go through Delta Baggage Services to get my bag, since it arrived much earlier that day. Sean, however, wasn't so lucky. His bag was still in Cincinatti. So he had to sit in the airport until 10:45pm, waiting on his bag to get in.

So, all-in-all, we missed a total of 8 flights and spent about 23 hours either on a plane or in an airport. It . . . was . . . awesome.

So that's my story. And here are some pictures.

Madison.

One of the many streets lined with cool restaurants, bars, and shops.

Some of the biggest names in metaethics: Russ Shafer-Landau (UW, Madison) in the background; Richard Boyd (Cornell) far left; Stephen Darwall (Michigan) leaning over with white hair; and Nicholas Sturgeon (Cornell) second from right with big, ugly glasses.

Jay asking keynote speaker Judith Jarvis Thompson (MIT) a question about her paper.

The depressing (and only) restaurant in the South Bend airport at about 6:20am.

And, as promised, here are the "Before," "During," and "After" shots of my haircut last night.

Pretty funny, huh?

Well, that's about all for now. Later everyone.

just so you know . . .

2005-09-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

. . . you can click on the pictures I post to see a much larger version. You might have figured that out already, but in case you hadn't, there ya go.

Also, I "trimmed" my hair last night and took "Before," "During," and "After" pictures. They might very well be the funniest things I've ever seen. I'll add them to the story of our trip . . . which will appear later this afternoon (or later this evening, for those of you in the Middle East). Until then, here's a teaser . . .

What's up.

coming soon . . .

2005-09-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't forgotten about this ol' blog of ours. Just been a little busy. At some point tomorrow, I'll tell the story of our trip to the Midwest. It'll be a good one, so check back.

Until then, here's another picture of you-know-who.

She just loves when the camera's pointed at her . . . just like her mommy.

where in the world . . . ?

2005-09-16T13:20:00.000-05:00

Don't ask me how (I'll explain later), but somehow, Sean and I are sitting on the campus of the University of Chicago in, yes, Chicago. Delta is officially on my black list. But don't worry: Our bags made it safely to South Bend, Indiana. Anyhow, Jay's picking us up in a couple hours, and then it's off to Madison, WI.

For those of you who have any idea of my personality, you can imagine how "thrilled" I am to have been a part of this "adventure."

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took today. More to come on our ridiculous travels.

Cool fountains in Millenium Park, downtown Chicago.

Cool, weird sculpture in Millenium Park.

Yours truly, as seen by the above sculpture.

A Ph.D. from either will be just fine with me.

The campus of the University of Chicago is just a wee bit more impressive than ACC and Georgia State.

Later, everyone. Pray for our safety . . . and for Molly's sanity (she's flyin' solo on puppy-patrol this weekend and, from the sounds of it, Clem's puttin' on quite a show).

hot off the press

2005-09-13T17:12:00.000-05:00

Molly returned from California on Sunday evening. According to her, the trip went really well. She sang well (even though she was still pretty critical of herself), she got to hang out with friends, and she even got some sun.

I'm still trying to catch up on my reading. Trying to focus 100% of your attention on 18th Century philosophy while you've got a mischievous puppy jumping all over you, biting your hands and arms, and randomly peeing on the floor is turning out to be even more difficult than it sounds. So tonight, after dinner, I'll be taking myself to a local coffee shop. The way things are looking, I'll soon become a regular at Java Vino. Good coffee, free wireless internet, and wine for when the reading just gets too tough . . . can't beat that.

Many of you don't know this, but on Thursday afternoon, Sean and I are flying to South Bend, Indiana. Jay (Sean's brother) will pick us up and we'll spend that night at Jay and Jenny's place. Early the next morning, the three of us will drive from South Bend to Madison, Wisconsin. There are two big philosophy conferences going on at UW-Madison this week and weekend. The first is this: "The Christian Worldview: Analysis, Assessment & Development; A Conference in Honor of Keith Yandell." Keith Yandell was Dr. Linville's (my undergraduate philosophy professor) Ph.D. advisor. So Dr. Linville wants us to approach Keith and say, "Hi. Mark Linville sends word that we're your philosophical grandkids." We'll see about that. The second conference is "The Second Annual Metaethics Workshop." As some of you know, metaethics is my primary interest in philosophy, so it'll be really cool to see (perhaps even shake the hands of) some of the big-wigs in my future field.

And last but not least, Clem's got her second vet appointment tomorrow afternoon. So here's hoping she doesn't have another allergic reaction.

Alright, that's the latest with us. Here are a couple more pictures from the day we spent down in Peachtree City. Enjoy.

what in the world just happened?

2005-09-10T14:59:00.000-05:00

I have no idea how this happened. Seriously, if Georgia loses, I don't know what I'm gonna do.

are you ready for some football?

2005-09-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

What. Is. Up.

Today's a big day in college football. The Wolverines are just over an hour away from rolling over the Fighting Irish. And, of course, later this evening, the Dawgs are gonna hand Steve Spurrier his booty.

As my friend Brandon Herndon would say: "Y'all get crunk!"

cue the Hallelujah Chorus!

2005-09-09T07:51:00.000-05:00

She did it! For the very first time, Clementine slept from 11pm to 6:35am without making us wake up and let her go potty. And, ironically, I kept waking every half hour from 4:30am until 6:30am, as if my body was anticipating having to wake up for her. But all's well; I got plenty of sleep.

Molly left for California this morning. For those who don't know, she's singing 2 songs at a kind of marriage ceremony for a friend of the family. They paid for her flight and everything, so no problem there. Besides, I kind of needed a weekend to myself to do some serious reading. (Though we'll see just how much reading Clem let's me do without trying to eat my book right out of my hands.)

We bought some more puppy treats, some treats that are supposed to freshen her breath, and some new toys. She really loves the new toys.

That's it for now. I trust that everyone will be rooting for the Michigan Wolverines as they destroy Notre Dame tomorrow at noon; and of course, the Georgia Bulldogs as they get some much needed revenge on the devil himself - Steve Spurrier.

i love a shorter week

2005-09-07T13:40:00.000-05:00

This week Molly only has three days of work and I only have three days of classes. [deep, restful sigh] That's what I'm talkin' 'bout. And the weather is finally nice.

You might think that with all the tall buildings and such, the city might be shady and cool. Nope. Walking around Georgia State's campus is like walking on the surface of the sun . . . except when a MARTA bus drives past and spews its nasty exhaust in your face . . . then it's even hotter.

My two days of classes so far this week have been alright. Not the best, but alright. Epistemology is so simple it's frustrating. Two of my classes (Epistemology and Hume) are cross-listed with undergraduate students, which unfortunately takes away from the class a bit. Whereas Sean and I are prepared to ask the really tough questions of epistemology, the undergrads are just now getting the introductory concepts down, and it's pretty clear that the professor doesn't want anything to go over the heads of the undergrads. So it's almost as if we're being discouraged from asking the questions we want to ask.

And then on a more personal level, when Sean and I make comments, some undergrad usually takes it upon himself (or herself) to try and "correct" us . . . which usually turns into Sean and I having to be the jerks that put them in their place. I mean, I hate to sound mean or conceited, but these problems could all be avoided if they'd just stop cross-listing classes. It might be more economical, but it stinks.

Yesterday, Hume went completely over my head. It was so weird, because that's the first moment so far this semester that I just sort of derailed. Here's an example of what I mean (this is almost word-for-word):

Dr. Merritt: "Can anybody explain why Hume thinks that extension in space and duration in time are not infinitely divisible?"

[A few moments of silence.]

Dr. Merritt: "Because the infinite units would have to be unboundedly small."

[My eyes widen and I think to myself, "I'm sorry?"]

