When I look back at what I wrote when I got into dental school, I now realize, quite plainly, I had no idea what the hell I was getting myself into. No. Idea. Reminds me of some of the letters from Confederate soldiers when they were going off to war — they had this romantic idea of what war would be like… and they were (1) completely mistaken and (2) grossly unprepared.
14 hour days are not uncommon — and that’s just the time spent at school. And yet, at this point my relationships with my family and my wife are growing so much in the little free time I carve out, that I have the strength to keep going. It’s like learning to play an instrument in the trenches — you’re always surrounded by the chaos, but there’s this little germ of truth and beauty you are nurturing.
This is a picture of the best dinner I ever had, this past September 19th. Mykala made spectacular foods: fresh bread topped with bruschetta made from tomatoes plucked off our tomato plant no more than 10 minutes before we ate, roasted farmer’s market beets and goat cheese salad (stuuupendous), and a lovely (sweet) wine. Dessert was out and about: ice cream in the warm late summer evening. Perfect.
Every day, for the next 10 days, there is a chance of rain. Average chance of rain: about 40%. Man oh man, if it keeps up like this, we’ll have feet of snow on the ground by Christmas. This is a good thing.
I enjoyed reading Stanley Fish’s argument against attempts to justify studies of the humanities. Fish respectfully points to Anthony Kronman’s idealistic viewpoint that the humanities teach people compassion and give them examples of the different paths a life can take. He acknowledges that this argument makes sense, but ultimately seems to think it’s dishonest. Which is to say: can you stand up in front of a bunch of people and say the humanities make better people when the professors who study them everyday are clearly no better as people than the rest of us? Similarly, a “careerism” argument for the humanities is just as flimsy as it is depressing.
The ultimate conclusion from Fish, “The humanities are their own good” brings the forthrightness to the matter that he seeks. I have trouble agreeing outright, but this piece brings me rather closer to that view.
If you’re in Germany, in Hamburg specifically, then you should check out an amazing concert hall rising above the port; it will house the Elbphilhamonie Hamburg in 2012. Called the Elbe Philharmonic Hall, the building appears to float atop an old structure from 1963 called Warehouse A.
What’s remarkable to me is that the whole things works. There’s this 43 year-old, remarkably utilitarian, narrow-windowed warehouse forming the bottom half, while this flowing ribbon of iridescence perches on top. See for yourself.
Availability of Wi-Fi, transportation solutions, medical
trials, university research and development expenditures,
advanced degrees held by the work force, and energy
conservation are so far above the national average that
in 2005, Popular Science named Minneapolis the “Top Tech
City” in the U.S. The Twin Cities ranked the
country’s second best city in a 2006 Kiplinger’s poll of
Smart Places to Live and Minneapolis was one of the Seven
Cool Cities for young professionals.
And THAT was the best nap with my new wife Mykala ever. Best. Couch nap. Ever. George slept on my left leg, for added warmth and general cozy-ness.
While an awesomely amazing nap, I do think we might brew a pot of coffee to prevent such a thing next Sunday. Gotta make the most of our weekends together.
