My great sentence

Here is the sentence I wrote yesterday which I like. I've added the whole paragraph so you can get the context. It's the last sentence.

"...Moreover, there are several good reasons why we should not overly rely on scientific models as a means to ground the validity of the phenomenon of subtle activism.
First, there is the danger that, if we primarily use the methods and standards of empirical science as a way to explain the nature of subtle activism, we risk reinforcing the pervasive cultural assumption that empiricism is the rightful adjudicator of knowledge claims from all domains of human experience, not just those emerging from the study of the natural world. Let us recall that the phenomenon of subtle activism is most often a spiritual activity -- participants typically meditate and pray, they may encounter beings from subtle worlds (guides, ancestors, angels, etc), hear messages of guidance, sense subtle shifts in collective energy flows, or simply be filled with essential spiritual qualities such as love, peace, or compassion. To burden such subtle phenomena with the demands and standards of empirical science may be the epistemological equivalent of attaching lead weights to the wings of angels as a way to measure how well they fly.

YEAH!! YEAH!! YEAAAAH!! WOOOH! WOOOH! in your FACE!!! (Spikes the ball as in a touchdown)



OK, a little bit of an overreaction, but these are the things we dissertation writers need to do to sustain our enthusiasm over the long haul.

Hennessy and I had a little mother/daughter bonding last week-a 48 hour decorating marathon in San Luis Obispo. Hennessy, her roommate Amanda, Amanda's mom Marise and I hit Home Depot, Joanne's Fabrics and Ross and then painted, sewed, sawed and "remade" the girls' new apartment. At 10:30 Thursday night we invited the guy from upstairs (along with a college buddy Montana) out for a late night (well late for the mothers) pizza and called the flurry of activity a huge success.

Merced news

Hey everybody! Nobody's spoken in a while so I thought I'd ramble a bit of an update on here for anybody who checks it.

In case you haven't heard, I'm now in Merced. I have a freshmen mandatory event day tomorrow and classes begin Tuesday. I already talked with my parents, Kate, and Jeff, but for those of you who I haven't gotten around to calling here's where I stand on it all:

I am really upset and unhappy about being at UC Merced. Not that it isn't a good school it's just not a good school for me. The town is not really what I was looking for in terms of a social leisure time scene. Due to my unhappy stance (although I am doing what I can to pull myself together and make the best of it), I plan to transfer out at the spring semester. I'm looking into USF (taking the tour this upcoming Friday), Saint Mary's, and Notre Dame de Namur. For now I plan to come home every weekend of the semester unless I find myself comfortable enough to stay (although at this point I am seriously doubting it).

I want to thank you all for your support thus far and any future support that may come. It means a lot to me to have family there to help me figure out this difficult obstacle in my life.