Luckily, Sean and a few other students felt the same way. I just sat there comforting myself, "It's okay. You're not going to be writing your paper on that issue anyway." But then I remembered that we're going to have exams in that class . . . so if that issue is on the exam, . . . no good.

Last night my mom and I went to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Fox. It was really, really good. Ultimately, I'm more of a comedy man, but I can certainly appreciate good theater when I see it. If you've never seen it and you get the chance, do it.

And finally, the latest on the dog: We're trying to wean her from 3 meals a day down to just 2. They say to do this at around 8 weeks, so we're a week late, but regardless, she's not liking it. When I returned from school today, she whined and whined for about an hour because she knew it was lunchtime and mean ol' dad wasn't doin' anything about it. Thankfully, she's finally falling asleep as I write this, but occasionally, she wakes up and gives me a look as if to say, "Now? Can I have something to eat now?" Oh well. She'll get over it.

I found a really funny website that you all might like. It's called Inappropriately Dressed. The contributors take pictures of people with their cell phones and post the pictures online. I'm pretty sure they accept pictures from outsiders, too, so if you've got a picture phone . . . [Warning: I've found a couple cuss words and a few of the pictures are not for those with weak stomachs.]

just to add a little perspective

2005-09-04T09:21:00.000-05:00

Since none of you have the pleasure of living with Clementine, I thought I'd just post a few pictures to give you some perspective on how fast she's growing.

8 days.

3 weeks.

8 weeks.

some pictures for your holiday

2005-09-04T09:09:00.000-05:00

We're going down to Peachtree City today and I'm going to introduce Clementine to the swimming pool. It'll be really neat if that labrador instinct comes out and she just starts swimmin' everywhere, but we'll see. We'll definitely be taking pictures and video . . . because we're the annoying parents that do that sort of thing.

Speaking of here are a few pictures for you to enjoy on your holiday weekend.

Happy 25th Anniversary! (Yesterday)

We thought it was funny how her back legs straddled my stomach while she played.

Caught in the act of destroying a pile of daddy's clothing.

What a photogenic animal.

t. g. i. f.

2005-09-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

Pretty day today. I'm sure Molly's going to want to go for a walk when she gets home. At this point, as long as it doesn't involve gasoline, I'll go just about anywhere. So wheras Molly walks for exercise, I walk because I'm so darn thrifty.

We do hope to get out this weekend. For instance, going to Taco Mac and watching the Georgia game is about all I can think about right now. However, I do have a lot of reading to do, and we'd like to head down to Peachtree City too . . . so we'll have to play it by ear.

Clementine's officially started to go to the bathroom outside. It's nowhere near consistent, but it's a step. She still hasn't pooped out there, but she's peed several times. In fact, yesterday I caught her hesitating in front of the door as if to say, "Gotta pee." So I took her out and she peed. A good sign, to say the least.

Tomorrow (according to my calendar) is officially the Campbells' 25th wedding anniversary. They stopped by last night and we snapped some pictures . . . which I'll probably post tomorrow . . . (I promise, Mrs. Campbell, I'll pick the best one . . . or two).

Happy Labor Day weekend!

drum roll . . . . . .

2005-08-31T16:44:00.000-05:00

I passed! Sean and I both passed our logic exam. So our M.A. class load just went from 24 hours to 21 hours . . . we're one-eighth of the way there already . . . well, except for the thesis.

Anyway, thanks for any prayers. (Now you can start praying about these outrageous gas prices.)

not much, just a prayer request

2005-08-31T09:22:00.000-05:00

There hasn't been a whole lot goin' on around here lately. I took that big logic exam on Monday morning and I think I made at least an 80 on it (which is all I need to get credit for the course). It's all going to depend upon how Dr. Scarantino decides to grade it. Speaking of, we're supposed to get our grades today. So pray, pray, pray.

Ultimately, it's not the end of the world if I don't get an 80. I can take the exam again in December. And if, for some reason, I don't make an 80 then, I can just take the course next year. (And my two failures on the exam will not show up on my academic record in any way . . . which is most important.)

Clem's getting better and better. I took her down to the patch of grass in front of our apartment yesterday for the first time and she peed almost immediately. But the other two times I took her down there, she just wanted to play.

Well, that's really it for now. Just looking forward to my 4-day weekend. Not for any reason, really. Just out of principle. I'm going to have to read the whole time anyway.

a terrible story and some great new pictures

2005-08-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Where do I begin?

Clementine's first trip to the vet did NOT go well. Since Molly was at work, I had to put her in a big box in the passenger seat of my truck for the drive out there. For the first 10 minutes, she screamed bloody murder. But I threw one of my old t-shirts in there with her and she laid down and fell asleep. (So far, she's been really good with traveling.) We got to the vet right on time; I filled out some paperwork while one of the vet's assistants weighed her. As of Friday morning at 9:30, she weighed exactly 9 pounds.

Then I took her back into one of the rooms with the scary silver tables and we waited for a few minutes for the vet. Unfortunately for me, the regular vet must have Friday's off or something . . . because I got the other vet - a big, intimidating black woman who never smiled. After telling me that Clem was a little skinny (which bugs me to death because I've already been feeding her a little more than I'm supposed to), she stuck a thermometer up her butt, gave her a 5-in-1 booster shot, and shot some Bordatella (a.k.a. Kennel Cough) medicine up her nostrils. Clem was terrified . . . understandably, I think. For the next few minutes, the vet basically just answered some questions of mine . . . giving the medicine time to set in.

And then all hell broke loose.

I'd noticed that Clem's demeanor changed a bit - she was sitting really still and kind of slowing gazing around. Then, all of the sudden, she just started vomiting . . . EVERYWHERE. It was like a scene out of The Exorcist. She'd throw up, and then immediately start heaving again. The vet stayed pretty calm . . . which helped me stay calm, because on the inside, I was freaking out.

"Every once in a while, we get an allergic reaction," said the vet. "But usually their face swells up and I don't see any swelling."

By this time, one of the other assistants came in . . . which freed me up to go sit in the chair in the corner of the room. Once she stopped vomiting for a minute, they gave her a shot of Benadryl and some other shot of something I can't remember. Then she started throwing up again. All of the food already out of her stomach, she was basically just spewing bile all over the place. But this fit didn't last as long, and eventually, she laid down . . . breathing really heavily.

The vet looked at me and said, "We're gonna go ahead and keep her here for an hour or so."

"So should I just head home and call you guys in an hour?" I asked.

She just nodded. (Not the nicest woman in the world.)

So that's just what I did. I went and hung out at my parents' house for about an hour. When I called, I was told that she'd really perked back up and I could pick her up whenever I wanted. So I waited for about 10 minutes for my mom to get home (thankfully, my mom had a half-day on Friday, so she was home just after 11am) and we went up there together. It's a good thing, too, because she threw up the whole way home.

When we walked in the house, she really perked up, her tail started wagging, and she took a big drink of water. And about 3 minutes later, she threw every last drop of it up again. It was all over the place. For the next 15-20 minutes, she threw up little bits of bile . . . and eventually wore herself out. By lunchtime, she was finally able to hold down a little water and a few little handfuls of food. And by the mid-to-late afternoon, she'd almost completely recovered. We gave her some Children's Benadryl (as directed by the vet) last night and again this morning, and she's had a little diarrhea, but other than that, she's back to her old self. We'll probably give her one more dose of Benadryl tonight (mostly to help her sleep), but that'll be it.

Moral of the story: Parenting isn't the most luxurious of activities.

Okay. After that exhausting, sad story, here are some of our latest favorite pictures (with captions below each).

Future auto mechanic.

