Education, Sex and Pears...but mostly education

Boston College update:
- I've got a list of 6 or 7 perspective classes for the Fall. Everything from Plato's "Theatetus" to a seminar on Heidegger's "Being and Time." I'm so excited about this...and a little intimidated too, I suppose. It's going to be weird from being in the upper 25% in my classes at NPU to sitting in class w/ PHD candidates who, as Emily Johnson says, are experts in Hegel. Oh yeah, I'll probably take a class in Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit," too.
- E.J. also gave me the name of a friend who's looking for a roommate. This could cut my housing costs by two-thirds. Hopefully everyone's cool and the place isn't a total crap-pile. But, I'll probably just have to take my chances, unless I want to drop a bunch of cash to live alone or stay in Boston hotels for a month shopping for Apartments w/ those guys.
Never mind that. Back to square one. No big deal.

Next Step:
- Start hunting down financial aid. B.C. isn't prohibitively expensive, but it's close. If anyone has a rich aunt who wants to be a patron of the "old style" let me know, yeah?

Tomorrow I'll be teaching my second Sunday School class on Augustine's "Confessions." Last week went really well. 20 people, which is a lot for a kick-off. Good spread on the ages, from JD (22) to a fella' named Walt Von Flue (late 70's?). Walt Von Flue is a name that sounds as old as he is, doesn't it? Anyways, we're talking about Books I and II this week, so that means we're discussing education, sex and pears.

But aren't we always? Godspeed.

The End of the Beginning?

New beginnings are so frequent at my age that noting them seems like a waste. We're constantly starting over. What of change is notable when everything is in flux? And yet, here I am. A new school. A new city. A new handful of projects. Accordingly, this will be a venue for developing thoughts, ideas, schemes, day-dreams, etc. I mentioned to someone today that one of the benefits of youth is sufficient naivete to ignore realistic concerns. My success so often seems predicated on a willingness to overlook the should-be-disheartening reality of some endeavor. The current endeavors are enumerated below:

- Pursuing a Masters degree in Philosophy at Boston College. Such minor details as where I'm going to live and how I'm going to pay for all of this are as-of-yet undetermined. None the less, the goal is to get that degree and impress them sufficiently. Then, I'll go on to get a PHD in Philosophy and teach at the University level.

- Learning to write for television, movies and the stage. I've been wondering for some time what a truly Christian artist would look like. So much "Christian" art is really just propaganda and baldly didactic expression. To make something complex and rich and challenging that re-tells (with very good examples) the story of God's work in His creation. This pursuit is hugely influenced by the philosophy of David Milch, the creator of "NYPD Blue" and "Deadwood." Go check out videos of his lectures HERE.

- Developing concrete, material skills. Among them; baking bread, gardening, bicycle repair, and many others to be discovered hopefully. Ideally, I'll post pictures and accounts of my attempts at each.

Hopefully I'll update this more regularly than my other blog, but none the less, thanks for visiting!

Godspeed,
Jon