Monthly Archives: August 2008

Good Sparring

Posted on 2008/08/31 by ngilmour

Discussion of History, Trinity, and Philosophy If you’d like to see how a Calvinist pastor and a Postmodern Thomist English teacher can debate philosophy and keep things civil, check out the comments section of this post.? (The post itself is … Continue reading →

Posted in Other Blogs | 2 Comments

Another Stupid Distraction

Posted on 2008/08/30 by ngilmour

The Stupid Distraction Once again, once Tom Tomorrow stops trying to do electoral politics and focuses in on the news industry, he’s right on.? And once again, I have to wonder whether there’s actually any good reason to have 24-hour … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Entertainment | 2 Comments

Dead Battery

Posted on 2008/08/29 by ngilmour

On my way home today, my mp3 player’s battery died on me.? (The gauge on the thing is really the only thing I don’t like–it’ll register “almost full” for hours, then dive from halfway to empty in twenty minutes.)? So … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Entertainment | 17 Comments

Overplanned Again

Posted on 2008/08/28 by ngilmour

Once again I pushed both sections right up to dismissal time, largely because my EMMA demo took longer than I had anticipated.? Next Tuesday will be a relatively easy day, as my only preparatory task will be to design some … Continue reading →

Posted in Plato, teaching | 2 Comments

Teaching and Tin Whistles

Posted on 2008/08/28 by ngilmour

The Living Tradition This little piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education doesn’t break any wonderfully new ground in pedagogical theory, but it’s a nice little meditation nonetheless.? I especially like his description of the community of teachers: Most of … Continue reading →

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Should Have Included This

Posted on 2008/08/27 by ngilmour

Crying Censorship Had I known this week’s Stanley Fish column treated distortions in the word “censorship,” I would have paired it with my own post that took on distortions in the words “intimidation” and “indoctrination.”? It’s Fish’s standard riff on … Continue reading →

Posted in Other Blogs, Political Entertainment | 1 Comment

Euthyphro in Fast Forward and Other Notes

Posted on 2008/08/26 by ngilmour

I overplanned for today.? I put into my lesson plan a 20-minute lecture on clause structure and the grammatical concept of agreement; a lengthy get-to-know-each-other activity now that final rosters are set; and a discussion of (Platonic) dialectic reasoning in … Continue reading →

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What Bias?

Posted on 2008/08/26 by ngilmour

Tolerant Faculty, Intolerant Students Leave it to those Social Scientists. Faced with repeated and backed-only-with-anecdotes accusations that universities are simply indoctrination grounds for the DNC or some other treasonous group, decided to conduct a study to see if it’s true. … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Entertainment, teaching, UGA | 13 Comments

Jesus of the War Zone

Posted on 2008/08/25 by ngilmour

Although the inspiration to write this post came while reading The Shaping of Things to Come by Hirsch and Frost, the outlines of the ideas have been brewing in my head for some time.? Hirsch and Frost are not the … Continue reading →

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Prospectus Passed

Posted on 2008/08/24 by ngilmour

Huge exhale of relief this evening–upon returning from Chuck E Cheese, our favorite rainy day stop (with a coupon from the Sunday paper, one can get 100 tokens for twelve bucks), I received an email indicating that my committee has … Continue reading →

Posted in dissertation | 1 Comment

No Sermon Next Sunday

Posted on 2008/08/24 by ngilmour

Marv emailed yesterday to let me know that he couldn’t make the wedding that he was going to be out of town for, so I suppose I’ll have to wait to preach Exodus 3.? He did say that he’d be … Continue reading →

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A Little Disappointed

Posted on 2008/08/23 by ngilmour

I have to admit that, in spite of myself, I did check this morning to see if Evan Bayh ended up on the Obama ticket.? No dice.? I would have preferred, all else being equal, an Evan Bayh-versus-Republican Candidate presidential … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Entertainment | 2 Comments

More Work Ahead

Posted on 2008/08/22 by ngilmour

I didn’t get as many pages composed today as I would have liked, but I did have a pretty fruitful insight that might give me some more production next week.? For now, I’ve got Mary and Micah home, and I’m … Continue reading →

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A Hurried Day

Posted on 2008/08/21 by ngilmour

It always happens thus: if I overplan for half a period, the instructor taking up the other half runs long.? If I underplan, the other instructor runs short. Today I overplanned. So by the time my classes got back to … Continue reading →

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The End of The Wire

Posted on 2008/08/20 by ngilmour

If you’re scandalized by the fact that… ah, you read the disclaimer on my Sopranos post.? I finished the last season of The Wire last night, and looking back, there’s simply nothing like it on TV or in the movies.? … Continue reading →

Posted in pop culture | 4 Comments

More Delayed Kudos to the Standard

Posted on 2008/08/20 by ngilmour

Christian Standard Web Site I intended to write about this Sunday, when I read the articles, but the first week of teaching got in the way.? The Standard is taking on the continuing debates about women in ministry in about … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Standard, Church stuff | 3 Comments

First Day of Plato Class

Posted on 2008/08/19 by ngilmour

Things went quite well today in both sections.? I presented the parameters of the class, let them know that college writing was going to be something quite different from their high school classes, and introduced the technologies that keep my … Continue reading →

Posted in teaching | 3 Comments

Middle of the Pack

Posted on 2008/08/18 by ngilmour

The Key It’s probably a symptom of my own vanity, but I do enjoy looking at myself through my students’ eyes.? That means going on ratemyprofessors.com, reading their customer satisfaction surveys each semester, and here at UGA, looking at the … Continue reading →

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Wha…

Posted on 2008/08/17 by ngilmour

I turned on the Olympics so that I could watch some track and field while Mary finishes up her lesson plans for tomorrow, and at the first commercial break, there were two political ads, one apiece for McCain and Obama.? … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Entertainment | 6 Comments

Beach Pictures

Posted on 2008/08/16 by ngilmour

For the first time this summer, we remembered to bring the camera to Fort Yargo with us.? Here are some pictures of our big swimming boy.? (The band-aid on his neck, in case you wonder, is to keep him from … Continue reading →

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