For some reason, puppies love being under things. This has become one of her favorite places to take naps.

"Seriously, dad. Put the camera down and let me get some sleep."

This is her new way of letting us know she's hungry. She climbs into the pantry and lays on the wire shelf in between the two containers of food. (We're weaning her off the food in the black jug and onto the food in the clear canister.)

"Pose for the camera? Sure, I'll pose for the camera. Whatever I've gotta do to get some lunch around here."

One of her best shots. This is also the first day she's had any "clothes" on. (It's taking some getting used to.)

Alright, that's it for now. I've gotta get back to studying. Big logic exam on Monday.

thursday . . . finally!

2005-08-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

Unlike many of you, my weekend starts on Thursday. I wish I could say I'll be sleeping in tomorrow, but I think we all know that won't be happening anytime soon. Clementine did well today. I left at 8:45 this morning and Molly didn't get here until about 1:15 . . . and according to Molly she didn't pee or poop.

However . . . we did get a call from the ol' landlord. Apparently, one of our neighbors called them to say that, while we're gone during the day, Clementine howls like someone's torturing her. I've got a couple things to say about that:

1. She's a puppy. It's not as if we can get her into knitting or something to keep her busy while we're gone. Puppies poop, pee, sleep, eat, and play. But while we're gone, she can't eat or play. So when she's not pooping, peeing, or sleeping, she's going to howl. Anyone who's been around babies of any species shouldn't be surprised by this kind of behavior. Give me a break.

2. We're doing everything we can to make sure that our neighbors don't hear a peep out of her from the hours of 9pm to 9am. As far as I'm concerned, you shouldn't expect an apartment building to be silent during the day. It isn't our fault none of you seem to have jobs or go to school. If our puppy is interrupting your noon-time beauty rest, get over it. Nobody made you live in an 80-year-old apartment building with wonderful acoustics.

3. It had better not be either (a) the chick below us or (b) the guy beside us. If it's the chick below us, I'll tell you what: We'll keep Clementine quiet the day you put a muzzle on those two yippy Chihuahuas of yours. If it's the guy beside us: We'll keep Clementine quiet the day you stop pumping your music through our walls at all hours of the night.

Good grief. She's a puppy! Unless, of course, they were just calling our landlord because they were worried that she might actually be hurt or something, judging by the way she was howling. If that's the case, I take back everything I just said.

Anyway, tomorrow's Clem's first doctor's appointment. Hopefully nothing's wrong with her. Gosh, I'm gonna feel so cool walking into that vet's office with a beautiful chocolate lab in one hand . . . and a zip-loc baggie full of her poop in the other. [Pumping my fist.] This weekend is going to be kind of a drag . . . I've got to study literally every spare moment I've got . . . which means that Molly's going to have to be with Clementine all weekend long. Say a prayer that Molly doesn't kill herself . . . or the dog.

it's only wednesday?

2005-08-24T15:14:00.000-05:00

This week is going by too slowly.

As far as classes go, Wednesday's are my easy days - just the one class from noon to 1:15. However, it was kind of stressful. The professor is an avowed physicalist (i.e., he believes that there are no such things as souls, God, etc.) and it really comes out in his lectures. He's also got us reading New York Times articles on the ol' Evolution vs. Intelligent Design debate which has made the news recently (due, in part, to Bush's remarks on the issue). So much for flying under the radar. Sean and I pulled him aside after class and had a tame, 5-minute debate. It wasn't too bad, but it's pretty clear that Sean and I are going to find controversy around every corner in that class.

Clementine's doing well. She's got her first doctor's appointment on Friday. She eats like a hog and pees all the time.

Not too much else to say. Molly's heading straight from work down to Peachtree City to hang out with her family. So I'll be studying and baby-sitting all evening.

"so Jim, how'd the first day of grad school go?" you ask.

2005-08-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I'll tell you.

My 12:00 class went well. As I suspected, Sean and I are definitely in the minority as far as our beliefs go. Remember in my last post how I explained that Sean and I are both "dualists"? Well, at one point during class, one of our classmates referred to dualists as "relics," and the professor agreed that there are "very few dualists in the world of professional philosophy." So, Sean and I face a dilemma: Either (a) keep our mouths shut and try to fly under the radar (after all, we wouldn't want to do anything that might jeopardize our chances of getting exceptional recommendations next year), or (b) speak up and potentially ruffle some feathers. If any of you are familiar with my (and Sean's) personality, I'm sure you at least have an idea of which avenue I'll be taking.

So once class ended, I zipped back to the apartment and, to my surprise, Clementine had pooped everywhere. But here's the mystery: The kennel was bone dry . . . but smelled like pee. So one of three things happened: (1) she peed and licked it up, which I caught her about to do earlier this morning; (2) she peed on the t-shirt we've got in there with her; or (3) she didn't pee at all, and the kennel just needs a good cleanin'.

And then the drama began . . .

At some point in my afternoon time at the apartment, I wander into the bedroom to check my email and surf the internet for a few minutes. In my mind, it couldn't have been any later than 2pm. Moments later, Molly calls me and asks, "Hey, are you on your way back?" I immediately looked at the clock and realized that it was 2:47pm . . . 13 minutes until my nexts class! First, I said a word that I shouldn't have said. Thankfully, my wonderful wife understood.

Then, I tossed the dog in the kennel, grabbed my bag, and literally ran out of the door. Looking back, I'm not ever sure I locked up. Two minutes later, I was at MARTA waiting in a line of 3 people to get a token. And - of course - the finicky token machine wasn't accepting dollar bills. I got it to take my first dollar bill, but it kept spitting the second back out. Eventually, a really, really slow security guard told me to put the 4 quarters from my first dollar into the coin-slot and go through the handicapped gate. But the handicapped gate wasn't working . . . so when she turned away, I just hopped it.

After just barely missing the last westbound train, I had to wait for 10 long minutes for another one to come around. And come around it did. For some reason, that stinkin' train just zoomed right past me! At that point, I honestly started laughing because I was just sure that I was on some sort of candid camera television show. FInally, another train came and picked me up.

I got to the 11th floor of One Park Tower (the location of the philosophy department) at 3:24. Sweat pouring down my face, panting, I asked the department's administrative assistant whether or not I should just walk right in. She said I should . . . so I did. Thankfully, it didn't seem like too much of an interruption. But I did have to sit my boney butt on the floor for an hour and a half.

Not cool, Jim. Not . . . cool . . .

All-in-all, it was a pretty stressful day (which explains my subtle stomach ache), but it had nothing to do with the actual classes. Tomorrow should be much better . . . although Clem's gonna have to be on her own for even longer. She did really, really great today. When I got back for lunch and let her out, she just kept whimpering for no real reason. You could tell that she was so scared that we'd just left her for good. After a few minutes, she settled down, but she didn't want me leaving her side. Kinda cute.

Well, that's about it for now. I've already got some reading and planning to do. Tomorrow, if he's available, I'm going to pitch my thesis idea to Dr. O'Keefe and see what he says. Hopefully, by approaching him early, I can secure my ideal committee of thesis advisors: Dr. Robert Arrington as my thesis director, Dr. Andrew I. Cohen as a committee member, and either Dr. George Rainbolt or Dr. Andrea Scarantino as the other committee member. That kind of line-up would not only secure for me some wonderful advice from three brilliant men, but also make my thesis look really, really attractive for the purposes of wooing a potential Ph.D. program.

I recently emailed my idea to Dr. Ryan Nichols up at Calvin College to see what he thought. I met Dr. Nichols when myself and some friends of mine visited a few schools in Scotland. Dr. Nichols, at the time, was a professor at the University of Aberdeen and just happens to know a ton about Thomas Reid. His response:

That sounds like a good topic for a thesis. It isn't too broad, but still has some marketability. Best of luck to you.

