The Missing Writer Returns

Whoa, what a ride.

I guess I can't tell you about everything that has happened since my last post, since I stopped posting nearly 9 months ago.

But I can tell you where I am at right now, and hopefully start posting on Sophistical Subterfuges more regularly now.

Well, there are several areas of my life which have been developing as of late. There are three which are especially prominent: I have been making progress on my thesis, things are coming together with IPSA (International Philosophy Student's Association), of which I am now the President, and I am progressing in the culinary arts as well: last week was my first day as one of the main chefs at the restaurant I work at.

As for the thesis, I changed my topic a little bit and made it much more challenging for myself... yielding great results. Before I was basically explaining Ernst Cassirer's work on myth, essentially summarizing his second volume of the Philosophy of Symbolic Forms. I did not get any writing accomplished while this was still my topic. Frankly, I wasn't interested or inspired to work on a summary... and rightly so, for what kind of original and substantial paper would my thesis be if it did nothing more than summarize someone else's book?? Instead, I am writing on Cassirer's methodology for the Cultural Sciences. Through an historical account I am situating his work among his contemporaries, primarily in terms of the Neo-Kantians of the Marburg and Southwest Schools, but also in terms of the pramatism of Dilthey and especially the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger. I am now using Cassirer's work on myth as an example of how his methodology differs greatly from the other Neo-Kantians, and in many regards encounters a rapprochement with phenomenology. This, clearly, will require much more work on my behalf, and I am feeling eager to step up to the challenge.

As for IPSA, we held our first general meeting last week. We now have an executive and several coordinators. We are growing, and with this growth comes greater responsibility and commitment for me. I avoided legitimation of the group last year, mainly because I was new to the town/program and had few people to work with. This year, however, we hit the new students hard with an introductory tour after their welcome lecture by the faculty, as well as a great mustache party involving 8 cases of free beer.... kindly donated by an unidentified benefactor. This got people's attention. And now we have about 12 people who have committed themselves to planning events, increasing membership, and publicizing activities. We have drafted a constitution, a mission statement, and a list of events to be planned. My first order of business, however, is to attain funding from LOKO, which is the only EU subsidized international student's organization at K.U.Leuven. This will take some work on my behalf!

Finally, about my passion for cooking and the path this passion has set me on... well, for the last month I have been training in the kitchen of the restaurant I work at, doing mostly mis-en-place (preparation) for the week. This involves chopping a lot of vegetables, preparing sauces and soups, and so on. While I have been doing this, I have also been learning how to make various tapas dishes, desserts (like Sophie Lauren's tiramisu!), and so on. This past Friday was a milestone though... it was my first evening to work as one of the two main chefs in the front kitchen, which is open concept: i.e., the customers can watch you as you cook. Definitely an added element of pressure... it was a busy night, and we served about 40 plates in 3 hours. I kept my cool, went as fast as I could, and it was duly noted... now I will be working in the front more regularly. We come out with a new menu next week, and I will have to memorize the dishes so that I can prepare things without having to be told how. I've bought myself a high quality chef's knife (henckels) and I've grown to love using it! At one point last week while hanging out with friends I suddenly proclaimed, "I feel like cutting some onions." You can imagine the puzzled responses.

Well, that is enough updating for the time being, hopefully this post will be the first of many.

Check out Not Without The Sound of Infinite Splashing to see the progression of my work on Cassirer, the Neo-Kantians, and the cultural sciences.

Coming soon: Article 27, a blog about human rights, international relations, and philosophy concerning such matters.

Thanks for reading!

Running through Europe

It's been a while since my last post. I guess I've gotten out of the habit. But in the spirit of the new year the only right thing to do is get back into it and rebuild the good habit of writing regularly. And that's just what I've decided to talk about in this blog: building up good habits and breaking down the not-so-good ones.

The other day I was going for a jog. The sun was shining and the air was cool, yet just warm enough that I wasn't too cold or overheated. I listened to upbeat music and you know I had a smile on my face. On top of all that, there's something about taking a jog through the back streets of a really old European town that really grabs me. At the top of a long, gradual slope, I noticed three little boys. They were laughing and playing, and one of them held out a sign with an arrow on it pointing into an alley. So, naturally, as I jogged past I swerved and started going into the alley, winking at the sign-boy on my way past. Of course they loved it, and as I continued back down the street they ran along behind laughing the whole time. I have to say it was the nicest moment I've had yet this year.

Going jogging has always done something special to me. It allows me to set aside those thoughts that cloud my mind and those anxieties that cloud my actions. When I don't have the patience to sit in meditation, it's jogging that brings me back to the peace of the present moment. Not only that, it also inspires me to challenge myself in other activities. For the past couple of weeks I've been jogging every other day in an effort to rebuild that good habit, and so far I've noticed changes in the way I think about myself and how I go about my business. Instead of going through each day not really caring what happens so long as its enjoyable, I begin to seek out the things that give me the most enjoyment and sense of reward. I begin to challenge myself more. That same determination that I feel when pushing myself to run 5 or 10 minutes longer than I feel comfortable with comes out in the other things I do, like studying and socializing. And every time I get out there, it gets just a little bit easier.

