Guy - First week done...

While I'm woefully unprepared, as always, I'm happy to be back.

The midgets are great and I like what I'm teaching.

In Studies of Religion we were defining religion and one student was very eager to explain to everyone the difference between a ghost and a spirit.

"A ghost is where it's a figment of your imagination and a spirit is real."

Something in my face gave away that I didn't agree with her, and so she asked if that was right.

I said that traditionally speaking a ghost was the spirit of someone who had died, while spirits were a much broader category, including spirits of trees and animals and the Holy Ghost and whatnot.

However, what I was thinking was; Of course it's made up! It's all made up! Everything in this course is a figment of people's imaginations. Ghosts, spirits, miracles, God.

I didn't say it because I probably shouldn't alienate any of the students at this early stage of the course...

David - Boy Howdy Is It Cold

So, I was in Chicago a week or so ago. The temperature was -21 Fahrenheit, -31 if you factored in the wind chill.

To put it in practical terms, the half frozen river was releasing steam because it was warmer than the air. I walked the 6 blocks to my hotel with a jumper, jacket, overcoat, scarf, gloves, beanie, boots and at least 3 hits of whisky. I couldn't feel my legs by the time I got to the hotel. I had to go to the bar for another 3 emergency shots of whisky to stave off hypothermia. How the hell Grizzly Adams managed to survive I will never know...

Kit is tempted...

The second coffee truck man told me today that he can do iced coffee (rather, he offered it to me). Real coffee shot, vanilla icecream, choice of flavoured syrup, whipped cream, chocolate on top.

My one (of many) weakness!!

Dan: Dante's adventures in MMOGs

Dante has discovered his first MMO game - Moshi Monsters. It's a silly thing where you create you monster, and it wanders around this little world, and you feed it and get it stuff, and meet up and chat with your friends' monsters. All pretty simple, and entirely within the browser. But he's so keen that he has decided to spend his pocket money on a 1-month membership. God help us when he discovers WOW.

I don't think that word means what you think it means

Becstarr : Emerging from a kid hurricane to an empty nest

Just got back from visiting a full house of kids (5, 7, 9) and 6 adults up the Central Coast to an eerily quiet house. That's right: Matt and Zoe have flown the coop over the weekend, and Joel and I are empty-nesters! For the first time in my life I am savouring owning every shelf in the fridge (and pantry, and bathroom) and so on. Come to think of it, that's not quiet true as I was in that studio in Camden St for a while. OK, forget that particular rhetorical flourish, but it's still Very Exciting!