January 20, 2010

Things in my head

It is the first day of classes for me so my head does not know which way is up at the moment. Today's blog may seem a little out of the ordinary.

I am surprised I haven't thought to do this earlier, but I have decided to look up the definitions of "truth" and "lies."

According to dictionary.com the definition of truth is:

1) conformity with fact or reality
2) a verified or indisputable fact, proposition or principle
3) ideal or fundamental reality apart from and transcending perceived experience

Conversely, the definition of a lie is:

1)a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth

Well that pretty much sums everything up. Very clearly. The dictionary and I became pretty good friends as soon as I had to start writing 10 page papers and reading things like Dante.

People always sound so knowledgeable and intelligent when they say things like "Ya I did a 10 page literary analysis on the parallels between the trips through hell of Dante and The Kite Runner." or "Ya Catcher in the Rye and the Odyssey were great books of scholarly merit." In reality we all just retained enough of the information to pass whatever tests were handed to us. We keep the title in a tiny file cabinet in the back of our minds, ready to be pulled out when we can use it to our advantage.

I'm in a writing class called "Getting emotional in 19th century literature." That is sure to give me a few more book titles to add to my little filing cabinet.

Speaking of classes...is it just me or are philosophy professors a special type of person? My roommate's philosophy prof, lets call him Dr.Fancy Pants, is just a little...i don't know...off? At least one time in the semester he will feign receiving hate emails and death threats. Dr. Fancy Pants will also, at least one time in the semester, threaten to quit. I do not know exactly how long he has been working at the university, but it has at least been since 1993. I have given him the name Dr. Fancy Pants for two reasons. 1-just for the sake of anonymity and 2-because he has a rather large ego and insists on reiterating the fact that he is French. Most people generally get along with him though. I also heard he has fantastically unique lectures. So he is an odd creature, but still essential to this world.

The next philosophy professor I had the pleasure to encounter I shall name Surfer Jim. Surfer Jim is my academic advisor. He is very laid back and knows a little bit about everything, but sadly doesn't know enough to help. I do find him very encouraging and supportive which is a good quality in an advisor. I imagine Surfer Jim saying something like "what up dude?" in his younger days. Maybe even now except his education is probably filtering his thoughts. Sometimes when I talk to him, he gets that vacant expression on his face as though he's thinking deep thoughts somewhere in the recesses of his brain that are just too complex to share. Surfer Jim is the modern Aristotle without being so loquacious. And has a haircut that would make any California boy jealous.

The third and last philosophy professor I have met is quite interesting as well. Picture this: He is Santa Claus meets actor Seth Rogan. And no, I'm not lying. =] He both speaks and looks like the lovechild of the aforementioned persons. Because of this, I don't even have the right words to give him a proper nickname. He thinks he is the greatest comedian, although his voice puts me straight into a coma. I don't have quite a good handle on his persona yet, but we will see how the rest of the semester plays out.

I would like to meet a philosophy professor that breaks the perceptions I have created from the three I have met thus far. Honestly they kind of weird me out.

So I'm sorry about the randomness of this blog today. I had no other way to be honest. The first day of classes just go over the syllabus. Stimulating stuff.

Until next time,
Kate

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