On Saturday Emily and I went to the farmer's market. Vegetables are beautiful as well as tasty.

Two Week Report--

Dear Friends,
Now I have finished my second week of classes I feel it is time for a report.

Weather:

The weather, though not so hot as at first, continues to amaze me. Rain alternates with sun, but the humidity is constant. The rain, when it comes, is violent, but short lived. I tried to capture today's shower because wind made it really quite impressive, but I am not skilled enough with the camera.

Classes:

Classes are going well. I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I had to change my class schedule. I was hoping to take Greek, Logic, and Kierkegaard, but my advisor told me I “won't become a good philosopher” unless I “write many, many papers.” So I am taking Hume's Ethics in place of Logic. I was a bit skeptical at first, not being overly partial to either ethics or Hume, but the reading we've done for class has won me over. I like the teacher too, and it is a small class, which is nice. Of course, there is a rather intimidating 20-30 page paper due at the end of term, but hopefully by the time that comes I'll be ready for it.

My other courses, Greek and Kierkegaard, are going well. My summertime study of Greek is proving helpful. The course is fast paced, but manageable. Kierkegaard is likewise interesting but not too challenging (so far). I'm learning all manner of thrilling things about Kierkegaard's life and writings, and Hegel, and other philosophers of the time.

Actually, so far I haven't been too busy with school. I imagine this will change as the semester progresses, but currently I've had enough free time to do extra readings (Cicero, Plato, Addison, Petrarch, Dante) and watch some of the libraries Shakespeare dvds (A Winter's Tale, Macbeth). I'm trying to read things that may be helpful for my papers later on (Cicero and Addison for Hume; Plato for Kierkegaard).

Social:

I've also had time to socialize with the other grad students. In fact, last Saturday Emily and I hosted a game night at our apartment for the other incoming students. I made oatmeal cookies for the occasion, which were well received. In general the other students are friendly, and since most of us have no family in the area, we are glad to hang out with each other after classes or during our office hours.

Teaching:

Speaking of office hours, I'm becoming a little more comfortable with teaching. I was terribly nervous for my first Friday of teaching. But as one of my fellow grad students said, “teaching is part of our lives now; you can't afford to be nervous for it.” This is true. Teaching is now just something I have to do—I can do it better or worse, but I have to do it. And if you put today's class in perspective, it doesn't seem as critical that this lecture, this discussion be perfect. I am trying to learn a skill—like playing the piano—and if at first I make mistakes this should be neither surprising nor distressing.

Local Limestone
















Bloomington's architecture is pretty and sometimes amusing. Many of the buildings are built in the local limestone (nearly all the university building are,) and it is not at all unusual to find limestone carvings decorating the public buildings and even some of the older houses. Some university buildings are topped with gargoyles; a self-righteous stone owl presides over the path to the Student Union Building.



A Horse/Tree in front of the museum--




















University exterior--


















Adorning the Jacobs School of Music--

















Stone bears guard the public library--