So far so good. Wish me luck.

the big day

2005-08-22T07:39:00.000-05:00

Well, today's the big day. I feel like such a geek admitting this, but I've kinda got the ol' "first day of school" jitters. I'll probably leave the apartment at 11:00ish this morning, giving me time to drop off some financial stuff. Class starts at noon.

This class (Seminar in Philosophy of Mind) is going to be wonderful and horrible at the same time. It'll be wonderful because, well, I love this stuff. Many of the things I learn this semester will lay some of the groundwork for my thesis, so I'm pretty excited. On the other hand, it's going to be horrible because a couple of the other students in the class are your typical know-it-alls. One of the primary issues in the Philosophy of Mind is whether or not human beings have a soul . . . or if we're really just a brain inside a body. Sean and I, obviously, believe we have souls (a position called "dualism"). Well, dualists don't get a whole lotta respect these days, so I'm already anticipating some heated debates with a few of my fellow students.

Then I'll head back to the apartment, let Clementine out of her kennel for a little while, and have some lunch. At about 2:15, I'll have to head back for my afternoon class, and I won't return until about 5:30.

Speaking of Clementine, she did really well last night - only woke up once, and then slept in until about 6:30. Unfortunately, I'm afraid she might have some sort of mild urinary tract infection. Yesterday, there were times when she was peeing 3 or 4 times in only 15 minutes. We basically emptied the bag of Pee Pee Pads. So once I post this, I've got to call the vet. The weird thing is, Clementine doesn't seem to be in any sort of discomfort, and she's still taking 1 and 2 hour naps without having to wake up and pee. So we'll see. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

Ok. Gots to go.

mark your calendars

2005-08-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

Today, Clementine spent two whole hours in her kennel by herself while Molly and I went to the bank and out to lunch . . . and she didn't go to the bathroom! This is big news, because on Monday, I'll be gone for just about two hours for class. So at least I know that she can handle it. Of course, with my luck, I'll come home Monday afternoon to a poo-covered puppy.

Speaking of classes, orientation went wonderfully. Riding MARTA was certainly interesting. No exaggeration: Sean and I were the only white people . . . at least for as far as I could see. But it's just two MARTA stops away, so it's not that bad. There's just never going to be a place to sit . . . it was packed.

There are 17 incoming Philosophy students and 8 incoming Religious Studies students (until this fall, the two departments were actually one, but they still share the same office space). For the first 45 minutes, the Chair and the Director of Graduate Studies from each department introduced him or herself and spoke a bit about the department, answering questions afterward. Then the two departments split and Tim O'Keefe (Dir. of Grad. Studies for our department) and George Rainbolt (Chair of the dept.) went around asking everyone what classes they're planning on taking, offering advice if needed. So my fall schedule is:

Mon. & Wed.
12:00 - 1:15 PHIL 8330 Seminar on the Philosophy of Mind
3:00 - 5:00 PHIL 8970 Teaching Philosophy (Mondays only)

Tues. & Thurs.
9:30 - 10:45 PHIL 6100 Epistemology
11:00 - 12:15 PHIL 6050 David Hume

And on Monday the 29th, I'll be taking an exam which, if I pass, will allow me to test out of PHIL 6520 Symbolic Logic. Assuming I do well in all of these classes, my (tentative) Spring schedule will include:

PHIL 6300 Metaphysics
PHIL 6700 Ethics
PHIL 8000 Ludwig Wittgenstein (not required, just thinking about it)
PHIL 8980 Teaching Philosophy Practicum

If this all works out, I'll only have one class left to take during my second year, another seminar. Also during the Spring 2006 semester, I'll have to start writing my thesis. Thankfully, I think I've already got my topic (it'll be focused on this stuff and involve this guy and some of this stuff). I've got to have my thesis finished by November 2006, so I can send it off as my writing sample when I apply for Ph.D. programs. So, ideally, during my Spring 2007 semester, I'll have my thesis finished and just one more seminar to take. Not bad; one course for an entire semester. Of course, at that time, I'll be teaching too, so it won't be that easy . . . but pretty easy.

orientation today

2005-08-19T07:04:00.000-05:00

In just 2-and-a-half hours, Sean and I will be sitting in the conference room of the Philosophy Department of Georgia State of orientation. I'm startin' to get pretty nervous. I hope most of the faculty is able to show up. I'm really looking forward to meeting Dr. Robert Arringtion (check out how much he's published!). If things go as planned, and I don't chicken-out, he's the professor I'll be asking to be my thesis advisor.

Anyway, I've gotta shower and get ready (and then clean up whatever Clementine does in her kennel while I'm showering and getting ready), so I'll have to leave you guys on the edge of your seats.

Oh, and just in case MARTA is bombed on the way there, au revoir! Just kidding. (Gosh, I'm so gonna get in trouble for saying that. Love you, Molly!)

good news and more good news

2005-08-18T08:35:00.000-05:00

First of all, I realized yesterday that I read a recent email incorrectly and my Symbolic Logic exam isn't this Monday (the 22nd) but next Monday (the 29th). This, of course, gives me another much needed week to study.

Second, although I was technically asleep when it happened, Clementine actually peed on a Pee Pee Pad on her own this morning. Clem woke up this morning at about 6:15, so Molly took her out into the living room so that I could have a few more minutes of sleep. And, apparently, while Molly was sitting out there with her, she walked herself over to a pad and squated.

Yesterday, Sean and a friend of his from Savannah visited and wanted to go out to lunch. I was a little hesitant because (a) I knew this would be the longest Clem had ever been alone and (b) I didn't really want to spend the money. Then I realized that tomorrow (Friday), Clem's going to have to be by herself for about 4 hours while I'm at orientation, so I figured leaving her alone for about 2 hours while I was out to lunch wouldn't be such a bad idea. You know, the more chances she has to adjust, the better.

So I put her in the kennel expecting her to scream bloody murder . . . but she was quiet. She just sat there staring at me, wondering what was going on. So the three of us made our way to the door, out to the hall, and down the stairs . . . still, Clementine wasn't whining. Even when we returned, she was just laying there quietly . . . covered in poop.

After giving her a bath (which she hates) and scraping dog poop off the floor of the kennel with my fingernails, I realized that the 4 hours or so that she'll have to spend alone tomorrow are going to be UGLY.

happy tuesday

2005-08-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

Not too much to say today. Clem's been a lot better. She actually slept in until 6:30, which was great. And she didn't pee on me this morning, because we brought a Pee Pee Pad into the bedroom beside the kennel. She's spent more time in the kennel today, as I'm trying to get her used to being in there for 2-4 hours at a time . . . since my classes start next week. So far, so good. No blood-curdling screams. Of course, I have been sitting right next to her at my desk.

I've got to call the vet and schedule her next shot. Hopefully it won't be too long until we can let her outside. I'm starting to get cabin fever like crazy.

Molly and I are probably going to try and escape for an hour or so this evening up the street to have an after dinner drink or something. That way, Clem will experience her first hour or so by herself . . . and we'll have a short break.

My big Symbolic Logic exam is Monday. I knew it was going to be sometime during the first week, but I was really hoping it'd be later in the week. So . . . pray for that if you remember.

