Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Small disclaimer: my youngest son, formerly a student at George Mason University, has shaken the dust off his sandals and transferred to Texas State University , in San Marcos. Frankly I'm glad, though I was enthusiastic about his attending when he applied. There are any number of reasons I'm glad he's back in Texas, not the least of which is that tuition costs will be about a third of what they were at GMU. Though Mason has an exemplary technology and computer science program, they are also Ground Zero for various academic apologists for the whole Libertarian movement. The Cato Institute , bankrolled by Princes of Fucking Darkness David and Charles Koch , is housed there, and the Economics department is awash with Libertarian shills for the Kochs such as Don Boudreaux and Russell Roberts. A recent dustup has arisen over at  GMU over Professor T. Mills Kelly's class, "Lying about the Past," which had as part of the coursework, assignments to go out and ...

Now's your chance to vote on which profile picture I should use. Classic (old) Dr Ralph New Dr Ralph A little background, for those of you who actually give a shit about any of this. I switched out my old profile picture for the new one, as part of a little experiment a little while back. I occasionally comment on the blog of my good friend, the Whited Sepulchre, and his Libertarian co-religionists usually point to my profile picture as proof of my supposed Socialist leanings. I'm actually the embodiment of moderation, at least in my mind. So, whose visage would most appeal to those of the Libertarian persuasion? Why, George Mason economics professor and paid Koch brothers shill Don Bourdreaux! I performed my Photoshop magic and - no more Commie Ralph! Now I was part of the tribe. I was amazed at how the WS's commentators now found me (occasionally) a reasonable person.  Others who remembered the old picture found the new one just...creepy. A little back...

Well, hell must be freezing over, or something like that. Washington DC is currently sitting under several feet of snow, and much of the business of government has been shut down, to the delight of various political persuasions. George Mason University (Fairfax VA), where Youngest Son is a freshman, has been closed since Monday and will likely be closed tomorrow. Below is a photo from his window in the dorm (he hasn't ventured out too far). Meanwhile, we are having a bit of inclement weather here in Texas as well. Here's a view from my front porch. This of course has all the Global Warming / Climate Change doubters in a fine fettle. Expect more on this from my friend and sparing partner, the Whited Sepulchre . Me? I'll let others have the snowball fight over that issue.

A while back I texted youngest son and asked "Should I come for Family Weekend or not?" He replied back "Either way is fine." I took that as the closest I would ever get to an affirmative and made my travel arrangements. The main event on Friday (arguably for the whole weekend) was Mason Madness -- the fall rite that officially kicks off basketball practice for the upcoming George Mason basketball season.  Unlike Texas, where football is the state religion, the eastern seaboard worships (to a much greater extent) at the altar of basketball. And George Mason (which won the 2006 Eastern Regional NCAA Championship) is no exception. The five days preceding my trip I ran a low grade fever, hacking and coughing like death. By that Friday my fever had broken but I was but a shadow of my usual self. Note to the savvy traveler: if you've been under the weather, expecting to make it to the airport to catch a 7:00 AM flight is wildly optimistic. After only one miss...

Youngest son, Ed, has been successfully installed at George Mason University , in Fairfax, VA. I got back yesterday evening (only to be greeted by a work emergency at midnight). We flew down Wednesday, arriving in the afternoon. We managed to get everything in a large duffel bag and Ed's backpack (with a few things in my small suitcase. Travel hint : put clothing in freezer bags and squeeze the air out before packing. The decision to fly rather than drive meant getting quite a bit of stuff locally. Rather subjecting the high-priced Taylor guitar to the dangers of air travel and dorm life, I offered to get a dorm-worthy guitar in Fairfax. So first stop (after an early dinner at our favorite Indian Buffet) was the Guitar Center. After much debate, negotiation and testing, a suitable candidate - an Epiphone AJ200SR six string - was bought and paid for, along with a gig bag for it to live in. Next we hit Target and stocked up on bedding and toiletries. During all this dr...

