Freethought Miscellany

(Note: This turned out to be pretty long in the end. Just a forewarning.)

There's been a little bit of time pass since I sat down to write anything in this space. The silence is reflective of the fact that very few things of note have really been happening around here in the past few weeks. I had been, until yesterday, in the final days of my vacation. I took the opportunity to make the most of the time by doing the least bit of anything that I could. It's been glorious, but I'm getting to the point where I'm looking forward to the students coming back and the semester beginning. The novelty of idleness has, for the most part, worn thin.

So there we are. You're now officially caught up on anything particularly noteworthy in my life. Seeing as how such a meager paragraph hardly seems to warrant being published, however, I'll proceed on with some of the things that have been on my mind or in my focus lately. Some of it is probably more meaningful than the rest...

It's recruiting season in the professional arena or Residence Life. My department, like most others across the country, will begin to interview candidates within the next month and a half to two months. I've been chosen to be a part of the interview process for Res Life at UNH and I'll be heading to Osh Kosh, WI at the end of February to interview a host of candidates at the annual Osh Kosh Placement Exchange (which I attended as a candidate last year). Because of this, I've been reflecting on my experience as an HD here at UNH and have decided that I honestly have little to nothing to complain about regarding the work I'm doing. Where I've previously complained virtually nonstop about the department(s) I've worked for, I would feel very wrong about doing any of that complaining now. It's a good feeling to realize that you fit in at the place you're working and that you enjoy what you're doing. I hope that I can help to recruit to this department professionals who will be as successful here as I have been.

I've been talking to our child recently as it kicks/punches/moshes around the womb. I felt a bit odd, at first, speaking into Sarah's belly button (which is now entirely flat with the rest of her stomach) as though it were some sort of telephone to my child. I'm more comfortable with the behavior now, though, and I enjoy the conversations she and I share with our progeny (though they're admittedly almost entirely one-sided). It makes me feel fatherly.

I'm happy to see some recent changes in the shape of my upper body (shoulders, most notably) since I've gotten back into a weightlifting routine lately. I was quite pleased with how my body carried the muscle I had around my last year at Iowa State when I was lifting heavily and regularly. Having fallen out of the habit during grad school (however understandable the fall out may be) was actually a rather large source of disappointment for me. I'm hoping that it's not something I let slip again in the future.

As much as Sarah may yell at me and tell me that it's gross, I can't help that I'm a nail biter. I'm doing it right now as I type this post. It's a habit. Thanks, Mom, for passing that one along.

I've been thinking a lot lately about absolute Truth. You may have read the conversation I had with my brother regarding the issue of Truth. The whole issue started when I picked up Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis over break and started reading his methodical analysis of the Christian faith. I'll probably post more on the topic at a later date once I finish reading the book, but that could take awhile. I can generally only stand 10-15 pages of Lewis before I need to set it aside and just think about things for awhile. It's pretty heavy. Pick it up, though, if you want to dig deeper into what I consider to be a rather logical analysis of the faith.

I'm enjoying the colder weather that's come in the past few days. I can't help that winter is my favorite season. That being said, I am certainly glad that it's not as cold here as it has been back home. Fifty below is just ridiculous.

I bought some new running shoes this past weekend. For having just said that I enjoy the cold of winter, it might be odd to also hear that I'm looking forward to the spring and summer so that I can get back to running outside. I'm going to run a 5K this summer. It's a goal of mine. That's probably the furthest I'll ever run, though, because it's just ridiculous to want to run any further than that.

Space blows my mind. Have you ever seen the Deep Field images taken by the Hubble? Each point of light in the photo is a galaxy. EACH POINT! And that photo simply catalogs one point in the sky! There are literally billions upon billions of galaxies in the universe. It gets even more mind boggling when you consider that all of the normal matter in all of those galaxies accounts for only half of the matter that theoretically should exist in the universe. Dark matter, worm-holes, black holes... It's all a serious mind fuck (sorry for the swear, but it's necessary) when you sit down and try to conceptualize even a part of it, though absolutely humbling to any person who considers their life or their existence to be even minutely significant in any way whatsoever. I am mystified by anyone who can look at space or the universe and not see something bigger than ourselves. I am blown away by those who understand anything of the complexities of life and science without likewise understanding the presence of a Creator's hand.

I fell asleep the other day while I was watching a History Channel program about the Mayan's. Part of the program must have been about the Mayan calendar and its predictions of the end of the world because I started having nightmares about the end of the world based on what my subconscious was hearing from the TV. Just so you know, there will be floods and droughts as the Earth's magnetic poles reverse and cause the rotation of the Earth to become unstable in or around 2012.

Sometimes I think I should have joined the military, but then I think to myself "nope, you're alright" and that's that.

I miss playing soccer. I'll probably try to coach my kid's little league soccer team once the thing is old enough to play. Then maybe Sarah will finally let me buy a minivan.

I still have my full beard and I still think it looks great. It's not scraggly anymore. I've trimmed it and shaped it. Manscaped it, if you will.

President Obama will be inaugurated on Tuesday and I will feel proud of my country.

I've been listening to Verse a lot lately. Having not really given them a lot of consideration before, I've finding that they seem to be one of the few hardcore bands out there right now who actually have anything good to contribute to the scene. Hearing what they have to say gives me some hope that maybe some kids still get it.


Enjoy it, if you actually take the time to watch it.

And now, seeing that I've sufficiently rambled, I think I'll point myself in the direction of sweet slumber. Goodnight, internet.

Stay Gold!

MMK