I guess that's it. Hope everyone has a happy Tuesday.

typical monday . . . but there is good news

2005-08-15T13:55:00.000-05:00

Without missing a beat, Clementine woke up this morning at about 6. The room goes from a dark, still silence to the noise equivalent of somebody squealing their tires on our floor. Trying to let Molly get a little more sleep, I got up, grabbed the dog, and walked her out into the living room to the nearest Pee Pee Pad. On my way there, however, I couldn't help but notice that my right leg was distinctly warmer than my left . . . and my toes were wet. Yeah . . . she was peeing on me the whole way. So Molly had to wake up, we had to turn all the lights on, and wipe the floor from the foot of the bed all the way to the far corner of the living room. Awesome.

For the most part, today's been a pretty rough day at the apartment. Clementine's been especially disobedient and frustrating. For instance, if I've got to use the bathroom (for more than 60 seconds), I've either got to (1) shut her in her kennel, in which case she'll scream bloody murder, or (2) take her in the bathroom with me. Our bathroom's pretty small, so I fugured I'd take her in there with me . . . since no matter where she goes, she'd always be within arms reach. In the entire bathroom, there's only ONE place I don't want her going - behind the toilet (for some reason, even if it's just been scrubbed, that area of the bathroom just strikes me as filthy). She's free to explore everything else. So, while I'm trying to study for this really important test I've got next week, where do you suppose is the ONLY place in the bathroom she was interested in exploring? Yup. Behind the toilet. She'd head that way and I'd turn her around and say, "No." Immediately, she'd turn back around and head that way again. I'd turn her around again and say, somewhat firmer this time, "No!" (Trying to study this Symbolic Logic textbook the whole time, mind you). She just kept repeating herself over and over again and I kept having to get louder and louder. Finally, I set the book down and picked her up. So I'm holding her up in the air, staring eye-to-eye, saying something like, "Daddy doesn't want you going back there . . . ," and what does she do? She pees on me. Just minutes before we even went into the bathroom, I spent about 10 minutes trying to get her to pee on one of her pads and she flat-out refused . . . and here she is peeing on my feet just moments later.

Part of me is like, "Cut her some slack, she's only 6 weeks old," but the other part of me is like, "If it took her just two tries to learn how to climb the walls of her playpen like a ladder, it shouldn't be taking this long for her to learn that whenever mommy or daddy says 'No' in a really loud, firm voice, it always means 'stop whatever you're doing and find a toy to play with.'"

I swear, all day yesterday, anytime I said "No," she stopped whatever she was doing, calmed down, and found a toy or took a nap. It was awesome. I really felt like progress was being made. Today . . . it's like she's never even met me. I'm just some stranger making loud noises and swatting her on the nose when she bites me.

So I've been peed-on twice today. Sure can't wait for Molly to get home.

And speaking of Molly (I told you there'd be good news) . . . her boss called her into his office today to tell her that they included an extra $675 (after taxes) with this month's paycheck. "Why?" you ask. Apparently, just because they've been so impressed with her. Not to shabby, eh? Especially when you consider the fact that she's only worked there for about 2 months. This little bonus couldn't come at a better time for us, which leads me to suspect that God had his hand in this. What a good guy he is.

umm, houston? yeah, we have a problem.

2005-08-13T16:21:00.000-05:00

So far, the only thing I'm not too crazy about living in this apartment building is that when the weather looks like this . . .

. . . the road and sidewalks outside our apartment look like this . . .

Granted, once the rain lightens up, it only takes it about 10 minutes to drain, but still . . . that's just ridiculous.

more updates, more pictures

2005-08-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

Well, you'll all be happy to know that things are getting better by the day. Last night, the puppy slept for about 7 straight hours, only waking up twice, and only for about 2 minutes each time. Which is good, because I was in no condition to get up and tend to her.

Last night, after Molly left for dinner with her mom, Mrs. Van't Wout, and Julie, I started to feel really light-headed and, oddly, my hands started to get really tingly. By the time everyone returned, I was just minutes away from passing out, so I quickly sat myself down on the floor. And just a few minutes later, I had to excuse myself and lay down in bed. After some more medicine and a cool, wet washcloth (thanks to Molly), I finally drifted off. And I feel much better today. Not 100%, but nearly there. That was one of the strangest illnesses I've ever had. My only symptoms were (1) slight fever and (2) shaky stomach.

Clementine slept most of the day today. She's getting better at peeing on her Pee Pee Pads (gosh, I can't wait until she's fully vaccinated and I can start training her to go outside), but for some reason, she has no interest in . . . well . . . pooping on them. So I've had to rely on my own intuition to know whenever she's about to go, and I'll pick her up and run her over to the nearest pad.

She'll probably kill me for posting this, but it's too funny not to share. This morning, Molly caught Clem starting to squat, so she picked her up and starting hustling over to the Pee Pee Pad . . . unaware of the fact that Clem was pooping the whole way over. Meanwhile, I'm in the kitchen and, all of the sudden, I hear this loud thud and Molly yells, "Woah!" It really sounded pretty scary, so I ran to see what had happened. Yep. Molly slipped on a little doggy dropping almost killing herself and Clem. Luckily, Molly doesn't have a single bruise on her and Clem's fine.

Anyway, Molly and I don't seem to have too many Friday nights to spend with each other, so we'll probably reheat some leftovers and pop in a movie. Still haven't figured out what either of us are doing this weekend.

Here're some more pictures to keep you entertained (with captions underneath)

.
After struggling with my impenetrable craftsmanship . . .

. . . the rascal figured out how to squeeze her way out. So the playpen is almost completely useless. Great.

Even when she gets too big to squeeze through, she's already teaching herself how to climb the walls like a ladder. This dog is way too smart for her own good.

After attacking it for hours, she's finally starting to realize that the big, soft, brown thing in the corner is actually not a chew-toy.

One of my favorite shots so far.

This kept me still for about 45 minutes today. I just didn't have to heart to wake her up.

Another one of my favorite shots. (And a special note to Chris and Linda Stanifer: Do you see any resemblance to the late, great Phoebe? I sure do.)

Ok. I gotta get back to my family (can I officially start calling it a "family" now? Whatever).

my wife is awesome

2005-08-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

Holy smokes. Molly is incredible.

Yesterday, she got home from work and saw that I was a wee bit exhausted, so she took over puppy duty. So I finally took a shower, ran a couple errands, washed the dishes, etc. You should've seen some of the looks I was getting in Kroger. I must've looked like a real-life zombie. After washing some dishes and taking some medicine, I came out into the living room where Molly was sitting on the floor watching Clem. It was really something watching Molly's maternal instinct come out . . . if I could've only kept my eyes open. I remember laying down on the couch . . . and then I remember waking up an hour or so later by myself. Molly had taken Clem into the bedroom, put her in the kennel (this was her first night in the kennel), and laid down on the floor beside the dog.

Whenever it was that I woke up, I found my way into the bedroom and crashed on the bed. All I can remember is that it was quiet. I remember thinking, "My wife is a miracle worker!" Except for the loud, inebriated foursome outside on the sidewalk and the two, devilish yippy dogs below us (barking, of course, at the inconsiderate people outside), it was a relatively peaceful night. As I recall, Clem woke up every hour or hour-and-a-half, at which point Molly would either ignore her and let her fall back asleep on her own, or shush her and calm her back down.

All-in-all, I probably got 6 hours of sleep (which is paradise compared to none at all) and Molly probably got around 5. Eventually, Molly was able to crawl up into the bed, but I think that wasn't until later this morning.

So at least I'm a bit more rested today. My stomach is still a little sketchy, and I'm still really tired from Tuesday night, but my eyes aren't rolling back into my head and that's always a good thing.

Tonight, Molly and I will switch places and I'll be on the floor.

But let me say it again, Molly is incredible and deserves all the credit for last night being such a success. I guess I sorta figured that, since getting the dog was kind of my idea in the first place, I should probably take 90-100% of the responsibility . . . but it was pretty clear yesterday morning that that would've been asking way too much of myself. Besides, this is good practice for us . . . though it doesn't look like Molly really needs any.

