We are off Monday morning. Despite having recycled and donated a ton of stuff, it’s alarming to see how much us left. But for two people, to be able to actually fit everything we own into one room (including transportation machines) with 1/2 of the room to spare is good enough.
Of course, whenever I move, it’s hot. And this weekend is no exception. Even moving out of Boston three years ago was during a heat spell. Spell. But at least there is no heavy furniture to carry this time. And at least I get to see a few nice family members who are driving all the way out here to help me move. I’m a pretty luck guy.
I am a very…sentimental guy, and I get sad when I do things I like for the last time. While I may sound “bitter” and like I hated all of my time here in Carbondale, there are things I will miss a lot. Biking is easy and peaceful here, and there are certain paths and routes that I like to take. I wanted to take the one I took the day I bought my bike and drove home with a big smile that made people stare. I wanted to take some photos in the Quad, in the Department, at Arnolds Market. To visit a non-crowded, non-$10 movie theater one last time. The trail around the lake on campus. The farmers’ market. Downtown. A lot of things I didn’t get to do for the last time, consciously savoring them to make me sad, but I think it’s a good thing.
This happened when we left Boston, too. I planned on going to Boston College again to take some photos, the Public Garden, etc. But things got busy, and it didn’t pan out. And this allowed me to just enjoy my time more, rather than really looking at the rubber on the steps as I left the subway on my home from downtown one last time to the quiet little neighborhood on the shore of Quincy Bay where I lived. This way, I didn’t get all gloomy about the last trip through campus, the back roads through the woods or to the movies/mall. I just enjoyed them without realizing what was a last time and what was not. Being too attached to things and activities makes it very hard to just be sometimes, and I suppose that abandoning Buddhism (for various reasons I see as a series of little smoke-screens now) for the last three years might have been a bad way to change the way I attach myself to things.
I don’t know if that makes any sense to someone who’s not foolishly sentimental. Like I am.
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August 6, 2006 at 6:09 am
nameless colleague
but it has cooled down here! (your’re STILL looking for excuses to complain about c’dale). congratulations on the defense of your prospectus. will it be hard to be away from your advisor/director? vnrekj
August 6, 2006 at 7:23 am
Johnny
Thank you, Nameless.
I said that being hot on moving day is a Johnny phenomenon, not Carbondale. It cooled yesterday and Friday. Moving day (days, really - Sunday and Monday) is as hot as last week , with forecasted temperatures and heat indices close to how hot it was at that time.
Am I supposed to love everything about the Dale and never complain about anything?
August 6, 2006 at 4:38 pm
nameless colleague
You may complain, and indeed you have. I have simply tried to point out that the complaining/praise ratio has been wildly disproportionate.
Will it be hard to be away from your advisor/director?
fn
August 6, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Johnny
Yes, and the amount of complaining about my complaining is also equally wildly disproportionate to the lack of praising my praising. :)
Especially the mounds of implicit praise for the region in the archives of this blog. There is more of that than complaining, actually. There are plenty of other Dale blogs who are not very critical of the town, but that\\\’s Okay. Blogs are subjective. What is wrong with complaining more if that were true? Or not complaining enough and praising all the time? I have absolutely no intention of being even-sided about anything on here. I do not feel evenly about everything that I feel about.
I suppose it will be harder writing my dissertation being away from my advisor. He is very supportive, though, and email contact is always possible. But I have to go since the Mrs. has to be at Hopkins. So I do not have a choice unless I want to live 850 miles from my spouse. If I had a choice, I would rather be near my director since I really like him. And it is nice to be around the department. I have found in the different departments I have been in that the students in the SIU philosophy department are, on the whole, much nicer and friendlier and less intentionally contentious than philosophy majors/grad students tend to be, so far as I have encountered them. The department is my favorite thing about this area. Well, maybe third, next to the skies and the green everywhere. I will miss that in the city.
Say, Nameless, how about about shooting me an email (johnnyATpragmatikDOTorg). This you know me, but I do not know you thing is a little odd for me.
August 6, 2006 at 10:59 pm
nameless collegue
I like the way you have given our dept. props. I think that you’re right about that. Bon Voyage.
August 7, 2006 at 8:02 am
Johnny
Re: Props for the Dept.
Nothing but affection for it from me. I found it instructive in an academic way and on a personal level, too, which I could not claim about where I got my Masters from.
August 8, 2006 at 9:38 pm
Johnny
Nameless,
Regarding the 20+ comments you left in a few minutes yesterday while I was travelling:
If this is a joke, it is not funny, and I will ask you to desist. If you are serious, I am disturbed by how intentionally contentious a member of my own department can be. You are going to make me take back what I said about the nice people in that department.
I do not owe anyone reasons why I do not want to seek academic employment at this point, and I do not have to justify it if I do not feel like it. If you cannot wait for me to feel like it, you will have to email me yourself. Besides, I said SOON so I technically did not break any promises anyway.
Your comments will no longer appear on this site while you remain anonymous to me. I understand the desire of some people to remain nameless publically, and I could and do respect that. But this feels like stalking to me (I know how many times a day you visit), and I do not have to justify or explain why it feels that way to anyone. They will no longer appear because you know me and will not reveal yourself even in private, and I do not care if anyone thinks that is unfair. Harassing comments on this blog are unfair and have passed far beyond annoying. No blogger is under any obligation to allow ANY and ALL comments that trollers and spammers leave on their blogs, and I do not know any that do. No blogger is under any obligation to reveal anything to anyone if they do not want to, even when this person demands it over and over again.
August 10, 2006 at 12:32 am
john
whoever nameless is, he or she should knock it off. so there. pragmatik, keep on rockin. i’ll be reading from the dale — and looking for this nameless person so i can kick their ass.
August 10, 2006 at 1:02 am
Johnny
Thanks, man. Take some photos;)
When you are on the coast, must get beers. DC or Philly, etc.
August 10, 2006 at 9:06 am
namelesscolleague
You’re right. Was too persistent there - apologies. Should wait for answers as time does or doesn’t bring them out. sincerely, nc