I have to admit, for a while now my will power has been suffering a bit. I've tended to be apathetic about what I do with myself, thinking that it will all work out in one way or another. Well I still believe that, it will all work out. But lately I've started to question this carefree perspective. Now I've started to think that I'd prefer it to all work out in MY way. I want to choose my destiny, not have it handed to me. I don't want to waste my time doing nothing and forgetting all the big things I've done in the past, but rather pay tribute to them by spending every moment achieving new accomplishments. I am especially inspired these days, and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

So, right now I have set a few goals for myself. I can't tell you about all of them since some are more personal than others. But I can tell you about a few. Since this is exam time, my top priority is to study better than I usually do and do well on my exams. Also, as I already said, I will run more regularly and stay active. I want to socialize more, since usually I spend a lot of time at home like a hermit... regardless of what numerous facebook pics seem to suggest! It's true that I have lots of friends and acquaintances here and we know how to kick it. Hell, maybe 'more' isn't the right word, rather, I want to socialize 'better'. I'm so introverted sometimes that I think a lot of people miss out on the sides of me that I'm really proud of, like my spirituality and creativity.

Finally, I have set the goal to write much more than I have been. I intend to write regularly, even daily. Not on the blog, but between the blog, my personal journal, my creative writing, and... especially... my thesis. It's something that I will have to focus on after exams in a big way. But not immediately after exams. No, I've planned myself a little trip: I'm a goin' to Roma!! My plan: to write extensively every day that I am there. I will do mad sightseeing and write about every impression that comes up. I will put myself in interesting social situations and then write about it. In fact, about the only time that I will forget about writing is when I'm letting loose with new people from the hostel and from the nearby university. It should be really great, so you will enjoy reading about all of it on here. If possible, I will update the blog each day with new posts, but otherwise I will post a series of blogs shortly after my trip detailing some (not all, never all!) of my escapades in the great city.

I must say, this trip is going to be an exercise in self-development. Since I've been in Europe I have only planned one other trip, which was to Germany to see my family there. Other than that everything has been close enough so as to not really require any planning. I'm starting off this year right. Plan, challenge, believe, succeed... enough to make some hurl. But also, enough to make some others smile... and anyone who makes it this far through the current post is more likely to be in the second camp.

Thanks for reading, keep it up and so will I!

Mes rêves pour l'avenir

Delivered on March 31, 2008.

Écoutez bien,

J’aimerais racontrer mes rêves pour l’avenir, mais nous ne voyons clairement nos rêves jamais, malheureusement. Neanmoins, j’essayerais de racontrer ces énigmes.

Le rêve le plus immediate est celui le voyage et decouverte du monde. Personnellement, j’assimile les voyages et experiences mondailles à la réussite, à lieux du succès monetaire. Certainement, il faut reconnaitre qu’on doit gagner de l’argent, à l’avance de ses voyages mondiales! Mais, je rêve des experiences seulement, sans des pensées d’argent.

Idealment, j’aimerais visiter tous les pays que je n’ai pas déja visité. Jusqu’ici, j’ai visité les Etats-Unis, le Mexique, le Cuba, l’Angleterre, la France, le Japon, et la Corée du Sud aussi. Alors, maintenent je voudrais visiter tous les pays en Europe. Je voudrais visiter la Belgique, l’Allemagne, et la France en particulier, et j’ai fait une demand de la maîtrise en Louvain, Belgique.

Si je suis admis à la Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U. Leuven), je voyagerai à Dusseldorf en août et je ferai des études de la philosophie pendent une année. Je vais écrive une thèse dans les écrits de la Heidegger, et dans les sujets de la temporalité et des experiences mystiques.

Quand j’ai du temps libre et de l’argent, je voyagerai en France, l’Allemagne et les Pays Bas pour visiter mes familles, pour faire de tourisme, et pour faire du skateboarding! Dans ces pays, il y a beaucoup de beaux parcs pour skateboarding avec des grandes piscines et rampes. Pendant ces excursions, je visiterai les universités et les bibliothèques majeures aussi, dans Freiburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, et Paris, par example.

J’espère completer ma thèse pendant une année seulement, mais si j’ai besoin de plus de temps, je passerai deux années pour l’ecrire. Franchement, je suis un peu timide quand je pense à la thèse! J’espére que j’aurai du succés dans la maitrise.

Après ma premiere année dans la Belgique, je voudrais passer le temps à l’Allemagne ou aux Pays-Bas. J’ai la famille dans les deux pays, et j’espère que j’y travaillerai et étudier l’allemande, et faire de tourisme aussi!

Je voudrais travailler dans la ville de ma grande-mère, Iserlohn. J’y vais enseigner l’Anglais, peut-etre. J’espère que j’y trouverai des postes dans une école anglaise. Ma grande-mère racontrait toujours que mon grande-père et elle allaient faire des promenades dans la Foret Noir, et ainsi je voudrais bien y aller faire des promenades aussi.

Mes rêves pour l’avenir sont des rêves mondiales. Les rêves de voyager, et les rêves d’étudier. Parce que mes rêves sont tellement mondiales, je dois travailler tout le temps avant de partir, et economizer bien!

Merci a vous.