Updates and General Disgust

Update: Regular readers of this blog remember a couple of weeks ago when my computer failed while on vacation. The saga concluded this week, and happily. The lesson? Buy the extended warranty.

When we arrived back to Denver on Thursday, we took old Holmes (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. - all my electronics are philosophers) to the Apple store to drop off and see what happens. The person AV talked with over the phone was enthusiastic about the possibility of Holmes being replaced as a brand new MacBook. I was excited about this. The fellow at the Apple store was more cautious in his promises, and so Holmes went to pasture in Cupertino. On Tuesday this week, the doorbell rang and a computer showed up. I opened it to find the shell that once housed Holmes, but with brand new hard-drive, logic board, battery AND keyboard! A new computer! Maurice is up and working fine (yes, Maurice Merleau-Ponty). This is all very fortuitous, especially since this week I'm teaching Descartes and we're coming to the point where he's going to (try to) put his mind back in his body.

Update: This first week of teaching was pretty gruelling. I'm especially looking forward to next week, once all 141 of my students are in my face. The tough thing about this week is that I'm only kind of half in my work life - next week I should be able to figure out the rhythm of things.

General Disgust: The producers and geniuses at Top Chef have really done it this time. Last night, they booted off Tre, the most capable - seeming cook of them all. This is totally bunk, especially since Howie remains. The talent pool seems a little less than in previous seasons, and I suppose I'd better be steeling myself for the win by Hung, the over-confident, dangerous-with-his-knife Vegas chef (although, he did break down those chickens quickly, cleanly, and impressively last night ... he's still a jerk, though). Frank Bruni has already dismantled this challenge and all its pitfalls in his blog over at the New York Times. I agree categorically with everything he's said.

I received a funny e-mail from a former student this week, and of course it has to do with Jughead Petrelli. In MARCH last year, my student totally called the way last season of Heroes ended. He wrote me an e-mail this week to tell me that he totally called it. He wished me a nice semester. I can't WAIT for crappy television to begin again. I'm so tired of being amazed by Les Stroud and laughing at Mike Rowe. Dang.