hump day with the shrink
Having finished this morning's blogging, I am killing some time before throwing laundry in so that I can greet the shrink in the festive colors of our tribe. I'm not sure what the shrink and I will find to talk about, given that I think the current tussle with the black dog is all about the current situation rather than anything inherent in my mind, though I seem to be in the minority on this. A rather close friend recently expressed the opinion that I seem happy to not be happy, and there may be something to that. I certainly don't hold the pursuit of happiness to be my Prime Directive; there are things more important than simple pleasure. If, as Camus says, life consists of doing your job, then hedonism isn't a terribly useful philosophy.
level_head has an interesting post in which he clarifies Ayn Rand's objections to altruism in a very useful way. Anything else I said about it would only ruin it, so go RTWT.
Finished McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, which is not bad; probably the best single-volume history of the Civil War out there. I found a lot of the political preliminaries to the war extremely unsettling and depressing; far too reminiscent of current events. Battle Cry of Freedom
is available on Kindle. Bruce Catton's This Hallowed Ground
is also available on Kindle, but I'm not sure it's better than his Civil War trilogy, which is not; Bruce Catton's Civil War: 3 Volumes in 1: Mr Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, A Stillness at Appomattox
is well worth buying used.
Also finished Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
, which seems to have acquired a new cover - and is also available on Kindle. Hm.
Making slow progress getting things packed up; managed five boxes on Monday and three yesterday, but two of those were clothes - mostly T-shirts, extra linens and clothes that don't quite fit yet or that need repairs. I expect I'll be tackling the hall closets today, though I am running out of places to stick boxes.
level_head has an interesting post in which he clarifies Ayn Rand's objections to altruism in a very useful way. Anything else I said about it would only ruin it, so go RTWT.
Finished McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, which is not bad; probably the best single-volume history of the Civil War out there. I found a lot of the political preliminaries to the war extremely unsettling and depressing; far too reminiscent of current events. Battle Cry of Freedom
is available on Kindle. Bruce Catton's This Hallowed Ground
is also available on Kindle, but I'm not sure it's better than his Civil War trilogy, which is not; Bruce Catton's Civil War: 3 Volumes in 1: Mr Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, A Stillness at Appomattox
is well worth buying used.
Also finished Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
, which seems to have acquired a new cover - and is also available on Kindle. Hm.
Making slow progress getting things packed up; managed five boxes on Monday and three yesterday, but two of those were clothes - mostly T-shirts, extra linens and clothes that don't quite fit yet or that need repairs. I expect I'll be tackling the hall closets today, though I am running out of places to stick boxes.