I'll be out of pocket the next few days, journeying with Youngest Son to Fairfax, Virginia where he's about to become a freshman at George Mason University. We fly out tomorrow morning and Thursday at 8:30 AM he's scheduled to check into his dorm room. I'm not really sure how much use he'll have for me after that. We'll probably run out to K-Mart or Target and get stuff for his room, but other than that, what purpose do I serve? At least during this trip? Not that I mind being cast aside like that. He's got new roommates and friends to meet, a new life to reinvent. Still, it will be a little odd, and a little awkward, as I (representing his old self) slowly fade in the rear view mirror. But it's not a bad thing: you want your kids to be independent, free thinkers. And in this age of Instant Messaging, email, Skype, Facebook and cellphones, it's a lot easier to stay in touch, even without really thinking about it. Much more so than when I wa...

Youngest son just came down to my room a little while ago and scooped up my entire collection of Doonesbury books. This included "Still A Few Bugs In The System," Gary Trudeau's first collection, published in 1970. "They rock," said he (or something similarly positive), before disappearing into the void. I'm now no longer so worried about the effects of the campus Libertarians at George Mason University on his little heart and soul.

We are almost finished with all the paperwork associated with getting Youngest Son off to George Mason University in the fall: we've put down our enrollment deposit and dorm deposit, mailed our the combined scholarship applications (after standing over him while he wrote his personal statement), and mailed our acceptance of financial aid. Now all we need to do is apply for a dorm. The letter about financial aid came about 2 weeks ago -- one of those fat letters. With regards to colleges, it is generally better to get fat letters, since skinny letters usually say "Sorry, whatever it was you were wanting, you aren't getting." "What's the letter say?" both me and his mother ask. "They gave me some loans," he says. "and work study." Long pause. "Work study -- is that like where you have to work?" "Duh...yeah," I reply, fighting the urge to slap him senseless, "That's why they call it work study."

Today was the day of our George Mason campus visit. We arrived (late) at the Johnson Center (home of the Admissions department) and joined our tour (already in progress) led by bright enthusiastic student Ambassadors, who answered parent and prospective student's questions. After a walk around the campus where the dorms and major academic buildings were pointed out, we grabbed lunch at the Johnson Center and hit the bookstore for GMU t-shirts and the like. We wandered over to the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering, where we were fortunate enough to catch up with the Associate Chair of the department. She sat and talked with us about the program for a good 30 minutes -- not bad for having no appointment. We left extremely impressed and pleased with our choice of George Mason. All this is beginning to get real for youngest son. As it was only about 2:45, we headed into DC via the Metro. Students can take the free GMU shuttle to the Vienna/Fairfax station but w...

Arrived in Washington, DC today around 3:30 and after getting bags, picked up our rental - an incredibly underpowered Toyota Yaro - and drove into Fairfax , Virginia. Our hotel was next to Giant Foods. Maybe it's my own shelf-stocking days, but I love going to grocery stores in different cities. They reveal much about the character of a place. We promptly loaded up with miscellaneous snacks, drinks and the like. After dinner at the Bombay Cafe, an Indian restaurant with an amazing $5 dinner buffet, we meandered around in Fairfax, until we finally found George Mason University. Unfortunately, it was (a) dark and (b) packed with cars for tonight's NCAA playoff game (go Patriots). We did manage to drive by the as-yet unfinished Volgenau School of Information Technology . Tomorrow: more fun.

News flash: youngest son has just been accepted at George Mason University . Along with most of his buddies, he's a computer geek, and is planning on studying Computer Science. George Mason, located in Fairfax, Virginia (suburban Washington, DC) has an excellent Computer Science department which just opened a new 180,000 sq.ft. facility and is home to a number of active research programs which bring over $16 million a year. U.S. News & World Report ranked George Mason University #1 in its new category of Up-and-coming National Universities, 2009. They also have highly regarded history, economics and public policy departments. In addition, Virginia out-of-state tuition cost is remarkably reasonable. It was also ranked as 11th most diverse university in the nation, by the Princeton Review in 2009. As we began our college search, youngest son announced he was thinking he might want to major in history. Interestingly enough, given his interest in history, GMU is home to the Cent...