Anyone planning on being in Chicago this weekend should drop me a line.  We can go inflict some justice or something.

Ok you may now find me as part of the Facebook evil empire.  Resistance, it turned out, was futile.  It usually is of course.

A couple of good things happened yesterday.  First,through the glory of Ebay I received my small marble bust of Ludwig Schwanthaler (picked up in lieu of this beautiful but wicked thing). 

Also Friday, I successfully defended my dissertation.  This turned out to be a really interesting and pleasant experience.  After a bit of proofreading and some very minor changes, I should be able to deposit the diss sometime next month.

Father John FitzGerald, who I’ve mentioned here before passed away a little more than a week ago.  I knew him only slightly, and yet he influenced me in ways that are difficult to categorize, and he’ll will remain a point of reference in my life more prominent than I suspect he’d ever have guessed.  I miss him, even though I haven’t seen him in years.  My thanks to the person who emailed me to let me know.

His funeral mass and burial is scheduled for tomorrow.