Pilgrims's Process

I didn’t think I’d have to cross this during our hour and a half layover in London:

We only left LAX an hour late, but, as we were descending into London, the plane pulled back up and we circled around before landing. Our plane was really low and over the airport when we pulled  back up- what felt like straight up. I think the landing gear was down. “This is your captain speaking… Siiiiiiike.”

That added to our delay which caused us to miss our connecting flight. So, we ended up spending the night in London at an airport hotel. We decided to take advantage of the situation and find a pub. There was one pretty close to our hotel, so Steve, Charlie, Matt and headed out to walk there. It was snowing when we left the hotel which made the whole experience very picturesque. Here are some pictures from the night:

It was nice to turn an inconvenience into a mini adventure.

Following Adam McHugh on Twitter (@adamsmchugh – thanks Dawn) has been good for thinking about my introvertedness.

I sometime feel like I live an extroverted life, which is very draining for me. It’s been good to read about being introverted as well as be pointed to helpful articles. Check out Adam’s blog and the first chapter of his about-to-be released book Introverts in the Church.

Here are a few notable things I’ve come across:

“Caring for Your Introvert” – the quote for the title is taken from this.

“Survival Guide for the Quiter Species” – where I was pointed to the above article. I went through some of what is described in this article just this morning.

“Transitions” – I twittered earlier today that I’ve been 55 since I was six years old. This deals with the idea that eveyone has their own natural life stage.

Enjoy!

Two questions:

1. Why am I so tired and it’s not even 9:00 pm?
2. How do I carefully read philosophy when I feel so sleepy?

My goal is to make it through an article on practical reasoning before I count sheep.

One sign that your (moderate) social adeptness is learned: begrudgingly following relational conventions and sometimes secretly hating them.

Any others?

The only reason college exists is to help you get that Porsche.

Little E turned one yesterday.

What an odd experience that must have been – everyone you know shows up at your house and stays for a while, you get to eat a very large piece of cake after everyone gathers around you and sings while looking at you and putting fire in your face.

He was sleeping so soundly this morning that even putting my cell phone on his stomach and calling it (vibrate and full ringer) didn’t phase him.

Happy birthday, son.

After several calls to CSULA’s hypertension-inducing automated phone registration system, I am now ready to begin taking classes.

Kim and I decided that one class for the first quarter would probably be best as I’m still adjusting to my new job. Also, I’m a little out of the game, so to speak. I was going to take two classes: symbolic logic and a seminar in ancient philosophy. I decided on the latter. The seminar will address practical reasoning in Aristotle’s ethics.

So, next week, armed with the complete works of Aristotle, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy and my computer I will finally begin my Master’s degree. I feel somewhat quixotic about this, as if I should head off towards both class and the sunset with my satchel…

I’m sure the reality of the situation will sink in soon. But, until then, “La mejor salsa del mundo es el hambre”

Today, Kim wins the “wife of the year” award.

One thing I have a difficult time with in my personal life is administrative tasks. Forms, signatures, processes, payments, registration, and other such administrative tasks generally stress me out. I’m actually pushing a lot of paper at work right now, but, for my job I’m creating a system so that nothing falls through the cracks. I need to do that for my personal life.

That being said, it’s easy to see why I’m not yet registered for the classes that start the week after next. Kim offered to help me out since she’s exceptionally talented at this kind of thing and today drove out to CSULA to not only drop off my registration fees, but also to bring me some Kogi BBQ. Short rib burrito? Yes, please.

Like I said, wife of the year.

That was my only New Year’s resolution for this past year. I want to have the mentality that I will be productive in the little “in-between” times: five-minute breaks at work, lying in bed at night, waiting to pick someone up, etc.

It’s working nicely for reading. As I begin school at the end of this month, this resolution will become a requirement.

I’m actually going to have to make more in-between time. So, another common New Year’s resolution is quickly becoming a requirement for me: getting up early.

It’s a sink-or-swim time of life.

And I like it.

It’s easy to get distracted by words.

When I talk with someone, sometimes I miss both the heart of the issue and the heart of the person.
It’s easy to succumb to someone’s verbal defense; however, something I have difficulty remembering is clever and articulate words may merely be a smokescreen. People may argue for what they don’t believe (or don’t realize they don’t believe), and they may do so confidently.

“[Jesus] doesn’t answer the question because that’s not the question. Those are the words. The real question was the questioner. Jesus has this incredible way of not being distracted by words. He answered the questioner. And if we can do that too, we do his work. That’s the only way we can do his work, by talking to the real person inside, not the mask and the tongue and the words that the person manipulates.” – Peter Kreeft p. 91 Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar

“Everyone answers truthfully in their own mind” – Dr. Thom Wolf