Author Archives: fustianist

I need an office with a window. After holing up for several hours in my office, I stepped outside to realize that winter had finally arrived while I was busy being a nerd. Gorgeous! I never knew that a college … Continue reading →

In 2000, North Americans spent roughly 330 billion US dollars on clothing. Western Europeans spent about the same amount. In case the profligacy isn’t obvious already, I’ll let you figure out the per capita amount. But apparently that was not … Continue reading →

One of the really nice things about the philosophy program at Cornell is that after every semester the professors write up evaluations of the grad students that they had during the semester. Eventually these evaluations are given to the student. … Continue reading →

After two days of classes the semester seems to be shaping up quite nicely. I wanted to share two things I’m particularly excited (and nervous) about: 1) I’ll be auditing a class on aesthetics taught in Sydney’s department. I’ve never … Continue reading →

Here’s a quotation from a CBC piece: “A separate study released Jan. 9 by the Pew Research Center found that about 80 per cent of 18- to 25-year-old Americans saw getting rich as their prime life goal.” That sounds like … Continue reading →

Here‘s a librarian’s lament about how kids no longer read books. So in a few years I’ll get to try to get these kids (who don’t have the patience, mental maturity, and so forth to read a novel) to read … Continue reading →

It’s the second day of classes and I already feel like I’m behind in my reading! – Sydney

In-between classes today I finished up the last few pages of George Eliot’s Middlemarch. Just in time! It was my second time through this book, and my third 700- to 800-page novel in the last month. On a really basic … Continue reading →

I’m also off to the class I’ll be teaching: a freshman writing seminar.  I’m not a TA, so I actually have to do my own tap-dance with my students today for 50 minutes.  But why do I feel more like … Continue reading →

We’re about ready to head back to classes. The first class I’ll be attending will be PHIL 101, the class for which I will likely be TAing. So, yes, it looks like I’ll get to spend the semester with students … Continue reading →