more visitors

Last Wednesday my Uncle John and his wife Robianna stopped by while touring the Southwest in a rented convertible. They arrived in Santa Fe in the middle of a snow storm! They tell us snow in April is unusual, but we acctually had three days of it last week. John and Robianna came to the house and met little Scarlett and we all went out to the Shed for deliciousness. Then, Thursday night they rang us up to tell us they were still in Santa Fe and asked if we wanted to go out for drinks, which of course we did. It was so fun to have them in town, and now my mom is coming next month! We feel so lucky to have so many visitors.

a happy day

The philosophy department at UC Riverside has changed alot in my four years there, and it has had a stellar year with three amazing new hires, including the news today that Maudemarie Clark a prominent Nietzsche scholar will be coming to Riverside. Please read about what ratings czar Brian Leiter had to say about it on his blog. Leiter also recently wrote this about UCR, which I can say is absolutely true:

I can report,
based on accumulated anecdotes over many years, that some departments
are really exceptional for how pleasant they are as places to do
graduate study:  faculty are engaged, kind, supportive, committed, and
professional in their interactions with students.  Arizona, North
Carolina, MIT, UC Riverside, and U Mass/Amherst are among those about
which one regularly hears these kinds of glowing reports.

philosophy in the news

The new york times ran this article on the increasing number of students majoring in philosophy. This either indicates future job security with more students opting to major in the subject, or an increase in job competition. Either way, the article makes some good points, like: yes a philosophy degree can be very useful, and no philosophers are not all out of touch freaks. Please remember, my husband, the one with the real job, has not one, but two philosophy degrees.

knit stuff

The universe aligned such that I just had to knit the baby hat bellow. I found myself in Hobby Lobby (I know they're evil) because I looking for a zipper for M's sweater, which I did not find, but I decided to browse their "yarn" and picked up some really cheap cotton yarn in blue, because it just so happens that some friends of ours just had a baby boy. I had never before knit the baby hat from Stitch N Bitch, and everyone I know had knit it and it's always been cute. So voila - baby hat:For my s-i-l's birthday I made the bamboozled headband. Jessica is the mother of a one year old and showers can be hard to come by so I thought this would be a good gift. I bought this beautiful hemp yarn and got to work. The pattern was fun, but thanks to my incredibly loose knitting it's way too large for a normal sized head, I am planning to fix it by taking off some of the rows at the end. The disappointing hempboozle:
Finally, Scarlett is modeling a baby hat that I made to get over the disappointment of the bamboozle:
The pattern for the hat can be found here.

on my own

I lived by myself for four years. It's an experience I think everyone should have, but I think surprisingly few people do. People move from their parents' homes or ones they share with friends into a home they share with their husband or wife without ever getting to enjoy that feeling of being utterly alone - in a good way of course. No parents, no roommates, no partners, just you and your stuff in a place that belongs to no one but you. Of course it has it's draw backs, like if you hit your head on the corner of a cabinet and knock yourself unconscious, no one is going to come and find you, so you better wake up. But living by yourself is a wonderful experience. You learn how to be alone without being lonely, and I think that's a really important lesson. I am thinking of this because I am alone this weekend for the first time in a long time, maybe a year. Matthew went to Tulsa to celebrate his sister's birthday with his family and because plane tickets are ridiculously expensive I stayed behind. At first I didn't know what to do with myself. I spent most of yesterday reading in bed and snuggling the pooch, but today I remembered what I loved about living by myself: the feeling of being comfortable being alone. I woke up late (but not too late), ate breakfast and took a shower. Then I got dressed, did my hair, even prettied up a bit - all just for me. Then Scarlett and I spent the lion's share of the late morning and afternoon outside. I worked on thinking my deep philosophical thoughts, took notes (which I too often forget to do), and actually made some progress, then I read my just for fun book. After awhile I was pretty hungry. I came in and made a big delicious salad and took it outside and ate it while listening to music I love and enjoying the beautiful spring day under my apricot tree, which today was mine alone.
I know many of us never get the chance to live by ourselves, but I think everyone should take time for just themselves. I used to be scared of doing things alone, but when I lived by myself I learned to enjoy doing things solo. So I challenge everyone to go get some lunch or dinner alone, go to a movie by yourself, or just sit in the silence of your own backyard and take the time to be with you. Wow, this sure is preachy.

eye candy

The apricot tree in our backyard today.

Birthday Wishes

Today is my sister-in-law Jessica's birthday. Like me, she is celebrating a big birthday this year. Happy 30th Jessica!