Now if we can only get her to start using the bathroom on these Pee Pee Pads . . .

little groggy, but that's ok

2005-08-10T11:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I wish I could say that everyone in our apartment got some good rest last night . . . but, alas, we did not. Molly slept in the bedroom, but I think she woke up every time the puppy whined, too. I slept out on the couch . . . actually, I laid out on the couch . . . didn't really sleep.

So now that the food dilemma is behind us, we're faced with another. During the night, if the puppy whines and I get up to go calm her down, what exactly am I teaching her? (1) That I'm her new care-taker and she can trust me, or (2) that daddy will come runnin' anytime he hears a peep? When our family got a new lab puppy back in 1995, we had to keep her in a big box in the bathroom downstairs while we all slept upstairs. She whined for a little while, but we had a nightlight and some soft music playing in there with her. And it seems like she was okay to sleep in my room in no time. The problem for us, however, is that (a) we live in an apartment, so we don't have the luxury of a two-story house, and (b) we live in an apartment, so, no matter how many doors are kept shut, our neighbors aren't going to be very happy with us if we let her whine herself to sleep. So I don't know what to do. I certainly can't handle too many nights like last night, especially with school starting on the 22nd. And what makes me even more frustrated is that, during the day, she sleeps like Brandon Herndon. So I just know she'll have plenty of energy for another 3am playtime.

This is the part where y'all laugh and think to yourself, "Suckers." I know. But when we're throwing a tennis ball into Lake Hartwell at my parents' new cabin or my in-laws' new home, havin' a blast with our dog, you're all gonna be jealous.

But until then, I've gotta have lunch and clean myself up. I smell like puppy spit and our landlord's coming over in 40 minutes to fix our bathroom sink . . . finally.

she's home!

2005-08-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

Well, everything's really quiet now because she's taking a nap, but she's finally here!. We cut a check, the breeder gave us her information, and we drove home. And she slept the whole way . . . not bad, eh? Well, except when we hit a pothole or something, at which point she'd look up at me for a second, and then go right back to sleep.

She's responding really well to the new pad, so that's good news. Here're some pictures of her first night as a Sias.

Doin' some pretty serious puppy-dreamin' in mom's lap.

Stretched out on her towel (which was rubbed all over her littermates so it would smell like them).

I took advantage of the 2 or 3 seconds between naps to snap a picture.

Totally oblivious to the world.

Well, that's about it for now. Sean's stoppin' by in a few minutes to get a sneak peek, so she'll probably wake up and hopefully use up her last little bit of energy . . . but I'm prepared to stay up as late as I have to. Gosh, I'm gonna be such a geek when we actually have real babies. This is getting out of hand.

just a matter of hours now

2005-08-09T09:23:00.000-05:00

We pick 'er up this afternoon. What's up.

I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering what food I settled on. Well, I went to Highland Pet and grabbed the three foods I was most interested in and flipped the bags over so I could compare labels. Then I had the new lady that works there basically follow me around the whole store telling me prices of everything. I'm sure she just loved it . . . but that's what you get for not posting the prices out there for people to see. (Their typical customers are rich enough to just walk in and grab a couple bags of whatever without comparing prices or anything.)

Anyway, as I was comparing labels, Solid Gold WolfCub Puppy really stood out. Check out how natural and un-processed the ingredients sound (keeping in mind that, with dog foods, the first 3-6 ingredients are the ones you're concerned with):

Ingredients
Bison | Salmon Meal | Brown Rice | Millet | Cracked Pearled Barley | Rice Bran | Canola Oil | Flaxseed Oil | Garlic | Amaranth | Blueberries | Yucca Schidigera Extract | Taurine | Carotene | Choline Chloride | Vitamin E Supplement | Iron Proteinate | Zinc Proteinate | Copper Proteinate | Manganese Proteinate | Potassium Iodide | Thiamine Mononitrate | Ascorbic Acid | Vitamin A Supplement | Biotin | Calcium Panthothenate | Selenomethionine | Pyridoxine Hydrochloride | Vitamin B12 Supplement | Riboflavin | Vitamin D Supplement | Folic Acid |

I thought to myself, "Golly. I'd eat that dog food. Well, not really, but still."

It's more expensive than the Nutro Natural Choice (by about $.60/lb), but, like I said, since it's a slightly better food, we can feed her slightly smaller portions . . . so I figured the difference wasn't too big. Besides, just because it's a great dog food doesn't mean that she's going to take to it. Ultimately, even the experts tell you just to feed what works. So after all this, we might end up feedin' her Pop-Tarts and Champagne. Who knows.

Anyway . . . should be about 7 this evening that we pick her up. Until then, I've got some puppy-proofing of this apartment to do.

tick, tock, tick, tock . . .

2005-08-07T19:34:00.000-05:00

Tuesday afternoon is getting closer and closer, and Molly and I are getting really excited. Tomorrow I've got to make an executive decision about which food we're going to start her off on. I know that I'm going to have to buy a small container of the food she's already being fed by the breeder (Pro Plan) so I can mix it in with whatever I buy tomorrow . . . you know, so we don't shock her digestive system too much and find ourselves with an apartment full of diarrhea.

But here's my dilemma . . .

First of all, labs don't respond well to dog foods with corn as one of it's primary ingredients. If nothing else, it gives them dandruff. In fact, the ingredients of Pro Plan, the food being fed to her now, are:

Ingredients:
Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal . . .

And, surprise surprise, Molly and I both noticed dust-sized dandruff all over her the last time we went out there. So that part's pretty much settled: we've got to find a dog food that doesn't list corn, ground corn, ground yellow corn, or corn gluton meal (all basically the same thing) as one of the first 3 or 4 ingredients.

Now, anyone care to guess how many dog foods at Petsmart or Petco meet this criteria? Yeah, like none. In fact, I believe only Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Puppy Lamb Meal & Rice Formula is corn-free, and it's about $37-$40 for a 40 lb. bag (about $1/pound).

Then I stop by Highland Pet Supply the other day ("Atlanta's Best Neighborhood Pet Store," in case ya didn't know) and come to find out that everyone who works there (and keep in mind, these people are not only crazy dog lovers and experts, but they get crazy discounts, so they're free to get their dogs any of the best pet foods available) feeds their dog Wysong. So I asked how much it costs, and to my surprise, it's only $38 for 32 lbs., which isn't that much more expensive than Nutro. Plus, the higher up the pet food chain you go, the less you've actually got to feed them, because the foods are so chock full o' nutrients. So, I think, "Great, this is what the experts feed, and it's not crazy expensive . . . Wysong it is." But then I went to their website and, lo and behold, the ingredients for their puppy formula read as follows:

DRY DIET: Chicken, Chicken Giblets, Ground Corn, Ground Wheat, . . .

What?! I don't get it! What do they know that I don't? So that's precisely what I'm going to find out tomorrow. Wish me luck . . . and don't think I'm crazy. You wouldn't feed your kids ground up chicken heads, would you? I tell ya, I almost regret even doing all of this research, because in the back of my mind, I'm sure that I could feed her whichever food is closest to the registers at Petco and she'd get along just fine . . . but now that I actually know how that stuff is made . . . it just ain't gonna happen.

Anyhow, stay tuned . . . and pray that I don't drive either myself or the friendly employees of Highland Pet Supply absolutely nuts tomorrow.

t.g.i.f.

2005-08-05T07:54:00.001-05:00

Well, it looks like that bulldog is going to win the photo contest (see the "rock the vote!" post if this statement confuses you). Wednesday evening he must've had all of his friends and family vote or something, because he shot from somewhere close to last place all the way to first. Whatever . . . chump.

