A couple odd points

I was going to write this as a prescript to the entry that I’m going to write next…but then thought I’d add a couple more things so just thought to write two entries instead of the one.

Anyways.

I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what sorts of things ought to be considered legitimate ‘work’ and then how to prioritize the work that I have. I suppose that this, like writing or doing proper research or teaching, is a skill that needs to be learned while in grad school. And I’m struggling to learn it. I want to post on something I read in Robinson…but I’ve also got translation to do and additional Plato to read for tomorrow. So ought posting be considered an avenue of legitimate ‘work’? Should it trump translating? (Well…not trump. I’ve worked a couple of hours on translating…but trump the translating left to do?) Should it be thought of as a side activity, much like reading fiction (am reading Mary Renault’s Mask of Apollo right now…fantastic!) or catching up on the news…something to be done only when other, more pressing, things have already been completed? I suppose that it all comes down to a judgment call. Insofar as the sorts of things I write about are related to my areas of study I suppose that they’re of some importance. But I’m still trying to figure out how important (and/or what priority I ought to place on) thinking and writing about issues of Platonic epistemology and methodology that aren’t directly related to the things due tomorrow (or next week or April). I suppose, as I said above, it’s all a matter of judgment. Anyways…this is just a long way of saying that I often times feel guilty for posting as much as I do (and spending as much time as I do writing the entries) when I’m not too sure I ought to feel guilty. (Well, at least for the posts that actually have some decent content. Not posts like this one that are entirely superfluous.)

Brad Inwood is coming to campus on Wednesday (!!). He’ll be giving a talk on Seneca’s 87th letter. The letter itself is quite lovely (it was the first time I’d read one of Seneca’s letters) and there are a couple bits that are great. In the beginning portion of the letter (sections 5 & 6, roughly) Seneca is railing against the very rich saying that for all their fancy carriages and houses and slaves, they’re all in debt and such shows of wealth are just that – show. My immediate thought was that if we replace ‘fancy carriages’ for ‘SUV’s’ and ‘slaves’ with ‘hired help’ (or perhaps electronics or some other such thing) we’d see the same sentiments echoed today. The more things change, the more they stay the same. *grin* Perhaps more on Stoic ethics on Wednesday evening or Thursday, time permitting.

In completely unrelated news: Bugsy has a cold. The poor kitty. She’s spent all day (and all of last night) sneezing. In a sign that perhaps I wouldn’t be anywhere near a good parent, my prevailing sentiment is to give her to somebody until the cold is over and done with (and she’s no longer having sneezing fits at 4:45 in the morning) and then take her back. *sigh* I don’t know what parents do when their child is sick and doing disgusting things. Sure, there’s a love there far stronger than the love I feel for my cat. And I’m sure that’s what keeps the parent up and cleaning up after their child and patient and worried. But still. Yuck.