Today I help Sean (my best man) move into his new apartment. This oughtta be good, considering that my legs feel like spaghetti noodles and my back already hurts. This can't be normal for a 23-year-old.

This evening, Molly and I head out to Snellville for an early birthday celebration for my nephew Johnathan.

Hmm . . . I'm trying to think of anything else to say and I'm drawin' a big fat blank. So I guess I'll hit the road.

rock the vote!

2005-08-03T20:26:00.000-05:00

Hey, if you're bored, go here, type in the entry #31465, and give Clementine a "10". We get money if we win this contest and, so far, she's #7 in the top-10.

who says philosophy geeks can't build stuff?

2005-08-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

First of all, Molly and I were kept awake, on and off, until 3 in the morning last night because of what can only be described as the world's most dreadfully off-key karaoke ever reverberating through our walls and vents. It was wonderful. Next time, I fear, the Atlanta Police Department will be receiving a complaint.

Despite our lack of rest, however, (1) Molly had an undustrious day at work and is currently cooking a scrumptuous Italian meal for the two of us, and (2) I built our puppy a makeshift playpen. She'll spend her first few weeks adjusting to her new surroundings in this, until she matures and is ready for a big-kid kennel. I know most of you must think I'm nuts (Molly sure does). But I've been doing a lot of research and it seems this will be the best system for all of us, especially since we're getting her 3 weeks earlier than most people get puppies. The linoleum flooring is just like the floor in her "puppy room" at the breeder's place, as opposed to the hard, black plastic awaiting her in the kennel. Anyway, not bad for a bookworm philosophy student, huh?

Well, dinner's almost ready. Later, everyone.

big, big news

2005-08-03T08:58:00.000-05:00

So yesterday we went and visited the breeder so we could see the puppy. She's doing just wonderfully, by the way. Anyway, I was asking him why some breeders don't let you take the puppy home until it's 8 weeks old, while others let you take the puppy home at 6 weeks. He responded by telling me that his puppies have already been weaned from their mother and given their first set of booster shots by 5 weeks. This being the case, he's letting another owner pick up a puppy at 5 weeks. So, of course, I ask, "So . . . could we pick our puppy up next week?" And he said, "Yes." So we'll be picking Clementine up this coming Tuesday (August 9th). If I wasn't going to be able to stay at home all day with her, we probably shouldn't pick her up early. But since classes don't start until August 19th, I'll be at home, able to monitor her at all times.

Here she is relaxin' in dad's lap.

i thought this was funny

2005-08-01T18:21:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd share with all of you something about which I'm particularly self-conscious . . .

This degree that I'm pursuing (and the Ph.D. thereafter) is going to take a lot of work. A lot. Tons of reading. Endless writing. And, of course, literally thousands of hours hashing out really tough issues in my head. Such is philosophy . . . the hashing out of really tough issues in one's head. This is basically what my entire career will boil down to. Unfortunately, this kind of work tends to look a lot like leisure (how's that for alliteration) to many of you. What, to me, is an hour spent trying to figure out whether strong supervenience commits ethical naturalists to transworld identity with regard to moral properties looks, to you, like an hour spent . . . well, . . . sitting. This is especially troubling when you consider how interested I am in proving to my in-laws that, above all else, I'm not a lazy bum. I guess I'll just have to let the degree speak for itself. But until then, I found this comic strip that illustrates my point. It was posted here with this heading:

How an academic's summer must look to everyone else:

Dinner time.

UPDATE: I found this picture of Bertrand Russell, one of the 20th Century's greatest philosophers, and it reminded me of the above cartoon. Believe it or not, but Professor Russell is hard at work in this picture.

Ha! Hard to believe, I know.

the one thing this blog is missing

2005-08-01T14:55:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been delaying posting a picture of the new puppy for as long as possible. I've got a kind of presentation in the works to be sent to my dad over in the United Arab Emerates, so the more pictures I disclose now, the less impact that presentation will make when he receives it. However, I must admit, the one thing that this blog is missing is a picture of our beautiful first-born child. Some of you have seen a picture of her already, but for those who have not, I give you Clementine . . .

UPDATE: It's semi-official; we're visiting the breeder tomorrow afternoon to see our puppy. She will be 4 weeks old tomorrow.

i can't think of good titles for these posts

2005-07-31T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well, the party wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be. I felt way over-dressed, but Molly says we weren't. The host's wife wore jeans; there was a guy in cargos and a t-shirt; most guys were in shorts and a polo. I, on the other hand, was in dressy khaki linen pants and a short-sleeve white linen button-up shirt. Little much.

That said, the pool area was incredible. There were torches on the perimeter, a jacuzzi with a waterfall flowing down into the pool, a bar area with fridge, freezer, dishwasher, grill, stove-top, flat-screen television, BOSE sound system, etc. He'd (Molly's boss) hired two bartenders to mix drinks and walk around making sure everyone's drink was full. So needless to say, most people - host included - were juiced by the time we left. The house was cool, too. The only decoration I wasn't too sure about (keeping in mind that he's the designer and I'm not) was the bowl full of different colored baseballs. Litte weird.

All in all, it was fun. Molly's got some cool bosses. And, judging by everyone's reaction, everyone at VeenendaalCave loves Molly. So . . . everyone (a.k.a. Laura) cross your fingers and think big Christmas bonus! Big Christmas bonus! Big Christmas bonus!

Today's going to be pretty crazy. We've got a lot of work to do around the place and we've got to plan out our meals and go grocery shopping. So far, I haven't been able to pull Molly away from her favorite show on the Food Network. What can I say? She loves Giada . . . who, by the way, looks exactly like Natalie Portman. You be the judge:

Am I right or am I . . . right?

Alright, later everyone.

new stuff to tell you

2005-07-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

Molly went with her wonderful mother and sister to see "The Music Man" last night. According to Molly, it was really great, but not her favorite show by any means.

Tomorrow evening, we visit Peachtree City. It's kind of weird. We lived there for 6 months, so now that we've been away for about two weeks, it feels like we haven't seen the ol' place in forever.

Saturday, Molly and I (have to) go to a pool party thrown by her boss - Ed Cave. Lucky for me, it's not a real pool party - i.e., swimming, bathing suits, etc. - but more of a "party by the pool." Unlucky for me, I'm a graduate student of philosophy. That alone is a conversation killer.

John or Jane Doe: Oh, Georgia State? Ok. So what are you studying?

Poor Jim Sias: Umm . . . philosophy.

John or Jane Doe: Oh. . . . Ok. . . . [wide-eyed] Wow. . . .

Poor Molly. If only she'd married a movie star or something. Oh well. She's stuck with me now.

Alright, I guess that's about it. We're trying to set up a day and time that we can go visit the breeder since we weren't able to go see the puppy this week. He took a few pictures of the puppy (now 3 weeks old) and emailed them to us, but they're really bad (blurry, horrible red-eye, etc.), so I'll probably wait to post any until I take more pictures of my own.

Sias' out.

this just in

2005-07-25T22:19:00.000-05:00

As some of you know, I've been chosen by Georgia State's philosophy department as one of the 2005-2006 Teaching Assistants. Well, I've just heard word of which professor I'll be TAing for during this Fall 2005 semester - Dr. Anne Farrell. Now, while she isn't exactly the professor I would've paired myself up with (nothing against her, she just doesn't exactly specialize in my particular areas of interest, which would've been ideal), there IS something interesting about this assignment. The acting Director of Graduate Studies, the man who's in charge of pairing TAs up with professors - Dr. Timothy O'Keefe - just happens to be married to Dr. Anne Farrell. In other words, of all the incoming TAs that he could've paired up with his wife, he chose me . . . which, I hope, is pretty cool.

In her email to me, she writes,

"Dear Jim,

I was glad to hear that you are going to be my TA. I've heard good things about you and am looking forward to working together."

Here's a picture of Dr. Farrell and Dr. O'Keefe soon after he'd proposed to her (which must've been a while ago, as they've since married and have a son who is about a year old).

You can read more about Dr. Farrell on her website.

Alright, it's bedtime. Goodnight, everyone.

the apple of my mother's eye

2005-07-25T17:20:00.000-05:00

Now that I've figured out how to post pictures from my computer, it seems I can't stop. So here he is ladies and gentlemen - Chief Master Sergeant Chris C. Stanifer.

I think we'll all agree that this man is in dire need of a haircut. Sheesh.

FYI

2005-07-25T16:20:00.000-05:00

Just so you know: If you'd ever like to respond to a post, all you've got to do is click on the "0 Comments" (of course, if people have already commented, it might say "2 Comments" or "5 Comments," etc.) link on the bottom of the post of interest, type a comment, click on "Other" (as opposed to "Blogger" or "Anonymous"), and type your name. You used to have to be a member of Blogger.com in order to comment, but now anyone can. I'll add a comment to this post just to make sure it's working.

Later.

apartment picture

2005-07-25T13:36:00.000-05:00

Here's one of the better pictures of the place I've taken so far. This is the view from our bedroom into the living room. Molly got the picture from Storehouse Furniture for, I believe, about $25. We put a new piece of glass in it ($17 from Ace Hardware) and there you have it.

That said, I've got some cleaning and studying to do. In the first week of classes (August 22-25), I'm going to have to take a pretty tricky Symbolic Logic exam. If I pass, I won't have to take the class. If not, well . . . I will.

testing, testing, 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .

2005-07-25T09:30:00.000-05:00

Nothin' to say, really. Just wanted to see if I could post a picture. So we'll see if this works. If it does, this is a picture of one of my favorite musicians - Sufjan Stevens.

long time, no see

2005-07-24T20:08:00.000-05:00

Well, blogging resumes.

As most of you know, Molly and I have been in our new apartment for nearly a month now. It's really amazing, but it's turning out to be a more expensive enterprise than we'd anticipated. So August is going to have to be a really sad month for us, as we will be pinching pennies like never before. Oh well. As soon as possible, I'll post a few pictures of the hot new crib.

This evening Molly and I visited our first church. We went to the "Alternative Worship Service" at Druid Hills Baptist Church on Ponce. Let me begin by saying that we won't be returning. Not that it was really bad or anything, just not the place for us. The room was setup up with couches and candles, but after about 10 minutes, it felt like we were sitting on candles - seriously, it was just about a thousand degrees in that room. After we sang what was essentially Chris Tomlin's latest album (sometimes I wonder if the 21st Century church would survive if Chris Tomlin had never been born), there was a time of discussion. "What can we do to be more accommodating to people of different races, genders, and social classes?" I really don't mean to sound too critical, but I'm just kind of tired of hearing this question asked in the church. Isn't the answer to stop focusing on people of different races, genders, and social classes and to focus entirely and generically on the Kingdom of God? The gospel is not an "accommodating" thing. Jesus was not "accommodating" the disciples when he called them away from what was most comfortable to them. So if the gospel does not concern itself with social differences, why should we? Maybe I'm wrong . . . but I'm not. So there.

Alright, I'm done ranting. Molly wasn't a big fan either, but for different reasons.

On Tuesday, we're visiting our puppy at the breeder for a second time. She'll be three weeks old on Tuesday, and I'll bet she doesn't fit in one hand anymore. Speaking of, we've got pictures of her too; I'll post 'em when I can. Get ready to eat your heart out.

That's all for now. Molly's going back and forth between a new house-hunting show on HGTV and "When Harry Met Sally," and I'm gonna go be a good husband and watch.

Sias' out.

big news.

2005-05-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

Well, the recruiter-person that Molly met with a while ago called her today and set up an interview with a small design firm. The position is a kind of administrative assitant deal, I think - answering phones, dealing with customers' questions, etc. The interview is tomorrow morning so we're hoping for the best. It's not quite the amount we'd hoped she'd be making, but it'll do. It's definitely a step up from ACC, that's for sure.

More big news: we got a place. We finally found an apartment that was safely within our price-range, as big as we needed, and as cool as we wanted. We move in on July 1st. I've got pictures (from the online ad) and will post them shortly.

Heather graduated from Yale this past weekend. Congrats, big sis.

Sias' out.

updates, updates, updates

2005-05-17T18:23:00.000-05:00

Umm, let's see. We still haven't found a place to live this fall. I've spent the last couple days driving around our target area like a crazy person and I've been able to see a few cool places . . . and a few not-cool places as well. I saw one today and would've sworn it was a big dollhouse on crack or something. But I did see one cool apartment that Molly and I will revisit together tomorrow. The only drawbacks are: (1) no washer/dryer connections, and (2) no dishwasher. But, the way I see it, these are luxuries that Molly and I have technically never had anyway, so it's not as if we're going to miss them or something. Oh well; we'll see.

Our puppy is due June 27-30; so, yes, there's a chance it could be born on my birthday (June 27), which would be neat I guess. Molly says we'll have birthday parties together every year and make me and the dog wear matching party hats. So . . . we'll see about that.

Molly's still looking for a job, so some prayers would be appreciated.

I guess that's about it for now.

Sias' out.

farewell, alma mater

2005-05-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

It's all over. Yesterday, the president of Atlanta Christian College conferred upon Molly and me the degree of Bachelor's of Science, and we're not lookin' back. Either it hasn't yet sunk in, or there's really no sinking to be done, but it really doesn't feel too different being a college grad. Probably has a lot to do with the fact that, technically, Molly graduated this past December, and, well, I've got several more years ahead of me. Ah well.

Pictures will be posted soon.

Sias' out.

that's all she wrote.

2005-05-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

I (Jim) have officially taken my last final and handed in the last paper of my undergraduate college career. Now, as long as my professors get my grades in on time (and the deadline for seniors' grades is today), I can graduate and get outta here. Word!

Tomorrow's a big day. By sundown, Molly and I will have hopefully come to a decision regarding our future home. So stay tuned, people.

Sias' out.

our very first "shout out"

2005-05-03T13:38:00.000-05:00

On this lovely Tuesday afternoon, the Sias family would like to "holla" at our favorite Phi Mu, Miss Meredith Campbell. Here's wishing you the best of success on your next art project.

Sias' out.

could it be "the one"?

2005-05-02T21:26:00.000-05:00

Now that I think about it, Molly and I did go house-hunting today and we might have found "the one." It's a carriage house in the Candler Park/Little Five area - one bedroom, one bath, big kitchen, fenced in yard (ideal for a dog), really secluded and private (i.e., safe), big patio, etc. We'd post pictures, but we don't have a digital camera, and I (Jim) haven't even figured out how to do that . . . so, you'll just have to imagine. Thursday is our big day to scour Atlanta for a place to live; Molly's taking the day off and I'll be done with school.

Which reminds me . . . I (Jim) have a big final on Wednesday morning . . . and then it's all over. What's up.

our inaugural post!

2005-05-02T20:12:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! We've created this blog to make it easier for y'all to stay up-to-speed on the latest of the Sias saga - home, school, career, pets (near future), children (not-so-near future), etc. So add us to your "Favorites" list or something and stop by often. We'll update as often as possible . . . but sometimes our lives might be too boring to talk about. Later!

Sias' out.